Happy Sunday afternoon. We were supposed to have heavy rain all day, but other than a couple of light drizzly showers, there’s been nothing, so I have had to water the vege garden. I picked another seven cucumbers for Luke’s roadside stand, but I fear that’s the last of them. It doesn’t look as though there are many feijoas on the tree, and there’s no sign yet of mandarins, so he may have a bit of a dry spell for a while. Dustin and Luke have been down for the afternoon and have just left to go back home so that they’ve time to give Timmy a run before it’s dark. Daylight saving ends here next week, so it will get dark even earlier.
Helen and I went and investigated the two new antique shops in the area Friday morning. We had a lovely time and finished with coffee out.
Currently I am reading, and almost finished, The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish. I’m not over-enamoured, but reserving my final opinion as she often pulls something out of the hat right at the end.

I am still listening to the family saga, The House at Riverton by Kate Morton.

I am not quite caught up with my March reads yet, hopefully this week. I have two reads for review due this week: Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea

Alex Armstrong has changed everything about herself—her name, her appearance, her backstory. She’s no longer the terrified teenager a rapt audience saw on television, emerging in handcuffs from the quiet suburban home the night her family was massacred. That girl, Alexandra Quinlan, nicknamed Empty Eyes by the media, was accused of the killings, fought to clear her name, and later took the stand during her highly publicized defamation lawsuit that captured the attention of the nation.
It’s been ten years since, and Alex hasn’t stopped searching for answers about the night her family was killed, even as she continues to hide her real identity from true crime fanatics and grasping reporters still desperate to locate her. As a legal investigator, she works tirelessly to secure justice for others, too. People like Matthew Claymore, who’s under suspicion in the disappearance of his girlfriend, a student journalist named Laura McAllister.
Laura was about to break a major story about rape and cover-ups on her college campus. Alex believes Matthew is innocent, and unearths stunning revelations about the university’s faculty, fraternity members, and powerful parents willing to do anything to protect their children.
Most shocking of all—as Alex digs into Laura’s disappearance, she realizes there are unexpected connections to the murder of her own family. For as different as the crimes may seem, they each hinge on one sinister truth: no one is quite who they seem to be . . .
And A Pen Dipped in Poison by J.M. Hall, which I can’t wait to get to. I loved the first book in this series and am looking forward to catching up with Liz, Pat and Thelma again.

Signed. Sealed. Dead?
Retired schoolteachers Liz, Pat and Thelma never expected they would be caught up in a crime even once in their lives, let alone twice.
But when poison pen letters start landing on the doorsteps of friends and neighbours in their Yorkshire village, old secrets come to light.
With the potential for deadly consequences.
It won’t be long until the three friends are out on a case yet again…
Only one publisher’s Widget this week, and one ARC. The widget is Summer at the Cornish Farmhouse by Linn B. Halton

And ARC is The Widow of Weeping Pines by Amanda McKinney

I am back at work fulltime from Monday. Hopefully not for too long. I will still be going to aquarobics, but other interests will be taking a back seat while I deal with the end of the financial year and training someone new for my job. *sigh* I have a meeting with the outgoing manager tomorrow. She walked off the job at lunchtime Friday after having, only days earlier, agreed to work through to the end of March. 🤷♀️
Enjoy however much remains of your weekend. I’m making toasted sandwiches for dinner tonight – ham, cheese, mustard. Then I will sort out the menu for the rest of the week and make a shopping list. We’re a bit like Mother Hubbard’s cupboard here as I haven’t done a grocery shop for two weeks.
Happy reading!❤📚
We had heavy rain overnight which was great as it watered the garden! Last of the tomatoes now, think I’ll pull them out tomorrow. I have silver beet in for the winter and might put in some broccoli, the cost of vegetables says grow your own! The. antiques visits sound wonderful. Hope your reading goes well, oh yes daylight saving over next weekend. I hate that as it mucks up my sleep patterns such as they are!
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We’ve had next to no rain, Kathryn. I tried to buy spinach plants last week but there’s none in yet. My tomatoes aren’t ripening now so I will pick what’s there and make Green tomato chutney and pull the plants out. My reading is going slowly. Work plays havoc with my reading. I don’t have sleeping patterns 🤣🤣 But if I’m awake at night, I’m reading. Have a wonderful week, Kathryn. ❤📚
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Enjoy those delicious cucumbers my friend. I can’t wait to get my garden planted! I hope you had a lovely visit with Luke and Dustin. Have a wonderful week and I hope you and Pete find plenty of time to relax!🌞☕🌸🤗📚💜
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I love cucumber, Susan. I wanted to put spinach in this week, but there’s no plants in store yet. Dustin had a bad cold and slept all afternoon, so Luke and I played. It was lovely. Luke phoned me tonight just as I was getting home from work. He was worried that I was missing him.🤣🤣❤📚
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It is always weird to me when you talk about the end of summer and we are just entering spring, I have to reorient myself. I hope Luke has a few good days with his stand before fall emerges fully. DST ended for us a couple of weeks ago. I just wish they would leave time alone. I have both those books to read as well, so need to get to them. You are so good to your previous employers Sandy. I know you agreed to help out when you retired, but how long will this go on. You deserve to be able to relax! It sounds like you had a nice time out with Helen, those outings always rejuvenate me. Have a wonderful week, Sandy! 🌞❤😊
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I know. I have problems with your seasons too. I have an emotional attachment to my work. They were close to bankrupt when I went there and it took a lot of hard work to get it into the black and operating profitability. The last two managers have chewed through the reserves I built up, and the books are a mess. I was meant to interview a woman for the position today but she woke up this morning with flu. There’s a lot of it around. I need to be out of there in June as I intend to stand for Treasurer. Thanks Carla. You have a wonderful week too. Are you home?❤📚
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I understand that attachment, especially after all your hard work, you don’t want this business to fail. Good luck with you interviewing. Yes, I am home. Still unpacking and putting things away, but I am also purging at the same time, so that will take longer. Off to the doctor today for a med check. ❤😊
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