This morning, it was so cold downstairs that I re-lit the open fire so we had some sort of warmth to sit around...
It wasn't difficult to get it going again, as I'd made it up last night with some slack and a few coals, but Mrs Growster had a load of old paper hankies to get rid of, so they went on as well! The whole shebang went perfectly, and after breakfast - and Lily's walk in the churchyard, I went to clear the ashes and set up the new fire for the day.
Leaning, (staggering...) down, I spotted what looked like some shavings on the hearth next to the coal bucket, and it turned out to be Mrs Growster's eternity ring, which she's had for - er - eternity! Being a bit like Sherlock Holmes, my next question was, 'Are you wearing your wedding ring'?
Now, at our age, fingers change size, and in the cold weather, they sometimes get a bit tiny, and it was so with her wedding ring, which she's worn since 1972! The bag of hankies had included her wedding band which had fallen off...
So it meant putting the raging coal fire out with a can of water, and about an hour of sifting through the damp ashes! There was old coal everywhere, the ashes were in a huge heap, and every single piece of muck needed to be inspected!
I'd just about given up after all this time, when, surprise-surprise, on the last rakings, this little gold band appeared in the hearth, all miserable and certainly a bit burny and dirty!
Never has a tin of Duraglit been so welcome, and after several worried minutes of TLC, we're back married again!
All I can say is, "PHEW"...