All Around the Cottage

 Brr... we woke up to very Autumn temperatures this morning!
Just 50 degrees as we went for our morning walk, then as the sun came up, it warmed to 52 degrees.
I changed out the writing on the mini chalkboard to reflect the weather changed. Previously, it had "Sunshine" printed on it.

 Sunday, just inside the entrance doors to the church, some kindly soul had left a few boxes of juicy plums and a "Free" sign. 
On the way out of the church, as we left for home,  I bagged up a few plums, and also a few green beans that were offered as well.
My first thought was to dry the plums in the dehydrator, however, the plums were very ripe and clingstone, so I changed my mind and made a batch of plum jam.

 On the island, is the middle section to a thrifted bakers rack that we bought at our favorite thrift store this past weekend.
I am giving the entire rack a makeover, including chalk painting this drawer section. 

 Enjoying cooler mornings, and evenings. 
Peaceful country and meadow views.

 Copper colored sunset skies.

 The meadow is preparing for winters sleep. 

 How many more weeks will the hummingbirds be around? As the mornings become crisp and cool and the nights become longer the hummingbirds are feeding quite heavily. Around 10 hummingbirds feed all day at our two hummingbird feeders. 

Classic movies are a favorite of mine, and I just ordered a few more for our collection. Bell, Book, and Candle with Jimmy Stewart. Some of my favorite Jimmy Stewart movies are: It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, & Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation just to name a few. 

All Around the Cottage this week :
~ Continue working on borders and cutting down perennials and pulling out leggy plants.
 ~ Cut and dry chives for winter use.
~Finish library book and return.
~Finish bakers rack
~Sand and paint the little chair
~ Start transitioning seasonal decor to Autumn decor
~Look for and buy two new recliners
~Sew up two toss pillows.
~Stain and seal old wooden ladder

Attitude of Gratitude:
 ~Thankful for my ol' toe healing. I knocked the toenail off when I ran the door over my foot. I learned to get my feet out of the way, but I still prefer to be barefoot, even though wearing shoes would be a much safer way for me to go!
~Feeling grateful for a full pantry and freezers. I feel that we're ready for Autumn and eventually winter.
~Thankful for the nearby Farmers Market. They even had a few pumpkins.. oh happy day!




                                               

~* Autumn Blessings *~

 There is no other time of the year I love more..... for me, Autumn is the finest season of all.
The crisp morning, and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, rain storms, and thunder.
A cup of cocoa while sitting next to the fireplace. The smell of woodsmoke in the air, cozy blankets to cuddle under.
Crispy~crunchy leaves to walk through, football games to cheer to, and warm bowls of soup.
The list goes on and on... all things wonderful about autumn.

 Slowly, I've been breaking out the autumn decor.
Little bits here and there, and most can stay out throughout the autumn season.
Gourds, and twinkle lights.
Chalkboard signs......

Faux berries, and candles.
A wee corn husk basket...

 More candles, and a flickering candlestick.

 The picture stays up year round.. a tribute to my favorite season, it depicts a harvest season in a small mountain village... quite like the area that we live in, actually.
Colors of gold, and yellows, and crimsons.

 In the kitchen, a large galvanized tray holds a 'blessings' platter, a small lantern, and a pitcher full of glorious green faux hydrangeas.

 On the range, a new pumpkin.; porcelain covered cast iron pot.
 I've wanted one like this for ever...... one day while perusing Wal Mart, I spied this lovely thing, and promptly bought it.
I think it will stay on the top of the range for many weeks to come. Of course I'll cook in it!
Thinking about chili, chicken and dumplings, cowboy casserole, beef and barley soup....etc..etc.

 A beautiful metal pumpkin sits front and center on the buffet in the dining area of the kitchen.
A small bunch of faux bittersweet tumbles out of a grapevine basket.

 On the windowsill, little acorns...... found on a morning walk recently.
The 'Fresh Eggs' sign is a recent yard sale purchase, and sits next to a brown spatter ware pitcher, also a yard sale find.

 In the living room, on the blanket hutch a small bowl of 'ancient' coins, and two aged brass candlesticks.
The candlesticks and the coins were a recent purchase, found at a thrift store in Santa Fe.
They always will be a warm memory of a great trip with my sweet husband.

While I can't authenticate the age of the coins that I was told are 'ancient', I still love their patina and their shape, and they are certainly a topic of conversation.

 The last of the flowers fill a few vases around the house.
Lovely colors of gold and pinks and salmon.

Little birds flock to the last of the sunflowers and enjoy the last of the warm days.
*my sweet husband took this picture.

 Another picture that my sweetheart took.
What a sweet little bird.

 One more picture that my hubby took.... I do love this one, so much. I love that little bird perched on a dry sunflower. A perfect Autumn photo.

 Deer in the meadow.... grazing.
I love to see the deer, but I am dreading when they move into the yard and start munching on our plants.

The elk, higher in the meadow.
The elk are in the rut now, and bugling can be heard at all times of the day, and sometimes at night.
The elk farmer has already trimmed their antlers so that they don't hurt each other.

 The time to be happy is now.... absolutely!
Autumn is an especially happy time for me.
Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful time of year.
So, have you tried the "Pumpkin Spice" Lindt truffles?
Or the Pumpkin Butter that you can buy at Trader Joes?

~Attitude of gratitude
~Grateful for good health.
~Grateful for a wonderful husband and great kids!
~Feeling thankful that the lawns have dried out from last weeks storms and I can get the mowing done. I have always enjoyed mowing the lawns, and I'm grateful that I have the good health that allows me to do it.

~ Quack Weather ~

 Oh, this winter certainly has me feeling out of whack!
Evidently it's quack weather!
Two nights ago, we heard quacking.
Looking outside, there in the dark , on the front lawn were ducks.
As soon as the dog started barking, they took off.
Fast forward to yesterday morning.  As I was about to let the dog outside & right on the patio stood the ducks.
Poor quackers. They were trying to get out of the deep snow. And, deep snow we have.
Yesterday we ended up with about  a foot of new snow.

 

 

 They were swimming through the snow and trying to find a dryer spot to nestle down
How cute they were... waddling through the snow.

 They took off, around the woodpile and headed for the meadow.
I thought that was the last we would see of them.

 When my sweet husband came home from work, I mentioned that the ducks had visited again, and were trying to snuggle up against the house and under the patio heater.
So, my husband went outside and took a look around to see where they had been and then he sticks his head in the door and tells us that the ducks are back, and in fact they had fallen into one of the basement window wells.

 Poor things.
My sweet husband took one of his large fishing nets and fished them gently out of the window well.
He put them in a tote and took them back to the neighbor that he thought that they belonged to.
Well, a sweet little girl answered the door and with much relief thanked him for bringing back her ducks. The hen practically jumped into the little girls arm.
An older brother of the little girls mentioned that the ducks had been missing for a couple of days, and they had tried to find them, to no avail. He also told my sweet husband that they had 4 ducks, not just 3.
So, being the wonderful and sweet and thoughtful man that he is, he drove back home and took another look around. He heard some rustling in another window well, and discovered the last lost duck. He scooped up the last duck and returned it to it's proper home.

Later in the evening, the doorbell rang and there stood a mother and her three young children.
She told my husband, " I hear that you are the duck rescuer and that we have you to thank for returning our ducks".
The kids had made a sweet candy~gram thank you for my husband.
Not necessary, because he's just the most generous and thoughtful person, and he didn't need a thank you. ... but, it was kind of them and he appreciated their thoughtful gesture.

Such a happy and bright spot in a cold and stormy winters day.

~Reasons to smile today :
* The snow storm has subsided and I was able to stay on top of the new snow yesterday. I am grateful that my health is good and that I could get outside and shovel, scrap snow, salt sidewalks and driveways. It took a few good hours out of the day, but I am so grateful that I am healthy and able to do the chores that needed to be done.
*New bedspread. Yesterday while shopping, I found a really bright and cheerful bedspread for out master bedroom. Just the ticket! It's cheerful and bright, and I love that it feels 'summer~y'... especially now that we've had months of snow.

*Reason number 3 to smile today: Cute craft ideas that I'm going to make and a batch of chocolate chip zucchini cookies. Staying inside where it's cozy and warm today.

~ All around the cottage ~

 All around the cottage, it's been blooms, birds and building fences.
All good things ~ all things that make my heart smile.

The hostas are thriving this summer. They were all gifts to me, from a gardening friend in Spring City.

Daisies and yellow buttercup, all abloom.
How I love the cheerful, sunny yellow buttercups.

We've had quite a few visitors to the bird feeder.
That little guy that the arrow is pointing to, we only saw once.  Does anyone know what kind of bird he is? His chest was such a dark rusty color, contrasting with the very blue of his head. I'd love to know what he is called.

Cute robin sitting on the shepherds hook.
My sweet husband just took down the feeder this past weekend. Now that the meadow is green and growing again, it will be good for the birds to forage for bugs. When it turns cold again, we'll put the feeder back out.

Not everyone thinks magpies are cute, but I kind~a do. I don't mind sharing a bit of bird seed with the magpies and the black birds.

 We've had storm, after storm. Rain showers almost daily.
You can see the mountain tops cloaked in a rainy mist.
I really can't explain why Mr. Farmer insists on running the wheel lines 24-7?! {the farm to the East of us}
Around Mill Hill Meadow, we've shut off the sprinkler system. The Lord has provided enough rain to water our lawns and gardens.

One thing that the rain has sort~a helped out with, is the ground has been softened and it makes digging fence posts much easier.
My sweet husband has gotten a big section of the fencing done.
It's turning out awesome, and the fence will be a perfect backdrop for future plant, shrubs, flowers, and herbs. I would like to grow some Virginia creeper along a few sections of fence as well.

 Something the rainy weather didn't help out with; the painting of the garden shed.
However, in between storms, the garden shed finally got done.
It turned out so cute!
Don't you just love that old Maytag?! Yep~~ that's the 1939 beaut. that my sweet husband rescued from the landfill. Poor thing.. it was destined to be smashed and left to rust. 
Happy to have it here at Mill Hill Meadow now!

 I could not love the sweet 1940's style shutters any more!!
My sweet husband built them for the garden shed.
Not a necessary feature, but one I simply adore, and I am so over the moon with how darling they are.
Simply darling.

~ Attitude of gratitude:
~ I am feeling thankful for everyday sweet and tender mercies.
A smile, a kind word, sunshine {when it's not raining} flowers blooming, a sit on the front porch.
Quiet reflective prayer, and thanksgiving for all my blessings.
~Grateful for Mill Hill Meadow.  This month marks 13 months since we moved here.
At the homestead, I was completely over ~whelmed. With all the property and outbuildings, there was never a spare minute. Lists, lists, and more lists, and demands on our time.
Here at Mill Hill Meadow, I am once again enjoying sweet summer time. I'm enjoying reading, and baking, taking long walks daily, crafting, decorating, organizing and keeping home.
Most of all, I am grateful to be happy.

                                ~~ A little summer~time wreath I made for the garden shed.~~

Between the mountains, and the meadows.

 Our new neighbors.
It's pretty awesome to have an elk farm next to us.
It's across the meadow, but we can sit on our patio, and watch the elk graze and move through the fields.
We have been told that when Fall comes, the elk start bugling. We've been told that it is quite an amazing thing to see and hear.

 There are a few that are starting to re-grow their antlers. You can just make out new antler growth on the elk in the far right of the photo; with his head down, drinking from the trough.

 The beautiful mountains are right above us!
Looking out my windows, I see the mountains and the meadows.

 Deer in the meadow.  Early mornings, and evenings, the deer graze in the meadows.

 

 This is the view from our kitchen windows.

We also have lots and lots of birds in the meadows.

In fact, there are a few that have previously made our front porch their nesting place.

I need to fix that.

I'm thinking an owl decoy will do the trick.  I'd like to keep the swallows from re-building a nest above our front door.

We have been so blessed, and every morning when I wake up and look out our windows, and see the elk, the deer, and the birds I get a little warm spot in my heart.  We are so blessed that we are able to live here. 

It's my favorite house ever.

Attitude of gratitude:
~I'm so grateful that I'm able to fall asleep to the crickets chirp and wake up to the songs of birds in the meadow.  Life doesn't get much better.
~I'm so grateful that Spencer was able to play the bagpipes at the graves of our loved ones that have passed on.  In the Manti cemetery, when he was done playing at the graves of my grandparents, a woman came up to us and thanked him from the bottom of her heart. She had lost her husband many, many years ago and was so touched by Spencer's playing of amazing grace.  She had lost her husband when he was just 29. 
~I'm grateful that my durn root canal is done, and guess I'll be getting a new crown later this week.