Sue Darroch and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, Hauntings, UFO's, and other strange events that may be considered Fortean, from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

This reader submission has been one of my favourites received so far this year - 2007. I will let the witness tell you Annie's story....

"My parents purchased this house in 1974, the home was originally built in 1896. It's a three story stone house originally on 100 acres. Our first question when viewing it was? Did anyone die here! No was the reply. To this day I don't believe anyone did.

I'm an only child, I never used to think anything about walking around the property at night ( others would think I was daft, but I never worried) I'm open to possibilities of many things, and I don't always think there is a logical explanation, if it's not right in front of me.

In 1990 my husband and I were married at my parents home. My father died in 1995, and my mum took ill (at a young age of 62) and was placed in a chronic care facility. It wasn't till I came back to the house in 1998 as a single woman with 2 cats,and the 2 dogs that things started to happen

One day, I was on the lawn tractor, it was a Sunday afternoon in 1998 I had five acres of lawn to cut, so I was getting to it. I was at the front of the house, and I stopped cutting, I didn't get off the tractor, but I stopped ( I don't know why) and I was just admiring the house, it's really a magnificent home.

It was like out of nowhere.. a figure dropped and or appeared and was walking in front of the house.. towards the gazebo and the pine trees..

I sat on my tractor seat, and watched..gob smacked and speechless. It was a woman, middle-aged, in a black dress, long with a hat and her hair appeared to be drawn up at the back, like in a bun or just attached into the hat. dark hair, and very pale complexion. she had on black boots, or a dark shoe I don't remember now if she was holding anything...

Regardless she was just walking along, but it was like she was going somewhere.. and then she was gone. I looked at my watch and it was 2 pm and it was Sunday. Didn't know if that had any bearing, but.. it was a bit unsettling.. I continued to cut the grass, hung out, fed the dogs... and went to bed. I told my friend what happened when I got to work the next day.

Another day I was in the kitchen I never opened the windows .. so there wasn't any air whisking by. I was near the side door ( which was closed in was in the morning around 9 am, and it was like someone walked by me, you know that movement of air? I just chalked it up, to "the lady in black"

I'm a gal who goes for the occasional tarot reading etc. and when I was at one, the seeker told me that her ( the lady in black) name was Annabelle, or Annie, and that she was the lady of the house, and that she wasn't there to harm me, that she was visiting.. She suggested I do " duties like washing the dishes, etc., and she may appear". she also said you may catch a scent of lavender or roses, that will be her? ( I thought that was a bit weird) or she'll come around when you are working in the garden, or kitchen duties. I felt better after that, and from that point on, I called her Annabelle when ever I felt her near by.

Many things did happen though, and that being arm caps on chairs moving, a door opening and a glass taken out and dropped,
a plate rack falling off the wall ( but the plates didn't break) Oddly enough it wasn't until my friend (from work, and mentioned above) and I were doing some stuff at the house, we had been working hard, had dinner and it was very odd but if things happened in the house, when I had friends over, it was always happening with the same two people, the friend from work, and S. The occurrence of anything odd, didn't seem to be viewed by anyone else.

My friend went to get up, and head to the bathroom, when the table that we were sitting in front of just flew and smacked into the brick BBQ! My friend looked at me, and said, "They don't like me here"..

She stayed that night, and we got up in the morning, and she had to head off home back to Toronto. I was still tired, and I thought I'll just lie down in my daughter's bed. This was the bedroom I had growing up, it's above the living-room its the bedroom in the bay window that facing the road. I was drifting off to sleep.. you know you close your eyes, and (for me, colours and hints of light were churning, it was like I was watching something but my eyes were closed. It was a large mass of grey dark grey, and it was rolling like a storm cloud and it turned around, it was the face of the woman that I saw walking across the lawn when I was cutting the grass, and she looked at me, and it was like I shocked her, or surprised her, because the expression on her face was that of shock, horror.. and I immediately screamed myself, because she scared me too!

I sat up and I looked at the clock it was 2 pm and it was Sunday. After that, I made sure I was never home at 2pm on a Sunday..

There were days that I thought my daughter was calling me, and I'd being responding and she's say I didn't call you, the same thing would happen with her she'd come in from outside, really surly and saying What!.. I would look at her, and say what what? I didn't call you?

If the cat could have talked we may have got some info, as he I Believe, was a first hand believer.. Even the dog didn't want to be left there... so I believe it to be true that dogs and cats have a sense about this type of phenomenon.

It wasn't until later on that I did indeed do some looking into the original owners and his wife's name was Annabelle, Annie as she liked to be called. I didn't do that till 2001 or so. I sold the house soon afterwards and the man that purchased it, I never told him about "her."

I wonder some-days if she's still there, I do believe that she was there to look out after me, as I never remember anything really odd growing up there, I really miss that house, and Annabelle, I think about her on Sunday afternoons..

I've been known to drive by that house, and say take care of things Annie."

Our thanks to the witness for this report.

Do you have a real life ghost story, an encounter with a UFO, or other paranormal experience/s you'd like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Post your own experiences in our comments section or send us an email. Please post only true life experiences ... we love good fiction, but there are other fantastic blogs out there to post fictional accounts to.