Dear Aunt Sister - May 03

When I wrote for the now defunct Foothill Sentinel, I was the ghost writer for the Dear Aunt Sister advice column. When writing the column, I channel my beloved aunt, born in 1913, known affectionately to her five brothers and all their offspring as "Sister." She handled everything with charm, fantastic wit and always a twinkle in her eye.



Dear Aunt Sister,

My husband and I earn extra money by selling items online. We do very well with this. When my best friend asked me about our side business, I told her everything: how much we made, who our supplier was, etc. Last month, she and her husband beat us to our supplier and bought up the inventory we usually purchase and then sold the items online. I am furious with her! How do I get her to stop?

Lost out

Dear Lost,

Friendship is one thing; business is another. She’s not going to stop. Would you? You need to find another supplier or product and get busy.

You should be furious with yourself, not your friend! After all, you’re the one who spilled the beans! In the future, don’t be tempted to give away your “trade secrets.”

****************

Dear Aunt Sister:

Thank you for your column from "Blooming Mad" about missing flowers. Pretty sad that people take flowers without asking, however my situation is like that of the business owners on Foothill with regard to people stealing entire plants.

I moved here less than a year ago, the yard was mostly dirt and weeds. I've put so much work into beautifying my place, only to have someone come along and remove entire plants from the parkway and even from my front yard! This is really hard to handle when you personally invest time, money and your own sweat!

Little trails of dirt and petals were the only clue I had to go on until I actually spied the culprit very early one morning. She was gone from sight when I got outside but fortunately, a passerby happened to know where she lived. I went to the house and there adorning the front flowerbed were "my" plants!!!! I knocked on the door, explained the situation, and got to digging! I was able to retrieve most of my plants but since the smaller ones were now so big I told them I'd only take the bigger more expensive plants back. Getting some of them back made me feel a little triumphant! No more plants have disappeared, but I have to admit, I do drive by her house and look.

"The Lone Gardener"

Dear Gardener,

You are one gutsy gardener to confront a thief at her own front door. I appreciate feedback from my readers.