A Ghostly Coincidence.

When we were travelling back through France from our holiday my husband reached into our box of CDs and plucked one without looking to put in the player in the car.It turned out to be a Horrible Histories CD about the First World War.

As we drove along we listened to the story of the war and we realised that we were driving through the fields of the Somme as the narrator talked of the battles that took place there.

I always feel a heaviness when we drive through that area and I always feel that we are there before we see the sign. On the CD the man began to tell a ghost story of an officer who allegedly came back in spirit form to rescue his men. As the narrator told us that this story happened in a little place called Albert, at the exact moment that he said the word 'Albert' do you know which exit from the motorway we passed? Yep ... Albert.

Now, in a ten hour journey when you have been driving for 5 hours already and you chose your CD randomly ... that's one heck of a coincidence!

A week of spooky happiness.

I have had a good week this week, complete with spookiness, friendliness and success. I have tidied my house and this in turn inspired my lovely husband to follow suit. The houses is neat, tidy, clean and uncluttered. We have, as a family, decided to put things away when we have used them and to keep everything looking as neat as possible.

At work all is lovely and I even had a spooky moment! I was in a room with a colleague when she went to leave. She reached for the door knob, but before she could touch it it was opened from the other side of the door. I saw the handle go down and she moved away from the door to let the person in .... only there was nobody there. After a second or two she opened the door and the corridor was empty.We just looked at each other...

Something happened today at work which was lovely. I was due to be there until the end of the day when news came through that my son's cross country competition was starting earlier than planned. My immediate thought was that I would have to sort out a lift for him and miss his race, but my colleagues leapt straight in before I could say anything. They offered to cover for me so I could leave early. How kind is that? I was so touched by the way they wouldn't hear of me missing his race. Lovely.

And the success? Well, that came in the form of my son. He ran in a cross country race and ran a blinder. Absolutely fantastic to see him both enjoying the run and doing so well. He was thrilled too as he and his team  did brilliantly.My throat is sore from shouting him and his team mates on and I am sitting here feeling relaxed and happy.

So... maybe my week is not the stuff of film scripts and thrillers, but it suited me fine!

A spooky tale of turtles and tears...

Have you ever had anything a little odd happen to you? Anything a little... spooky? I am not a fan of ghosty tv shows or visits to mediums. That kind of thing scares me a little. Well.... when I say a little, I mean a lot.But at the same time it fascinates me. Spooky things have happened to me..... 

I suppose that when I say spooky things have happened to me I should explain... I am not claiming here to be the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter.If you are a solid, sensible minded person you will probably be able to explain away what I am going to tell you. I myself look back and find myself doubting my belief in what happened. But it did happen and at the time it touched me in a way that now seems a bit mad.

I was in Australia, on a boat on the Great Barrier Reef. My Man and I were two months into a back packing trip around the world. We had saved up, left our jobs in casinos and set off to travel for a year. From Cairns we booked a diving course and set off with about ten other people to live for five days on the boat.It was beautiful. Blue skies, crystal seas. We were incredibly happy and enjoying life.

And then, for no reason, on the fourth day I woke up and could not stop crying.There was no rhyme or reason to it. I was a mess. We were supposed to do our compass dive and I totally blew it. I panicked, cried and just could not dive. I was in danger of failing the whole course. One of the dive masters offered to take me for a recreational dive - no pressure, just pleasure. I decided to do it and eventually managed to get down and swim amongst the coral and the beautiful sealife.

As I was down there I started to feel calmer and calmer and all of a sudden the dive master pointed out into the distance. There, swimming towards us, was a turtle. It gracefully glided through the blueness and spent some time just floating around us - back and forth, instilling peace and tranquillity.None of us had seen a turtle before and the experience was so special. It didn't make me cry - it just filled me with a strength that came from nowhere, a calmness that filled my soul. It made me think of my grandad for some reason.

When I came up from the dive I was a different person. I did my compass dive and passed my PADI. That dive and that turtle turned me around.

I thought no more about it until we came back to shore a couple of days later. Waiting at our hostel was a message from home. My grandad had died.He died the day of the tears and the turtle.I had had no idea that he was ill. No idea that he would die.For me the explanation for my tears had arrived and I felt that my grandad's spirit had visited me when I needed him.