The Hallway

Back in late November I decided that I was going to take a photo of Max (my dog) and use the photo as the basis of a Christmas card. I have done it in the past, and used the photo of the dog to give to my girlfriend, which she has loved, so this year my thoughts were no different.

I had positioned Max at the end of the hallway, and myself and the camera at the other end of the hallway. Sadly as I was about to find out, it was a complete waste of time. I think all in all I took around about 40 photos of Max at the end of the hallway, and he just wouldn't sit still and kept walking around, and walking out of shot.

Well when I came to review the photos, all but one of them were blurred beyond use. Everything either side of this one photo failed to come out at all.

So here is the photo in question, which I accidentally took as the dog walked away.

Now as some of you will be able to see, there is a light on to the side of the hallway, and this is a low 40w energy saving bulb, but it could explain what is going on at the top of the image. But midway down on the right is a funny circular shaped orb. Now this could just be a reflection, but it wasn't on any of the other photos taken before or after this one image.

The only adjustments I have made in Photoshop was a tone adjustment, and nothing else.

 

I have added an arrow to point out the orb.

The Kitchen

So picture the scene, my computer room is on the far side of the house, and to be honest it's where I spend most of my time working, the kitchen is actually on the far corner of the house, but on more than one occasion I have been working at my computer only to hear something in the kitchen.

The first time I was doing some work when I heard the sound of plates and cups clattering, I thought my girlfriend had returned home from work and was making a snack or cup of tea. So I got up and walked off to the kitchen, only to enter it, turn the corner, and nothing or nobody was there. Max (Our dog) was still in the front room on the sofa and hadn't joined me to see what the noise was. So I unlocked the kitchen door and took a quick look outside to see if my girlfriend had actually gone back to her car to unload it or something, but nothing. At the time I put it down to a plate slipping, or noise from the house next door, although there house isn't joined to mine and to clarify my neighbor is actually some distance away from my house.

The second time something happened again I was doing some work in the computer room, and I heard the sound of plates and cups being moved. So again I got up and began to walk to the kitchen, only to be greeted with the smell of bacon, cheese and toast in the hallway. Before I had even entered into the dinning room (which I have to walk through to enter the kitchen) I was SO convinced my girlfriend was fixing a snack I actually said "You jammy bastard making a bacon sandwich", at which point I turned and entered the kitchen only to be greeted by nobody. The kitchen door was locked and again Max the dog hadn't bothered to join me in my adventure.

So I went and made sure all the windows were shut and again I put my head outside to see if I could smell cooking outside, and nothing. This annoyed me, but more for the fact that I could smell bacon in the house and it made me hungry, and as crazy as it seems and looking back, it's strange how you dismiss things so quickly and just move on.

The third time was a little more sinister and harder to explain, but again I was working away in my computer room, and I just started to feel really uncomfortable, almost a sense of guilt, like I was doing something wrong and was being watched or looked over. But I wasn't actually doing anything I shouldn't of been doing, so I basically shrugged my shoulders and carried on editing some car photos.

Well the feeling became stronger and stronger, and it was almost as if my vision was being reduced, and a blackening border had been wrapped around my field of vision, along side of this, the feeling of someone leaning on my shoulders was becoming beyond tolerable. So I actually stood up, and again shrugged my shoulders, and walked off to my bathroom. Whilst I was stood having a pee I kind of realized that something wasn't right, but said to myself that I wasn't going to be bothered and in fact had to finish these photos off.

So I had only been back in the room for a matter of moments when the feeling started again, this time I actually said "I have no time for this sh#t" at which point I heard an almighty crash coming from the kitchen, I actually ran there to see what had happened.

Upon entering the kitchen I was greeted by an over turned laundry basket and the contents of which was apples from the garden were all over the floor. 

These are the apple baskets in question, it was the blue one that was placed near the blue bin in my kitchen that turned over spilling it's contents. At this point I actually said to myself and the dog "Seems we aren't alone buddy".

The Cupboard

So after living here for a few months one morning I woke up early and headed off to my shower room to take my morning shower, only to turn the corner and find that one of the cupboard units was open, and the contents (mainly towels) had fallen onto the floor. Well nothing unusual in that you say, and at the time I was blind to the fact that the weight of what was inside couldn't of opened the door, and the reason I say that is because :

1. The contents weren't actually that much.
2. The latch on the door opens upwards.
3. The door is actually difficult to open even by hand.

Yet looking back, I didn't think anything unusual had happened that night even though some of the tea towels had traveled some 4 feet away from the open door.

The Dog

So, our dog is called Max, and he is 6 years old (2013). His breed is a border collie, and we have had him since a very early age, actually from a couple of months if my memory serves me correctly. Well, when we moved in I anticipated him being a little put out as it was a major event in his life. So I had actually arrange to take 9 days off from work, to help with the unpacking but to also be here with Max, as he is my best buddy.

Well the first few days after moving in he walked around with me everywhere, he wanted to be with me 24/7, which again I didn't mind, and I thought that would be for the best.

After the first months had past he would get up in the middle of the night, and walk off down the hallway into the front room. The only reason I knew he was doing this was because my hallway has a wooden floor, so I would hear his feet tapping away as he walked. If he did wake me I would call him back to the bedroom at which point he would return and go back to sleep, but more than often I would be woken up at 2-3am by the sound of him playing with one of his many toys. Often I would walk down the hallway to find him in the main front room, with a toy in his mouth, at which point he would look at me with a guilty look and walk back with me to the main bedroom.

I thought to myself it was fine, as a dog wouldn't know it was the middle of the night, he would just go off and play when he became bored or lonely. But it didn't sit well in the back of my mind because having owned him for 6 years it was completely out of character.

On occasions he has walked off only to bark or growl, to which I would run and find him either stood up or sat there, but alone growling, again I didn't really think much of it due to the fact that I have seen cats in the garden, and even a fox along with a badger. So either he could smell them, or was sensing them being around.

The Beginning

So before I start to explain about what's going on at the moment in my life, I thought I would rewind a few months, well back to the summer of this year (2013). Basically for the last 12 years I had been living in the same house, but sadly due to the owners illness (the house was rented privately) they decided to put the property on the market and asked me to move out.

In some respects it was a blessing in disguise and my initial thoughts were of a new beginning and a fresh start somewhere new.

So in the summer I came to view this lovely property with the prospect of moving in very shortly afterwards. The house was very large, and came with gardens and a garage. It all seemed ideal, and just what I wanted and needed. So a deal was struck and the paper work was signed, and I slowly began to move in my personal belongings.

Apart from the dog being a little unsettled everything seemed fine, and by unsettled I meant that the dog would wander off on his own, and check out areas of the house at night time. But my girlfriend and myself were very happy, and thought that after a few weeks the dog would become happy with his new home and settle in along with us.

Welcome

You know I have to level with you all, this isn't really something I ever thought I would do, or want to do, but I feel I have to share with you the things that are happening around me, before I go crazy with it all.

Basically in the summer of 2013 I moved into a lovely Victorian house situated on the coast of Dorset. The house was everything I wished for, large gardens, in a quiet area, complete with garages, and plenty of space inside.

What I didn't count on was the fact that having moved here, well I don't really feel like I'm living here alone. So this is my blog accounting all of the things that have happened since I've been living here.

Welcome to my humble little blog X