FEBRUARY WINNER!!!

CONGRATULATIONS Coyote Quilts! You’re the February winner. To receive your free autographed books please contact Amanda Renee and Laura Marie Altom through their Websites.

 

To enter the contest simply leave a blog comment and your name will go into the drawing. Simple and painless. And FREE BOOKS.

Health kick vs. kicking old habits

My husband has always been the steak lover in the family. Recently he’s switched to chicken and turkey. Then, last week, he suggested we watch a documentary on Netflix about how a vegan diet can apparently reverse and prevent all sorts of serious ailments such as heart disease and cancer.

The show, Forks Over Knives, even advocates swearing off dairy. Kind of a scary notion for folks entering the osteoporosis years.

Now we’re discussing what to do. The kids are grown, so we don’t have to deal with their tastes and preferences. But can a meat-loving guy really learn to love lentils and sprouts?

As for me, I’d be happy to eat mostly plant-based foods. I don’t promise to swear off eggs, cheese and seafood, or the occasional Chinese dish involving chicken or beef. Still, I’m a longtime fan of soups (not my husband’s favorites), beans, etc. Plus Swiss chard grows like crazy in my garden, even in winter, and it’s easy to fix like spinach. Note: I live in Southern California, so winter lows stay above freezing.

What do you think? Have you tried a vegan diet? Any suggestions?

Back to books! March means the release of The Baby Jackpot, which is number 10 in the Safe Harbor Medical miniseries. Each book stands alone, so if you’re new to the series, you can still enjoy it.

I’ve also revised and updated my offbeat time-travel romance One Husband Too Many. For the month of March only, it’s sale-priced at 99 cents on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.

Thanks for reading!

Jackie's website

Jackie's Facebook page

I "heart" hummingbirds!

Many people might find it hard to believe there are hummingbirds nesting and raising babies in Canada in the wintertime, but there is a population of Anna's hummingbirds that overwinters on southern Vancouver Island. For years I've kept feeders in my garden and have had the pleasure of watching them year round.

Here's a photograh I took several years ago, and yes, that's snow you can see in the background!

This year the weather has been milder, but not without its challenges. For the past week, a male Anna's has spent long periods of time perched on the largest feeder in my yard. I've never seen this behavior before and at first I thought he might be injured or sick, but he seems fine and now I believe he's just being territorial! I've started calling him Tuff because he often displays white tufts of underfeathers near both wings, and because he has happily turned out to be tougher than I thought!

Here's Tuff at the feeder.

And here's Tuff in the California lilac.

For even better photographs of hummingbirds, I've started following Hummingbirds Up Close on Facebook and visiting the Hummingbirds Up Close website. If you "heart" hummingbirds, you'll love these sites! Both have beautiful photograhs as well as truly amazing videos of hummingbirds building nests, incubating their eggs and caring for their babies.

While I'm talking about hummingbirds, I feel it's important to offer a few tips to those who might consider setting up feeders in their own gardens. Please do not add red coloring to the nectar. The birds will be attracted to the red plastic on the feeder, and the chemicals in the food coloring aren't good for them. Please do clean your feeder once a week and refill it with fresh nectar. This will prevent toxic mold that's lethal to hummingbirds from growing in the feeder. Make your own hummingbird nectar by dissolving white sugar in water. In the summer I use a ratio of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. In winter, when they need more energy, I mix a ratio of 1 part sugar to 3 parts water.

If nesting birds have you longing for springtime, I hope you'll consider entering my February contest because I'm giving away this adorable cupcake holder filled with yet-to-be-determined goodies!

To enter the draw, simply go to my website, subscribe to my newsletter AND send me an email telling me your favorite first sign of spring! Only newsletter subscribers are eligible, and the winner will be announced in the next issue.

I'm also thrilled to share the cover of Daddy, Unexpectedly, my next Harlequin American Romance (May 2013). I have loved all my covers but I especially love this one because the hero is very much as I imagined him as I was writing this story. Swoon!

This is the third and final book in my Ready Set Sold series about three women who own a Seattle-based real estate business. If anyone would like autographed bookplates for these three books (The Christmas Secret, The Daddy Project, and Daddy, Unexpectedly, please send me an email with your address and I'll pop them in the mail to you!

Happy reading!

Unitl next time,
Lee
Maggie's Way (Harlequin Heartwarming, May 2013)
Daddy, Unexpectedly (Harlequin American Romance, May 2013)
www.LeeMcKenzie.com