My
husband loves to garden; you can take the boy off the farm, but you can’t take
the farm out of the boy. Our city garden is about the size of a postage stamp,
but he makes the most of it and it gives him hours of pleasure. We try to keep
the produce we grow as organic as possible and that means creating compost
year-round. Even in the depths of a Canadian winter, we dutifully collect
kitchen waste and make the cold trek through the snow to our compost bins.
Our
composting starts under the sink with our little pail. My husband purchased
this plastic pail online and when it first came, I thought it was ridiculously
small. But I soon learned there are a couple of advantages to its petite size.
It needs to be taken out often which keeps it from getting smelly. I used to
have a much larger container under the sink and unfortunately the food scraps
sometimes started decomposing under the sink. Stinky! Clean up with this pail
is easy because its small size means it fits easily in the kitchen sink and
doesn’t hog all the room. Also, the lid pops off which makes washing a breeze.
In
the winter, we stick with kitchen waste such as vegetable peels, egg shells,
tea bags, and spoiled fruit. These items tend to quickly break down when the
weather warms up. The great thing about winter composting is that everything
freezes so it doesn’t attract animals or pests. There’s no need to add any
brown material like dried leaves.
My
husband doesn’t mind taking the pail out to the bins, but if someone would like
to compost and finds it inconvenient or difficult to get to their compost bins
in the winter, they can set up a temporary container, like a five-gallon pail,
in the garage or at an easy to reach spot just outside their door. Then on
milder days, or in the spring, they can transfer the material to the larger
compost bins.
The
freeze-thaw cycles over the winter help to break down the materials, and they
decompose quickly when spring finally arrives. It always surprises me how fast
the compost thaws. Once that happens, we can begin to add brown material once
again, and soon we’ll have usable material which we can use to amend our
garden soil. And healthy soil means healthy vegetables!
Child of Mine
The Masonville Series
Book One
Jana Richards
Genre: contemporary small-town romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Date of Publication: February 20, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5092-2481-4
ASIN:
Number of pages: 262
Word Count: 64,880
Cover Artist: Rae Monet
Tagline: Is Lauren’s love for Cole stronger than her fear of scandal in her hometown?
Book Description:
Lauren didn't intend to sleep with her brother-in-law Cole on the day of her husband's funeral. But now that she is pregnant, she's not sorry. Cole's given her a baby, a long-wished-for miracle. He's been her friend forever, though she never told him or anyone else how unhappy her marriage to his cheating brother was. And she's afraid to tell the small town that considered her husband a hero that the baby isn't his.
Cole's been in love with Lauren since he was sixteen. It kills him that everyone believes the baby is his dead brother's. All he wants is to claim the baby, and Lauren, as his own. Though she marries him, will Lauren's heart ever be his?
Lauren must tell the truth or risk losing Cole. Is her newly-discovered love for him greater than her fear of scandal in her hometown?
Excerpt
#3 – 585 words:
“We asked you to
come here this evening because we have something we want to tell all of you.
Lauren and I are getting married.”
The room went
deathly quiet. Lauren tightened her grip on his hand. Her face turned pale as
she stared at her family’s stunned expressions. Cole put his arm around her waist,
afraid she might faint.
He needn’t have
worried. She lifted her chin at a defiant angle and turned to face the others.
“Cole and I have
decided this child needs the best possible start in life and that means having
a mother and a father. We’ve always been friends, so what better way to start a
marriage then with friendship?”
Garrett pushed
himself to his feet and came forward. “I think it’s a hell of an idea. You two
will make wonderful parents.”
He enfolded
Lauren in an embrace. Cole heard her murmur her thanks to her brother. “I think
you’ll make a wonderful uncle.”
Charlotte was
next in line. She kissed Lauren’s cheek. “I’m so happy for you, sweetie. When’s
the big day?”
“In a couple of
weeks,” Cole said. “As soon as we can arrange everything.”
Lauren’s
parents, Robert and Grace, also extended their congratulations. If they had
reservations, they kept them to themselves.
Only his mother
remained in her seat, staring at them in disbelief. Cole sat next to her. “What
do you want to say, Ma?”
“You can’t
replace Billy.” She choked out the words.
“I know that.”
He’d known he was second best in her eyes all his life. “I wouldn’t even try.”
“But to marry
his wife, to raise his child? It’s wrong. They don’t belong to you. You always
wanted what belonged to your brother.”
He wanted to
shout at her that the baby was his, that it had nothing to do with Billy. And
Lauren was his, too. He’d loved her first. His brother had never appreciated
what a gem he’d had in her. He’d squandered his marriage the way he’d
squandered the love that had been lavished on him all his life, from his
parents, from Lauren, and even from him.
Instead he
pressed his lips together and said nothing. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and
saw that Lauren stood beside him.
“I know this is
difficult for you, Ella. I know you’re grieving. But I have to raise my child
in the best way I know how. Aside from my brother and sister, Cole is my best
friend in the world. He’s a good man, and I know he’ll be a wonderful father.
You should be very proud of him.”
His mother
stared at Lauren as if she couldn’t believe what she was saying. Her face
twisted. “Don’t you miss Billy at all? Don’t you grieve for him? Nobody
understands. Nobody.”
“Ma.”
He said the word
a little sharper then he’d intended, but at least it got her attention. She looked
up at him in surprise.
“I’m sorry if it
hurts you, but Lauren and I are getting married. We care about one another and
we care about the baby. The three of us are going to be a family. I wish you
could be happy for us.”
Ella dabbed at
her eyes with a tissue. Finally, with a shuddering breath, she turned to look
at him.
“For Billy’s
baby’s sake, I’ll try.”
Billy’s baby.
The pain was
swift and unexpected. If she’d stabbed him through the heart with a dagger it
wouldn’t have hurt as much.
When Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to paper, and they had to end with a happily ever after. She also knew she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then she’s never met a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in lengths ranging from short story to full length novel. Just for fun, she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional dash of the paranormal. Her paranormal romantic suspense “Seeing Things” was a 2008 EPPIE finalist, and in 2018 “Lies and Solace” won Best Contemporary romance in the I Heart Indie contest.
In her life away from writing, Jana is an accountant/admin assistant, a mother to two grown daughters, and a wife to her husband Warren. She enjoys golf, yoga, movies, concerts, travel and reading, not necessarily in that order. She and her husband live in Winnipeg, Canada with their Pug/Terrier cross Lou.
She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JanaRichards_
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/janarichards
Amazon UK Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B002DEVWWG
Newsletter Signup: http://janarichards.com/contact.html#newsletter
Google+ Profile: https://plus.google.com/100820406211390323245
1 comment:
Winona, I'm a day late in commenting, but thank you so much for hosting me during my tour. All the best!
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