The author opens with a story about a fellow passenger on a plane. Upon learning that the author was a marriage counselor who also led marriage enrichment seminars, the man asked, “What happens to the love after you get married?”
One of the early points that Chapman makes is that he’s glad the euphoria of those feelings when love is new doesn’t last. We have a thousand other things to accomplish, which means we can’t be with our spouse every minute.
Yet the love can last throughout our years together. We just need to learn our spouse’s Love Language.
This book is filled with stories from Chapman’s clients. These examples show the different needs people have for how to express love.
An easy-to-read book that is packed full of relationship advice.
As an author of historical novels, I’m always looking for traditions from bygone eras. When I ran across tussie-mussies while researching the meaning of flowers, I dug deeper to learn the surprising history that has changed over the centuries.
Tussie-mussies are small, round bouquets with the stems bound together, a traditional bridal bouquet in the Victorian era. A knot of flowers is the “tussie” while the “mussie” is the soil that keeps them vibrant. Handheld bouquets, also called a posy or nosegay, were tied with a ribbon. Or they might be worn at the waist or in the hair by using a posy holder, a decorative cone-shaped holder often made of silver.
Posies were seen as a more modest accessory than jewelry. Women sometimes secured the bouquet with a brooch. Men wore them by placing them in buttonholes in their coats. It didn’t have to be a festive occasion.
These fragrant bouquets were popular during the Middle Ages for a different reason. People wore or carried nosegays of rosemary, rue, and thyme during the plague in Europe, believing specific herbs and flowers were a protective measure against the disease.
Rosemary has several health benefits recognized today. It can boost moods, enhance concentration and memory, offer neurological protection, and relieve pain. There are studies that suggest the herb may aid in the prevention and treatment of cancer. The herb added a woodsy, herbaceous aroma to the bouquet.
Rue has a pungent, bitter smell that is slightly citrusy. Sephardic Jews traditionally used it for healing purposes. Inhaling it is believed to help with shock. It is sometimes used in synagogues during Yom Kippur to rejuvenate those who have been fasting. William Shakespeare mentions rue in Hamlet, All’s Well That End Well, Richard II, and The Winter’s Tale. John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels also mention the herb.
Thyme has an earthy fragrance. It can destroy harmful organisms and may reduce high blood pressure. Thyme oil can prevent foodborne bacterial infections.Thyme was used as embalming fluid by ancient Egyptians. Ancient Greeks burned it as incense. The Romans brought it to the British Isles, so the herb has a long history in Europe.
The aromatic and health benefits of rosemary, thyme, and rue seem to suggest the wisdom of those Middle Ages men and women who kept them handy during the plagues.
Tussie-mussies have a long history that endures today. Guests at modern weddings may still spot tussie-mussie-style bouquets carried by brides. For instance, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle carried them at their own weddings.
These are fun facts that I, as an author of inspirational historical romances, love to incorporate into my novels!
Dr. Beth Moore moves into the Idaho home she recently inherited, hoping to find a break in Twin Falls. She wants a different job away from the hospital emergency room, but first she needs rest.
She meets Billy Clark, a rodeo bullfighter, when a bull tosses him at her feet. Treating his wounds leads to a job traveling with the rodeo company. Billy’s infectious good spirits and laughter are a stark contrast to her personality. Can he grow to care for him?
Billy’s childhood had been a trainwreck. Finding a job on the rodeo and friends who cared while a teenager changed his life. Bullfighting is all he’s known. Meeting the quiet, reserved doctor who excels at her job throws him for a loop. Can he hope that someone like her will care for him?
Lovable, wounded characters quickly drew me into the story. It’s easy to see that bullfighting is a dangerous occupation. Readers will be pulled into the traveling life of those who work for the rodeo. I loved that those involved in the show became a family.
This contemporary retelling of the Biblical story of David and Bathsheba gripped my attention from the beginning.
David Kingston, a divorced billionaire in charge of an international corporation, sees Elizabeth swimming at night from his high-rise New York City penthouse apartment. Her husband, who works for David, is on a business trip.
An adulterous affair leads to pregnancy. David’s reputation as a Christian businessman will be destroyed if the press discovers he’s the father.
There are sensual scenes in this inspirational novel that make this an adult story. Yet it is also a story of redemption and forgiveness.
Key aspects of David and Bathsheba, including the similarity of names, are part of the novel.
Characters are realistic and flawed. Their plight worsens with each twist, making this book a page-turner.
Fresh and dried flowers have been used in cooking for centuries, yet not all flowers are safe for consumption. Additionally, not all parts of the flower are safe to eat. To be edible, flowers must be grown without pesticides and sprays, so ask if you’re not certain about the flowers in the market.
A pioneer recipe for Dandelion Salad in Log Cabin Cooking has dandelion greens, violets, pansies, nasturtiums, and calendula listed among its ingredients.
Old-Fashioned Woodstove Recipes has a recipe for Dandelion Greens.
Early American Cookery calls for rose water as an ingredient in Lemon Sponge Cake. Sugar and almonds were pounded into a paste with rose water in the Macaroon recipe. Rose water was also used in Hard Gingerbread. Both rose water and orange flower water are ingredients in Rich Plum or Wedding Cake. Pound Cake and Plum Pound Cake used a half glass or full glass of rose water. (How many ounces the glass contained is not listed. The first time making these old recipes is a trial-and-error process. 😊)
I’ve often made dishes using recipes in Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, published in 1877. If edible flowers were among the ingredients, I chose another recipe, but I didn’t recall that happening often. When leafing through about fifty of the nearly 400 pages of recipes, I discovered a Cornstarch Cake recipe that was to be “flavored with either lemon or rose.”
So cooking and baking with edible flowers is not a new practice. I’ve seen them most often in recipes for salads, teas, and cakes. Cookies can be topped with sugared flower petals.
Modern dishes like Rose Petal Granola, Rhubarb Rose Water Syrup, Daffodil Cake, Strawberry and Goat Cheese Crostini, and Flower Focaccia call for edible flowers.
One cook wrote of freezing rose petals in ice cubes. What a festive idea!
Many contestants have utilized edible flowers in episodes of The Great British Baking Show.
Perhaps I should quit shying away from using them in new recipes. 😊
Sources
Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, Originally published in 1877.
Floral bouquets are heartwarming gifts, as welcome today as in previous eras. Yet deeper thought was put into both the color and flower choices in the nineteenth century because both held meaning.
Even different shades of the same flower varied in meaning. Both the giver and receiver understood these nuances in bygone centuries.
Various shades of carnations, chrysanthemums, hyacinths, jasmine, lilies, and roses altered the hidden message of the bouquet.
Carnation, light red—Admiration
Carnation, pink—I’ll never forget you, a mother’s undying love, beauty, pride
Rose, white—Innocence, young love, birth, beauty and respect, silence, keep my secret
Rose, yellow—Joy, friendship, I love another, jealousy
Rose, white/pink—Unity, commitment
It’s fun to learn the hidden meaning of flowers. These are fun facts that I, as an author of inspirational historical romances, love to incorporate into my novels!
Martha learns the bitterness of loss at an early age. Her mother dies giving birth, leaving her father a shell of his former self and uninterested in his children. Martha, the oldest sibling, Martha takes care of Lazarus and baby Mary with the help of her grandmother and others.
While a teenager, Martha dreams of marrying the man she loves, yet the tragedies continue to mount. Her bitterness deepens.
Several years later, Martha and her siblings meet Jesus of Nazareth. He heals her friend’s husband. Could he be the Messiah?
I was quickly drawn into this fictional story about the Biblical siblings. It is told in first person from Martha’s point of view.
This well-written, poignant story held my attention from the beginning. The author has taken creative license to tell the story, including the timing of events and the people involved in some instances. The author addresses some of these in the Author’s Note.
Flawed, believable characters pulled me into their challenges and heartaches. It’s a powerful Biblical fiction set during the time of Christ.
Seventeen-year-old Sahara O’Shaugnessy is still reeling from her father’s death seven months later. She blames herself for his accident. Not only that, but her mother has gone off the deep end and sent Sahara to live with her grandmother in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee.
Sahara’s active imagination, fueled by her grandmother’s storytelling, leads her to write fairy tales. Not only that, she tells some grisly tales she’s heard to her friends. Telling fairy tales that should never be shared sets a terrifying chain of events in motion.
James is a master storyteller. This YA Suspense novel gripped me from the first page, the first sentence.
Spine-chilling experiences mix with dangerous ghostly lore. Some violent fairy tales are horrifying.
It ends on a cliffhanger that propels readers toward the next book.
The entire story is a thrilling epic of unexpected and unexplainable events that kept me on the edge of my seat.
While researching the secret language of the fan, I discovered some fascinating facts about the hidden meaning of flowers. As a writer of inspirational historical romance novels, I’m always searching for fun facts lost in time.
My grandmother wore a plain silver wedding band. The painted orange blossoms that originally decorated it had long since faded by the time I was born. A century ago, orange blossoms were often part of wedding decorations. Blossoms might have been worn in the bride’s hair or included in the bouquet. Orange blossoms symbolized fidelity, chastity, and loving thoughts.
The gift of flowers held deeper meaning in bygone eras. The type of flower and its shade varied in meaning.
Even the way they were given held hidden meaning. If the giver extended the flowers in the right hand, it meant “yes” while the left hand meant “no.”
There are a myriad of floral meanings—and not all of them are good. Here is a list of popular flowers with their own language:
Amaryllis—Pride
Azalea—Temperance, womanhood
Baby’s Breath—Pure heart, everlasting love
Begonia—Beware
Bluebell—Humility
Borage—Bravery, bluntness
Calla Lily, white—Sophistication, seduction
Carnation, pink—I’ll never forget you, a mother’s undying love, beauty, pride
Rose, yellow—Joy, friendship, I love another, jealousy
Sweet Basil—Best wishes
Sweet Pea—Delicate pleasures, birth, goodbye
Thistle—Sternness
Tuberose—Dangerous pleasures
Tulip, white—Lost love
Tulip, yellow—Hopeless love
Verbena—May you get your wish
Zinnia—Thoughts of an absent friend
Those who gave and received floral bouquets would have been aware of the hidden meanings behind the gift two hundred years ago. It’s fun to learn—or perhaps re-learn—about the hidden meaning of flowers.
Fifteen-year-old Rain Barynd thinks it was simply another training exercise when the Commander of the Council Guard leads the trainee unit miles away from New Haven. They end up in a battle that not everyone survives. Rain rescues the only survivor of a caravan, little knowing the impact that Antara will have on him.
Believing that she is dying, she gives Rain something magical that changes his life and his future. Further, when his hometown of New Haven is under attack, his commander sends him on an important mission.
Rain isn’t prepared for many of the adventures and battles yet the magical object and others seem to believe differently.
This YA Fantasy saga is an epic journey where some serve God faithfully. Magic, flying dragons, travel to other worlds, constant danger, and battles are a few of the surprises in store for readers.
There are many characters in various story locations. Readers will see that it is leading up to an epic confrontation. At times, the story reminded me of the Lord of the Rings Series.
The story leaves readers hanging at the end. They will want to discover what happens next.
This YA Fantasy was a page-turner for me. Highly recommend.
Sandra Merville Hart 