A Little Ghost Story or two (and Sock Madness stuff)

In order to put this one into perspective, I need to tell you about my grandparents. After the war, they got a job as housekeeper and groundsman in a large house. It was a beautiful place, they had live-in accomodation on one wing and we would visit them on weekends and walk down to the beach nearby. The owners wife had died but he kept the house for many years, he was a great employer and in no way objected to kids running around his grounds, it was an idyllic place for a child! We would spend holidays there when we were younger and I have so many memories of that period spent with my grandparents.

Anyway, as he got older, the house became too much for the owner and he decided to sell. He moved to a smaller house in West Kirkby and bought a house for my grandparents a busride away. My grandmother would still keep house for him even when she herself became old and imfirm and in return they lived there rent free and with a wage. Eventually, the journey became too much for my grandmother and the owner went into a nursing home but they still continued to live rent free in the house he had furnished them with. More time passed and the owner died, his estate went to his children but they were happy for my grandparents to continue to live in the house for as long as they were able rent free.

One year whilst visiting my aunt's my grandmother's hip gave out and the resulting surgery and other complications forced a move from their beloved home to sheltered accomodation close to both my parents and my aunt and uncle who took over their care on a daily basis. My grandmother's health deteriorated over a number of years, essentially, she was riddled with cancer and it affected her brain so she became muddled and quite difficult. Around 3 years ago now, my grandmother died in hospital and thought we were sad to see her go, in one way it was a blessing as her suffering was ended and the impact she had on the lives of others lessened. It was hard for my grandfather who, having mild Alzheimers would often forget that she had gone and grieved long and hard. He is still with us and now living happily in a nursing home but the story is not about him.

Recently, my aunt was in contact with a neighbour of theirs from their time in their old house. She enquired after it, curious to learn who had taken it over and was told that although it had been rented for some time, people tended to leave quite quickly. They told her of one family who had only spent 3 weeks in the house, so disturbed were they by the presence of an old lady!

Because this tale is third-hand we have no timescale as to when this phenomenon began, remember they were in Sheltered accommodation for a number of years before her death but one thing sticks in my mind...she always considered that house as her own and in her befuddled state she always expected the house to be passed on to her and wanted one of us to eventually own it. All the time they lived in sheltered accommodation, in her mind it was not her home, only temporary and they would eventually go back there. So it would not surprise me one bit if she took umbrage at strangers in "her" house!

There is a postscript to this story, namely that the last tenants have been living there now for over a year, so either they are not sensitive to such things or perhaps my grandmother has decided that it is time to move on for I am certain in my own mind that it was she who was causing such upset. Time will tell as to whether "the old lady" resurfaces or is gone for good, the house was not a particularly old property so there was little opportunity for other ghosts to reside before they began living there.

Our house being bought in 1902 has a ghost of its own, just a little one! Before we were in a position to own a dog, there used to be a ghost of a little black dog, always curled up in a corner at the top of the stairs. Every now and then, you'd catch the shadowy shape out of the corner of your eye. It is/was in no way malicious, merely keeping an eye on the house and protecting those within it. When we got Biscuit, her bed was placed in the spot where it used to lie and it did not appear, only when they are absent and the dog beds removed does it return to watch over us. I've never investigated the history of this house though there are plenty of signs, imprints of years gone by in the plaster and suchlike. The little dog doesn't have a bed of his own as such, just a blanket or suchlike folded up as his sleeping place but he visits rarely nowadays.

Well, I've been knitting like billy-oh today, limbering up ready for Sock Madness (and finally knitting up that Christmas Sock for DH!). I've done a little swatching in preparation for the big event though my tension's not exactly accurate (I'm a loose knitter) and I've rooted out another potential yarn choice but at least by the time it comes to the starting grid I'll feel like I can give it my best, even if I'm not the fastest! I did toy with continental knitting though I found it intensely frustrating, mostly because I have serious tension issues and it seems so alien that the yarn is forever slipping off the needle with the stitch following it. Perhaps not the best time to try it out, I'll get to the bottom of it one day.

Well, this may possibly be the last post for a fortnight as I will be extremely busy this coming week and of course, you will all be sick of me going on about Skip North which begins Friday and will consume next weekend. I may get an opportunity for a quickie next week (if only to flaunt my haul!) but a nothing's set in stone, don't fret about me if I take a while to post again, I'm just off enjoying myself!