The Key To Happiness!

Life gets crazier by the second round here!

Leaving the plastic pine needles scattered all over the landing, I dashed off to school and enjoyed an afternoon's teaching.

Then came home and started preparing our evening meal, which had to be quick and easy. In the supermarket earlier, I'd picked up some ready meals on a '3 for 2' offer. Took the two packs of beef stew with dumplings from the fridge to the oven - and Bob politely asked if there was anything else- he had beef casserole under a suet crust for his lunch today! Fortunately my third ready meal was a fish pie. So Beef #2 went back in the fridge, and fish pie went in the oven. I have to report that [as is often the case with these things] they were not the best meals we have ever eaten. My stew was rather too peppery for my taste, but in contrast, Bob described his pie as "Deeply Bland" [actually, we both decided "Deeply Bland" ought to be the name of a hymn tune!]

At 5.45pm we were upstairs changing into 'posh' clothes for the evening. This was when I couldn't find a decent pair of clean tights and one of his shoelaces broke. "There's a box of spare laces in the dressing table" I said smugly. Less smug when we realised that those of the right length were brown, not black, and those which were black were mysteriously about 3 feet long [for hockey boots perhaps ? if so, where had we got them from?]

Finally dressed and sorted, we went downstairs "Have you got your keys?" I said. "Yes" he said. I set the burglar alarm "You've got your keys, haven't you?""Yes - have you got yours?""Well, no - I don't need them - I am with you, and you have keys" [sheer laziness- I did not want to bother with a handbag!]

We were going to  church, because we were [for the first time] hosting a carol Concert for the local WI. Bob took off his anorak, hung it up on a coat hook outside the church office, and set about sorting PA etc. I showed the WI ladies where all the equipment was for making their refreshments.

Part of the evening included a lovely musical interlude by the Synergy Chorale, part of our local community choir.

 

 

Everything went well- and at the end, coffee and mince pies were served, and the ladies washed up, and then Bob came into the Hall looking uncharacteristically bothered. "I can't find my coat - and all my keys are in the pocket" We hunted high and low - I grilled him like mad "Are you sure you put it there? is it in the vestry/pulpit/by the PA desk/downstairs kitchen?" We hunted - the ladies were concerned too. There was one coat still hanging up, a ladies jacket in a pale 'oyster' colour. "Well, I cannot believe someone would arrive in a pale one and go home in a deep red one" said a WI lady.

"What will you do?" said another. I said we would have to stay at the church all night - we couldn't lock the premises, and even if we walked home, we couldn't get in! We had no church keys, car keys or house keys!

"Can you get one of your daughters to bring a key round?"...well no, they are in London. "Has anybody else got a key?" At this point I remembered that one of my friends probably still had a house key,  from when they used to look after our dog for us. And they had a set of church keys too. If they came up to church, they could lock up the premises, then take us home and let us in. And I knew they were around, as they'd been at the Carol Service earlier.

So I telephoned and explained our predicament. "Yes if course we can help" they said. It was at that moment that my friend realised she'd come to church in her oyster coloured jacket, but gone home in her red one.

 

Except of course it wasn't her coat, it was Bob's [which is remarkably similar!] She came to the church, her face as red as the jacket! We all laughed a lot - and felt greatly relieved [What a blessing I rang that particular friend first!]

"So Ang, when I said you ought to have your keys with you, and you said you didn't need them because you were with me, and I had mine..." said Bob "Far be it from me to say 'I told you so' - but I told you so!!"

No harm done, the WI ladies were grateful it wasn't one of their members who had made the mistake, and we locked up all the premises and came home. Despite all the hiccups, it had been a Very Successful Evening all round.

And as Bob said when we finally got home tonight "You couldn't make this up" and I said "No, but you can blog about it!"

[and there are still pine needles on the landing]