September 2, 2018
Many moons ago, my mother and I enjoyed making decorative ceramic pieces. This was precipitated by a woman my mom worked with opening a ceramic shop in her basement. Mom wanted to support her endeavor and since we did all sorts of crafty *stuff*, off we went. I made a pumpkin patch.
I enjoyed every moment of making all those pumpkins. Mom was busy making flower pots and a mushroom patch. (It was the early 80s.) We kept all the tools of the trade at Mom's house and generally spent an evening a week sitting at her table, happily sanding, painting and glazing. Every Saturday morning, we took pieces to be fired and to pick up completed pieces.
In years past, the pumpkin patch and the three wee ghosties I found at the old five and dime store came out of storage around the first weekend of September to welcome the approaching autumn. Some years it went on the hutch and others on the dining room table. It remained until the day after Thanksgiving when it was carefully packed and the box put back up in the attic.
This year, the pumpkin patch is staying safely packed away. I can sum up the reason why in one word - Loki. Don't let that sweet little face lull you into believing he's a good kitty. Loki is a one kitten wrecking crew, ergo, ALL the breakables have been tucked away. He goes for his "operation" this coming Wednesday. He's full of fresh, young male hormones at the moment and poor Deuce is paying the price with a shortage in his nap times.
We'll give Loki another year and see if he settles down as an adult. I suspect this will be another season without a Christmas tree, too. We do what we must to accommodate our little furballs and live in harmony.
KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
December 6, 2014
There's something that strikes me as very wrong about putting up my Christmas tree.
I used to love, love, love to decorate for the Advent and Christmas seasons. The day after Thanksgiving was Decorating Day. Box after box after box of decorations were pulled from storage and chaos did ensue.
First on the list - Aunt Jane's bells. Always. Then it was time to hang the tinsel and balls around the great room. Even today the tiny tacks remain in the crown moulding. Hook the tinsel on the tack, hang the red ball, and move on to the next tack until tinsel adorned the room. Forty-four tacks holding forty-four balls. The (almost) first to go up and the last to come down.
After the tinsel, anything could happen. Maybe the reindeer herd migrated in or perhaps the elves and snowmen arrived before the deer. Candles and shiny baubles appeared. Snowflakes on almost invisible thread danced in the bow window. And then it was time to go get the tree.
Acquiring the perfect tree was a Big Deal in my family. My parents never bought a tree at the first place they stopped. It was more like the sixth or seventh place. A few of those places weren't about the trees, though. It was about the people selling the trees, namely farmers my dad went to school with. Anyway, we'd get a tree and take it home, and I carried on the tradition when I built my house thirty-odd years ago. Back to my story....
Setting the tree had to be done before sunset then the lights were put on after it got dark. Never forget to check the strings of lights BEFORE you put them on the tree. All the lights and lamps were turned off for this step so you could make sure the bulbs were spaced correctly. Stringing the light brought out the fragrance of the pine. Oh, how I love the smell of fresh pine!!!
After the lights were on and working, every light in the room was turned on and the balls were hung. I'm not much for ornaments. I like balls. (Oh, don't go THERE.) The star topper went on, following by many, many, many balls. Then the whole tree was smothered in sliver icicles. When the tree is finished, all the room lights were turned off and we sat oohing and ahhing at the lighted tree.
The room was finished and it was beautiful.
But then the world turned, time marched on, and the spousal unit prevailed.
Just the idea of wrestling a box with a pre-lit artificial tree through the attic hatch and plugging it in sucks all the joy out of Christmas decorating. Why bother?
And that's my take on decorating for Christmas 2014.
Unless he agrees to get me a real tree. TODAY.
KC
http://www.kckendricks.com
I enjoyed every moment of making all those pumpkins. Mom was busy making flower pots and a mushroom patch. (It was the early 80s.) We kept all the tools of the trade at Mom's house and generally spent an evening a week sitting at her table, happily sanding, painting and glazing. Every Saturday morning, we took pieces to be fired and to pick up completed pieces. 
