Wednesday W’s #1.

I’m stealing this ‘Wednesday W’s” idea from a very dear blog-friend of mine. Spo lives in Phoenix and we’ve been reading each other’s blogs for over a decade. Over this last year of retirement and joyful, happy days, my blog posts have become a bit sporadic, so this may help to get me back into the groove.

What’s top of my mind: When will my accountant get around to doing my tax return?

Arghhhh. I know it’s not a biggie, but for the whole of my working life, whenever I’ve given an accountant my facts and figures, my tax return has been done lickety-split. For the last few years I’ve been using the same accountant as the Barefoot Investor and it’s been great. We live near each other, so we’d meet in a café for coffee and I’d pass over any bits of paper he needed and it was all good.

Now, he’s passed that part of the business onto another guy and I’ve been waiting for just under 2 months for this new guy to get his shit act together. I sent a gentle nudge of an email a month ago, yet here we are: still waiting.

I know that legally it’s not an issue, but I’m really curious to see what will happen with my taxes seeing I only worked half the financial year. Will I get a healthy refund?? Who knows – certainly not me at the moment…

Where I’ve been: on my yoga mat.

I knew that when I retired I should take up doing yoga. I’m not terribly bendy and if I want to climb in and out of the inflatable boats at Antarctica I really have to get fitter. Plus health, yadda yadda.

Two years ago I bought a yoga mat at Aldi and last week I unwrapped it. Someone on Twitter posted a link to a free month of introductory yoga lessons from Yoga With Adrienne so I thought that this was the perfect chance to get started.

I’m running a few days behind, but that’s ok. So far (Day 6) I haven’t missed a day and I’m finding that I can do more than I thought. Though I wish someone had warned me not to do yoga just after eating breakfast – the downward facing dog made me a bit queasy that first day!!

I’m doing each practice first thing in the morning, after I’ve had a coffee and fed the dogs. They’re learning that they have to stay up on my bed while I’m on the yoga mat – Poppy still optimistically jumps down and walks over for a pat, but she’ll get the hang of it.

It’s good to start the day being productive!

Where I’m going: out to the veggie garden.

This is the time of the year when things are starting to ripen. This year I planted an over-abundance of green beans. They’re called ‘Lazy Housewife’, which for some reason calls to me…

I’m picking the big ones, chopping them into tiny bite-sized chunks and freezing, to use in soups and stews over winter. If you’ve never grown beans, you have no idea how quickly they grow. If I don’t pick beans every day, they’ll grow huge and inedible. The plants then stop producing beans because they think they’ve produced the seeds for next year.

Not on my watch, baby! Fortunately, Ryan27 and I love beans, so we’re eating them nearly every day. Between the fresh beans and the frozen, we’ll be set for the year. I’m also growing a garden bed full of Berlotti beans, to dry. Come what may, Ryan27 and I will get our protein!

What I’m watching: Ru Paul’s Drag Race and Money Heist.

Evan25 put me onto Drag Race and I love it. I don’t usually have the tv on during the day – too many other things to pass the time with – but if I’m in the mood for froth and bubble, then Drag Race it is. I’ve seen all of the All Stars, so now I’m working my way through all of the seasons. I’m up to season 9… and I’ve just seen that they’re bringing out a brand-new season in a few days. Oh, the dilemma! Do I stay the course or do I jump forward to keep hip, happening, and up-to-date?

When I want something that needs more concentration, I flick over to Netflix and watch Money Heist. When I started it, it said it had 5 parts. I call shenanigans on that! It has 5 parts… divided up into about 10 episodes each!!! By the time I realised, I was too deep in.

It’s a Spanish show, but I have it on the dubbed-into-English version. I just have to avoid looking at their mouths when they talk.

What I’m Reading: The Colour of Money by Walter Tevis.

I discovered Walter Tevis’ writing when Tom29 gave me ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ for Christmas last year. SUCH a beautiful writer! Since then I’ve been tracking down his novels. This one, the sequel to ‘The Hustler’ was his last one.

It took a while for it to grab me. But about 1/3 of the way in, I was hooked.

What I’m listening to: Welcome To Nightvale.

The aforementioned Spo put me onto Nightvale about 5 years ago. This podcast has been running for YEARS and it’s truly wonderful. It’s the community radio station of a strange little town out in the desert, where things aren’t quite the same as in the rest of the world. I’ve deliberately fallen a bit behind, because I like to binge-listen. I’ve just heard about Khoshekh in the bathroom. OH MY GOD!

What I’m eating: fresh green beans.

See above.

Who needs a good slap: Evan25.

I’m running an experiment at the moment to see how long it’ll take before Evan25 picks up his phone and calls me. I know that he’s a very busy and important man, but hey. I gave him life.

So far, it’s been 4 days since I sent a text asking if he was free to chat, and he replied with “I’ll call you after work.”

Last night I sent a text with ” …? “

So far, still nothing. Curious to see how long it’ll take before he realises that he’s ghosted his own mother!

(On a scale from 1 – 5… he gets a gentle wrist slap. Can’t hurt the baby, after all.)

What I’m planning: January’s “Little Adventure.”

Hmmmm… where should I go when I don’t want to be around covid-riddled people? They’re everywhere at the moment.

What has made me smile: Scout dobbing Poppy in.

I was out of the house and Ryan27 left the pantry door open. He was back in his room when Scout came in and started grumbling and moaning, as she does when she wants to tell us that something isn’t right.

“What’s the matter, little one?” said Ryan27, as Scout ran to the door.

He followed her down to the pantry, where Poppy was jumping up, trying to get the dog biscuits.

How amazing is that? (Though a friend of mine said, Scout’s a dachshund – a Garman breed. She’s a rule-follower!)

Dad joke of the day:

I used to have a fear of hurdles… but I got over it.