Cottage living broke my game

@irietv  It sounds very much like the world itself is the issue, which was common when Cottage Living was released but not so much now.  It's worth repairing the game in Origin, if you haven't already.  First, clear Origin's cache:

https://help.ea.com/en/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

Then open your game library, right-click on the Sims 4 icon, and select repair.

If that doesn't help, try playing on a different lot in the same world.  Please also remove any lot traits, at least for now, so you're not getting any wild animals or other special features.  You can always add things back later, but at the moment I'm curious whether your issue can be isolated to any one thing in particular.

If you do see the same issue, please put the game in windowed mode, then open the Task Manager and let me know how much CPU and RAM are being used both by Sims 4 and by the system overall.  If Origin is eating resources, try playing with Origin in offline mode.