This charming guide to the world of the English country house reveals all the essential hints & tips for living in & running a great house whether you were lord lady maid or cook. By esteemed author Ruth Binney & with a Foreword by Julian Fellowes creator of the much-loved Downton Abbey. Discover the rules of etiquette & manners that existed both upstairs & downstairs the daily routines of servants bygone housekeeping maxims for everyone from the scullery maid to the gardener & learn how to prepare for a grand ball. The intricate way in which the country house worked is reflected in the six chapters of this book beginning with Keeping House & progressing to The Daily Routine & The Country House Kitchen. Since correct behaviour was so important to all activities of the house A Matter of Manners addresses the essentials of etiquette a theme that also extends into Leisure Entertainment & Sport. Finally Garden & Grounds focuses on everything from the cultivation of exotic fruit for the table to brewing & the care of horses & other animals. This is the world that Ruth Binney has brought so wonderfully to life in her book (Julian Fellowes creator of Downton Abbey) With beautiful line drawings Wise Words & Country House Ways will be fascinating for anyone who has wondered what it would be like to be served or in service in a grand country house. ...

With the most colourful poetic & picturesque country sayings & phrases of all the books in this bestselling series Wise Words & Country Ways Weather Lore" is a nostalgic delight that satisfies our fascination for the now lost wisdom of our ancestors & indulges our obsession with the weather whilst reminding us how our generation has lost touch with the rhythms of the natural world. Probably the best known country saying of them all is red sky at night shepherds delight. " Wise Words & Country Ways Weather Lore" presents us with dozens more similar but largely now forgotten words of wisdom that are imbued with a centuries-old understanding of the patterns of British weather seasonal changes & the behaviour of plants & animals around us. It has highly relevant content for an age where we all feel we have lost touch with the patterns of nature." ...

Each entry shows how the advice came into popular use & explains the scientific logic behind the saying
- in most cases proving
...

Its time to change the world Your world The whole world & The Wish shows you how. Its time to make your wishes a reality! The Wish will help you to discover the real you recognise & overcome your deepest fears & use your unique passions & talents to live an empowered life. The Wish shows you how to boost your life energy & make your wishes happen
- dreams need lots of energy to get lift-off! Recognise the dreams that will work for you & those that wont. Learn how to create genuinely good vibes around you & find out why giving is essential to creating an abundant life. The Wish takes all your anxiety & shreds it. In its place it puts strength hope & peace of mind. & it shows you how to build on these qualities to make all your wishes come true.
...

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
- YOU MIGHT JUST GET IT... Buddy is just your average guy So imagine his surprise when he fills in
...

Fleur Bosley didnt believe in love at first sight at least not until she bumped into Robbie Rodwell on a railway station in the blackout of wartime Britain. Posted to a newly-built Lincolnshire airfield Robbie as a wireless operator on bombers & Fleur as a R/T operator in the watch office their only escape is to the little cottage in the nearby village where Fleur is billeted with another WAAF Ruth. The two girls become good friends but Ruth already hurt by the loss of one of the pilots does not approve of wartime romances. & Ruth is not the only one to disapprove. When Fleurs mother hears Robbies name she becomes hysterical & bans him from her home. The young couple are determined to grab their happiness where they can but is it a kind fate or a cruel one that has brought them together when secrets from the past threaten their future? Away from their families there is fun & laughter the aircrews determined to make the most of every day every minute but whenever they fly off into the night on a bombing raid Fleur must keep watch until the early hours praying that Robbies plane comes back.. . ...

Molly loves animals & wants to be a vet when she grows up just like her dad
- as everyone says; she's got the magic touch! No one
...

Wish Upon a Matchmaker Fouryearold Ginny Scarborough has picked out her new mummy
- Danni Everett the local celebrity chef who
...

Tragedy strikes the New York-based Cardinal family when their car is involved in a terrible accident. Twelve-year-old Lou & seven-year-old Oz survive but the crash leaves their father dead & their mother in a coma. It would seem their world has been shattered forever until their great-grandmother Louisa Mae agrees to raise the children on her Virginia mountain farm. But before long their rural idyll is threatened by the discovery of natural gas on the mountain. Determined to protect her home from the ravages of big business Louisa Mae refuses to sell but when the neighbours hear of the potential wealth the company could bring they begin to turn against her. & now the Cardinal family find themselves ensnared in another battle to be played out in a crowded Virginia courtroom: a battle for justice for survival & for the right to stay together in the only place they know as home. Filled with both rich humour & desperate poignancy Wish You Well" is a tale of family faith humanity & prejudice set against the magical backdrop of the Virginia high rock. ' Baldacci triumphs with his best novel yet an utterly captivating drama'." ...

Time Out Novel of the Year ' Astonishingly moving' Sunday Express On an autumn day in 2006 on the Isle of Wight Jack Luxton -- former Devon farmer now proprietor of a seaside caravan park -- receives the news that his brother Tom not seen for years has been killed in Iraq. For Jack & his wife Ellie this will have a potentially catastrophic impact & compel Jack to make a crucial journey: to receive his brother's remains but also to return to the land of his past & confront his most secret troubling memories. Building to a fiercely suspenseful climax Wish You Were Here is a hauntingly compassionate story that allows us to feel the stuff of headlines as heart-wrenching personal truth. ' Profound & powerful.. .an unputdownable read' Scotland on Sunday 'A wonderful writer' Daily Telegraph ...