Thursday, July 08, 2010

Poltergeist?

Last night in the middle of the World Cup semi-final all the small appliances in our house went off. Including the TV. Which didn't really bother me but the sewing machine went off too which was a different matter. We fairly quickly worked out that a trip switch was down, flicked it up and resumed our respective activities.

Zoom forward to 3 26 am. Now, I am happy to say that my husband does not beat me up.You can imagine then that I was a little suprised to be abruptly woken from a happily deep sleep by him whacking me on the leg as he sat up, flailing his arms in alarm and asking,
"What was that? That noise.What was it?"
Given that he had just assaulted awake a woman who once slept through an earthquake of such intensity that a member of my family ( who is best nameless in this context) ran out to the street assuming that 'The Lord has returned!", this was a very silly question. He got up, prowled down the landing and returned,
"There are books all over the floor".
I didn't even dignify this with a reply. I know that I married a very tidy man and that me having books stacked all over the 2nd bedroom floor ready for packing is not the best housekeeping, but I was not rising to such criticism/ comment at now 3.28 am.
I was about to fall asleep again when the noise starts. Even I heard it.
It was a kind of progressive series of thuds getting faster and faster. Thu...thu....thu..thu thuthuthuthuthud.

WHAT??

I went to the 2nd bedroom. Piles of books very still in their allocated places on the floor.
I went to the studio.
Ah. I see what he means.



Every quilting book I own ( except for some reason the Quilters Guild Collection; Contemporary Quilts) had jumped off the shelf.
I snapped a few photos ( becuase dear readers, even at 3.30 am I am thinking of your entertainment), pick them up, go to the bedroom and see that all the small appliances have gone again, including the alarm clock. So if the poltergeist had not pushed the books off we would not have set backup alarms on our mobile phones and I would have been late for work. What a nice helpful ghostie.
Either that or I should have listened to myself when I did wonder if that slightly wonky shelf would hold all thsoe books in my temporary studio.

I get back in bed.
"This," I say, "is why I need a new studio."
Dennis huffs. "Your Mum would say you need fewer books. I've noticed that. Your sentences always have the word 'new' in them and your Mum's have the word 'less'."

Now, Mum reads this from time to time so I had better make it clear: There were only two people mentioned there and only one was being approved of and it was not me.
Huh.
But I get to have the new studio anyway because I have a big bruise and I know how to make an application for a Family Law Act injunction......

9 comments:

Terry Grant said...

This is your old house, right? Is there a message in all this? Hmmm. Very strange.

Featheronawire Sally Bramald said...

Happened to me too, though thankfully not in the middle of the night. I have made a decision to have a book cull. Though so far this has involved buying five new books this week and culling none. I SHALL do this thing, I SHALL.

Unknown said...

Wow! how scary and interesting all at the same time!

Garnered Stitches said...

Either that's a wonky shelf or your house is trying to tell you something!

Possibly get rid of some of those books!!

best wishes

Gerrie said...

I had to read this whole post to Mr C. We were on the edge of our seats!!

Vicki W said...

Oh, that is too funny! But the last part about you and your Mum reminded me of a comment my friend made to me last week. I was telling her about something new I wanted/needed to buy and she said "How about if you stop buying art supplies because when you die I'm the one who has to deal with it all and it's already too much for me." I told her about a new friends network that I was forming.

Diane Perin said...

That is very odd! Maybe it was the books themselves, saying they didn't want to be left behind, and reminding you to pack them next?

I love Dennis's comment comparing you and your mom. He's very astute, that Dennis.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Helen for a good wake up this morning. I don't know if it's ghosties or not however making the application for the Family Law Act injunction to speed up the process of a new studio...priceless.

Teri

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

That is so sweet of you to be thinking of our entertainment so early in the morning.