Last month saw Stan and Jill, after all their trials and tribulations, saying farewell to Meg's cottage and moving out - bag, baggage and Sarah-Jane - to Chimneys; their own home at last.

 

It's a beautifully peaceful house; so peaceful, in fact, that on the morning after the move Stan arrived late for work, explaining that they'd overslept!

 

The other happy ending was for Mrs Addy; her 'farewell party' at the basement flat turned out not to be her positively final appearance after all; next morning she awoke to find, rather to her annoyance, that she was still alive, and as hale and hearty as ever.  She simply couldn't understand it; the crystal ball couldn't be wrong, she assured Stephanie.

 

It was Sandy who solved the mystery.  He remembered Faye confiding in him - a few weeks before she left King's Oak, she dropped the crystal ball and smashed it, while tidying up after the old lady.  So she went and bought an identical one, and replaced it.

 

"That explains everything!" Mrs Addy was overjoyed when Stephanie told her.  "Crystals take time to get attuned to your vibrations, you see ... This one hasn't got used to me yet."

 

Frankly, it takes time for anyone to get used to Mrs Addy.  When the Motel presented her with a bill for the food and drink they supplied at that party, she told Sandy she couldn't afford to pay it.

 

"You see, I thought I could spend all my life savings - because I presumed I had no more life to save for.  Now I find that I'm going to go on living after all - well, I shall need the money to live on, won't I?"

 

However, she did put forward a suggestion; she proposed to repay the Motel in installments of 50p a week, until her debt was cleared ...

 

"Oh yes, I realised it will take years, but now my crystal is getting tuned in, I've just discovered that I'm going to live to a very old age - so there's no cause for alarm!"  

Vera, on the other hand, has plenty to worry about.  Her new assistant in the Salon - the good-looking Mr Oliver (otherwise known as 'Sexy Rexy') may be an expert hairdresser, but he doesn't always keep his mind on his work.

 

He begins by making a pass at Vera, and when she slaps him down, he tries a more devious approach.  He takes her for a spin in his car, to a little country pub he knows - miles from anywhere - and then to his great surprise, the car breaks down ... They're stranded for the night.

 

But Vera isn't going to fall for that old routine; she turns the tables by driving off in Rex's car during the night, and leaving him high and dry.  He has to thumb an uncomfortable lift back to Kings Oak.