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This is a tiny little free subscription ezine for friends of The Grove - it is by request only. In other words, we NEVER arbitrarily add email addresses. We also NEVER sell or share email addresses with anyone else, for any reason at any time. We hate SPAM as much as you do!
Hello Everyone! Thank you for your continuing interest in The Grove and the ghostly goings-on here. The month of January just flew by - we rang in the new year rather quietly, cuddled up on the couch watching the ball drop in Times Square. We've added something new to the property, and since it is out in the garden, we made sure to consult Ms. Daphne (the lady who planted the garden back in the late 1900's, also the person that our cat is respectfully named after). We've never encountered her, but the former owner did when he was changing the garden a bit. Anyway, we've added a carport which is kind of a "phase 1" solution. In the next few years, we hope to build a wooden carport that complements the style of the house, but for now, this one will keep the snow off our vehicles. I have some very sad news to report, especially to those of you who met our basset hounds on one of your visits. Murphy, the brown-faced male dog (although he was getting very gray, kind of like his dad), passed away on January 11th. It was the saddest day that we've had in a very, very long time. Samantha, the girl dog, is having as tough a time as we are. We'll get through it, though. Besides, Murphy always loved to romp through the garden so I keep one eye open while I'm working out there, hoping to catch a glimpse of him returning for a visit. Before getting on with a few tidbits about Jefferson, and a few Grove ghost stories, I have to pass on an incredible new recipe that we found. Easy, easy, easy - and DELICIOUS! I have no idea what it's called, but here's what you need:
1 pkg chicken tenders Just cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, cube the cream cheese, and toss everything into your Crock Pot. Cook it on low for six hours, and get ready for a heckuva great meal. We have prepared it several times now, each time starting it around lunch, then forgetting about it until it's time to eat dinner. Give it a shot!
It's a busy time around town - the January Quilt Show was bigger and better than ever, and we were volunteers there. It was a lot of fun. If you're into quilts at all, put this event on your calendar for next year. As I write this, though, it's Mardi Gras here in town, so let me say, "Laissez les bon temps rouler!" I was standing out there watching the parade earlier today, and I've got to admit that when they start tossing those beads, it's hard not to turn back into a kid. I found my hand up in the air waving at the floats, yelling, "Throw me some beads!" Everyone had a ball, and it's much more of a family-friendly atmosphere than you'll find at other Mardi Gras celebrations. We're going back downtown tomorrow right after the tour to continue the festivities.
We continue to see shadows moving around the house. A few nights ago, in fact, I was in the game room and looked through the door into the dining room just in time to see a tall shadow move across in front of the door. Since I always try to come down on the skeptical side of things, I called out for Tami to see where she was - which was back in the bedroom, of course. I don't know what the shadow was, but it wasn't hers. Something else happened, though, which made me want to talk about a particular ghost that's been seen around the place for many years - a protective spirit with white hair and a long white beard. Patrick Hopkins told me the first story about him back from the restaurant days of The Grove. A visiting gentleman had come by before the place was open for dining, and peeked in the front window. He saw an older man with a white beard coming out of the stairwell door into the parlor carrying a shotgun. The visitor ran away in fright, thinking that he'd been mistaken for a burglar. When he heard the man's story, Patrick explained that no one had been at The Grove at that time. Patrick never saw the bearded man, since the spirit only seems to show up to protect the home. When we bought the house, in fact, Patrick told us that we'd hear many stories about him but that we'd never see him ourselves. That has turned out to be the case. We've heard story after story about people seeing a man with a long white beard and white hair trying to frighten them away from the house. One couple brought us a photo that they took of the front door, and in the glass is a man with - you guessed it - a white beard and white hair. Where his right hand would be is a bright yellow flash, as if he was firing a gun. I could go on for pages about this old fellow, but I want to fast-forward to something that I just heard. Back during Halloween of last year, apparently the Dallas-based radio show "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning" sent one of the cast members to Jefferson to spend the weekend. "Big Al" Mack checked into the Jefferson Hotel hoping to see a ghost. From what my friend heard on the radio, he also wandered around town a bit, and came by The Grove to check it out. Something happened to frighten him way. At Mardi Gras this weekend, a friend of mine asked me what the heck was going on back during Halloween. I explained that we did tours long into the evening, and had a record number of people come through the house. After that, we shut everything down and collapsed in the den with some friends who were helping us with the tours. Apparently, though, when Big Al came to see the house it was already shut down, but an old man with a shotgun came out on the front porch and chased them away. Now, since we don't own a gun, and there wasn't a white- bearded old man in the house (unless you count my graying goatee), I can only surmise that "Big Al" and crew met up with the protector spirit of the house. The thing that is most interesting to me is that while that was going on out on the front porch, we were all back in the den, exhausted from a day of giving tours. I wish that he would have at least strolled back and paid us a courtesy visit! I guess that you can never be sure what's going to be happening at The Grove... talk to you next month!
Well, that's this month's edition of the GroveZine. We're very happy to get to share some of the current goings-on around the house. For some reason, supernatural activity during the tours has picked up - hopefully we'll have a few more tales for you by the time the next month rolls around. See you then! www.thegrove-jefferson.com To repeat our words from the beginning, this is a free subscription ezine for friends of The Grove - in other words, we NEVER arbitrarily add email addresses. We also NEVER sell or share email addresses with anyone else. To subscribe, send an email to mitchel@whitington.com with the following words in the subject line: Subscribe Grove To unsubscribe, send an email to mitchel@whitington.com with the following words in the subject line: Unsubscribe Grove |
