My great grandparent's farm is a known haunt to all of our family. It was built over the foundation of a previous farmhouse which burnt down and no one seems to know the story of the previous house. Well, that is always a good start if you want your house to be creepy. Build it over a mysterious foundation. Anyways, my mom always spent the summers there, always talks about how creepy it was and how much she loved it there. This is one story which always freaks me out when she tells it. One weekend my uncle was up for a visit. She was in the bathroom when the door knob started to wiggle and turn. "Just a minute, I'm almost done" She said. It preceded to wiggle more obnoxiously while the door was being pushed. Now positive it was my uncle being a typical brother she said again "Just a minute!!" horrified he might actually get the door open on her. The wiggling became more vicious, finally the door was kicked and then all was quiet. "OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" said my mom as she ripped open the door expecting to see my uncle smirking on the other side. Nothing. She looked around and looked outside to discover both him and grandpa were way out across the yard, in front of the barn tinkering with a tractor. No way was it possible for either of them to get back to that spot in that short amount of time. Needless to say, she took an interest in helping them the rest of the afternoon. How she spent entire summers up there I will never know. My aunt said she would make it a week before she requested being brought back home.
The worst part is, my uncle leveled the old farm house and built a new house on that same spot! Yes, their brand new house is creepy too!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Happy Halloween! Tuesday's Story
I had to make an emergency batch of cookies last night so I guess I owe two stories tonight!
I am not a Oiji board fan. They kind of freak me out. When I was in college, one of my roommates had one. She said they also freaked her out and she never used it in our room - just in her friend's room down the hall. *sigh* whatever! She rarely spent the night in our room and one night her radio came on in the middle of the night. It was one of those huge boom boxes with the controls on a panel which spins when it turns on. "Ugh! She must have an alarm set or something on it?" So I get up, unplug it and it shuts off. I'm drifting off to sleep again and I hear that control panel spinning open and the radio turns on again. "What The!!" "ARGH, does she really have batteries in that thing too!" I get up and rip the back off only to discover, you guessed it, no batteries! I am freaked out by this point so I think I turned on all of the lights and played some Sims for a while to ease my nerves. The next night, yep, it turned on again. I didn't move. I listened to it being fuzzy and changing channels until it finally turned off. I stayed under my blankets until I finally fell asleep. I also had a floor lamp which would turn on and off in that room all of the time but I had just bought it and couldn't confirm if it was just because it was a $3 clearance lamp from Target or something spooky. She moved out at semester and took the Oiji board, her giant radio and my Paperboy Nintendo game. Second semester nothing crazy happened to me in that room and my lamp also was no longer possessed.
I am not a Oiji board fan. They kind of freak me out. When I was in college, one of my roommates had one. She said they also freaked her out and she never used it in our room - just in her friend's room down the hall. *sigh* whatever! She rarely spent the night in our room and one night her radio came on in the middle of the night. It was one of those huge boom boxes with the controls on a panel which spins when it turns on. "Ugh! She must have an alarm set or something on it?" So I get up, unplug it and it shuts off. I'm drifting off to sleep again and I hear that control panel spinning open and the radio turns on again. "What The!!" "ARGH, does she really have batteries in that thing too!" I get up and rip the back off only to discover, you guessed it, no batteries! I am freaked out by this point so I think I turned on all of the lights and played some Sims for a while to ease my nerves. The next night, yep, it turned on again. I didn't move. I listened to it being fuzzy and changing channels until it finally turned off. I stayed under my blankets until I finally fell asleep. I also had a floor lamp which would turn on and off in that room all of the time but I had just bought it and couldn't confirm if it was just because it was a $3 clearance lamp from Target or something spooky. She moved out at semester and took the Oiji board, her giant radio and my Paperboy Nintendo game. Second semester nothing crazy happened to me in that room and my lamp also was no longer possessed.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Happy Halloween Week! Monday
I'm going to write up some ghost stories this week to go along with the spirit of Halloween though my mom has way more interesting stories since one of her hobbies is actually ghost investigating. Meaning she is one of those crazy people who will set up cameras and recording equipment and spend the night someplace to prove/find more proof it is haunted.
My first experience was, as mentioned earlier, when I was seven or eight. I used to be a night owl so I was always up late reading. One night, not too long after we had moved into our "new" to us home, I was deep into a Beverly Cleary (the opposite of anything creepy) and I looked up to see a man in the doorway. Umm, who? what? I don't remember being scared but I did duck under the covers and I remember saying "who is there??" "Is someone there??" No answer. He was gone by the time emerged and I guess I went to sleep that night? I'm not sure I was old enough to even know what a ghost was. I didn't tell my parents because, you know what, I am not sure why. I guess it never came up in conversation until...
One night, a few years later, my mom had an antique club meeting at our house. After the club meeting a friend was telling her a ghost story. I wasn't really paying attention until my mom started acting suspicious by telling her friend to come out on the porch with her. THAT peaked my interest so I snuck over to the door to hear what I obviously was not supposed to be hearing. She was telling a story about how she was watching Price is Right, doing some pricing for her booth, the usual mid-morning activities when she heard someone coming down the stairs. She didn't initially think anything of it until she realized no one else is home! She looked up to see a man on the landing and freaked. Did someone break in and has been hiding in the attic?? What now? What is he going to do?? It was then she saw him start to say something and realized "wait a minute! It's a ghost!" and pop he vanished.
OK, I was a few years older at this point and was realizing I hadn't been crazy because this same person my mom had just described had been standing in my doorway. After everyone had gone she noticed I was acting strange and knew instantly I had heard her story and was somewhat mad because she didn't want me sleeping on their bedroom floor for the next five years. I blurted out "I've seen him too!" which instantly eased her temper into shock? or perhaps a validation that she also was not crazy.
We think it's the son of the original owner of the house? He passed away in a car accident. He has been helpful over the years. If we were missing anything, he would place it front and center on the kitchen table. Though sometimes our theory was he was the one who took it to begin with! He's never done anything scary or mean except occasionally walk down those creaky stairs!
My first experience was, as mentioned earlier, when I was seven or eight. I used to be a night owl so I was always up late reading. One night, not too long after we had moved into our "new" to us home, I was deep into a Beverly Cleary (the opposite of anything creepy) and I looked up to see a man in the doorway. Umm, who? what? I don't remember being scared but I did duck under the covers and I remember saying "who is there??" "Is someone there??" No answer. He was gone by the time emerged and I guess I went to sleep that night? I'm not sure I was old enough to even know what a ghost was. I didn't tell my parents because, you know what, I am not sure why. I guess it never came up in conversation until...
One night, a few years later, my mom had an antique club meeting at our house. After the club meeting a friend was telling her a ghost story. I wasn't really paying attention until my mom started acting suspicious by telling her friend to come out on the porch with her. THAT peaked my interest so I snuck over to the door to hear what I obviously was not supposed to be hearing. She was telling a story about how she was watching Price is Right, doing some pricing for her booth, the usual mid-morning activities when she heard someone coming down the stairs. She didn't initially think anything of it until she realized no one else is home! She looked up to see a man on the landing and freaked. Did someone break in and has been hiding in the attic?? What now? What is he going to do?? It was then she saw him start to say something and realized "wait a minute! It's a ghost!" and pop he vanished.
OK, I was a few years older at this point and was realizing I hadn't been crazy because this same person my mom had just described had been standing in my doorway. After everyone had gone she noticed I was acting strange and knew instantly I had heard her story and was somewhat mad because she didn't want me sleeping on their bedroom floor for the next five years. I blurted out "I've seen him too!" which instantly eased her temper into shock? or perhaps a validation that she also was not crazy.
We think it's the son of the original owner of the house? He passed away in a car accident. He has been helpful over the years. If we were missing anything, he would place it front and center on the kitchen table. Though sometimes our theory was he was the one who took it to begin with! He's never done anything scary or mean except occasionally walk down those creaky stairs!
Friday, October 25, 2013
Ghosts? Or just some Dust
I am going to paint the hallway "quickly" as I realize the current layer of paint is probably lead since their 80's/90's remodel of this area was tiny flowered wallpaper and I'm also tired of looking at the sloppy paint job. I was getting my before shots and this photo was in the mix.
I'm not a huge orb fan but these, especially the one waayy down the hall, by the sock, struck me as odd. That looks to me as if it is by the sock and would have to be a substantial piece of dust to be reflecting that much light that far away. There is also one on the ceiling and one on the right wall, kind of in the middle.
Here is the same view taken a few seconds later.
Apart from the first night I was over here by myself, I have never had any funny business happen. That first night, Mark got off of work late and I was going to pick him up so I was over here doing a little cleaning. I went to use my recently charged phone and I lost all signal (Ok, no shock there) but then the little battery symbol started dropping bars one by one until the phone turned off. It was fine again after I charged it and I never saw it do anything crazy like that again. That being said, this house doesn't creep me out in any way and I've never seen anything - that I've noticed! I admit, I do believe in ghosts. Though it's hard to say you don't when you've looked up to see the previous owner's son standing in your bedroom doorway staring at you when you were 8 years old. Oh yeah, he was dead and I had no clue who it was at the time. My parent's house = definitely haunted. They have an extra cat and at least two people. My house? Meh, not so much. I grew up in fear of having to go to the bathroom at 3 AM, in fact, I usually braved a further away bathroom just to avoid a certain hallway! So I am still ecstatic to wake up and not worry about bumping into anyone if I need to use the bathroom.
I should dig out my pre-digital Gettysburg photo and the photo my mom took of me with their house behind it and what looks to be a silhouette of a woman. Ohh! That would be good for Halloween - though I can't promise anything because I only have a vague clue where those photos are. More ghost stories would be good too! I've got a week.
Apart from the first night I was over here by myself, I have never had any funny business happen. That first night, Mark got off of work late and I was going to pick him up so I was over here doing a little cleaning. I went to use my recently charged phone and I lost all signal (Ok, no shock there) but then the little battery symbol started dropping bars one by one until the phone turned off. It was fine again after I charged it and I never saw it do anything crazy like that again. That being said, this house doesn't creep me out in any way and I've never seen anything - that I've noticed! I admit, I do believe in ghosts. Though it's hard to say you don't when you've looked up to see the previous owner's son standing in your bedroom doorway staring at you when you were 8 years old. Oh yeah, he was dead and I had no clue who it was at the time. My parent's house = definitely haunted. They have an extra cat and at least two people. My house? Meh, not so much. I grew up in fear of having to go to the bathroom at 3 AM, in fact, I usually braved a further away bathroom just to avoid a certain hallway! So I am still ecstatic to wake up and not worry about bumping into anyone if I need to use the bathroom.
I should dig out my pre-digital Gettysburg photo and the photo my mom took of me with their house behind it and what looks to be a silhouette of a woman. Ohh! That would be good for Halloween - though I can't promise anything because I only have a vague clue where those photos are. More ghost stories would be good too! I've got a week.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Happy Birthday to Me!
Last week was my birthday and I always enjoy hanging out with friends and telling my husband we're eating at the Chinese buffet without question. My husband and I usually just buy our own gifts because I never know what I want plus I can give him a list but he still wouldn't know what I was talking about. He always just wants the latest electronic gadget so he got a new phone and a new plan. As a result I also got a new phone which he was very excited to tell me about all of the features I now have. I have so far used it to take 2 instagram photos and 2 videos. The alarm clock works well.
I behaved myself this past summer and avoided buying any Pyrex I wasn't crazy about just for the sake of buying Pyrex. I passed up a lot of avocado, browns and mushrooms. I'm sure someday I'll be kicking myself for passing them up but my cupboards (and husband) are thankful for it. I did splurge for my birthday and found a few pieces I love which also stick to my attempted color scheme for this cabinet!
I then got to spend the afternoon (er, a naptime) dusting, reorganizing and putting up Halloween decorations. Yeah, I'm a nerd and was excited to clean and rearrange for my new treasures...
I behaved myself this past summer and avoided buying any Pyrex I wasn't crazy about just for the sake of buying Pyrex. I passed up a lot of avocado, browns and mushrooms. I'm sure someday I'll be kicking myself for passing them up but my cupboards (and husband) are thankful for it. I did splurge for my birthday and found a few pieces I love which also stick to my attempted color scheme for this cabinet!
My mom gave me the first two: a Delphite Pyrex bowl and fun Wizard of Oz glass
Check out the mod little witch and tornado!
and some of you may recognize this as the mug from our antique outing I was ogling but it was $20!! I couldn't rationalize randomly spending that much on a Pyrex mug!
but then I remembered my birthday and I always want to spend a little more money on something unusual while still feeling like I got a good deal. I'm not sure how good of a deal it was but it is something I don't see everyday.
My mom also found a small stripe bowl to match the big one from grandma's house.
I Picked out this juicer a few months ago. The tag said it works! but I have yet to try it. The top juicer part is glass so I would probably break it.
The Bluebird casserole got my attention not only with the color but the mod shape of the caddy. Frankie found the carafe at what he referred to as "the creepiest garage sale ever." Well, I'm glad he was brave to wander this guy's house because it looks lovely in my cabinet. The peanuts were my attempt to make it easier to see the pattern...
The buffet area also got a fall makeover.
Some fall colored Pyrex and this year's Halloween Pyrex I came across at Target. I missed last years so I was happy to accidently find it this year.
The Hex Signs bowl I brought home and found it was the same size as my huuge Christmas bowl. I also discovered it originally came with the same lid and caddy which is fantastic because now I can stack away my Christmas bowl and not worry about where to store the huge lid and caddy!
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Longest Delayed Blog Post. Ever.
Seriously? I have had this post sitting here for about 2 weeks. I'll add a sentence or a photo and get distracted! OK, I'm just going to "try" to accomplish something on here today!
I escaped the house last Friday (now several Fridays ago), well, *we* escaped the house under the pretense of finding some warmer clothing for little one. My main dilemma is there are not baby clothes at estate sales for some reason? and those ads sound way more interesting to me than: "kids clothes, microwave, dining room set, 1990's Christmas decor and knick-knacks from Wal-Mart." I added that last part but any garage sale enthusiast knows what I'm talking about. I did manage to get to an estate sale and a church-ish sale.
This guy was at the estate sale and he looks nice on my kitchen counter but reminds me I need to paint my backsplash something other than white because he disappears under the shadows of my cupboards. It is by Bing and Grondahl. My mom collects the blue Christmas plates. I see her plates all of the time but I don't see/don't notice other items by them often. Especially weird looking things which fit in with my taste.
I have had a strange goal of trying to find one of these Pyrex canisters as it seems they are always faded, cracked and or way too expensive. (way too expensive being more than $3) I finally accomplished my goal as .50 seemed to be a reasonable price and it is in perfect condition. Spice of Life isn't my favorite pattern but maybe it should be as it also seems to match my counter perfectly.
Gesh, it's not like this post was long or even interesting. I'm glad I finally was able to spit it all out, get it posted and move on to my next post!
I escaped the house last Friday (now several Fridays ago), well, *we* escaped the house under the pretense of finding some warmer clothing for little one. My main dilemma is there are not baby clothes at estate sales for some reason? and those ads sound way more interesting to me than: "kids clothes, microwave, dining room set, 1990's Christmas decor and knick-knacks from Wal-Mart." I added that last part but any garage sale enthusiast knows what I'm talking about. I did manage to get to an estate sale and a church-ish sale.
The classy Staffordshire dog for my mantel was .75
And I can't stop with the reindeer so this herd followed me home.
Gesh, it's not like this post was long or even interesting. I'm glad I finally was able to spit it all out, get it posted and move on to my next post!
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