The Cottage on the Hill

The Master Bedroom closet is now organized. I bought shelving and hubby installed it. It's such a tiny closet that only hubby uses it, and with the shelving, we have space for all his clothing! No more hanging piles of t-shirts on the floor. No more overnight bag filled with socks and underwear. We have a tidy, organized closet! Today, I organized the laundry area in the basement. Originally, it was an obstacle course over dirty laundry and boxes of fabric. There was no path to the machines! The dryer was piled high with fabric that often swallowed up the dryer sheet box. On the floor were scatterings of detergent bottles (one of them was empty). I do have a hamper, but there were piles of clothes all over the floor, somewhat separated into lights, darks, and whites. Now, there is not only a path to the machines, but a wide open floor space in front of them! The machines were cleaned off, the empty bottle recycled, the fabric folded and put away and the laundry picked up...

I have started a new goal! Get organized by Christmas. Almost every day, I have one special chore I must do that'll help me get more organized. Yesterday, my chore was to go through my cedar chest of vintage and antique clothing. I did and layed them out nicely, and found a pair of shoes and a dress to give away, along with a man's hat. Today, I plan on reorganizing our recycling and garbage system. Organization is not only good for keeping the house tidy, but it helps all who live in it know what's expected and what to do. When a house is unorganized, no one knows where things need to go, or where they need to go isn't organized enough to allow them to go there. Here are some examples: Annie is upset that once again her husband left his laundry in a heap on the bedroom floor. She finally blows her top and yells at him to do away with his dirty laundry. He yells back at her that he would but he never knows what to do with it. One day the hamper is in the bedroo...

The Good News is that my dear pen-pal friend had a baby girl on Oct. 7th! Madeline Elizabeth is the baby's sweet name! Miracles never cease! Both mother and baby are well. My house is clean! Not fully tidy, but clean! My mother came over again to give me a hand. I was also able to clean out the bedroom and start preparing the room for baby furniture. This afternoon, after a short rest that I need, I want to tackle the pile of mail and paperwork. This evening, I promised hubby I'd work on his caftan. As for my sewing projects, the living room, porch and bedroom all need new curtains. I haven't decided what to use for the LR and porch, but the bedroom, I'm thinking dark blue velvet drapes with gold tie-backs and tassles. I'm also going to be making my father a Santa suit. He really wants one for Christmas and it brightened his day when I told him I'd make him one. Do you have any sewing projects?

If there's one thing I've learned so far with pregnancy, it's that I'm always altering. My body, mind, clothes, diet, choices, priorities and now...my schedule are all being altered. I've been lamenting the neglect of the upkeep of our little cottage much due to the exhaustion I've been experiencing. Therefore, I've decided that I need to daily judge how best to schedule my time. If I'm having a good, wakeful morning, I need to get as many chores done in the morning and leave internet until the evening. If the evening sees me bright and chipper, internet will have to wait until a time I need to sit and relax. Movies are a no-no except when I'm exhausted, but need to put off going to sleep. With these and several other guidelines, let's hope that Taigh Beag can be a tidier, sweeter, more relazing atmosphere for all. ladyscott

1. How did you come by your nickname, "Ladyscott?" "Lady" is to remind me to be a lady, and "Scott" is my clan name. 2. Are you a Christian? Yes, I am a born again Christian. I attend an Assembly of God Church, however, I don't agree with all AG beliefs (ex. I don't believe women should be senior pastors.) 3. Are you "dresses only?" No. I don't necessarily believe in dresses only, but I do believe in femininity and that a woman should look like a woman. I do enjoy and PREFER wearing dresses, but have been known to wear pants occassionally. 4. Do you believe in long, uncut hair? This goes along with a woman should look like a woman. While I don't pinpoint my belief on "long hair only," I believe a woman should have longer, feminine hair. My hair is just past my waist and gets cut twice a year. Anything longer tends to give me headaches and become a tangled mess.....sloppy is NOT feminine. And fra...

With rain, wind and chilly temperatures, autumn has finally arrived. Thankfully, the Lord has provided us with this cozy little cottage. I also felt a wave of peace today as I thought about paying the first heating bill. I'm sure we can afford it. God ALWAYS provides! Hubby wanted soup tonight, so I made a homemade chicken soup with dumplings. I'm a fluffy dumpling maniac! Perhaps I'll post the recipe in my Cottage Kitchen blog. But not tonight. I'm exhausted.

Ok, I've had my fun. I want to quit my job and return home!! Call it pregnancy hormones. Call it nesting. Call it overwork and exhaustion. Call it what you want. I YEARN to be home. Today was my first REAL day off in over a week and I realized just how MUCH I miss this little cottage. I MISS taking my time and cooking a REAL meal. I miss baking dessert. I miss carefully planning a grocery list. I miss regularly cleaning my house. All these FLEW out the window when I took this job. At first, I kept up pretty well, but of course being pregnant can slow a lady down. Now, work has just CONSUMED me to the point where EVERYTHING is suffering. I haven't touched sewing in 3 months. My house is a smelly mess. I'm struggling with keeping up in my faith (I've often skipped church, been too tired to read the Bible and even too tired to really pray). Even my relationship with my husband is waning. I'm too tired. It's easy to blame it on my pregnancy, but is ...

SPIRITUAL BEAUTY - You are calm, peaceful, and content. Introverted and quiet you know everything about yourself. You never speak without thinking and every decision you make is well thought out. Since you know yourself so well you aware of your strengths and your shortcomings, which gives you the advantage of easily learning from your mistakes and improving yourself quickly. You may or may not be religious. If you are religious your faith and convictions are solid and no one can sway you from your beliefs. What type of beauty do you possess? (20 questions + 7 results + pretty pics) brought to you by Quizilla

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That pizza and nachoes eaten quickly during pregnancy is NOT a good idea. Blah.....

Candy at www.genuineprofit.com encouraged her readers to post pictures of a typical day in their lives. I'm on a borrowed computer without digital camera, so I'm just going to write about day in my life. First of all, I'm pregnant and that can make for some very atypical days. So I'll try to get it as average as possible. I start my day at 5:30 am. I make hubby's coffee and lunch for work. Then I wake him up and take his spot in bed. When he's ready to leave, I say a prayer over him and watch him drive off. I take a shower, and then hit the sack again (when I wasn't pregnant, I'd eat breakfast and start chores). I wake up again and have breakfast and do a few chores before getting ready for work. I leave for work at 9:30 am and return around quarter to 3pm. At this time I typically hop online, do a few more chores, relax and then start dinner. Dinner's a little after 5 and then I spend the evening relaxing some more. If I feel ok, I do a few...

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...