The Cottage on the Hill

You are Caroline Ingalls, a faithful wife and mother who cares about appearances. You are a good cook and homemaker, and a submissive wife, but you can handle a team of horses swimming through a raging river if you have to.

2005 Polaris Sportsman 400 widows. That's what I am! Hubby just bought one and he's as happy as a clam and eager to ride. I don't mind. He deserves an expensive toy and he always comes home. :) He's even working extra hours to pay for it. What a great hubby I have! And now, I need to put up those carrots like I promised him and be the good wife he deserves. :)

Well, it's officially the end of our first summer here at Taigh Beag. Not only has the season changed on the calendar, but the temperature has dropped significantly and we started winterizing: 1. The pond is drained and the fish are in the tank. 2. Hubby put my bicycle away. 3. The winter wheat is thriving at the farm next door. 4. The air conditioners are being put away today. 5. The windows stay closed and not because the AC's are running. :) 6. I'm wearing a cardigan. 7. Hubby's putting away the lawn items. 8. I'm thinking of making heavy drapes for the picture window. 9. I need to take inventory of the window plastic I already have. 10. There is a gallon of cider in the fridge. I've resisted the temptation to turn on the furnace. Save a little oil now. It's going to be a cold winter this year! Next year, we're getting an outdoor wood furnace! Hurray! Hubby just showed me a stick bug! It's the first time I ever saw one!

Yesterday, I bought a 55 gallon fish tank with stand. Our peaceful little pond is in need of being put up for the winter time. It's starting to get quite chilly at nights and a frost is just around the corner. Therefore, our 8 fish need a home for the winter time. Praise God for providing for us the money to purchase the fish tank! Hubby is thrilled with the tank. We have it set up in our dining room. ( I feel like my dining room's an Italian Restaurant now!). It is so soothing and relaxing, although it does take up nearly the whole wall between the living room and master bedroom. I'm such an animal lover, and I love caring for things that it's not a bother at all to have the fish tank. Besides, it'll be hubby's chore to do the heaving cleaning of the tank! Today is such a beautiful, brisk early autumn day. Hubby took me 4 wheeling through the woods and I plan on going for a walk after being online. I need to walk, anyway. I'm addicted to White C...

Thanks to my mother who came over today and kept me company and helped me clean Taigh Beag. Now, I'm pretty much caught up, laundry is being done ahead of schedule, I FINALLY have a clean kitchen and bathroom, and Taigh Beag smells so good! My Mom is such a blessing to me. Now that I have a clean house, I want to start a schedule so I can keep up on it. Thankfully, my mom's willing to come over every couple of weeks and give me a hand. I hung up a Winnie the Pooh Autumn flag, and I'm eager to add some pumpkins (not jack-o-lanters) and some other autumn decor. Hubby's stone wall is drawing neighborhood compliments. A lady I know from the church I used to attend even walked 2 miles just to show the wall to a friend of hers she was walking with! It's going to look so good once I can plant the garden in the middle! I look forward to wintertime seed catalogs!

I'm most like Carole Lombard! I scored 11% grit, 19% wit, 38% flair, and 42% class! You can see which classic starlet you most compare to here: The Classic Dames Test http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=4621123663119520922

This is the best morning I've had since just a few days after I found out I was pregnant! I got up at 5 am and made hubby his coffee and lunch. By 5:30 am I prayed over him and saw him out the driveway. Then, I fixed the bed and took a shower. I've been needing more sleep than usual, so I laid back down, but I didn't sleep. I just laid still and thought about pleasant, homey things until 6:30 when I decided to get up. I got up, had breakfast, scoured through a catalog to get Christmas gift ideas, washed dishes, tidied the kitchen counters, cleaned out my canning pot for storage, cleaned the coffee pot and got it ready for another pot for hubby, deodorized and vaccumed the living room carpet, fed the fish and the birds and squirrels, talked to my little brother, hopped online, went for a walk, scoured my cookbooks for a recipe to use up fast-ripening bananas, rescued a chickadee that got stuck in back porch, got ready for work, made my lunch and now, here I am at 9:15 a...

As much as I like my job at the costume shop, I wish I didn't have to work today. I feel good! I feel like feathering my nest! I want to clean the house! At least I'm getting some cleaning done this morning. Forget evenings. Lately, evenings have been horrible for me. But I'd rather be sick in the evening than during the day. I've been thinking about the second storey we're going to add on to our house in the future. It'll include two big bedrooms, a full bathroom (hopefully with linen closet), an upstairs foyer that'll serve as a library, and another rather large room that I wasn't sure what I'd use it for. Another bedroom, a homeschooling classroom (I like that idea) or perhaps I'd move the master bedroom up there instead of downstairs and have a big enough room for the dream master bedroom I'd like. Hubby likes the idea of the master bedroom being right where it is downstairs. Privacy. If we do keep it downstairs, I'd like to...

The hymn going through my head recently is: "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done!" Sunday, on my way to church, I stopped at a yard sale. My mom was also there on her way to church as well. She pointed out a dehumidifier with "make offer" written on it's tag. The yard sale host made sure it worked. I hemmed and hawed, and finally they said I could have it for $5.00. I couldn't say no to that! Hubby was so pleased! We needed a dehumidifier so badly! Now only if we could get a 55 gallon aquarium and stand for a very affordable price! Hey, you never know! God's provided us well so far! :) Sunday, we went to visit my in-laws. We stepped in the door to see them hovering over their prostrate Boston Terrier. He was such a sick little dog! A quick call to the vet sent them out to get baby asprin. After administering that, the dog quickly improved. Apparently, the dog got wobbly and passed out. V...

I did go to the SPCA garage sale today. Luckily, there wasn't much there that I needed or wanted. But, there was ONE thing! A Bread Machine!! Brand new, still in box. They let me take it home for $20.00! What a blessing! I'm so excited, plus I'm glad I was again able to help support this SPCA. The Fulton County SPCA in Upstate New York is strictly volunteer-run and donation-run. They don't even get state/county/town aid. This SPCA is run by a wonderful down-to-earth woman who rescues and cares for the many abused and neglected animals in the area. http://fcspca.freeservers.com/

We all need a little therapy, some spa-time, pamper time or me-time. Now that I'm pregnant, I'm actually being encouraged to take lots of me-time. I need it too, because not only am I tired a LOT, but I also suffer from occassional fainting spells and anxiety attacks. Not to worry, they're homone-induced and "normal." Chores not only pile up now, but are harder to do. The other day, I had laundry that needed to be done. I was suffering from an anxiety attack and feeling really worn. It was a load of whites, so I turned on the hot water in the washer and added a cup full of Arm and Hammer detergent with softener added. It smells so good! I just leaned over the washer and slowly inhaled the steamy, lovely fragrance. (Then I put the dirty laundry in...pew!) Housework Therapy! De-cluttering hasn't been a successful as I hoped for because I had a pregnant day yesterday and I had to work today. However, I was able to donate a box of stuff to the SPCA'...

I am convinced it's never too early to start preparing for a baby. My husband was just telling me yesterday that the nine months will be over before we know it. After all, I'm already 8 weeks along TODAY! So, time to start the decluttering process and getting rid of the material things I don't need! Not only for the simple reason that we need room in our little house for the new addition, but that I've been suffering anxiety attacks and feeling "closed in." I want a clean, uncluttered house! It's a little more difficult now that my brother is living with us, but I think I can manage! I'll let you know my progress. ladyscott

My little brother has moved into the spare bedroom at Taigh Beag so he can more easily commute to college until May. With this comes his computer, of which I have access to when he's not at home. Therefore, I'm sort of back online and can keep up with my blogs!! Biggest news of all is that I'm pregnant with baby #1! I'm due April 27th. What a good time of year to have a baby! My garden did well, but getting pregnant during the harvest season made lots of it go to waste. I was simply too sick to put up much of my produce. I'm not really planning on a garden next year since I'll be busy with a newborn during planting season. I've given up on the dream of being the perfect, put-together wife and mother. I'm more interested in simply being a loving, Godly one. If that means my flower garden has weeds, then so be it. My husband is building a stone wall across the roadfront of Taigh Beag. He may continue one down the side that boarders the woods. I...