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Sunday afternoons in this house: cold ham and Songs of praise and heavy silences. It rushed up at Gina so vividly she could smell it. Everything she'd longed to get away from as a teenager, and thought in some ways she had--yet here she was, even down to the same Sunday-afternoon paranoia that she hadn't wrung enough out of the weekend as Monday approached. And the time ticking inexorably past, metronomed by the carriage clock on the 1950s slate mantelpiece. http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com

Prologue Item: a red cashmere scarf Longhampton, June 2008 Gina wraps her new scarf rightly around her wrist, like a bandage. It's a scarlet cashmere one that she bought on the way home from work two days ago, the color of lipstick and poisoned apples and danger. For something that cost so much, it took no time to buy: she was cold, she'd always wanted a beautiful big cashmere scarf, and the usual sensible voice of caution, reminding her of the gas bill or the council tax, had gone, and in the silence Gina could hear her own voice asking aloud, "Why not?" Berkley, Penguin, Random Thank you. http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com

Bethany House Pub. Pembrooke Park is a mansion which belonged to a family named Pembrooke. Pembrooke Park is in England. The time is the Nineteenth Century. Each person has a personal reason to return to Pembrooke Park. For those who are already living there, Pembrooke Park is like a living place that they pay tribute to each day by telling about hauntings and treasure. All have one thing in common. There is a need to make peace with the past. This is Christian Fiction at its best. Julie Klassen is an author with an extraordinary ability to make the past come alive. There are fine details that can not go unnoticed: a dollhouse, a green cloaked man or just his skull, a rusty gun, letters and journal entries placed between bricks in a wall, an emerald necklace and even a secret room. What really stays with me is the power of a scandal to hurt or destroy people. It hurts the people directly involved and those who just like a nicely packaged piece of gossip each morning with their c

Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt lived from 1842-1919. He influenced many lay people and religious leaders during his time. We, in America, are not as acquainted with his name and his inspiring writings. Blumhardt is known for his short prayers which are full of detail and always offer words of thanks. It's great to know that The Lord hears short prayers as well as lengthy prayers. At the beginning of each prayer is a scripture. There are also black and white sketches before each month in the year. There is a lighted  room at the top of a house. Each black and white sketch gives an idea of the season. For example, for January there is snow. For April,  there is a light breeze blowing the curtains. In this sketch the moon seems to shine although there is not any color. In November, there are leaves falling. These tiny black and white sketches help to center the mind on God and His creation. Also, in the beginning there is a fine biography about Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt. The

2) Write a poem using three of the following words: expensive, lampshade, bruise, convincing.   A Love Gift Bruise his lips with a kiss. Then, I am more likely to receive the expensive Chinese silk lampshade.

A Christmas Haiku A snowman in red mittens stands in my yard now. Life warm with cocoa. (Fifteen Minutes of Fiction)

Snowflakes float through the air like microscopic angels. Each one designed by God's hand. A million, trillion and one upon my scarf flutters like a cardinal's flapping wing. Psalm 74:17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.NIV topverses.com/about/winter