Musings on More Manifestations

Living in an old house you expect to hear your share of creaks and feel a draft here or there.  You don/t expect to walk into a room and it's so cold in just that room you see your breath.  You don't expect to be waken up from a dead sleep because of slamming doors.  You also don't expect to have the dogs stare up at a specific spot on the ceiling in the living room and growl.  It's just not normal.

Now, while things have settled down IMMENSELY in our house since July and then again in October, it's far from "quiet" every day.   The mild stuff is footsteps up and down the stairs or the 2^nd shutter from the end on the row of shutters over our front door being opened up every day.  That is unsettling but doesn’t bother us in the scheme of things.  We’ve become used to those things.  We feel those minor occurences can be contributed to “the ladies of the house”.  Our LL claims he’s seen them; even been cared for by them, while growing up in this house.  He told us they would make sure he was not lonely, growing up as an only child, and they would see to his needs at night when he was scared and his parents ignored him.  We have felt the presence of these ladies here.  They have pulled the blankets up on chilly nights and have turned off the stove when we’ve stepped out of the kitchen to answer the door, preventing dinner from burning.  In fact, we are quite comfortable in the house.  These things don’t bother us at all.
There are other things that unsettle us…..and they have been on the increase of late.  Monday of last week, it felt like the kitchen was rebelling.  Pots and pans tumbled out of the cabinet and jumped off the counter.  I put them back and they jumped right back onto the floor (I kinda felt like I was in one of the paranormal activity movies).  The third time, Little Bit and I decided to let the kitchen rebel and we high tailed it out of the house.
The scent of cigarettes bothers us too.  I’m confident the ladies of our house were not smokers.  But, late at night, when we are sleeping, the smell of cigarette smoke is so strong, it wakes us up.  Yellow dog usually growls right before my nostrils pick up the scent.  Yellow dog doesn’t move.  He just growls. 
Then, there is Maggie Mae.  Mags is a young pup and seems to be a bit of a spaz.  However, she also seems to react to strange things.  Like the day I saw a shadow crawl across the living room and she chased after it, even once I couldn’t see it anymore.  She also fights with unseen things on our stairs.  She will get up and pad across the room, leaving Little Bit’s side, and then bolt to the stairs where she promptly attacks things we can’t see.  I’d chalk it up to some kind of mental issue except that Yellow Dog will sometimes go help her.  They also try to dig up the stairs.  They both with get up and with low growls will start digging on the landing.  YD will also slink up the stairs and growl.  Then, he will back down the stairs.
This bothers me.
Then, Thursday night, just as Mr. P crawled into bed, there was a loud slam from downstairs.  I’m sure it was the door into the new master suite; it shook the whole house.  Everyone jumped and YD began that low growling.  Mr. P investigated and came up with no answer.  The door was slightly cracked, not closed tightly.  The entire downstairs was secure, no open or unlocked doors.  Nothing was out of place or broken.  It was basically a phantom crash…….no explanation.  We did not sleep well that night.
The cold spots in the house bother me.  Our ladies don’t seem to have the same kind.  When they cover us up, there’s no noticeable chill or draft.  There certainly is not a bone chilling coldness accompanied by a breeze.  I woke up to see the curtains in our current bedroom fluttering.  The heating register is across the room and the ceiling fan does not make them move like that.  Yellow Dog was sitting up, staring at the curtains; he’d positioned himself between the curtains and me, hackles raised and his teeth bared….but no sound.  I was terrified and watched as the curtains moved from a flutter to more like a sheet flapping in the wind.  It was freezing in our room.  Then, as quickly as it started, the curtains went still and the room warmed back up.  YD relaxed and laid back down next to me.  But, I couldn’t fall back asleep. 
Presently, the house is still and comfortable.  Nothing moving around.  No bumps in the night.  The dogs have not been out of sorts and I slept like a baby last night.  But, the house has bothered Little Bit enough that she does not want us to move downstairs.  She’s afraid of the noises and things moving around. 
Good thing the master suite has a guest room off of it.  Anyone want to sublease the 2^nd floor of our house?