Geraniums are a Gardener's Best Friend by A.M. Westerling

 

 

Geraniums are one of my favourite summer annuals. They’re easy to grow, are drought resistant, come in a multitude of colours and over winter very well. They’re happy wherever I put them, either in full sun or part shade, plus they also like to grow in pots which is important here on the Prairies. We get hail storms every summer, so my husband and I regularly engage in “The Running of the Pots” ie When a storm threatens, we bring all our potted annuals under cover to avoid the damage from hail stones.

 

What we call geraniums were brought from South Africa to Europe by Dutch traders in the early 18^th century. Although originally classified as geraniums due to their similarity to hardy wild geraniums growing in Europe, they were eventually reclassified as Pelargonium due to differences in the petal shape and number of stamens from the wild variety. Pelargonium means stork’s bill, a reference to the long, sharply pointed shape of their seedpod. True geraniums are a hardy flowering perennial also know as “cranesbill”. I have a patch of cranesbill in my side garden and yes, I can attest to the fact they’re very hardy! In the picture below you can see one of my overwintered geraniums. The flowering plant behind it is cranesbill.

The name stuck however, so when we say geranium, we actually mean pelargonium. There are two common varieties, Zonal Geraniums and Ivy Leaf Geraniums which are a trailing variety. I’ve grown both successfully although I’ve never been able to overwinter the ivy variety despite repeated attempts. Those are ivy geraniums in the wall pots in the picture below. 

 I use a good quality planter box mix in my pots and feed the geraniums with 20 20 20 fertilizer every couple of weeks. I dead head regularly to keep the plant flowering and pinch back leggy stems to promote bushiness. On very hot days, I’ll water daily otherwise I’ll let the soil dry out a bit.

To overwinter, bring your geraniums inside before the first frost. I must admit, however, that I’ve been caught flat footed a couple of times over the years and my geraniums were hit by frost. It didn’t kill them as the roots didn’t freeze but I made sure I had new growth before I let them go dormant.

They do best when given a dormant period through the winter months so use less water and don’t fertilize. I water every two weeks so the roots don’t dry out completely. By the end of the winter, they’re looking pretty sad but that’s when I shape them and remove all the dead growth. I’ll start watering them in April. After a few waterings, I’ll start to fertilize. Of course, I harden them off before leaving them out for the summer. They can be repotted in the spring to encourage new growth although I usually don’t bother. This is how they look when I bring them out in the spring:

 But within a month or two they've grown in nicely. 

Some interesting geranium facts:

Keep the plants out of reach from pets and young children as they may cause indigestion and vomiting. They’re toxic to Japanese beetles so that’s one pest you don’t have to worry about although in my experience, geraniums are resistant to pretty much anything.

Apply crushed geranium leaves to stop the bleeding of minor cuts. In some aromatic varieties, both the flowers and leaves are edible and fresh leaves of all types can be used for flavouring jelly, iced drinks, pastries, pound cake and salads. Dried leaves can be used in potpourri and sachets.

In the language of flowers, scarlet geranium means silliness. Ha, I’ve had quite a few silly geraniums over the years!

*****

 I’m pretty sure Rose would have enjoyed a pot or two of geraniums on her front porch in Barkerville. You can find her story in Barkerville Beginnings at your favourite online store HERE.

***** 

Why Did I Write a Memoir, Arranging a Dream: A Memoir by J.Q. Rose

Arranging a Dream: a Memoir by J.Q. Rose

Official book launch January 1, 2021

Click here to pre-order now

Click here to discover more books by J.Q. Rose from BWL Publishing

Hello and welcome to the BWL Publishing Blog!

I have some breaking news for you! I am excited to announce my memoir, Arranging a Dream: A Memoir is officially one of BWL Publishing's newest published books. The official launch date is January 1, 2021, but with this new way of releasing books using the pre-order opportunity, the eBook is available now and will be delivered to your reading device on January 1. 

Arranging a Dream is a step into the new genre, Memoirs, for BWL Publishing. 

Here is the Back of the Book information to let you know what this "feel-good" story is all about:

In 1975, budding entrepreneurs Ted and Janet purchase a floral shop and greenhouses where they plan to grow their dream. Leaving friends and family behind in Illinois and losing the security of two paychecks, they transplant themselves, their one-year-old daughter, and all their belongings to Fremont, Michigan, where they know no one. 

 Will the retiring business owners nurture Ted and Janet as they struggle to develop a blooming business, or will they desert the inexperienced young couple to wither and die in their new environment?

 Most of all, can Ted and Janet grow together as they cultivate a loving marriage, juggle parenting with work, and root a thriving business?

 Follow this couple’s inspiring story, filled with the joy and triumphs and the obstacles and failures experienced as they travel along the turbulent path of turning dreams into reality.

I have written mysteries and romantic suspense to entertain readers. A memoir, also known as creative non-fiction, is so different from writing fiction where everything is made up. The writer can go hog-wild and write about alien worlds, space operas, contemporary romance and no one cares if it's true. 

A memoir tells the truth about real life. That is very difficult for a fiction writer!  A life story or biography covers a person's entire life, but a memoir is just a small piece of it. Think of all those life experiences as a delicious pumpkin pie. A memoir would be just a slice of it. 

I began writing my memoir thinking it would be for my kids. I wanted to encourage them to dream big for their lives. I chose to write about the first year we were in the flower business because leaving the security of family and friends and bringing our year-old daughter to a new home was challenging and life-changing for us. Our dream was to be entrepreneurs in the greenhouse business. 

We fell in love with the greenhouse operation attached to a flower shop in the charming town of Fremont, Michigan. Not only would we be growing plants, but also selling fresh flowers and everything that goes along with servicing customers during major events in their lives like weddings, anniversaries, new babies, illnesses and funerals.

I discovered the story had all the elements of fiction, Ted and I, the main characters, conflicts with the previous owners, and a beautiful setting in a small town in West Michigan.

 

"If you try, you might fail, but if you don't try, you'll never succeed."

I thought this story could inspire folks to pursue their dreams. To take a chance. That's when I decided to approach my publisher to see if she would consider publishing my memoir, and she said yes. So the book's official launch date from BWL Publishing is January 1, 2021. What a way to start the new year!

Memoir writing allows the writer to visit events in her life and see them through a new perspective--time. Life storytellers discover more about themselves during the journey. And that's what it is--a journey toward a new understanding. 

I hope you will try writing a few stories you remember about your life. Sharing the good old days with friends and family and getting their perspectives on what occurred so many years ago is fun and at times, eye-opening.  Believe me, each person will have a different recollection about past experiences and sometimes conflict with your memories. But since it's your story, you tell it the way you remember it! You are the author of your life.

November is National Life Writing Month

I offer workshops in life storytelling because I am a life story evangelist! I want to let you know November is National Life Writing Month. Take this opportunity to break out a journal or notebook and make some entries about your life. If you don't know how to begin, search online for "life story writing prompts" or "memoir prompts" to spark some memories. Have fun!

Arranging a Dream: A Memoir by J.Q. Rose
Click here to pre-order

About J.Q. Rose: 

Whether the story is fiction or non-fiction, J.Q. Rose is “focused on story.”  She offers readers chills, giggles and quirky characters woven within the pages of her mystery books. Her published mysteries are Deadly Undertaking, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard and Dangerous Sanctuary released by Books We Love Publishing. 

Author J.Q. Rose

Using her storytelling skills, she provides entertainment and information in articles featured in books, magazines, newspapers, and online magazines. J.Q. taught elementary school for several years and never lost the love for teaching passed down from her teacher grandmother and mother. She satisfies that aspect of her character by presenting workshops on Creative Writing and Writing Your Life Story. 

When J.Q.  isn’t writing, she enjoys photography, playing Pegs and Jokers board games, and traveling with her husband. They spend winters in Florida and summers up north with her four grandsons and granddaughter and their parents too.

A 19th Century New England Thanksgiving by Eileen O'Finlan

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Click here to visit Eileen O'Finlan's website

Thanksgiving figures heavily in my forthcoming novel, Erin's Children, sequel to Kelegeen. Why Thanksgiving? Why not Christmas? Erin's Children is set in Massachusetts in the 1850s. Thanksgiving was the quintessential New England holiday at that time. Sure folks had started celebrating Christmas to a degree, but it was nothing in comparison to the grandest holiday of all – Thanksgiving.

It was English Puritans who came to Massachusetts in the early 1600s bringing with them a great distaste for anything that smacked of the Church in Rome which meant December 25^th was just another day on the calendar. Anyone caught celebrating Christmas could find themselves in trouble with the law. But Thanksgiving? That was a different story.

Though Puritanism had died out by the 1850s some of the Puritans' ways remained. It wasn't until the American Civil War in the 1860s and beyond that Christmas gained the foothold that would eventually catapult the holiday into the commercialized juggernaut of today. Thanksgiving, on the other hand, took pride of place in the hearts of New Englanders.

As most know, the “First Thanksgiving” took place in 1621 in Plymouth Colony with the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians sharing an autumnal harvest feast. For the following two centuries days of Thanksgiving were celebrated at various times by several of the colonies. It wasn't until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving to be held every November that it became uniform. Still, by the 1850s the holiday was pretty well set as a tradition, even to the point of always being observed on a Thursday in November. Lincoln just made it official.

Thanksgiving was a huge celebration which entailed a tremendous amount of work. Imagine the work of preparing for Thanksgiving today and multiply it by at least ten. A fresh turkey had to be purchased before dawn on Thanksgiving morning, scalded in boiling water to loosen the feathers, then plucked. The bird was beheaded, gutted, then roasted all day. As if turkey wasn't enough, a couple of chickens were often included. Mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and a multitude of pies, most of them baked weeks in advance and kept frozen in a closed off section of the house, rounded out the feast. Just thinking about the preparation and clean up makes me exhausted.

Often families traveled to spend the day – or if they traveled any real distance, several days or even a few weeks – with relatives. Or, they may have been the hosts, as are the Claprood family in Erin's Children, with relatives coming to stay with them. Not only was there the big Thanksgiving meal to prepare and enjoy, but other frolics that went on for days. In Erin's Children, Mrs. Claprood's brother and his family join them for a week at Thanksgiving. The young people are especially jolly, celebrating with sleigh rides and a taffy pull during the days following the big feast.

Here is a short snippet of the taffy pull scene in Erin's Children:

The scents of hot chocolate and taffy lured Oliver and Benjamin into the kitchen with Nancy and Ethan right behind.

“You've come at a good time,” Deborah announced. “We're ready to pull!”

Kathleen placed the baking pan on the table while Meg set the crock of butter beside it. Once each had thoroughly buttered their hands, they lifted the thickened mixture, each grabbing hold of a section. Meg and Kathleen watched as the young people stretched and pulled the taffy, then folded it in on itself to stretch and pull again. Laughter filled the room as they set themselves up in teams to see who could stretch it furthest. The combination of slippery butter and sticky molasses mixture made for plenty of adventures and a few mishaps.

“Don't you want to pull, too?” Alice asked Meg and Kathleen.

The sisters looked at each other. The thought had not crossed their minds.

“Try.” Pamela encouraged them.

Kathleen's wistful expression decided it for Meg. She held out the crock of butter to her sister who eagerly greased her hands. She and Kathleen each held an end of the taffy and began pulling. To Meg's surprise, the odd mixture of slippery and sticky along with the sweet aroma appealed. She and Kathleen were soon laughing along with the others. For a few moments she felt part of the family. When their stretch of taffy broke, the end snapping back to curl around Meg's hands, she and Kathleen dissolved in gales of laughter.

Available for Purchase on December 1, 2020

 

Elegant Orchids by A.M. Westerling

 

My local grocery store just received a shipment of beautiful orchids. 

Most orchids are tropical plants. They symbolize fertility, elegance and love and because of this are often given to new parents as gifts. Also known as Orchidaceae, they are a beautiful flower with long lasting blooms in vibrant colours such as pink, magenta, white, yellow and purple.

I’ve had orchids over the years and every time they finished blooming, I would toss them as I had the impression they were difficult to grow. However, last Christmas I received one as a gift from a dear friend and decided to accept the challenge of keeping it. After it finished blooming, I put it in my office and other than giving it an ice cube once a week, pretty much ignored it.

The only thing I knew was that orchids are dormant for 6 to 9 months after flowering so at the end of August, I moved it to an east facing window and gave it some all purpose fertilizer. To my delight, it’s putting out a new leaf!

 

I’ve since done a bit of research to aid in my quest to bring my orchid to bloom and have discovered that orchids in fact are one of the easiest house plants to grow. Although some varieties grow in dirt ie lady slippers, which grow in the loamy jungle soil, most orchids in the wild grow on tree bark which explains why the growing medium is not soil. The orchid uses the tree for support but receives its nutrients from animal droppings that wash down or organic matter decaying in the crooks of branches. Orchids are epiphytes which means their roots have adapted to absorb water from the humid jungle air. Many types deal with times of abundant water and periods of dryness so their thick stems, called pseudobulbs, allow them to store water for the dry times.

A few basic tips for proper orchid care:

-     Don’t overwater! That’s one of the most common mistakes people make in growing these beautiful plants. A clear pot helps determine water requirements. If you see condensation, it doesn’t need to be watered. Healthy orchid roots are green. If you’re overwatering, they’re brown and mushy and if you’re underwatering, they are grey. Mine are looking pretty good. 😊

 

-     Feed weekly or monthly (depending on the variety). I’ve been using 20 20 20.

-   Place your orchid in an east or west facing window. 

-     Repot in fresh orchid mix (not soil!) when your orchid stops blooming.

-     After flowering prune the old flower stalk near the base of the stem.

-     They grow best at 16 to 24 C

-     Mist regularly if you live in a dry climate.

With proper care, they can live for years. I’ll see how I make out with this one!

*****

Although you won't find orchids in this book, you may enjoy reading Sophie's Choice, a romance that Coffee Time Romance calls "an excellent Regency".  You can find it at your favourite online store HERE. Also available in print. 

Find all my books on the BWL Publishing website.

 

Author Voice by Nancy M Bell

To learn more aobut Nancy's work please click on the cover above. What is Author Voice? Does everyone have one? What does it do exactly? I found a quote by Richard Nordquist which I thought summed it up quite well. “Voice is the music in writing that makes the meaning clear.” Sounds simple, but of course it’s not. Voice is hard to define and seems to possess chameleon-like characteristics. Changing from one minute to the next. Everyone has an author voice if you write anything at all. Even shopping lists. Some of you will make bullet points for your list, some will list items and where they plan to shop for them, others might categorize the list by price point. It all depends on your personal outlook and how you communicate. So, no matter what, we all have an author or writer’s voice, some of them are just more developed than others. What is Author/Writer Voice? Your voice is in reality the expression of you on the page. A unique collection of your world view, your passions, fears, beliefs and attitudes. A very good friend and mentor told me many years ago that you meet the writer in her books and stories not in her living room. I was young at the time and nodded sagely like I totally understood. It wasn’t until much later and with the seasoning of a few years that I understood what she meant. As writers, we reveal parts of ourselves we would never drag out into the light of day in a conversation or everyday life. Ah, but in our writing we can let those hidden aspects surface and run freely across our pages. Voice is unique to each writer and it’s about having the courage to express yourself on paper. To be a bit more technical: Voice is the unique and individual way an author puts words on paper, a compilation of idioms, syntax, punctuation, development of your characters, dialogue and sentence structure in a body of work. Voice is not choosing to write in first or third person, nor is it a specific technique or style. Voice isn’t about branding. An author’s voice tends to be consistent throughout their work. There will be slight variations depending on the genre an author works in. To complicate things a bit. There is also Character Voice, which exists within the Author Voice. No one wants to read a book with cookie cutter characters who all speak and act in similar ways. So the author must develop the characters in the story and give then each a unique voice, which will inevitably be some part of the author’s own unique voice and outlook. Each character will have their own way of speaking, certain phrasing and ideas they express that drive the story line forward. Every facet of ourselves can be given free rein in our work. Your cast may include authoritative characters, shy, warm, funny, silly, conceited, angry etc. All of these will reflect some part of the author, we can’t escape that fact. Our characters spring from our own wellspring of experience. The trick here is for each character to have a voice that is appropriate to their role in the work, consistent and believable. What is the Function of Voice in our Writing? A well rounded and honed voice makes every word count, set up a consistent thread through the work and speaks to the reader in a way that captures their attention. What is the Difference between Tone and Voice Tone is subset of Voice. Tone is the mood of the story or work while Voice is the personality. So while your voice might be described as ‘serious’ the mood of the individual piece may be quite humorous. In creating a Tone the author sometimes will use jargon or culture specific references. While this might be important if you are writing in a specific genre like Sci-Fi or Chick Lit, you also date your work and limit your longevity. Your writing will be around for years and if you reference a certain movie star or current trend, thirty or forty years from now most readers won’t identify with that. So, don’t be lazy and tell your reader the heroine looked like a Kardashian, or Helen Mirren, or Edward from Twilight. The more diverse your audience becomes the more important it is the you aspire for simplicity and clarity. Avoid slang and culture specific references. The exception to that, is of course, unless you are writing in a genre that your audience will expect it. Just know that you are aiming at a niche audience when you chose to write in that genre. Finding Your Voice Let’s explore how you go about finding that elusive Voice. There are three major elements to consider here: What do you want to communicate about yourself, of in the case of business writing, about the brand you’re representing. If you could ask your readers to describe your work in a few descriptive words, what words would you like to hear from them? What is the purpose of your writing? Your voice will moderate slightly if you are writing a novel, a movie review or an obituary. Decide what you want to convey to your reader. Will you need to use short blunt sentences, or longer descriptive passages? Who is your target audience? This will dictate the style and tone your Voice will acquire. Both of those being subsets of Voice. Take a minute to think about those three points and come up with a few words that apply to your voice. If you’re having trouble with that, think about what you don’t want to say. How is your voice different from anyone else’s? When you have a decent list, start to whittle it down. Scrap any words that aren’t really important, make sure the ones you keep are fairly specific. Pare your list down to four or five words. You can repeat this exercise every once in a while as your descriptors will change as your Voice develops and becomes fuller and multi-layered. Types of Voice Stream of Consciousness: narrative that is made up of the thought process of the characters. Examples are Faulkner’s The Sound and Fury. Character Voice: We spoke about this earlier. Character Voice allows the reader to experience the story from the eyes and POV the character. This can be achieved by the use of third or first person POV, depending on the genre and content of your work. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series is a good example of use of Character Voice. When she is writing in Claire’s POV it is first person, but when she switches to any of her other characters’ POV she uses third person. A clever convention to keep the reader from being confused while sub-consciously never letting them forget it is Claire who is the main character of her books. Unreliable Voice: The character speaks directly to the reader in a highly exaggerated and excitable way. This is usually employed in first person POV where the character is biased, childish or ignorant and tries to deceive the reader. This is a Voice that can be quite useful in horror or thriller genres to take the reader deep into the POV of the killer or psychopath. Poe uses this Voice in the Tell Tale Heart. Epistolary Voice: This voice is a narrative one which uses letters or documents to tell the story. It may employ multiple characters’ voices, or no character at all if the author has chosen to tell the story through various documents and letters. Shelley’s Frankenstein uses this Voice. Third Person Subjective Voice: This is a very passive Voice where a narrator relays the thoughts, opinions and feelings of the characters in the story. Hemingway’s Old Man and Sea uses this POV. Third Person Objective Voice: The story is told by a narrator who doesn’t touch on the character’s emotions or thoughts. It supplies an objective and unbiased (except the author’s own ingrained bias) POV. I’ll close with a quote form Rachel Gardner: “So how do you find your voice? You can’t learn it. You can’t copy it. Voice isn’t a matter of studying. You have to find it. And the only place you can find it is within you.”

Children in the Age of Chivalry – Part Two by Rosemary Morris

To learn more about Rosemary's books please click on the cover. My novel, Grace, Lady of Cassio, The Lovages of Cassio, Book Two, the sequel to Yvonne, Lady of Cassio, begins in the reign of Edward III. It will be published in October 2021. At heart I am a historian. My novels are rich in historical detail which requires intensive research, some of which I am sharing in this blog. Until children were seven-years old, they did little or no work. They were allowed to play and indulge in make believe, then aged seven, they were sent to court, to be trained by another nobleman, to school or if they were peasants to work on the land. Some peasant children played with rag dolls or balls made with scraps of material or leather. Rich parents gave their young sons and daughters toys which are no longer popular, wooden blocks bones, wooden carts with wheels, clay birds, cymbals, glass rings, hoops, small wooden boats, drums, hoops, jumping jacks, marionettes, quoits, skates, spinning tops and little windmills. Other playthings are still popular, for example, balls, dolls, kites, marbles, rattles, spinning tops and see-saws. Today, fancy dress costumes are available at my local supermarket. Little girls can dress up as fairies, characters such as Cinderella and Snow-white, young boys as Superman, Bob the Builder, knights, and other popular characters. In the medieval era children enjoyed dressing up as knights and ladies. Boys played with rocking horses, toy swords and bows and arrows imitating adult participants in tournaments. Children played games such as Peek-a-Boo, which still amuses babies and small children, Blind Man’s Bluff, also called Hood Man Blind, Hide and Seek, still one of children’s favourite games, which was known as Hunt the Fox or Hunt the Hare in times past, and bobbing for apples or cherries. Unfortunately, violence was a theme in some of children’s pastimes among which were Punch and Judy shows which are still popular. However, I admit that as a child they distressed me. Young children enjoyed cock fights, and fierce fighting on piggyback that introduced them to combat mounted on horseback. There were nursery rhymes and stories mainly passed down by word of mouth to amuse them and, in castles and manor houses there were pets - lap dogs, tame squirrels, mice, caged birds and, if they were not considered witches’ familiars, cats. I daresay children were taught to ride at a young age, and they admired the hounds, and looked forward to hunting with falcons and hawks when they were older. Children were not expected to behave like adults. Medieval literature contains references to memories of childhood. Gerald of Wales described his brothers building sandcastles while he constructed a monastery out of sand.

www.rosemarymorris.co.uk http://bookswelove.net/authors/morris-rosemary

Ancient Sumer or Sumeria by Katherine Pym

 

 Available at Smashwords

Amazon

 ~*~*~*~

This month my newest novel, Begotten, debuted. Considered historical-fantasy, it begins with the breakup of a planet, a gateway of sorts that transports our protagonists to a new, cleaner planet. The goddess who rules the city-state is gentler than the bull god from the old world. 

Sumer Art

But many who traveled to the new world do not want to give up their god. Elam establishes a territory where the bull reigns, which causes our protagonists grief.

Why did I choose Sumer? It has a lovely history, which is documented in thousands of unearthed clay tablets. It is considered the cradle of civilization that laid between the confluences of the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers. The Garden of Eden has its origins there, along the Gabon River which is now extinct. 

Sumer Life

Sumer established writing, the wheel, a code of ethics. They believed in resurrection. They had a flood, a Moses. Their temple structure dealt with the sacred and the administrative, which is more like our corporate structure than any other current organization. Men had their specific jobs, for which they set down their daily duties which would be added to others’. Then they would be compiled into weekly, monthly, and at year’s end, annual compilation that the governor would address, then sign with his seal of office.

Their firsts for which mankind has benefited (from ancient.eu): 

Sumer Life

“The first schools, legal precedent, a ‘Farmer’s Almanac’, Cosmology, proverbs and sayings, documented domestication of animals, agricultural techniques, time, religion, mathematics, and among others, medical practices (including dentistry).”

The Sumerians were an amazing people, their culture on an equal note as our own. I had to write of the people and its society, an opportunity too good to pass up. 

Excerpt: 

Chapter One

Day of the Cataclysm

A battered reed basket under her arm, Luna stopped her headlong run to market when she reached the temple square. A bas-relief of the bull-god filled the edifice’s façade, the vivid colors dulled by the constant barrage of heat. Once surrounded by a beautiful garden, the remains of withered flowers slumped onto the parched earth. Blackened trees stretched their stark branches toward a metallic sky.

Couples with infants in their arms silently queued at the temple’s great bronze doors. At short intervals, priests admitted a pair as the rest shuffled forward. The smell of burned spices wafted from the vast building before the doors clanged shut.

A flock of birds burst from the garden’s skeletal tree canopy. In distorted chaos, they squawked and flew into each other. Feathers rained onto granite stones worn thin by worshippers.

The ground rolled beneath Luna’s feet. She spread her legs for balance as mews of fear rippled in the hot air. Gasping with terror the earth would break apart, sweat trickled in her heavy black hair, plaited in a mound of thin ropes. She searched for something to hold onto when the rumbles ceased.

Deadly earthquakes came with more frequency, several per day, each stronger than the last. This morning’s had rattled the kitchen with clay pots falling off shelves. Hot coals bounced from the stone oven and rolled across the floor, scorching a table leg.

An agitated couple in the queue caught her attention. The woman held an infant while the man paced in a small circle. They wore the same usekhs as Luna, beads of turquoise and amethyst that draped to the shoulders. The collars showed they were slaves in the same large household as Luna, yet she did not know them.

Sumer Art

~*~*~*~*~

Many thanks to:

Ancient History Encyclopedia: https://tinyurl.com/y5pnbu64

Depositphotos.com