Owner, Martin McCarron opened the centre seven months ago with his wife Stephanie after buying over the land which was a former golf course clubhouse. The couple also own the WestEnd Garden Centre in Glasgow and with a vision in mind were able to expand their business with the Homegrown Garden Centre in Gartcosh where they sell decorative home wear, accessories, outdoor furniture, outdoor and indoor plants and even have a collection in store for your furry friends. The stories included in this volume are meticulously wrought, sincere tales of real life. With all of its sadness, joy, struggles, and achievements, they are above all, honest. They make the commonplace seem magical. They make the reader cry, laugh, and feel connected to their fellow humans in a way that makes fiction shine. A quote from the forward: “We are at the centre of our own stories. And sometimes it is hard to believe that we are not at the centre of other people’s. But I love the fact that you can brush past a person with your own story so big in your mind and at the same time be a simple passer-by in someone else’s. A walk-on part.” Every once in a while you find a writer that seems to have a way with words that seems to speak directly to you, the reader. It is a talent coveted by many, and one that Rachel Joyce possesses. Her novels “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry“, “The love song of Miss Queenie Hennessey” and “Perfect” have all been favorites of mine. Now, with this book, she has written seven linked stories with a Christmas theme running throughout.

What Joyce has done, is take characters that have only minor, walk-on parts in her other books, or even had to be cut altogether, and told their stories in greater detail. There are seven in total, with Christmas as the bright, silvery thread that holds them together. On a recent evening at Snow Garden, a new restaurant nestled inside off-campus student accommodation in the bustling neighbourhood of Hung Hom, I was treated to a wide array of gastronomical, time-honoured Huaiyang delicacies. In Soldeu and El Tarter the nurseries accept children from 24 months to 5 years. This is mainly an indoor play area with lots of toys, storytelling, fun and games, however as they are on a winter holiday they can also go outside and play in the snow, whilst always being supervised. In the nursery they will not be given any skiing lessons, and prices don't include any meals. We are at the centre of our own stories. And sometimes it is hard to believe that we are not at the centre of other people’s.” For the colder months, primroses and primroses are popular bedding plants. These can add interest and cheer to a winter garden and come in various colours.

These shrubs add a fiery display of orange, red, or yellow stems to the garden in the winter. On them, early flowering bulbs look fantastic underplanted. For the most vibrant stem colour, plant in full sun, prune annually in spring and ensure the soil does not dry out. Dogwood (Cornus) care guide. In A Faraway Smell of Lemon, Binny is running from the over-zealous PTA mum (we all know one!) and finds herself in a shop she’d never normally visit. In The Marriage Manual, Alan and Alice try to make their son a gift from a DIY kit and find themselves deconstructing their marriage. In A Boxing Day Ball, a disco at the village hall proves life-changing. The stories are simple, poignant, beautifully told with a gloss of the supernatural like Christmas frosting. This is a small book containing seven short stories which revolve around peripheral characters that were cut from her other works, but whom she has been unable to let go of completely. She describes them as 'making a nuisance of themselves' so she decided to try and quieten them by giving them short stories of their own. I love that idea - the thought that these characters have a life of their own and won't settle until their story has been told. Protect the crowns of tree ferns and insulate their trunks by wrapping them in layers of fleece or hessian stuffed with straw. Cordylines and palms should be treated similarly, by tying their leaves into bunches, to protect their crowns. As early as January, these pink flowers emerge from a carpet of silver-marbled foliage and bloom. Snowdrops and these go well together.

Of course, I shouldn’t let them play on a snow covered lawn, any more than they should be allowed on a frosty lawn, as the grass can be damaged and there will be bare patches in the green sward come the summer. But I do let the dogs play, and will have to sow with grass seed in April; not all garden designers have perfect gardens. This was how it was, she thought. People would find one another, and sometimes it would last moments and sometimes it would last years.”The Marriage Manual: Christmas Eve. Two parents endeavour to construct their son’s Christmas present from a DIY kit and in the process find themselves deconstructing their marriage. Christmas Day at the Airport: A glitch in the system, travellers stranded and all sorts of lives colliding in the face of a sudden birth... Rachel has also written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4, including all the Bronte novels. She moved to writing after a long career as an actor, performing leading roles for the RSC, the National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl.