Perils of Poverty

 I am going to take a story from my novella and put it, here, on- line because I wrote it before I published The Orchard Walk El Dueck, but I would have, obviously, been detailing my childhood memories as Elfrieda Guenter. I wrote an entire novella, around 2010 at 90 Forest Cove Drive in Winnipeg. Please do not use this story for anything other than to relieve the poverty of my children and grandchild. This is my copyrighted intellectual property. I may be publishing in hardcopy.

The Red Dust Healers

Chapter 2 

Shared Plates and Forks

    "Simmy," shouted ____. "It's our turn to eat."

    Simmys' daydream fog cleared with the soon-to-be-realized (food) awaiting her palate at Grandma's table. There would be homemade white buns, white kringel, butter and jam, homemade pickles, and loads of delicious cakes and cookies.

    Simmy jolted upright, her small legs tripping on the tuft of grass growing in the middle of the driveway. With hare- like surefootedness she regained her center of gravity swiftly aiming for the splintered ramshackle porch that was attached to the clapboard house in butt- jointed afterthought. She squeezed into the gaggle... all trying to get through the door at the same time. Then came the bum- bumping shuffle as (everyone) raced to remove their shoes simultaneously. The first one to the table would get to choose whose plate to eat off of. Simmys' goal was Mama and Papa's chair. She'd memorized where her Papa had been sitting before she went out to play. One of the things Simmy had inherited from Mama, or was it Papa, was her weak stomach. Unwashed plates and forks to eat off of was a challenge for Simmy to work around and still feign hunger.

    "Move, Wilf," demanded Simmy. "That's my chair."

    "You came too late," yarped Wilf.

    Simmy turned to seek for her advocate to find her nose already squishing into Mama's belly. Anticipating the squatter- rights- chair- war, Mama had quietly and unobtrusively moved towards the table and was already placing an implacable hand on Wilf's collar. Live- in- the- moment Wilf twisted in instant fury ready to defend (in his mind what he believed to be) his first- come- first- served squatter rights. Grubby fists raised in challenge but to Wilf's horror those fists were met by the icy stare of his aunt.

    Once again, too late, he realized his impetuous behaviour was his undoing.

    "Well, Wilf, I do believe those hands have not been washed. There won't be any eating without that."

    Mama pulled out the chair and Wilf cannoned his twig-  like body into a forced salute for Mama's benefit. Simmy knew payback awaited her later when tea time would be over and the parents would not be around to settle battles.

    Wilf's horse- scented snort- of - war blasted Simmys' face as he trounced past her and marched outside. There was no use in washing up now. The table was already filled and he'd have to wait for the next round up call.

    "Thanks, Mama," whispered Simmy.

    Mama just blinked her eyes in wordless, 'I'm on your side merger,' 

    As the first words of the table grace were spoken, a holy hush fell upon the room, the kind that bewilders yet intrigues raw, uninitiated souls. The rote prayer pierced the air... of the ritualized prayer.

    ... "That darned red dust."

                                                        .    .    .

    This is just a small snippet of my novella 'The Red Dust Healers. I quoted a different section in my 428- page novel, 

    It is not healthy for people to share plates and forks so this story is meant to give people a chance to learn about the perils of poverty in my creative writing method.

The Orchard Walk El Dueck. 

This is

Flower Class

 My 'ever current' novel

My novel, The Orchard Walk- El Dueck, is all about the currency of history. The reason I chose the fictional property to be called... The Winery Inn is because of the Revelation- making water into wine- vineyards of time origins. I had been reading and studying the original story for about 40 years when I wrote a current story to keep history alive. The reason I preferred and chose the name The Orchard Walk is because an orchard has much more fruit in it than just grapes... blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, oranges, apples; the list is very long for tasty, edible fruits. 

Learn from the past is what wise people will often say when teaching someone how to live so they don't make too many mistakes that cause them suffering.

The original plan for my novel was a two volume project. The first volume, already published in hard cover, has 7 cabins in it. I changed the names of some in my second novel to include some characteristics.

My plan was, actually, very good and I'll tell you why. The real estate my sons' owned, simple houses I have mentioned on my blog, would be much more authentic to the story of history and the survival of a human rights race, such as the people who collectively won the second world war.

If I so chose, I could take a name from my novel and apply it to the little house I live in but, instead, what I chose to do was... 

Page 18... "It was a gazebo, completely screened in and looking really comfy,..."

This is a photo before it was... really comfy!

Structure comes before inside fittings and you don't need much in a 12 x 12 gazebo.

If I named all the flowers and plants I have planted here in four years' time, you'd be mighty impressed. 

I certainly spent more than $2,000 or maybe even three, of my inheritance money, on 'growing where I'm planted.'

Why, just yesterday, my husband asked where I was going to plant my double flowering plum bush... because... 'we're running out of room,' he said.

I really like calling my sons' property, The Winterton House. It sounds so dignified. For the novel, we might have to ask him if he prefers a different name... I did sketch out Willowherb as a possibility in novel II. His opinion is the important one for that property. If he ever moves, he can take the name with him. The power of class lies within a person and is then exemplified in behaviour of respect and the proper treatment of other human beings.

My little gazebo weathered the storm last night. 

This is a 'mood picture' with the skies looking dark and as night was approaching, in this early building of this gazebo, I was amazed that I held up one wall to put the bolts in to keep it together. Wow! Don't do this on a windy day. My husband was almost crazy expecting me to do this but... I did hold it up until it was fastened together.

My advice to you would be to follow the instructions in the pamphlet as to how many 'men' should be doing this kind of job. 

This gazebo was mostly built by a little woman and a little man, when he was available.

I planted a 'Dr. Alex Fleming' peony next to my rugosa rose, in the back yard, and the blooms are, finally, open after the storm.

It takes a while for peonies to establish. I planted this bush two years ago. 

Just as history should be remembered, the discovery of penicillin is still considered a curative for infectious diseases. One son had a mycoplasma pneumonia, as a child, and that was a 'mask- room' disease. He got it from swimming in a quarry. Grateful we are for curatives.

Planting is honourable.

All the creative writing, in my novel, is so easily lived wherever you go. Just be sure to make things better than they were when you got there!

In Line Five

 The Orchard Walk El Dueck

Chapter 1

"... slowed the Hummer down to a dusty road crawl... rugged vehicle."

When I was writing my novel, I purchased a year old Hummer, H3. At the time I thought, 'let's keep things current' in my writing. So, I just wrote in a lot of 'current events,' from my own life, right into my book. That's valid. 

Some people might think... owning a Hummer is going to get me some respect. I am here to tell you,... it might get you some bad attention from people who may not wish you well.

So, here are a few pictures of the vandalism I endured when I owned my Hummer. As you can see, from the first photo, I'm a 'safety person.' I had my 'theft club' on my steering wheel but, the vandals still broke my window. I think this happened twice so I was ever so happy to move from this location.

I was, actually, treated very well, both times, making out the police report and getting my vehicle fixed quickly.

I have spent way too much money buying expensive vehicles... even though I bought my 

1999 Avenger (top of the line), my Hummer H3, and my Ram 1500... all used. I only purchased one vehicle, new, my Chrysler Intrepid. Then, of course, I often forget about the Ford XLT that I bought when I had a good job and my credit rating was really good.

    I used to have good connections. It seems I don't anymore. Maybe because all those vehicles were in accidents and I no longer own any of them. They're in the scrap yard.

    So, if you want to know why I'm broke... vehicles. I paid for them. Autopac claimed them... safety issues after each accident.

Blooming Blessed

 Yesterday, I purchased some beautiful plants. 

The first blooming beauty I saw was a bush I planted on the right side of my little house, mmm, maybe in 1986-1990... it was a double mock orange with lovely white flowers. That took me right back to the work I did in my favourite house/ property.

I had to wait to buy my Kentucky bluegrass sod. The sod always has to wait until the house is back- filled. This little property is the only place I ever purchased top soil and sod. So, I went to pick out my sod... I had to have what I thought was lovely. So, I loved the Kentucky bluegrass even though the owner warned me... that is not the easiest grass to take care of. For a moment, I mulled over that fact. Then I said, that's the sod I'm buying.

You should have seen it when it arrived... it was this lovely blue- green lush colour and I thought my lawn would look so nice but,... it really only looked really nice for two weeks. For years, I babied that sod while people gave me advice. You should have put more top soil down. You need to water it. Oh, the advice was endless in its uselessness.

I did add top soil, over the years. After all, I did live there over 28 years. I had a few years to spruce things up. 

Back to the mock orange bush I planted on the west side, of the front, of that tiny house. 

  I always wanted the 'double' mock orange but, as you can see, I bought the wrong one. (photo below) The reason I purchased the 'wrong' one was because the double variety wasn't available where I purchased mine. Not everyone carries the same varieties.

Now, fast forward to when I was practicing decorating for my sons' wedding... the mock orange was in full bloom so I created a floral canopy inside my house. It was so lovely. It was only able to be a 'scene set' because you can only use 'in season' flowers for any decorating.

    For my sons... this is how I did things... I don't like wasting money on decorating so I purchased things they could use in their homes after the wedding. I hate 'buck store' decorating that all goes to the landfill after an event. 

    Therefore, I purchased quality items... a lamp... a mirror... a sheet... I made curtains/ drapes for one son... various things that you can use every day. I can't remember who I gave chandeliers to...

I know I donated the last of them to Value Village... still in the box. A few of them were exactly like this black one but the ones I used for the wedding were all white. I bought them at Home Depot. This photo was my living room, in 2014 ish.

I bought some real trees and rose bushes, for one wedding, and put them in pots. 

I gave the pear trees to a friend I went to school with. She had a huge yard. I need her to ask her ex- husband if he has my sons' brown truck.

                             I planted the showy mountain ash in my back yard.

I still have a cream pot from that extravaganza. My advice to anyone, regarding decorating, is to buy what can be used in the home after an event. Anything else is such a waste!

This was my shed, in the back yard... built by myself and my, then behaving other. I bought the harbour light at a garage sale. My son wired the shed, for me, as my birthday gift, one year. The design was mine and I purchased some of the product used, like the 'french windows.' The new cedar was purchased at a lumber store. Those are dutch doors. I love dutch doors. The top doors open independently of the bottom doors. 

                     I painted the floor black and  gold and used the shed for little sales.

Gee, where is that man who can help?

 Back in 2014, I always thought the man who came to my house, 90 Forest Cove Drive, was going to help me.

He was tall. He had big patches on the elbows of his blazer... not the kind of patches that a person puts on a blazer because they are poor... but the kind that a guy buys, on purpose, because then he is stylishly not advertising his wealth to a poor little person such as myself.

Then, the next day he gave me back my key, to my house, because something else went wrong. I had a grey spackled and mirrored front entrance table with a candle on it that had a silver lid. He reached into my house and put the key on that table... if people would just stop erasing my pictures, I could prove everything I write with photos as well.

See? I just looked for a photo in my 'photo file...,' which is in my file but when I click 'browse' a lot of photos don't show up.

If 90 Forest Cove is a house the original owner is entitled to... that is me.

And, just so everyone knows... 90 Forest Cove is where I wrote my novel... 

The Orchard Walk El Dueck

My printer (the printing company I hired), due to a printing error, had to print UPC labels for every novel and I still have 720 labels of the 1,000 books I self- published.

The $7,000 worth of books I recycled at the depot, when I moved from one terrible rental to another, and no one helped to move all my books... I still had not adhered correct labels to.

I also don't recall if I sent the correctly labeled books to the Library of Congress. The rules of self- publishing required me to send one book for every 500 self- published books to them so I had to send them 2 books because I self- published 1,000 of my novels.

I quoted from my novella, The Red Dust Healers, in my novel, just in case I decide to publish my novella. I wrote that little creative writing book before I wrote my 428 page novel, The Orchard Walk El Dueck.

Got to Give

 Calling, texting, calling, texting... I have been doing this for quite some time to see which of my family still has a phone and is using it. I bought a 'flip' phone just for phoning... the first five times I used it, the phone was able to connect to my Winnipeg sons and, last week that inadequate technology wouldn't let me give any TLC- tender loving care to sons because it wouldn't even connect..., so, flip, don't buy a TCL- they can't tenderly care for your loved ones. They can't even connect to your loved ones. Believe me.

So, I have never been given anything, really, by my family. So, either they're all broke or they lost their houses and businesses and everything they've ever had. They're not responding or calling or texting.

If you or someone you know have something to give... 

here is a verifiable truth... 

you or they got it from someone...

illegally or legally.

I have never found a money tree, contrary to folklore. I certainly haven't found a money tree where I have lived for four poverty years now. The years 2013- 2022 cleaned out all my 33 years of hard earned money.

Whenever I'm desperate to hear if my children are safe, I call an old pastor in Winnipeg. The only thing I can confirm is that his answering machine, with his voice message, is still operating. He, at least, knows who my children are.

Once again, I am putting forth the invitation, to my children, to drive here and tell me if they are having problems or doing just fine. 

This is the age of information. I need that information. You can't act on what you don't know. 

The distant family has so many people... Top down in my family...

Oldest- two children; Next- 5 children; Next- 3 children; Next- 4 children; Next- 4 children; Next- 5 children; Mine- 3 children; Next- 3 children. This is the group that is in their late 30's and 40's and many of them have children as well. 

For this group I say, "If you got, Give.

Place of suffering

 Going back to go forward... 

When I lived at 3 Donegal Bay, I went through some of the worst experiences a woman would ever want to go through.

The ice build- up that the garage, at the back, caused in the parking spot where I parked my blue Ram, was such a huge problem... a thick sheet of ice... when coming back from one of my Bison 'drive- alongs' caused me years of suffering. I stepped out of the truck and fell on the ice so badly that my elbow is permanently damaged.

When the water was shut off, for the house, after Bruce died, I was in shock. I know that is not legal. 

When a crew of un- named men came onto the property and dug down behind the house to attempt to fix the foundation... I was terrified. I didn't know these people. There was no legal paper from any of them.

The law firm, Restall & Restall has never phoned me back... for each time I called asking how to settle on this property and I really called quite a number of times. I would say their forestalling has caused me a lot of suffering.

I am, of course, entitled to my investment in that property. I haven't received it yet. 

The construction work I did in renovating a portion of the basement I, of course, have all the bills for. I was asked to send this information to Restall & Restall and I did that forthwith, at that time. Does anyone know if that law firm has gone out of business?