The Orchard Walk versus The Orchard

 

Well, I am going to talk about this novel of mine, again. 

When I first published my novel, in 2012... I had 2013 printed on the inside because the company couldn't guarantee that they would have it ready for Christmas 2012. I self- published so I made that decision because I didn't have the 'coming out' debut at McNally Robinson until May, 2013.

Now, I had a rather long- time friend who lived quite close by in those days. She was actually from Dauphin, where I currently live. I can't believe I live here some days, really. 

So, shortly after I had my novels in hand... I wasn't having much success selling them. So, my long- time friend said maybe she could help. It has been a long time since that conversation but I do remember writing a note, in her basement, saying... well, if you can help, I would like to keep any monies from what comes in separately from the actual selling of my novels so... if you do anything via email, could you please just call this part of the 'fundraising' The Orchard so as to differentiate it from the name of my novel. So, I wrote that on a note and signed it... I am almost sure. 

Time went by and I didn't hear from my friend so I thought, well, that 'fundraising' effort is obviously not working. I had also given her an email of my sisters' who had moved into the city after years of living in Cartwright. This sister and I had been very close for many years. I recall how she was always concerned about our financial well- being. She encouraged me in my 'possible ventures' and one card she gave me years ago has a tea room table and two tea room chairs on it with blue shutters and a blue door with a wreath on it. On the inside of the card it says, "With appreciation for the warmth of your home, the conversation, and the good time... 

and then, on the inside of the card, 

... but most of all, with appreciation for you! Thank you for your hospitality. May God's Blessing Continue Upon Your Home!"

The Scripture on the third page says, "The house of the righteous contains great treasure...." Proverbs 15:6

Then she wrote, in her own handwriting, "Thank you for all your hospitality towards us all in the past few weeks. It is always a pleasure to spend time with you. I really treasure our friendship and the way that God has allowed it to bloom and grow. Then she wrote out Isaiah 58:11 Love, Eva.

So, I think I told my sister to watch for an email from my long- time friend, originally from Dauphin, in case any monies came in for my novel.

Well, I suppose they haven't been successful in helping me because I haven't seen even one penny.

I have sold a few novels. I recycled $7,000 dollars worth of my novels after a very difficult move from Horace to Bowman. There is a very easy recycling depot just off Marion Avenue in Winnipeg. I think that is where I put all those books. That was a very hard day. 

So, I have never heard from my friend or my sister regarding 'The Orchard' which was to be a separate venture trying to make a little money. 

I soldier on. Writing is hard work. So is making pillow cases. So is making quilts. 

So is raising children... and above all, that is the greatest treasure of most of us. 

Mobile Telephone Problems

                                                       Mobile Telephone Problems 

So, I thought this was so weird the other day. I thought two of my sons still had real telephone numbers... the same ones they had when they lived at 90 Forest Cove Drive but...

"Manitoba" called me the other day and I thought... what the heyday is that? I thought the politicians were playing a joke on me... you know how nobody can get through on the line except the people that aren't remotely related to you.

Then, just now, I phoned all three sons and two of them have a phone number that says, 

                                                          "Manitoba"

 and I think that is so strange. The normal number that I can still get through to has, 

                                          "Mobile ________________ under it.

So, I haven't had a call from the son who was contacting since November, 2024. The next year, 2025 was the first year I remember "Manitoba" calling me but of that I'm not sure.

                                           

If I ever move again...

 

If I ever move again, I would need so much help. How would I ever move a gazebo? The winter tarp is still on but I counted about 21 2x8's just for the floor, top boards, not frame. We built that from scratch... dragging lumber from the store... Heavy!

So, I haven't been given any opportunities so no worries yet... there won't be any moving until we see an upgrade and the problem with that is...

this gazebo was a huge upgrade for the value of the original property.

So, the biggest two projects on this property were the gazebo and one small room inside, a very expensive room... all the rest of the elbow- work I did was basic removals and paint/ stain work.

Some builders, renovators, fixers... have a saying... "Don't over- renovate."

A quick calculation is... take your renovation expenditures, labour included, and divide that into the property tax assessment and... there's your answer as to whether, or not, you spent too much money renovating a house/ property.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

 This is a photo of my 'stuff' when I lived at 3 Donegal Bay. I actually sold the armoire, on the right, because the move from 90 Forest Cove Drive to two rentals to Donegal Bay was very expensive to pay for. If you have ever had to pay for the moving of a heavy armoire you will soon realize it is better to sell it because, by the time you pay $250 for each move for a ridiculous piece of heavy furniture, it makes a whole lot more sense to look for a new piece when and if the finances become available to do that.

 So, I am still waiting for a settlement from this address, 3 Donegal Bay. Some estates are so long in settling. The photo, above, was taken from a transport truck, the company that my dearly departed was, at that time, working for. Have you ever agreed to a 'ride- along' with a transport company? Well, I agreed to the experience, riding along, with B-trains. That is a very frightening experience in winter, in particular. For those of you who may not know what a B- train is... it is two 53' trailers coupled and pulled by a 'tractor...,' which is the word that is used in the transport industry for the cabbed truck that pulls these trailers. I went on two or three of these to experience what my, then, truck driver would be required to make a living. I went through this during    'Covid- 19' and that was rather traumatic.

I really appreciated my son when he agreed to walk from Fleming to 3 Donegal Bay to give me the bad news of the death of my transport driver. I had put my son as a 'emergency contact' in case of injury for my 'ride- alongs' so when Dear B died, my son dutifully gave me the sad news. I was very grateful that my son lived close by to be able to console me that day. 

Another son who lives on Winterton was a little further away. And, I can't recall if my third son was living at his newest residence which was even further away.

When I was at 3 Donegal Bay, I was busy renovating the basement.

This is a door I purchased from the Re-store on Watt Street. I found two of these solid wood doors. One of them I was  able to use at the full 36" width. The other one had to be cut down to fit the basement bathroom. 

I really loved the way the stain was received by the wood. 

The result was such a rich colour. The full door, 36", was able to fit the entrance to the 'rec room.'

It really looked like a lovely library door. 

This photo is of my gardening boxes, built on site, as a gift for me... it was my Mother's Day gift.

This was my gardening, looking from the London street entrance towards the shed.

I was able to walk to my sons' house from this address, it was so close by.

I also purchased quite a few historical books at the church, on the way, when they had a summer sale.

So, I'm still waiting for a settlement from my time here. I hope it comes soon. 

Protected, Protected, Protected

 

The Orchard Walk- El Dueck page 357

"Room Service."

"... got out of bed looking for his robe and grinned lopsidedly when he realized he was still wearing it from the night before."

This past year I have purchased three robes with the name 'Room Service.' I am using all of them because the fabric is so different from the white robes to the blue robe.

I also sent a robe to my son. That was a designer name but, where I purchased, they were all a very good price. So, the photo, at the right, is my stool that my Dad made for me... it is easy to identify because it has a little heart shape in the middle where I put that bowl of flowers... my sister has protected it for a while. She hasn't managed to return it to me yet even though my Dad fixed it for me, before he left for heaven.

I hope she's not in a fugue state. That's my latest researched lingo into a temporary amnesia brought on by a traumatic event. Of course, the passing of a parent is always a traumatic event.

The significant amnesia event that happened in my life, I mention in The Orchard Walk...         El Dueck, page 47 "... that very first car my father bought me when when I turned sweet sixteen. You remember what happened to me in that tin can," Simmy held a bit of a grudge for weightless cars. "The ruts were too large on that dirt road..."

So, the wonderful thing about surviving hardship is that these traumatic events make for good novel scenes. I really did suffer a fugue state from that vehicle rollover. The amnesia I suffered from a head injury has hidden the memory of that accident in the deep recesses of my mind. Fortunately, all was stitched up and 46 years has passed since then and my memory seems very good. 

So, what is there to be learned from this particular story? Well, some rules are impossible to circumvent. For instance, due to a receipt mix up, (for my little light blue used car) my father was only able to claim the amount, for my 'gifted' (pun here) car that he had written on the receipt. At that time, 1979, there was a time frame within which you could claim the entire amount of a purchased vehicle if it was, accidentally, written off by the insurance company but you could only claim what was on the receipt of your purchase. 

Advice for my sons... Always make sure you are protected with receipted paperwork. It's such a good practise.

Site Map

 

My crudely drawn site map, above, was part of my display in May of 2013 at McNally Robinson bookstore. I didn't have all those pillow cases made at the time. 

I think I still have most of those sets of pillow cases and I have made quite a number of quilts since December of 2012, when my self- published novel was actually ready at the printing company I hired. 

The site map is a tree because the basic premise of my novel is a love journey through life represented by "the tree of life."

This is definitely a 'lifetime project.' 

Life is a physical and metaphysical journey. If you look closely at the site map, I deliberately made one side flowing and organic- looking and the other side looks more like building lots because I squared those off. The entire map is my concept of a project that has never been built because I haven't had anyone interested in building a place like this.

So, as I did all this work, I was trying to match a Biblical study to the current day novel that I thought was important to write because so many people think that Biblical history doesn't coalesce with today.

My goal, in writing and publishing The Orchard Walk was to engage the reader in my historical fiction novel. This required a 'modern day' depiction of the old time story that started in a garden.

The Orchard Walk El Dueck

Chapter 1

"Sam slowed the Hummer down to a dusty road crawl."

(In 2009, I purchased a Hummer H3 and it was demolished in an accident on August 19, 2019.)

Much of the inspiration for my novel came from my own life and the people I would meet.

"It was a good thing that they'd decided to travel in this rugged vehicle. These roads were raw gravel, pitted and dust driven by wind that is master of nature. The wrought iron gates of the winery...

Simmy rolled down her window to get a better view, taste, smell. "Hey Sam, maybe this is why I love flowers so much. Flowers are the depiction of Eden before the thistle entered on the back of the serpent.

I think you just found that artistic edge you were hoping would grow wings for your next novel."

So, I really have no intention of publishing the sequel to this novel unless I find a financial backer but I continue to work on this lifetime project.

Is your home peaceful?

 I've been living emotional ups and downs with the husband lately. I don't know very much about men and aging but I am experiencing it!

Now, I know there are many reasons that people start acting a little bit strange and mean... my Dad once told me, when he was still alive, that he and mom always loved each other but they were getting a little grumpy in old age.

I was sound asleep last night (this is a pillow case that I have already worn out but it was the best photo I had to describe sweetly sleeping with grey hair) and my husband woke me up and was berating me for making noise while sleeping and I thought,... oh my, am I going to have to record our sleep habits now? This is crazy! So, I couldn't get back to sleep until he was done with his little tirade (tirade definition- a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation).

Do you think he's watching too much news? Maybe this is why he is struggling with anxiety. 

I was a little relieved when he went to work but I am wondering how long he will be working into his retirement years (65 years of age in Canada).

Now, don't worry about my pillow cases. As you can see I have made many more. I stored them in my armoire for a while but I keep shifting things around.

Now, I know we are all stressed out because of the lack of peace in the world. I make sure I bless my house with peace signs to remind us that the home is really the first place we must make sure we have peace. We all want to feel safe in our homes, yes?

My maintenance peace plan for my home...

I will make a little calligraphy note and put it by my bedside, "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

(just do it in your own writing or printing, it doesn't have to be calligraphy)

 Gratitude, prayer, blessings... I have a little sign in my bathroom that says, 

                                              "God Bless Our Home." 

I believe it is a sign of a very good homemaker who makes peace in the home. Now, we need cooperation to maintain peace especially when you don't live alone. So, every time I enter my home, I am going to say, "Peace to this house." 

I am going to put up a little sign, right where I see it when I come in the door. If you have a hard time remembering... this is a good practice.

Always bless your food. This, actually, seems the easiest blessing my husband speaks. This is where he is most consistent.

I feel peace every day... the peace of God transcends all understanding.

                              I make small blankets and the end result is very satisfying.

Justified

 

Do you know what justified means in 'Adobe' documentation?

So, when I purchased Adobe CS6, it was for the express purpose of putting my novel into the program to bring it to a printer. If you have ever phoned around for prices for a project, piecemeal style... as in, trying to decide what you might be willing to pay others to do versus what you decide to do because the cost is so outrageous...

you will have come to a similar conclusion, in lifes' work, as in all of lifes' work...

do it yourself or pay someone to do it.

Those are the only choices for everything... don't you find?

So, when I utilized my purchased program, I had to learn a lot things to accomplish the task of transferring my novel into this program for the purpose of hiring a printer.

What does it mean when a document is justified? In Adobe.

Well, you have choices... you can justify to the left, to the right, or centered.

So, I tried all the different ways and I looked at many books to see what others had chosen for their format.

Justifying to the right looked very strange because the spaces between letters changes to make each line end up exactly the same. Then, because Adobe doesn't seem to know word hyphenation, some words are not hyphenated properly which required that I justify to the left.

So, by the time my document, my novel, was completely justified, I asked myself this question...

Was the work I did justified in comparison to paying for the service?

The answer is... of course doing the work was justified because I haven't, yet, made any money on my project.

One other bit of information that is needed when choosing a printing company... does their 'dated' printer match the program you are using?

The Gift You Are

Proverbs 15:6            "The house of the righteous contains great treasure..." NIV

Many years ago, when I was living and giving at 90 Forest Cove Drive, I received a greeting card with this Scripture in it.

I had provided 'hospitality' to the person who gave me these words of appreciation.

When thinking of great treasure, what do you think of? I have expressed myself, to a few people, in the song 'the gift you are,' a little known song by a long ago famous artist...

as a way of saying... 

'Don't you know how important you are compared with 'stuff?' 

You can never be replaced by a 'thing.' Think of a list of things you, currently, have in your house. The list will be long, I'm sure. Now, imagine, that each of those 'things' was a gift from someone... even if you bought everything yourself...

Just pretend.

You know what comes to mind when I 'do this exercise' of gratitude?

I see the people who carried the gift into my house. So many times, I see my weary child coming in the door, at the end of a day, carrying food of some kind so I could prepare a meal for all the tired and weary 'worthies.' 

If you really want to bless someone, look them in the eyes, and say... 'You are worthy of this.'

Now I'm crying.

The reason I wrote my novel was... 

I was trying to write a current story to represent our walk of faith and to make the Bible come alive in our every day plodding to that eternal purpose of a life... the allegory, I thought, was brilliant because it was historical and yet, current. 

I wrote about my life experiences, with humour, yet challenging ideals and maybe even 'traditions,' because traditions really can get people... stuck.

So, as you ponder the gifts you have received, in life, ask this...

Was it the giver that I appreciated or the gift? We can, of course, appreciate both... truly, can we even have a gift without a giver?

 

Rental Hell

EBell seems to think they can extort money from good people who always pay their bills.

So, I used to live on De la Morenie Street, in Winnipeg, and that was a very difficult place to live. I was treated very badly there.

Now, I moved out the end of June, 2022. I was living here, where I now am, and Bell telephone service suggested I owed $3.00. So, I disagreed, and believe I have paid up fully.

Today, they seem to think that I owe $103.00. That is impossible. 

How do I deal with these extortionists?  

Where's the H? in G u e n t e r

 This is how I painted my shed floor when I owned 90 Forest Cove Drive. It was a striking gold and black 'Harlequinesque' pattern.

Don't get too excited thinking I wrote some racy love novel; you know how all those church women are! It's historical fiction so you brush up against love, of course, but I let your imagination grow as you read it! My goal wasn't to get your libido going; my goal was to get your brain going... matching my fiction story to your historical knowledge.

I wish I could show you my old year book photo of my 'science project' which had the theme of the atrocities of war... Grade 8, I think. I was one of those 'early' readers who became a writer, the theme still resonates in my novel.

My folks have both passed away now. My dad lived to be 93, my mom almost got to 89? I was told that the family name used to have an 'h' but, somehow, in all that European settlers moving the 'h' was dropped... I'll try to confirm with the person who stole the family history attache case. I know there was a very cool passport from the 1940's that had my Dad's occupation as 'farmer,' When I was growing up, everybody only knew him as a carpenter. So, farmer to carpenter with  Mom's encouragement in reading, I became a writer.

My Favourite House

 This was, definitely, my favourite house, 90 Forest Cove Drive, in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

This is where I wrote my novel. Do you know how many years it took to write my historical fiction novel? Over 3 years. That's a long time, isn't it?

I had this house built in 1986. My brother needed a customer and I became that fortunate client. Every empty lot needs a client. His lot was empty. I was the client. Now, the wonderful thing about being the client of a brother, is that he introduced me to the 'builder loan' process of building a house. So, the way that works is... the client has to go to the bank and secure all the monies for the house that is to be built before anything is started. That's what I did. The tough thing about that is... you learn what you can afford. So, this house is about 967 square feet. The original plan was very unsuitable for my needs so my brother had it re- worked until I was satisfied with the results and it was the most user friendly space for the entire time I owned this little jewel.

I owned this house for over 28 years. I raised my three sons here. Two of my sons lived their entire lives here before they married and started off on their own. My oldest son was only 2 years old when I moved in.

The fireplace was part of the renovation as well as the hardwood floors. If you look closely at the fireplace mantle, you'll see a tiny little Eiffel tower metal figurine beside the E. That Eiffel tower is on the front cover of my novel. I just took a picture of it and then it was added to the photo I took of my tea room table and chairs in a lovely forest setting. You would be surprised at what you can do with a mediocre camera and a lot of 'vision.'

This was my shed... built by myself and my, then, partner. This was another plan that was re- worked from an original but this was built, entirely, by the owner.

For some reason, all my photos have suddenly gone missing. I'll add them when I recover them.

Always doing something

 Living far, far away from Winnipeg is getting so hard to do... currently, I live in Dauphin, Manitoba. I have tried to convince a decorating store, in town, to hire me but the people there really enjoy their jobs. I have inquired as to the availability of a position there, oh, five or six times or more. 

I just love making things better, you know?

I purchased my bathroom flooring from that store. I wish I could load more pictures from my old phone camera to my getting old computer but, alas, it doesn't seem to work! 

Here is a picture of the windows in the old house I have tried to fix up a little. We don't plan to replace any windows because the age of the house and re- sale market might not create a balanced scale. When I moved here, one window was broken and my dear son fixed that for us so, the glass was replaced in the bedroom I'm in. 

So, my desire to move to Winnipeg, again, when the husband is retired, is a careful 'what will be spruced up a bit and what is fine the way it is?'

This outdoor project is still my favourite project I have completed for that wonderful garden setting. The tea room table, featured on the front of my novel, is sitting in the middle of the deck we built and my garden chairs were also used, a lot, to prop up the construction materials we purchased, and purchased, and purchased... mostly at McMunn's... but some at Co-op building supplies too... such helpful places to get supplies.

As you can see, in the background, the 'shed' likely dates back to when the house was built, maybe 1940's... my husband calls it a shed because of the size. It's quite small. Some people might say it's a garage but it can't fit most vehicles.

One day, when my old equipment is cooperating, I will load more photos and show how two $50 screen doors were transformed into wonderfully sturdy doors that were then hung from my 'barn door ironmongery' that I hauled out here, having purchased those in Winnipeg a few years earlier. The construction of those doors was totally the brainchild of myself and my husband. 

When living far away from a major city, you must be very creative to complete little projects with what is available. So much of the work is 'in situ.' It is my guess,... I shall try to find out for sure, that this house was likely built by a rough and ready do-it-yourselfer. I sent a photo to my son, of the joists that are visible from the basement. The rough- cut lumber of one joist, in particular, still has the bark of the tree on it. I am wondering if the lumber came from Kippan's Mill in Riding Mountain... now a National Park. The mill did provide building materials for European settlers from approximately 1895- 1945. The area was proclaimed a Forest reserve in 1895 to properly manage the resources. A very enterprising man by name of Alex Kippan, purchased an area that was excluded from the park, and operated a sawmill until all marketable timber had been logged sawn, and used for building, 1936- 1946. Well before I studied this tidbit of history, I suspected that the lumber for the house I currently live in, likely came from that mill. From my small study of this, it is likely white spruce.

This photo is the the floor, after I removed the very old indoor/ outdoor carpet from the bedroom I mentioned. It was a terrible job removing the glue on the floor. This was the second thing I tackled when I moved here. The first thing was removing all the worn out carpeting on the stairs between the basement and the upstairs. When checking the thickness of hardwood in an old house, open up a register and look for the top layer to see how much hardwood there actually is. If it is 1/2 inch, or less, don't rent a big heavy sander to refinish the floor. Just hand- sand to re- finish this type of old wood flooring.

When opening up the outside bathroom wall, I was surprised to find a very sturdy wallboard that is not used nowadays, in the building of new homes. the entire wall, behind the sheetrock, is constructed of one by six wooden boards. Likely from Kippan's Mill? 

Three years ago, 2022, I was up there cross- country skiing, and snow- shoeing, and I saw what is a bit of a remnant of the mill. Now, it is just a ramshackle memory with a 'danger sign' so be careful if you go exploring. 

So much of the building of Canada was accomplished by European settlers... of which I, also, am a heritage of.  

Live a Good Life

 

I am not very fond of the word aggressive but there is one

place where you must be very aggressive to get good results...

 that place is a garden,

and a kitchen.

Grow something good...

Make something good...

Eat...

     

         Something

                       Good

Lots of work, this good life...

Horrible job

So, I was thinking about page 43 in my novel, The Orchard Walk, El Dueck... a line I wrote talked about 'Horrible Bosses.' Now, it's very difficult to say if a boss is horrible if they're never on site. Truth be told, most of us would prefer it if a boss was never around because we don't really have a need for them if they won't do any of the work. This is how I resigned a position that went from promising to horrible. 

This boss, in particular, almost never popped in. 

This resignation goes way back to 2017.

The most wonderful aspect of this job... and I am sure Mr. Buhler will agree with me... was my attempt to make the items have a more 'human touch,' so, I would bring in little things that I made or grew and try to decorate the items that were for sale. The problem was... I don't think he ever knew about these efforts I made to try to sell items. This quilt is mine. I still have it. It's one of those... very creative quilts that are always timeless. I was going to try to help the business by posting photos, like this, to try to entice people to come into that location but, alas, I was not hired for that. So, here is a lovely piece of rugged furniture that I really liked. I have no idea where the good stuff actually went to because the items I photographed were not in the auction. I may try and make this or get my son to.

Now, you would have thought that all the horrible experiences could be blamed on the owner of the company but you would be very surprised at how common people are, and were, in this situation, willing to take full advantage of this owner.

The last day that I worked for this man... was 'auction day.' I had never participated in an auction before this day... as in working in it, so I was assigned a task, without any training, and things did not go well with that or anything else either.

When the auction was being 'organized,' the only other employee, that was at this location, told me to invite friends and family. I thought that was a rather odd way of doing business so I didn't invite anyone I knew. I thought, well, everyone I know has all the furniture they need so why would they want to come to something like a furniture auction?

So, it was a nice, sunny Saturday and, lo and behold, here comes the boss. That made the other employee very nervous. I'm not sure why. I have always thought it is a good thing when the boss shows up because he knows that he is personally responsible for his business and I am so relieved that he would show up because the worst thing that can happen to an employee is to be given a key, on day one and then never see the boss again. Key holder jobs scare me.

Rules for this auction were strange... I asked if I could bid on some of the furniture because the prices were so good, I could never have purchased any of it on my wage. The auctioneer said... of course, I could bid as well as the handful of people who showed up to clean out this stock.

Other than myself, I would have said that there was one other honest person who showed up. The reason I felt he was likely honest is because he was trying to purchase all the 'fake fireplaces' to sell them in his own furniture business. So, I thought, he's like legitimate.

I can't corroborate the information, other than what I was told, so you'll have to use the information for your own future protection. That's what most of my stories are for... a situation that happened and 'ways to protect yourself' in these uncomfortable situations.

There was a very energetic young man, with his wife, who had just purchased a brand new home. He bid on everything for each room of this house and won most of the bids and filled his new house with 'Buhler's furniture.' I didn't know this man but it was, almost, like winning a lottery the bargains that he got that day.

So, what I really appreciated about Mr. Buhler was his testimonial about being a church man because I feel comfortable with people who follow moral rules.

So, what proceeded after the auction was an interesting segway. It appeared that Mr. Buhler felt fleeced by the auction so I said to him... well, if it would make you feel better, I can leave the items I bid on. They aren't very valuable. I still have my bidding sheets and there really wasn't much money in the items I bid on. 

He wanted me to leave them there for him so I did and said... well, these fellas who are cleaning you out are probably the ones you want to lecture so I'll be on my way. The fellas who were being lectured looked very nervous and sheepish... but, not church sheepish, if you get my punning.

So, as I left, I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn't invited any of my friends and family because, man, were those guys in trouble. I'll never know who the 'natty thieves' were but, I hope he found out who they were... because they did have to pay. 

Living and Giving

 Give out of what you have is a common, conversational way of saying...

II Corinthians 8:12 "For if the eagerness to give is there, the acceptability of the gift will be measured by what you have, not by what you don't have. (CJB)

Whom did Jesus exalt for giving? Well, it seems the only person he really drew attention to, as an example of a person who gives more than others... was the poor widow. You can find that story in the gospels of Mark and Luke. 

Question- Now, how, when she gave so little, so very, very little was she the one who gave the most?

Answer- Jesus was the only one who understood and worked with true math. You see, he knew how much she had and he knew how much she gave. Therefore, Jesus knew that she gave the most.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that, in this story, the poor widow gave all her money to an 'institution' that was responsible for taking care of the poor,... the temple, synagogue, church. If and when reading Mark 12:35- 44, you will take note that Jesus was teaching in the temple so we could say 'He was the preacher that day.' When He was done teaching, 'He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box.'

What's really interesting is what Jesus did after that... He didn't resume teaching to all the people in the temple, about 'who gave more,..' He called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

I'm going to be a bit funny here and suggest... 'I guess she liked the preacher.' 

But, even more importantly, did she trust the preacher? Because the story doesn't say, yet we must ask... where would she live and how would she live if she gave all she had?

Let's fast forward to today... and the cost of living in Canada... where I live... for a single person, information I just looked up, on the internet, says that average, yet very large number is approximately $3300- $3800 per month. 

My best question now is... where will we get what we need to live on? 

Living far, far away

 It has been a very long three years, seven months, and twelve days since I have lived in what I term civilization. Now, the worst thing about living hours away from the city is that I tried to send love packages to my children and grandchildren in that fine city I lived in for fourty years. At first, when I sent packages to my dear loved ones, it took weeks for some to come back, unopened. This has me very worried, indeed. Have my children moved? Have they lost all capability to communicate? Has poverty struck them? I can't get an answer. 

So, I have a few questions for anyone who has had the misfortune of having to use a service which is certainly not as reliable as being able to drive to my sons' house... as I used to do when I lived in the city. But, after my very bad experience with the new rule at Canada Post, I have decided that I am going to wait to deliver packages, in person, to my loved ones. The new rule which I was subjected to is this... 

after paying huge sums of money to mail packages... this week, when packages came back to this town that I currently reside in, Canada Post now charges for any returned packages. Has this happened to you? I would really appreciate city dwellers to contact me to see if this new rule is just a this town anomaly or is it also a Winnipeg robbery? 

This has completely changed how I plan to deliver things in the future. I am so upset at the 'double charge' for packages that come back unopened that I am not sending things in this manner anymore. 

That will, of course, mean that I won't be shopping for many things, where I live, because it's just too expensive to pay these kinds of fees.

My recommendation is to stay in a city where you can better manage services. The wait times for some things can be weeks and months when you live far, far, away.

The Winery Inn

 

So, this is the photo I took on the front of my novel The Orchard Walk- El Dueck... The self- published novel, 2013, takes place on a winery... as yet, fictional. On my site map, very crudely drawn by myself... The Winery Inn is the building where the wine is stored and celebrations are booked for myriad events. The Eiffel tower was a separate picture I took and it was then photoshopped into the original photo.

I did write a study guide for my novel because a dear relationship of mine asked me to.

The original goal of the story was to be a two or three novel series. The reason the novel has 

The Winery Inn 

as a main building, is a touch base to the winepress of God and is very deep, theologically; and that subject can only be unfolded and developed if, first, the original marriage of man and woman is mirror- imaged to Genesis.

So, what was the orchard? God's created paradise.

I have written many chapters for novel II but, as yet, I am undecided if I will publish a second novel.

The reason I find my novel endlessly relevant is because The Bible is endlessly relevant, to me, and writing a historical fiction story of real world events makes the 'current- day' corollary an ever present representation of current events.

This was my living room in 2013, the same year I published The Orchard Walk... fireplace designed by myself.

The was my floor, in my shed, at the same location. I painted it black and gold... isn't it cool?

In my small inventory of representational items from The Orchard Walk... this European- sized cushion cover is still available.

I still have two of these Love signs... I purchased them in 2009.

These 'Sherman' earrings are still in my inventory as well... pictured here on the tan cover of my novel... with EL in gold lettering... the first photo is the jacket cover.

My hair is a bit greyer now than it was in this photo but... it is said that aging is like fine wine... it just gets better and better...