A GHOST, SOME PUMPKINS AND A REALLY GOOD BOOK...

The Cottage Witch

 would like to thank you all 

for your kind comments and sweet visits

 during this past month.

  She has just simply

faded away for the time being but,

 if all is right with the world, 

she will return next year. 

 In the meantime, 

I hope you all enjoyed a Happy Halloween

 and I will leave you with 

a picture of Kai 

being a bit perturbed

 because the trick-or-treaters 

ate all the candy...

...and some warnings thoughts 

of what not to say 

when giving out candy:

It's not a sword, it's a light saber.

I'm not a bride, I'm an angel.

I'm not Snow White, I am Red Riding Hood.

 And on and on and on..

As the Cottage Witch 

you would think 

I would know 

these things!!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've never told you this before

 but there is a ghost

 at the Cottage.

 Not literally,

 I don't think, 

but the spirit of one 

who lived here long ago. 

 Her name was Elizabeth Garland

 but we, fondly, call her

Miss Lizzie.

She was the second daughter

 of the Garland family

 who resided in our Cottage

 from 1910 until her death in 1975.

 Even though 

there were some inhabitants

 before, and some after, 

including ourselves, 

the Cottage is forever known in town 

as the

 Garland House.

Miss Lizzie was a school teacher. 

 Above,

 she and her students, 

are pictured in a class photo 

taken around 1920?

 I know the date

was written on the back of the photograph 

but I scanned the front side only 

into the computer,

 and now I can't remember

 where I put the original! 

 This is the same

 elementary school 

that the Captain and I 

worked at, and then retired from. 

(Click on the photo. It is such fun to see these kids clothing and the expressions on their faces)

The reason we call her a ghost

 is that from the very first time 

we stepped foot in the Cottage

there was a feeling of

graciousness and of well being

within the walls.

 From everything

that we have learned about her 

this described how 

she lived her life.

Whenever,

 we can't find something 

that we are looking for 

and neither one of us 

will take the blame 

for misplacing it,

 we just say that 

Miss Lizzie 

must have been here.

Miss Lizzie never married 

and she retired from teaching 

in the late 1950's.

 A newspaper article 

at the time of her retirement stated,

 "Teaching 

'her children' 

the ABC's 

with a strong mind 

and a good heart".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week,

 good friend Kim 

of Exquisitely Unremarkable 

posted about a pumpkin 

that she painted on a pillow.

 I have been looking through 

all the catalogs 

at beautiful pillows, 

designed for the holidays, 

and really cringe when 

I see the prices.

 When Kim 

talked so caringly about

how we all have an artist

 buried deep within us, 

I thought maybe 

I would try and bring mine 

to the forefront 

and come up with 

a version of my own.

Well,

 that didn't turn out too badly

 and cost nothing 

as I already had all the supplies needed 

so thought I'd take it 

one step further 

and do some 

sweater pumpkins...

...I had 

the lighter colored sweaters 

for years 

and a fast trip to the thrift store

 turned up the orange one.

  I had saved stems

 from last year's pumpkins.

  Good thing 

I only saved four 

or I would have sweater pumpkins

 coming out of my ears, 

they were that fun

 and that easy to make.

I even attempted

a free hand drawing 

of a pumpkin 

on my little blackboard..

Now I think 

I'm ready to tackle 

Christmas designs. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pre-ordered

 Chip and Joanna's book

way last summer 

and finally received it last week.

 The Captain and I

 are both great fans of

 the Fixer Upper shows 

but especially of 

Chip and Joanna Gaines themselves.

 They have such strong

 family values

and seem like such 

fun-loving and honest people

 and after reading the book,

 I can honestly say 

that is how they appear 

in real life

 also.

  We both sat down

 and I read aloud 

and it was such a good read 

and was over way too quickly.

  They are certainly living 

the 'American Dream', now, 

but have put a lot of hard work 

into their life

 to make it possible. 

 They have had a lot of support 

throughout their journey 

but in the end

 it is because of 

their strong work ethics and 

Chip's sometimes devil-may-care attitude,

 along with Joanna's decorating skills, 

that has made them 

so successful.

We both hated 

for the book to end 

and now eagerly await

 the November 29th 

new season opener of 

the Fixer Upper

 on HGTV.

...Judy...

A cute, little wildflower seed card 

enclosed in 

"The Magnolia Story"

 book.

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