A little bit of everything...

I worked my shift at the hospital on Christmas day, thankfully it was slow but I feel bad for those patients who had to stay over during the holidays. Little babies who have the rotten luck to be born having cancer or a heart defect, and others of all ages who have problems big enough to warrant hospital stays that can last for weeks sometimes. We occasionally joke in the lab that patient so-and so never seems to go home, but in reality it is no laughing matter, they have serious health difficulties. We do what we can and try to give them blue ribbon care and help them on their way to healing.

Having some chronic health issues myself, I can definitely relate. Then I thank my lucky stars that my problems allow me to live at home, and not end up in a hospital bed getting chemo, organ transplants, surgeries, or transfusions.

One of the best things to happen this year was that my son returned home from Japan, where he had been living for two years as a Christian missionary. He is on the left.

I was trying to figure out how to attempt an end of the year post about the most noteworthy happenings of 2012, but we'll see how I do. The one wonderful happening this year that outshines all the rest is the return of my son (in June) from his missionary work in Japan, where he lived for two years. I have a little get away later today and tomorrow for my wedding anniversary of 32 years, so I do need to get an small bag packed and finish some of the never ending laundry that multiplies by a factor of ten every single night! I did want to share some info about things that have definitely helped me manage my chronic skin and inflammation problems though, in case anybody else out there can benefit from this information...

I have a sweet friend who has a saying when something is vexing her or getting her down- she tells whatever is bothering her that she is "not going to let it win". I have another wonderful lady that I work with who has serious bone cancer. You would never know it because she lives her life in a manner that brings joy and inspiration to those around her. We love her all the more for it. I have amazing friends, a third one gave me good advice as well when I was having a hard day; 'There are some things you cannot change, but you can change how you react to them'. Good words for living from my stellar friends.

Epsom Salts and Hibiclens soap help when you are getting a skin infection. Available at any pharmacy, even Wal Mart.

Good tea for relaxing.

When you have a problem that stays with you like a health difficulty you can let it run (ruin) your life or you can go on living the way you want to, in spite of the problem. Yes, there are days when it gets you down, but having a positive outlook is a much better way to live than surviving on your own pity parties. The world is a beautiful place in spite of all it's problems and life is good even if you hurt at the end of every day! Dolce vita....

Shea butter-Get this lotion at Health food stores or order from Amazon on line.

For itching that can sometimes drive me insane I have wonderful relief from relaxing baths. When I feel I am getting a bit infected because I have been naughty and scratched too much I soak in epsom salts, use Hibiclens soap, and occasionally even use bleach or white vinegar in the tub. I have also been known to slather peroxide on my affected areas of skin. It stings like the devil and is not something that really should be recommended, but man, it stops the itches that threaten to drive me insane some nights. It's always worse at night, getting one night of uninterrupted sleep is a miracle most evenings. I also have been known to down a nice warm cup of Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer tea.

Aromatherapy; relaxing pillow spray I found at Ulta.

 (I can't drink camomile which is supposed to be relaxing because of drug interaction with my other meds). I like pillow spray that has a relaxing effect and have also taken benadryl to help me sleep better. I hate sleeping pills with a passion and am actually afraid to take them for fear I won't wake up. Silly and irrational I guess, but they also leave me really groggy in the morning so sleeping pills are not really an option. My trusty Kindle reader is always by my bedside too, if I can occupy my mind away from the trouble it helps me cope and is much better than pacing the floor in your nighty at 2 am. Hugging my hubby and caressing my trusty little pups is also good comforting salve.

Oatmeal Bath, add it slowly to the water or you get lots of lumps.

Ask for this at the pharmacy counter. 

Available at many stores. They even have a version for babies.

Love this cream.

Other options for soothing baths, be it itches, sensitive, rashy, or swollen skin are Aveeno oatmeal bath and amazingly, a beer bath. In my opinion beer is good for just a few things and not for drinking! It has a vile smell and taste. It's good for soothing skin-one bottle in the bath and you have soft, soothed skin. I heard it was good as hair conditioner as well but have not tried that as all the beer I have goes into the tub or the cook pot for making yummy bratwurst. Enough ranting for now here are a few pics of the products that have saved my sanity lately when dealing with my own difficulties. For creams- especialy for sensitive and sore skin; Vanicream from a pharmacy (just ask them to order some for you), Aveeno ezema cream, DeVita-Shea Butter Brulee Tahitian Vanilla cream available at Sunflower Market or from Amazon, and my latest new found love for a cream- Nivea!

Shiner Bock bottle cap, Beer Baths to soothe the skin. Also tasty for cooking bratwurst, lol!


(No one paid me to endorse any products, these are all products I buy for myself.)

May the New Year bring you peace, joy, and prosperity!!

Having Fun with American Gothic

I'm taking a break from Christmas stuff, even though I still need to post pics from our gingerbread men cookie making adventure.

American Gothic (1930) by Grant Wood

 "American Gothic" is a familiar and iconic piece of 20^th century art painted in 1930 by Grant Wood. At first glance it is recognizable and conjures up images of a hard working mid-western couple with lots of chores in their lives but maybe not many reasons to rejoice. It is a bit of a harsh rendition of the characters, especially of the woman. It has become an icon of American popular culture to parody this picture.

While searching for a bit of background information about this painting, I discovered that the artist himself said he saw the house and wanted to imagine the type of people that lived in that sort of house. That is what he painted. The house, evidently, is located in Eldon, Iowa. The artist used his sister an a model for the woman and his dentist as the inspiration for the man and it is supposed to depict a man and his spinster daughter, not a couple, which was news to me.

Iowans were not too pleased at being painted in this way when the painting first came out, and one farmers wife even threatened to bite off Wood's ear because she was so offended by the painting. The artist assured them he was not making a statement particularly about Iowa farmers but feathers had already been ruffled by then. The painting won a $300.00 prize for being a comical depiction and the Art Institute of Chicago purchased it. The original "American Gothic" can still be seen there today.

Christmas American Gothic

 

I had some fun finding parodies of this famous painting, enjoy!

Mexican American Gothic

Barbie American Gothic

Buffy American Gothic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Royal American Gothic

Zombie American Gothic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                      

Modern Art American Gothic

 

Buon Natale!

 Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.  ~Norman Vincent Peale

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day.  Don't clean it up too quickly.  ~Andy Rooney


Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.  ~Washington Irving

 

 Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.  ~Peg Bracken

 

             
Christmas is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.

 
The world's alive with Christmas joy!
Come join the merry throng.
You'll find upon your lips a smile,
Within your heart a song. 
 (N.B. Lybarger) 


Peace on Earth will come to stay, when we live Christmas every day. ~Helen Steiner Rice

Good news from heaven the angels bring. Glad tidings to the Earth they sing: To us this day a child is given. To crown us with the joy of heaven. ~Martin Luther

 

  Christmas is a glorious time of the year, simple in origin, deep in meaning, beautiful in tradition and custom, rich in memories, and charitable in spirit. - Thomas S. Monson

 

  Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It is magnificent and beautiful." - Gordon B. Hinckley

 

 

 

  

O Holy Night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appeared
And the soul felt it's worth
The thrill of hope
The weary world rejoices
For yonder brinks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees
O hear the angel voices
O night divine
O night when Christ was born
O night divine
O night, o night divine

O Holy Night
The stars are brightly shining
                            It is the night of our dear Savior's birth                                
Long lay the world
In sin and error-pining
Till he appeared
And the soul felt it's worth
The thrill of hope
The weary world rejoices
For yonder brinks
A new and glorious morn
                                                    Fall on your knees                                                          
O hear the angel voices
O night divine
O night when Christ was born
O night divine
O night, o night divine

 

Nutcracker Memories...

When I hear the sounds of the Nutcracker Ballet, it puts me in a holiday mood. I suppose most little girls, dream of flitting and twirling around on the stage with a puffy pink tutu on, I did when I was young. Mom even took us to ballet lessons and I have a worn out little pink tutu, with silver sparkles on it, in my cedar chest from way back when. I took my daughter to dancing lessons when she was about 4 years old and she, in turn, has taken her daughter to dancing lessons as well.

In college I took a P.E. class of ballet my very first semester, but by then I had lost all my grace and talent (if I ever had any), even though I was a petite 100 lbs. I must have been a clodhopper because I got a measly C in that class. So ended my dancing dreams (not really)...... I was looking forward to becoming a scientist, anyway!

I've been a flute player for many years and I fondly remember playing "Dance of the Reed Flutes" from the ballet in school talent shows. That is my earliest memory of Nutcracker things. In high school, we had an extraordinary instrumental music teacher who had trained at the Julliard music school in NYC. One Christmas he took the students on a field trip to Carnegie Hall to see the Nutcracker Ballet. I was smitten! We rode a school bus there and had seats in the nose bleed balcony section, but what a marvelous life experience it was! It was incredible and wonderful. Many thanks to Robert Leive, my music teacher who was really dedicated to his students and helped us polish our talents; for four wonderful years full of concert band, marching band, jazz band, pit orchestra for plays, and helping me grow as a musician and a person.

I have had the joy of taking my spouse and children, daughter-in-law, and once even my granddaughter to the ballet here where I live now. One year we were so close to the stage it was very exciting to experience the ballet up close and personal. I love going but it seems if we go every year without fail, it get to be old hat, and some of the wonder is gone from the experience, so we go every few years. That way, next time we attend it will be a freshly anticipated experience and will be that much more magical!

Here I've shared two excerpts... "Dance of the Reed Flutes", with Clara as part of the dance and "Mother Buffoon and her clown children" (sometimes known as Mother Ginger).

                                                            Merry Christmas!

My Mom is a Ninja!

My Mom is a Ninja…

Seven year old Kaleb is a big Ninja fan. He eats, sleeps and drinks Ninja stuff. When he isn’t slashing imaginary enemies in the bath tub, he is sneaking around the house trying (in vain) to be as quiet as Kung-fu on rice paper, practicing his skills.

Kaleb says when he grows up he wants to be a Ninja. One day he was extolling the virtues of being a Ninja to his Mom and she surprised him by telling him her little (or maybe big?) secret. Kaleb’s Mom is secretly a Ninja! Of course he protested, “Nah, Mom you’re not a Ninja. You’re just teasing!”

Mom tried to convince Kaleb of her Ninja prowess, but he wasn’t buying it. Right at that moment there was a pesky fly crawling up the wall. Mom said “Look, I’ll show you, watch this…” Mom then proceeded to make a Ninja yell and whapped the fly dead, right then and there, on the wall using her hand as a well skilled Ninja would. Kaleb was in awe! 

 

“See, I told you,” his Mom said. She also said he had to keep it a secret, you know, any self-respecting Ninja does not blab to the world, about their special Ninja status. Now though, when Kaleb tells people what he wants to be when he grows up he says, “I want to be a Ninja, just like my Mom.”

Many thanks to my co-worker, Heather, who told me this true story, I just tried to creatively write it down.

Ninja Mom pic from: http://kimskorneradventures.blogspot.com/2011/05/hysterical-strength-nah-just-call-me.html

Thankfulness and seeking peace.....

It's been a wonderful week for reflection. Thanksgiving is always a wonderful time of year, to take into account all of your blessings and realize how much you have to be thankful for. It brings a contented peace as you contemplate it all. Now we start the season of Christmas, yes I know it was tacked onto a pagan holiday, and it is kindof a fraud to celebrate the birth of Jesus in December when he was really born in the spring, but what is wrong with wishing for peace on earth and good will towards men any time of the year? We can keep the spirit of the holiday with us no matter what the date is. It is a magical time of family, friends, and celebration.

My family honestly makes my life worth living, my family is the reason I am who I am and that I care. I am getting spoiled having all my children living close by now. When one of them moves it will definitely be a very sad day for me. I have a best friend in my hubby and more best friends in each one of my children and their dear spouses. I am a very blessed woman. I get lazy and whiney, yes, but then I can remember all that I have at times like this around the holidays. 

I am thankful...a poem (anonymous)

.. for the teenager who is complaining about doing
dishes, because it means she/he is at home, not on the
streets.

.. for the mess to clean after a party, because it
means that I have been surrounded by friends.

.. for the clothes that fit a little too snug,
because it means I have enough to eat.

.. for my shadow that watches me work, because it
means I am out in the sunshine.

.. for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need
cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because it
means I have a home.

.. for all the complaining I hear about the
Government, because it means we have freedom of speech.

.. for the parking spot I find at the far end of the
parking lot, because it means I am capable of
walking, and that I have been blessed with
transportation.

.. for my huge heating bill, because it means I am
warm.

.. for the lady behind me in church that sings off
key, because it means that I can hear.

.. for the pile of laundry and ironing, because it
means I have clothes to wear.

.. for weariness and aching muscles at the end of the
day, because it means I have been capable of working
hard and using those limbs.

.. for the alarm that goes off in the early morning,
because it means that I am alive.

Scriptures help me keep in a peaceful frame of mind and I have a lot to be thankful for so. I especially like the part about being still....in a world where chaos seems to be the norm, just be about your 'Father's business' and you can still have joy.

Psalm 46

 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
 4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
 5 God is in the amidst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
 6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
 9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
 10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Winter's here to stay!

We wound up getting a foot of snow, the pic shows just a sprinkling.

We're having a major snow storm today. Some of the family spent the afternoon out at the stadium for Weber State's football game, brrr! I've been inside and feeling pretty toasty, but now that it is dark the chill seems to be settling in. Break out the hot cocoa folks, I think winter is here for good.

My son-in-law is now an Army Aviator

I guess you could call Tazz my 'grand-doggie', here he is trying to stay warm on the family room sofa.

Well, my daughter (and grandaughter) have been living here for about a week now, while her husband does his National Guard thing. They will be staying for several months. Little Clara loves the snow and was outside this morning for a long time helping Grandpa shovel, kicking the snow around, making 'angels' in the snow and just enjoying herself. When you come from the south, a foot of snow is a big novelty to you, especially if you are a kid.

With my daughter here, we've been doing a lot of 'de-junking' in the house, since we have more people living here so we needed to clean the closets out to allow them to store their belongings and move in for a while. Don't ask me where we are going to put the piano though!

The painting class I attended, I am the short, dark-haired one.

I've had the itch to be creative lately. I have had the urge to paint for some reason, so after feeling that for a while I decided one day to go to a painting class. It was very enjoyable. I will look forward to going again. I sew often, a lot of my creative juices are put into sewing quilts or doing embroidery & cross stitch. I usually don't wind up painting, but I did make my first picture at that class! Yesterday I started making a table runner with the intention of giving it to my Mom, I was all excited about starting a new project, unfortunately the pattern I purchased has the world's worst directions and even an experienced sewer like me had a hard time following it. I believe it will be scrapped now since I cut up fabrics and it is not going together well. I will have to write that pattern company a note and tell them of my disappointment. I'll just use my own creativity and make a table runner for Mom on my own.

Today I spent most of the time at my craft table embroidering new names on a grandchildren sampler I made for my mother-in-law many years ago. It's a cross stitch sampler that says "Grandchildren are the treasures of a long life", and has spaces to put in names. There are 32 names of grandchildren sewn on and 16 names of great-grandchildren on there, too. Surely, a thing to be celebrated!

Halloween fun...

What do goblins and ghosts drink when they're hot and thirsty on Halloween?  Ghoul-aid!!!

  What is a Mummie's favorite type of music?  Wrap!!!!!

         



  Why do demons and ghouls hang out together?  Because demons are a ghouls best friend!




  What's a monster's favorite bean?  A human bean.

A human Bean!

What do you call a witch who lives at the beach? A sand-witch.

  What happens when a ghost gets lost in the fog?  He is mist.

  Where did the goblin throw the football?  Over the ghoul line.

  What do you call a little monsters parents? Mummy and Deady.

What do you get when you cross a black cat with a lemon.  A sour-puss.

Monday Ramblings...

This book keeps me on the edge of my seat, but I put it away at night because I have a very active imagination!

This is a really interesting Science book, not boring and dry.

Here's the "Currently" report, just for fun...

Currently Reading: For Halloween- A ghost book by Hans Holtzer.
                                For the Science-o-phile in me- Epigenetics by Richard C. Francis
                                For my spiritual side- The New
Testament- Book of Matthew

Currently Watching: Old Stargate Episodes on DVD 

Listening Music:
                 My latest insatiable music appetite is for Linkin Park albums, ever since I saw them 
                 in concert this summer I can't stop listening. Sometimes you do have to be in the mood for
                 Chester's primal screaming though!

Listening Audio Books: Legion by Brandon Sanderson

Currently eating tonight for dinner: Cheese Tortellini with sauce and lots of parmesan cheese on top.

Current favorite snack: Colby flavored Cheez-it crackers

Currently wearing: comfy PJ's and striped Harry Potter Griffindor House socks.

Pets are currently: dogs cuddling in their puppy bed together and the cat is actually not trying to walk
                              around on the kitchen table or eat me out of house and home by attacking bread
                              bags on the counter and causing a riot in the pantry closet.

Current Favorite Snack

These are on my feet tonight!

Current music obsession: The bad boys of Linkin Park

Good old SG-1! These old episodes never get boring. I never was a fan of Claudia Black though.

The Legend of Ocean-Born Mary

It's that time of year when the ghosties and the creepy crawlies come out to celebrate on All-Hallows eve....I've always been a fan of a good ghost story and have been studiously reading up for the season. with my kindle in hand, I snap up ghostly freebies and tales of ghosties in bygone days. Algernon Blackwood, a bit of Poe- as in The Black Cat, throw in some H. P. Lovecraft and be sure you lock your doors at night. Mu-ha-ha! Check out a few Shirley Jackson stories from your local library, or enjoy a less stress inducing, but still enjoyable tale of the season, with a favorite child such as The Halloween Tree, or maybe you like real vampires, scary ones, that don't sparkle, as in the original Dracula, still spooky even  after a hundred years. Get your garlic ready, and enjoy a new ghost story I came across in this years reading. I added a few of my own style touches to it, but did not author the tale. Sit back, get comfortable, and enjoy the story as I tell you the tale of
Ocean-Born Mary.........

Here be told a classic ghost tale of Old New England...it happened even before the Brits and the Patriots had their spat, back in the golden age of pirates!

There's a place in Ireland called Londonberry, and the year is 1720....the sailing vessel "Wolf" departs from port on its way to the New World. These Irish immigrants were looking forward to reuniting with their former friends and family in Londonberry, New Hampshire.

Now, this was in the hey-day of pirating on these seas and fate would have it that the "Wolf" was overtaken and boarded by Spanish pirates as it came near to the New Hampshire shore. These pirates, under their leader, Don Pedro, helped themselves to all the valuables and jewelry on board. They raised their cutlasses and prepared to butcher everyone on board when suddenly the pirate captain ordered his men to stand down.

All were astonished, but no one could mistake the sounds of an infant crying from somwhere down below. Don Pedro ordered the infant to be brought on deck, so he could see it. (In sealore, if a pirate kills a baby he will have bad luck for the rest of his days and Don Pedro was a superstitious sort of pirate, as most of them are.) As he gazed into the innocent's face he sheathed his sword and made a promise to the infants mother that if she would name the infant girl after his own mother, Maria, or Mary, he would spare the lives of all aboard. The bargain was quickly settled, for who would not do such a simple thing to spare so many lives? The pirates gave back all the valuables they had taken and Don Pedro quickly went over to his own ship and came back carrying a bolt of beautiful blue- green silken cloth. He presented it to the infant's mother and told her to use the cloth to make the infant Mary's wedding dress with, when the time came.

Mary, 'Ocean-born' Wilson grew up to be an Irish beauty, with flaming red hair and lovely green eyes. At the age of twenty-two, she married her childhood sweetheart, Thomas Wallace, and her mother had saved the bolt of beautiful silken cloth all those years and made her a wedding dress out of it that any bride would be proud of.

The happy couple lived a good life for 18 years, then Thomas died. Mary was left lone with four sons to raise and care for. About this same time, the hey-day of piracy was coming to an end, and the pirate captain, Don Pedro, was no longer the spry young pirate he used to be. He decided to retire and took his ill-gotten gains and purchased some land, where he built himself an awesome mansion with ten rooms and six fireplaces. It was one of the biggest houses in the area.

The Pirate Mansion

It turns out, that over the years, Don Pedro had kept an eye on Ocean-born Mary, and when he found out about her being widowed with four sons to care for he invited her to live with him. He promised her the house was hers, if she would look after him in his old age. Mary accepted and moved in with her boys. She was showered with gifts from her pirate benefactor, and they all lived happily for the next ten years. Mary had a fancy black and gold coach, drawn by four horses, to get around in and there was much entertaining done at the mansion.

One night Don Pedro did not return home until much later than his usual time, Mary looked out the window and saw and heard him talking to a big burly man out in the back yard. They were burying a large trunk out in the orchard under a tree! When Mary asked Don Pedro about it, he refused to answer her.

One year later, when Mary returned from town, no stable-boy came out to meet her and take the four horses that pulled the coach away to their barn. Mary found the servants scared to death, all huddled up together in the tack room. In the yard she found Don Pedro, dead with a cutlass through his back. The bloody instrument had gone right through, pinning his body to the blood defiled ground! The old pirate Don Pedro was buried him under the fireplace hearthstone, as he had requested of her years before.

Occasionally there would be trespassers at the house digging holes in the yard, as rumors of buried pirate treasure were sure to abound. Mary never stopped them and she spent the rest of her days there at the pirate mansion. Her sons grew up, left home, had families of their own and fought in the war for independence. Mary passed away in 1814, at the ripe old age of 94.

The house stayed in the hands of the Wallace family for the next 100 years. It was rented out, but never sold. Tenants came and went, but they often went quite hastily and never lived there very long. Soon tales arose that the place was haunted. For many years it fittingly looked like a haunted house, as it was deserted and became run down. The windows were broken and the front steps sagged. Neighborhood boys crept around the place and claimed to see ghostly images in the windows, they heard strange sounds emanating from the place, and lights in the rooms at midnight. They said they saw a shadowy tall lady floating down the staircase.

One hundred and four years later, old Mrs. Roy and her bachelor son, Gus, moved into the place. They had previously purchased it and were in the process of cleaning it up and restoring the house so they could make their home there. As they cleaned and restored, many interesting things happened to them. On day while burning rubbish, the son was about to throw a bag of trash that had been in the attic into the fire, an unseen hand physically stopped him from doing it. As he checked the trash afterwards, he found out there was unused gunpowder in the sack, and he had almost thrown it into the fire!

In 1938 a strong hurricane devastated the eastern seaboard. It was all rain, wind and mud around the place. Gus had been building a garage and it was threatening to fall down after the storm. He did not want to put his new car inside it until he fixed it up. He went out in the rain and proceeded to prop the garage up and steady it so it would not collapse. When he came inside, his mother asked him who was helping him fix the garage. He said 'no one', then she asked him who the tall woman was who was out there helping him steady up the garage. She had vanished when he started back towards the house!

Soon the family began to see the apparition of a tall woman inside the house. They heard strange sounds in the basement. They must not have minded it because Gus said that he suffered 17 near-fatal accidents while living in the house and he always received help from, Mary. Soon the stories of Ocean-born Mary's ghost were common in that area and folks started coming from all around, especially on Halloween, to catch a glimpse of old Mary's ghost. Gus made a business enterprise out of it and charged admission to gives tours of the place, people flocked in like there was no tomorrow.

The story of the house was popular, it was featured in a publication called "Yankee Ghosts" and a couple named Russell, purchased the house. Gus had become ill and when the Russells bought the place he was allowed to live out his final days there. A ghost investigator visited the house with a medium in the 60's because the Russells had complained about strange goings on in the house. The medium did indeed sense ghostly presences in the house, most notably, Ocean-born Mary, herself was said to be looking after the place. Once there was a mysterious fire on the stairway and Mrs. Russell said it went out by itself, as if someone was damping it down with a blanket. Years later the Russells denied stories of the place being haunted and refused to talk to anyone about it.

Ocean-Born Mary's grave in Henniker New Hampshire

Some even say that Mary never really did live there after all....it was just an old folk tale that had gotten overblown and out of hand. The home is a private residence today. But, who can explain the eerie images the town boys saw there many years ago, who was talking to the ghost hunter through the medium, what about the trespassers who periodically came to dig for pirate treasure in the orchard? Who saved Gus from 17 near-fatal accidents and pulled his hand away when he was about to throw the bag of trash containing gun powder into the fire? Who helped him shore up the garage after the hurricane of '38? Why did Gus insist on remaining in the house even when new owners purchased the place and started living there? Ocean-born Mary's grave is nearby in the Central Cemetery in Henniker, so we know she really did exist. And, who can answer this question now....how come state troopers saw the image of a tall, red-haired lady floating along the highway to the house a few years ago?? Was it just coincidence or was it Mary..............................?