Or goats? There's a joke in there, but it's not for polite company. But about ghosts, I live in a very old house. How old? Well I don't really know, but it was built without any nails or other metal or concrete. Field stone foundation, post & beam construction where the hand hewn timbers are joined by hand cut mortise & tenon joints, locked in place with hand carved tapered hardwood dowels. I think it's safe to say it predates the Civil War, maybe even goes back to the Revolutionary war. Additionally, this area has a lot of history. British war ships landed about two miles from here. There are instances of British troops pulling some residents out of their homes & hanging them in their own front yards. Bloody battles were fault near here, George Washington, Lafayette, & others routinely traveled the main rd about a mile from here.
Anyway, if you do believe in ghosts, I don't BTW, there is plenty here to stir your imagination. This old house, like most others, sometimes makes very strange noises. One recurring sound (a half dozen times over 15 years) is a very loud boom that you only hear in my living room. It sounds like someone on the other side of the wall was standing on a chair or stepladder that fell over & they hit the wall hard. Funny thing is, people in the room on the other side hear nothing.
So anyway, a couple weeks ago we picked up a new sound on the other end of the house. People sitting on the porch came running in to see what was wrong. It sounded like someone beating on the wall with their fists. We heard nothing. This was repeated a couple more times & the guys on the porch thought I was messing with them. The last time two looked in the windows while a third came inside. My wife was in the kitchen, I was in the living room watching the baby. They said it sounded like someone trying to tear the wall down & their eyes were wide as saucers. We had heard nothing.
I know this is getting long winded, but it's worth the wait.
So a few days later my wife was outside using a net to scoop bugs out of the baby's wading pool when she heard the noise. She tapped the net against the porch to dislodge the bugs & it tapped back. Taptap pause taptap. Taptap pause taptap. She quietly walked up on the porch & it was much louder. Sounded like someone beating a drum. Or beating on the wall with their fists.
After some investigation, mystery solved.
A couple years ago I had to get under that end of the house to fix some plumbing. I cut an access hole through the porch floor then through the house foundation. When I was done I hung a Styrofoam board over the hole to stop the wind. It was easier than using plywood & when I needed in there again I could easily cut it with a knife. A chicken had gotten under the porch & found some ants crawling on that foam board. When she pecked at the ants the rigid foam acted like an amplifier. Peck Peck turned into BOOM BOOM. Aren't chickens fun.
Anyway, if you do believe in ghosts, I don't BTW, there is plenty here to stir your imagination. This old house, like most others, sometimes makes very strange noises. One recurring sound (a half dozen times over 15 years) is a very loud boom that you only hear in my living room. It sounds like someone on the other side of the wall was standing on a chair or stepladder that fell over & they hit the wall hard. Funny thing is, people in the room on the other side hear nothing.
So anyway, a couple weeks ago we picked up a new sound on the other end of the house. People sitting on the porch came running in to see what was wrong. It sounded like someone beating on the wall with their fists. We heard nothing. This was repeated a couple more times & the guys on the porch thought I was messing with them. The last time two looked in the windows while a third came inside. My wife was in the kitchen, I was in the living room watching the baby. They said it sounded like someone trying to tear the wall down & their eyes were wide as saucers. We had heard nothing.
I know this is getting long winded, but it's worth the wait.
So a few days later my wife was outside using a net to scoop bugs out of the baby's wading pool when she heard the noise. She tapped the net against the porch to dislodge the bugs & it tapped back. Taptap pause taptap. Taptap pause taptap. She quietly walked up on the porch & it was much louder. Sounded like someone beating a drum. Or beating on the wall with their fists.
After some investigation, mystery solved.
A couple years ago I had to get under that end of the house to fix some plumbing. I cut an access hole through the porch floor then through the house foundation. When I was done I hung a Styrofoam board over the hole to stop the wind. It was easier than using plywood & when I needed in there again I could easily cut it with a knife. A chicken had gotten under the porch & found some ants crawling on that foam board. When she pecked at the ants the rigid foam acted like an amplifier. Peck Peck turned into BOOM BOOM. Aren't chickens fun.
