A Stormy Week

It's another hump day, and we've had thunderstorms all week. I've been trying to observe the house more carefully since we've started this project.  There have been more and louder clicks and knocks during storms. The dogs have been whining and restless for hours at a time. The cat's have been on edge and easily spooked (no pun intended).  The animals seem to stare at nothing there. The cats stare, look frightened, and run and hide. It seems like odd behavior to me, but I've never really noticed before.  Maybe it's the storms themselves that put everyone on edge… then again, maybe not.  I can only guess.

We've decided to put a camera in the main part of the house. Remembering what hassles we went through with the other camera and set up, I dread the process. Though, I think it's necessary to have a camera in the main part of the house. I'm sure it will be interesting to our watchers. It may lead to more knowledge and discovery about the house. I think that in itself is worth the trouble. We will have the camera available from 11 PM to 5:30 AM. We will not have the sound on in the main part of the house unless the sounds from the televisions in the bedrooms do not interrupt broadcasts.  I want to enjoy late-night television. It's the only time of day not interrupted by human activity, telephone calls, visitors, and the usual chaos.

Late night, is my favorite time of day.  It is my time to sit in my lounge chair, have a snack, and tune in to a movie or watch what I've recorded on our DVR.  Late-night, in this house, is the only time when nothing or no one interrupts my movie time except knocking and tapping, doors opening and closing by themselves, footsteps, and flying balls of light. I've learned to ignore all that.  Ghosts are far less annoying than a cell phone!  Sometimes I use the late-night hours to create art, make a piece of jewelry, read my Nook, or write my memoir.

See you on the cam. Come and chat with me. Leave me a comment in my blog or on Ustream. You can also follow the adventures of the Haunted Artist on twitter at @Caterina_L

Ciao,

Caterina

Dreaming

This morning, I had a wonderfully vivid dream.  I was in a home in New England. The house was sitting on a foundation or huge rock which formed a natural porch front and back.  It looked much like a house one would see in Camden, Maine.  I decided to take a tour of the house and began walking through the rooms.  It was a little cluttered the home of a writer.  Most writers and artists I know tend to clutter up their space a bit and have less than organized minds.

The furniture was rustic, and a door with french windows and a Light Colonial Maple stain led to the back rock porch.  When I stepped through the back door, I was greeted with a breath-taking scene looking out over the ocean.  A small island jutted out of the water near the center of the bay, and a spit of rocky but tree-covered land curved around to the left.  The sand was strewn with seaweed, grasses and dark pebbles. It was enchanting. The kitchen off to the right proved to me this author was a bachelor and not very tidy with his kitchen duties.  I grabbed a sponge and gave him a little help cleaning up.  I saw he also needed better curtains to frame the lovely scene at the back of the house. Explaining that my mother was a dressmaker, and I had learned sewing skills as a child, I offered to make a set of cafe curtains for the window over the sink.  Just as we were about to enjoy a slice of strawberry cake, the dang alarm went off and took me away from this charming house.

I have two recurring dreams.  One that I move from my house to some place I think is better, then discover I don't want to live in the new place.  I try to get back to my little, haunted house, but it is too late.  I can't afford to purchase the house back, and my life in Florida is gone forever.  I always wake up from that dream with a great feeling of sadness and vow to myself that I will never leave this house.

The second recurring dream, I've had since I was a child is about a plane crash.  A plane flies overhead and crashes behind a row of buildings.  I'm standing at the back of the buildings and watch it as it almost touches the roof.  Then, there's a loud crash and bright flash.  As the years have progressed, so has the action in the dream.  The last time I had it, I was not standing looking out over the tragedy but peering at the sky from inside a body bag.  A fireman in a bright yellow coat is zipping the bag closed as I watch.  As you might expect, I avoid flying.

Dreams have always been a big part of my life and my creativity.  I've read that people do not dream in color.  My dreams are so colorful, I can set a pallet to what I see in the dream and often do.  At my art shows, visitors ask me where I get my ideas and designs.  I dream many of them.  Sometimes, the force behind the dream is so strong that I get out of bed, go to my studio, set the pallet and design to what I saw in the dream and create the painting that day.  This usually happens in the wee hours of the morning, so I've learned to live on five hours of sleep and be happy.  I consider the dreams a gift.

Caterina

It was a long weekend.  Someone has to clean this haunted house although it might add to the atmosphere if I let the cobwebs grow, and a layer of dust with ghostly messages on the end tables might be interesting.  I think if thirteen ghosts want to live here on a free ride and not pay any room or board, they should at least do the dishes and clean the windows in the art room!

We had phantom cigarette smoke in here last night.  I haven't smelled that in a long long time.  It appears concentrated in a room for a few seconds then completely disappears.  No one in the house has ever smoked, and our neighbors don't smoke.  When we first smelled this phenomena a few years ago, we went to the garage, walked around the house outside, and even walked to the other houses surrounding us.  The odor was only in our house and in one room.  Sometimes, it shows up in the computer room and sometimes in the master bedroom.  But, like I said, it has been a couple years since we smelled it happening.

Tonight, we are supposed to get thunderstorms.  Usually, the activity picks up and things get stronger when there is a storm.

Well, I must stop blogging and work on my memoir.  I've been thinking about it all day, but haven't written a word.  Getting this draft finished has been a long, arduous process, but it's still fun at times.  I hate deadlines!  It took me months to decide to share the ghosts with the world, and now they are internet stars.  I hope they don't mind.  Maybe someday, they will find their story on the shelves at Barnes & Noble!

I must also stop avoiding my art room because there is a camera in there.  I find it difficult to concentrate with the internet watching me.  I have an art show in November in Ft. Lauderdale, and I must get some painting done!

Good night all,
Caterina

It's hump day once again, and only three days till Cinco de Mayo.  Since all the Mexican restaurants will be packed, I decided to make my own Mexican dinner. This year, I'm going to try making tamales from scratch. Coming from an Italian family, I don't have much background in the art of Mexican cooking.  It's time to go to the food network channel and look up tamale recipes. Maybe I'll find a website by a genuine Mexican chef.

Now, for an update on my haunted art studio Project.  We finally have a new IR camera mounted on the ceiling that takes in almost the entire art studio, and also, a new microphone. For some reason the new microphone is not picking up the whispering as much as the old microphone. However, the old microphone is attached to the Webcam. I'm not sure what to do about this, but I think I will try using the old Webcam as only a microphone. We've had so many problems setting up the system, I'm really afraid to mess with it.  Eventually, when the site becomes popular and I have a lot of visitors per night, I would like to invite guest investigators to do an investigation and broadcast it in real time. I think it would be interesting.

I've also had another idea.  I'm considering putting our leftover IR camera in the main part of the house focused on the front door.  This is the flight path of our afternoon spirit who slams the front door walks to the middle of the Florida room and then disappears.  I was advised by C.A.P.E. Paranormal to yell "hey you" when I see the apparition walk through the room. If it's an intelligent spirit and not a residual haunt, he should respond. I did what they told me to do. Not only did I yell to him, but I ran after him into the living room. He did not respond, stop, or turn.  I guess he's a residual haunt.  One investigator suggested that this apparition might be one of the cracker cowboys who took care of the homestead coming into the barn to feed the animals. This seems logical since he comes through the house at approximately the same time during the day, and this would be the time of day that one would feed the animals.  I grew up in a county of farmland, and this would be the time of day when my uncles called the cows in from the fields fed them and milked them.

Departing from the subject a bit, I've always liked cows. They have such beautiful eyes and long luxurious eyelashes.  Most have a wonderful temperament.  They seem quite intelligent, and as with other animals, they know their feeding time.  On my uncle's farm, the cows would start their march toward the barn without having to call them.  They would go to their individual stalls and stick their heads through the pipe harnesses waiting for their dinner.  Dinner smelled lovely because it was a mix of grain, flax pellets, and molasses.  I watched my uncle make the mix and then feed the cows.  While the cows were busy eating, he would attach the automatic milking machines.  They were so busy eating; they didn't mind the milking machines.  On a hot summer day while I helped with the chores, we would stop in the milk room where there was a huge vat of constantly churned and refrigerated milk waiting for the milk tanker to arrive.  We would take a long ladle, dip it in the cold milk, and pour it into cups for a refreshing milk break.  It was so rich and creamy.

Well enough woolgathering.  It's time to start my day.  I'm trying to figure out how to allow everyone to comment on my blog.  Be patient with me. I am exceptionally technologically challenged.

Caterina