It's been an interesting year at Ladybug Farm, to say the least. After uprooting their city lives for a life of countrified living in the Shenandoah Valley, Bridget Tindale and her best friends Cici Burke and Lindsay Wright are still at it as they work to restore the rundown Blackwell Farms to its former glory. Its been a lot of work but its also been a lot of fun for the ladies. In her latest installment of the Ladybug Farm story, author Donna Ball treats her readers to more fun and excitement with AT HOME ON LADYBUG FARM.

Through the year the girls have picked up three additional residents to the manor. Originally thought to be the ghost of the house, elderly but feisty Ida Mae was the original housekeeper for the Blackwell family and has stayed to help out the "city gals." Cici's daughter, Lori, has moved in after a disastrous semester at college, and is determined to find just the right business for the farm to undertake to stay solvent. And then there is 16 year old Noah Clete, the young homeless drifter who Lindsay has take a shine to, and who all the ladies want to help turn his life around, whether he wants it or not.

As the renovations continue on the huge mansion, more and more of the house's history begins to shine through. Why was there a false floor in the barn, what was the dark stain on the living room floor, and who painted the beautiful murals that had been hidden behind false walls? Residents from the past answer these questions in alternating chapters, telling the home's occupation as a world-class winery and cheese factory, a haven for World War II military wives, and it's life after the Civil War. And all the stories intertwine with the present to bring a sweet circle of completion for everyone involved.

Donna Ball has created a delightful world in her Ladybug Farm novels. Her characters are lively and endearing, and readers will feel a longing to join the girls on the front porch in the evenings as they reminisce about the day's activities. And I, for one, want to get my hands on some of that Blackwell Farm wine jelly!