Not dull!

Charlotte opened her shop yesterday! After a year or more of very hard work, fixing up a barn previously used to house cows and pigs. Charlotte nearly singlehandedly filled in big holes in walls, insulated and put in a new ceiling, painted, fixed walls and poured cement to create a smoother floor! None of that work was for the faint of heart! Lars, Charlottes husband should be given praise too, as he did give some muscle power where extra strength was needed. A light, bright yet rustic space was created, where Charlotte now display some of her handiwork such as pillows, Christmas decorations, candle holders etc. along with treasures that she has purchased and added her personal touches to, including furniture. David took some of his framed photographs to her shop and it will be fun to see if those beautiful pictures get any attention. So, Charlotte had her "opening", many friends and relatives came to browse and buy, and towards the end of her first day she made a sale to her FIRST real customer!!!!!! Congratulations to a gutsy, creative and hard working girl and loads of good wisher for success!

This mornings headline in the paper speak to crimes against seniors here in our region. And as I sit here in the morning with my coffee flipping through the paper I marvel and shudder over this petty crime! Kids, teens and yes 20-35 year olds too for that matter, knock down old people with walkers and steal their billfolds and purses! Teen age girls push down old ladies and sit on them to hold them down!!!! Elderly people have their monthly pension money taken by those who enter their homes posing as repair men/women! It is for me so disappointing! Is this kind of crime prevalent in Fresno, California? Then I wonder if this kind of crime was simply too common to report in the Fresno Bee? Shortly before we left Mariposa, a former customer I used to bring food to, had a former "care giver" break into his home, in the middle of the night, to steal his medication............

Now my own dear, dear Moster/Aunt Helmi, who had to go to the hospital after yet another fall, to be X-rayed, had her billfold stolen. She kept her wedding rings, her most treasured possession in her billfold along with, off course her money. How can some one steal from a ninety five year old woman??? This comes on the heel of my brother in law Bosse losing his car! He was the proud owner of a BMW X6. In the middle of the night, about a week and a half ago he woke up due to some noise outside his home, only to see his car being driven away from his yard! He tells me there are gangs of expert thieves who know exactly how to disconnect the alarm system, start the car, drive it into a waiting truck, to be taken to Russia or Africa directly, to never be seen again!!!!! But that is a different story, a different kind of criminal, somehow easier to understand, much less personal than the crimes against the elderly, especially performed by the young! Where are these kids Mothers I ask? They are working too hard and not aware of what their children are up to, I am told.

Then, I must confess ,that when we were "ripped off" at our store, whether someone came in took what they wanted, put it in their pocket or under their jacket and left, or wrote checks full well knowing there were no money in the bank, those incidents were relatively few comparatively, yet loomed so LARGE.

Perhaps I should stop reading the newspaper in the morning?................but then I would not know that Zlatan kicked another winning goal for Barcelona, or that Celia Lamberth became this years Lucia, or that there is a light show every night until Christmas, downtown in Helsingborg called "a time and a place", or that 57 % of the voters in Switzerland voted against building more minarets! I am not naive. I just don't understand the mind set.

and so it is.

PS

It is late in the game. I felt compelled to urge President Obama to not send any more troops to Afghanistan. To stop the madness. Wonder what he will do?