A small harvest

September 3, 2020

As I edge closer to retirement, my focus is more and more about what do to fill the hours I used to work outside the home. Writing will certainly be a big part of that, but my writing hat doesn't settle on my head for endless hour after hour after hour at a stretch. I find I can sit at the computer for perhaps an hour, and then I need to move around. I'm sure the fact my muscles stiffen up when I linger in the same spot for a long time is a sign of getting older. I don't like it much, but there it is. 

The "experts" agree that moving more is good for the body. So what is something else I'll do to move around for a few hours a day once I retire from the day job? The quick answer is container gardening. We enjoy fresh produce and growing some of our own will be a worthwhile hobby. Preserving some of it will enable us to eat cleaner, and growing in containers will help us keep the whitetail deer from eating all our hard work. 

This year we tried out a set of 5-gallon grow bags made of a heavy fabric that allows the bags to drain well - almost too well. Keeping the dirt moist enough was an issue during the hottest stretch of the summer. But all-in-all, the bags worked well. We were overrun with cucumbers, and the cherry tomatoes produced at a good pace for fresh eating. The bell peppers were doing great until a young doe got brave and munched the top out of the plants. She didn't get down to the peppers, but she ate off the flowers so those plants were finished. We're working on a better plan to thwart the deer next season.  

Growing up in the country, and watching my mother and grandmother preserve the bounty from the garden taught and prepared me to do this. I don't see it as work, but a connection to those who went before me. I've worked all my life with this as a goal - to one day, very soon now, to truly become the lady of the manor. 

My task for this coming winter is to select a canner for next year and purchase canning jars. Why can instead of freeze? Freezers are dependant on electricity, for one thing. The other is that I feel the freezer is better utilized for meat, baked goods, and prepared meals. 

I'm really looking forward to next summer. "Retirement" no longer means sitting at home drawing a pension, at least not to me. I think an early morning walk with Deuce, a turn at the computer, tending the garden before noon, another stretch at the computer during the heat of the day, evenings on the patio, a final time at the computer after dark will make for many perfect days. It's just the sort of schedule to feed this writer's soul.

KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
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A Touch of Orange

September 10, 2017

There's more than a hint of autumn in the air. Today, on this last day of my end-of-summer vacation, it was a mere 48F when I rolled out of bed this morning at six o'clock. As my coffee brewed, my thoughts were to the effect of it was going to be chilly at the last family reunion of the year, this being my maternal grandmother's family. And it was. 

Cool and breezy aside, I enjoyed the reunion. It's nothing like the reunions of the past when my great-grandmother and her brood were alive. It's sad in some respects but this is the way of world. The eleven siblings of that first generation have passed. The second generation has lost a few owing to the fact that there were so many of them and the age spread is vast. The cousin I grew up with, she and me being close in age, is part of the second generation with my mother yet she is only a year older than me, and twenty years younger than my mother. It's this age spread that makes the family genealogy great fun to work. 

I noticed something else this morning as I stood on my little private porch. The maple tree on the crest of the bank is displaying a touch of orange. Of all the trees on my property, this tree is the show stopper as this old photo attests. 

It's grown a bit over the years. We're preparing to cut down the tree behind it to give it some extra room. It's simply too beautiful in the fall to let the other trees crowd it. 

With autumn arriving early, I ponder the summer just past. It almost feels like summer bypassed the mountain. We're using to week after week of hazy, hot, and humid days - Triple H days. We had too few to even remember. 

Dry? Drought? Burning bans? No, not this past summer. The grass is greener than green, full and healthy. No browned out spots at all. The old Jackmanni clematis had blooms on it all summer long - still does for that matter. That has never, ever happened before. 

Going back to the day job tomorrow will be difficult. I hate to miss these glorious days and be cooped-up inside an old dusty building. Every day I'll drive up my lane and take note of the maple tree on the bank. When the orange leaves finally drop, I'll prepare myself for another winter, and try to remember the summer that never really arrived. 

KC Kendricks

Words I don't want to say

August 20, 2017

August has not been a productive month. It's been unseasonably cool, too. Not once in this month have I been brave enough to jump in my little pool and soak in seventy-degree water. I'm paying the price for that at the moment. The PH levels are all wonky. To keep them stabilized, you need to get in the pool and move the water. I dropped two cups of baking soda in this morning in the hope that the water temp will reach eighty today. 

Like the weather, I've been unseasonably quiet. The people around me have demanded my time leaving the people in my head unable to tell their stories. I've seriously considered running away from home. I think about how great it would be to take my laptop to a motel room for a weekend. I doubt I would actually write anything but just getting away from the constant barrage of phone calls and the subsequent time-sucking acts of dealing with problems not my own would be wonderful.

Do I sound selfish? Too bad. 

It's time for me to put my foot down. 

Time is critical for a writer to actually write. If one is at the nursing home visiting one's mother for thirty minutes every day, on the phone with one's stepfather thirty minutes every day, and on the phone with a different chatty friend for thirty minutes every day, that's an hour and a half. Walking the dog adds another half hour. Cooking and other household chores add up to at least an hour. So we're up to three hours. Full-time job? I get up at six a.m. to prepare and don't get home until five p.m. That's eleven hours which puts us at fourteen hours a day, Monday through Thursday.  Friday evening is bowling. When I finally get the computer around eight or eight-thirty p.m., I'm too exhausted to focus. 

I spend my days doing things for everyone else. Even my day job is all about aiding people in crisis. If I'm to continue being a writer, it's time for me to go back to basics. It's time to write first and allow the people around me to stop being lazy. Because that's what it is. They're too lazy to solve their own problems. It's too easy to call me. I'm too available. That's ends today.

It has to end today. It has to because the last thing I ever want to say to anyone is, "I used to be a writer."

KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
www.twitter.com/kckendricks

T is for Today (and Tango in the Night by KC Kendricks)

April 23, 2015

Day 20

The 2015 A to Z Blogging Challenge

Many Sundry Things

T is for Today

*_*_*_*

Today is a special day. Yes, today is the first day of the rest of my life, but that gentle reminder is only a part of it. Today is the day to shutter regrets and take a step toward a brighter future today, also known as tomorrow.

Today is a Thursday. The day job starts at eight and, if all goes well, will end at four. I suppose I have the same thoughts as everyone else when it comes to wondering what the day job will bring to my desk. Annoyance? Aggravation? Challenge? Opportunity? Excellence? It’s best to remain open to what today will bring and not worry about tomorrow’s special set of circumstances.

Today is Day 20 in the A to Z Blogging Challenge and I’m keeping up fine. This is the fifth year I’ve participated so today I’m pleased with myself.

Today I can use the talent I’ve nurtured and I can fill the screen with words. I decide which words are worthy of today.

Today is a spring day and the world around me is changing before my eyes. Everywhere I look I see more green. Today I celebrate this annual re-coloring.

Today brings the chance to tell someone near and dear to me I appreciate them. It’s up to the universe who walks into my world, but it’s up to ME to seek out a special person and remind them of what we mean to each other.

Today is my day and how I use the minutes given me IS my free choice.

Today.

KC Kendricks

http://www.kckendricks.com

_*_*_*_

Once again this year I have to do a little book promo along the way. You won’t know about my books if I don’t tell you about them, right? Today that book is a personal favorite of the author.

T is for Tango in the Night

Jubal Graham is back on the job after a shooter took the life of his long-time partner, and sent him into a coma followed by months of rehab. Determined to have justice, Jubal is focused on finding a killer, not a new romantic entanglement. Ellis Banks, with his smoldering blue eyes and denim-clad swagger is a distraction Jubal can’t afford – or ignore.

Ellis Banks came to Philadelphia to bust a drug operation; one that connects to the same case agency legend Kentuckian Jubal Graham is working. Ellis finds himself drawn to Jubal, but Jubal holds him off. Sure that Jubal is interested, even though he wears his slain lover’s ring, Ellis mounts a determined siege.

Jubal’s surprise at having a suitor develops into a growing affection for Ellis, one clouded with old fears. Fate ripped one lover from his arms, and now Ellis is in the line of fire. Jubal’s courage can protect Ellis, but is it powerful enough to love him?

Tango in the Night is available at online booksellers. 

 KC Kendricks

My home on the web- Between the Keys: 

http://kckendricks.blogspot.com

Visit my bookshelf at: 

https://kckendricks.blogspot.com/p/the-bookshelf-of-kc-kendricks-and-rayne.html

Social media links:

My country life at Holly Tree Manor: hollytreemanor.blogspot.com

Life through the eyes of Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com

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The Passing of September

September 28, 2014

I recall mentioning I thought September would be a busy month. Looking back, I was being a bit naive. The month was busy. It was hectic and I may have brought it on myself. You know the old saying "be careful what you wish for" don't you? I think the universe misunderstood my blog post and thought I needed even more to do. 

This September brought sadness to a day which should have been celebrated. My young cousin passed the day of his second wedding anniversary without his bride, who left this life this past June. There is little any of us can do to ease his grief except stand with him, and this we willingly do. 

We did accomplish much of the outside work. Flower pots and beds are cleared, patio furniture is stored in the shed for the winter, the little pool is rolled up and put away for next year, and a new drainage ditch is dug behind the house. There are two cords of split firewood at the ready. Yes, we did a lot of hard work but looking back it feels more like accomplishment than chore. 

On the writing front..... things have been weird on the writing front. Refer to my statement above about being careful what you wish for. I wanted to spread the KC Kendricks brand, the theory being readers who never heard of me would buy a book and then go looking for my backlist. Sounds reasonable, does it not? So I submitted to the industry acknowledged largest epublisher. Won't do that again... It's been supremely interesting and alarmingly educational. 

The latest installment in Ian Coulter's Amethyst Cove is almost complete. In fact, I should be working on that manuscript right now instead of blogging. (I'm letting my brain rest.) An idea for another story hit me and I banged out about 3K on it while the opening was fresh in my mind. I'm never out of ideas, just time. 

So now I'll leave you with a little promo - Dreams to Sell, book eight of the Men of Marionville series is available. It's a story about a guy who falls for the Realtor who sells him his dream house. I enjoy writing characters who have some maturity about their relationships. 

That's about it on this last Sunday in September 2014. I'm going into the writing cave. It's safe there. See you on the other side! 

KC

http://www.kckendricks.com

http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks

Spring whispers

February 25, 2014

This has been a brutal winter. The mercury dipped to zero and snow, snow and more snow blanketed my part of the world. It seemed to drag down the spirit of everyone around me, and I could, with great empathy, relate to their feelings. 

It wasn't a fun winter for the two adults trapped together in a small house with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. It's a good thing we know when to shut the f*ck up or things could have gotten serious. 

The cat, normally a brave and determined hunter, elected to remain indoors and did with much unhappy wailing constrain himself to the indignity of using his basement litter box. The old, wise dog completed his forays into the white wilderness with amazing speed and agility for a pup his age. I did say he was wise. 

My car, a 2006 Charger that corners on rails and has a top speed of.... um... never mind... was rendered yard art by the snow. With only six inches of clearance I didn't even bother to start the engine with fourteen inches of snow blanketing my long lane. I like the spousal unit's pickup but driving it every day is not my first choice. Compared to the Charger, it wallows like a hippo, but it does push the snow out of the way.

But, wait! There are signs of spring around me! 

The maple trees have pushed out tiny red tips (I'll be sneezing soon). The daffodils and tulips have broken ground and there was a flock of robins in my yard when I arrived home from work yesterday afternoon. Now if I could only spot a crocus in bloom, I'd know for sure spring lurks just one warm day away. 

KC Kendricks
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Family Matters: How It's Not Nice to Prank Your Kids

October 28, 2012

My immediate family is small. I’m an only child in a generation of only children. I have many cousins, but no siblings. Not the case with my beloved. He’s the oldest of five, having two sisters and two brothers. He has two children and six grandchildren, and ten nieces and nephews. His family has a blowout reunion every year. We have quiet little affairs we call get-togethers. It’s all good, though.

A few years back, his oldest grandson completed the Royal Rangers program through church (it reminds me of trying to reinvent the Boy Scouts). Being invited to the award ceremony, we cheerfully went, pleased to be included in this milestone of the youngster's life.

I knew one of my cousins was involved in some program for the boys of his church, but he never shared the minute details. He enjoyed being a leader in the program - great! It made him happy and that’s all I really needed to know. Besides, it was a guy thing, and I do girl things. Usually…

The day of the ceremony my beloved and I walked inside the hall and there stood my cousin in his leader’s uniform. There stood my stepdaughter, waiting for her dad. While her father greeted her, my cousin greeted me with a big hug, then he kept his arm around me.

My stepdaughter’s lovely brown eyes grew to the size of saucers. She looked at me - at my cousin - at my cousin’s wife - at her father. Clueless. Totally clueless. My cousin looked at her and informed her I was his very first girlfriend. I nodded. (I was probably three at the time, and he was six.) To add to her confusion, my cousin’s wife was smiling instead of ripping my head off for snuggling up to her husband. My poor stepdaughter didn’t know what to say when we launched into the “do you remember the time…..?”

Her father finally took pity on her and confessed all. She looked so relieved I almost felt sorry for putting the joke on her. (Note I say ‘almost.’)  We shared the laughter and our family added a joyous new layer to our relationships. 

Today we celebrate the same rite of passage for the third grandson. I’ll greet my stepdaughter and ask her if she’s seen my ‘boyfriend’ anywhere, and we’ll laugh again. I can’t think of a better way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. 

KC
www.kckendricks.com