The way things have been this week I’m going to consult the wise and witty Little Brown Dog in her astrology mode to see if pesky planet Mercury is misbehaving again. Now one of the ‘rules’ of story-telling is the rule of three, you know the one. The eldest princess sets out to save the people and comes to grief in the deep, dark woods. The middle princess sets off and has such a good time she forgets about the people. And so it’s left to the plucky youngest princess to do the decent thing, complete the trial and save the people. (As the member of the family most likely to come to grief, I used to get rather fed up on behalf of the eldest princess).
Lately, life has been a fairy tale in many ways, but it’s also true to say this week has thrown up its share of frustrations. Monday saw me slaving over hot edits only to find that some naughty hand in cyberspace had performed some evil trickery which meant that I was busily editing the wrong version. Eeek! At the same time I was also trying to send a photo to the nice man at Fantastic Fiction who was kindly creating an author page for me. Nothing I did seemed to make the photo load properly. For a while I concluded that their system was taking fright at the sight of me, but I seem to be there at last, albeit in a rather kindly soft focus. My third trial with technology came yesterday, trying to send off one of the last big pieces of work for my OU diploma which, of course, took me three attempts. Grrr!
We also, it appears, have three potential buyers for the house, although they have properties to sell. I ought to be excited that things seem to be happening, but in the meantime I’m having trouble finding somewhere I would like to move to. Our initial hopes of finding ‘something remote’ seemed to have been well and truly dashed. Either someone else has pipped us to the post or there’s planning permission which will place the ‘remote’ property slap bang in the middle of a housing estate.
So it was with great excitement that we noticed a new to the market, uninhabited and astonishingly cheap property on a good-size plot. Although it was dark, we immediately set off to find it. After a bit of a hunt we located an unlit and uninviting tree-shrouded track.
‘Looks a bit creepy’ I suggested.
‘Nonsense!’ said Tom. ‘It’ll look completely different in the daylight.’
The next day we arranged to meet the estate agent at the property. Whilst we were waiting we explored the outside. The front of the house, bathed in sunshine, did indeed look very different, although it seemed to me that the back of the house was particularly cold. Then I noticed an alcove in the stone wall containing a statue. At first I thought it was just a bit of whimsy, but looking closely it appeared to be some sort of shrine and at the foot of the statue were offerings; a few silver coins and a silver earring. I didn’t think anymore about it until the estate agent arrived. She unlocked and went ahead of us turning on lights, but returned visibly shaken. No, there was nothing to see, but I knew within seconds of setting foot in the place that I could never live there. As the eldest princess, I have to be particularly wary of the deep, dark woods and that was one house I never wanted to see again!
Image is 'Welsh Landscape' by Tom Tomos
Comments
That house sounded so spooky, and I wonder who left the silver etc.
Good luck with finding somewhere to buy, especially now that you have three people interested in your house.
There are some lovely houses for sale here and it's VERY remote...(Outer Hebs!)
Lovely paintings.
Karen - I don't want to put other people off!
HAH... would love to say a bit more and shed more light on what you have said.
Jane, I just daren't - it would be too easy to identify the house.
Ah Debs,you are always so kind about Tom's work. I couldn't believe the items left at the 'shrine' - someone was paying good money to keep 'something' at bay.
Bradan, move over... we might take you up on that, except I would miss my girlies too much.
Ciat, I'm not one for vibes usually but that's a house I wanted to leave as soon as poss!
And thanks!
I'm probably condensing and paraphrasing a good bit - and Jane if you read this by any chance I beg forgiveness - but I think I have the approximate gist correct and so what I am saying is perhaps you needn't be frightened at all because here is a house with an active spirit that will work for you if only you just get it on your side which you can do simply with the bricks and mortar equivalent of a Mars Bar or bunch of carnations.
Think of it as a sad wallhouse at the dance of estate agents, - constantly rejected - a Cinderella house, but just waiting for a Princess (like you) to hack her way up the overgrown Mandalay drive, banish the soul of Mrs Danvers (you could try burying - tastefully of course - the little statue) and then getting down to work as the literary soul of Pembrokeshire with the house singing your praises in the background and providing you with 101 plot ideas as indeed (I think you will find) it has already provided you with the first as a down payment of its good intentions.
Another fan of Tom's painting here.
I am another who always tries to keep an eye on old Mercury.
It's good reading that your techno setbacks finally got resolved.
The house story is an intriguing one. I would want to ask the estate agent more about the property, or try to find some distant neighbors who wanted to perhaps tell tales.
Please let Tom know that I do like this post's picture. It seems to me that he is working in a different way, and new colors are turning up.
xo
Am so flattered to be consulted on the subject of Mercury,(though from memory, it doesn't start to go back'ards again until about the 18th April), and may have to send you a proper astrological appraisal of What Is Going On once I have unearthed my ephemeris. In the meantime, though, I may just have to a sneak a peek into my crystal ball...
As an ekdest princess, too, I have learend to be wary of things like shrines, drafts, mouse holes and signs of habitation other than human.
The perfect place is out there, just waiting for you to find it!
Elizabeth - it's communting distance back to Aged Ps now that has to be taken into consideration. Hope we find something.
FP, yes, I can take a hint if a house is sending out those vibes. Is your printer behaving now?
Fennie - that's a fascinating comment, but I don't care how unloved that house feels I won't be the one trying to coax it back to happiness! It's too berludy scary!
I do hope our house is out there, Mountainear, but at the moment I think I've jumped through all the hoops and still can't find it :(
Frances, goood to hear from you - and how is your house decorating going. We didn't get much from the agent except that the family had gone - but we could see that. Def more than met the eye, but I don't feel like following it up. Yes, these are Tom's digital experiments - thanks for your thoughts.
LBD, so kind of you to consult the stars for me... I'm glad they didn't tell me the spooky house was destined to be mine! I'm not sure a dog would have stayed in the building!
SBS, Gosh! I hadn't even thought of that. If it wasn't bad enough having spooks in the house I'd certainly get tired of all sorts of shenanigans at the shrine!
Pondside - absolutely! I have enough invited guests so could do without all the univited ones!
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