Blossom In Winter Frost In Spring

It is April 1948 and the Second World War had been over for two and a half years. Britain was trying to get back to normal, but food and clothes were still being rationed and almost every street in London had its own bomb site, added to which, everything was in short supply, unemployment was high and life was still very difficult and hard for everyone. One ex-serviceman’s life was much like another’s; glad to be alive and free, but beset by guilt and sadness for everything that happened to them in the war and filled with bitterness about the way they had been treated since it ended. Arnold Smith is typical of a soldier who eventually came home, but could not settle back into the old routine, although he had tried hard to, for the last two years. When his sweetheart gave him the bad news that she had found someone else, it was the final straw, so he packed a few things in a bag, got a bus to London's, Paddington railway station and bought a ticket for the next train out. He was not even too sure of where it was going, but he was just pleased that it was going somewhere new! The book follows Arnold to a new life with new people, but the past keeps catching up with him. Whilst romance and adventure are present, they simply give Arnold and his friends the opportunity to live life to the full and put the past behind them, or to allow grief and self pity to blind them to whatever new opportunities it had in store for them.

The Sport of Bowls, or to be more precise, Lawn Bowls, as played in many countries throughout the world, gives a lot of pleasure, sporting challenge and comradeship to a great many people of all ages and from all backgrounds. Whilst this story is completely fictional it is based on some similar events which I and my bowling friends have experienced for ourselves in both Australia and the UK. The story follows two main characters as they participate in an 'Open Pairs' competition and are then joined by another friend for a 'Triples' event and finally by a fourth friend for two 'Open Fours' tournaments. We follow the highs and lows which bowls can bring, along with the good humour and banter which is ever present on the Bowling Green. Some say that Lawn Bowls is a game for the older generation, but I prefer to think of it as a game for all generations, but in which the older generation can still hold their own (well sometimes at least). I hope this book makes you laugh and entices you to try the wonderful game of Lawn Bowls for yourselves. The cover photograph of the team was taken by - Frank Rowe

The New Testament book of James, the Lord Jesus’s brother, has always been one of my favorite books in the whole Bible, as in my opinion, it gives a clear picture of how we should function as individual Christian believers and how believers and the local church or fellowship that they are part of should interact together. During the summer of 2016, I felt prompted to write my own paraphrase of the book of James, based on the King James Version of the Bible, and then in early December, after a conversation with a friend of mine at church, I felt the time was right to write my own commentary on James with language and examples from the modern era. All Bible references in this book are once again my own paraphrase based on the King James Version of the Bible. I hope you find this book challenging, stimulating, and helpful in your Christian walk and that it encourages you to get to know the Bible more deeply in the future. Lucidus Smith

This is the final book in the series about two people, Mac Smith and Carice Offstrop, who have set up an inquiry agency together in Auckland, New Zealand. Mac and his wife, Deborah, who is pregnant with her first child, have been married for just over a year, and Carice is engaged to Desmond, who manages a hotel in Auckland. Their office is located above the Moray Restaurant, which is situated in the business centre of Auckland. Living in an attic bedroom above the office with his dog, Holborn, is Professor Tymn, who lectures at Auckland University. Mac and Deborah have become friends with a couple named Caspar and Phoebe who own a farm near Auckland and who have involved them in their search for a lost gold mine in South Island, which they believe is located in Skippers Canyon. While solving their unusual cases, Mac has been reunited with an old friend from military intelligence who continually lures him back into the world of espionage, intrigue, and betrayal, where his life is often at risk. This exciting finale contains several twists that not even the author saw coming and will keep you reading late into the night.

The bouquet-building bible gardeners have been waiting for! Learn the ins and outs of growing gorgeous blooms at home with professional flower farmer Lisa Mason Ziegler of @gardenersworkshopfarm. Whether you’re cultivating fresh-cut bouquets for yourself, family, and friends or for others on a small commercial scale, you’ll go from sowing seeds to cutting armloads of colorful, long-lasting blooms with ease. Lisa’s unique approach and easy-to-follow advice on multi-season planting and harvesting uses the natural warm and cool weather cycles present in almost all growing regions to maximize cut flower production. This logical and nature-driven method is also a signature hallmark of her super-successful online flower-farming courses, and it’s one that translates equally well to both small urban backyards and large rural flower farms. Growing your own cut flowers means you can avoid bouquets laden with pesticides (who wants that on their wedding day?) and you can skip the trips to your local flower shop or grocery store to pay big bucks for a bouquet that has racked up more airline miles than you could ever hope to. Included in this essential cut flower growing handbook are: 50 extensive flower profiles divided into their preferred season of growth. Cool-weather favorites include poppies, snapdragons, and bells of Ireland. Warm-season beauties include zinnias, sunflowers, and celosia. Planting tips for a succession of blooms that carry over from one growing season to the next without any additional work from you. Illustrations showing how to pinch plants for more blooms, how to make your cuts, how to erect support netting to keep your flowers straight and upright, how to dig a planting bed, and more. Over 200 photographs of the best cut flowers for home gardeners to grow, the most effective methods for their care, and the most productive ways to organize them in the garden. Advice on caring for a cutting garden, locating the best planting site, starting plants from seed, making the harvest, prolonging the life of your cut flowers, and so much more! The Cut Flower Handbook is the perfect balance of inspiration and education for anyone interested in bringing more beauty into their lives by growing cut flowers at home.

All the info you need to be a better gardener, whether you’re just starting out or needing to brush up on your skills. You don’t have to have a green thumb to have a healthy thriving garden! Inside The Beginner’s Guide to Gardening, you’ll learn: Skills and Techniques: Valuable expert guide to developing new gardens and taking care of those you already have Getting Started: How to choose healthy plants and build productive soil Garden Care: Easy-to-follow, time-saving methods and the least toxic disease & pest controls Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs: Advice on growing, propagating, and caring for flowers in containers and the garden, with plant encyclopedias Roses: How to select, grow, and prune healthy roses, as well as control pests & diseases Ground Covers, Trees, Shrubs: Fundamentals on planting, growing, and maintaining, plus detailed plant directories Vegetables and Herbs: Introduction to growing and care, including informative directories Specialty Gardens: Basics on creating water gardens, butterfly gardens, and gardens for birds Few pastimes are as rewarding as gardening. With a little bit of ground and a few seeds or plants, anyone can be a gardener, and almost any collection of plants can be a garden. Gardening can be a refreshingly simple activity in an increasingly complex world. But you’ll have greater success and more fun if you start with an understanding of basic gardening practices. The techniques in this book are easy to follow and suitable for all gardeners—from beginners to advanced. Ecologically friendly methods are included so that you can create a garden that eventually helps to sustain itself. The tools and materials you’ll need are included with each step-by-step project, and each is rated for difficulty. With well over three hundred photos and illustrations to guide you through each step of the process, this is your essential starter’s guide to beginning gardening!