The Love In Bloom Extravaganza will feature an author a day from 3/30 – 5/16/12. Daily book give aways and a GRAND PRIZE of a Nook Touch or Kindle Touch ($99 gift cert for INT) See form at end of post for details.
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Dirty Hands Mean a Cleaned-out Mind
In Maryland , we experience all four weather seasons and winter can be brutal. So when spring finally arrives, it’s a welcome and exciting time. After snow, ice, wind and bitter-cold nights, the mild air and green surroundings that spring brings beckons everyone outside to their gardens.
There’s something about gardening—getting your hands dirty, pulling out dead plants, replacing with new life—that’s like meditation. It’s not exactly a mindless task because you have to pay attention to what you’re doing (pull the dandelions out, but don’t pull the tulips!). Still, the slow work pace, and renewed beauty are relaxing in a very Zen-like way.
My favorite gardening activity is starting vegetable seeds indoors in preparation for spring. Putting a seed in a small pot of dirt, watching it grow over the months from a tiny sprout, to a four-foot tall tomato plant, to a lush fruit-bearing bush, is a small miracle. A tiny seed! With a little love and attention, it provides nourishment and beauty.
Planting, weeding, watering and harvesting vegetables and flowers is work well rewarded. Not only with a taste of freshly-picked produce or floral arrangements, but a calmer mind attained by tending to the garden. It’s a bigger purpose in life, a way to focus on something outside of ourselves if only for a little while.
What are you planting this spring?
One lucky commenter will win a signed print copy of BENEATH THE SURFACE. Winner will be selected using random.org on 4/8
Blurb:
She’s fighting to stay independent—he’s determined to protect her no matter what…
Brooke Richards survived the earthquake that took her parents and most of her leg, but she needs time to regroup. A trip to Florida for a state-of-the-art prosthesis and to visit her best friend Linda seems ideal. But the trip turns traumatic when Brooke witnesses Linda’s boat disintegrating in a fiery explosion.
Police officer Garrett Ciavello believes the blast was intentionally set to hide something Linda found on a dive. When Brooke offers her expertise in underwater archeology, Garrett accepts her help with the investigation. But since his fiancée’s death years ago, Garrett has become overprotective, and as they are drawn to each other, Garrett realizes he will risk anything to keep Brooke safe.
Brooke is fiercely independent. Garrett is fiercely protective. Will they heal each other’s wound and find a killer…before it’s too late?
Excerpt
For the first time since the accident, Brooke forgot about her leg. Forgot about all she’d lost and focused on the way Garrett made her feel.
She knew she needed to stop him. She should find a way to resist the temptation to be with him. But for a few minutes, she could enjoy the taste of him, the feel of him, couldn’t she?
He dropped his hands to her waist and softened the kiss before trailing a line of kisses down her neck. A weak cry slipped from her mouth. “Garrett,” she whispered.
She should stop this now before it got any more intense.
He lifted her chin and forced her to meet his brown eyes, smoky with desire. Heat spiraled to her middle and she caught a whiff of his sawdust scent.
“I…I can walk you back to your own room before I head to mine.” His voice broke as he whispered.
She swallowed hard. She couldn’t do this right now with him. Too many obstacles stood in their way. But as she looked in his somber eyes, she realized none of those complications were bigger than her need for Garrett.
“Let’s go to your room,” she said, her voice shaking. She moved her hands inside his shirt and ran them over his tight abs and chest. Heat soared through her body at the feel of him. “Together…”
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Thanks so much for inviting me to take part in “Love in Bloom.” I’m excited to be here and excited about spring weather and gardening. 🙂
I love Spring! Here in Southern Illinos we too experience all 4 seasons. This year the winter wasn’t so bad. No ice!! We will be planting sunflowers and impatients today. The kids are very excited!!
Mel
bournmelissa at hotmail dot com
Mel-Glad to hear your winter wasn’t so bad this year, and especially glad to hear you didn’t experience any ice! Have fun planintg your sunflowers and impatients today. Very cool that your kids are excited about gardening.
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Joya-Thanks for being here with us today at Guilty Pleasures. Great post btw!
I live in the south and I’ve got some yellow French Merigolds and Vincas I’ll be planting today.
I bought two beautiful ferns yesterday and have them hanging on my front porch. I love to garden though I’m not very good at it but seeing all the colors of spring and summer just make me happy!
Thanks again!
k
This sounds like a perfect read for me and it has such a pretty cover too 🙂
reginamayross@gmail.com
My 2nd grader brought home bean seeds that we’ll start shortly indoors. We’ll probably plant tomatoes and cucumbers and carrots too.
Lauren
@Kimber
Great to be here! You are so right about the colors of spring and summer making us happy. I agree! Have fun planting today. 🙂
@Regina
Thanks so much for stopping by! Thanks for the compliment about the cover. The artist did a great job. Happy weekend! 🙂
@Lauren
Oh boy, a veggie garden! Lucky you. What fun to plant a seed and then turn it into dinner one day. Hope you and your 2nd grader have a great time planting together. 🙂
Loved your post Joya! I used to love to garden. I live in an apartment now, but you have me thinking about gardening, so I just might go buy the hanging baskets and put on my patio =)
I’m interested in planting herbs and will be playing around with some kind of set up that I can keep on the patio or inside.
lenikaye@yahoo.com
Spring in one of my favorite seasons. Really enjoy spring flowers. My gardening is limited to house plants as I live in an apartment. Enjoyed the excerpt. Sounds like a good story.
@Didi-Thanks for having me today! Great idea about hanging baskets on your patio. A touch of spring and color!
@Leni-Terrific idea about planting herbs. They’re very easy to grow and make dishes taste so much better than dried herbs. Good luck with your patio/inside arrangement.
@Shelly-House plants are a great way to enjoy spring-time gardening. Thanks very much for your kind words about my excerpt and hope you enjoy spring. 🙂
I am not a gardener but I keep meaning to plant some tomatoes. My stepmom had a garden and those cherry tomatoes were so good it was hard to not eat them all before we got back into the house! Happy spring to you!
@redjuliet
Mmmmm,just-picked cherry tomatoes still warm from the sun. So hard to resist.
Happy spring to you, too, and thanks so much for stopping by. 🙂
I have not decided what flowers to plant yet. Maybe some herbs this year. I’m not sure. Sounds like a great book. Can’t wait to read it.
Joanne B
e.balinski(at)att(dot)net
Roses are my forte- I have about 20 plants. The storyline of the book sounds great- I love mystery/love stories.Definitely TBR.
I’m not into planting… but I am going to by some tall bushes for my front yard!
@Joanne–Great idea about herbs. It’s fun to grow stuff that’s useful, too, isn’t it? Thanks for liking the description of BENEATH THE SURFACE. I appreciate your kind words! 🙂
@Suzanne–Oh, I am sooo jealous. Roses are the one plant I can’t seem to grow. Maybe I have to learn to prune better. Enjoy those roses and thanks so much for putting BENEATH THE SURFACE on your TRB list! 🙂
@Hilary–great idea about the bushes in the front yard. You may want to check out sea grass, too. So pretty all year long (it’s green, but turns golden in the cooler months)and there’s not much upkeep. Hope your bushes look great and thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Love to plant herbs. Looking forward to the wonderful farmer’s markets we have in the area.
This year I’m planting some new perennials since we lost so much in the hell that was summer here in Texas last year.
@Mary–great idea about those herbs. Oh I soooo agree about Farmers’ Markets. I can’t wait. One more month for us in this area. Fresh produce every night!
Thanks for stopping by and good luck w/ your herbs. 🙂
@Sharon–so sorry to hear about your perennials dying off due to last year’s extreme summer. Here’s hoping you get a good balance of sunshine, rain, and mild weather this summer. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
This year we are making big changes. Our first step is to plant some hydrangea and dig up a bunch of bulbs. Then it’s on to major pruning, removal and mulch!
jepebATverizonDOTnet
Great post Joya!
@Jen–Wow, you are going to have some awesome biceps after all that digging, mulching, planting, and pruning. That sounds like a landscaping overhaul. Good luck and thanks for stopping by today. 🙂
@Timitra–Thanks very much, and thanks for taking time to stop by today. Happy weekend to you! 🙂
Thank you so much to everyone for stopping by to comment and chat about gardening today!
Thanks, Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews for inviting me to take part in the Love in Bloom fun!
xxoo
Thank you for the lovely post Joya! I love that once spring rolls around the days start growing longer, the weather gets warmer, and the trees start to bloom 😀 it is so beautiful and smells wonderful!
Thank you for the great giveaway and happy Easter!
stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com
@Stella
I totally agree!I love the colors and scents of spring. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by and comment. Happy Easter to you, too! 🙂
I’ll be planting some roses.
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
I LOVE spring! Unsure of all that I will be planting this year as of yet. Too busy pulling all of the weeds (eeek!)
I feel this year has the most weeds EVER. Anyone else having that issue?
:/
@bn100
Oooh, I am so jealous that you’ll be planting roses. I wish I was better at growing them. Good luck and enjoy spring and your roses. 🙂
@ReneAve
Weeds? Ack! Waaay too many of them. One great trick: if you lay down newspaper (3-4 sheets thick) before you mulch, really helps inhibit weeds and it’s an organic way to mulch, too. Happy spring. 🙂
Sounds like a great plan!
Thank you & Happy Spring to you also 🙂
Thank you Joya for a great post!
Congratulations to stella.exlibris you are the winner of a signed copy of Beneath the Surface!
Thank you everyone for stopping by!
Wow what an interview loved it book is on my wish list.
April,
Thanks so much for your wonderful comment and for adding Beneath the Surface to your wish list. 🙂