October 2008 News and Views
News & Members' Contributions from Countryside Connection Village
The response has been so wonderful since I began sharing excerpts from our members' monthly newsletters! After enjoying this month's issue, you will be able to read all of the February 2008 News and Views as well as March 2008 News and Views April 2008 News and Views May 2008 News and Views June 2008 News and Views July 2008 News and Views August 2008 News and Views and September 2008 News and Views you might have missed by accessing the individual links. I will continue to provide access to all future issues in the same way so that you will not miss any of the news from our village. To enable you to enjoy past news and members' contributions from our Countryside Connection Village please simply click on the link to the appropriate month each time you visit our site.
Please Note : As one of our members, Artist Linda Leonard Hughes from Maine advised in our February issue, you will be wise to prepare a pot of your favourite brew before beginning so that you can sit back, relax and enjoy all of the exciting news as well as the latest adventures and offerings our members have shared.
I hope you will enjoy the excerpts from our Members' Newsletter. If you have a small business in Britain or America that you would like to see featured on our site and enjoy the full benefits of membership in our unique networking community, please send me an email and I will be delighted to make contact with you and answer all of your questions. Send your request to enquiries@countrysideconnection.com ~ I look forward to hearing from you, Heléne
Dear Visitors to Countryside Connection Village,
October has arrived with Halloween, All Hallows Eve and the many associations this month has with ghosts and spirits. I must admit that it was only after sending out last month’s issue with Wendy Blair’s request for a sharing of information about how others address the issues of any resident ghosts with their guests, that I realized the perfect timing of her query.
My brother, Van, who lives in Massachusetts , handles all financial transactions for our American Members and provides so much assistance for Countryside Connection on that side of The Atlantic, that he is unofficially known as ‘Mr. Vice-President’. He anxiously awaits receipt of his copy of our monthly newsletter and never ceases to find the members’ news of great interest. This month, I am pleased to include his first contribution.
“Your solicitation for ghost stories also creates another forum for participation that I am sure will generate results. In fact, I have something to contribute. There is a restaurant in Ashland , Massachusetts which is one of the towns that abuts Hopkinton. The name of the establishment is Captain John Stone's Haunted Inn. Although they no longer function as an inn they have a great website and story about themselves that may be of interest to you (if you change the URL to ghostvillage.com alone you can access the main site).
http://www.ghostvillage.com/legends/2002/legends8_12142002.shtml - I visited the website and was fascinated by the story written by a reviewer who visited Captain John Stone’s Haunted Inn in 2002 when it was still open for business. A number of the people working there each had a different experience to share. I will include a brief excerpt from the article, but encourage all of you to go to this link and read the tales with their references not only to ghostly experiences, but to a fascinating piece of American History as well!
Excerpt from article found on the link above:
“. . .Marti took me to the basement, and I had to duck to walk around down there and repeatedly needed to dodge the many cobwebs. I saw the rocks that made up the original foundation, the old wooden beams that the building rested upon, and in the far corner was a very interesting bit of history. Several years ago, sewer pipes were being run to the basement of the building, and the workers broke through the cement wall expecting to find solid ground. Instead they found a hidden room.
The hidden room was a rest stop on the Underground Railroad--a series of safe houses, tunnels, and hiding places to smuggle slaves out of the South. The Underground Railroad's activity peaked in the period from the 1830s to the 1860s. "[The workers] found a cot, a water barrel, and some old blankets [in the room]," Northover said.
We went back to the bar room, where the bartender, Jim Terlemezian, told me about the many ghost stories he has heard--and some he experienced. . .”
My brother’s email, reminded me of a family trip we took when we were all quite young – I have another brother, Jason, who lives in California. We travelled with our parents from our home in San Diego to visit cities large and small and special sites all along the state as far north as San Francisco (a city where Jason and I both lived at separate times in our lives and a favourite of everyone in our family) One of the most fascinated stops we made was a visit to The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. I returned there many times over the years to introduce it to others. One of the main reasons my parents selected this as ‘a place of interest’ was because Sarah Winchester was born in New Haven, Connecticut, not far from the city of Bristol, Connecticut where I was born. It is important to note that because my mother was definitely not a woman who would have chosen somewhere known for its ‘mystery’ or ‘spiritual connections’and this house certainly had them in great abundance.
In my mind, I revisited the first experience I had with this extraordinary house and those that followed over the years. Wendy’s request led to a number of you, including Wendy herself, to share the most fascinating stories from your own property. As I do not have any firsthand stories to share with you, please allow me to be the one to introduce you to The Winchester Mystery House. You will find lots of additional information on http://www.prairieghosts.com/winchester.html (the source for information below) and on www.winchestermysteryhouse.com
The Winchester Mystery House
The story of the Winchester House began in September 1839 with the birth of a baby girl to Leonard and Sarah Pardee of New Haven, Connecticut. The baby’s name was also Sarah and as she reached maturity, she became the belle of the city. She was well-received at all social events, thanks to her musical skills, her fluency in various foreign languages and her sparkling charm. Her beauty was also well-known by the young men about town.
At the same time that Sarah was growing up, a young man was also maturing in another prominent New Haven family. His name was William Wirt Winchester and he was the son of Oliver Winchester, a shirt manufacturer and businessman. In 1857, he took over the assets of a firm which made the Volcanic Repeater, a rifle that used a lever mechanism to load bullets into the breech.
Obviously, this type of gun was a vast improvement over the muzzle-loading rifles of recent times, but Winchester still saw room for advance. In 1860, the company developed the Henry Rifle, which had a tubular magazine located under the barrel. Because it was easy to reload and could fire rapidly, the Henry was said to average one shot every three seconds.
Money began to pour in and Oliver Winchester soon amassed a large fortune from government contracts and private sales. He re-organized the company and changed the name to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The family prospered and on September 30, 1862, at the height of the Civil War, William Wirt Winchester and Sarah Pardee were married in an elaborate ceremony in New Haven.
Four years later, on July 15, 1866, Sarah gave birth to a daughter named Annie Pardee Winchester. Just a short time later, the first disaster struck for Sarah, as her daughter contracted an illness known as "marasmus", a children’s disease in which the body wastes away. The infant died on July 24. Sarah was so shattered by this event that she withdrew into herself and teetered on the edge of madness for some time.
Not long after Sarah returned to her family and home, another tragedy struck. William, now heir to the Winchester empire, was struck down with pulmonary tuberculosis. He died on March 7, 1881. As a result of his death, Sarah inherited over $20 million dollars, an incredible sum, especially in those days. She also received 48.9 percent of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
But her new-found wealth could do nothing to ease her pain. Sarah grieved deeply, not only for her husband, but also for her lost child. A short time later, a friend suggested that Sarah might speak to a Spiritualist medium about her loss. "Your husband is here," the medium told her and then went on to provide a description of William Winchester. "He says for me to tell you that there is a curse on your family, which took the life of he and your child. It will soon take you too. It is a curse that has resulted from the terrible weapon created by the Winchester family. Thousands of persons have died because of it and their spirits are now seeking vengeance."
Sarah was then told that she must sell her property in New Haven and head towards the setting sun. She would be guided by her husband and when she found her new home in the west, she would recognize it. "You must start a new life," said the medium, "and build a home for yourself and for the spirits who have fallen from this terrible weapon too. You can never stop building the house. If you continue building, you will live. Stop and you will die."
Shortly after the seance, Sarah sold her home in New Haven and with a vast fortune at her disposal, moved west to California. She believed that she was guided by the hand of her dead husband and she did not stop traveling until she reached the Santa Clara Valley in 1884. Here, she found a six room home under construction which belonged to a Dr. Caldwell. She entered into negotiations with him and soon convinced him to sell her the house and the 162 acres which it rested on. She tossed away any previous plans for the house and started building whatever she chose to. For the next 36 years, local workers and craftsmen built and rebuilt, altered and changed and constructed and demolished one section of the house after another. She kept 22 carpenters at work, year around, 24 hours each day. The sounds of hammers and saws sounded throughout the day and night.
As the house grew to include 26 rooms, railroad cars were switched onto a nearby line to bring building materials and imported furnishings to the house. The house was rapidly growing and expanding and while Sarah claimed to have no master plan for the structure, she met each morning with her foreman and they would go over the her hand-sketched plans for the day’s work. The plans were often chaotic but showed a real flair for building. Sometimes though, they would not work out the right way, but Sarah always had a quick solution. If this happened, they would just build another room around an existing one.
As the days, weeks and months passed, the house continued to grow. Rooms were added to rooms and then turned into entire wings, doors were joined to windows, levels turned into towers and peaks and the place eventually grew to a height of seven stories. Inside of the house, three elevators were installed as were 47 fireplaces. There were countless staircases which led nowhere; a blind chimney that stops short of the ceiling; closets that opened to blank walls; trap doors; double-back hallways; skylights that were located one above another; doors that opened to steep drops to the lawn below; and dozens of other oddities. Even all of the stair posts were installed upside-down and many of the bathrooms had glass doors on them.
It was also obvious that Sarah was intrigued by the number "13". Nearly all of the windows contained 13 panes of glass; the walls had 13 panels; the greenhouse had 13 cupolas; many of the wooden floors contained 13 sections; some of the rooms had 13 windows and every staircase but one had 13 steps. This exception is unique in its own right.... it is a winding staircase with 42 steps, which would normally be enough to take a climber up three stories. In this case, however, the steps only rise nine feet because each step is only two inches high.
While all of this seems like madness to us, it all made sense to Sarah. In this way, she could control the spirits who came to the house for evil purposes, or who were outlaws or vengeful people in their past life. These bad men, killed by Winchester rifles, could wreak havoc on Sarah’s life. The house had been designed into a maze to confuse and discourage the bad spirits. . .
Countryside Connection Village's Resident Ghosts
I think that our stories should begin with Wendy’s, as it was her question that really encouraged members to share the fascinating tales that follow. I only wish that it were possible for all of us to gather around a campfire with warm mugs of cocoa and listen to someone like member, Jackie Miller, with her wealth of Story Telling Experience, tell each story in turn. Please try to use your imagination to place you there surrounded by all of us ~ if that is not possible, and any else is as easily frightened as I am, then I would recommend that you have at least one other person join you before reading the stories. In fact, why not print them out and gather others together and take turns reading them aloud. It is the perfect time of year for this type of event.
Contributed by Wendy Blair of Rose Hill B&B in Roanoke, Virginia www.bandbrosehill.com
Whooooo is Paul?
Let me start by introducing you to Loxi, my adorable, Pooh-Bear brained Lhasa Apso. You need to understand her before you can appreciate my story. She was bred to alert the Dali Lama if someone entered the temple. Having never been introduced to him, she has decided that my abode and I will be protected in his stead. She does her job with great enthusiasm and little restraint.
When I began restoration of Rose Hill, I set up my bedroom/construction office in what is now the parlor. It had pocket doors to enclose it and it would be a mini haven from the chaos in the rest of the house. The scraping and sanding began apace. It wasn’t until we knocked out a new doorway on the second floor that anything out of the ordinary—unless you count 7 layers of wallpaper and a mad driller who put 47 holes in one wall—began.
As I lay asleep in the wee hours of the morning, heavy boot steps coming from the room over my head awakened me. I grabbed my cell phone and keys and punched in 911. Before I pushed the send button, thankfully, I looked over at Loxi, absolutely unconcerned and wondering why I had left the warm and cozy bed. This from the dog who barks when a snail comes on the porch. I still heard the footsteps, but she didn’t seem to mind. I refrained from calling the emergency number as I didn’t want to be labeled “the crazy lady who calls for the police when there is nothing there.” I went and sat at the bottom of the stairs, right by the door, in case this was just a misfire of Loxi’s synapses, or someone had slipped a drug into her doggie kibble. The sounds eventually stopped, but that was the end of sleep for me that night.
The next morning I checked upstairs and there were no footprints in the fine layer of plaster dust. Confusing. The footsteps returned several times, but only when we began construction in a new room. It was as if the ghost, curiosity satisfied, decided it wasn’t worth the effort to manifest when painting or wallpapering was all there was to inspect. I might have just given it up to a creaky house that shifted when “walls came a tumbling…” if it weren’t for his continuing, total annoyance whenever Loxi barks for an extended time. I always shut her in up in my third floor apartment or in the back yard when I am scrubbing floors, for obvious reasons. She is relentless in her barking as she tries to get my attention and be released into the main house. When the ghost has had enough, Loxi will suddenly appear where I am, tracking across the floor and perfectly satisfied with herself. The nice thing is that he closes the door after her so as not to let flies in.
When she brings me toys and I am too busy to play, she trots upstairs with them and I hear them thumping in the halls. Seems she has a buddy. But even he has his limits. Once, he set her, with her toys, in one of the claw-foot tubs that was awaiting installation. How do I know it was he? First, Loxi abhors bathtubs and anything relating to soap and water. She would never voluntarily get in one. Secondly, she has poor eyesight and consequently, she does not jump. She rarely is able to jump onto the couch without mishap, let alone into a tall antique tub.
Now, he only emerges when he feels there have been too many guests and not enough peace and quiet in the old house. The day after the departure of a particularly noisy, group of ladies-- who bought out the place for a “girls weekend”--I came into my library to find several books strewn across the floor. They had traveled too far to have merely tumbled from the shelf. I felt that this was entirely disrespectful and had a brief chat with my unseen friend about our relationship. I told him that, while I was happy to co-exist, he needed to respect my property, and never throw my beloved books. The next morning, the stuffed frogs that I use as bookends on various shelves were all tossed onto the floor. These are stuffed frogs, mind you, so I am pretty darn sure they didn’t jump. It seems he also has a sense of humor.
Why call him Paul? Out on the front porch, on the brick, someone wrote the name Paul. Various attempts have been made to remove it, but, while it may disappear for a bit, it always appears again. Seems like as good a name as any for my non-paying houseguest.
Contributed by Jackie Miller of Colliers Hill Guest House and Conference Centre, Worcestershire www.colliershill.co.uk
This ghost story was written for a story telling evening at Colliers Hill last autumn, when guests were entertained with my ghostly stories between courses for a special Halloween Event. Seasonal fare was served including my Roast Pumpkin Soup (recipe in this month’s newsletter – follows Jackie story below) which was presented in individual scooped out pumpkin skins. Future story telling events are planned for the autumn and New Year.
The Leak at Colliers Hill
Emily the seventeenth century ghost was fed up with the infernal noise. The building work had been going on for centuries and it felt like forever. All she wanted was some peace and quite to think. Actually the builders were due to finish the house extension in a matter of weeks but with Emily being a ghost, her experience of time is quite different to yours and mine.
You see ghosts move very slowly. Roughly speaking, one minute of human time is about the same as one year for a ghost. Actually ghosts don’t really care about time all that much - it’s quite irrelevant, so you see they are not in such a hurry as us humans usually are.
Emily was in a spot of bother, and it wasn’t only the building site noises, although they did add to her problem. It was worse than that. Much worse. Let me explain: Emily lived in an old house called Colliers Hill. She wasn’t born there or anything- that’s just where she was assigned. Humans and their daft beliefs, they’ve got it all wrong. Humans really do believe that ghosts haunt places that they had lived in during their human life on earth. RUBBISH!! While we’re on the subject let’s dispel another myth: Ghosts don’t show up and spook you because they are ‘angry spirits’ or ‘it wasn’t their time to die’. Absolute twoddle! They don’t even spook. You see the verb to haunt actually means “to appear in the same place over and over again”. Well just you think about it. Are you seriously telling me that you don’t haunt the bathroom? The fridge? The biscuit jar?
Anyway where were we?
Colliers Hill had a suspected leak - and no, I don’t mean gas! One of the builders had got a bit over excited with his super-charged titanium plated 700 watt hammer drill, one day, and had gone right through a wall cavity.
History was slowly leaking out of the hole.
Emily not only had to do something about this for her own survival, but for the survival of ghosts everywhere. Not to mention the fact that she would fail at her assignment. She would be in disgrace.
Emily walked the corridors, paced the kitchen floor, and visited the bathroom on a number of occasions, trying to think of a solution.
BANG went someone’s hammer.
CLANG -CLANG went a spanner as it fell through some scaffolding.
And the whine of that band saw was the final straw for poor Emily - how could anyone concentrate with this racket? She let out a howl of frustration which no one heard of course.
Or did they?
Emily turned to see a builder drop his tools with a thud and slowly remove his ear protectors. He seemed to be looking directly at her.
Now it may surprise you to learn that ghosts aren’t actually very good at manifesting themselves to the human world. Don’t get me wrong: we’ve all heard ghost stories haven’t we? But when was the last time you actually saw one - a ghost, I mean?
The truth is, ghosts don’t know how it happens. It’s a phenomenon, which no ghost can explain. A ghost would be unable to do it again if they wanted to. A ghost might well reveal himself to humans over and over again but it would be purely by accident if it did. Most of the time they are unaware that they are even doing it, and the fact is, ghost sightings are quite rare. Something to do with science I suspect. Certain gases mixing with dust particles at a specific temperature…who knows? Ghosts certainly don’t!
So naturally, Emily was surprised to see a builder starting right at her and slowly edging backwards with wide eyes and gaping mouth. It surprised her even more to discover he was following her movements around the room. It just so happened that this was the builder who had caused the leak in the wall and they were in the very room where it had happened.
Emily hesitated at first, not sure what to do. The builder was still edging backwards and was almost out of the door. She realised he would soon come to his senses and run and yell for help. Emily did not want to cause a spectacle - this would just make matters worse.
Ghosts much prefer to be discreet, to be honest. They can’t go about their business if they are being eyeballed by silly humans all the time. Imagine how you would feel? But this builder could be very useful.
“STOP” she yelled.
The builder stopped dead in his tracks
“W-W-W-W-W-Wha?” he stammered back.
Emily explained to the builder about the hole in the wall and that he must repair the damage before history is lost for ever. She had to speak quite quickly for a ghost because she did not know how long she would appear for and she needed to get this message across to the builder, before she disappeared from his view. Ghosts are used to speaking very slowly indeed. So this was very difficult for Emily, and not forgetting that the last time she had uttered any spoken word to humans was back in the seventeenth century. They spoke different back then.
She tried explaining again, this time moving closer to him. This only served to make the builder look all the more uncomprehending - and make his hair stand on end.
Emily was stuck. How was she going to get this builder to do what she needed him to do? She tried one more time to communicate with him. Speaking as carefully and clearly as she could and with all the effort she could muster, she cried:
“Collect your tooooooooooooools and mend that hooooooooole!!!”
To her absolute amazement it seemed to do the trick. The builder turned and saw the hole which Emily had pointed towards, that he had made earlier in the week with his super-charged drill. With shaky hands he grabbed a tube of something called ‘filler’ from his tool bag and smothered the hole with the toothpaste-like stuff that came out of it. He turned around to check for the ghost’s approval, but by now Emily had disappeared again.
For the rest of the day that builder walked around in a daze, not sure what to make of what he had seen. Interestingly, he decided not to make any more holes in that house.
Emily the seventeenth century ghost was relieved, to put it mildly. She had secured the history of Colliers Hill for another few centuries. She was also pleased with herself because she had solved the problem all on her own. She knew her assignment would soon be over…..she would ascend to heaven.
Well at least, that’s what she’d been told. Truth is, no-one really knows where ghosts go after their assignments are over…..
But Emily couldn’t wait to find out.
Jackie Miller's Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Note: This is the recipe Jackie mentioned above in The Leak at Colliers Hill. The soup was part of her seasonal menu served during a ghost telling evening at Colliers Hill ~ watch for news about future story telling events.
With the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness close upon us I always look forward to changing my soup recipes to reflect the time of year.
This pumpkin soup is so delicious and looks so warming and seasonal particularly when served in individual scooped out pumpkin skins.
Ingredients: Serves 6
3 - 4 lbs Pumpkin (Crown Price my personal favourite)
1 tbs. groundnut oil
1 large onion chopped
1.05 stock or vegetable or chicken stock
15 fl oz. whole milk
1oz. Butter
Freshly grated nutmeg
To serve 4oz. Gruyere cheese - 6 tsp. Crème fraiche
Method:
Cut up pumpkin into large chunks, take out seeds and skin. Place in roasting tin with groundnut oil and roast at 220 degrees C for about 20-30 minutes, until edges are crisp and browned. Much like roasting any vegetables it intensifies the flavour and adds colour and body to the finished soup. Meanwhile fry chopped onions and when softened but not browned add the roasted pumpkin stock and milk. Simmer for 20 minutes, cool and then blend in a food processor. Return to saucepan add cheese and crème fraiche, simmer gently without boiling. Serve in soup bowls or individual scooped out pumpkin skins for that special Halloween feast. And last but not least delight your family/friends with the home-made bread or rolls you have made.
Not everyone wrote to say they had ghosts or spirits present, but I believe you will find that their contributions are equally noteworthy and informative.
Contributed by Elin, Assistant Innkeeper at Inn at Manchester in Manchester, Vermont www.innatmanchester.com
Hi Heléne,
I am glad you enjoyed the muffin recipe, I will keep trying to get you another recipe with photo. I just made the plum cake recipe I sent you, and while it was delicious, it was not the most photogenic of desserts.
No ghosts here! Believe me, when I started working here that was one of the first things I asked – I would not have been here too long if that were the case.
I will see what I can do about putting together something for a newsletter.
Best,
Elin
Contributed by Dottie Musser of Bradford Place Inn and Gardens in Sonora, California www.bradfordplaceinn.com
Heléne –
Good to hear from you this morning – state-side! Bradford Place doesn’t have any ghosts. So, I don’t think I can give you any help in that category.
We have Autumn In Foothill Farmlands here in our county and a handful of other Autumn events going on. But nothing ghost related.
There is one B&B hotel near me who claims to have a resident ghost. They mention it on their home page and I think it is more of a “disclaimer” put in a nice way for the guests to be so advised – of course, those words are not used. I have had people check in to my place that were freaked out at the place I am mentioning – who were not able to sleep there and did not stay all the nights they had reserved at the other place.
Hope you are doing well.
Dottie Musser
Contributed by Cheryl Penn at Tordown B&B i n Somerset www.tordown.com
We don’t have any ghosts to report but I think because of the energies here people do experience all types of different things. One of the nicest happenings, I think was that we have crystals themed rooms with the appropriate hunk of crystals in them and a lady who stayed in there who worked with crystals met the Angel of the Rose Quartz.
love Cheryl
Coming to the end of our members’ Ghost Story Contributions, I have chosen to close with this contribution from Debbie at Meadowlark Inn (Note: Lucia sent an email first saying ‘Sorry no ghosts here’ and another quickly followed from Debbie saying ‘Yes we do, story to follow’) It feels as though we have come full circle, from Loxi, Wendy’s dog, in the first story, to the canine ghost who resides at Meadowlark as shared by Debbie in Brattleboro, Vermont. www.meadowlarkinnvt.com .
Hello Heléne~
Our apologies again we are slow in responding, had as many rooms in August this year as we usually do in October! So we hung out a closed sign for a three day respite to the NH seacoast on Labor Day after the crowd left. We are now in our 7th year and are still enjoying the rush of the foliage season but learning to step back and smell some of the roses. This weekend we had folks from Canada, Germany and the UK!
We are scurrying to get the last of the windows painted and the gardens ready for the cold season. The vegetables are still coming in despite all the rain we have had. We picked barrels of peaches at our neighbor's orchard so we have them put up in the freezer. We do have an interesting tale of a little spirit around here. We had a wise woman stay with us the second summer we had the Inn and she told us there was allot of spirit activity here but it turns out it is the four legged variety! She says she saw a little black dog ghost in our yard under the ancient White Pine. She described him in great detail and said he was happily running about. Our dog "Rhubarb" often stops in her tracks outside and seems to see something we don't. Now we think it is the canine spirit...well to make a long story more interesting we asked the people who lived in this house for the thirty years before us if they had such a dog. They did not but remembered the people before them had a dog that met this exact description...he would have lived here about 40-50 years ago now!
We hope your back has greatly improved. We so appreciate the camaraderie of the Countryside Connection, keep up the good work. All our best to you always and to Alan and Morgan too!!!! XBOX
Lucia Osiecki and Deborah Jones, Innkeepers
Meadowlark Inn
I had an interesting experience last month whilst taking a rare break from both Countryside Connection and family matters. Alan took the train south one Friday and spent a wonderful father/daughter weekend with Morgan in London. I kept a promise made to both of them ~ that I would use the time wisely, which I was told meant I was to rest, relax and curl up with a good book. I did just that, determined to put all work and family matters out of my mind (before going out of it completely, some would be quick to put in!) Alan and I went out for a short drive earlier that week and in a charity shop in a nearby village, I was thrilled to discover a copy of a book by one of my favourite authors, Rosamunde Pilcher.
As members and readers of our online excerpts are already aware, her copy of The Shell Seekers is never far from hand and was recently enjoyed again around the time of our last move. This book, Winter Solstice is one that I read years ago when it first came out and probably have a copy tucked away in one of the unpacked boxes marked BOOKS that are still awaiting the discovery of the perfect bookcases ~ we continue to search through local auction sites and are certain to find some soon . . .
I was immersed in my book when I came upon the following passage:
“Elfrida spied blackberries. ‘We should pick them,’ she told Amy. ‘We could make blackberry jelly.’
But Amy was wiser. ’No we can’t. We can’t pick blackberries after the beginning of October because that’s when the Cornish witches do wees on them.’
‘How extraordinary. How do you know that?’
‘Our teacher told us. But she didn’t say wees, she said urinated.’
Too good to pass up, it HAD to be entered in the October Newsletter I had begun writing before Alan left. I returned to my book and shall now return to providing more news about Hauntings, Spirits and other items contributed for you to enjoy:
I will close our October Haunted Stories, as I begun, with a personal tale, this one took place in Britain with our daughter Morgan.
In the mid-1990’s, Morgan was very involved as a member of the fencing team at her school in Somerset. Alan was working in California for much of the time and I would travel from our home in Hampshire on weekends to unknown parts of the country to watch Morgan whenever she was involved in a match ~ I certainly discovered new parts of the country and for a change, without having to move home to do so!
The annual major event, the British Championships, one year found Morgan, to her great surprise, selected to represent her age group. Imagine her delight when she placed 6th in the country for The Under 16 Group! The event was held in Edinburgh, a city I had longed to visit. I was working in London at the time, so took the Friday off and travelled north by train to the B&B that had been recommended to me and checked in to wait until Morgan and her team mates arrived at the hotel where they were staying. She and her mentor and best friend Jo hated the hotel and ended up staying in another room down the hall that I was fortunate to get when the B&B had a cancellation. When Morgan and Jo went off for a few hours of practice I searched for a special way for us to spend the evening ~ my search led to a very exciting a memorable evening for the three of us!
Edinburgh ‘Haunted Tour of The OldCity’ – ‘Underground Night Walking Tour’
One of many on offer: Your tour focuses on the findings of the Edinburgh Ghost Project that was part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival. So extensive was this study that it made an entry into The Guinness Book of Records. The vaults have been described by the UK's BBC News as "probably the most haunted place in Britain".
The three of us enjoyed our tour immensely ~ there were trained actors as our guides, dressed in period costume and always remaining in character no matter what transpired. They were well-informed about all aspects of Edinburgh’s history.
Of Special Note if anyone is in Edinburgh with children or squemish adults – the following tour has a great reputation.
The Secret City Tour
Compared to the City of the Dead ghost tour which is not suitable for children, the Secret City is the only kids walking tour in Edinburgh, perfect for families.
Although little publicity has been made for this walk, it promises a lot. The tour is designed by Jan-Andrew Henderson, an historian and novelist, author of many best-selling history and kids books and performed by professional children's storytellers.
Some of the highlights of the kids' Secret City Tour include stories related to Harry Potter, Greyfriars Bobby, the world's worst poet and the origin of Frankenstein.
I am proud to announce the following recognition we received in September. My appreciation to all members for making this possible!
WiRE (Women in Rural Enterprise) magazine editor Kate McKee and the staff of the organisation, selected us for two recent features.
We are featured in The WiRE Autumn Magazine 'Pick of the Crop’ Column
The 'Virtual Village' Company
There are so many perks to living and working in the country: the fresh air,
the peace and quiet, and the quality of life. However, it can feel isolated,
especially for those who work from home. Helene Leichter-Saxby has come up
with a fantastic way to banish rural loneliness by creating a virtual
village community with members from all over the world.
The website is called Countryside Connection and enables people to share in
all the best bits of village life, wherever they happen to live. Members
meet online to swap news, chat over the virtual garden fence, share great
recipes, celebrate successes and exchange business advice. And though
juggling business with home life can leave many women with little time to
meet up with friends, Countryside Connection is online 24 hours a day,
available when you are. What a great example of technology bringing people
together.
www.countrysideconnection.co.uk
Members and Visitors to WiRE’s Website will find the following article I was asked to write about Countryside Connection featured in New WiRE Business Help Articles – dated 3 September 2008
http://www.wireuk.org/news.aspx?page=1#1829
Technology – The Centre of Our Village
Pull up a comfy chair, pour a cup of your favourite tea or coffee and settle down to catch up on the latest village news. This enticing scene could take place gathered around a friend's farmhouse kitchen table; at your farmers market or sitting on your own perusing the newspaper. However, throughout the year, members of our Countryside Connection Village and visitors to our website from around the world will be found taking part in this scene in front of their computer as they read their copy of the Members' Monthly Newsletter, or ponder excerpts from the current issue in our 'News and Views' Category. Missed an issue? Not a problem, simply click on the link for past issues and discover what’s happened.
My aim was to create a Virtual Community to replace the absent village shop or post office; an international centre that would enable people to meet and exchange news and ideas both business and personal; network and form friendships. For many women in rural areas Home and Business are one and the same and leaving is a juggling act of major proportions. Technology has removed the isolation that is so often felt when one is working on her own. One member said: “It is odd how though we have never met our 'conversations' are so great and necessary.”
Stop by our village at your convenience - we are always open. Then proceed to chat over the garden fence with friends, old and new, in the next village or a country thousands of miles away; send an email, chat online, the choice is yours. You will be amazed and delighted to discover how much you have in common with those you will meet! Catch up on the latest news, exchange thoughts and ideas and see how much we enrich one another's lives. Your businesses will grow and prosper as a result.
Like village life anywhere in the world, we share the joys of births, awards and successes as well as the sadness that comes from a beloved grandmother struggling through last summer's floods and the economic concerns facing so many of us. Emails and newsletters enable us to support and encourage each other, to persevere and be reminded that we are never alone.
Feeling Hungry? Visit our wealth of members' seasonal recipes with their personalised anecdotes and histories. We don’t want you to miss any that are no longer featured so simply access our Recipes Archive.
Discover business ideas that are unfamiliar or unique to your type of business; learn new ways to 'spread the word' and let us help. As we like to say: we take you From Artist's Loom to Market Stall; we link Innkeepers with Restaurant Owners; and help Artisan Producers exhibiting and selling their products in other members' shops and Inns. The opportunities are endless and exciting; the worldwide internet opens up markets never thought possible by those who preceded us. How fortunate we are to have rural businesses in today's world of technology!
Heléne Leichter-Saxby, founder
Countryside Connection
www.countrysideconnection.co.uk and www.countrysideconnection.com
email: enquiries@countrysideconnection.com