So Halloween is now over...

...and the few decorations I had out...

...are now packed away until next year.

Baby has made herself quite at home in the living room bay window (which, by the way, used to be Spotty's favorite hangout. There are quite a few similarities between the two of them which will, I'm sure, be the topic of a future blogpost.)

Once again, I seem to have captured an orb in a photo, right next to all our fur babies' urns in the bay window. I capture orbs on a pretty regular basis, and they always seem to have an 'energy' to them (as opposed to being just a round speck of dust... you can click the photo to enlarge it)... So today, the house is back to normal, but this is what it looked like on Halloween night when the trick-or-treaters arrived...

Lamp Bandit took center stage in the bay window and greeted everyone (I washed the windows that afternoon. They were SO dirty I didn't think anyone would even see Lamp Bandit if I didn't!).

Baby was not thrilled at having to share the window with Lamp Bandit...

...and she made that perfectly clear by sporting her "ears back, ticked off" look every time I tried to take her photo. I promised her the lamp would be moved back over to the side of the window as soon as trick-or-treating was over...

..and that seemed to put her in a better mood.

Not to be outdone by Lamp Bandit, Ms. Floor Lamp Floozy wanted equal time.

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween :)

Donna

The haunted carpenter's bench...

... has been moved back out to the deck. Not because it was haunted, (see this post)...


... but because it really belongs outside.


It's quite happy to be back among the clay pots and summer blooms...


I love old wood, and clearly this old bench has weathered many a storm and many summers of blazing sunshine... But now it's like an old work horse who has been put out to pature to enjoy its remaining years. No longer is it being used for heavy work. Its purpose now is to provide the perfect spot for flowers to bloom and garden tools to be stored...

All my little garden essentials fit nicely into this old crate on the bottom shelf....

... which is then covered by yet another old crate. Hidden away, but oh-so-handy when I need them.

Dad wanted me to say THANK YOU to all of you who left him such lovely comments!! I took this photo of him this morning as we were heading out to run errands before the thunderstorms moved in. He is holding onto a branch that he named "Harvey." We only have a one-step front stoop, so there are no railings. Dad always grabs this branch for support when stepping down onto the pathway. So this weekend when we trimmed back the shrubs a bit, we made sure to leave "Harvey" intact. When not in use, Harvey just gets tucked into the shrub. Dad was very glad to see that his friend survived the hedge trimmer!

Note: It's now several hours later and the storms are moving in! Wishing you a wonderful day filled with sunshine or rain, whatever your heart desires!

Donna

Do you believe in ghosts?

Many people believe that The Colonial Inn, located in historic Concord, Massachusetts, has visitors (not of this world) staying at the Inn and in some of its other buildings...


This beautiful old Inn is located in the heart of Concord Center.


...so when Amanda and I headed to Concord last Friday we knew the Inn would be one of our stops.


The Colonial Inn has been the subject of many articles and TV specials on ghosts (I'll provide links at the bottom of this post so you can read more if you'd like)...


You don't have to be a guest of the Inn to enjoy their lovely restaurant. While Amanda and I were visiting lunch was being served and - oh my gosh - the aromas!! We really wanted to stop and have a bite because it smelled soooooooo good! But we had a lot of ground (all over Concord) to cover in very little time so we passed, promising ourselves we'd head back to the Inn restaurant in the very near future.


I love this door knocker on the restaurant door...


All of the doors leading into the Inn are painted bright red.... they're all so striking that I photographed all of them!


A close-up of the etched glass panes...


As luck would have it Room 24, where most of the ghostly activity takes place, was empty. One of the desk clerks was kind enough to bring us upstairs. This is one of the hallways that leads to Room 24. (Ever since The Shining, long hallways in old hotels give me the shivers!!)


Unfortunately, I forgot to change my camera setting once we were inside so all of my photos were taken on the Landscape setting - therefore out of focus and the tint is off... But here is Amanda at the door leading to Room 24.


The room itself is so bright and cheery...


...and on the day we visited, nothing was out of order... The room was very quiet and peaceful. We didn't even capture a single orb (more than I can say about my own house lately, as I showed you in last week's posts!!)

So... would I stay in this room overnight? I dare say I would!! How would I react if anything out of the ordinary actually happened? Now that I don't know!!

You can click on any of these links if you'd like to know a bit more about the Inn:

1) SunCast You Tube Video: A ghost in the Inn (it's the first segment of a short show)

2) Colonial Inn website - Haunted Inn page (scroll all the way down to watch Cambell Brown of the TODAY show's segment on Room 24)

2) Forbes: Transcendental Comfort

3) Boston Globe article: Historic Inn Scares Up a Ghost Story

4) Ghostvillage Radio: Episode 61: The Colonial Inn

5) Spirit Encounters Research Team (SERT)

6) LA Times: Where Redcoats and Walden Pond Meet

7) NY Times: Journeys; 36 Hours - Concord, Mass.

Happy Halloween, everyone!!!!!

Donna