After breakfast, I sent the children to school and then I went to market. It
was still early when I returned home. The children were at school, my husband
was at work and the house was quiet. So I decided to make some meat pies. In a
short time I was busy mixing butter and flour and my hands were soon covered
with sticky pastry. At exactly that moment, the telephone rang. Nothing could
have been more annoying. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers
and was dismayed when I recognized the voice of Mrs. Bates. It took me ten
minutes to persuade her to ring back later. At last I hung up the receiver.
What a mess! There was pastry on my fingers, on the telephone, and on the
doorknobs. I had no sooner got back to the kitchen than the doorbell rang loud
enough to wake the dead. This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign
for a registered letter!&