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The Scarlet Thread Irregulars (Serial Story) — Chapter 6

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 6: My team dances with the devil

Wednesday the 11th of October, 2006 – Shields Crossing, Ontario

“In my defence, in movies, bottles break really easily,” I said feeling sheepish. The bottle just sort of lay there at his feet.

“Did you really think a little holy water would stop the devil?” he asked incredulously. Then he picked up the bottle and unscrewed the cover. An extremely strong smell of olive oil, peppermint, and rosemary permeated the air. What couldn’t be smelled was the purified salt and iron. He laughed and said, “I am not a salad.”

“Oh, it wasn’t for you,” I replied.

“Who—” He turned in time to see Sylvie’s fist.

“Me, you asshole,” she said to punctuate the hit. 

I heard his nose break. He dropped the mixture, splashing it on himself. Where the liquid hit him, he burst into flames. The same thing happened when it hit the floor.

For one triumphant moment, I thought we’d won. Then the fire petered out and the devil reappeared next to his own body. He slow-clapped to rub it in and said, “I’m impressed. Beside myself, really.” I ignored his pun. “What was in that?”

“Extra virgin olive oil from the same tree species as the cross of Christ, rosemary oil, peppermint oil, salt, and iron shavings. All of which is blessed by six different religious leaders,” I said with a sigh. It was a sort of catch all, it should slow down ghosts, demons, angels, undead, Fay, and most things considered evil in western mythology.

“Let’s talk business then.” Luc smiled, his mouth looking two sizes too big.

“You forget that you have six knights in front of you,” Clifford quipped and tried to summon his sword. It didn’t work. “Um. Maybe we can negotiate?”

To give the devil his due, he didn’t seem angry and just chuckled. “Enough silliness. Everyone sit down!” His words were a command with magic behind it. The table and chairs all moved to fulfil his will.

Killing him didn’t work. It must be the building that’s the source of the magic, not him, I said to my team in mindspeak. None of them replied.

“Good deduction,” Luc said. “Mindspeak doesn’t work here. Same as your weapons, and any real magic.” 

“What do you want?” Sylvie asked, looking ready to punch him again.

“It’s simple, I have something you want and you have something I want.”

“What is that? Our souls?” Sylvie asked sarcastically. When he didn’t correct her, she rolled her eyes and said, “I’m an atheist.”

“Then you’re trading something for nothing.” A flourish of his hand had a contract appear in front of her, along with a comically long feathered pen.

Scoffing, Sylvie replied, “My wife explained to me that there are some actions, especially with magic, where the intent and the willingness to do the action is more important than the consequences. If I sold you my soul, even if there is no such thing, I would still have sold my soul and been willing to sell it. No way am I signing anything you give me.”

Luc squinted at her and said, “Aren’t you a cop?”

“Ex-cop and there’s a reason for that, which I won’t be sharing with the literal devil.” 

Flapping his hands dramatically, contracts appeared in front of everyone but Grant.

Mine promised me a life with the woman I loved and the ability to protect the world. It was tempting but my love would have to choose me or it wouldn’t matter. I pushed the contract away.

“What’s the matter Galahad? Not a good enough deal?”

“I’m far from pure and certainly not incorruptible, but your act doesn’t interest me.”

“Well, if I can’t make a deal with you, I’ll make one with one of the others.”

“No!” I ordered. “You have nothing we want other than our freedom.” I started getting up and added, “Your hospitality has been adequate but we must be on our way.” I focused all my energy toward the building in the same way I would for an Aether-creature and I felt the house pushing back.

With a comical pout, Luc said, “You’re free to go then. But this isn’t the end. I will have your souls.” He cackled and the entire house faded away, leaving us shivering in the forest.

“What? That was—” Sylvie started and I cut her off.

“No. Don’t! Just don’t.” I looked around but there was no hint that the area had ever been inhabited by anything bigger than a squirrel.

“Did you take care of whatever was in the caves?” 

“Actually, Grant did,” I said. 

Sylvie looked him up and down and didn’t say anything. I was having the same doubts that she was but there wasn’t anything I could do about it, yet.

“So was that my quest?” Sylvie asked. 

“Let’s head back to the hotel and lick our,” I looked around, “metaphorical wounds and go on from there.”

As I drove the van around the lake and back toward town, I heard Ursula tell Sylvie, “Some people get the sword before their quest, like me. I got the sword two months before anything exciting happened. Others get it after a show of bravery like Albert. And finally others get it in the middle. You’ll know when it’s over. You’ll feel more secure and safe with the sword.”

Sylvie sighed and replied, “It’s not over. There’s something we’re missing.”

I hit the brakes as hard as I could and swore.

In front of the van was something that filled me with terror. Looking at us bewildered was Popeye the Sailor man in glorious two-dimensional animation.

Clifford was the first to echo my sentiment but soon everyone but Sylvie swore in various languages. 

“It’s just a cartoon. You took on the devil? What am I missing?”

I was the first to explain, “Cartoon characters follow their own rules. They don’t care about things like real life or physics. They’re made by someone extremely powerful or a full-on rupture of the barrier protecting us from voracity of the Aether.”

“Dramatic much, cuz?”

“He’s saying that either we’re facing a mage of Merlin level or someone destroyed a part of the barrier in one of the places it’s the strongest.” Ursula said.

From outside with a bellowing baritone, Popeye said, “I’m strong to the finish ’cause I eats me spinach,” and flexed his improbably shaped arms before punching down on the front of the van.

Read Chapter 7 (July 2025)

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

The Scarlet Thread Irregulars (Serial Story) — Chapter 5

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 5: My team enters the house of the rising sun

Wednesday the 11th of October, 2006 – Shields Crossing, Ontario

We stood in front of the whitewashed antebellum style house and despite the waves of heat coming off it, I shivered.

The sign read, “Luc’s House of the Rising Sun.”

“Are we dealing with a sapient house, an Aetherborn version of the devil, or something else?” squeaked Robin, her eyes wide.

“That house is wrong,” Clifford said in disgust.

Laughing hysterically, Grant asked, “The house of evil is wrong? Oh really?” He sounded ready to run.

Clifford scoffed and replied, “No, the roof is wrong. Antebellum-style houses had a hipped or gabled roof; this one has more of a steeped roof which was neo-gothic. Although It is from the same time period.” 

“Very educational. Are we really going into that place?” Ursula’s voice was monotone but she looked nervous.

I looked them over and took a deep breath before saying, “I want you each to centre yourselves and tell me what your senses say about this place.”

They did as I said and after a few moments, Clifford said, “It’s old, really old. We might be seeing a hundred year old house, but it’s much older.”

“Good,” I said. “Grant?”

He replied, “It doesn’t feel like Fay magic but it doesn’t feel exactly like Aether either.”

“Excellent. Ursula, what can you tell me about the size?”

“It’s bigger than it looks. The outside is just a shell, the inside is massive. The size of a whole city.”

“You’re all doing great. Robin, your turn.” 

She took a deep breath and said, “It smells hungry.”

“It is,” I said. “I’ve seen something like this before. It’s extremely rare. It’s a house or concept created by Aether but that subsists on eating people’s quintessence.” I turned to my team and said, “You’ve been a great team. I think you’ve all grown since I first met you. This isn’t part of our mission and I won’t ask you to go. Thank you for giving me the honour of teaching you.” I turned back to the house and started to walk toward the entrance.

As I entered, I heard my team follow me. I hadn’t been sure they would but I’d hoped.

Once inside the house, the heat was humid and sticky. The smell of food and alcohol wafted from somewhere ahead of me. My traitorous stomach grumbled. 

There was a black man dressed all in white standing at a little podium in the entryway. It all looked like a fancy restaurant or members only club. 

The man was looking at a list and made a small cough before saying, “Sir Therien, party of six is it?”

“Where is my cousin?”

“She’s waiting for you inside with Master Luc.” The man said the name with a soft C like in Lucy. “Please follow me.”  When he gestured, I saw a red mark on his wrist; it was a small stylized skull.

The restaurant had no closed walls, allowing a tropical breeze to blow in, bringing the smell of ocean and flowers to compete with those of the feast of a buffet.

The place was full of people, each with the red skull mark on a part of their body. The further we went into the size and physics defying room, the more desiccated and mummy-like the people became.

When we passed the buffet and approached the far doors, I asked again, “Where’s my cousin?” 

“Just through here sir,” the man pointed at a door that hadn’t been there a second before.

As we crossed the threshold, the heat changed to dry heat and we were on a balcony of a Greek style house. The city outside was burning and someone was playing sad bagpipes.

“At least it’s not the library,” I quipped. 

The man guiding us had disappeared and another man in an all black suit came out of one of the other two doors. “Would you prefer that?” he asked.

“No. Where’s my cousin?” I asked.

“She’ll be along soon. I just wanted to meet this generation’s Galahad.” He spoke quickly like an actor rushing his lines.

“Anyone who thinks I’m incorruptible lacks imagination,” I said before taking a formal tone, “Thrice I have asked, thrice you have denied me. I declare this establishment in contempt of the rules of hospitality.”

The man smiled in a way that didn’t touch any other part of his face and moved really close to me before saying, “Are you invoking Fay in the Devil’s home? The entirety of the Fay Kingdoms couldn’t hope to understand the depth of power here, none of which is bound by such childish rules.” 

“The Supernatural Accords of 1991 state that any member of the magical community who kidnaps another sapient creature forfeits their rights to retaliation or defence.” My sword appeared in my hand and I nicked the man’s neck just below his jaw. The cut was shallow but I was still surprised to see the lack of blood. Before the man could react, I placed the tip of my sword on his shoulder and said, “Tell Lucy that I will rip this place apart spell by spell if he doesn’t bring me my cousin in the next thirty seconds.” The man’s shoulder started to sizzle as I pushed power into my sword. 

I counted in my head and when I reached  twenty-nine: Sylvie walked in from the same door we’d come from. She was followed by a man dressed all in red with a matching cane. 

Syl, are you okay?

She didn’t answer. Her eyes were open but glazed, and she moved awkwardly, like she was a puppet. 

“You wanted to see me?” the man asked. He looked like a movie star; white teeth, pale skin, black hair, and a jawline that screamed “manly”.

“I’m going to give you one warning. Release Sylvie and we’ll leave here peacefully.” From the corner of my eye I saw Grant looking horrified at what I said.

“What are you going to do? Stab me? I don’t remember swords being all that effective against the devil.” The man laughed and Sylvie followed in a mechanical imitation.

“I warned you,” I said and pulled a bottle out of my coat. I threw the water at the man. Nothing happened.

Read Chapter 6

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

Adding Stuff to Coffee

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Hello Coffee Lovers,

I am a coffee snob. I prefer my coffee pour-over, I like high grown South American beans, I like a light to medium roast, I think the water should be 175-190 degrees fahrenheit, and I will say no to certain coffee.

I LOVE flavoured coffee, especially the flavours that combine with the natural flavour of the beans. It’s one of the reasons I started JenEric Coffee.

When it comes to adding things to coffee, I had always believed that you were supposed to only drink good coffee black. I tried changing from cream to milk, and lowering the amount of sugar I use. I thought that as I got used to the taste, it would get better. It didn’t, all it did was make me enjoy coffee less. That could be because I recently found out I’m a supertaster, or it could be that I just don’t like the more bitter coffees.

I have had a few really good coffees that I drank black. They are very rare but they exist.

More recently, I have started thinking of dairy and sweeteners like salt in food or vanilla in baking. It’s a way to bring out the taste and enhance it. No one looks at you funny if you add cinnamon or nutmeg to your coffee and those are great ways to lower the bitterness and cover the taste of certain chains over-roasting their beans.

If adding something to your coffee makes you like it, then more power to you. If you’re adding stuff to make it tolerable, than maybe it’s the wrong coffee or coffee isn’t for you.

Cup shaped like the Mummy from the 1990's movies with light brown coffee inside.
The Mummy says enjoy your coffee!

Basically, enjoy what you enjoy without feeling bad, and don’t force yourself to like something just because it’s “the way it should be”.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

The Scarlet Thread Irregulars (Serial Story) — Chapter 4

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 4: My team is ambushed by cryptids and I lose my cousin

Wednesday the 11th of October, 2006 – Shields Crossing, Ontario

“What the hell is that?” Ursula asked. 

“I think ‘Hell’ is exactly what it is,” replied Grant. 

I could tell neither of them had heard the scream through mindspeak, which meant it was Sylvie. “The other group’s in trouble, we’ll look into this place later.” 

Turning to run, I hoped they would follow. 

Al, get over here. I don’t think I can fight this off for much longer. Sylvie’s voice sounded strained but also excited.

Give me a sign as to where you are, I said. The woods were huge, and other than south, I had no idea where they’d gone.

The mosquitoes seemed to get thicker. They buzzed and bit before suddenly disappearing. I attributed it to the dropping temperature. Between the sun setting and moving away from the house, it was getting colder fast. 

A bright pillar of light slashed the sky. Thanks. We’re on our way.

She didn’t reply and a few moments later the light went out. The forest got thicker and I fought my way through until we reached the edge of a cliff overlooking the shore. I almost fell but managed to stop.

“Where are they?” asked Grant between breaths. He needed more running practice.

“There!” Ursula said, pointing at a cave on the rocky beach.

The sunset turned vivid red and a cool wind swept up the river. Just as I was going to argue, a small bear-like creature came out of the cave and started howling. Its jaws opened to a ninety degree angle and froth dripped from its mouth.  

The sound of its howl sent a shiver of fear through me, and just as quickly as it had started, the howl was replaced by the most amazing sound. Like music, love, and warmth had been combined. I wanted nothing more than to go toward that sound. 

I heard Grant swear and felt him try to grab me, but I fought him. I ran straight for the cave, not caring that there was a six foot drop to the beach. I felt the freedom of running on air followed by a fall but not the landing.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the cave with the rest of the group, covered in blood, with a massive headache.

Grant stood over us wearing earbuds and brandishing his sword. “Are you okay?” he yelled.

I patted myself down and gave him the thumbs up. He took out the earbuds and gave a deep sigh.

There were three creatures around us. Each had been hacked by a sword, none were moving. 

Seeing the creatures closer up, I recognized the short soft grey-brown fur and the shape of its head. Mostly I recognized the large venom sacks under its neck. “Grant? How did you take out three adlats?” 

Adlats are some of the most dangerous cryptid creatures on earth. They lure people in with their song and then pump them full of venom that both paralyses and heals. They slowly eat a person’s quintessence, their soul, and drain their blood. The older the adlat, the longer they can feed on one person.  

“I put in my earbuds the moment I heard the howl and blasted The Kings of Rock. I tried to stop you from running off that cliff but you fell, and wow were you broken. Like, your legs were both bent the wrong way and I saw you wheezing really bad. Then one of those things bit you, and your legs popped back into place like an inflatable mattress but, like, gross.”

“Gross,” Ursula repeated in a flat voice. “Stick to drawing because your descriptions are terrible.”

Robin gave a little shriek from the other side of the cave and my heart sank until she said, “I’m fine, but I think we’ve found our killers. There are two more bodies back here that are desiccated like the man in the morgue.”

 “Can we sound off?” I asked and each person said their name and that they were unhurt, except for Sylvie. “Sylvie? If you’re dead, I’m going to bring you back and kill you.” I was hoping that if she were unconscious, my voice would wake her. I repeated the same thing in mindspeak in case she was out of earshot.

“Can he do that?” asked Grant with fear in his voice.

Once again deadpan, Ursula answered, “Probably not.”

I got up and gave him a stern look. I reached into my pocket for my phone and found it in pieces. I needed light and summoned my sword. It glowed softly and with a thought I turned up the light. The cave was illuminated, showing me my team, two desiccated corpses, dirt, the hacked remains of the adlats, and lots of blood.

“What happened?” I asked Robin.

“We were searching the woods when we heard a roar behind us, and then there was this beautiful music. That’s all I remember.”

“No idea what happened to Sylvie?” I asked.

Clifford said, “No,” and then suggested, “What about the tracking spell?”

I shook my head and said, “I didn’t make a packet for her.” We each had a bag with hair from the others. It allowed us to use a tracking spell if one of us goes missing. In general, Gatekeepers don’t have magic like a wizard but we can use some minor ritual based magic.

“She’s your cousin. You share blood. Assuming she’s physically closer than any other relative you should be able to find her,” he explained.  

It was worth a shot. I took my sword and pricked my index finger. Rubbing the blood on my sword, I said the words, “Let me protect my chosen family, let me have the strength to save them, and let me find the one who was lost.” The words weren’t necessary, only the intent, but they didn’t hurt.

The sword swung me around in a full turn and then pointed firmly toward where we had seen the building called “Luc’s House of the Rising Sun.” I was fairly certain that Luc was short for Lucifer and that whatever we were walking into was going to suck.

“Everyone clean yourselves off and let’s get out of here. We’re going to get my cousin and meet the Devil.” I wasn’t a religious man and I didn’t believe in the Devil, but enough people did that an Aetherborn version could be just as bad.

Read Chapter 5

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

The Scarlet Thread Irregulars (Serial Story) — Chapter 3

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 3: My team finishes their pie and wanders the woods.

Wednesday the 11th of October, 2006 – Shields Crossing, Ontario

“Must have been a French Roast,” deadpanned Ursula, her deep voice never betraying the laughter I saw in her eyes.

Sylvie pulled the sword out of the puddle and asked, “Does this mean I’m King of England now?”

Clifford immediately quoted Monty Python, “‘Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.’”

“They based that on us and no, you’re not a king. You’re now a Gatekeeper, a balancing force of the world. We keep magic from going wild and when it does, we clean it up. We are the Knights of the Aether,” I said, trying to make her understand that this was serious.

Sylvie raised an eyebrow and asked, “Do I have to take a vow of celibacy?”

“No?” I replied, not understanding why she was asking.

“Oh. So that’s just a you thing, not a Gatekeeper thing. Great.” She smiled mischievously at me. She always liked to tease me. This was going to be a long mission.

Coming to my defence, Ursula said, “He has Annabel.”

Eyes wide, Sylvie said, “Al, dish. Who’s Annabel?”

“You received a sword during a quest, not after it. That means you need to see it through to gain your full knighthood.” I changed the subject.

She put her free hand on her hip and said, “This talk isn’t over. How come none of you have your swords?”

I held out my hand and willed my sword into it. “You can summon your sword and dismiss it with your will. It can take months of training and even then, some have issues with it.” As I let my sword disappear, I tried really hard not to glance at Clifford. He had the hardest time learning to call his sword. We’d been working on it.

Sylvie took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment and her sword vanished.

“Wow,” Clifford said, looking a little sad.

“I’m a cop in Westmeath. I’ve seen shit,” Sylvie said, sounding way too cool. 

I scoffed and added, “She was in the military, Elmsley special forces, before quitting and joining the police force. She’s been trained to resist magic in multiple ways. It makes sense that her training would come in handy.”

“Actually, my Ronnie’s been training me to use magic items for defence,” Sylvie said, grinning as she mentioned her fiancée.

Looking really uncomfortable, Granny Pie asked, “Can I clean this up or is it religiously important?”

“No ma’am, it’s not holy and l can clean it up for you,” I said and she looked relieved. 

I retrieved the mop and bucket from the shop’s storage closet and I started to mop up the coffee while Pie explained, “There’s been some strange things going on around here.” She leaned in and whispered, “Magical.” When no one looked surprised, she continued, “Normally, the Aether here is really thick, but it’s been thinning, and I can’t figure out why. Things have been bleeding through. Nothing sapient or dangerous, but with Halloween around the corner, I’m not sure that will last.”   

“I guess we need to go check out the beach and see if there’s anything there,” Sylvie suggested.

At this point I was feeling old jealousies. She was only a few years older than me and lived in different parts of Ontario but I’d always been envious of her. She was better than me at everything, and I mean everything. I fought down the feeling and agreed. 

We finished our coffees, paid, and thanked Pie for help. Shield’s Crossing was a small town, but it was long, squished between Highway 17 and Muskrat Lake. 

We took the Volkswagen van. It was harder to drive than a minivan but easier to repair, as long as you could find the parts. It also allowed for more passengers. I guess we’re just a group of hippy knights. Who am I kidding? We were nerds at best.

We parked in the rowing club’s lot and walked to where the body had been found. Faught Beach was less of a beach and more of an opening in the woods that connected to the lake. No one with any sense would swim there. 

We looked around and found nothing useful. 

“I’m sure he died on the other side,” Robin said.

I looked up at the sky and then at my watch, “Let’s get going. We only have three hours before sunset, and we’re not ready to do a forest search in the dark.”

Sylvie looked confused and suggested, “We can get gear in town.”

I shook my head, “I’m not taking four inexperienced and one untrained knight into the wilderness in the dark.” I’d seen enough weird stuff in the cities. The woods brought out humanity’s weirdest fears and I wasn’t about to be killed by a yeti or killer duck.

The entirety of the other side of Muskrat Lake was thick forest. There were some homes on the shore but they were sparse. The roads were terrible but we made it to a lookout area with two hours to spare.

“We should split up to cover more ground,” Sylvie suggested. 

“Never split the party,” Grant said quickly.

Rolling her eyes, Sylvie said, “That’s only in Dungeons and Dragons. In real life, time is more important. Take these.” She passed out black metal rings.

The ring felt warm and I could feel it was charged with magic. There was the symbol of a tree with a maple leaf on the trunk, the logo of Yggdrasil. “What are these?” I asked.

“Coms. They work like mindspeak but they’re completely secure.” When the others gave her a blank look, she added, “It’ll let us talk mind to mind.”

“Okay fine, we split into two groups,” I started. “Sylvie, take Clifford and Robin, and search south. I’ll take Grant and Ursula and go north. We meet back here in an hour and a half.”

“Yes sir,” said my knights and Sylvie gave me a half-hearted salute.

Searching the woods isn’t the most exciting thing to do. We saw several rabbits, a lot of squirrels, a coyote, and more crows than I’d expected. We also met every damned mosquito in the area. Damn the warm fall. It was normally close to freezing at this time of year, but it had been in the low teens the whole time we’d been here.

As we walked it got hotter until I was considering taking off my leather coat. “Something’s wrong,” I said at the same time I heard a scream in my head.

I was about to turn and run to help my friends when the trees parted and a large three-storey antebellum style mansion appeared. The heat was coming off of it, and there was a large sign in the front that read, “Luc’s House of the Rising Sun.”

Read Chapter 4

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

JenEric Coffee is as Canadian as we can get

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Hello Coffee Lovers,

As much as I applaud the movement to buy Canadian, there are certain limitations when it comes to producing coffee.

We roast, flavour, pack, and sell all from our home in Ottawa.

Green Beans

Any coffee company that tells you they are 100% Canadian is lying. Canada doesn’t produce any coffee beans.

We here at JenEric Coffee order our beans through two Canadian resellers: U-Roast-It and Green Coffee Co.

We always buy high grown and fair trade beans from Sumatra, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, or Honduras.

Roasting

All our beans are roasted in the back yard on our custom built BBQ roaster (it’s only for coffee). The BBQ is Broil-Mate (Canadian company but made in China) and the roasting parts were from RK Drums (US company but the only one that made this when we were buying 8 years ago).

Flavouring

We use Lorann Flavouring, which is unfortunately an American company. We have tried other flavouring, but it’s the best out there for smaller bottles. We do purchase from The Vanilla Food Company, a Canadian reseller.

Packaging

Once we’ve worked our way through our current stock of bags, we’ll be buying new ones from Pouch Makers Canada.

Labels

We used to get all our labels printed at Vista Print Canada, which is the Canadian branch of a Dutch Company.

We’ve recently bought a Lien sticker machine so that we can produce them in-house instead. The company is from Shanghai.

We create our own designs and if we ever have the extra cash, we’d get a Canadian designer.

Websites

This blog and everything attached to it is hosted by the fantastic CanSpace. The servers and service are all in Canada.

For our Store JenEric Coffee and Crochet we use Square, which is American but has a free tier which is really nice. We’re looking into an alternative but don’t really want to add extra costs. Also, Square is really easy to use and works extremely well.

Overall

The products from JenEric Coffee are processed and put together in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. We’re trying our best to have mostly Canadian parts but it’s not easy.

I hope this has helped you understand the process a little better.

May your coffee be stronger than your fatigue,

Éric

Shipping and Shopping

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Hello Coffee Lovers!

The current Canada Post strike will affect us, but we have found alternative ways of shipping. Canada, USA, and International may be slower to fullfil, but we’ll find a way.

Coffee.JenEric-Designs.ca is still open for business!

Ottawa Shipping

For those inside Ottawa, we are now offering a discounted shipping cost of $10. We’re working with Trexity to get the packages into Ottawa and parts of Gatineau.

Coffee with Coffee Shop

For the holiday season we are offering a bonus 2 ounces of mystery coffee with every purchase of Coffee Shop Between the ‘Verses.

Good luck with your holiday shopping.

Éric

Queer Christmas Craft Fair 2024

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We will be at the Queer Christmas Craft Fair tomorrow (Saturday November 16th!) Come join us.

🎄✨ Get ready for the Queer Christmas Craft Fair at The Good Companions – it’s going to be a holiday shopping spree like no other! ✨🎄

🗓️ When: November 16th
🕙 Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
📍 Where: The Good Companions (670 Albert Street) FREE PARKING!!

Prepare for an unforgettable day full of festive vibes, fabulous finds, and a whole lotta cheer! We’re bringing you 23 amazing vendors from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in and around Ottawa, all serving up an irresistible mix of treasures. You can expect dazzling jewelry, cozy knitwear, vibrant artwork, luxurious artisanal soaps, locally sourced honey, flavor-infused coffee beans, unique speedo’s and more. These one-of-a-kind gifts will have your holiday shopping done in style!

And while you’re shopping up a storm, treat yourself to our famous homemade chilli and cornbread combo for just $6.50! Not only will it hit the spot, but every dollar helps The Good Companions keep bringing diverse and inclusive programs to life.

This is the perfect event for everyone who loves to support, celebrate, and show up for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community!

Allies, friends, and festive souls,

Let’s make this season sparkle together – see you there! 🎁