Self-help

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taking mum shopping at M&S on Monday. ‘Old enough to wear purple …’

It’s that time of year again. The dreaded tax return. I’ve been doing ours since we’ve had rental property, going on 30 years. I am not a tax dodger. I fill the forms in (for both of us) as accurately as possible – I do put some of my overseas travel (just flights) on the bill [the Bahamas and SE Asia] as those trips definitely appear in the Sam Green novels. And I pay the bill at the end of the period. I suppose the question is, if I paid (about £300?) an accountant to do the job for me, would they save me £300 in tax? I’m not convinced, but I could well be proved wrong. I don’t find the forms tricky, even though I we have multiple sources of income. And the tax man has never questioned what I’m up to.

Of course, self-help is in vogue. Over the past couple of years we have picked up some real quality items in charity shops. I have three Lowe Alpine jackets/fleeces, all of them in very good order – as they do last forever. And, yesterday, C picked up a really good quality Weird Fish fleece for herself and a Rohan waterproof jacket for me. (£4.99 – yippee!). We do buy full price clothes when we need too … but, as is the trend, don’t avoid charity shops as there are some real bargains.

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boot and bikes day … when Mrs Sun eventually joined us

And the same thing applies to all of our stuff. I was servicing the bikes yesterday and C came out and said, ‘you enjoy doing that, don’t you?’. And the answer to that question was, ‘Yes, of course’. It’s about owning something good – and the bikes were top of the range when we bought them six years ago – and getting the longest life out of them. We have cycled thousands of miles on them, and whilst C needed a new front wheel and we have changed the tyres and the brake pads – oh, and C’s battery needed replacing (£250 – yikes), they work like new. And they look good as well. Anyhow, a bucketful of oil later and they’re on their way.

It’s the same for Doris and the Focus. Yesterday I did Doris’s boot. I try to clean and oil everything once a year. And a couple of weeks ago I did all of the keys and locks for the house and garage.

I know. How sad am I. And, I hear you say, you have the time! This is true. But as we get older … and time is something we have on our hands … is there a better way to make use of it? We both enjoy having nice things. We both enjoy having nice things that work. And neither of us like throwing things away. So, oily fingers it is, then.

Finally, I am still cracking on with book 6. Another 1,700 words yesterday. That takes me to around 32/120k words. And, so far, it’s fun. It’s different and exciting (I hope) and there are some interesting dynamics this time round. I think I can see a way that it comes together … but I’m never sure until its there.

Anyhow. Enough drivel from me. We have friends coming to lunch on Friday, we’re at Jen’s on Saturday and then another week of pottering, and writing. Book sales continue at about 1 a day (might break 40 this month) which is pleasing, but still nowhere near 10 a day, which remains the ambition. I must get onto some marketing!

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I almost forgot to mention that I have updated the paperback version of Unsuspecting Hero, Hurrah!