Happy Halloween 2021: Yer Ghost Stories

A few years back I was rushed to the hospital because I had a very bad allergic reaction to medication.

I was admitted overnight for observation and was hooked up to some IVs. While I was sleeping, I rolled over and my dad was sitting there reading the newspaper. He told me to “go back to bed, everything would be OK”, so that is what I did.

When I woke up in the morning I looked over where he was sitting and I saw the newspaper folded on the table.

My dad passed away in 1996… years prior… He, obviously, was watching over me that night and came back to visit.

- Lisa

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A couple of weeks ago, my two year old kept saying “Papa! Papa!” while pointing to the corner of her room.

I let it go as my father in law had just come for a visit. Later, while I was rocking her to sleep with the lights off, she pointed to the corner again and said, “Hi Papa”, then she smiles and says, “Papa hiding!” At this point, I felt a breeze of cold on my arm and a sudden chill.

I decided to show her some pictures.

A picture of my father-in-law: no reaction. A picture of my grandfather: no reaction. A picture of my step-dad: no reaction. Then I showed her a picture of my biological father and she said, “Papa! Mommy’s daddy!”

I never refer to my biological dad. Ever. My kids know my step-dad as my dad. My biological dad passed in 1996.

To say the least, I bought white sage and am going to smudge the house.

- Heather

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I was 11 years old when grandfather passed. About  2 weeks after his death, my father kept asking me who I was talking to. I answered, “Gug”, but dad says, “He passed away”. I said, “I know!”

What happened was, I woke up ‘cause there was a weight on my feet and there was my Gug! Sitting on the end of bed! So I said “Hi Gug”, and he said “Hi Karl. Don't be scared, I'm in a good place and doing fine. Don't worry, you will  be here with me later”, and you know what? I think I will be with my Gug again, but not for a while I hope. I'm 62 and I will see my Gug again!

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My mom loved tulips. Adored them. Especially the red ones. But she would only look at them in magazines or on other’s properties as she would joke she “couldn’t take care of flowers to save her life.” So she never planted anything.

She passed away on sept 1,2001. On sept 11th there were the attacks on the world trade center.

I was still at her house sorting out her things and I really needed to get some air with everything happening. I went outside into her backyard and in the corner, by the cedars, was a big beautiful red tulip.

Freaked me out. But then made me smile.

- Mike

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When I was twelve years old, me and a bunch of girls played Ouija board. We ask for signs and the typical stuff! I was sitting with the bay window behind me and when I asked for my dead grandpa to give us a sign that bay window exploded behind me! He was an alcoholic and many years ago, on a drunken night, he broke the bay window in my dad’s childhood house! Never EVER played that game again!

 - Marie

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My mom used to work at this boutique in Mexico that was owned by a cousin. I used to drop by and help move things, and do things for my Mom that she couldn’t do. I came in one time and just before going to lunch, my Mom said, “There’s this one door at the back of the store that I cannot open, I was told to put extra boxes there; can you help?” So we go to the back and there’s the door, behind another door. So, I give the knob a twist and… it opens!

I said, “What are you taking about? It was unlocked!“

We open the door and find this room, which looked more like a corridor, and it’s really really long. Me being me, I want to go see how long it is. We start down the corridor and it goes on and on... We stop after a minute walking and turn around and the door where we came in looks really, really small, so we decided to head back. Fast. And, finally, we get out.

After that experience, I decided that that corridor seemed too long. I’m wondering if it’s even possible. So we go outside the building and count steps along the block to the street behind and determine it’s around 175 steps or so to the end of the street.

Armed with this new info, we go back inside and this time, with a flashlight just in case, we start walking into this corridor. We count up to 200 steps… and there’s more… that’s when we stop and literally run back to the entrance door and close it.  

We still talk about it in our family. As for the door? The next day we summoned up some courage and decide we are walking to the end! Well, we could never open that door again and the landlord had no interest in investigating saying, “it didn’t matter because it was not part of the rented premises.”

I still get goosebumps thinking about it, and still look at old building entrances with apprehension.

- Pepe

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About twenty three years ago I decided to go on a little trip across Canada with my best friend at the time. We were eighteen and had no plans but to hang out and party for a month straight. 

We stayed at my friend's father's house which was in the middle of nowhere Alberta and very old . 

My friends grandmother (at the time) was quite ill and my friend Mike was sad and worried that something bad would happen. On my third night there I decided to go to sleep before Mike. He was still in the living the room listening to the radio .

 You know that point when you start to fall asleep and you’re kinda awake but kinda dreaming at the same time? Well, I was about there when I heard a strange voice say, "Don't worry Mike, she will be ok." I passed it off as my brain just running wild, until a second later… Mike came bolting into my room asking me, “Did you just hear that? Did you hear somebody tell me she was going to be ok? That came from the speakers!!!"

I sat up and realized that I was not dreaming. We both heard the same thing.

Needless to say, we were freaked out and we ended up crashing at the camp up the road. The next day, we spoke to Mike's dad and kinda mentioned what had happened and he said that most people who have slept there have had something odd happen. 

The only other thing that happened to us while there was not half as scary but odd non the less. We could stay in  the house for days straight and nothing would happen but the second we both left, we would always come back to all the breakers tripped in the fuse box. If we left together ten times in one hour, we would have to reset the breakers ten times. If we stayed in and didn't leave, there was never an issue. 

I am not a true believer in this stuff but I can't explain it. Never happened before the trip and in the twenty years since, I have not seen anything else like it… that I could not explain.

- John

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I had been working at a local community hockey rink; working hard shoveling and flooding the ice.
I was in the washroom and had just finished washing my hands. I had literally just turned off the water in the sink and still had my hands on the hot and cold water taps when the hand dryer behind me turned on.
Every hair on my body stood up with fear. I was covered in goosebumps.
This was an air dryer that you had to push the knob for it to work. My hands were still wet and in the sink.
Frozen, I said a loud "Thank you!" turned around and dried my hands.
That was a little frightening.

- Ben

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We had just moved into a new house when my daughter was two and we were shopping in a store that gave out free samples. The sample lady told us that,

“Your daughter can see things. She can see THEM. If they bother you, tell them to Go Away".

Weird, right? So we left the store.

A couple nights later, I wake up at around 2 AM because I’d heard something. Turns out it was my daughter walking down the hallway (she just graduated out of the crib into the bigger bed).

I follow her down the hallway, say her name and she turns to look at me. I noticed that she looks totally out of it; eyes wide open, but not really looking at me and she says, in the creepiest voice I've ever heard,

"This child should not be here."

At this point I am obviously freaking out. I walk over to her, pick her up and bring her back to her room, put her in bed, turn around to leave and find that her door is closed behind me.

I walk over to the door and grab the handle when I hear this blood curdling scream coming from behind me. I turn around and my daughter is sitting up in her bed screaming and pointing at the door. I go over to console her for a few minutes and she finally calms down and I go back to bed.

When I get back to bed, my wife asked “What's going on?” I explain everything and she says, “Yeah, I heard a bunch of noise and I have to work in the morning so I came and closed the door behind you.”

Scared the living hell out of me. Only reasonable explanation is that my daughter was sleepwalking or, at least, I hope she was sleepwalking.

- Jaret

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ANONYMOUS TEXTER: “I don't know if this is much of a ghost story. But when I was a child I was playing with a first choice play set. I remember so clearly, I was sitting down and look at the wall and my shadow stood up and waved at me. I freaked out and went to my parents but got shrugged off. I'll never forget that day.”

Ghost Stories 2021

Do you have a ghost story you’d like to share? As in previous years, I will be putting together a collection of true stories (as experienced by you) for the upcoming Halloween weekend.

If you have one to share, please comment below or send it to me via e-mail.

If you have a ghost story, please send it to me! It’s part of a Halloween thing I’m putting together. 👻 Amy@CHEZ106.com pic.twitter.com/2HWwXzB5M8

— Amy Volume (@amyvolume) October 13, 2021

Risky Business

Autoimmune diseases turn our bodies into self-destructive machines. It’s exhausting, having an immune system in overdrive FIGHTING ITSELF. I take medicine to stop the fight which lowers my ability to properly defend myself against actual threats: viruses, infections, etc.

If you have someone like me in your life and you want to keep them safe, you need to get vaccinated. If you don’t want to, stay away. I can only speak for myself when I say: If you aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19, I will actively avoid you.

You choose what you do with your body. I’ve been sick my whole life & it’s my choice to avoid a virus that would kill me. Thank you to all who’ve gotten the shot to keep people like me safe.

I spent 3 weeks in isolation at CHEO when I caught the chicken pox.

My immune system cannot defend itself because it’s suppressed. If it’s not suppressed, it will destroy all tissue (organs, bones, blood).

If you choose to not get vaccinated also choose to stay away from me.

What I’ve said might upset you. Heck, maybe you WANT to harm me/others. Maybe you don’t believe me and have your mind made up. If these tweets reach anyone whose uncertain about the shot: Please consider the young ones who have a hard enough time surviving.

Talk to your doctor or local public health nurse if you are hesitant. Make your own decision, for sure. Attempt empathy for others without immune systems. We exist. From small to tall.

Always do what’s right for you.

Everyone’s lived their own life & had their own experiences which help to form individual, personal opinions.

Having a different opinion is OK. Purposefully hurting others physically, verbally or spiritually because of an opinion is not OK.

Life’s all about risk; the ones you are and aren’t willing to take.

It’s been a calculated journey for me & my experiences have brought me to support vaccinations.

Your journey may be different.

I am hopeful that one day we can all be buds again, safely.

Windmill Cottage

The sun is setting on our third (!!!) year hosting guests at the family cottage. It’s been a pretty great experience overall. Most importantly, the bills are being paid which is the whole point. When you think of spending time at a cottage you don’t own, it can be easy to take advantage. It’s innocent enough, right? You’re on holiday! Becoming the official owners of the cabin (which was originally bought by my granny in 1975, then my uncle in the early(ish) 2000s) has taught me some things:

• Hydro bills come every three months.

• Monthly mortgage payments (it’s a second home).

• Monthly tax bills.

• Garbage disposal is not free; you take it to the dump yourself.

• Wood costs between $300-600 annually.

• Road repair cost $1,000 this season.

• New electric fireplace + removal of old wood burning insert cost over $2,000.

This doesn’t cover the supplies provided, propane, upgrades/repairs/general maintenance and what I pay per turn-over (when a guest leaves, the place gets cleaned and ‘reset’ by my parents or by me). Maybe one day when the finances are right, we won’t have to rent it out anymore. We’re pretty lucky, though. We’ve got a good group of repeat guests who respect the property and ‘leave it how they found it’. Strangers have become friends, while still remaining strangers… if that makes sense.

I’ve increased the nightly rate for 2022 as we’ve applied for Starlink highspeed internet. We haven’t received the hardware yet but got an ETA of ‘mid to late 2021’ and the latter is approaching. It’ll cost around $130 monthly. With our current cellular ‘mobile hotspot’ internet, I’m billed anywhere from $850-1,000 per month. This is why we don’t offer the WiFi to guests at the lake. It’s also why we can’t wait to get Starlink up and running.

I’ll be at the lake later this month for some solo time during which I should have the opportunity to take some updated photos. Until then, you can follow our cottage on Instagram: @WindmillCottage and browse through the history, rules, rates and more at: WindmillCottage.ca or by clicking the Cabin Rental text at the top of this page. If you’re reading this on mobile, click the + at the top right of your screen.

I’ve been working on updating the website to ensure that there’s enough information available to guests (new and returning). I’ve been fortunate enough to have nearly booked all of 2022’s vacancies and several new guests are friends! Thank you, you know who you are, for choosing my special place for your holiday!

That brings me to my next point: I’m so not a ‘businesswoman’. I hate sales. I hate talking about money. I hate TAKING people’s money, too. Especially when it’s friends or family. I’ve really had to put it in perspective: if I want to keep this cottage (and I do) then I have to charge a set rate and stick to it. I also have to enforce some basic ground rules for all guests. There are only four biggies:

1. No pets. My daughter and I are allergic and we’re here a lot.

2. No parties. Don’t be super loud from 11PM-8AM.

3. No smoking inside the cabin. Smoke outside all you like, just be responsible with butts.

4 No burning during a Total Fire Ban. Because forest fires, duh.

I’m not a super huge fan of picking up roaches. Haven’t had any issues with cigarette buts but damn, the roaches are real. Roaches, btw, are essentially the butts of rolled tobacco or marijuana. It’s been in your mouth and now I get the pleasure of touching it! Yum! We’ve had some people have outdoor fires during bans, too. If you get caught doing that, the fine is hefty let alone the absolute risk of sparking a forest fire. We installed a security camera to monitor the firepit for that reason.

I think the worst experience I’ve had hosting was in the first season. Took on a stranger from AirBnB who rented the place to ‘unwind’ with some of his work colleagues. It’s a remote cabin in the woods with no internet, far away from the city. It’s not a party place but they managed to blast music so loud, so late into the night that not only did they wake the neighbours resulting in a (minor) confrontation but they also blew my soundbar. Funny enough, the neighbour who ask the guest to turn it down is good friends with that guest’s boss. Maybe one day karma will be served? I don’t know. That group also broke a bunch of stuff, left behind four XL garbage bags FULL of trash (they were there for two nights), left the garbage cans full inside with used tissues all over, stained my couch, smoked inside and left ash all over. There was also trash along our shoreline and food mushed into one of the kayaks.

Absolute bummer but a lesson learned, I guess. That person gave me a bad review/rating on AirBnB which was one of the many reasons I’m moving away from that platform. They did have my back though in recouping some funds to help cover the damage. The bad reviews are permanent, though. So that’s neat!

We are pretty exclusive with who we rent to now and even more private about it. I don’t accept bookings right away from strangers and offer previous guests the option to book in advance. It doesn’t mean I won’t get burned again. People have very different ideas as to how a rental cottage should be treated; if they’re paying me to be there or not. I always try to instill the mantra that ‘this is my second home. This is not a hotel.’ Most people are respectful, tidy and take good care of the place. The one’s that don’t won’t be coming back.

If you have any questions for me as a host, cottage owner or whatever, please ask away! Don’t be shy! Renting is absolutely worth the the stress and anxiety. I do honestly enjoy sharing my family cottage with people who help me take care of it. If I can’t be there, why not?

Renfrew Children in Need of Play Structure

I was contacted through my work’s facebook page by a concerned citizen from the valley. Being from the valley and having gone (very briefly) to school in Renfrew, Ontario, I immediately took interest in what this person had to say.

“Hey, just wondering if you can make a post or something to help my Kids school get a play structure.. the old one was deemed unsafe and with COVID they did not allow us to fundraise so now we are scrambling as they decided to tear it out and replace it with a mound of dirt... can you Help spread the word. Here is a go fund me page for it.”

Essentially, this public school which teaches students from Junior Kindergarten up to Grade 6 is currently without any sort of play structure for ANY of it’s students. How can this be? I am all for the safety and wellbeing of our kids and if the district deems something ‘unsafe’ then demolish it. There should be a replacement plan ready to go to ensure that kids have SOMETHING to make their recess time special.

Being a radio host living in Ottawa now, I am obviously not an expert in the ‘playground structure & safety’ world but I would like to learn more. Ultimately, I would like to see the children have a new structure at Central Public School by the time school starts in September.

Growing up in a small rural town, I can tell you that these playgrounds aren’t just for school time. I used to enjoy the one at Beachburg Public on evenings and weekends with my family and friends, too. Those are long gone but at least there is something shiny and new in their place.