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 mico- plasma 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?

 

What? Locked up?

 

Years ago, I drove to Calgary, for a 'holiday of visits.' I didn't really know some of the people I dropped in on but... someone else's acquaintances are always a adventure of possibilities. 

So, we found our way to an address we'd never been to and the adventure began.

Now, we were all Christians and yet... we attended different, well, denominations? Yes, I think that is the right word... same faith but core values might have been interpreted a little bit differently.

Well, someone I knew, who knew one of these families, had warned me to keep my purse close to my side. I laughed, thinking she was being a bit dramatic. Did she really think a sofa sit down would lead to a purse snatching? Then I thought, I don't have enough in my purse to make it worth snatching. 

The conversations began and there was a healthy, rowdy interchange of what you do, how you earn a living, where you attend church... when a slight movement by my hip made me pause and I noticed my purse moving away from me. I looked over at the offender, smiled, pulled my purse onto my lap and the evening continued without harm. I had been duly warned and my reaction time was 'timely.'

I was thinking about what I serve when I have company... pie, pie, pie... when I noticed padlocks in strange places... I thought, well, that does not look like a pie safe to me! And, even if it was a pie safe, no rodent is going to need a padlock to keep those pests out. So, who are the padlocks supposed to keep out? 

I was feeling a bit uneasy about this so I used the bathroom... when I get a bit 'uncomfortable' in strange settings I just use the bathroom to resettle myself. As I walked past the kitchen, I saw padlocks on the cupboards and then I knew there was definitely something wrong here.

Now, I can understand if you've got a really bad 'renter type' of person living in your house who doesn't respect boundaries... Whew! I've heard more 'renter hell' stories than you can imagine! 

So, I thought about a tea towel I bought one time. "... and a good book...," well, I thought, these people need the good book. Then I thought, they have the good book. They should just read it.

So, the evening wore on and I thought about the saying... 'they're eating me out of house and home...,' and I know some people can eat a lot but I never had that problem, with any of my children. So, I thought, maybe there isn't enough. 

Now, not enough! That is always a problem. My Mom and Dad worked sun- up to sundown, in summer, to make sure we had enough in winter.

These days, when I think about how wonderful life was with my boys... they loved to eat, I loved it when they would eat... my Mom was like that, too. So was Dad. They prepared so much food each time we 'got together,' they assembled little packages and sent those home with us as well. 

Weren't we blessed to always have enough? 

I was a very sane and generous and healthy thinking person and, I assure you, I never locked up the food. 

What a privilege to live in a country where we have enough and we don't have to behave like people did during famine or times of conflict.

If you have enough, make sure your children have enough, too. That is a very Christian thing to do.

From my day, my beef

 

This is 3 Donegal Bay, in Winnipeg. I sold the armoire  to someone who hauled it out to the country, east of Winnipeg. (I think I bought it in 2008/ 2009 when I owned 90 Forest Cove Drive. I had it in my bedroom at that time.) When I moved to 3 Donegal Bay, I had a television in that armoire and, it was so clean when I closed the doors, you couldn't even tell it was an entertainment unit. 

My fondest memory of the series I watched was a family show called Blue Bloods. When I met a woman who asked me my name, she said, "You're Anglo Saxon. Elfrieda is a very Anglo Saxon name."   

When I lived at this address, with Bruce, I went on a few 'ride- alongs' with Bison Transport. That was in between 'finishing out the basement' renovation... I've kept all my receipts, of course.

Now, a Bison 'ride- along' was quite official because I had to sign a waiver for injury in case of any mishaps. I felt rather uncomfortable doing that but I really didn't have a choice. I also had to provide a 'next- of- kin' contact. It was a very organized company.

These 'on- the- road' pictures are always blurry.

On one of these 'ride- along' work runs, we went to a meat packing plant. It was located somewhere on the prairies between Winnipeg and Calgary. Now, if you've never been to meat packing plant, I have a mild caution for those sensitive to odours; myself. That is not an easy place to go to.

This place had security, security, security. You never leave the 'truck' other than to hook up. That is a good thing. 

For those of you who just go to a grocery store and buy your beef neatly shrink- wrapped and don't really think about how it got there... I would like to say, for the time I was in the load pick- up... you would be so impressed by the speed with which meat comes from packing plant to grocery store. These time sensitive loads go from hook- up to hook- up with 'driver waiting' efficiency.

One of my tasks, on these 'ride- alongs' was to either get the paperwork from the back of a trailer, or put paperwork into the slot at the back of a trailer. I always made 100% sure that the trailer was at a full stop before I completed that task. 

'Always be thinking' is my motto.

Once back at 3 Donegal Bay... it was rest time. My basement renovation has a most beautiful solid wood door at the bottom of the stairs... it looks quite like a 'library door.' I stained it myself and purchased the new, quite expensive doorknobs for the entire basement renovation. 

This door, the basement bathroom door, I also finished in the same cappuccino- coloured stain. This is also a solid wood door, matching the full- sized door leading into the rec room... as you can see in the background, my painted baseboards that I purchased at Home Depot were waiting for my construction guy to come install them. This door had to be cut down to the size of the door opening because, strange as it is with some houses that get tweaked over the years... each door in this basement was a different size. Basements are like that when working around furnace pipes. The flooring, in the background is vinyl plank... that was expensive! I painted the walls a lovely lilac blue... very soothing.

This is a photo of the front bedroom/ office when I lived at 3 Donegal Bay. I gave that desk away.

It was a talk- legged shiny black Baroque style desk.

                                                              

 This is my gardening with the shed in the background.

These are the large garden boxes that I wasn't able to remove when I was forced to leave this property, quite illegally. 

These were my flowers at the back door... the bricks must still be there, I'm sure.

This is the railing at the front door, my gardening by the shed shining in the sunlight.

In the background, you can still see my smaller garden boxes, one of which I have here, in Dauphin.

I needed a ladder to cut flowers when I lived here. I think it was all the fresh soil we hauled and put into my garden boxes.

Bruce used to call my 'Kitty.'

I bought this nice piece at Ikea when I lived there. I put it together when Bruce was away. I sold it for so much less than I paid for it. I had my wonderful 'sheaf- back chairs' there as well. They are here, obviously, as they 'go where I go.' I purchased those April 1, 1993.

You can't even imagine how many people have sat in my chairs and eaten food I cooked and baked.

This is the back door.

There's me, Elfrieda, at the back of the property with that old Imperial. My Ram truck parked on the right... when I still had it... before the accident.

Memories... keep good ones alive and I am here to make sure people know what I am owed.

 

Better or Worse?

Did it make you better or worse?

The brain and body needs food to operate efficiently and well. 

Quite a number of years ago I wrote a story about my father and how the medical doctors who were in charge of his life had prescribed way too much medication for his body to handle. He is safely in heaven now so this is the time to help others with his life experiences because he no longer can.

I erased ten years of stories because I tried to monetize and I didn't have a way of doing that so I removed my stories because I was a bit tired of 'giving away my work for free.'

I am writing these stories for my sons so they can learn how their ancestor handled his life.

This is what happened to him. 

We were sitting at his kitchen table and conversing in a natural and normal manner. Suddenly, he got up and started tottering towards his rocking chair. He was walking those 15- 20 feet very fast. I thought, why is he walking so fast?

He got to his chair and reached his hand out for the armrest and his head seemed to become a hundred pounds and aimed straight for the floor and the resounding thud, that his head made on the floor joists, through the rather cheap carpeting and underlay, was astounding.

I got up and raced over and he was already trying to get himself into his rocking chair.

"What happened?" I asked.

My Dad responded, "I got very dizzy." 

"Well, what kind of medication are you on?" I asked.

He laid his head back against his rocker and said, rather blankly, "I'm not in charge anymore."

Now, the only people who were in his house were us daughters and I thought... woah, that means we have to be.

So, the good part of this terrible experience was that his doctor 'cleaned the slate' of his medications and took a much closer look at dosages and things did get straightened out.

So, before you think that taking medication because some doctor prescribes it is a 'sure thing,' remember, you and I are in charge of our own lives and every day- to- day occurrence within our lives. We have to make sure we can explain how we are feeling and if any medication is making something better or worse. If you ever have some free time, look over the many pages of information for any one medication (it really doesn't even matter which medication you research) and you will find as many detractors as you will find possibilities of it having a good effect.

For instance, let's say a medication says it can help you with clear thinking. (I have a sister-in-law that says she has brain fog until noon on any given day.) I imagine she might want to try taking that unless her brain fog doesn't bother her. Maybe that is how her brain functions, slow and fuzzy. Who are we to say?

So, let's say you and I have very clear thinking, crystal clear... and some strange person suggests you take a redundant medication for a condition you and I don't even have... don't take it... why would you try to fix something that isn't broken?

My warning to you is... in this day of pharmaceutical push...

don't be pushed in the wrong direction. 

Why do we need brain energy?

 I have just finished reading a book that is full of important information about my brain and your brain.

I was actually asked to read this book and, although the person who asked me hasn't yet paid me for my research... I am very willing to accept money for relaying information... as research is such a great love of mine.

I will write on this topic a few times, likely.

It may surprise you to know, or not, if you know me very well... that I won't relay information, from anyone, if I think it is nonsense.

Now, let's simplify the world of mental illness and brain energy... because, the brain is the beautiful computer we all have been given to inform every decision, every action, every thought leading to an action, every command that makes your day easier. 

Example- Let's say your brain says... Write a book.

So, a normal process in writing a book is like this...

Q. What should I write about?

A. They say write about, what you know about.

Then you have to organize what you are writing. I had two books, on this topic, to choose from and I must say... the book I read is very much my preference over the other. I did not like the jargon or the style of writing of the other book. It might surprise you to realize that every person has a 'preferred' way of learning.

For instance, why do we have so many preachers? Well, we have so many finicky people who won't go to listen to this guy, don't like that gal, don't think she has too much to offer in the way of a graduate studies knowledge- based informative half hour... don't think his accent is conducive to understanding what the heck he is trying to say. He keeps using words that aren't even English... and the list goes on.

Did you know that, in the world of psychiatry, common conditions like dementia, depression, and anxiety are considered mental illness? Before reading this book, I definitely didn't know that.

I thought dementia was forgetfulness... possibly leading to a really big problem if it gets too bad. (I knew a woman who kept leaving the stove element on after she was done cooking and she was still in her 30's when she had this problem.) I thought depression was feeling sad for any number of reasons... job loss, relationship loss, purpose of life loss. I thought anxiety was a feeling of nervousness, not necessarily grounded in reality, but still needful to be addressed if a feeling of peace does not come along to erase these insecure feelings. 

So, guess what... the paragraph, above, my 'laymans' terms is correct. 

When I was raising my children, I believed that good food was the best medicine and guess what! The book I just read would agree that food is absolutely core and central to feeding the brain what it needs to respond properly.

Starvation is very, very dangerous to the whole body shutting down and never working again.

Surgery of the brain... I only know one person, in the family, who had brain surgery and that is a very invasive procedure that is going to take a long time to heal from. The initial healing took about two years during which time her husband kindly covered for all sorts of things that 'she used to  notice' but, during the time of healing, she didn't notice. 

Now, many people might imagine she had mental illness if they hadn't known that she had surgery because the symptoms of recovery were very similar to dementia in the loss of memory. Then there was response time... everything  slows down when the brain needs to heal. Her world changed so dramatically that... if she had not had a supportive family, she would have ended up in a facility where people don't care what happens to you. I know she is grateful to all of us who helped out.

I just now recall a person who was attacked in a another country while on a 'charity trip.' Her head was bashed by sword- wielding marauders... she got luckier than most because the neurosurgeon who treated her happened to attend the church we were going to when this happened. She did heal and then tried to go back to work but I think she was required to retire earlier than she'd planned because a brain injury brought on by violent attack has a lot of repercussions.

Day to day... what are we all trying to accomplish in living a good life?

Shift- my acronym for this year has been...

S- Safety 

Sh- Safe housing

I- Integrity (I was reading a big section in a different book, yesterday evening, on integrity.)

F- Food

T- Transportation

The biggest roadblock you are going to find, in handling life issues, are people who either have no experience to offer a helping hand... refuse to give, either financially, physically or emotionally... or refuse to recognize their own weaknesses and then mercifully reach out to kindly help another, remembering that they were helped... 

So, if you don't hear from your children... this is likely not good. They probably aren't surrounded by the the best people... be aware of changes in behaviour... those are huge clues that something may be amiss. Always contact to see if they are alright or needing your help.

How many years?

 Wow! I have been without any money for four long years in this place called Dauphin.

I have had to support myself with the tiny little inheritance that my folks left me.

I will show you, here, some of the work I have done at 225, 5th Avenue.

The picture, above, is what the floor looked like under the ink and  dirt stained indoor/ outdoor carpeting that was full of dog pee... in the bedroom I was supposed to sleep in. The glue all over the 1/8 inch thick hardwood was terrible to get off. 

The photo, of the bedroom we sleep in, now, same bedroom, is a picture after I painted/ stained all the surfaces you can see here... baseboards, casings, walls, ceiling, floors... I did all this while he was at work, getting paid... and, I was not getting paid. 

Shouldn't I get paid?

The first two years, here, Warren seemed 'in control' of himself but, since October of 2024, he has been showing a violent tendency toward 'possible dementia.' 

This photo was taken before he became surly, argumentative, and possibly forgetful to the point of 'dementia?'

He forgets things. He has taken to calling me names. He is not this happy man anymore and I am very worried.

This is the gazebo that we built, together... Warren and Elfrieda. He actually didn't know anything about building or construction but I just started the deck and he happily followed. 

    Now, before I agreed to build this project I asked him, "Are you committed to this project?" 

    He laughed. 

    I said, "Really, are you committed to this project? I know people who 'buck out' on me in the middle of something and I am not sure about your ability to stick to something or complete something or if you even have the character of 'stick- to- it- ive- ness." 

    He looked a bit confused and responded with, "I'll stick to the project until it's completed."

So, I started by digging the first hole for the foundation and then the second and third and fourth. In between buying materials at McMunn's, I would just work at it.

    This little building took six months to complete but only Elfrieda and Warren did the work. I, Elfrieda, had already brought two 'barn door ironmongery' packages from Home Depot with me... when I moved here, so the doors we built are hung from my iron... almost $600. 00 just for those two packages. It was a very costly project. 

     So, here's a photo of the deck, 2x8's for the floor, very solid. The dark brown parts is a 'kit' that we purchased to get a framework for people who don't quite have the time or skill to build everything from scratch. My tea room table, pictured on the front of my novel, is on the deck being used for my painting table and, as you can see, I had already stained the finger- jointed doors that we turned into very sturdy doors for my barn door ironmongery. This is a photo of the project only about halfway to being finished.

These are fences I purchased... the one on the left I brought here... the 'church window' metal garden trellises I purchased in this town... I bought five of them. Two of them are attached to the either side of the sliding doors of my gazebo.

I still have four of these chairs, which I brought here... I purchased these so long ago but I still have the receipt from Eaton's... who keeps things this long? Elfrieda.

Here's a good picture of the sliding doors... we built those awnings... all four of them. I hauled the Barkman patio stones in my truck, before it was crashed. The wood- look Barkman stones is what I picked... I bought all they had at Co-op building supply and McMunn's.

    So, I am quite worn out with all the work I have done at 225 5th Avenue... Whew! 

 

Culture

 ... and Christianity? 

When I think about the ways people try to bring Christianity into culture, I often think that I would probably lay the foundation from which to lead, teach, explain, example, for sure, before I would talk too much about culture.

The way I was raised, was quite different from some other families that I grew up with. My Dad had his own way of thinking and implementing a lifestyle, which some might call our culture, into the day to day living of the family. 

We were encouraged to 'get a job,' earn some money, start saving for our lives once we moved out of the family home.

We all followed this dictum and, before we moved out of the safety of the nest, we all followed the rules.

So, let's talk about only one thing today that differentiated our family from another family we knew. 

Paychecks.

There was a strange and, we haven't quite figured out if it was a 'cultish' thing or a 'communist' thing or a 'wow, are you confused thing...,' but there was one very dictatorial, and I would have said, almost evil man, who took, forcefully, his childrens' paychecks. Woah, we could not understand this insanity.

So, when we found a 'job' or 'work that paid,' we got the family living rules and we either followed the rules, argued with my dad about them until we thought his rules had some sanity and equity in them... example... "How can you possibly imagine that I am going to pay you as much as someone who earns twice as much?" 

Dad, of course, being a man of reason, was always willing to listen to the 'what's fair' debate that I would have with him.

So, if ever you run into strange men and women, of a very odd culture who, somehow, believe they have the right to steal a relatively large portion of what actually belongs to another family member... I would bring up the topic of 'human rights' and how a culture that respects each other is likely to have a much more peaceable existence than one that is founded upon warring principles that create animosity and a fight for survival. 

If people knew what was going on, in certain families or companies, (almost unthinkable in Canada, a civilized country), thinking, intelligent people would never support such a diametrically opposed 'culture' of 'theft- based' unjust gain... even if someone is doing this in a family... because this behaviour is only a forcible insanity that will bring about violence and clashes of familial feuding or, company feuding.

When I raised my children, I never took their paychecks. I would have thought that to be 'criminal.' 

So, if you want to be a reasonable, respected, and legacy based 

family, organization, company, 

culture, 

do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. This tends to get the most peaceable results.

 

Waiting for something good

 So, I haven't, yet, seen any money or anything good for so many years... I am getting very worried.

I am looking forward to seeing my sons and my grandchildren.

Drive away 'regrets'

How do we drive away regrets? 

Today, I would like to tell you what my Dad told me... what he regretted. Well, I will only tell this one thing for those who should realize what a devastating effect this can be.

My Dad regretted allowing his wife to be 'put into' a nursing home. What he told me was... "I didn't think she would be in there forever. I thought I would still be able to take her home."

I hadn't signed for her to be 'put in there' because I had worked in a nursing home when I was a teenager and I knew that was not a place I ever wanted to go to and, most certainly, I never imagined one of my parents would be placed into a facility of that kind.

So, one day, somewhat early on... I like to use language like... early into her, (my Mom's), forced incarceration because she, quite literally, could not get out... I visited my Dad. 

As usual, he was sitting at his kitchen table with his Bible and, on this day, I just put things into the kitchen and sat down to listen to him... he was very adept at 'talk therapy.' He was a man who needed to talk things out and he was never too proud to ask an opinion of his children who had a much better grasp of the English language than he did.

He often took something out to talk about something that was important to him. On this day, it was Mom's driver's license. "This is good," he said. 

Mom was over 40 years of age when she got her driver's license. It was her 'proud moment.' It was also Dad's proud moment. You see, mostly, my Dad wasn't one to 'hold out on' or 'hold back' the progress his family made. So, on this day, Dad was holding Mom's driver's license... and having a very good memory. He was sad because Mom was no longer in their home but he was still celebrating her achievement. 

The best thing we can do in life is to live in such a way that we become adept at the skill of 'driving away regrets.'

Calling in to question

 I am calling into question the reputation, based on behaviour, of the families that my sons married into.

Without the right information, I would also call into question my own families' banal replies, a year ago, that my sons are healthy, wealthy, and wise and working for their houses, vehicles, and children... and, maybe, wives... maybe not. I'm not sure.

For the last few days I have been disseminating information, on my blog, to get the correct responses. 

I have also been studying the psychological problems that are, today, considered pervasive in our society. One book I am, currently, reading is written by a very young man but I am finding the information immensely helpful. When I was about 26 years old I was going to become a psychologist. I was working at a café, bored beyond bored with the endless pouring of coffee. So, I looked into the courses I would need to take at the local university, not the university across the pond where I actually took courses for interior design 13 years later. 

The reason I had, at that time, believed that I would make a very good psychologist was... everywhere I went, people would tell me their life stories. It was like a light bulb went on and I thought, maybe it is ethical to receive a wage if I help someone. 

What happened next was... a virus... I was working in a public place and I got a terrible virus. Only once, since then, have I had a virus that bad. It felt like I had vertigo and the doctor said that I had developed an infection in my main control center at the back of the brain stem. Woah, I had to take a few days off of work, for the first time in my life. I had never missed a day of work, until then. It took a few days and I was back at the same boring job and I didn't sign up for those psychology courses because those few days of not receiving income blew my budget right out of the water and I realized I would have to save some money if I wanted to be able to afford higher education.

So, I went back to work... pouring more coffee.

Here I am, 36 years later, and I am really learning about brain energy and what happens when your brain is attacked by a virus... I hope to heavens that is the only reason you ever suffer a brain injurious problem.

I have written in a journal, of mine, something I said to my son when he was very young... "You need to think right." He replied, "Well, how do you know who has right thinking?" 

At the time, I thought he had the question half right... his question of who has right thinking was correctly valid but it should have been prefaced with... 'how do you know what is right thinking?'

So, I would love to prove that wrong motives can be sifted through to call into question behaviour that is so obviously wrong that anybody would call them on the carpet. Colloquially, to call someone on the carpet means to criticize someone for doing something wrong. People don't use this old idiom much but I like it... maybe because I sold a lot of carpets.

It's going to take more than one day for me to detail experiences that I would say are 'good ways' to respond versus 'bad ways' to respond. Social graces is a topic that should be taught everywhere because the world, in general, has forgotten what social graces is, as a class, not brash response.

I'm going to start with something simple...

Diet

If you want to have a functioning brain, you must eat right. I would tell my sons, and anyone who wants to think right... you must eat right. 

I will give you a small example from my dear departed father. When his dear wife was put into a nursing home, he really suffered. My dad was so lonely, he didn't bother cooking himself anything. He went into a real slump, emotionally, and he talked out this event each time I visited him. That was healthy. 

He did hire someone to cook one food item and apportion them into containers and fill his freezer so he had this 'favourite food,' of his, to eat every day. That was the one right thing my dad actually did for his diet but, it wasn't quite enough to make his thinking clear and concise. One day, I visited him before he had a good meal and stayed long enough to watch him eat the entire thing... and I thought, oh, he does like good food... he just doesn't have anyone to make him food. So, myself, and some sisters, starting bringing homemade food and putting into his fridge/ freezer. My youngest brother visited one time, from out west, and said he'd tried all the food I had brought and he said it was all good. So, I thought, this is a good thing.

Now, for the brain to work correctly, good food is a must and, forsuredly, a staple. If my sons needed homemade food, I could certainly do that and make sure there was food for them every day, in the freezer, so they can lead a healthy life...

precisely as I took care of them when they were still living "at home." I just need to be contacted so I am aware of their situations. That is normal behaviour... to contact when you need help... or, as I do, contact to offer help and ask if there is a need. This is normal and helpful and, many times, needful.

And, I know, for sure, that each of the eight children in my family, has enough children to take care of their parents, my old siblings, so I am only volunteering to help my own children because that is fitting and responsible and loving. 

I am waiting for them to contact me.

Going forward, I will address the 'healthy brain, healthy body, healthy actions' processes of life using some very current information to help everyone 'think straight.'

 

Information Accountability

Information accountability is the topic today.

Accountability means responsible; required to account for one's conduct.

I am a very rational person. I raised my sons in a manner fashioned after a Christian organization that adhered to the 'give them a choice' instead of forcing your children because forcing people usually creates rebellious people and if a child is forced to do things they shouldn't be forced to do or keep quiet about things they should never keep quiet about, the resulting situation may well become uncomfortably criminal.

If ever you find yourself mentioned on this blog, know this. I am the only writer of this blog and if I mention you, personally, I am holding you to accountability. I am certainly not saying that you will ever be helped, by me, if you have harmed my children or grandchildren or stolen from them or subverted justice, in their lives, in any way.

So, what are people responsible for? 

Let's start with the basics. 

We are accountable for what we know. I sent a text message to a man, (approximately, October of 2024), who used to have positions of responsibility, in job form, not necessarily in his home. That may have been secondary. You'd have to interview him. He is my sons' father-in-law. I received one text message back from him which said, loosely, "I can't share information with you."

So, then I phoned his wife, whom I had spent a few hundred hours with... I calculated about 1095 hours and that is not including all the hours I spent decorating for their daughters' wedding when she married my son. She answered, '________ here.' I said. 'This is Elfrieda.' She hung up without having another conversation.

So, let's say her husband can't share information with me about my son... why not? He doesn't have to share information about his daughter, with me. I am not responsible for her but, when my son married into that family, I certainly did not expect to lose touch with him for 15 years. I would suggest there is something very diabolical happening in that family. 

Now, whatever information they have would have to be relayed to me, if I were required to try to help my sons or, forsuredly, if I were concerned, and I am, about their well- being.

If you can yet believe this... the couple I am writing about tried to be youth pastors, without any training, and all three of my sons served in the church where they 'gave orders' to my sons to get the 'set- up' for youth night ready for the 'less- churched' youth who didn't volunteer but did show up for free food, etcetera.

Now, I ask you, what has happened to this 'churchified' couple that I can't trust anymore... if, indeed, I ever should have?

I am holding them accountable for any suffering of my son, since he married into their family. 

I am also holding the other two families, that my other sons married into, accountable, for any of the suffering they have encountered without getting help from those precise families... because all three families mentioned on my previous blog professed to be Christians with church affiliation. 

You are accountable for what you know about my children. 

My Three Sons

 Where are my sons? I know which houses each of them purchased but I am having a very hard time catching a glimpse of them. Are they being worked to death? 

What can possibly be going on?

One son married into a family by the name of Perron. I haven't seen him in about 15 years.

Another son married into a family by the name of Cross. I did see him November 9, 2024, here, where I currently live.

The other son married into a family by the name of Anders. I dropped in on him December 26, 2024 and saw him for twenty seconds at his Winterton home. That was the first time I had seen him in about five years or so.

So, I am really thinking that my sons have not married into very good families. 

What do people who know these families think? Do I have reasons to be concerned about their safety, well- being, and treatment since marrying into these families?

Money, money, money

Money 

I am going to be very bold today and talk about something important to me, especially now. All the trials and tribulations I have endured to be able to share the journey of one... myself, and three, my sons, is for the learning, and careful living, that I esteem.

So, I have never received money to help me out in life. I don't really know if anyone else has. Well, I do know of one person I went to church with who said she had a good friend who helped her out when she needed it so I suppose it does happen to some people.

Now, let me be very clear here. If and when I should ever receive money from anyone, I would make sure I can always take care of myself so I'm not a burden on my children and I would try to help my children if I had enough for that.

I would not give to anyone else other than that until we were taken care of. I hope that's clear.

I would certainly not give anything to my current husband who asked me not to hug him this morning as he went to work. I would not give him or his family anything. They are very capable of looking after themselves.

Lawfully Unlawful

There are times when life seems lawfully unlawful and you think... how can that even be right? Then there are times when we need to prove that something that is 'unlawfully lawful' really needs to change. I am going to define unlawfully lawful as something that goes against the spirit of the law but, because of the way a law is written or interpreted, the goal of protection becomes subverted under the guise of we can do this to you because the law says we can.

If you meet someone who thinks that they are in charge of your life because of positional power, beware! That person is not interested in you or your life. That type of person enjoys power.

Do you know there is a system of law, in some countries, that makes progress and the sanctity of human rights almost impossible to achieve? Thank goodness, in Canada, we can disagree and write that on any document and sign it with a flourish.

I would like to define the word sanctity as the quality of being very important and deserving respect.

The reason I am so very passionate about the e- quality of life is likely because I am the seventh child in a family of eight and you cannot possibly imagine what life is like when you have to wait for 'your turn' to receive anything in life because six other people believe they should 'get first.'

I just thought about a very wise saying... everything is permissible for you but not everything is beneficial. So, it's like this... tenting in bear country is permissible but, you are crazy if you think 'tenting in bear country' is ever going to be beneficial, for me. I respect bears and stay as far away from them as possible. That's wise!

Here, in Canada, we have a system of law that often has to be updated or 'fixed' because it is so outdated, you would think the last 100 years hasn't been lived to prove the progress of a valuable country that others desire to live in. For instance, Winnipeg has a 'tour' that people can buy tickets for and visit historical sites to verify that, indeed, we have progressed. Approximately, eighteen years ago, somebody found an old law on the law books that said... the 'law of the land' required that a 'horse' be given to everyone being released into the 'wilds of the prairies' to try to survive. We all laughed because, nobody wants a horse, in this day and age, and we can't even afford to feed a horse so that law was quickly taken off the law books.

Now, what would you think about a law that requires you to prove that you are 'clean of any substance' or any drug that would or could alter your behaviour and then, when your bloodwork and urine sample are 'clean as a whistle...,' that same law then provides an opportunity for someone to incarcerate you and try to make you take a drug when you were just required to prove you weren't on any drugs?

Well, that is what happened to me from May 27, 2026 to May 29, 2026. I was told that I had to go through this process to prove my valuable living contribution as a person who is fully in charge of my life... and I am and always have been since leaving my family home at the age of 17.

Now, I write these things to say to all of you... this could happen to any of you!

I am going to tell you about one person, in particular, and what she did that I do not think is lawful! I refused to take a drug that made me dizzy and discombobulated and unable to focus until eleven in the morning... as an experiment. They couldn't actually force me to take any drug as a clean living drug- free person but I agreed to try two pills... two... that's it... they were different and both were terrible for me... that was Wednesday. So, a very nasty woman came into my room the next day and I informed her that the experiment was a complete disaster and I would never be taking any drug that caused me such trauma. Her response was... 'We can inject you!' 

I was shocked. This person outweighed me two to one and I thought, well, if you do try to force me, you are twice my size and I will likely not win a tussle with you, my dear.

So, this 'failed experiment' that was forced upon me is a very bad law and, I would have thought that clean bloodwork and urine sample would already prove that a law abiding citizen, snoozing on the sofa, in her own home, could not be subjected to such a travesty of pretentious protection. 

Not only was I subjected to this shocking process, do you know how many 'interviewers' were, obviously, required to run through a 'systems check' with me, as part of the law of medicine that has nothing at all to do with actual healing? At least five people were required to perform their duties at the first forced stop and, at least five or more were required to perform their job descriptions at the next stop... same questions, asked over and over... different location... all of this a very frightening experience for a law abiding citizen.

Woah, What an Ordeal!

Woah, what an ordeal,... I was snoozing on the sofa when...  

I could write all the terrible things that happened to me from May 26, 2026, (to May 29, 2026) at the outset of the morning, when the most frightening individuals showed up at my door, knocking imperatively and then most rudely and then abusively. I can't even tell you how many times these individuals rang the doorbell as if there was a emergency with my sons, who live in the city, or my husband, who works at a cleaning products company.

Now, the problem with feeling like these people were all very 'unsafe,' very specifically on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, is that I didn't know any of them; I wasn't familiar with their faces, or their families, or their backgrounds and their behaviour was bordering on being 'out of control.' 

I have been in many garden- related conversations and have purchased quite a lot of plants from one mature individual, who has been employed at the same workplace as this group who carried forth a very nasty violation of my human rights with the use of a very bad law, but the six that showed up at my house were strangers to me.

I am not a lawyer so I can't challenge this law, myself, yet, but I can certainly find out how and when this law became a means of abusive mentality behaviour by a group of people who are hired to uphold the law for the safety of law- abiding citizens, of which I am the most exemplary example. Ordinarily, I am so 'in favour' of this particular group of individuals because of what they represent in our 'law- abiding' society. But, I am here to tell you... six bad apples can spoil the whole bunch. 

I am going to explain how a law- abiding citizen, myself, was treated in my own home. After the first four males did not storm my gate, meaning, they did not jump over my locked gate,... thank the Lord... two females showed up and then I was humiliated beyond words. Because of my fear of these, all unknown, individuals, I had to have a sudden bowel movement... (much like my husband who came in the door twenty five minutes ago, today, with a pinched look on his face saying... I have to use the bathroom... and then proceeded to have a quick bowel movement before proceeding with the grocery shopping); I quickly went into the bathroom and closed the door, which does not have a lock on it because, so far, my husband has not been a maniac and come into my bathroom without express permission and we are the only two people who live here and have lived here since we renovated this bathroom and put this 'non- locking' door in place of the original derelict door. So, because my husband had been picked up, at his work, by some police, I thought he must be in very bad trouble. I did ask him how and why the police had his phone number? He was at the back door and wanted to get in the house... currently we still have a lock on the door that prevents even his children and his brother, who may still have keys for this house, from being able to enter... this really helps with my peace of mind. I don't know my current husbands' family. I haven't even met one of his sons as he, also, hasn't met two of mine.

So, because my husband was at the back door, I let him in but, unfortunately, there were other individuals, I didn't trust either who came in with him and... that is when my bowels needed to be attended to... as mentioned above. As I said, I closed the barn door ironmongery sliding door and immediately had my bowel movement but a very rude and forceful female opened the door and would not let me finish my bowel movement and certainly wouldn't let me wipe my derrière without her frightening feral gaze. I lifted my bottom off the beautiful toilet seat (we did buy a very nice toilet for our renovation) and turned on the water for my bathtub and seated myself back on the toilet as I had, not yet, been given a chance to wipe my butt. Then, blue- gloved scary woman said... you are not taking a bath and tried to turn off the water but she did not know how to turn off the tap so she turned the wrong handle and the shower started to pour onto the newish floor of our renovation. I quickly reached over and said... what are you doing... you're ruining the floor... I was actually frightened enough of her hoping she wasn't going to hit me with the billy club. Thank God she didn't. That is the only thing that might save her career... maybe. So, I cleaned myself... and was forced to wear the clothing that this ridiculous individual brought me from my personal bedroom, in my private home. The clothes she handed me were a pair of sweatpants I purchased for my husband and a top also my husbands', and I said... those aren't my clothes. So, I wasn't even allowed to get my own clothes from my bedroom. This is horrifying. What can possibly be wrong with people like this? I never leave the house unbathed if going anywhere I am in public for any period of time longer than a few minutes, and this was a very uncomfortable forced situation.

Then, my husband and I were forced to go the the local hospital (I didn't have my purse on me) and I shall continue on telling you all about this travesty in the next few days as my ordeal did not end until I was safely back at home yesterday... Friday, May 29, 2026.

Stay tuned...