theresamhutter Theresa Hutter's blog - Hi from Vancouver Island ... Bye to Marsh Lake Yukon & Woodstock Ontario
official websites for Theresa M Hutter:
theresamhutter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TMHutter
BC home phone: 778.421.0434
cell-phone: 519.535.4083
email: theresa@hutter.ca
link for this blog page: www.hutter.ca/theresa
mail: 2182 Motion Dr, Port Alberni, BC V9Y1B3
back to www.hutter.ca
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jump to 1st
photo (May 2013) at page bottom | ||
| My 2013 - 2020 pictures, videos & stories: | (change YouTube settings to HD for crisper videos - try full-screen option) | |
| A sincere thank you to all who helped me put this together! | ||
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On
Aug26th 2020 our
dear mom, Theresa Hutter (age 88), passed away very peacefully at our
home on Vancouver Island. Below, her blog tracks her daily life
after leaving Woodstock Ontario in Sept/2013. She came to live
with us in The
Yukon and fell in luv with the North. But the snowbird in her was
calling and a year later the three of us (and our pets) relocated to
Vancouver Island. We miss her so much but this page helps us with lotsa
good memories... Freddy Hutter & Evalina Zamana, Port Alberni, BC (250) 918-5325 scroll down to work back chronologically or jump direct to the 1st photo back at May 2013 by a clik here: page bottom |
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| Here's Theresa's blog: |
2022 | |
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July
13th 2022: Today
was a good news vs bad news kind of day. After eight years, Theresa finally
received the $233,000 proceeds from the 2014
sale of her Woodstock home. Kept from her own money, Theresa
arranged a mortgage and bought an older house
overlooking the Pacific Ocean in 2014. She had lots of decorating
ideas for her new home having decided to live out her days in her own
residence instead of an expensive government facility. Unfortunately,
through a maze of legal manoeuvres, Victor Hutter & Marilyn
Watson-Hutter prevented
Theresa from getting a dime of "their" Inheritances and she died with
unfulfilled dreams...
The money has been deposited to Theresa's Estate bank acct. After nine years, they will finally receive the fair share of their Inheritances. They've waited a long time for what will be a much smaller cheque. They spent $60,000 over five years attempting to secure court orders to
force Theresa to return to Ontario where they could again declare her
incompetent and become her guardians. Theresa had no choice but to
spend
the same defending their mischievous legal actions. $120,000
in total down the toilet and the irony is astounding: on top of their monetary loss,
$40K of Theresa's legal costs were really their own Inheritances! Yes, they
lost $100K ... and to what end? They chased her from
Ontario. They made her life miserable. They never got back CONTROL of her life. And they robbed seven sons, daughters & nephews (&
their own kids) of the final six years with their grandma (&
great-grandmother).
And then there's this: Theresa had Last Will afterthoughts to donate some money to Woodstock's Trinity Catholic Parish. She was a CWL member at St Mary's from 1969-2019. And to pay for her brother & sister-in-law's SUV. They drove her back & forth from Cocoa Beach during her snowbird days. To penalize her procrastination, my estranged siblings are challenging her last wishes. Unless lawyers work out a fair settlement, the Supreme
Court of BC wants me to make arrangements to come back. Here we go again! They're
spending $40,000 in legal fees (their own $ plus their $ share of Inheritances) to save $24K? Insanity reigns back
in Ontario...
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| 2022 | ||
| June 24th 2022: The Supreme Court of BC has appointed me (Freddy) as Executor of Theresa's last will - refusing an attempt by Victor Hutter & Marilyn Hutter Watson's to (re)gain control of her Estate - an effort they began in 2013 after she revoked their roles as her Power of Attorney & Executors. After a fall in her Woodstock home, Theresa claimed "They left me to die!" and later posted on her Facebook page: "To save other seniors, I want to share my experience with elder abuse by my estranged son & daughter ... I don't even want him or Marilyn or Christine at my funeral!" | ||
| 2020/2022 | ||
Theresa's garden video (7 minutes) clik above for YouTube access or below for HiDef version & please be patient while it loads... 
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August
11th 2020: This is our mom's last video, just a few days before her
passing. On Aug26th she went for her daily neighbourhood walk and was
on the couch watching her fav' music video (Anthony Quinn's Zorba the Greek) while waiting for lunch and just quietly slipped away...
Theresa
loved Vancouver Island - the wildlife & its vibrant music scene. And missed Ontario -
her best friend Marianne Butzakowski, her Windermere Crescent neighbours and her dear brother Steve &
sister-in-law Ann Engardt.
But
there was also a dark side. Her
estranged son Victor Hutter & daughter Marilyn Hutter-Watson
begrudged Theresa being out West spending their
Inheritances - so they made spending from her trust-account impossible.
Port Alberni is famous for its 38ºC (100ºF) summers - but they withheld
consent for her air-conditioner installation. When she needed short term
recuperation at a seniors residence, they blocked access for rent
money. And when time came to rebuild her deck and sunroom - no money
came from Ontario. Could it get worse? Yes - the pair influenced their own children to shun their grandmother for six years: no Christmas, birthday or Mothers Day cards, flowers or calls.
Just some of the reasons Theresa became known as a sincere &
vociferous ambassador for financial/elder abuse - to the end...
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|
| 2020 | ||
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April 20th: Spring finally here and our Asian pear blossoms are looking good! |
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| 2020 | ||
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March
17th: Did ya ever dine on green nalesniki (Polish crépes) and
cream cheese? We also had green sparkling asian pear wine (from
our own tree) ... 'cuz it's St Patrick's Day. |
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| 2020 | ||
     |
Feb
23rd: Spring is very late this year. It's still fun to shop
with Theresa. She still knows what she likes.
Today it's a pork shoulder, her fav' apricot jam, some ginger ale &
of course chocolates. Then - across the street to the liquor
store. No Hungarian Golden Pear on the shelf - but she says Cherry Whisky
will do just fine! |
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| 2020 | ||
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Jan
24th: Another entertaining classical concert at Arrowsmith
Baptist Church. Tonite was Ontario's Trio d'Argento - piano, flute
& cello - and ran into Sheila, another CWL member. |
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| 2020 | ||
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Jan
14th 2020: Had a chance to wear the Yukon muk-luks today ...
finally got our first snowfall of the winter in Port Alberni. |
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| 2019/2020 | ||
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Dec
25th 2019: Started Christmas Day with some fresh baked goodies for us
& special treats for the gulls, crows, stellar jays, flickers,
woodpeckers, doves, juncos, chickadees, sparrows & starlings we luv
to feed every morning. Then came that wonderful turkey spread. And finished off with our own new Santa Rosa plum wine. Theresa's estranged son & daughter (Victor Hutter of Port Elgin & Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) asked her grandchildren to shun her so for a sixth year she got not a single Mothers Day, Birthday or Christmas card. On New Years she will surely celebrate with some Hungarian Golden Pear... |
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| 2019 | ||
 |
Dec
14th: Gathering fresh green boughs for our Christmas bouquets
while hiking today. Nice drier autumn this year ... and no sign of
flurries yet. |
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| 2019 | ||
 |
Nov
30th: Leonard & Helen of Whitehorse Yukon are visiting us for
the second time this year so we all popped over to the Smoke 'n Water
Resort to listen to the sultry jazz vocals of our favourite Island
musicians - Annie & Dave of the Easy Street Duo. |
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| 2019 | ||
 Fir Park Village doesn't want you to see these complaints: Jan 23 2019 (Facebook, etc)
 Jan 29 2019 (Vancouver Island Health Authority, Seniors Advocate, etc)
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Nov
29th 2019: Back in August 2018, Fir Park Village nursing home of Port
Alberni threatened they would ask the RCMP to lay "workplace violence & trespass charges" against us if we continued to protest their neglectful
practices. It very shortly came to our attention other local
families & guardians faced the same lame intimidation. Meetings with management were futile. By Thanxgiving, Theresa was near death: wheelchair-bound & spaced out on morphine. While she was home for Christmas, a registered letter advised us they had lost $7,593 of her rent money and she would have to replace it. In effect it was a disguised, foolish plan to evict her due to our persistent complaints. Theresa's friends/family/neighbours did not believe this bad experience was unique to her and asked us to go public so as to warn the community FPV had become a death camp. They hoped exposing our complaints would warn some guardians to consider similar extractions and better oversight by BC's Ministry of Health. We obliged and in January 2019 shared FPV's health care & financial deficiencies with the media, Facebook, etc as well as written complaints to the BC gov't agencies overseeing this facility. Joe McQuaid, director of Fir Park Village, was not happy. He phoned and demanded the complaints be retracted 'cuz the publicity was harmful to their reputation. When challenged to identify which statements were untruthful, there was silence. Then he threatened to have his lawyers commence legal defamation action. As seen on this blog, Theresa's situation is much improved since being rescued from Fir Park Village. Her 20-minute daily walks are sans cane & walker; she's shed 23 pounds of the excessive weight gain; down to 4 prescriptions from 11; and no more tears... She also received a thoughtful letter from the Vancouver Island Health Authority apologizing for her unfortunate experience at the hands of Fir Park Village. Joe McQuaid & Fir Park Village still refuse to apologize. Over at FPV, the fallout from ongoing government investigations & surveillance of their facility must be really irritating their management. As you can see in the attached email (left pane), today it's ten months later and we finally received the warning from Lyle Carlstrom, lawyer for Fir Park Village, threatening legal action unless the complaints are retracted. Again there is failure to identify any untruthful statements. The intimidation tactics by Fir Park Village nursing home give a local flavour to CBC Marketplace's video segment just seven days ago warning Canadians of a disturbing rising trend whereby nursing homes facing local criticism are attacking those critics via trespass notices & mischievous defamation court actions. (CBC exposé starts at 13:02 on video) For anyone subjected to similar intimidation by FPV, take solace in the following: (a) VIHA allows family members who fear neglect & abuse is rampant to relocate their loved ones to another facility. (b) Slander & libel legal threats are w/o merit if the accusation is TRUE. In short, where the plaintiff's own action or inaction has spawned their loss of reputation, anyone including the media is free to expose those truths with impunity... (c) Share your experience with the media and seek their guidance (and templates) wrt areas of concern to pursue (1) in the discovery process (e.g. 5-yr archive of complaints and financial records); (2) seeking court order for FPV or others to memorialize (and not destroy) related correspondence, emails, voice mails and texts; & (3) pertinent FOI requests. (d) As revealed in the CBC Marketplace video, police consider these nursing home pleas for trespass charges as nuisance calls and crown attorneys have been withdrawing past charges. |
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| 2019 | ||
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Oct
26th: Theresa celebrated part two of her 88th birthday at the
Crofton Pub with Bette, Fran & Peter and very loud Mexican music. |
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| 2019 | ||
  |
Oct 18th: So to celebrate birthday #88 we all zipped down to watch Port Alberni's production of Mamma Mia. The musical's cast & orchestra were all locals. And guess who is a fan of audience participation? We've watched the movie a dozen times but THIS WAS THE BEST! |
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| 2019 | ||
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Oct 5th: It's concert nite in Port Alberni's Arrowsmith Church - Orentes Classical Guitar Quartet. A very entertaining evening by the young Syrian refugees sponsored by UVic. | |
| 2019 | ||
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Sept 30th: It's time to pick our Asian pears again - mostly for sparkling wine & some sherry. Also a record bumper crop: 460-lbs from just one tree! | |
| 2019 | ||
| Sept
7th: A great day over at the Alberni Fall Fair. Petting
lots of critters at the Ag building and listening to some nice live jazz
by Annie & Dave of Easy Street Duo. |
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| 2019 | ||
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Aug 14th: Uptown was closed to traffic this summer for Wednesday evening market vendors and live music. | |
| 2019 | ||
| Aug 9th: Busy with Evalina in the kitchen - chili nite! | ||
| 2019 | ||
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Aug
5th: We're all picking the bumper crop of our Santa Rosa plums - a
record 135-lbs from just one tree! There's gonna be alotta
wine & sherry down-the-road... |
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| 2019 | ||
| July
11th: A pleasant evening hosted at Buchra's classic tug boat
(Swept Away Inn) at Harbour Quay. Morgan Davis treated us with and
his old tyme tunes & tales (TH in red sweater). |
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| 2019 | ||
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June 14th: A gorgeous day for Theresa to walk by the Somass river at Victoria Quay. |
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| 2019 | ||
   
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June 2nd: Theresa & Evalina enjoy a refreshing break during the annual Westwind Show 'n Shine - dozens of antique/classic/sports cars. | |
| 2019 | ||
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May
30th: Theresa liked all the music, colour & cheerfulness at
the African Children's Choir tonite ... and especially enjoyed meeting
some of the kids afterwards.
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2019 |
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May
26th: Screw Port Alberni's death camp aka Fir Park Village with
their infamous morphine & wheelchair regimen to keep inmates
peaceful.
Theresa was able to
complete the Lions Walk-for-Dog-Guides today! Trust your elders to
family home care & VIHA home support ... not a facility where an
inmate perishes every 13 days. Theresa escaped our local death camp last Christmas Eve and presently takes 4 pills daily instead of two handfuls. She is healthy, more lucid, cheerful and luvs her outings. |
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| 2019 | ||
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May
25th: A cruise boat visited Alberni Harbour today so lots of activity down at the pier. |
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| 2019 | ||
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May
12th: We wrapped up Mother's Day with an evening of pizza, black forest cake and Game of Thrones! |
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| 2019 | ||
clik here for 6am pecker & please set to FULL-SCREEN |
April 27th: Every morning at 6am for the last three weeks, we've been woke up by this fella pecking at the top of our "metal" clothesline pole! | |
| 2019 | ||
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April 12th: Walking the dyke in Port Alberni is not as challenging as the hiking trails, but this hour of exercise sure beats sitting in a wheelchair at a nursing home - and lost 16 of the 32-lbs gained there. Lots of locals walk their doggies here. | |
| 2019 | ||
 |
April
7th: We had front row seats for a wonderful nite of old tyme music as
the 17-member Nanaimo Big Band Orchestra visited Port Alberni. |
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| 2019 | ||
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March
15th: A bunch of ladies from Port Alberni are up in Campbell
River BC today to see the Shroud of Turin expo. We were treated to
a wonderful salmon lunch hosted by St Patrick's CWL. |
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| 2019 | ||
| Fir Park Village doesn't want you to see these complaints:
Jan 23 2019 (Facebook, etc)
Jan 29 2019 (Vancouver Island Health Authority, etc)
|
Jan
29th: The media & the Victoria Island Health Authority are
being warned Fir Park Village is becoming a death camp for Port
Alberni's local seniors. One of this nursing home's inmates dies
every 13 days... Rather than address the multiple issues brought forward by concerned family members, friends & old neighbours, its management threatens police enforcement of trespass and legal action for defaming their reputation. Intimidated? Don't be: (a) VIHA allows family members who fear neglect & abuse is rampant to relocate their loved ones to another facility. (b) Slander & libel legal threats are w/o merit if the accusation is TRUE. In short, where the plaintiff's own action or inaction has spawned their loss of reputation, anyone including the media is free to expose those truths with impunity... (c) Share your experience with the media and seek their guidance (and templates) wrt areas of concern to pursue (1) in the discovery process (e.g. 5-yr archive of complaints and financial records); (2) seeking court order for FPV or others to memorialize (and not destroy) related correspondence, emails, voice mails and texts; & (3) pertinent FOI requests. In this case, FPV's director (Joe McQuaid) refused to apologize to Theresa for inadequate care of her health & her monies. So she was removed Christmas Eve, brought back to her residence in Cameron Heights and VIHA home support was reinstated. Please consider the same... Theresa's experience sadly confirms the troubling exposés broadcast annually by CTV & CBC are indeed genuine ... and have reached Port Alberni. |
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| 2019 | ||
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Jan 24th: Theresa's 47th year with (Catholic Women's League) CWL! | |
| 2019 | ||
 |
Jan
18th: Vancouver Island's autumn monsoon is winding down bringing
us more fog than rain lately. Throw in some rare winter sunshine
and the brilliant rainbows return. |
|
| 2019 | ||
 |
Jan 16th: Usually our first flower is a crocus or snowdrop - and they are poking thru - but today we found this lovely Mountain Bluet in bloom already. | |
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Jan 16th: We always prune our fruit trees before the sap runs. Thus far we've had only 3" snow and low of -6ºC. Last autumn's bounty yielded 400 pounds of asian pears & portuguese plums - so pampering trees is definitely worthwhile. | |
| 2019 | ||
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Jan
8th: After just seventeen days back at home, Theresa is feeling
great, resuming normal routines and engaging in more conversatons.
She's lost eight pounds already! The diapers and walkers are
gone and she's been on short hikes for the first time in four
months. Her family doctor is back in charge today (3 meds gone incl Tylenol-3 and Morphine dosage reduced by 33%).
Jan 4th: "On the 11th day of Christmas, my true luv gave to me..."
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| 2019 | ||
 |
Jan 1st
2019: Playing with Ragnar & Frosty-Girl on New Years
Day 'cuz there's still "so much Trump on CNN". Every night thru the holidays we've been watching movies,
concerts or hockey - with good deli cheese & sausage, chocolates,
liqueurs and egg nog. |
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| 2018/2019 | ||
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Dec 31st 2018: Theresa's dad lived to near age 102 and a memorable quirk of his final
years was his resistance to stay put at old age homes. Well
perhaps "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" cuz Theresa's first
try at the nursing home thingy is similarly going down the drain.
We're not sure if it's good news or bad news - but apparently while she was home
for holidays her private room at Fir Park Village has been locked. It looks
like the innumerable complaints with respect to the shoddy care over there resulted in her ultimate eviction. Everyone's heard the rumours that loved ones only last about four months at Fir Park before ending up at the funeral home. Well, the exposés you see on CTV & CBC about some seniors homes is really true - and Theresa was well on that path. There's only 60 residents at FPV, but every 13 days another poor soul kicks the bucket. BTW, there is little ability for one to avoid the place. When Vancouver Island Health Authority says your number has come up on the wait-list, one has no choice of the first placement facility. Theresa took up residency in mid July. She was one of the fortunate - having an open tenancy allowing a return to her Cameron Heights residence at any time and w/o curfew or return date restrictions. Even so, family, friends & neighbours immediately noticed drastic deterioration in her care, health & lucidity. And as was experience of other concerned resident advocates, complaints by Theresa's family to the staff were met by management with a response that continued criticism would result in petitions to the RCMP to lay charges of "workplace harassment and trespass". Encouraged by others in the community facing similar reactions, the family persisted - resulting in verbal warnings in October & November that Theresa "may not have a place in the near future" ... in effect a threatened eviction. The first signs of neglect were the obvious - unclean hands, bum rash, unbrushed teeth & dentures. Then came the weight gain: 29% of her body weight (3 lbs per week) in just three months. The impact was immediate. Her hip and knees gave out - and she was in tears from pain just trying to walk to the dining room. Their remedy: Ibuprofen, then Tylenol, then maximum-dose T-3 & finally morphine - and thus she joined the many seemingly sedated fellow zombies. She went from three pills a day to eleven. And remember, in the days prior to being admitted to FPV, Theresa regularly hiked to Canal Beach & back - a one hour trek down & up the formidable hills of Cameron Heights. In less than 90 days she had been relegated to one of those walkers - and then a wheel chair. Pleas for a weight-loss plan went unheeded. The incompetence pervades the admin offices as well. Theresa's eviction is said to be partly based on non-payment of rent. VIHA advised the family the staff had no record of Theresa's rent money being paid. Today's eviction notice includes a final demand for eleven thousand dollars! "They can all go to hell" said Theresa as she tried to rip up the registered letter. Management was told to chase the nurse who "lost" the certified cheque three weeks ago ... not demand a second payment from Theresa. Then there's the ignoring of her "no contact list" set up with Fir Park Village when she was admitted. Theresa said on multiple occasions (below) she's suffered financial abuse and elder abuse activity for five years at the hands of her estranged son Victor Hutter, estranged daughter Marilyn Hutter Watson & estranged granddaughter Christine Baird. Fir Park Village did not care. Her abusers were allowed to phone and visit Theresa with impunity. The victimization seems to never end. Albeit Theresa spent $50,000 in legal fees over the last five years to keep those three family members away from her and regain control of her life savings, FPV failed to protect Theresa from further abuse. The family was further enraged when it came to light the FPV Care Director failed to implement the requested weight-reduction regimen in order to comply with Victor's objection. And it does get worse. Dignity doesn't matter at Fir Park. Theresa was forced to wear a diaper all day... It is clear that place was killing her and time was running out despite (four) interventions at the management level by the family. Concerns were not being addressed. By returning "home", Theresa has gratitude this awful chapter of her life is over for now. Rant over. And we feel it should be said the Adult Day Service run by Karen Hall & Surj Jhaj at FPV is an excellent program. Albeit hosted by Fir Park Village, it is somewhat separate. Theresa regularly attended the Day Service prior to being admitted for long-term residency. She enjoyed its social activities and outings. Port Alberni is quite fortunate to have this facility for dementia seniors - and their family members who benefit from the home care break. |
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| 2018 | ||
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Dec 25th: Christmas breakfast - eggs benedict with our smoked salmon lox and her own sparkling asian-pear wine. She's spending a couple of weeks at home with Evalina, Freddy, Ragnar & Frosty where she's safe from her abusers and can heal. Theresa's estranged son & daughter (Victor Hutter of Port Elgin & Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) asked her grandchildren to shun her so for a fifth year she got not a single Mothers Day, Birthday or Christmas card. Come New Years Eve she will surely celebrate with some Hungarian Golden Pear... |
|
| 2018 | ||
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Dec 2nd: Listening to wonderful Christmas hymns at the annual Blue Marlin tree lighting again - and Santa dropped by! |
|
2018 |
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Nov 30th: Theresa says "I am a victim of financial abuse again. This cannot be
happening!" Her estranged children (Victor Hutter of Port Elgin
& Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) appeared in an Ontario court
today. They asked a Judge to stop her from spending their
Inheritance. They have blocked her nursing home from taking money
from her trust account. She says "THIS IS
ELDER ABUSE!" And this is the second time. In 2016 they wanted $32,000 in blackmail money to stop harassing me. She says it cost her about eight thousand dollars in each of the last five years to have lawyers defend her from spending her own money - $40,000 down the drain... |
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| 2018 | ||
 |
Nov 25th: The vinyl coating on Theresa's new deck looks great - getting ready for railings & sun room. |
|
| 2018 | ||
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Nov 19th:
For the second time in twenty-one days, Theresa's nursing home
threatened to evict her because an Ontario court blocked them from
withdrawing rent money
from her $233,000 trust acct set up for nursing home costs. The
court says any such payments need the ok
of her three living children - and two of them have refused
approval. She says "My life is going down the toilet again..." |
|
| 2018 | ||
  |
Nov 7th: Theresa's new Wednesday routine with Cheryl & Evalina. Just turned 87 and finally getting some gray's. |
|
| 2018 | ||
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Oct 10th:
Theresa's deck has needed repairs for over two years but her estranged
children
(Victor Hutter of Ontario Hydro & Marilyn Hutter Watson of Wilfred
Laurier University) took legal action to block her from accessing her
Ontario trust acct. They appeared at an Ontario court claiming she
has no right spending money and making donations which are draining
their Inheritance. She has spent $35,000 in legal fees since 2013 defending her spending and declaring to all their mischievous legal moves were FINANCIAL ABUSE & ELDER ABUSE. Fortunately, she has an investment coming due and can finally go ahead with sun room. |
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Oct 10th: Theresa luvs to give Frosty & Ragnar "massages" when she comes back home. | |
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Oct 10th: We're picking record huge asian pears this fall. Keeping a few, but will be making wine again from most. |
|
| 2018 | ||
|
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Sept 12th: 5 yrs ago today Theresa moved to The Yukon and told CanadaPost she was never coming back to Ontario. Sept 9th: 5 yrs ago Theresa met with Woodstock Police to get a restraining order against her estranged kids (Victor Hutter of Port Elgin & Marilyn Watson of Waterloo). Officer Nikki Vanleeuwen told her to change the locks and tell them they'd be trespassing if they try to bother her. Sept 7th: 5 yrs ago Theresa found Victor and his daughter Christine Baird had called her bank, charging she was mentally ill - causing a freeze on all her accounts for 12 months. She was destitute. Her Royal Bank manager later explained to Theresa her estranged grand-daughter, Christine, was fired from Royal Bank for her part in this and other mischievous activities. Aug 29th: 5 yrs ago Theresa asked her lawyer to revoke the power-of-attorney from her estranged children saying "They're not people you want making the decision "to pull the plug." Aug 10th: 5 yrs ago her oldest son Fred flew in from The Yukon to help with shopping, meals & laundry. Aug 7th: 5 yrs ago Theresa was found and taken to Emergence by her dear sister-in-law, Ann. A giant goose-egg and lots of cuts & bruises. Aug 6th: Five years ago today Theresa fell down the basement stairs but received no help - she was convinced her now-estranged daughter & son had left her to die... |
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| 2018 | ||
    |
Aug 10th: Five wildfires near town - this one right across from us - we won't forget the nite-time glow. |
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On July 10th Theresa's # came up on the
nursing home wait list - we weren't expecting this 'til year end.
Island Health requires a "yea" or "nay" in two hours and the latter can
delay the next opportunity for up to two years and freeze home-care
services.
Reluctantly, Theresa was admitted three days
later to Fir Park Village in Port Alberni. It is a 60-resident
nursing home with which she was familiar - hosting the seniors club she
attended three times per week.
Being way more mobile and healthy than most
residents, Theresa has an open tenancy - allowing her to freely come and
go with us - with no return or curfew restrictions. So she often
returns to her Cameron Heights home - visiting Frosty
& Ragnar, her neighbours, gardening and watching Trump on CNN, The Young &
Restless & movies.
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May 27th: Another sign Spring is here - her peonies & Russian sage. | |
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May 27th: A sure sign of Spring is the Show 'n' Shines. Here we have two models "made in 1931." |
|
| 2018 | ||
| May
22nd: So Theresa is back after ten-day stay at hospital after
picking up some food
poisoning on Mothers Day. Long-time friends & family cannot
recall her being admitted overnite since she had babies! Nurses
were all very nice but she's glad to be home. She got hit very hard in this episode. So much so her doctor is sending in home-support workers to assist the family with daily care chores - and he placed her on the Island wait list for nursing home residency... This month it has become a reality Theresa mostly lives "in the moment" and while she will continue to contribute as much as possible to her blog, there will be multiple authors going forward. |
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| 2018 | ||
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May 12th: walking the gardens at the Crow&Gate Pub |
|
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May 12th: steak & kidney pie at the Crow&Gate (Yellow Point) with good friends on Mothers Day |
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| 2018 | ||
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May 11th: more from the nursery | |
| 2018 | ||
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Feb 10th: A lazy Saturday afternoon watching figure skating |
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| 2018 | ||
| Jan 1st 2018: Hiked down to Canal Beach to watch the annual Polar Bear swim. | ||
| 2017/2018 | ||
    |
Dec 25th 2017: Another white Christmas - again this year we saw Santa fishing while driving past Cameron Lake on
the way to Duncan. Lesley & Rick did the turkey and I brought my
new pear wine. Shared the wonderful dinner with Fran & Peter,
Evalina & Fred and Christmas crackers. My estranged son & daughter (Victor Hutter of Port Elgin & Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) asked my grandchildren to shun me so for a fourth straight year I got not a single Mothers Day, Birthday or Christmas card and New Years Eve will be a good night to celebrate with some Hungarian Golden Pear... |
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| 2017 | ||
| Dec 24th: It's
snowing! So we took Frosty for a good run because she loves the white
stuff. Can you tell she misses the Yukon? My church doesn't have midnight mass this year but we did celebrate Christmas season with a CWL lunch and St Vincent de Paul supper. |
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| 2017 | ||
 |
Oct 20th: We're celebrating my 86th birthday tonite - wonderful Italian food, wine and pumpkin spice cheesecake at La Bruschetta. | |
| 2017 | ||
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Oct 15th:
We're celebrating the third anniversary of our move to Vancouver Island
with Leslie and Fran and Peter's crown pork roast and pumpkin pie. |
|
| 2017 | ||
 |
Sept 16th: Enjoyed
breakfast and live music at the downtown harbour. Then we heard
the roar of 1,244 motorcycles stopping by in Port Alberni for their
annual visit. |
|
| 2017 | ||
 |
Sept 12th: Four years
ago today I left Ontario behind along after months of elder abuse at the
hands of Victor Hutter of Port Elgin and Marilyn Watson of
Waterloo. To this day they are trying to steal my life savings. I
celebrated my escape from them with good Greek food and wine at Orestes. |
|
| 2017 | ||
  |
July 11th: It was fun petting goats, sheep, doggies, chickens & ducks at Blair Park tonight. | |
| 2017 | ||
 |
July 8th: Port
Alberni's main street is shut down for a car show. Here's two
beautiful Corvairs from the 60's. BTW, we have three deli's in the
Valley. |
|
| 2017 | ||
| June 12th: Five days after eye surgery and I'm trying Zumba class at the gym! | ||
| 2017 | ||
 |
June 7th: I've had a
blind eye for ten years. Today I was at Nanaimo Hospital. My
specialist says he can fix it with his laser. Between procedures we stopped for
pizza at the park and found about three dozen friendly bunnies. |
|
| 2017 | ||
 |
May 14th: Sharing Mother's Day with Fran, Lesley & Evalina at Heritage East Indian Cuisine near Cowichan Lake |
|
| 2017 | ||
| March 29th: This long winter meant less hiking and way too much time watching old movies and Trump on CNN. So Evalina and I joined the gym... | ||
| 2017 | ||
 |
March 19th The
first hummingbird showed up today so Spring on the way finally. We
attended a nice Sunday afternoon concert with famous Islanders Valdy
& Gary. |
|
| 2017 | ||
  |
March 5th: I'm so proud of my asian
pear tree. We harvested just before the black bear raids and now
have 90 bottles of sparkling wine! |
|
 |
March 4th: My asian
pear tree produced 500 pounds of fruit last fall so we had much of it
pressed into juice. Today Peter & Fran helped us cork 90 bottles of
this liquid gold. |
|
| 2017 | ||
 |
Feb 4th: Over two
feet of snow has fallen in the last 8 weeks! So instead of going
for walks I'm mostly inside doing some major downsizing. |
|
| 2017 | ||
| Jan 26th: A night of
good food and friends at La Bruschetta Restaurant. We celebrated Freddy's last nite before
turning "65". Since he has two left feet, Judy lent me her husband Willy
for the good songs. |
||
| 2017 | ||
    |
Jan 23rd 2017: For the
first time in six weeks I can see my green lawn again - the snow is
finally gone. Instead of -11ºC it's +11ºC today and very sunny. A
nice day for my drive to Duncan with Evalina to attend the Catholic
Women's League retreat. |
|
| 2016/2017 | ||
 |
Dec 25th 2016: We drove through downtown Ladysmith on the way home to see their famous Christmas lights. My estranged son & daughter (Victor Hutter of Port Elgin & Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) asked my grandchildren to shun me so for a third straight year I got not a single Mothers Day, Birthday or Christmas card and New Years Eve will be a good night to celebrate with some Hungarian Golden Pear... |
|
  |
Lesley hosted a potluck Christmas - we brought homemade poppy seed strudel. Alistair greeting Peter - it was a sad and "quiet" night with his buddies Odin & Molly spending the holiday in doggie heaven this year. | |
 |
Well that's something you
don't see every day! We just left Port Alberni and there's Santa out
fishing on Cameron Lake in Cathedral Grove park. |
|
  |
Dec 25th: It's a rare white Christmas on Vancouver Island and we're starting out with Evalina's traditional Eggs-Benedict with champagne mimosa. We smoked our sockeye to make the lox - oh so tender and tasty. Then on the way to Duncan. | |
| 2016 | ||
       |
Dec 17th: After sunset we enjoyed a roast beef Christmas dinner at our Yacht Club. Everyone came with appetizers, veggies & desserts to share. Evalina brought her famous tiramisu. During the feast all the members shared a favourite sailing story. | |
 |
Fred days our offshore racer, Mazurek, has the club's deepest keel (down seven feet) and the tallest mast (58'). We were encouraged to join in with the annual stringing of Christmas lights. | |
  |
Dec 17th: Because of
the rare cold wave we still have lots of snow in Port Alberni. It was a
big surprise to find the -11ºC temperature had frozen the salty ocean water
around all the boats at our marina in Deep Bay. And made for good
reflections! |
|
| 2016 | ||
| Dec 10th: Yesterday we woke up to four inches of fresh snow and took Frosty-Girl to the doggie park. She was not very co-operative! Another six inches this morning makes for a winter wonderland. | ||
| 2016 | ||
 |
Dec 3rd: A bunch of
girls from Cameron Heights at the CWL Christmas Lunch. And
tomorrow we're all going to the St Vincent de Paul supper. |
|
| 2016 | ||
 |
Nov 24th: The yacht club presented this beautiful trophy to the "potluckers" at tonite's AGM. I guess they liked our cabbage rolls! |
|
| 2016 | ||
| correct link for sailing video | Nov 20th: One of my favourite restaurants (Blue Marlin) arranged a community tree lighting and Christmas carol sing-along. | |
| 2016 | ||
| correct
link for sailing video correct link for 2nd sailing video |
Nov 6th: A gorgeous
day of sailing turned into fun with the help of a bunch of sea
lions. They played hide&seek with our boat for fifteen
minutes. Three days ago we picked the last of our Asian Pears - that's five hundred pounds in all - and we're going to try and make some wine. |
|
| 2016 | ||
 |
Oct 27th: Oktoberfest potluck at the (floating) Deep Bay Yacht Club ... we took the cabbage rolls. | |
| 2016 | ||
  |
Oct 2nd: Gabriola Island just past exciting whirlpools at Dodd Narrows and Nanaimo harbour. |
|
  |
Oct 2nd: Starting out for an all day cruise from Maple Bay. We agree Vancouver Island looks way better from the sea than the highway! | |
   |
Oct 1st: Beautiful scenery, swans & floating homes. And lots of good food and drinks at the Shipyard Restaurant in Bird's Eye Cove. | |
  |
Oct 1st: We
found a night berth in gorgeous Birds Eye Cove. Mazurek is not
just a classic race yacht, it's also "home sweet home" when we're
cruising. |
|
 |
Oct 1st: Leaving Sidney on Mazurek & passing a pit stop for birdies. |
|
|
Sept 30th: Fred &
Larry heading out on Mazurek to test new GPS chart software so we don't get lost or
wander into shallow water... When I spent the summer in Lions Bay BC fifteen years ago, we got an awful phone call from Fred's siblings announcing my Snipe would never be coming West even though it was his turn to sail it - because they "gave it away". My husband and I and Fred all loved going to regattas - all over Ontario, New York & the Maritimes. We were heartbroken with this news and I promised our cherished race boat would be replaced some day. With this one, there's no more darn hiking... It's been almost three years since my family sent greetings from Ontario so I'm spending their inheritance! |
|
| 2016 | ||
 |
Sept 21st: We all went
for a sail in Sidney. To quote Fred's friend Bill, "would you
rather have a view ... or be the view?" |
|
| 2016 | ||
 link for sailing race video | Sept 11th: Watching sailboat races at Deep Bay. | |
| 2016 | ||
| sorry, no pic's |
Sept 4th: Lots of good music, friends, food & fireworks at Port Alberni's Salmon Festival again. |
|
| 2016 | ||
 | Aug 13th: Too many
hot days over 30 degrees so we've been hiking with Frosty on the forest
trails this Summer - a real nice break from watching the Olympics every
day. | |
| 2016 | ||
 correct link for sausagefest | July 16th: Visiting Peter & Fran to make some more garlic sausage and
bacon. It being Evalina's birthday, Lesley treated us to a lovely
English brunch (and drinks) at "Hudson's on First" in Duncan. | |
| 2016 | ||
 | July 9th: On the way to the Jane Austen festival. | |
| 2016 | ||
   | May 8th: Went to Ladysmith with a bunch of moms on Mother's Day for East Indian at the Spice Hut. Biggest rosemary bush ever is outside! | |
| 2016 | ||
  | May 3rd: Saw lots of deer & alpacas on the way to Chemainus. Going to have Chinese food with friends. | |
| 2016 | ||
| last year's video |
April 20th: The hummingbirds have been coming for a month. My pear & plum trees are in blossom. Lots of blue skies & temperature records (30ºC today). | |
| 2016 | ||
 |
April 12th: A fun evening at Char's Landing celebrating Yuri Gagarin Nite with the Alberni Trekkers. | |
| 2016 | ||
|
correct
link for last dance
|
March 17th: My good neighbour Bette enjoying live music, dancing and green beer with us at Sproat Lake. | |
| 2016 | ||
| Is BLACKMAIL a form of Elder Abuse? |
March 16th: I was warned today my estranged son (Victor Hutter of Ontario Hydro, Port Elgin) intends to continue his harassing phone calls even if I pay his $32,000 blackmail money. Is he insane? | |
| 2016 | ||
|
March 15th: My hyacinths came out last week. Camellias too. And my plum tree and pear tree are budding. | |
| 2016 | ||
| Is BLACKMAIL a form of Elder Abuse? |
March 13th: Well, the lies are exposed. Fred says a new email from Victor retracts his promise yesterday to never contact me. I made arrangements this morning to pay his $32,000 blackmail money to get peace back in my life. But since it's obvious I can't trust him, definitely no cheque going to Port Elgin. To repeat, I don't even want him (or Marilyn or Christine) at my funeral! | |
| Is BLACKMAIL a form of Elder Abuse? |
March 12th: Excellent news today. Victor emailed Fred this morning to say if I pay the $32,000 blackmail money, I never have to talk to him or see him again for the rest of my life. I will be free of his harassment by March 31st. Time to go to the lawyer and get this in writing. | |
| 2016 | ||
|
March 9th: Peter & Fran joined us in Duncan for lamb and champagne mimosas to celebrate Lesley's 88th birthday. Lots of daffodils out this week. | |
| 2016 | ||
| correct link for mozilla browsers |
Feb 27th: Me and Frosty at the doggie park | |
| 2016 | ||
 correct link for mozilla browsers
|
Feb 25th: So nice to share oyster and halibut burgers and wine at the Clam Bucket with Agnes, a truly special friend of 65 years!
| |
| 2016 | ||
 |
Feb 24th: Allied Van Lines is back with another load. It is so nice to finally have all my stuff under one roof again! My estranged son and daughter (Victor Hutter & Marilyn Watson) obtained a court order to put all my belongings in storage two years ago. They refused to pay any rent. I may go to jail but I don't care and had everything sent here to Vancouver Island. I need it. And the shipping bill is coming out of their inheritance! | |
| 2016 | ||
 |
Feb 21st: First robins in the neighbourhood - also one day later than last year Feb 13th: More rain in February, lots of foggy mornings, sometimes sun in the afternoon to bring out more flowers and heather. | |
 |
Feb 8th: It's 12C & the first crocuses opened today - only one day later than last year. Spring is here! | |
| 2016 | ||
|
Feb 3rd: Even though the winter rains continue, nothing puts a smile on your face faster than catching an early morning visitor nibbling fresh grass and garden sprouts. A few minutes later, all I could see was starlings and wondered if Alfred Hitchcock was in town. Each winter day we've been putting out seeds, bread crumbs and diced lard for the jays, flickers, towhees, thrush and juncos. The neighbourhood also has bald eagles, doves, pigeons, crows and gulls. Jan 9th: A full house at the Legion tonight to see the Elvis tribute and of course some dancing (sorry no pic's). | |
| 2016 | ||
| Is BLACKMAIL a form of Elder Abuse? |
Feb 2nd 2016: A few days ago I found out I have a $32,000 investment coming due early. Then by coincidence of course, I got a letter from my estranged children's snake lawyer demanding I pay them $32,000 within two weeks or they will use an Ontario court to declare me mentally incompetent, force me to return to a mental institution in Ontario and give them control over my money, investments and all my assets. All these nasty court actions and lawyer letters are elder abuse. I am being blackmailed by my estranged son (Victor Hutter, formerly of Ontario Hydro, Port Elgin) and my estranged daughter (Marilyn Watson of Wilfred Laurier Univ, Waterloo). Back in August 2013 the Woodstock police were helping me get a restraining order against them and granddaughter Christine Hutter Baird. After I moved to The Yukon, the Whitehorse RCMP there referred me to Victim Services to protect myself. Here in BC, I gain met with the RCMP to ask for help to protect me from ongoing harassment by Victor. This time the bank manager says
Victor told him part of the money in my GIC's is his. Then he
told the manager I can't cash in my GIC's to pay off my mortgage because
that is his inheritance money. He is a pathological liar.
He lies and lies to the court and the bank and my family and my friends. It never stops... I am very thankful the police are helping me keep him away but they can't stop the ongoing mischievous court actions and lawyer letters which have drained tens of thousands of dollars from my life savings since I revoked Marilyn Watson & Victor Hutter of their power of attorney status two years ago. I never want to see them again ... not even at my funeral! | |
| 2016 | ||
 |
Jan 1st: Happy 2016! This past week was fun and wonderfully delicious with christmas concerts, seafoods including squid, a kangaroo burger, lots of chocolate and homemade cookies, many toasts, then prime rib and dancing on New Year's Eve. This morning we made eggs benedict with escargot and champagne mimosas. Then all walked down to the beach to watch this year's 70 brave locals participating in the polar bear swim. | |
| 2015/2016 | ||
|
Dec 27th 2015: A day late but it was so nice to get three
inches of snow these past two days to set the right mood for all the
Christmas decorated homes in town. My estranged son & daughter
(Victor Hutter of
Port Elgin & Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) asked my grandchildren to
shun me so for a second straight year I got not a single Mothers Day,
Birthday or Christmas card and New Years Eve will be a good night to
celebrate with some Hungarian Golden Pear... | |
| 2015 | ||
|
|
Oct 24th: We had the deli from 1960 to 1994. So many good memories came back with our sausage-making party with Peter & Fran in Cobble Hill! Their Traeger Smoker has shared up some real nice side bacon, back bacon, salmon, arctic char, prime rib and pastrami. | |
| 2015 | ||
| Oct 20th: Back to the Little Bavarian again for my 84th birthday with Bette, Rod, Fred & Evalina. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
Sept 13th: Fran and Peter joined us for a cruise up our fjord (Barkley Sound). Their sandwiches and cider and a bit of whale-watching made for a wonderful voyage. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
Sept 12th: Headed up to Stamp Falls with Peter & Fran. After four months of clear blue skies we're finally getting some rain for the local creeks and rivers. The sockeye, coho and chinook are real happy ... so are the black bear! | |
| 2015 | ||
| Sept 7th: Fred picked up a new pet - a golden eagle - at the Port Alberni Salmon Festival. | |
| 2015 | ||
| Aug 15th: Finished this great day with a trip to Parksville to see the sandcastle festival. My favourite was the Einstein. | |
| 2015 | ||
| Aug 15th: Another air show. This time at the Comox Air Force Base. Lots of acrobatics, B-29, the Snowbirds & the F-18 in the sky and much more on the runways. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
|
July 9th: The Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber is stationed over the hill at Sproat Lake. Quite a thrill when it buzzes our rooftops on practice water drops by the beach. | |
| 2015 | ||
| July 4th: Today we are cruising down the fjord towards the open Pacific. There's a good view of my Cameron Heights neighbourhood from the water. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
July 2nd: Another sunny day was welcome as Evalina and I attended a Jane Austen Tea at the Rollins Art Centre. I enjoyed the period costumes and dance performances of the local Centennial Belles. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
|
July 1st: Today we're at the Westwind car show in Port Alberni. We learned Vancouver Island has been very rich in antique, classic and sports cars for well over 50 years. There's a Show 'n Shine or race virtually every weekend. Folks here really love their cars. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
|
Fred enjoys the Island highways flying around in his
(4th) Firebird. It' may be the fifth or sixth time I've spoiled my first born.
It's been a year and a half since my family sent greetings from Ontario so I'm spending their inheritance! | |
|
June 28th: As this exciting day continued, Fred & Evalina then surprised me with my first glider ride - - started by a tow to 4,000' and a memorable peaceful float that seemed to last forever... | |
|
June 28th: Attended Open House at the Alberni Valley Flying Club today. Fred & Evalina took me for a Cessna tour of Sproat Lake, Port Alberni and even my subdivision (Cameron Heights) and Motion Drive. | |
| 2015 | ||
| June 28th: Lovely day for an air show: C130 water tanker, Aurora, Cormorant, biplane and more. | |
| 2015 | ||
| June 27th: Nice hot sunny day to board the Alberni choo-choo train to attend a mill tour north of town. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
June 18th: A nice sunny day trip to Duncan, Cobble Hill & the Log Cabin in Langford for fish & chips with good friends - Lesley, Peter & Fran. | |
| 2015 | ||
 |
June 15th: We love the neighbourhood wildlife ... even if they nibble in the garden sometimes. It is common to see deer, racoons and black bear. Less visible are the cougar and wolves. We've had no rain for many weeks and most days are over 30C and the grass has gone brown and dormant. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
May 19th: Another nice evening with friends at the live theatre. | |
| 2015 | ||
 | May 15th: So many meetings in Port Alberni: Catholic Womens League, seniors, garden club, politics... | |
| 2015 | ||
| correct link for hummers | April 26th: We sometimes have as many as four hummingbirds at a time at the feeder. They are fascinating to watch... | |
| 2015 | ||
 | March 23rd: There is a new ship in the harbour every week. The pink cherry blossoms line many streets in Port Alberni. | |
| 2015 | ||
 |
March 21st: Hiking along the Sproat River at Plywood Park | |
| 2015 | ||
 | March 6th: Here come the magnolias! | |
| 2015 | ||
|
March 4th: What is more delicious than jumbo spotted prawns just two hours out-of-the-ocean? Thanks to our new fisherman friends, we have been feasting well - our fjord also has dungeness crab, halibut, snapper, cod & four kinds of salmon. Further out they get Fanny Bay oysters & octopus for us. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
|
Feb 28th: This is February? It started with a greening of the moss, then crocuses on Feb 7th, followed by daffodils and blossoms. | |
| 2015 | ||
| Jan 27th: Celebrated Fred's birthday tonight - delicious East Indian food with refreshing mango lassi. | |
| 2015 | ||
|
|
Then we zipped down to the beach to watch the
brave ones in the local polar bear swim. | |
| 2015 | ||
| Jan 1st 2015: Bringing in the New Year with eggs-Benedict and champagne mimosa. | |
| 2014/2015 | ||
|
Dec 31st 2014: I brought in the new year with a night of dancing at the Legion. My estranged son & daughter (Victor Hutter of Port Elgin & Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) asked my grandchildren to shun me so I got not a single Mothers Day, Birthday or Christmas card this year and it's a good night to celebrate with some Hungarian Golden Pear... | |
| 2014 | ||
|
Dec 20th: Imagine my surprise when the Bishop of Whitehorse, the Most Reverend Gary Michael Gordon, was named Bishop of Victoria and my parish. He dropped in this weekend to bless the food for our Christmas luncheon. 2014 was an amazing year ... having pictures with both my Bishop and my Prime Minister! | |
|
|
Just minutes from home is my Port Alberni
Catholic church - Notre Dame Holy Family parish. It has beautiful gardens and feature the Saint Mary grotto.
| |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Dec 19th: Met our area Conservative MPs at a wine & cheese today at the golf club in Qualicum Beach. Lots of deer grazing on the greens ... still no snow staying yet. We finished the day with a delicious seafood dinner at The Clam Bucket. | |
| 2014 | ||
|
| Dec 6th: Nothing beats the sounds echoing in the valley of the Port Alberni choo-choo train... | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Nov 28th: We got an inch of snow today but that didn't stop another beautiful sunset. This first snowfall of the season brought down the rest of the leaves on my pear tree. | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Nov 23rd: While the WeatherNetwork says this week there was lots of snow all across Canada and down to Texas and a big dump in Buffalo, we were raking leaves and cutting the grass. This morning the local peaks are white for the first time! I love Vancouver Island. | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Nov 4th: After 14 months I
finally have my belongings back! When they heard back in February I sold
my Windermere Crescent home, my estranged son & daughter (Victor
Hutter of Port Elgin & Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) made their second
of four attempts to declare me mentally incompetent. Their snake of a lawyer got an Owen Sound court order to block me from my Herend china, my clothes, my jewellery, my hair dryer, my furniture, my photo albums, my bible - yes everything ... until I agree to return to Ontario for a mental examination by some quack social worker in London. They also blocked my intended estate sale and the announced donation of the proceeds to the building fund for my church, Holy Trinity Parish. As I start the unpacking of my 62 boxes, the task has me teary-eyed and rightfully so. Many good memories. It is a great day and I look forward to starting this new chapter on Vancouver Island. | |
| 2014 | ||
|
|
Oct 20th: The deer and bear visit my Asian pear tree almost every evening. I celebrated my 83rd birthday with Fred & Evalina at The Little Bavaria tonight. Lots of good German food, desserts, music and Hungarian white wine. Thank you to all who sent cards and called!
| |
| 2014 | ||
|
Oct 17th: Who knew Port Alberni has been celebrating Oktoberfest for 48 years? I was treated with folk dancers, bratwurst, frankfurters, potato salad, sauerkraut and a dozen dance partners. It's been 20 years since I had a night like this! | |
| 2014 | ||
|
|
Oct 15th: Here is my winter home in Port Alberni, Vancouver Island. I have a wonderful view of the Pacific. We're on a big hill but the neighbours promise I will never need to shovel snow... | |
| 2014 | ||
|
Oct 13th: Three days of driving and
we're finally in the Alberni Valley on Vancouver Island. The whole
trip the trees have been getting bigger ... from 12" trunks in the
Yukon to these in Cathedral Grove park. Just 15 minutes and we'll be in Cameron Heights, Port Alberni. | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Oct 12th: Lots of excitement with a bison herd blocking the highway last night. Today we have beautiful blue skies and I found the perfect place for a picnic just south of Fort Nelson BC. | |
 |
Oct 11th: There's been 8" of snow in the Yukon already but it's the last I'll be seeing for awhile. I will miss all my new friends at "the club" because the U-Haul is packed and today we're heading down the Alaska Hwy and back to Vancouver Island for the winter. | |
| 2014 | ||
|
Sept 18th: Toasting a new chapter in my life by trying those famous Fanny Bay oysters (for the first time). In just a few minutes me, Fred and Evalina (she's holding the camera) watched dozens of salmon jumping like crazy as they enter the Somass River from the Pacific. I love this Island and it's ideal for my winter home. I am happy here and will be back soon... | |
|
Sept 16th: Having fun with some of the famous Coombs goats who live on this sod roof. | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Sept 15th: It's so warm down here and the bears are much more friendly than ours in the Yukon. | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Sept 13th: Sailing into the sunset with my son, Fred. We all flew to Vancouver and now we're on the ferry half-way to Vancouver Island. The 49th parallel is way nicer than the 60th! Back home there's snow on the peaks and frost already. | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Sept 12th 2014: Due to elder abuse by my estranged daughter & son (Marilyn Watson & Victor Hutter), I was forced to leave my beloved Windermere home in Woodstock exactly one year ago today. I celebrated my escape with an inspiring visit to Atlin BC. | |
| 2014 | ||
|
Sept 8th: A pleasant evening on "supermoon" night with Frosty at our home in Judas Creek Marina. | |
 |
Sept 8th: A busy beaver stocking branches for winter | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Aug 31st: Most Sundays you can find me at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Whitehorse | |
| 2014 | ||
|
Aug 29th: Started the long weekend with a trip to the Beringia wildlife museum. Ten thousand years ago this part of The Yukon was loaded with mammoths, sabre tooth tigers & bison. | |
| 2014 | ||
|
Aug 20th: Well what a week this was!
It's nice to have friends in high places - Fred & Evalina took me to
meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Laureen. I saw a moose on the Alaska Hwy, chinook salmon at the fish ladder in the Yukon River and a black bear snacking on the Saskatoon berries beside our cabin. | |
| 2014 | ||
 | Aug 10th: Meghan keeps us busy at "the club"! | |
| 2014 | ||
|
Aug 8th: The best way to see "heaven on earth" is by train & bus with some of your good friends ... and don't forget to stop for ice cream! | |
| 2014 | ||
|
July 22nd: Evalina, Fred and
I are in Whitehorse celebrating some excellent news on this the
warmest day of the summer so far - 26ºC - and my bank has thawed my bank
accounts! My estranged son & daughter (Victor Hutter of Port Elgin & Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) mischievously declared me mentally incompetent in Sept/2013 and seized my life savings. I finally regained control today. It took me ten months and a letter from a specialist at University of BC to satisfy my bank that I was not cuckoo. The Yukon RCMP called it mischievous activity. I call it elder abuse! | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
the agony of defeat ... in Rio July 8th: So it's my Brazil against Germany and who do I cheer for? My mistake... | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
June 28th: Can't wait 'til Friday. My Brazilian team plays Columbia!! | |
| 2014 | ||
|
June 21st: I can't believe it! Here's Marsh Lake at midnite on solstice. Blue sky and not a single star up there. Sunset was at 11:30pm and sunrise will come at 3:30am and the birds will start singing! | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
May 30th: No Spring, we've gone straight from Winter to Summer! Do you see why I call Yukon home? Why would anyone want to leave this place? | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
May 17th: Marsh Lake black bears & their cubs are coming out of hibernation. | |
| 2014 | ||
 | April 30th: A good day for Freda, my friend at "the club". She's 93! | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
April 14th: Finally a hint of Spring here at Marsh Lake marina - open water and the first swans and duckies. | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
April 14th: Frosty really loves the snow and will miss it soon. Her first birthday was in February. | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
March 3rd: Almost no snow or wind since
New Years Day. There's 4 feet of ice on Marsh Lake. Always
lots of blue sky on my daily walks. Every once-in-awhile we can watch the Northern Lights around midnight! | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Feb 22nd: It's been milder here in the Yukon than in Woodstock these past few weeks. There's been almost no snow since New Years Day but that didn't hurt this week's international ice sculpture display in Whitehorse. After chatting with the artist from China, we went for mama burgers. | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Feb 20th: During my first five months here the only wildlife I saw was the marina bald eagles. But this week was amazing. I added two moose, a coyote, a fox and a flock of ptarmigan to my list! | |
| 2014 | ||
 |
Feb 15th 2014: Zoom-Zoom touched the hearts of many in Judas Creek. He was our little athlete and so caught us all by surprise when he took a trip to meet his special buddy Topaz in pet heaven this weekend... | |
| 2013/2014 | ||
|
With even more snow on Christmas Day 2013, Frosty and I have almost three feet of powder to play in now... BTW, I'm calling CNN tomorrow with my new remedy for alzheimers: Hungarian Golden Pear! | ||
 |
Dec 25th: A very Merry Christmas to all my friends, fellow-parishioners & relatives who have been so supportive in my elder abuse battle. I have told my estranged son Victor Hutter of Port Elgin, my estranged daughter Marilyn Watson of Waterloo & my estranged granddaughter Christine Hutter Baird of Penticton BC that I never want to see them or talk to them for the rest of my life... | |
| 2013 | ||
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Dec 18th: -37ºC & 2 feet of
snow I can handle that ok, but there's stuff going on back in
Ontario which is sending all my life plans down the toilet again. My son
Victor Hutter of Port Elgin & my
daughter Marilyn Watson of Waterloo left me to die when I
fell down the basement stairs last August and today I find instead
of getting an apology, they have asked the Ontario Superior Court to
force me to come back to their care. I
moved to the Yukon Sept 12th to escape their despicable behaviour
and heal. I don't want to live anymore if they are in charge of
my well being and money. This is truly elder abuse and financial abuse and
I dearly hope many other seniors can learn from my "overly trusting"
mistakes. It's not so much what I did ... but who I trusted. | |
| 2013 | ||
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Dec 9th & 12" of snow. I love it here but getting real excited about a trip to Ontario. I borrowed a little bit of money against my life insurance policy and planning to tour some Woodstock retirement homes starting Jan 25th. | |
| 2013 | ||
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Dec 2nd: Hey, I'm a Yukoner now! Got my health &
Pharmacare cards today. Dec 4th: I agreed to sell Windermere
to my neighbour today. It's -32ºC outside and there's 7" of snow so far... | |
| 2013 | ||
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Nov 10th: It's starting to freeze... | |
| 2013 | ||
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my
YouTube hiking
video
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Oct 20th: hiking the Marsh Lake shoreline on my 82nd Birthday | |
| 2013 | ||
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Oct 1st: taking a break from gardening with Frosty | |
| 2013 | ||
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This place is heaven on earth! | |
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| 2013 | ||
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So, I'm finally in Whitehorse Yukon. | |
| lots of fall colours... | ||
| finally over the Yukon... | ||
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glaciers near Alaska/BC/Yukon borders | |
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Sept 12th: My life is going down the toilet!! In
August 2013 my son & daughter (Victor Hutter of Port Elgin &
Marilyn Watson of Waterloo) left me for dead at the bottom of my
basement staircase. I sure didn't want them to be the ones a
doctor asks to pull the plug on me someday so my lawyer revoked their
power of attorney status. After being informed, they called my
bank (as joint owners), said they had declared me mentally incompetent and demanded Royal Bank freeze all my accounts and VISA. I've been told it may take up to
five years to have a specialist confirm my brain is ok and sort out this
legal battle to get back my life savings. I can't do it from
Woodstock 'cuz I am destitute and have only $20 in my purse. This is financial abuse! This is elder abuse! I've decided to fly to the Yukon today to live with my eldest son and his spouse (Fred Hutter & Evalina Zamana) at Marsh Lake Marina. |
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| 2013 | ||
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May 2nd 2013: Welcoming young Frosty-Girl to Woodstock from Amber's kennel. Soon she'll be flying to The Yukon with Evalina. | |
| back to top | 2013 | |
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