The Ark visits the Hope shop at Ste Soline

  Yesterday, we paid a visit to the Hope shop , taking with us a van load of items donated by friends, together with some contributions from ourselves. The Berlingo has been full of sacks and boxes for some days, so we were pleased to get rid of them. In case you haven't heard of Hope, it is an organisation dedicated to raising funds which are then sent to various charities which help animals. The gifts from donors are sold off at very attractive prices, as Hope has no costs in acquiring its stock. Many of the items are new and from prestigious marques. Clothes, books, children's toys and electronic and electrical items can be purchased at minimum cost, and the shop has become well known to English and increasingly to French buyers. Yesterday, we were bent on replacing our electric iron , the original one having been dropped by Noah... We found a new Rowenta steam iron at only 3eur !  Kim bought loads of clothes and several handbags plus a replacement torch and I found several books at a euro apiece . In addition, we ate bacon sandwiches for lunch and sat out in the sunshine to enjoy them.
  A bit dazed with sun and buying we set off for home very happy with our day out.

Bye for now, sitting by the gaz Fire, it's a bit parky today and spitting with rain, quite a change from yesterday!

Knife crime in the UK

   There seems to be a spate of murders in London at present, figures suggest the death toll is worse than New York ! The remedy is to remove all knives from people, and in England, as in France, anyone caught in possession of a bladed weapon is instantly arrested and charged by the police. I feel that the remedy is not in the possession of a knife, but in the changing of the attitude of persons, especially the younger generation. When I was a teenager, admittedly in the dim and distant past as I am now 76 it was a stage of growing up to get your first penknife at about 12 years of age. All small boys had one in their pocket, admittedly not very sharp. The only person in danger of being cut was the owner and this was carefully concealed from our parents in case the implement was withdrawn. We used our ne knives to peel sticks, carve wood and slash vegetation threatening to block the paths we took on our rambles... The thought of stabbing someone never occurred to us. British kids just didn't DO that, it was the Spanish  and Italians that sank to these depths.... Yet I don't remember any cases of knife crime from my teenage years, though the term teenager was not invented til the sixties.
   Incidentally, the ' weapon' shown in my header pic was issued to Mediteranean army units to be the most unwarlike tool imaginable, incapable of stabbing anyone, perhaps these could be authorised by the Authorities..
   In my own case, I would be lost without my Swiss Army knife and continue to carry it guiltily. I would starve to death without its scissors and short blades as my left hand is no too weak to tear open food wrappings!