The Country Life

Yes, I know I've been amiss about blogging. But when you RETIRE you think life will get easier. Not so in my case. Moving from a small house in NJ to a 100 ac farm with 2 houses has become an odyssey in life. Every morning (yes, 7 days a week) it's up a 6 a.m. Then I stagger out, feed 3 grumpy horses, stagger back in and eat my breakfast. After doing the dishes, I pull on the muck boots, turn out the horses (weather permitting) and then muck out stalls. Then it's on to farm chores- which could be anything ranging from picking up rocks, doing laundry, pulling weeds, moving hay, mowing grass, cleaning up the pond, catching minnows, and a host of other things. Then, in the afternoon, the horses are brought in, fed, then we eat dinner, and about 8 p.m. they get mucked out again before bed (who wants to sleep in a shitty bed?). Then I get a shower and collapse in bed- just to do it all over again the next day. Yes, the hours are long, but in time I figure it'll be rewarding- especially if we can sell some hay!

No wonder I've barely had time to get the third book in the Dragonslayer's series edited and back to Joyce. I'm hoping to have it out at the MWSA conference the end of Sept. Fingers crossed on that one.

I can't say country life is right for everyone, but I seem to be making a go of it. A trip into town (London, KY) becomes a real treat, especially if we have lunch at the Big Boy. Hmm, the simple things in life matter more now. A nice dinner is a trip to McKee and a catfish platter at Opal's diner. A day of shopping is Super Walmart. And for the farm side of shopping- Tractor Supply. Flea Land and the Livestock Auction provide other outlets of entertainment. I haven't watched TV in over a month, and I really don't miss it. I will say finding a good rock station on the radio is a challenge- you are well reminded that you're living in the Bible Belt with all the country and christian stations, but we have manged to find a couple oldies rock stations that come in pretty good up in the hills.

As far as amenities goes, we got a sturdy roof over our head (the leaks have been fixed), food in our bellies, and 100 acres of beauty to gaze upon. Internet isn't too bad- DSL, and we do have a house phone (no, it's not on a pole outside the house-- but we are looking for one!). We have indoor plumbing, and nice central heat and air. So I don't exactly consider this roughing it.

The end of September, I'll be heading to Pittsburgh for the MWSA convention (Military Writers Society of America) and hopefully will be picking up an award for Project: Dragonslayers. I hope to meet lots of people and do my best to get my name out there. I got lots of great stories wanting to get out of my brain, it's just finding the time in between running the farm to get them down. But I'm sure this change in life will settle down and I'll find time. I'm not really concerned with sales- although I won't argue them! Getting the farm up and running cost us over $71,000 in equipment. Yeah, some book sales would help out.

 Well, until next time my creatively obsessed friends...

Cheers,
Kathy

P.S. if anyone wants to follow me on Twitter: sturgeon3736