Fun night in a Haunted House

Last night was so much fun! I spent most of the night in a haunted house. A group of about eighteen of us visited Whispers Estate in Mitchell, IN. A lovely Victorian considered by many to be one of the most haunted places in the area.

Our group was made up of members of the Ivy Tech Paranormal Society and friends/significant others of members. I went along as the friend of a friend and didn’t really know anyone except the two with whom I went (the Boy, Matt, and his wife, Lauren). I had met a Rachael, a member of the society and friend of the Boy, previously. So I basically stuck with them.

Our hunt was broken into sessions with everyone coming back together to discuss happenings and refuel on pizza after an hour or so. Our guide, Gwen, (they hadn’t been informed that our group would be so large), was very knowledgeable about the house and was fun to talk with.

After a tour of the house (Floor plan here), we broke into three groups with each group taking a different floor. The group in the attic took an Ouija board into the vortex room (Red Room), but nothing happened.

The group on the second floor, which included Matt, Lauren, and Rachael, located in Jessie’s Room looking down the hallway toward the Servant’s Quarters where activity has been reported in the past. The group rolled a small ball, such as a child would use to play jacks, down the hall and it came back. When they repeated the action, rolling the ball more slowly this time, the ball was powered on down the hall and went sailing down the stairs in the Service’s Quarters.

The group on the first floor stationed themselves in the Doctor’s Examination Room and got a photograph of Big Black which is a black cloud/shadow that can be found from time to time is several of the rooms.

Nothing happened to me as I seem to be a dampener when it comes to paranormal activity and spend most of the night camped out alone in the Front Parlor, which has a history of the least activity. I was able to confirm that no doors slammed on the first floor when the group on the second floor heard a door slam.

During a break in the hunt, Matt had a penny thrown at him as he used the bathroom off of the kitchen.

In their session in the basement, Matt, Lauren, Rachael, Anne (another member of the Paranormal Society), one other whose name I didn’t get, and Gwen held a conversation with an entity using an iPhone app.

Rachael’s hair was brushed away from her face during their session in the Doctor’s Operating Room and she was rather freaked out.

The only session in which I participated was in Rachael’s Room on the second floor. We tried to get the little girl, Rachael to play ball with us, but the room must have had too many people in it, about two groups of us, as nothing happened. Later, Matt and Lauren went back to the room and one of the balls had been moved off of the bed through none of the groups had been upstairs since that session.

Some people left at midnight, but most left between 2:30 and 3 a.m. as the long day and periods of sitting quietly waiting for something to happen began to catch up with us. Rachael, her husband Paul, Matt, Lauren and I were the last to leave around 3:30. Only Anne remained behind, as she had been dropped off and her ride wasn’t coming 8 a.m. We offered to take her home, but she declared she wanted to stay. Gwen remained in the house for the night as well, but she stays over quite often as she lives an hour’s drive away.

I can honestly say, if you have any interest in the paranormal, you should visit Whispers Estate.

Yesterday, I attended the Tablet Weaving Workshop with John Mullarkey (Malarky Crafts, St. Louis, MO) sponsored by the Bloomington Spinners & Weavers Guild held in the Fountain Square Mall Atrium in Bloomington, IN.

There were nine students and I had a blast. It was so much fun learning the basics of tablet/card weaving and looking at all of the samples John has woven. Not to mention spending time with my friends from the guild.

Did you know that you can actually make fabric using the tablet weaving method; the jacket he was wearing was gorgeous and the fabric had been made using card weaving on a beamed loom. Personally I thought tablet weaving was like Inkle weaving and only for making straps, belts and lanyards. I learned.

So today I submitted my final assignment for the first college course toward my BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Technology (BSBA-IT). I am glad to have it over, this first class has been tough on me. I didn't realize just how out of shape for learning I truly was until I tried to do homework. Colorado Technical University (CTU) Online has been very helpful and Dr. John Cote, my marketing professor, has been great; but still having to come home from work everyday and dive into reading assignments and homework has been driving me nuts. I don't remember it being this hard when I got my Associate Degree in Computing Programming some twenty years ago. Maybe I am just getting old! Or maybe it's because the last time I was a full-time student and this time I am a full-time worker and part-time student. Either way I now have two-weeks off from school and fun stuff to look forward to such as a Tablet Weaving Workshop in Saturday the 26th of March and CampKIP starting on the 6th of April. Woo-hoo!

It's Official!!

I am now a college student. Again!

Once upon a time, I received my Associates Degree in Computer Programming. Now I am returning to academia in order to go for a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Technology.

To do this, I am joining the revolution of Online Education. All of my studies will be completed over the Internet. Not bad for someone whose first experience with personal computers involved inserting a cassette tape into a reader. That's right, kiddie, the first computer I ever used got it's program instructions from a cassette tape. We've come a loooooooooooooooooooooooong way!

New Year, not a New Decade YET!

Just thought I would let everyone know that I haven't actually dropped off the planet. I am still around, but have discovered that after a day of staring at a computer monitor I don't really want to come home and stare at the laptop.

I did however want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and at the same time vent about this whole idea of this being the start of a new decade. Granted my memory is not exactly the clearest; but I'm fairly certain that there was NO year Zero; which would mean that the count began at 1. So that makes 2011 the first year of the new decade. Am I right???

In the Beginning . . .

This is my first blog post; actually this is my first blog.



First about me: I just turned 50 on the day before Samhain (Halloween to the non-Pagan).


I was married, once, but have been widowed for over twenty-five years. I have two children; 'The Girl' I acquired by birth, 'The Boy' and I adopted each other when the girl went away to college. Without him I probably would have gone nuts. 'The Girl' had been my reason for breathing since my husband died when she was six months old.


Several members of my family are creative.

My father's mother could crochet anything, literally. She could see something once and recreate it in crochet. She couldn't read a crochet pattern, I'm not sure she could even read; but create with yarn and hook, oh brother! She died in 1972, but before that she taught my brother and I how to crochet a chain. That was it, just a chain. After a while, my mother got tired of us wasting her yarn and she began to teach us how to turn and crochet back. I haven't crocheted in years; I think the last thing I made was a baby blanket for 'The Girl'.


My mother crocheted any number of items, but she had to have a pattern. I remember a poncho she made for me; I'm not sure exactly how many colors were in it, but each round was a different one of the colors she had selected. I liked that poncho; wonder if I ever said 'Thank you'?


My father is like his mother, but his medium is wood. Show him a picture of a wooden item and he can recreate it for you.


I do not claim to have gotten all of the creative family genes; but I can create. I can crochet, as mentioned above, I knit, sew, needlepoint, cross-stitch, spin, and weave. Most of the things I finish are given away as soon as they are done. The things I still have are mostly unfinished. I do still have the first and second things I ever wove; but the knitting I still have is all unfinished.


Currently I am in my first year as Coordinator of the Bloomington Spinners and Weavers Guild in Bloomington, Indiana. Through the guild, I am a member of a natural dyes study group. (Very interesting stuff, natural dyes... hmm another post.) From my LYS, which is over twenty miles away, I am taking a class (for the second time) to learn to knit two socks at once on magic loop from the toe up. Also I'm taking a class to knit a cat bed, I have five cats (I will talk about them in another post), and a class to knit a cowl. By the way, my LYS was started by none other than Betsy Blumenthal. Jealous yet?