My Ghost Story

Boo!

Halloween is approaching and at this time of year, there are many stories of ghostly encounters so I have decided to relate my own. What? Doesn't everyone have a ghost story? :)

Many moons ago as a teen and Girl Guide, another Guide and I spend a week as helpers at a children's camp. The location of this camp was at the historical soldiers' barracks built in 1790 and located on the seashore. It is a huge location and beautifully landscaped. The children and supervisors were assigned to a large dormitory and my friend and I had our own room with two single beds. It was on the same level as the dormitory and there were many empty spaces on that level. Our front door opened to a verandah along which we walked to the dormitory and the stairs to the outside. The back door opened on to a corridor and we had to cross that corridor to get to the bathroom. At one end of the corridor,  there was a big room; I don't remember what was in this room, if anything.

We settled in. During the day we had our meals and activities with the children. At night we talked into the night. One day, we started noticing the toilet would flush and we knew for sure no one was in the bathroom because it was just the two of us assigned to use it. Also, because we were two young ladies, no one was allowed to come and go on that floor and the children and their helpers had their own facilities. We kind of ignored it the first few times and then one day we asked someone why the toilet would flush on its own and we were told maybe it was because of the tides; remember this facility backs on to a beach. We swallowed that and I'm sure you would too.

The piece de resistance occurred one night when we heard what sounded like someone, wearing slippers, walking along the hallway towards our room. You know that slapping sound slippers make against the floor. We sat bolt upright, looked at each other to make sure we were hearing the same sound, hightailed it out of the room to the dormitory and pounded on the door to be let in. We told our story and spent the night in bunk beds.

For the remaining time, we would use our room and the bathroom during the day but come night time, you couldn't pay us to be in that space; we spent our nights in the dormitory.  I always wondered if, with the centuries old history and the number of soldiers who were stationed there, some of them going off to war never to return, there were wandering souls still haunting their old barracks or if those stationed there decided to have some fun with impressionable teens. I know which version I prefer.


Will keep you posted.

End Of October Already?

I can't believe my last post was in June; where did the time go? Here we are in October, exactly two months away from Christmas. Time really seems to be flying at warped speed the older I get.

Barbados Grand Kadooment 2013

Anyway, it was quite the summer with a trip to Barbados. It was an enjoyable time; two of my daughters took part in the Grand Kadooment parade in a costumed band. I, on the other hand, having no costume or wishing to have one, decided to "jump" with the band that requires none and brings up the rear. It was so much fun and the next few days, my calves attested to dancing for a number of hours along the parade route.

The garden survived my absence with the help of my daughter who was house/cat sitting and a neighbour. The veggies I planted in pots did well but if I do this again, I will need a sandier soil as some of the carrots were bent every which way; still delicious and 100% pesticide free. Beets and hot peppers were fine but I won't buy a mature bell pepper plant again; it was not the best return on investment but that could be due to inconsistent watering (someone confessed:). I did notice it was a thirsty plant. The biggest producer was the cherry tomato; up to last week it was full of tomatoes. Picked some and lost more because of the cold weather setting in and the garden needing to be cleaned up. If only we had a few more warm weeks. I will plant this type of tomato next year. In all, I harvested enough from all the plants to share with neighbours. The garden has been prepared, cushions and décor put away and chairs stacked for the winter.

Another year almost over. Have we done what we promised to do? Remember those New Year Resolutions? I have not accomplished all I set out to do but I continue laying the path. I had some detours and I major, unexpected but lovely right turn which I am over the moon about. It's not too late to review promises made to ourselves. What I have learnt is life is not always a straight path, there will be bends, detours, U-turns and sometimes a particular path is a dead end and I have to regroup. I'm trying to ensure I don't stop and become disillusioned but learn from the hiccups and move on. At times this is easier said than done but what is the alternative?

Will keep you posted.