Proud To Be - Handmade in PA!!! (Blog Carnival!!)

As a new business owner, and creator of awesomeness..ok maybe I don't create 'awesomeness'....but the things I make are pretty rad......I am very proud of my Pennsylvania home!

I grew up in PA and thanks to my mom have been able to visit and experience tons that the commonwealth has to offer. She was forever taking us to museums, Amish farms, parks, festivals, you name it!

Now as I am working on my own Pennsylvania based business I have become a member of some other great communities in the area. Including HandmadeInPA.net, and local craft shows, as well as the worldwide handmade online venue at etsy.com (www.ruju.etsy.com).

I have done only one craft show so far. And it was the coolest experience. It has been so awesome getting to meet all of the amazing people who are doing the same thing I am trying to do...her in PA.

Aside from the business aspect, I think Pennsylvania, or more specifically the small town I live in is a wonderful place to raise my children. We can walk to the ice cream shop on hot summer afternoons, go for bike rides to the playground, and make snowmen in our backyard in the winter.

From now until March 2, 2009 I am running a special in my shop for my blog readers. FREE SHIPPING FOR US RESIDENTS!!!! Just enter "HIP Blog Carnival" in the notes to buyer as you are checking out. Click HERE to go to my etsy shop!

Please take the time to check out some of these other great Pennsylvania Artists!


Kristen from WatersGirls - Enjoy 30% off your purchase!

Koco from MissKoco - Get a FREE lavender sachet with your purchase!

Lynn from UnaOdd - Enjoy FREE Shipping!

Rosie from RosiesWhimsy - Enjoy FREE Shipping!

Kerry from ALittleSparkle - Enjoy FREE Shipping!

Marissa from MarissaJoannaRojas, MJRojasPhoto, and YayforFidgetArt - Enjoy FREE Shipping!

Dana from WiredDesign - Get a single FREE "Never Enough" Sterling Silver stacking ring with your purchase!

Kimberly from ChezSucreChez- Enjoy 10% off all items in her shop!

Sarah from SweetSallysSoaps - Get 3 bars of handcrafted soap for $15!

Melanie from SpreadtheLove - Enjoy FREE Shipping!

Erin from Ruju - Enjoy FREE Shipping!

Hillary from Antebelle - Enjoy FREE Shipping!

Patty from ArtfulMommy - Enjoy FREE Shipping!

Emily from disCARDS - Enjoy FREE Shipping on orders over $5!

Ghost Stories

I have been asked so many times about my ghostly encounters. And to be honest I'm getting a little tired of telling the same stories over and over. So, I am going to put them here, then I will be able to refer anyone who is interested straight to this spot....

ONE
My first experiences started when I was pretty young, maybe 11. Whenever I would be alone for a good amount of time...with no noise, or distractions, just me focusing on what I am doing. Honestly the majority of the time it happened was when I was in the bathroom, at my parents house, straightening my hair (this takes a VERY long time).

So, I would be in the bathroom, for at least 20 minutes before it would start.....it wasn't gradual...it just hit fast. In my head I would hear commotion...like I was standing in a crowded train station. Loud voices all around me, talking, yelling, mumbling. Even when I was interrupted my someone or something in the house, mom calling for me, the phone ringing, etc.....the noises would continue and everything going on in the real world would seem to be in fast forward and slow motion at the same time. From me picking up the straightening iron, to the phone ringing....everything seemed not real. My hand would move in slow motion, then seem to speed up really fast.

These strange occurrences have not happened to me in a while....so I don't know if it was something about my parents house/bathroom, or if it is just because with a husband and 2 kids I am rarely alone long enough for it to begin.

TWO
When I was about 12 a good friend of mine who was an older woman passed away. When I was young (about 3) my family lived next door to her and her 2 sisters. I used to stay over night at their house, paint easter eggs with them, etc. In the evening Dot would pay me a quarter to sit behind her in her chair and scratch her back. From the time she died everynight as I laid in bed, I would feel slight scratching on my back.

THREE
The next thing I can remember happening was when I was 18, fresh out of high school I moved to Philadelphia to work in my aunts law firm. Eventually I ended up renting a bi-level 2 bedroom apartment on the 2nd and 3rd floor above a hair salon with a coworker. Our apartment was right around the corner for Rittenhouse Square, and we spent a lot of our time in the park people watching.

One evening after work we went to the park. It started to get late and my roommate decided she was going to head home. I stayed in the park a bit longer. As I was sitting there she came flying back to me. She looked a mess, like something very bad had happened. I had asked her what was wrong and she told me that when she got home she noticed light coming from under our door. So, being the brave tiny girl that she was she put her key in the knob and turned...as soon as she turned her key the lights flipped off. She took two steps into the apartment and heard what she described as silverware scratching on a plate. Then she started to hear furniture being moved around above her. That's when she left and came back to me.

I don't know what she thought.....if someone was in our apartment, or if it was a ghost. Either way we both made our way back to the apartment to investigate.

Things seemed normal when we got there....no strange noises, no lights on that shouldn't have been. We went upstairs to find her dresser drawer that held her checkbooks and pajamas pulled out, with the contents spewed about her bedroom. Still sounds like an intruder came in and was looking for something....

A few days later, when we returned home, the drawer was in the same state. Maybe it was just a loose drawer that somehow slid out on its own we thought. So, she moved her things around and put her PJ's and checkbooks in the bottom drawer.

A few days later, same thing happened......now with the bottom drawer.

By this time roomy and I were pretty freaked out. I called my grandad (he is a retired priest). He came up and blessed my apartment. While he was visiting I asked him to help Dot. He laid his hands on my head, said a little prayer, and I haven't felt her since. I know Dot was more of an angle than a ghost, but I also know that she is needed somewhere else. So I was happy to help her move on.

FOUR
After I had Ruby I lived with my parents for about a year. One day my good friend and Ruby's god mother came over to visit. Ruby was sleeping in her crib, and my friend and I thought it would be fun to play with a Ouija board. NOT FUN. As soon as we started playing we were contacted, the board told us a name, which I will never speak or think again. While we were 'playing my mom called us down to eat. We were sitting at the table eating when Ruby woke up screaming bloody murder. Ruby was a very happy baby, and never woke up crying. I went and got her......

My friend left, and was on the phone with her boyfriend telling him about our 'game'. As soon as she said the name her phone turned off. The call was not lost because of poor reception...the phone literally turned off. She turned it back on, and called me...said the name, both our phones turned off.

We never talk about it.

FIVE
This is by far my least favorite experience.

After I met my now husband we rented an apartment in Myerstown. It was a big brick building, that sat right next to the railroad tracks. Our apartment was on the second floor.

As soon as we moved in I knew something was fishy. I am pretty sure that the building used to board men who either worked on, or traveled on the railroad.

My first and most frequent experience in that building was in the bathroom. After a few months of living there I could not even take showers unless noel was sitting in the bathroom with me.

There was a man, he seemed to be 7 feet tall, but I never notice any feet on him, so he could have been floating. (?) He dressed in a well fitted black suit, with a white shirt, no tie. He had black short hair, and black eyes. I don't know how to describe his eyes very well...but there was no white. His entire eye was black. He was pale skinned, but all of his features were black. He used to watch me shower, over top of the shower curtain. The shower curtain rod would rest right around his nose, so all I could see was from his eyes up.

He also used to watch me sleep. There were many nights in that apartment that neither noel or I were able to sleep. Me out of fear of this man, and noel because I would cry hystarically all night and keep him up.

He would sit on my side of the bed, about here my knees were, with his face pressed up against the bed so that all I could see was from his eyes up, just like in the shower.

Noel used to get up and go to work very early. So when I had to get up for work it was just me and Ruby in the house. Ruby was about 17 months old at the time. I would get myself ready, and then wake her up and get her dressed. One morning was sitting on her bedoom floor, putting her shoes on. And I said to her 'ready to go?'. She looked at me and said 'do I have to say goodbye to the man mommy?' I said 'what man baby?' and she said 'him' and pointed to her closet, the doors were open....I didn't see anyone. I quickly scooped her up and left.

SIX
After living in that awful apartment for a year, we purchased our first home on the other side of the county. It was a fixer upper, and we had 30 days from the time we bought it, to the time we had to be out of our apartment. We would work from the time we got off of work into the wee hours of the morning each night.

One night while I was scraping the rubber back carpet off of the stairs I looked up to see an older woman, standing at the top of the stairs. She had her hair pulled back in a bun and was wearing a dress that bottoned down the front, was tight on top, then poofed out at her waist. She had on a white apron...the kind that ties around your waist, and does not have a bib.

She had a sad and confused look on her face...almost to say 'what are you doing to my house?' I glanced into the kitchen to see if noel was near by so I could see if he saw her, he wasn't, and when I looked back up she was gone.

SEVEN
In our home I am aware of 2 people dieing in the 80's or 90's. A brother and sister...both stayed in the living room, in hospital beds (which we found in the garage). I haven't gotten the whole story yet, but a neighbor tells me they died about 3 years apart.

Sometimes if you sit just in the right spot on my sofa, there is an overwhelming smell of poop. It is disqusting, but usually passes fairly quickly.

Two different people, my husband being one, and his brother being the other have told me (not knowing the other ones story) that when they fell asleep on the sofa, they woke up and were unable to move. They each described it as feeling like someone was holding them down.

This has never happened to me, or anyone else, so I can only assume it is a male thing.

EIGHT
In our bathroom, which is on the second floor across the hall from our sons bedroom, there is tons of what I can only describe as playful activity. Sometimes when I am showering the shower curtain will fly in at me...as if someone punched it from the other side. Once when I got out of the shower, the sink water was on full blast. And other times the tempature of the water in the shower would go from hot, to freezing to scoulding in record time.

The attic door is in our bathroom. I'm pretty sure our bathroom used to be a bedroom, before the time of indoor plumbing. Sometimes the attic door will bang, like someone pushed it from the inside. I keep it locked tho, so it has never opened on it's own.

NINE
This one goes along with number eight. Noel tells me that once when he was in the bathroom standing at the sink he saw ruby fly up the stairs and into our sons bedroom. He went in to see what she was doing....no one was there. Then he remembered, Ruby was not wearing a white dress that day.

The playful activity in the bathroom and the little girl that noel saw I believe are the same person. She seems to be about the age of 4 or 5...and just wants someone to play with her.

DONE
All of the things that have occured in our home have sparked my interest in learning about the history of our house, and who lived there. No one knows when my house was built, the records were destroyed in a fire...and it is not on any old postcards that I have found of the town. I have looked up the deeds, and thru research discovered that one member of one of the familys who lived there was name Phianna. She is on a census report from 1860, being age 7. No other information can be found about her anywhere. I'm wondering if maybe she is the little girl.

The People That Live(d) In My House

Recently I have become obsessed with trying to find out any information on the people who used to live in my house.

Here are my steps I am taking:
1. Get names from deeds at the court house, in the recorder of deeds office
2. Go to the library, (ancestry.com) and look at census reports, etc.
3. The internet. google archives - search for names, address, etc.
4. The historical society
5. Talk to neighbors

1. I went to the court house and got all the deed information. Most of it was easy, cause it was on a computer...but the house/land was owned so long ago that more of the older info had to be looked up in the ginormous ancient books. The problem with all of this is I have no idea when the house was actually built. One of the older deeds said something about the land being well over an acre, when ours is only .19. I'm thinking it was part of a group of homes, or a bigger hunk of land. Which means, that deed may not even belong to my house....?

On the 2nd to oldest deed the house was given to a daughter of the owners who passed away. When she died the house was to be sold and the profit would be split between her 5 siblings. The siblings all died before her, so she sold it to a couple. It actually said on the deed that if that couple died before she did, the house would go back to her. Insane!

2. So, now I have names...what's the next step? I went to the library and got myself a card, went online and searched. I came up with some info, but it is still very confusing because of the family from one of the first deeds passing the house around among each other.

3. I did some searches, and came up with nothing.

4. Next I will go to the historical society, but their hours are so strange it will be a while till I am able to get there.

5. I talked for like 2 seconds the other day with my neighbor, and he said the guy that lived in my house in the 60's/70's is still alive and around somewhere....

SO! Here are the names. If anyone reading this knows any info on any of these people PLEASE contact me! Leave a comment on this post and I will email you!

From oldest to most recent:

George & Catherine Grumbein/Grumbine (didn't write down dates/sometime in 1800's)
The name Grumbine/Grumbein is recorded in different places spelled different ways..... ?
Children:
Lucinda
Adam
Phianna
Mary

Lucinda Grumbein (1800's)
Never married/no children (?)

Edward and Elizabeth/Eliza Dissinger (1873-1936)
Children:
Franklin
Minnie (married Jacob Reifsnyder)
William
Edward
Nellie

Their is a gap in dates here, which might be when the land was split, house was built?

Kate and Irvan/Irwin Good (1941-1963)
No Kids (?)

Frederick & Marilyn Louise Shank (1963-1974)
No Kids (?)

Lester & Ethel Stover (1974-1975)
Kids (?)

Naomi Cole (1975-2005)
No Kids
Mother and Uncle lived and died in home

If anyone knows any info on this ... please help me out!!!!

Pounce..Pounce....Pounce

Help me! I can't stop!!!!!

I hit pounce 3 new shops pop up. Pounce again ... 3 more.

Sometimes I am so amazed by what I see, I can't stand it...I must pounce again.

Pounce...pounce... WHAT'S THAT!?!?!


















The colors, the shininess. I can hardly contain myself! Click


















I'm in the shop now. The UNDISCOVERED SHOP of Robin Kittleson. How are you undiscovered? How has this shop not yet been seen?!?!

I browse for a while, actually finding myself sucked in by the colors.....ack...must pounce more!




Pounce....Pounce....Pounce




Food! There is food on etsy?!?! I knew about the whoopie pies, the cookies, and the cupcakes. But this is food! It's green, it's crunchy, it grew from the earth! I must enter!!!

Is it?! It is!!! It's everything I imagined it would be! Leaves in the banner and all!!!!
TheLiveFoodist .... clever and practical. A website too!

Even my favorite food of all. Hummus. Oh how I do love me some good hummus! What's this? Cashew hummus?!?! Torture, this is pure torture!!!















It's taking everything I have in me not to lick my screen!!! "The strawberries taste like strawberries. The snozzberries taste like snozzberries."
















I must go. I bid thee farewell scrumptious morsels of tummy delight. My addiction is calling my name.

Pounce....pounce...pounce...