Frustration and The Ides of March

 How to explain what's going on? Caesar, beware the Ides of March! Wait...wasn't that a pop group back in the late 1960s or early 1970s? Yes, it was. Look 'em up. They had, as far as I know, one hit entitled Vehicle. It's on my playlist. 

This time of year feels like a dead zone. I can't get outside because it's too windy which makes it too chilly. It's driving me crazy, too. I have things to do to ready my little garden space, things I WANT to do. And one can only do so much housework and laundry. Then there's the fact that since I can't get outside, I can't make a video. It's very frustrating. 

Even Deuce is feeling it. The dog is clearly bored. It's too cold for an old dog to go for a long walk because he wants to wade in the creek. NO. I can't allow that. His arthritis would flare up. So we nap. We are well caught up on our sleep. 

But I live in hope. March is half over. It's time to start seeds. May first is six weeks out - the time young plants can be put in pots, buckets, and planters for the season. And here I sit - blogging. I really am in a funk I do not want to be in. 

I think time is the only cure. Once this next batch of cold weather is over, I think I can get going with everything. 

Trust me. I can barely contain my excitement. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manon/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, weather, spring, gardening, frustration, country lifestyle, rural living, seedlings, black Lab Retriever, a writer's life

Is this year off to a good start? Not really...

What have I accomplished so far in this new year? Not much. It's been too freakin' cold to do more than take the dog outside a few times a day and feed the woodstove. I've worked on a manuscript and I've made a few videos. I'm not sure that's enough, but then again, I did say that I would REST during the month of January. 

It's harder than I thought. 

Today, finally, we were gifted with honest-to-goodness sunshine! Around two o'clock, Deuce and I walked down to the lower stone fence to get a good look at a widow maker. That's slang for when the top of a tree snaps off and then hangs up there instead of falling. There is no way we can safely get that to the ground. All we can do is stay alert when in the vicinity and wait for it to fall. Once it's on the ground, we can harvest the tree trunk. 

Thanks to the cold weather, my computer is living in my living room. I'm not too fond of this arrangement. I miss my sunroom office, but it's just too cold out there this year. It did help me decide to order a new laptop, though. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow unless I screwed up the acceptance thingee on the stupid app I did not want to sign up for. As soon as it arrives, I'm dumping that crap and everything associated with it. 

I know we're only three weeks into the new year, but I'm not impressed. I don't know what I'd hoped for, but I know it's not this dull, boring stretch of days. I have just one question: Is it spring yet?

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, winter weather, new year, laptops, widow maker, videos, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life

Holly Tree Manor turns six

Holly Tree Manor turns six years old today. Never did I think I'd travel some of the roads I've traversed. There have been a lot of changes in my life since that fateful day in 2019 when I started the Holly Tree Manor blog. 

I retired on wonderful terms from my employer in May 2022. Ron passed in March of 2024. My stepfather passed. My mother is in a home with Alzheimer's Disease. Family I was unsure of have embraced me after years of very little contact. I'm reminded of the words of a song, "what a long, strange trip it's been." 

I look back at all the changes in my life, and I'm sure of only one thing. There is no where else on earth I would rather be than right here on my little manor. No where.

The trip continues. Come along with me. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, anniversary, country lifestyle, rural living, a writer's life, heaven on earth, seasons, life changes, family, friends

Quick Garden Tour, Cleanup, and a New Greenstalk

The 2025 gardening season is winding down. Was it a huge success? Not really. The extreme heat took a toll on a lot of things, but the Bell peppers thrived. The Roma tomatoes did okay, too, even flowering after ninety-degree days. I even avoided the blossom end rot this year. 

I've harvested basil to make and freeze Pesto, canned tomatoes, and made two batches of stevia. I've dehydrated lemon balm and echinacea, and even dried some patchouli. And I've added another Greenstalk for strawberries. 

Along the way this summer, I've been making videos! I love having a video record of what's been going on here at Holly Tree Manor. 

So check out my YouTube channel, Holly Tree Manor with KC Kendricks to SEE what's been going on. And if you would, please like and subscribe to help the channel grow. I want to be an old, old woman with a bunch of videos to prove to old, old men that yes, I did indeed know how to operate a John Deere tractor. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Holly Tree Manor, KC Kendricks, YouTube, gardening, John Deere 1023, Greenstalk, container gardening, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life, woven weed cloth

I had to do it - stewed tomatoes

Based on the performance of the tomatoes in my garden over the last several years, I did not expect to have a big harvest this year. And that was fine with me. My late husband was a big fan of seasonal bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches if the tomatoes were fresh from the garden. Enough was produced to keep him happily munching on BLTs and not much beyond that. This year is different.

First off, I only planted five plants. At this point, I'm saying thank God! Those five Roma plants are really outdoing themselves. Based on the last several seasons, I figured I'd get enough for the table but not enough to process. 

Wrong. This morning I processed eight three-quarter-pints of stewed tomatoes, and I expect I'll have enough to do another batch before the season ends. 

I do love those three-quarter-pint jars. I wish they were more readily available. I think each jar will be just enough for me to get two servings. That's perfect. I may even try a few half-pint jars since I have a lot of those empty at the moment. 

I'm wondering if the addition of potash to the raised bed I planted the tomatoes in has made the difference. There has not been even one instance of blossom end rot this year, and that is my tomato nemesis. 

The heat this summer has been brutal, and it has effected the garden. But I will persist and be happy for all that I did get. It's also time to plant for late fall harvest, something I've rarely done. Maybe I'll have success with that in 2025. We plant in hope. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, gardening, home food preservation, tomatoes, blossom end rot, rural living, a writer's life, fall planting

Update over at BTK

 

There's a bit of an update over at Between the Keys. It's one of those posts that has a bit about writing, gardening, and life. Yeah, I may have rambled all over the place. 

Check it out at https://kckendricks.blogspot.com/2025/08/i-didnt-expect-this.html

Seeing is believing!

Have you ever started something and then wondered why you did? I'm sort of at that point with the recent spate of videos I've posted at https://youtube.com/kckendricks. I'm having fun (sort of) learning to edit a cohesive video so that's a good thing. I've joked I'm going to be ninety years old in the nursing home and pulling up these vids to prove to the old codgers I really did operate a John Deere tractor and I really did use a chainsaw. Ha ha. 

But seriously, a conversation with some friends got me to thinking. Myself and another member of our "dinner group" live alone, and we are not afraid to cut down a tree and chop firewood for ourselves. Several other group members have no clue about how to garden, how to can food, how to take their car in for service. They just don't know where to start. I want these videos to show women in my age group that they can do it. 

So what have I been recording?

Using the Brush Crusher on the John Deere tractor to remove fallen tree limbs, brush, to aid cutting firewood, and using the backhoe attachment to dig out stumps and a clothesline post among other things. I'm going to run out of ambition to keep making videos long before I run out of projects. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUYFmD6rG3c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZLTCa_x19g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVIhb51F6hE

Of course, I manage to get video-bombed by Deuce at least once per video. 

I try hard to not allow myself to get annoyed by women who think they can't do for themselves. So many times it's conditioning from their parents. You can take care of yourself. I'm walking proof of that. I had good examples of strong, self-sufficient women to guide me. I had a husband who believed it was part of his duty as a husband to teach me all that he could. His life was my biggest blessing. 

Sooooo, if you'd like to see me in action, visit the YouTube channel. If nothing else, you'll get a laugh or three as I blunder my way through projects here at Holly Tree Manor.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, John Deere 1023, strong women, self-sufficient, tractors, chainsaws, gardening, cooking, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life, greenhouse, YouTube channel

A good muffin recipe is a good buttermilk muffin recipe!

I have a basic muffin recipe I got from... I have no clue where I got. It's been too long ago.  It's the kind of recipe where once you have the batter made you can add whatever you want to it. I like to add one of the following:

• cranberries
• cranberries and white chocolate chips
• almonds
• blueberries
• chocolate chips
• mint chocolate chips
• butterscotch chips

These are easy to make, too. 

• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or plain milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon baking POWDER
• 2 cups flour
• your choice of goodies

Get the batter into the muffin tins, bake at 425F for 7 minutes, then turn the heat back to 350F and bake for another 13 - 15 minutes. You know your oven. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR until the time is up. Cool, eat, or freeze. 

I like to make two batches and freeze them, and they freeze perfectly. A muffin is a good breakfast or late night snack (sometimes). 

There you have it. It's time to get the second batch out of the oven. Enjoy!

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, rural living, baking, muffins, country lifestyle, convenience food, recipes, a writer's life, chocolate chips

A most unusual visitor

Living on the side of a mountain means I share my space with a host of critters. There are deer, foxes, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, possums, turkey, numerous birds including hawks and owls, the occasional coyote, snakes, turtles, frogs, toads, and salamanders. And yes, there are fish and such in the creek. But this morning there was a first - a SNAPPING turtle in the yard. Box turtles are the norm.

Being that there is a creek nearby, seeing the occasional snapper isn't too rare. Seeing one strolling (?) through my yard is something else. 

It came across the front yard, through the west forty (where the wood yard is) and down over the hill. I think it was lost. The creek is in the exact opposite direction. 

Speaking of directions, I tried to tell it to turn around and go back, but it didn't listen to me. It must be a male. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, snapping turtles, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life, wildlife, KC Kendricks, unusual sightings, reptiles

The Old Spring

I grew up in my maternal grandparent's house. My parents lived with them until I was eight, and then they bought their own house about a mile away. I don't know why because I swear all we did was sleep there. Weekends were spent at the grandparent's place. After school, I rode my bike to my grandparent's house. When we cousins wanted to "camp out," it was in our grandparent's meadow. That's where the action was. 

Growing up, I didn't think it was odd that my grandparent's water came from a spring. I just know that a lot of family members would bring a jug and take some spring water home with them to make iced tea, my mother included. These days, heaven only knows what has leached into the water, and we don't drink it. There are houses above it now. Back then, there was only forest. 

The picture is the inside of the spring. My grandfather walled it up, dug out the bottom for a reservoir, and eventually installed a reinforced concrete roof. This is how the spring looks today. 

I'm very glad that the cousin who got the homeplace didn't fill in the spring. Pop's roof is still intact and the water still flows into the spring branch and down to the creek. We don't use it any longer, but it's there if my cousin wants to water his grass. 

I suppose it's rather unremarkable, but it's a memory from my youth. I thought I'd share.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, rural living, country lifestyle, KC Kendricks, grandparents, old ways, spring water, changing times, safe drinking water

Sometimes cheap ideas look good - new decor items

Have you ever gotten a notion to do something you would have done over thirty years ago? Yeah, me, too. 

I'm not complaining, but living with a man is living with compromises. Take my kitchen, for example. The Lord of the Manor had differing opinions on what should be displayed on the island. He wanted a knife block so he could grab a knife when he needed one. Same for the Kitchen Aid mixer. It had to sit on the island, not in a cabinet. I wanted the island to have a cleaner appearance, but it wasn't a battle I chose to fight. 

Now, sadly, with his passing, I can please myself. I think one simple décor element is all the island needs. It's less to move when I need the entire work surface. 

I was at the Dollar Tree and saw small metal planters that look like little buckets. I wasn't sure what I'd do with them, but I got three. Fast forward to the approaching summer, and my desire to have something different than silk florals in a vase. I saw a package of succulents and the light bulb went on. 

Sometimes decorating on the cheap really works. These will be fine until it's time to celebrate autumn. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, decorating, country lifestyle, rural living, Dollar Tree finds, KC Kendricks, a writer's life, simple things, choose your battles, granite countertops, succulents 

The family plan?

I really don't plant my garden on the family plan. I simply share if I have enough to share. This rationale escapes a few family members. Well, okay, only ONE family member.

At a recent family gathering, I was asked if I planted a garden this year, and if I did, what did I plant? When I told her I planted Bell peppers, she jumped on the "gimme" train. I told her, with the appropriate amount of sadness, that last year I had four pepper plants and I got ONE pepper. This didn't make an impact.

I feel like my pepper harvest is now doomed. Or jinxed. Something. 

Gardening is intensive work. The seeds are planted, then the sprouts are transplanted to larger individual pots to grow. Soil is amended with expensive fertilizers. Young plants are replanted yet again in their permanent location. Pest controls are implemented. Watering and weeding are daily chores. If there is produce to harvest, it goes on for at least a month. 

And you want something for free? 

It's not that I don't enjoy sharing my harvest - just not with anyone who EXPECTS me to share.

There is a difference.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, gardening, Bell peppers, produce sharing, managing expectations, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life, m/m romance 

Didn't plan on having this work to do

In the previous post I mentioned we were hit by a big wind during the night that caused minor damage to the deer barriers around the garden. It also snapped the top out of a cherry tree. Thankfully, this tree was not near the house, but it did fall across my tractor path. 

I wasn't planning on having this clean up to do, but it's not going to be a difficult job. I have a Milwaukee chainsaw that runs on batteries, and I made sure the batteries are charged. I'll take the John Deere 1023 over and start cutting and clearing. When I've used up the juice in the four batteries I have, I'll move on to what I actually did have planned for today - mowing and moving the remainder of the seedlings to the greenhouse. 

It's going to take several days to completely cut this downed cherry into firewood rounds. I'm okay with that. Running on battery power will keep me from working with the chainsaw for too long and getting tired. Running a saw when tired is not a good idea. And being retired, I have no need to remove this tree in one day. There is plenty of room to maneuver the tractor around it. 

Do you know what will keep me focused on the task at hand? Cherry is excellent firewood and it dries, or seasons, fast enough that come next January I can begin to burn it. That's just in time for what is typically our cold stretch. 

Life on the manor requires some hard work, but rarely is anything a singular endeavor. Every "chore" reaps multiple rewards. Processing this tree will be great exercise and will keep me warm next winter. I think it's win-win. Except for the tree, of course. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, cherry tree, John Deere 1023, Milwaukee M18, firewood, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life

It's a wind mystery

Last night, between midnight and two, we were grazed by a fast moving storm system. It didn't cause much damage on the manor, only snapping the top out of a cherry tree that was slated for firewood. The cousin and I knew the tree had some issues, and snapping off in a storm proved us correct. Having the top on the ground makes harvesting it a lot safer, so I'm good with that. 

The other "damage" is a bit more mysterious. The wind knocked over a deer barrier. Why mysterious? The deer barrier is constructed out of 2x4 exterior grade lumber. It's heavy. And there were 5-gallon buckets full of dirt sitting on its feet. 

This isn't the first time a barrier has been blown over. It happened to a different one last fall. I didn't think much of it at the time, believing it to be a freak occurrence and nothing more. Now that it has happened a second time, I need to apply some additional measures to keep the deer barriers in place. I ordered a pack of heavy-duty stakes and will drill a hole in each base and pound one stake into the ground. That should help anchor it along with the buckets. 

The really freaky thing is the red plastic flower pot in the foreground of the picture. If the wind was violent enough to knock over the deer barrier, why didn't that empty plastic pot fly away?

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, high wind damage, gardening, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life, security measures, white-tailed deer, flower pots, freak weather events

Where are the hostas?

 

Where did three of the hostas go? No need to answer. I know. The damn deer got them last fall. 

It amazes me the deer will come in this close to the patio. The deer coming up is also how the one screen got ripped out.  I can't blame Deuce for getting excited, and replacing the screen was a cheap and easy fix. But dammit! That deer killed three of my hosta plants!

The good news is that the remaining three plants are in need of being separated. I'll do that during our next warm day. Today it's very breezy and the air has a cold edge, reminding me spring and winter are still conversing with each other. (She writes that tongue-in-cheek.) The pictures don't show up all that well, but there are three clumps of the hosta up where the only tulips on the manor are blooming. 

I wasn't planning on getting the strip along the walk mulched this week, but one of the big box home improvement stores had 2cu bags of mulch on sale five bags for ten dollars. Experience told me I needed four bags for this area. Yes, I got five because there are no shortage of places that can use a hit of mulch. 

It's one more thing to cross off my Spring To Do List. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, rural living, gardening, mulch, hosta, spring chores, breezy weather, a writer's life, home improvement sale, white-tailed deer damage, Deuce's Day

Hard work can make you happy

I posted an entry over at Between the Keys about a yearly chore that needs done. It's not a big deal - until you start pulling up weeds. 

The area at the gable end of my house does have a woven weed barrier down. I got a roll of the good stuff from Grower's Solutions. It does stop weeds from coming up from beneath it, but it doesn't stop weeds and grass from putting down shallow roots in the pea gravel. Of course, shallow roots are easier to dislodge. One must simply get to work. 

I'm happy to have the area cleaned up. I much prefer arriving home to a neatly tended area that is virtually weed-free. It helps keep me happy.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, rural living, weeding, gardening, weed barrier, a writer's life, country lifestyle, Grower's Solutions

Squirrels - the new foe

I've been actively planning steps to defend my little garden from the deer, but I think I have a worse nemesis - the gray squirrel. 

Every day I walk over to the garden spot to check on the progress of the strawberries. They're doing great, by the way. A few days ago I discovered a squirrel had been digging in a few of the buckets. What the fuck?  Seriously???

I'm not sure how to combat these fancy rats. Shoot them, for sure, but I don't eat squirrel. Yes, I live at the gateway to Appalachia, but squirrel is not on the menu. 

This row of buckets is where I planned to plant Bell peppers. That's still the plan, but I need a fuzzy-tailed rat deterrent. Maybe something that flutters in the breeze will do the trick. 

People say that red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper will deter squirrels. I worry that they will irritate Deuce's eyes and nose if they are scattered about in a liberal measure. 

I'll be pondering this situation for the next few days. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, gardening, white-tailed deer, gray squirrel, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life, garden pests 

 

Damn the deer!!

My area has a big white-tailed deer problem. No joke. When I was a girl, we rarely saw a deer. Now you can't avoid them. I've had as many as seventeen in a group grazing in my front yard. I think DNR needs to schedule a cull because these animals are starving and inbreeding. It's evident in the shrinking size of the animals. 

It takes some serious counter-measures to thwart these creatures. Last spring I got eight strawberry plants from a local nursery and last fall a deer ate them to the ground. I covered the bed for the winter with leaves anyway. Plants are amazing and this spring I found at least thirty runners under the leaves. They've been transplanted into a second Greenstalk. The original eight plants are also doing well. I won't get much of a strawberry harvest this June, but I'll get a few to nibble on while I'm in the garden area. 

I've read that deer have very poor depth perception. To take advantage of that, I'm placing electric fence poles and T-posts outside the barricades. I also ordered a new 10x12 greenhouse and I plan to situate the frame from the old greenhouse as a barrier. My garden will be smaller this year since I'm on my own, but even if it was huge, I don't want to feed the deer.

I lost countless daylilies to the deer over the years. I had them in strips along the edge of the yard and they are all gone now. It's the same for the hosta. The deer even come up to the front porch and eat the rosebushes. 

The deer are a major problem. I may need to learn to cook venison. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, white-tailed deer, strawberries, Greenstalk, gardening, venison, rural living, country lifestyle, counter-measures, a writer's life

Sprouts!! Lookee lookee!

 It's official! My 2025 garden is growing. Seeds have sprouted! 

It's not much at the moment. Two green cabbage varieties and one red, plus one of the basil seed packets. It's a lot more cabbage than I'll need, but I can give some away when the time comes. My cousin next door likes cabbage and Cole slaw so there we go. 

As for the basil, this is just a start. I love pesto so the plan is to make a BUNCH of it this year and freeze it. I used the last of what I made in 2024 months ago, so I need to be on it this season. 

I'm ready to begin work in my garden but the weather is not helping. It's chilly and windy outside - not the weather I want to work in outside. But it has not stopped me from planning my garden and making a "plan of attack" to ready the raised beds, refresh the grow buckets, and set the second Greenstalk in its 2025 location. I also have a new greenhouse to set up and I need to move the old greenhouse frame to a location where I can zip tie shade cloth to in later in the year when the plants need a break from the solar maximum. 

Today is the day we set our clocks ahead before we go to bed, and I'm looking forward to longer daylight in the evenings. That will help me get things done. There's more on that over a Between the Keys. 

Things to do, things to do, but I think the only thing I'll really accomplish on this windy afternoon is some writing. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, gardening, rural living, cabbage, basil, greenhouse, country lifestyle, garden planning, organization, a writer's life, KC Kendricks

Making soup and waiting for snow

A couple of days ago, as we waited to see what Winter Storm Blair would bring us, I was at loose ends. I'd done everything outside to prepare what I could, and I keep my inner spaces tidy, so that left cooking. I made the best batch of potato soup EVER!

The Lord of the Manor didn't care much for potato soup and so it wasn't part of our regular menu rotation. When I did make it, it was a bit bland to suit his taste. That man would take leftover potato soup, drain off the broth, and mash the potatoes. The gospel according to Ron said potatoes should be mashed or fried. Well....... I like soup! 

Anyway, I made the soup with onions, celery, rosemary, turmeric, parsley, milk, and butter.  It was delish! I ate a serving while seated on the sofa watching it snow. 

Ah, the snow. Winter Storm Blair. 

The Weather Channel predicted a snowmageddon for us with up to 18 inches of snow with at least a half an inch of ice. It was no surprise it didn't happen, but the exercise in preparedness wasn't wasted. 

The generator was started and my cousin noted I should replace the pull cord as it's getting worn. He also suggested a new spark plug. This will happen in the spring when the mowers are serviced. I also added a notation on my calendar to start the generator every five weeks to keep the motor lubed. 

The snow makes my woods lovely, and I've enjoyed observing the birds, but I'm ready for it to melt. One good snow a year is all I need. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, Winter Storm Blair, potato soup, rural living, a writer's life, generators, organization, snow birds, country lifestyle, cooking, preparedness