Christmas time very quiet.

Due to a senior moment I haven't gotten the pictures back as yet. Seems I forgot to include payment. In the meantime I shot two more rolls of film of general Christmas activities with the 35 MM cameras. Those two films have been sent (Yes, I remembered the payment this time). I'll be checking over those shots for artifacts as well. I took a few with the digitile as well and as I just recently recieved the ink for my printer, I haven't gotten to printing any of them as yet. As far as the house is concerned it has been unusually quiet. Nary a Marley nor a Christmas past has spooked the place. Sometimes I think the "spooks" have gotten too comfortable with us over the years. The familiar footsteps are rare now and except for the basement, the lights are "on" when they are supposed to be and "off" when they are suppose to be. The murmurring was last heard several weeks ago. The pounding hasn't been heard in months. Its so quiet its scarey. Maybe they're building up to something.

Photos with circular artifacts

Tis the season to decorate. I've been putting up the tree off and on for the past week. Decided today to decorate outside instead. Its really cold so I should've stayed inside but I didn't. After I got the outside done I thought I'd take a few shots with an old Yashica that I picked up at an auction. It seems to work but until I get a processed film back I won't know for sure. So I won't trust Christmas pictures to it. I had a film in the camera so the number of shots left was limited. I used the rest of the roll taking pictures of what I'd accomplished or messed up outside (depends on your worldview, I suppose). However I decided to take just a few with the digitile camera. That camera was upstairs in our house so I retrieved it and as I was going down the back stairs I took a shot down the stairs and again when I reached bottom, I shot back up the stairs. It was getting dark outside when I shot the outdoors decorations. The digitile seems to be a lot more light sensitive than the films I use. Anyway, when reviewing the digitile photos I quickly realized that the pictures I took of the stairs in the house BOTH have the strange artifacts and they are rather clear and easily spotted on the tiny monitor. I printed both and discovered my printer is out of all but blue ink; none the less, the artifacts show up clearly. Two in each photograph. Is there anything special about December 9th?So far these circular features have only shown up at Halloween and December 21st (shortest day) until now on December 9th. I will not know whether the film cameras show anything until the film is processed. I haven't checked the outside shots I made with the digitile in any detail as yet but, unlike the interior shots, I didn't notice anything on the monitor. Once I get a new ink cartridge I can check the outside shots better.

Somethings playing with my wall clock.

Its that time of the year when we start dragging out the Christmas tree and all the trimmings. These sundry items for the holidays generally are situated in the formal parlour. The formal parlour is where we generally greet guests. Since Halloween we've only had one guest and she is not the type to play with clocks. In the parlour we have a wind-up type wall clock (could be a shelf clock but we use it on the wall) that needs wound once a week and it keeps remarkably good time. This clock has a door on the front that we keep closed except when winding the clock. Today as I was starting to set up the Christmas tree in the middle of the floor in the parlour, I noticed the clocks door was open. I also saw that the clock was still running (penulum was swinging) and the time was way wrong. I asked my wife if she had been cleaning around the clock and she assured me she had not, "You know I know nothing about those things". Meaning she didn't try to set or wind it. Like most of todays women she prefers the electronic clocks. She likes the look of the old fashion ones but she knows little about setting or maintaining one. No one has access to that room but my wife and I unless we have visitors. So the wife has no idea how the door opened on the clock nor why it was four hours off. Even though it was a day early, I went ahead and wound it and set it and closed the door. The door, is firmly shut so it takes some force to open it .when you hear a loud "snap", it also closes with an audible "snap"So we have another mystery in this old house.

Processed film has several anomalies

The digital camera recorded nothing unusual on Oct.31st so I feared there would be nothing unusual on the film cameras as well. Film shot on Oct.30th had nothing unusual on it. I still have not sent away the film shot Nov.1st. Pictures returned for the film cameras did show the strange round transparant anomalies. They are not as obvious as they were in the past but I blame that on the film. In 08 and o9 I used 400 speed film, this year I used the more common 200 speed. A note for next year, "Use 400 or 800 speed film" if you can find any. Anyway, back to the anomalies. They all showed up in the Front Parlour this time. Last year they were evident in the Parlour, Green room, and front stairs. This year they were found only in the Parlour. The anomalies appear on four shots. Only one is large and grabs your immediate attention. The big one appears on the parlour floor. There are four on the ceiling of the parlour in one shot; there is one on the front wall between the front windows; there are two in the upper corner of a window on the eastern wall. These two anomalies are just off the wooden framework at the top side of the window, but on the wall. I have no idea what causes these anomalies, but I find it quite strange that they only appear on certain dates of the year and primarily on Halloween. These anomalies do not look like the classic "spirit lights or disks" that are shown in paranormal publications. They are round, they have a definite ring around them but they can be seen through and the otherside side is there just a tad lighter. Professional photographers tell be they have no idea how they come about and the processing company assures me the immage is in the negative so it has to be something the camera has taken. I am curious to see if anything appears on the Nov. 1st photos.

Shot photos

Even after all of the plans were laid for the Halloween photo shoot; I didn't do all that I had planned. I did take film shots on Oct.30th; I shot both film and digitile shots on the 31st and film only again on Nov.1st. The Oct 30th and 31st films have been sent away for processing but pictures taken on Nov. 1st are still in the camera. I only shot digitile on Oct. 31st and they were a big disappointment as nothing unusual resulted. For the past two Halloweens I've gotten the strange transparant disks in the photos on digitile as well as film. So I worry that if I got nothing on digitile this year will the films do the same? We'll have to wait and see. I shot in the same areas at about the same time (midnight) that I shot in before. The house has been uncommonly quiet from a few days before Halloween up to and including today. This is normally the period the house becomes active, but not so far. The past two days have been cold but the weather man is predicting a five day indian summer. We had snow flurries last night. If we have any action from the house I will post it.

Shot pictures last night

I plan to shoot pictures at around midnight on Oct 31st and Nov.1. I took a few shots last night with a regular film camera. We'll see if any artifacts show up this year. I plan to use both the digitile and film cameras tonight and tommorrow night. The pictures I shot last night were of the front stairs and front Parlour where we had artifacts show up the past two years. I have a standee of Elvira on the front stairs, she doesn't count. But she does make a good halloween decoration.

Trick or Treat

The annual Halloween trick or treat was last night, followed by a weiner roast and party at the local fire department. I had somewhere between 300 and 400 little ghosts and goblins. Not nearly as many as I expected considering the fact the local village government set our trick or treat night on a different night than the one in a much larger neighboring town. The last time that happened I had to shut off the lights and close the door when I ran out of treats at about 500.

Halloween

Last night my wife and I were sitting at the kitchen table eating a late night snack. Our little black dog was under the table at my wife's feet and our older gray dog was laying beside my chair. I was at the eastern end of our kitchen table facing west and my wife was sitting midway along the horizontal axis facing south. Suddenly a loud pop sounded from the southwesternmost corner in the kitchen followed by a long expelling of (air?). The problem is, theres nothing in that area but a broom. Nothing could be found that even had air pressure. Perhaps we will find the problem was mundane; but we're scratching our heads now.

Nothing new on film

I got back my final film and nothing unusual appeared on the pictures. Halloween is rapidly approaching. I plan to shoot photos with both type cameras on October 30, 31st and November 1 at around midnight and shortly thereafter. I also plan to make a short visit to the local cemetary , which is in sight of the house, and see if a get anything other than tombstones on the shots. Everything that goes on over there, after dark, is not necessairly paranormal, however. The village idiot finally got the historic house down. Its definitely been more than 3 days; a lot more. The only termite damage found was on two beams that were half buried in the dirt of the cellar floor. Someone got many loads of prime lumber as not even the outer siding wood showed anything but weathering. Some of the posts that supported the corners of the house were solid wood posts 23 inches thick. The house had been built with native oak and walnut. But the Idiots garage can now be seen from the street so he's happy. He still has a huge load of hand hewed granite blocks, that weigh several hundred pounds each, that made up the foundation to get rid of.

Nothing new on camera

Unless something shows up on the film camera; I got no artifacts on the digitile camera during the autumn equinox. Needless to say, film has to be sent away for processing so I have no way of knowing whether or not something could have been picked up on film. I have, in the past, picked up artifacts on both the digitile and film type cameras. But As I got nothing unusual on the digitile camera during the equinox I feel pretty certain nothing will come through on the film either. If anything does; I'll report it here. The village idiot is tearing down a historic structure here in the village. Built at the very end of the 18th century, the frame rowhouse had to be one of the oldest structures in this pre-civil war town. At first, the owner complained the structure obscured anyone seeing his wonderful ultramodern garage. When that didn't go over well with local history buffs he changed his story to "The house is dangerous because it is eaten up with termites". Hiring local Amish workers for the demolition, he was going to have the structure down and gone in 3 days. That was three weeks ago and the structure is only half demolished. The workers have had problems bringing this structure down because of its extremely tough construction (no termite damage has come to light yet). Saying its the best built and strongest structure they have ever encountered, the workmen actually marvel at its construction. Being Amish they know good construction when they see it. History, once demolished cannot be brought back. This is the second historic structure the village idiot has destroyed. Soon everyone will be able to see the village idiots eyesore garage so at lest, he, I suppose, will be happy. This village is unique in that most of the main part of town was built prior to the Civil War. That uniqueness is slowly being whittled away by uncaring, ignorant, individuals who are distroying it.

Autumn Equinox photos shot

I tried taking photos as the Autumn Equinox came in (a little after 11:00 am, September 23). I used the digitile camera and no artifacts appeared on the pictures. I will make a new attempt around midnight using both digitile and film cameras. Otherwise the house has been unusually quiet. This is the begining of the seasons when the house typically acts up. I guess time will tell. Halloween is coming.

Film from camera back

Whatever the smokey artifact was that showed up in three of my digitile camera shots did not come through on the camera using regular 35mm film of 200 speed. I still do not know what caused the anomaly. The film shots were abnormally dark. My wife has made a joke of the many pictures that I have shot of those stairs since one shot showed what might be a "ghost-like" head of a woman (A lot of debate on whether its a face or not). Because of these many shots I have a really good expectation of what a picture of those stairs should look like. These pictures are much darker than they should have been; however, I realize there could be several possible explainations. I would think that my next most logical date for trying to photograph something unusual will be Sept. 21st. tomorrow., the autumn equinox. But the next best date is Halloween which is fast coming.

Really strange photo

Last Monday I attended an auction where I bought a stand-up, life sized, Elvira. Remember her? She was hostess on a TV series that specialized in horror and weird shows. I brought her home and cleaned the dust off. Then I removed the, now useless, badly torn, cardboard back and replaced it with a stiff sheet of foamboard so the old gal would stand up straight. While I was finishing it up I got the bright idea that it would make a good gag picture if I stood it at the head of our front stairs to the second floor. So I took the figure and positioned it in the turn in the stairs near the top. I then went to the bottom of the stairs and using my digitale camera I snapped a picture. I could tell by the monitor that the picture looked weird, even apart from Elvira. Well, I noticed the battery warning light was on so I went where we keep fresh batteries and put new ones into the camera. Then I went back to the foot of the stairs and shot another picture up the steps at Elvira. Again, when I checked the camera monitor I saw the same smokey abboration that was in the first one. Thinking my camera must be going bad, I stepped into the Livingroom and shot a picture of the fireplace, then one of my little black schnauzer and another of our grey Schnauzer. All of those three shots were clear as a bell; much to my relief. So ,"I again went to the foot of the stairs and shot a third time up the steps. The anomalie was still there, not as pronounced as before; but still there. So I got my film camera and shot a couple pictures to see if it shows up on film. It will be awhile before I can get the film processed. Then roughly half an hour later I tried again to shoot up the front stairs. This time the shot was clear. But this isn't the end of it. My wife was on Auction Zip.com looking up local auctions when she came to an ad by an auctioneer we know quite well. My wife got excited and startted montioning me out of my comfortable chair in the den to come over and see something she had brought up in that ad on line. Reluctantly I got up and went to see what was so interesting. In the pictures this fellow had on line was an old antique foot pedal organ. The picture showed the same anomalie that my stairs shot had. All of his other pictures were bright and clear. In checking with the auctioneer I was informed that he couldn't get a clear picture of that d**n organ. He'd have thought his camera was at fault but all of his other pictures both before and after were just fine. So he put the bum picture of the organ on site becauase you could see what it was in spite of the "smoke". So I guess it wasn't Elvira that caused this anomalie. My stairs pictures are simply faded out by what looks like swirls of smoke. Really weird. Anybody out there have any kind of explaination?

Mystery of the overhead light

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while will remember that my wife and I moved into this house back in 1979 we had a terrible time keeping a mirror in the downstairs bathroom wall over the sink. That mirror would wind up on the bathroom floor (once it was found in the hallway outside the bathroom). It was never broken, though you would have thought going over the porcelian sink would have damaged it). We finally gave up because no matter how securely you put that mirror up; down it came. So I placed a full length mirror on the door for my wife. Several years later I came into an unexpected small inheritance and my wife and I decided to replace the old bathroom. It had been added to the house as this house was built in 1857 when such plumbing was outside. It wasn't hard to remove and we replaced it with a nice modern structure. My wife insisted on a fairly fancy medicine cabinet with mirror and, frankly, I was apprehensive about putting it up over the new sink. But it stayed in place and has now for several years. But that is not now the problem. This new bathroom has lights on either side of the medicine cabinet and an overhead light. Actually, if I had known then what I know now, the overhead light would have been excluded. The side lights would have been quite adaquate. An electrician who wired the bathroom first installed the overhead light. Everything was great for the first few weeks. Then I noticed the overhead light was askew. I took off the globe and inspected it. I found several loose screws and remarking to my wife I was surprised the electrician was so sloppy in his work on the light. I tightened the screws and everything was fine for a week or so and then that light was again askew. This went on for several months. I got tired of continually reattaching the overhead light and I started really ramming those screws home. Didn't help, within weeks the light was askew. I just let the blamed thing go and it slowly went further and further askew until it was hanging by its attachment wires. So today, I hauled out the short ladder and discovered the long screws that secure the base of the light to the crossbar that is securely screwed into the ceiling joist were totally unscrewed and lying in the insulation in the lights base. How could screws that long completely unscrew and be lying in the insulation? I put the light back up. I screwed those bolts so tight I bent the bar. But I really expect to see it dangling off the ceiling in a week or two. Any contractors out there tell me how two long bolts can come totally unscrewed all by themselves? My wife says that whatever was playing games with the mirror is now playing games with the overhead light. Maybe she's right.

Dogs again

This afternoon as I was coming down the rear stairs, I distinctly heard the pad of paws. I turned and looked back, expecting to see one or both my dogs. There was nothing on the stairs but me. This has happened before; but it never fails to get my attention. It sounds so real. A friend suggested "rats", heaven forbid. but I doubt that. It would take a whale of a rat to make that much noise coming down the stairs; besides if it wasn't on the stairs making that sort of sound; where would it be? We haven't had a lot of footsteps this year but the animal steps seem to be making up for it. By the way, both of my dogs were asleep in front of a fan we have on the floor of the kitchen.

Bookcase sneezes

Last post I said I didn't expect any activity until Autumn. I guess I was a bit premature. Last Thursday my wife and the older dog were in the library, my wife using the computer and the dog snoozen beside her chair. I was directly across from my wife in the Den working on a drawing with the younger dog sitting with her nose almost touching the TV screen in the far side of the room. The TV was turned low as the dog follows the action not the sound anyway. The younger dog is a TV freak whereas the elder male could not possibly care any less. Anyway, it was relatively quiet when the southern wall bookcase sneezed. It wasn't my wife, it wasn't the sleeping dog it certainly wasn't me or the other dog. "The book shelves sneezed", my wife said, "Did you hear that?" " The bookshelves?" I replied, I figured it was her. "I didn't sneeze" she protested. Hurriedly I jammed on a pair of shoes and quickly left by the western side door of the house, ran around back and checked out the area where those bookshelves front the exterior wall. Nothing, nobody anywhere to be seen. Had someone sneezed outside the house I doubt we would have heard them anyway unless a window was open and we haven't been able to open a window into the Library in years. I came back in reporting nothing to report. "What area of the bookcase did the sneeze emminate from?" I inquired? Pointing at the second glass door from the west or directly south of where she sat, "There". We've been through this before. Several years ago, while being visited by a friend we all heard the bookcase cough. This was during winter and we had a good coating of snow on the ground. The friend remarked, "I think we have some snoops". He wanted to go out and try to track them down; he thought he knew who they probably were. So we left, this time by the eastern rear door which opens directly out behind the eastern wing of the house where the Library is located. There was not a trace of footprints in that virgin snow, not even animal tracks. This time there was no snow. I drilled behind the bookcase shortly after the first episode to see if I hit any hollow areas; I didn't. We do not know who or what coughed then and we certainly do not know who or what sneezed this time. One interested party suggested that perhaps we have or had an animal in the walls that caused the sneeze. For those of you who are not familiar with this house, it is brick and it would seem an opening large enough to admit a raccoon would be easily spotted. I won't say it couldn't have been an animal; possibly that is the answer. But how?This house, built in 1857, has solid brick walls several bricks thick. The early builders plastered (what they used for plaster back then was pretty close to concrete by todays standards) right over the brick, The floors are local hardwood and we have found that the use of wood studs in this house, originally, was pretty sparse except for the floors and the dumwaiter shaft. The roof has huge walnut rafters as well, but not much wood in the walls except for rooms that were added. If there are hidden areas in the house that I haven't found they must really be well concealed. We have 5 hidden (rooms)actually not big enough to be rooms but great places to conceal loot. Two of them are filled with insulation (Blown in insulation filled these speces before we were able to determine where in heck all of that insulation was going) There is one innerwall tunnel that leads from a crawlspace under the stairs all the way up to the attic but the exit in the attic was closed off and plastered over, from the looks of it, very early in the houses history. So I suppose anything is possible.Old houses can be a lot of fun....if you're not easily scared.

Took photos midnight June 20th Longest day

Using three different cameras; one digitile and two loaded with film, I took a series of pictures primarily in areas where "disks" and lights have appeared in the past. I haven't sent the films away as yet, as they are not fully used. I ran a visual on screen check of the photos on the digitile and did not detect anything much. On one photo, taken outside, I have a few blots and I probably should print it but I'm fairly certain they will turn out to be insects.If anything unexplained does show up on any of the pictures I will report it here. Otherwise the house is still very quiet. Nothing unusual to report. I don't really expect any activity until autumn.

Third film

The third film came back some time ago. I just hadn't reported on it. Primarily because there was nothing to report. The pictures were clear, well defined, boring. I took pictures of different rooms in the house including the "Noahroom" which we had just replastered and repainted. No pictures show the strange disk shapes that appear on pictures taken on Halloween nights or the one occassion when they appeared on photos taken on the shortest day of the year. I recently sent away another film. My cameras are loaded and ready for the night of June 21st (longest day); I plan on using both film and digitile for that one. If nothing appears on those, well, it won't be too awful long til Halloween again. Still no one has any explaination for these strange round clear disks that appear only on special nights, but not in all photos. Dust reflection has been ruled out. Any ghost hunters out there have any idea what we are getting here? Or anyone else, for that matter?

Still experimenting

I recently went to an auction. One of the items that came up was a boxful of cannisters of color print film with a speed of 200. The film was dated 2004, there was 14 of them. I suppose because it was so far out of date no one bid on it. I took a chance and got it all for $1.00. Being a semi professional photographer in my younger years, I realized that film stays good unless subjected to temperartures above 90 degrees for extended periods of time. I also know that film that is refrigerated will last almost indefinitely. So film in a climate controlled store would be good a long time past expiration. I immediately took one of the rolls and placed it in a camera and shot the whole roll at everything in sight. I shot the whole roll and got it ready to mail to be developed. The roll came back perfect. The pictures were mundane to the point of boring but the quality was quite good. There were no unusual globes or disks or funny light points. With film this cheap I figured now would be a good time to shoot areas where the strange disks had shown up before. My second roll of cheap film came back photographically perfect and I had some good dog pictures and some out of doors blossoms that were quite attractive. But there were NO disks, globes of light or anything else strange. I just sent away film three, it hasn't returned yet. If Beltane hasn't passed yet; I want to try some photos of the interior of the house during that period. I gotta look it up.But so far, I've only had disks show up in photographs taken on Halloween and on the shortest day of the year and they showed up on both film and digitile images. I read a report on one of those paranormal sites that felt they had proved that these "globe" artifacts were actually dust particles or some such. They had used an old stereo camera and shot around an old house said to be haunted. They got globes but the globes only showed up one or the other of the stereo photos. Never on both at the same time so they felt they had proved their case. I feel otherwise because if the globes were caused by dirt why wouldn't the same dusty mote be picked up by both lenses? There is only one flash, not two. Besides their examples are white globes. I have taken pictures in areas of dust and got these globes as well. I know they are dust flashbacks. But the anomaly I have been picking up in this house only on special nights is not a white globe but rather a perfectly circular clear ring. My processing company cannot explain it and a local professional photographer said he had never seen anything like it. So until I get a logical answer I'll continue to try getting them and record the dates they show up.

House quiet

The house has been unusually quiet for sometime. Nothing unusual occurred in April at all. If things go as usual, it'll probably be October or November before the house becomes active again. But then again, I've been wrong before and there is no rhyme nor reason to the strange activities in this place. Normally the most active period is from late October up to March or April. Other than replacing half the house roof, I have no major activities planned for the house. Inside renovations have, in the past, caused an increase to the strange. Beyond painting the Noahroom which is almost finished, none others are planned inside. I won't report if theres nothing to report.

Ghostly dog again

Yesterday I worked at the computer which is in the Library. The Library can be entered by two different doors. One of the doors is almost beside the computer table and leads from the dining room the other doorway is directly to my right as I sit at the computer and leads into the Den. I was reading mail on my computer and scratching the ears of my grey schnauzer when I saw the movement of a grey schnauzer from the Diningroom through the Library and into the Den. It didn't register with me at that time that anything was amiss and my older grey schnauzer was enjoying getting his ears rubbed and did not react to the presence of the "other" dog. Moments later I caught the movement of a grey dog going from the Den to the Diningroom and that was when it hit me that I have only one grey dog and I was scratching his ears. Our other schnauzer is a younger coal black dog, easily noticeably different from her older grey companion. I have had several episodes of dogs appearing where they couldn't. But my real dogs do not seem to pay any attention to them. I saw this dog trot from the diningroom to the den and later come out of the den and go to the diningroom. I was not looking directly at him, I have excellent periphial vision, but this was a bit better than "out of the corner of my eye". This is the type of thing that I seek an explaination for. The first thing that goes through your head is "ghost"; but I'm far from sold on the idea of wandering spirits either human or animal.

Been off line

In January my computer got a serious "worm". Even though I had virius protection I was told the "worm" rode in on a trojan. The service caught the trojan but not the worm. Took a while to clear the computer completely then when I got back on line this blog was nowhere to be found. Last week it reappeared, like a ghost, from nowhere. There have been a couple minor incidents during the time I couldn't find the blog. But I have another source where I was storing them until I got the blog back. It'll take me a few days to reread what I wrote during those three months and then I will attempt to bring the blog back up to date. In fact, I had a bit of a startling occrance just today, involving a dog that wasn't there. More later.

Disks appear in photos taken December 21st

I got my 35mm Christmas photos back from the processor today. The strange disk anomalies that have heretofore only shown up on Halloween night shots have again shown up on photos taken on December 21st, the shortest day, the beginning of winter. The front stairs where such disks have appeared the most is again where they appeared this time. Two of these perfectly round, transparent, disks were at the head of my front stairs in one shot and the other shows one at the step level at the head of the stairs and the other was almost on the ceiling at the foot of the stairs. A thid picture taken of one of my dogs shows a small disk on the floor about a foot to the side of my dog. So far these disks have shown up on both digital and film type cameras and only on Halloween night and now the shortest day of the year. Interesting don't you think?