FLORENCE BLUME THE GHOST , BAT AND MAGGIE, OSGOODE AND PUDDING

"I look around me, and, lo! On every visage, a black veil! Pleasant is a rainy winter's day, within doors! The best study for such a day, or the best amusement,---call it which you will,--- is a book... "

TWICE TOLD TALES

FLORENCE BLUME THE GHOST

A night enjoying Perry Mason and studying my painting

The pitter-pattering of the rain on the window pane had made Florence fall asleep. It only had been a minute, although it felt like hours to Florence.
Waking in a clouded daze, he found all four cats still in the Spirit room. Osgoode was climbing up his lap while Pudding snuggled under his chin. They had come for a sleepover with Bat and Maggie. Florence had promised them some spooky stories before bedtime. Unfortunately, the little kittens had given Florence such a workout he fell asleep during Perry Mason in The Case of The Wary Wildcatter" and missed the ending. Now Florence was awake, he couldn't wait to read them the stories. Bedtime would follow and Florence could catch the ending he missed.

CLOUDY DAZE 2023

VISITING THE ANCESTORS

 Florence and Bat went on a little trip to Genova, Italy, to visit Florence's family at Cimitero di Staglieno: one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. 

When I was little, my aunt Virgina brought me to a beautiful garden. I remember the air being hot, dry, and infused with the smell of pine. We wandered through a maze of mysterious sculptured figures and monuments so elaborate in intricate detail, so life-like, I was sure the people were alive under the dusty marble facades. We were visiting our ancestors. The garden was a cemetery, and it was gorgeous. Ghosts of the past are here in their final resting place. And what a beautiful place to be in death. Cimitero Monumental di Staglieno; haunting and so beautiful. I was never to forget it. 

Below is an excerpt of what the American writer Mark Twain said after visiting Staglieno :

 “Our last sight was the cemetery (a burial place intended to accommodate 60,000 bodies), and we shall continue to remember it after we shall have forgotten the palaces. It is a vast marble colonnaded corridor extending around a great unoccupied square of ground; its broad floor is marble, and on every slab is an inscription - for every slab covers a corpse. On either side, as one walks down the middle of the passage, are monuments, tombs, and sculptured figures that are exquisitely wrought and are full of grace and beauty. They are new and snowy; every outline is perfect, every feature guiltless of mutilation, flaw, or blemish; and therefore, to us these far-reaching ranks of bewitching forms are a hundred fold more lovely than the damaged and dingy statuary they have saved from the wreck of ancient art and set up in the galleries of Paris for the worship of the world." 

"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see." 

GENOA: Stunning sculptures 🏛️, Monumental Cemetery (Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno)

@batandmaggie @hauntedwalk @rideau_walkingtours @harpercollinsch@ottawabloggers #art #artgallery#ghost #bookstagram #book #booklover #catart #story #instagram #instagood#instadaily #insta #cimiteromonumentale#cimitero#cemetery #halloween #grave #beautiful #haunting

RUNNIN' DOWN A DREAM - BLACK CAT PRODUCTIONS 🐾🐾🐾 -

Black Cat Productions🐾🐾🐾 Spring fever has put a stop to creativity- for now. We need a break. Still Runnin' Down a Dream

"Runnin' Down A Dream"


It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was drivin'
Trees went by, me and Del were singin'
Little runaway
I was flyin'

Yeah, runnin' down a dream
That never would come to me
Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads
Runnin' down a dream

I felt so good, like anything was possible
Hit cruise control and rubbed my eyes
The last three days the rain was unstoppable
It was always cold, no sunshine

Yeah, runnin' down a dream
That never would come to me
Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads
Runnin' down a dream

I rolled on, the sky grew dark
I put the pedal down to make some time
There's something good waitin' down this road
I'm pickin' up whatever's mine

I'm runnin' down a dream
That never would come to me
Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads
Runnin' down a dream
Yeah, I'm runnin' down a dream
That never would come to me
Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads
I'm runnin' down a dream

TOM PETTY - RUNNIN' DOWN A DREAM

MY HAUNTED HEART

Becoming old isn't all bad. There are perks like spending your retirement years searching the beyond and wondering about your next life. 👀Will we have a home like here on earth with a willow tree and a pond? A pet or two, maybe a cat and a dog or more? Will the afterlife be the heaven God promised us? One day will have the answers.

BAT @batandmaggie

MAGGIE @batandmaggie

When I was very young, I was unaware of death. And when I did discover the sad truth about life ending one day, that we didn't live forever, the afterlife started haunting my heart. Since then, I've fallen in love with ghosts and cats, the living ones. Of course, books about ghosts/ cats are a favorite. Why not write one of our own? So, here is the next installment of our Ghost Book illustrations. 

Bat, Maggie, and their ghost are in their Victorian cottage hidden in the secret woods no one knows.


"Maybe, we do go home, finally " - Anne Rice


"Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see."

As I mentioned before, these paintings are almost complete. If I feel something I've missed in the process, I will return to it and add in hopefully, removing nothing else from the illustration. Editing not only the writing but the illustrations as well. Some may never make it into the book.




A mother/daughter Ghostly Adventure, writing together for the first time about their favorite subject, the supernatural.

♥️ Annabelle & M ♥️ 

© 2023

THE HALLOWEEN TREE

THE HALLOWEEN TREE

   A Song I discovered this morning

I love it!

Cemetery Trees - Valley of The Bears

and A Poem 

Teeny Tiny Ghost

A teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most,
lived in a great big house

It's hard to haunt
a great big house
when you're a teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most.

He did what he could do.

So every dark and stormy night
the kind that shakes the house with fright -
if you stood still and listened right,
you'd hear a
teen tiny

Boo!

Lilian Moore

 : )

 I finally got around to making a Christmas Tulle Tree, well not exactly, I made a Halloween Tulle Tree. Since I didn't have the supplies for the Christmas Tulle Tree I decided to make one for Halloween. There are many tutorials for Tulle Christmas Trees online and I decided on using THE HALLMARK CHANNEL - TULLE TREES tutorial.

I used a vintage metal pot I found at the Manse garage sale in Kemptville, a woodblock for the inside, drilled a hole for the tree trunk recycled from a paintbrush. To make the trunk straight I used coffee stir sticks jammed in the edges of the woodblock, no glue was needed except for the top of the tree to cover the top with tulle. The bat top is made of two bat stickers and of course, the sparkly tulle I used was from an old Halloween costume I cut up into 12 x 3 strips and decreased their length by an inch when I was halfway up the tree trunk. 

Maybe my next tree I will try making rosettes of varying sizes and see what that will look like. I do like this one with its very own little tree skirt. Too adorable!

HOME ALONE ... I SEE YOU 🙀

Emma set up a camera to watch what the cats do while we are away and when she called him he came to see where she was...no one there
Spooky🙀

We Found Halloween🎃

On our way home from soccer, last night
we found Halloween🎃
It was a dark and rainy Halloween this year but someone did some magic 🧙‍♀️🧹and gave us Halloween🎃👻🦇🕷🕸 

And I just have to share this🦇 Purrfect Spooky Halloween Photo of Bat taken by M. 🧙‍♀️
https://www.instagram.com/murtagh13/

A Mostly, Ghostly Night 🐺🐺🐺 🎃 👀

"Listen to them,
Children of the Night. 
What music they make."

~ Bela Lugosi  Dracula 1931


PHOTOS BY M www.instagram.com/murtagh13/

Inspired by an old flick from 1931, 'Dracula', starring without a doubt the best Dracula ever, Bela Lugosi. I have always loved his line about his pet wolves so I thought why not make 3 little scary cats afraid of Dracula and his furry kids. 


 ' A Mostly, Ghostly Night ' is a  Halloween painting done in acrylic & ink on a wood slice and features a clowder of three ghostly cats, Ghost, Spooks, and Boo @ The Castle By the Sea.

When Ghost, Spooks, and Boo are invited out to the Castle for the October Halloween Ball their plans quickly change when they realize just who lives in the Castle by The Sea.

*****

~ They could hear a strange and haunting melody carried across the sea only soon realizing the music was the sound of howling wolves and they knew that only one could be their keeper, Count Dracula. 

And so, they sat on the mooring posts wondering if wolves and the vampire hunted Ghost Cats.

And when I went to paint the driftwood mooring post for 'Ghost' the cat,  I remembered a scene from my very favorite Ghost Movie, "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" 1947. If you have seen the movie you know the scene I am referring to but if not, it is where 'Lucia's' daughter, 'Anna' played by Natalie Wood writes her name on the driftwood log. 

It is my name, after all, Anna. 

How could I not? Purrfect! 
I hope you like the painting and of course Bat.
Happy Halloween ~ 
🐺🐺🐺 🎃 👀 A Mostly, Ghostly Night 🐺🐺🐺 🎃 👀

Anna

A Ghostly Pumpkin Brioche of Roast Beef for Supper 🎃

M baked us some Pumpkin Bread 🎃

No, it's not Brioche but maybe I can convince her to bake Brioche Buns next time.

HAUNTED FOOD? This never happened before when M baked Pumpkin Bread.🎃 Paranormal activity? I think the yeast is haunted 👀😂

I think these 🎃Pumpkin Bread buns are simply scrumptious with leftover roast beef!

Oh, and Bat thought so too.

 🎃  A Purrrrrrfect Ghostly Pumpkin Brioche of Roast Beef!🎃 

THE SEA WITCH 1846, CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW AND LUCY THE SEA WITCH

I have a secret. I love being alone, once in a while.
And to some I may seem strange but that don't matter.
It is the creative solitude I seek; it feeds my soul.
A quiet space to read, and maybe go over “Gift From the Sea” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
To listen to music, create art and contemplate on life.
To be awake to my inner soul.

“ Solitude , says the moon shell.”
“ Like an island from the world and the world's life.”
Last year's mother daughter adventure to Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick was the perfect retreat to rejuvenate and we returned back home with many treasures, mostly of which were of profound memories and lessons learned.

So here is another little snippet of our hearth.

The Sea Witch 1846, Captain Jack Sparrow and Lucy the Sea Witch

I love the sea and I have collected many treasures from her over the years.
The treasures that I keep are plentiful and all that you see here were ounce lost and forgotten; some belonging to souls who crossed over to the great beyond. All but two were found at church sales, yard sales, thrift stores and the sea; finds of little monetary value, inexpensive and free.
The Sea Witch Doll and The Skull of Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow were Birthday gifts I received from my husband. Thanks, Stan❤️

The Moon Shell, although I'm not so sure it is, I like to think of it as such, sits under the treasure chests.

“It stares at me, this mysterious single eye - and I stare back. Now it is the moon, now the eye of a cat.”

The Sea Witch Clipper Ship I bought for only $4 dollars, is a replica of the American Clipper Ship used for China Trading back in 1846 and Lucy the Sea Witch was named after her.


Alone time is precious to me and I always get so much back creatively in return.

“Moon shell. You will sit there and fasten your single eye upon me. You will say to me, “solitude,” and you will remind me.” to find time to be still and listen to my soul, finding happiness within, the treasures of the heart. I hope you too, will find the time to do the same.

Tonight's Fairy Tale -The Little Witch who Captured the Moon

"At every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss " Paulo Coelho


Tonight's Fairy Tale -The Little Witch who Captured the Moon.

"SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME" 1984

“Somebody’s Watching Me “ “People say I’m crazy. Just a little touched. But maybe showers remind me of “Psycho” . Always loved this song by Rockwell and Micheal Jackson from 1984. So perfect for 🎃👀🎃 I saw this image on Pinterest so I made one for our haunted house👀

A SUMMER NIGHT IN OCTOBER WITH KNIGHT RIDER

A summer night in October arrived last Tuesday night, unexpected and without the bugs.
It was like summer had never left with a temperature of 27.3 degrees on October 9thand as the day passed slowly into evening the balmy air wooed us to go for an evening ride on the Triumph.
I think summer was teasing or maybe October was just playing a game of masquerade but no matter who was creating the night magic we weren't about to miss it.

There was no plan, we just escaped into the night.

Riding along the Rideau River up to Merrickville was like life had passed into a dream and I joked with Stan how the night ride made me think for a moment I was riding with Micheal Knight, The Knight Rider. Earlier in the day Stan had gotten another needle in the eye so I didn't think he was up for a ride but I was wrong and we took a shot in the dark ride with one headlight and one good eye : ) Without question the ride turned out to be the best ever taken on the Triumph, for both of us! The night was filled with magic, mystery and haunting intrigue.

But all good things eventually come to an end and when I thought the ride was over when Stan turned off hwy 43 and was heading back home he completely and unexpectedly caught me off guard, slowed down, veered off the darkened Burritts Rapids' road and turned up Cemetery Hill.

He turned the engine off and in the quiet and still cemetery he asked me to pick three tombstones.The shadowy granite, almost lost in the total darkness of the quiet grounds enclosed around me making it hard to distinguish the cold stone from the dark black veil of the evening. I found myself a little scared but so elevated in my curiosity in continuing to seek and find some lovely tombs hoping they would reveal some hidden secret. The game was on, the two old folks were having fun.

Stan followed me around the graveyard ,the breeze among the branches of the encircling wood sighed but I heard nothin more but the snapping of a few pics and then he spoke: “Ok, I think this should do it. Let's go home and see what we got”
But what I discovered I noticed even before I got home , actually it was the only stone of the four I picked that I was able to read the words.

On the tall spire shaped monument the inscription read “An Officer and a Gentleman” , very strange and spooky I thought because what I read was related to the night's events. Us playing a game like two juveniles with no restraints, young again. We were the perfect age tonight to enjoy a summer's night in October hopefully will never forget. The perfect age like Richard Gere had said in a quote I read on Instagram . Oh and by the way if you don't get the connection, Richard Gere was the officer in An Officer and a Gentleman” : ) and below is his quote........

“I am old but I am forever young at heart.We are always the same age inside. Know that you are the perfect age. Each year is special and precious, you can only live it once. Do not regret growing older, it's a privilege denied to many!”

I know this story really sounds made up but I never set foot in that cemetery before October,9th/2018.
Wow, should I dare say someone from beyond reached out and left this for me to ponder on?

“The lovers have grown old and grey” forever young at heart remain❤️
Well, taking that ride with Knight Rider on an October summer night was a thrill; I forgot just how old I was!


Happy to be here with you Stan!

THIS HOUSE IS HAUNTED ~OCTOBER GHOSTS

I was sitting in my room when spooky little ghosts👀🎃 👀👀👀🎃 👀peered out from inside the witch's hat. I think this house is haunted👀👀👀

October Ghosts.....Alberta?

Alberta? I was always good at Spelling.

⭐️October Ghosts



Thanks Stan for the meme⭐️

GHOSTALES

MY NEW ETSY SHOP BANNER

Little whispers floated in the night air and ..........

I BELIEVE.....

THEY SAID .....


"DON'T DREAM IT BE IT"......


 BE THE GHOST IN THE GHOSTALES BANNER ......

And if you love Peter Cushing's quote so much , why not place it on the banner?

AND SO I DID!



AFTER READING A COMMENT LEFT ON MY "ZOMBIE QUEEN" ART PIECE ON FLICKR,
IT MADE ME THINK AND I THOUGHT SHE WOULD MAKE A RATHER PERFECT GHOST, SO I MADE MYSELF A NEW ETSY SHOP BANNER THIS MORNING AND I MUST SAY, I AM QUITE PLEASED WITH THE END RESULTS.

"YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOUR DARLING,

TO BE ALIVE. 

EVEN A BIT MAD. 

IT HELPS TO BE MAD."

~ PETER CUSHING

HAPPY OCTOBER SPIRITS 👀👀👁👁👀 

ANNABELLE