May 29-30

It is amazing how quick the week feels when you drop the Monday as a regular day.

Although, over the weekend I did receive my autographed copies of Tonya Kappes’ series!!! I won them on her site on Facebook!

Signed and everything

Wednesday we stopped and smelled the flowers… On Thursday we wandered the neighbourhood and looked for dropped blossoms or wildflowers for pressing. We are going the simple route and following Life Studies Online’s instructions. However, we had to substitute newspaper with wax paper as we had recycled ALL of ours! You can find the simple step by steps HERE. We will check back in probably 4 days.

With Wednesday we rubbed leaves and checked through our leaf book to see if we could identify any of them. Two kinds were recognized and we had a blast with our crayons in our nature books!

Rubbing and sorting

Reference book

I have been having the littles do their workbook work at the table while I make lunch…

And a colouring book too

Of course with the flower pressing mentioned above was an abbreviated walk for the kids and I to collect them.

On the hunt

Bubble break

Trinity had a workbook completion… She and Emanuel are trying to get as much done this summer as possible so that they can graduate onto the harder books!

Completion!

Art for Kids was timely this week… T-REX!!!!

Ferocious!

We get a lot of rain around here… great for the plants, not so much for our walking plans. So the wandering the neighbourhood and ending up in our own yard for an hour is a great way to learn about nature AND burn off that necessary energy!

Fun in the sun

Oh and ending the evening out in the backyard with Daddy is a welcome addition to our routine!

Kick!

SOCCER

…Random Fairie!

There are days when I feel especially lucky and the day I won an eCopy of this book by Heather Webber from the wonderful author Tonya Kappes (I am a member of her Street Team Facebook group) was one of those days. This is NOT the first in a series but it is HILARIOUS and I was easily able to jump right in, read it, enjoy it and DEFINITELY want to read all books prior! 

Nina Quinn is a talented landscaper in Freedom, Ohio. A divorcee who has been unofficially renamed the “corpse whisperer” she has seen her fair share of murders and dead bodies (7 books worth in fact!). Two quirky sisters, neighbours that feel like they must have written themselves, they are that giggle worthy, an amazing ex stepson and an ex husband with a badge… Nina has it all… 

I don’t want to give away too much of the plot in this story as it IS #7, but the murder is interesting, the detective work fraught with danger, excitement, and laughs. You fall in love with the characters and just have to see the mystery through. Throw in a mysterious coroner and a baby on the way for good measure. And at the end of the book there are even some landscaping tips! The Root of All Trouble is a must read for a cozy mystery buff like myself!

Heather Webber is also the author of some of my favourite magical books – The Wishcraft Mysteries as Heather Blake! I have yet to get my hands on her newest – The Good, The Bad and the Witchy but Cousin Veronika seemed to enjoy it. The Root of all Trouble, is an excellent addition to the books I have read by this author. I especially love how the romance in the story does not feel forced or have high importance. It is the interaction of Nina with ALL the characters that take center stage! She neither whines about her failed marriage or her single status nor disregards the people around her. Nina is a strong character with an amazing heart and a terrific sense of humour. 

I am already on the look out for the first in this series: A Hoe Lot of Trouble. With spring firmly here I would suggest this book for a rainy afternoon OR a day at the lake in the sun… either way you are going to be thoroughly entertained! Thank you again Tonya Kappes for this amazing gift. Be sure to check out TONYA’s series, especially her Magical Cures Mystery Series! You can find out all about her and her books at her official site HERE.

The Root of All Trouble is a terrific afternoon read be it a rainy day or a sunny afternoon at the lake. If you are a lover of all mysteries cozy and ready for some giggles to book this is the book for you! I would fully recommend not only this book but other series by this author! Check out Heather Webber or Heather Blake and be ready for an awesome read!

The Root of all Trouble

Now if you have NOT read A Charming Crime, the first in Tonya Kappes Magical Cures Mysteries series… STOP and go straight to my review HERE. To date there are three stories in this series with A Charming Cure being the 2nd and A Charming Potion the 3rd (a Mini Mystery). I have purchased all 3 off Amazon for my Kindle and am really looking forward to delving into the 3rd in the series next.

Now I did notice a few more spelling and punctuation errors in this second book but NOT enough to really disturb my escape into the world of June Heal and Whispering Falls. I was happy to see that while Oscar, the bestfriend/police officer was more in the background for the most part in this book, Mr. Prince Charming the fairy god cat was right there with June throughout her adventures.

Many of the characters from the previous novel are included in this book but for the most part the mystery was focused at a special Intuition school. Run by June’s Aunt Helena (who was unknown or at least forgotten by June at this point) her “only 4 days” quickly becomes an exercise in confusion, frustration and surprisingly attempted murder!

As in the previous book June combines intuition with charms, sleuthing and an incessant wish to know more about her past and her family.

A Charming Cure