Cornish Ghosts

Hey everyone, it's Folklore Friday!  This week I'm continuing on with my little mini-series involving a few stories the lovely Rosie sent my way (last week's story can be found here).  If you get a chance, stop by her blog and say hi.  You'll be glad you did.  Rosie lives in Cornwall, which has a lot of (ghostly) history....take it away Rosie!

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The Dolphin Inn, near a place called Penzance in Cornwall, is another well-known ghost spot.  It's haunted by the ghost of an old sea captain, who wears a tri-cornered hat, lace ruffles and a striking jacket.  He can often be seen (and heard) plodding around the upstairs rooms in the dead of night.  Along with the sea captain, a woman in Victorian dress can often be seen flitting along the bar, and over the years, several landlords and landladies have awoken to the sight of a young man with blonde hair standing by, or even sitting on, the foot of their beds!

One of Cornwall's most renowned ghosts is that of Charlotte Dymond, who was found murdered on the slopes near Camelford on Sunday 14th April 1844. Her lover, a crippled farmhand called Matthew Weeks was later hanged at Bodmin Gaol (Jail) for the crime, though it is doubtful that he committed it. Since that time, and especially on the anniversary of her death, Charlotte has been seen walking in the area, clad in a gown, a red shawl and a silk bonnet. Local sentries were very reluctant to stand duty there, so convinced were they of her ghostly presence. A memorial stone there marks the site of her murder.

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I really love reading up about ghost stories like this, and it makes me want to look more into Edmonton's past to see what ghostly things have happened here.  I'm guessing not as much as there has been in England.  Still, it's fascinating!

If you have a tale you want to share, email me!  eeegadserin (at) gmail (dot) com.  Don't be shy, I do reply all!

Later gators!

~E

India Inspired Thrifting

While waiting to take in our friend's art exhibit and cabaret this past Saturday, Brendan and I decided to kill some time thrifting (like I need an excuse to go).  Brendan doesn't come thrifting with me a lot, so this was a nice treat.  On our little adventure I managed to snap up this birdcage.  Ain't she a beaut?  I'd been wanting a birdcage in this style for a while actually.  I find them to be very pretty, and they're great for home decor (if you're into that sorta thing).  Imagine some vines from a plant wrapped around it!  As for the shoes, I had found those earlier in the day at an India import store here in town.

 

I love anything to do with India.  It's one of the many countries I'd love to visit whenever I win the lottery. ;)  Hell, I'd move there if I could.  I'm sure they need editors for Bollywood movies...maybe?

Of course, while taking photos Benji had to get involved.

As you can guess, I got my Canon 5D back!  HIGH FIVE EVERYONE!  It felt weird not having it around.  Great timing too, because this weekend is long weekend up here, so many adventures will be had I'm sure.

That's all for today, hope your Thursday is great!

~E

My Friend's Wedding

I've been meaning to post these images for quite some time!  As some of you may know, I went to my first "friend wedding" back in June.  It was for my friend Tiff's, whom I've known since we were in elementary school.  Sometimes I forget we're all grown up.

I made a wedding video for Tiff, and I also managed to snap a few shots from the reception and ceremony.  Here's a few of those I wanted to share.

Outdoor wedding...in the rain.  Still beautiful.

Candy bar!

Don't ask me where they found this.

These two have been close friends since high school.

The chef at the dinner caught something on fire.

Brendan and I.

My hair after the rain destroyed it.

And there you have it!  I loved the fact that it was a small wedding.  I loved the idea of the candy bar, and I love the fact that these two kids have been together for (roughly) 7 years.

I just got confirmation on Friday that Canon Canada has received my camera, so that's good news.  The bad news is that I have to wait about 20 days for it to actually get repaired.  I miss my camera insanely, it feel weird being without it.

But other than that...hope you're having a wonderful Sunday!

~E

Folklore Friday...It's Baaaaack!

Yes!!!  Folklore Friday is back and making its weekly appearance.  Sorry for the delay with this, it's been busy over here...let's get back on track!

I'm happy to say I'm doing a 3-part little series with Rosie of A Rosie Outlook.  She had contacted me a while ago with some stories from an area of Britain she lived in....a rather haunted area to boot!  Please stop by and say hello to Rosie, she's a gem.

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I grew up in Cornwall, in the south west of England, which is widely reputed to be the most haunted county in Britain – which is saying something, considering the whole of the British Isles is renowned for having a very ghostly history!

I had a very keen interest in ghosts when I was younger, and was always collecting books from gift shops about ‘Haunted Cornwall’ – here is a tale of ghostliness...

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Pengersick Castle is in Praa Sands near a place called Penzance in Cornwall, and is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in Britain.  The castle itself is a small castle that dates back to the 12th Century, and is said to house as many as 20 ghosts – including:

• A 13-year-old girl who was dancing on the battlements when a gust of wind caught her dress and threw her off the tower to her death (she apparently attempts to throw visitors off the same battlements if she dislikes them!)
• A 4-year-old boy who pulls womens’ dresses and tries to hold their hand
• A 14th century monk
• A woman who walks through walls
• A girl lying on a bed
• Several previous owners
• A man swaying in the corner.... and even...
• A ghostly cat and dog!

Many people have seen and photographed weird orbs of light and bizarre things happen to electrical equipment - new batteries die instantly, cameras stop working, even military-style thermal imaging devices have been affected.  The castle itself runs ghost hunting evenings where you can go and see them for yourself!

Note from Erin: I actually found this video while doing some more research on Pengersick Castle.  I think I watched this a few years ago actually!  Fast forward a couple minutes to the good stuff. 

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Thanks Rosie!  Y'know, one of my many goals in life is to visit a few haunted castles in Britain...this one is now on the list!

If you have a creepy tale or legend to tell, e-mail me!  eeegadserin (at) gmail (dot) com.

Ciao bellas!

~E

That Time I Went Thrifting, Scored Something Sweet, and Got Sick.

This past Saturday my friend Marisa and I decided to go on a thrifting adventure, which is a rare occasion.  She works 7-3, and I work 3-God knows when.  Luckily for us she had Saturday off and we decided to thrift it up.  One thing you must know about Marisa and I is that we are cartoons in real life.  No, seriously!  We love nothing more than to bounce witty remarks off each other (mostly satirical, sometimes inappropriate) and it usually makes for an entertaining get together. 

I made a haul this time around.  I found *the* best leather jacket.  It was calling out to me from the racks, and I felt very much obliged to take it home.  The only thing that caught me off-guard was this strange smell from the jacket, almost like cigars or something.  I could instantly feel my nose tingle like there was something caught in it.  Did I care?  Nope.  I wanted that jacket, and figured I could get rid of the smell emanating from it.  I'll post a better photo in the future (outfit post? OOOOH!)

**please forgive me for the low quality photos, the Beast camera has been shipped to get fixed.**

One of my favourite sections to check out when thrifting is always the men's shirts.  Seriously, guys have the best shirts.  I love the stupid sayings on them and laughing heartily at the idiot who previously wore the shirt.  Marisa and I found this shirt, and I gotta say...that pedo 'stache is something else.

Hot damn!

The best find of all came while browsing the knick knacks.  I had just so happened to turn my head when I saw it...a Polaroid Land camera with flash.  *knuckle bite*

I'm seriously over the moon with this!  I've always wanted a Land camera, and I've been tempted a few times to buy some off eBay.  I'm glad I didn't, this little wonder was only $10.  And you know what else?

It had film in it!!  The film obviously didn't work, as you can tell by the black photo above.  Still, that was rather exciting for me.  I'm now on the search for SX-70 film.  Back to eBay I go.

Believe it or not, as I'm typing this I'm still congested.  It's the strangest thing.  I've been thrifting most of my life and I've never gotten sick from something 2nd hand.  This completely knocked me out of whack.  I actually brought the jacket out to my grandparent's to have my grandma take a look at it (she knows everything, fyi ;).  With my luck with it was probably crack or something stinking up the jacket.  Turns out whoever owned it before used some weird cleaner on the leather, and that's what gave it the weird smell.  Well...that's lame.  We managed to get rid of the stink by throwing it in the dryer with a few fragrance sheets and setting the dryer to "air dry."  Worked like a charm.

Today I let my little man play with the "new" camera.  He loves it when I let him even near my cameras...his eyes light up and he begins to yell "Canna, canna!" like a broken record.  I hope he'll grow up with an appreciation for photography.  Let's all cross our fingers, shall we?

What is the best thing you've ever thrifted?  If you have a blog post, link me!  I absolutely love thrifting...it's like a treasure hunt every time.

Later gators!

~E

PS...I wouldn't normally do this, but...I can't comment on some blogs, including the awesome Steven Andrew.  Steven, I hope you see this!  (check out his blog if you haven't yet...he did a tutorial on how to make animated GIFs using a scene with Eric Northman in True Blood.  DROOL.)  Has anyone else noticed this problem with Blogger lately too??  :(

More Photos? WTF?

So, I brought my Diana Mini on our road trip.  Perfect size too, it looks great hanging from a car rear view mirror (for any of you with wanderlust and a car out there, take note.)  

Just when you thought I was done posting vacation photos...BAM!  It. Never. ENDS. (It does, really!  I swear.)

If you've been debating getting a Diana Mini and you're not sure, take my advice: Just buy it already.  Sheesh.  It's awesome and adorable and delightful and all those other things.  I love mine a lot.

So, without further ado...more distraction from your tasks!

We found these creepy abandoned homes on the way to our camp in Hope.  Cue banjo music.

Right beside said creepy houses was a lovely mountain river.  Ah, living the dream.

The gate at Jen's.

Back in Hellberta!

Okay, I'm done posting vacation photos.  Tomorrow I'll share a thrifted find that I'm deeply in love with.

Later gators!

~E