This heartwarming novella invites readers to experience Christmas in Victorian Scotland, as the chill of a family misunderstanding gives way to the warmth of forgiveness.
“A wonderful story of redemption and restoration that will warm your heart during the Christmas season—or any time of year!” —Francine Rivers, best-selling author of Redeeming Love Wrapped in a cloud of steam, the engine rolled to a stop, the screech of metal against metal filling the frosty air. Snow blew across the railway platform and around Meg’s calfskin walking boots. The weather definitely was not improving. She ordered tea with milk and sugar, eying the currant buns and sweet mincemeat tarts displayed beneath a bell jar. Later, perhaps, when her appetite returned. At the moment her stomach was twisted into a knot. “Anything else for you?” the cashier asked as she handed over the tea, steaming and fragrant. Meg was surprised to find her fingers trembling when she lifted the cup. “All I want is a safe journey home.” “On a day like this?” the round-faced woman exclaimed. “None but the Almighty can promise you that, lass.” “A Wreath of Snow glows with warmth, charm, and grace. A wonderful read.” —BJ HOFF, author of The Riverhaven Years series Christmas Eve 1894 All Margaret Campbell wants for Christmas is a safe journey home. When her plans for a festive holiday with her family in Stirling crumble beneath the weight of her brother’s bitterness, the young schoolteacher wants nothing more than to return to the students she loves and the town house she calls home. Then an unexpected detour places her in the path of Gordon Shaw, a handsome newspaperman from Glasgow, who struggles under a burden of remorse and shame. When the secret of their shared history is revealed, will it leave them tangled in a knot of regret? Or might their past hold the threads that will bind their future together? As warm as a woolen scarf on a cold winter’s eve, A Wreath of Snow is a tender story of love and forgiveness, wrapped in a celebration of all things Scottish, all things Victorian, and, especially, all things Christmas.
A hands-on gardener, Henry Homeyer gives practical advice on how to garden, whether building a hot box, transplanting peonies, defeating the deer, growing ladyslipper orchids and shiitake mushrooms, or keeping the birds out of the berry bushes. Each month covers a range of topics relevant to the season: starting seedlings, edging and mulching, gardening with children, getting rid of invasive plants, pruning , planting shrubs for attracting and feeding birds, putting the garden to bed, growing houseplants, . . . These are just a few of Homeyer's 69 short "reflections and observations" on matters of interest to amateur, dedicated, and armchair gardeners alike. Homeyer grew up in the 1950s learning about organic gardening from a grandfather who used manure tea and compost, not 10-10-10, herbicides, and DDT. For him, organic gardening is not a political position, but a common sense approach to having the best soil and the healthiest plants. Of special relevance to denizens of zones 3-5, the climatic belt which includes New England and runs across southern Canada and west to the Rockies, each of the twelve chapters (one for each month) contains several pieces combining technical information, practical tips, personal reflections, and more than a little humor. An unusual feature is Homeyer's interviews with other gardeners. Meet Joe Mooney, the aging wizard of turf at Fenway Park. Spend an afternoon in the garden with Jamaica Kincaid. Visit Jean and Wes Cate, growers of heirloom vegetables at Fox Run Farm. Learn more about the White House gardens from chief horticulturist Dale Haney. Or marvel at Marguerite Tewksbury, an 85-year-old organic gardener who single-handedly runs a farm stand, drives her 1950 Ford Ferguson tractor, and weeds her 6,000-square-foot vegetable patch with a full-sized rototiller. "She doesn't say that keeping active and eating organically keeps her healthy and vigorous, but I have a feeling that it does," writes Homeyer.