I am beginning to be forced to conclude that we may have a poltergeist in the compact but adorable city apartment.
A few months ago, there was a series of unexplained crashes and bumps in the house - some of them in the room which we were in at the time, and another from the empty bathroom.
I think of myself as being fairly good at analysing what makes a sound - I sit for a minute or so, replaying the sound in my head and imagining what moving object made it and against what surface.
Each of the unexplained noises had different qualities, but none of them related to any specific or obvious thing in the area it occurred. I would go into the bathroom expecting to find something like a wash-bag lying on the lino floor having fallen from a shelf, but everything seemed undisturbed.
The most worrying of these sounds was something very like an electrical explosion - a sort of muffled pop of the sort made when something can no longer tolerate a 240 volt current and bursts into flames.
After this noise, I went all over the house checking the electrics and using my nose to try to detect burning smells from under the floorboards. Once again, nothing.
The shop downstairs has been complaining of the smell of a dead animal in their basement area for months now, but up until yesterday I could not smell a thing. They have had builders in to inspect the cavities in ceilings and floors and they have checked the drains, also finding nothing amiss. I think it is a dead rat - most builders are useless.
A few weeks ago, H.I. made her usual nightly routine of changing into her pyjamas in front of a heater, placing her underclothes on a chair and taking them into the living room to put on the sofa. The next morning the bra had gone. We both searched anywhere it could have been and some places it could not have been, but it has never turned up.
Before we went to Venice, I looked for my good black belt. I have three belts - one good brown, one good black and one crap black. My good black one was nowhere to be found, even though I had only wore it a day or so before. It still has not turned up.
Why couldn't have taken the crap one?
One of you is sleep walking.
ReplyDeleteAnd eating articles of clothing whilst doing so.
DeleteNo. Try looking in drawers or cupboards underneath things where you don't normally go to very frequently.
DeleteAre you serious? If so then let me assure you that has already been done.
DeleteOtherwise why would I do this post?
DeleteI speak from some experience of this. I didn't mean to upset you.
DeleteI wasn't sure whether you had actually considered a sleepwalker.
DeleteYou didn't upset me. Neither of us sleepwalk, unless we do it together.
DeleteThis reminds me of row of houses in Bradford (I think) where some adventurous Indian families had knocked through the walls to the lofts all along the terrace. When they eventually discovered where the odd noises were coming from, there were dozens of them living up there clandestinely. Maybe you have Indians?
ReplyDeleteI might have known it was immigrants - again.
DeleteHow good are your locks? That's quite disturbing about not being able to find articles of clothing after just having used them. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteAs good as the keys.
DeleteSomething is building a large nest.
ReplyDeleteThat's my job - under the kitchen table.
DeleteThat's right; I forgot. What in the world do you want with H.I.'s undies and your old belt?
DeleteI only want my new belt to keep my trousers up. What else would I do with it?
DeleteAnd a bra and belt don't make for comfy basket liners. I can't fathom how a spirit can make solid objects dematerialise so I think Cro is right, definitely sounds like Indians.
DeleteTell that to Gardener Fisher - but I would leave out illegal immigrants if I were you. We don't know what we are dealing with any more than Cro does as far as he is concerned.
DeleteGardener Fisher? Who might he be?
DeleteLook below.
DeleteBlind as a bat
DeleteI quite often skip other people's comments. Especially if there are loads.
DeleteI think you’ve taken a liking to wearing women’s bras !!! A poltergeist indeed !!!! 👻 XXXX
ReplyDeleteI may need one but I don't want one.
DeleteSuddenly, everyone's turned into Sherlock Holmes.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is what or who ever it is you can keep it down there in Bath. Just make it quite clear that it becomes very bleak up here in winter and your flat is much cosier.
ReplyDeleteIt's only just moved in, so I'm not going for an exorcism just yet, just a stern warning.
DeleteProbably a rat building a nest
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't I think of that? Because there have been no rodents up here for over 200 years, that's why, Sherlock.
DeleteMmmmmm.....how unusual......but why does H.I put her undies on the sofa (or couch as I call it)?
ReplyDeleteWhere would you like her to put them? Where do you put yours? Should she follow your example?
DeleteKeep us updated on your visitor. I know you've had previous experiences with these sorts of things.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is a perfectly rational explanation for it - such as the onset of old age...
DeleteI also wondered why H.I would put her bra in the living room. Mine stays in the bedroom where I get dressed and undressed! If it was in the bedroom she could have " kept an eye on it" through the night !!
ReplyDeleteWell I don't want to talk about her dressing room preferences too much other than to say that she likes to get out of all the designer gear quite early and lounge around in comfort.
DeleteOur couch swallows things. In spite of me knowing this, I persist in leaving things near its various apertures. Then I go looking for one of the remotes, its favourite food, and find all the things it swallowed. I feel it is like the navel of the house, somehow all the fluff works its way into it.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine looked under his couch yesterday and found sandwiches hidden by his sons - 15 years ago. He found a school report addressed to him under the carpet.
Delete