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The Writers Festival sounds fascinating. And, rounding out your time with whales, flowers, and libraries... it can't get much better than that. (Notice that I didn't mention decluttering... I know how hard that can be.)

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Wow! Refereeing must have been tough! Love your whale photos - I must book my annual trip soon before they all go home.

The crime festival sounds brilliant and the State library is gorgeous. I might check out the Queensland one.

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What an excellent conference to attend! I'm not a crime fiction writer but have always wondered how clever said writers are to plait the strands so seamlessly together.

The declutter/downsize issue is a big one for the elderly. When Mum turned 65, she would get me in annually and we would have a right old chuck out. She died just shy of 90, and TBH, there wasn't that much to deal with. It was a learning curve for me and now I follow the same modus operandi - every 12 months, big clean up and spring clean. I don't want my family to have to deal with too much - grief and loss is enough.

Good on you for the referee thing! And I am so jealous of your whale watching.

Cheers.

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It's been a fantastic festival and I've come away with at least one thing from each session. Re decluttering, I tend to do what you do - a big clean out annually.

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Your mum's decluttering reminded me so much of what my mum had to do when my dad died and she had a house that was chock a block full of "stuff". She tackled it room by room with me cheering her on, and she was so glad she'd gotten rid of so much by the time she decided to downsize and move down here. Still a LOT of stuff to deal with, but SO much less than if she'd kept putting it off.

Loved the short shorts and short hair in the umpiring pic - and all the memories from seeing childhood stuff.

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There's so much to do - we've barely touched the surface.

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The Writers Festival sounds so interesting! And the State Library is gorgeous! My job is in criminal law so I often have a good laugh when reading crime novels (or watching shows) that aren’t particularly realistic. But I think to an extent creative liberties can be taken to keep the story flowing.

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I could be flippant and say that's why I write cosy crime rather than the more gritty crime - I feel as though you can take a few more liberties.

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This is such an action packed post, Jo.

I loved following your whale photos on Instagram.

It sounds like you were decluttering your mom's place, while I've been decluttering here (but mine is still continuing).

Your Crime Writers conference sounds awesome! <3

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There's so much still to declutter at my parents' place but at least a start has been made.

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Sounds like such wonderful moments.

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It's been a good week.

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That writer's festival sounds wonderful. The flowers are just beautiful. I can see why you used to go to that show regularly.

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Just gorgeous.

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