A day of rest.....

Except it did not exactly turn out like that.  I was cooking for an extra two - so I decided for something simple - like a beef stew and mashed potatoes.  The "stew" was delicious, except that having simmered it for over 3 hours, it looked more like broth with a few lumps (meat pieces).  Then we followed that with pear and blackberry crumble. 

Both were our own produce from the garden last summer, prepared and stored in deep freezer.  We have one lovely pear tree that never lets us down with big fat juicy pears, and along with that one that struggles every year to give us hard skin small pears - they are still tasty but not so easy to peel.  The blackberries are self sown.  Each year we cut them down to the ground and even pull them out, but up they pop again somewhere else and the berries are so big and juicy.  So the crumble with custard was enjoyed by all.

Then for a game of Rummikub with my daughter - I just so love this game and yet it was only just before Christmas that I learnt to play it and now I am hooked, but I have to wait weeks before I can have another game.

I also finished the book Hard Girls by Martina Cole.   This is the fourth one I have read, and I wonder if I should have read them in order of publication as in this book it refers to the characters from her last books.

Danielle Crosby had a body to die for. A body she sold to the highest bidder. But she ended up paying for it with her life.

When a prostitute's body is found lifeless, mutilated and brutally raped, DCI Annie Carr has never seen anything like it and never wants to again. Kate Burrows, retired DCI now consultant, has plenty of experience when it comes to murder - after all she caught the Grantley Ripper and broke the biggest paedophile ring in the South East. She is determined to help put the killer behind bars. But whoever it is won't be easily caught. And when another girl's body is found, even more horrifically disfigured than the last, it's clear the killer is just warming up...

In a ruthless world where everyone's out for themselves, Annie and Kate must dig deep if they hope to catch a callous serial killer who knows no limits and makes no mistakes. For some, prostitution is seriously big business. But how many people will pay the ultimate price?

I did not enjoy this one so much as the other three I have read.  I found that it was a bit repetitive in places and long winded when speaking about the Kate/Pat relationship, I found myself skipping these parts so I could catch up with the plot in hand.  The story line was good though and it did end as one would expect. 

So now I must plan what I am to do for the rest of the week........