The Bin Bag Christmas Tree

I had an idea this year for a very spooky Christmas tree.  The tree was small and compact enough to set the Christmas cards around it, however it was still very festive.  I used a yoghurt pot covered in tin foil for the base of the tree and I stuck a doily inside a microwave food tray and attached this to the tree base, then filled the area with gold and silver decorative stars,  I also attached a tinfoil star the top of the tree.  I did put up a traditional tree as well, but this unusual 'bin bag' tree was an unexpected success!

Saint Expedite

Whilst browsing the internet I recently came across a website dedicated to Saint Expedite. Saint Expedite looks like he was a very interesting person and the website link below dedicated to Saint Expedite is well worth viewing.

Visit SaintExpedite.org

New Zealand Haunts

Maori Carving

There are lots of haunted places in New Zealand, one of those is Riccarton House where the ghost of a Scottish woman, Jane Deans, haunts the house to this day. She was the lady of the house for many years.

A woman called Carolyn Taylor photographed a horrible apparition on the porch at Riccarton House - a big green blob with black eyes.

The Racecourse Hotel at Riccarton is haunted by a former gangster who once owned the place and had a nasty end. Doors slam and there have been so many occurrences that the second floor is kept locked as staff get upset.

In other hauntings, Lanach Castle on the Otago Peninsula is said to be haunted by William Lanach and his family. The Princes Gate Hotel at Roturua is home to a female ghost who appears only to men and ghostly faces appear at the window of the platform seven cafe, at Glen Eden railway station, Auckland.

Visit the Spooked Turnip website for more paranormal, more magick and more mystery mixed with a little history.

The Bronte Fairies and Other Local Fairy Stories

Bradford and Keighley were full of fairies and elves, according to folklore. Grove Hill Dike, above Sladen Valley Reservoir, was a place of fear for children as they believed a troll lived there. Emily Bronte called the Dike 'Blackhorse Marsh' in Wuthering Heights, as even she knew all about this story. There are a couple of wells, one at Priestthorpe, Bingley and another at Blackhill, Keighley, that were named in honour of Jennet, the Fairy Queen. One of the servants of the Brontes actually claimed that the fairies has been driven away by industrialisation.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a devout Spiritualist and great believer in the Occult who is most well known for writing 'Sherlock Holmes', claimed to have accounted fairies. The Cottingley Fairies were however fakes dreamed up by Frances and Elsie, although they did fool Conan Doyle for a while fairies were also documented as having been seen in Lister park, also known as Manningham park, Bradford.

Visit the Spooked Turnip website for more paranormal, more magick and more mystery mixed with a little history.