Hi!

I'm a new member who was surfing around trying to find some info that might help me. I live in an old cottage and whenever I'm alone in the kitchen i feel like there is some one looking over my shoulder. For the first few months I just told myself that it was my imagination as my husband didn't believe me, but for the past two months when I leave the kitchen and return, all of the cupboard doors and draws have been open. The first time, I thought that my hubby must have been looking for something but it happens quite a bit when I'm alone in the house. One time I only left the kitchen for a second to run to the letter box and back and found every door and draw open. I have quite a large kitchen and it would have taken some time to open all the doors and the very high cupboards.
I also have two dogs who often mess about in the kitchen as if they are playing with and barking at something.
Like I said - hubby thinks that I am just going mad but I'm sure that there is something strange about that room.
Have any of you come across something like this or am I just reading too much into a simple situation?

You might wanna try putting this in the ghost section. By the sounds of it, with all the cupboard doors opening when you leave the room, you could have some paranormal activity. If you have the time you should set up a camera in the kitchen and try to see what's opening the doors. Or you could place a level, a carpenters device, on your kitchen table and see if your house is flat or on an angle, this happened to someone I know (they thought it was a ghost opening their cupboards, it turned out their house was on a tilt causing them to swing open). But if your dogs are barking at something in there, well thats another good sign of paranormal activity too, as animals are more sensitive than humans to that sort of thing. And another thing to do is tryand gather some EVP's. Electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) is a term used to refer speech or speech-like sounds that are captured on recorded media or other electronic devices and believed by some to be of paranormal origin. What you do here is set up a little recorder and just ask questions. For ex:

Is there anybody here? Wait a second or two before asking another, that way you give the spirit time to answer. You might not hear the replys while asking the questions, but on the playback you just might ... EVP's are weird like that.

So Marella, good luck on finding out what's in your house if it is anything at all. I'll be reading and checkin out the progress. Oh and another thing ... if you find out you are having paranormal activity, then read this:

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...;hl=Damn+ghost*

Cheers,

Gene

Thanks for the advice Gene.
There isn't a slope - I had tested that previously. Plus I have cupboards on both sides of the kitchen so if it was sloping, one side should logically be closed.
I had a carpenter put child-stop latches on most of them recently which are quite difficult to open but they still manage to fall open.
Last night I was busy fussing about with a cake and two of the high cupboards just casually opened.
I live in Australia in bush land and it is very quiet so it can't be heavy trafic or anything jilting them open.
I have tried setting up a video tape but it didn't work properly.
It's such a lovely house but it's driving me bonkers! I spend so much time in the kitchen so it's quite annoying that it has to be that room.

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong section guys - didn't notice the different sections when I first typed it up

Hi Marella, welcome to UM!

Your account is a bit creepy, does the whole thing scare you or annoy you?

Maybe you could try and find out who lived in your house before you, you may come across some answers there. It is curious as to why the video tape didn't work properly, have you taken any photos to see if anything appears in those?

Well then Marella ... that's really weird now isn't it, especially with the latched cupboards. Well from what I've been reading here, Australia has a large number of odd happenings and I'm not questioning what you are experiencing one bit. How come the video wouldn't work properly??? Elaborate a little please. I know how bad it can be to live in a nice house and have it ruined by being disturbed by unexplained phenomena. I lived in one while I was in my second year university, and when I did a Ouija Board it all came out and we encountered the entities in the house ... at least we were aware of what was going on ...... and of course I'm not saying that you should do this or it's even a ghost but I'm out of answers.

If it's not the house on a tilt, and there's no traffic to vibrate them open.

What about planes and other air traffic? What about tremors? Do you guys have earthquakes over there? I know these might seem foolish questions as I'm sure you would have blamed the happenings on them already. Is there any other phenomena happening?? Are you experiencing disappearing objects ? Cold spots? Jeez .... gots about a 100 questions for ya, sorry. I'll be looking foward to your answers.


Gene

Not much air traffic - that's more in the city and I'm a few hours away from Sydney. In the mountains we don't really have tremors, that's more a coastal thing in Oz.
There really hasn't been anything else that has made me REALLY question the house other than the dogs getting narky in the kitchen and a few weird bits and pieces. The lady who owned the house prior to us use to rent it out so I'm not too sure who was there before us. The previous owner packed up and moved to London and that's about all i know.
Not too sure why the video didn't work (could be the fact that I'm terrible with technical things and out my generation to shame!) It just had little squiggly lines like the tape had stretched.

It is a bit more annoying now than it is creepy. The only time I have been really creeped out was when I was at home on my own and had that first someone-watching-me feeling while making one of my cakes. The icing I use is called Plastic icing because it's like play-do and very plyable - anyway, I left some of it rolled out on the bench and when I turned to grab the colour and turned back again there was a hand indent in the centre of it. I didn't really want to get worked up about that because there is a good chance that i had just stuck my hand on it by accident while reaching over for something and forgot, but it spooked me because I'm very very very fussy about my cakes and spend hours making the icing glass smooth so the thought of me leaning into it was a bit weird... especially because the hand print was larger than my own. Like I said though, it could still be possible that i had leant on it not thinking and then just stretched it when rolling.

Still little things like that have happened and with the cupboards I'm starting to think that maybe it's not just me being a muddled-headed wombat!!

By the way, thanks for the welcome guys, nice to chat to people with an open mind other than people who think I'm going mad

Hi LF!

I have taken random pics of other things with the kitchen in the background but there hasn't been anything weird in there - it's usually just really really bright.

Might try to take pics of the actual kitchen tonight.

Thanks!

There are thoes here too ... just wait until they come out of hiding. I'm heading to bed now, but I'll check out your post tomorrow and hopefully you, with some help from here perhaps, can make the annoyency(real word?) stop.


Gene

Hi Marella... I'm an experienced Paranormal Investigator. Perhaps I can be of an assistance?

There are many levels of a haunting. I will list a few;
Poltergeist
Residual
Human

Poltergeist is a german term they call "Noisy Spirit". Poltergeist got a bad reputation because of the movie. It's not always a negative energy. It just means it's a playful spirit or mischevious ghost. For as long I have been in this field, Poltergeists don't always pertain to preteen or a young child going through trauma.

Residual is a haunting that is just home or building memory left behind. It's like watching a movie and you want to rewind back to a favorite part of the movie. Only the part plays or loops over and over again like an instant replay. That's a residual haunting.

A Human haunting is what our Research Team have run into a few times recently. A person living near a high EMF Field can get the feeling of being watched or a presence. It can cause many strange visual effects. Therefore if you psyche yourself into believing it's Paranormal and your mind is constantly seeing these things happening they will continue and you can create your own haunting in your own mind. It's like you are a big receiver and a projector. If the EMF Fields are high enough they will trigger them.

What we like to do before we ocnsider anything to be Paranormal we sit, be very quiet and still for a while and listen to the normalities of your establishment first. Get the feel for the place. If something abnormal occurs, then you'll know it. Sometimes people get freaked out by sounds in their house if they are all alone and not use to being alone. It can be just the case of the house creeking from old wood expanding and retracting from weather. Listen for water pipes or boiler noises ect;

Hope that info helps ya!

Hi Marella, and welcome to UM. The feeling of someone behind us, or looking over our shoulder is sort of a classic symptom of having some kind of presence around us. Because drawers are opening and closing, and cabinets, when you leave the room, leads me to believe this is possibly a spirit that is attached to the home. In otherwords when you move something, they want it back the way they had it. As we know, animals are very sensitive to any paranormal activity, so that is the second red flag, as they can often see what we humans dont. It doesnt sound like you are in danger in any way, but sounds like a pest to me. It could be the beginning of Poltergeist activity in which they can try and trick you, move objects, and scare you. They are harmless, so for now I would say to burn some incense or Sage, and sprinkle salt all around every knook and cranny in the kitchen, as that could stop it in its tracks. Is it only confined to the kitchen area? Many times their actions are subtle, and you might find you are questioning yourself and your sanity, but trust me, you are sane. These things create some chaos for people as well as confusion, so trust yourself and instincts. So try the incense, Sage and a prayer of your choice and keep us posted. Be well..JN-

Next time you feel it ask it to stop.Some times all it takes is a polite request and things will stop.It sounds harmless and your dogs are not scared of it.Just ask it nicely to stop.Might help might not.

Good luck and keep us posted.

only old cottages with very high cupboards in the kitchen are haunted as far as I know.......just kidding ....B








halfhandshuffle:Family Guy- Shipoopi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPt0n9--wNE

LOL You silly head..

Anything (furniture or nick-nack) left behind by the prior owner? Sometimes an entity can attach itself to these things and haunt wherever the item is.

You can tell your husband that there is no such thing as a mental illness that causes all the cabinets and drawers to open.

Seems to me that the chances of finding a simple mechanistic cause for all the doors and the drawers opening at the same time are vanishingly small. I'll try to add some thoughts to the going speculations here.

This does not seem like a "residual haunting" to me. Those are like recordings that play back. They do not (to my knowledge) have meaningful interactions with the environment-- opening cabinets and drawers and playing with the dog.

The poltergeist issue is muddled by imprecise definitions. All kinds of more or less mischievous behavior can be classed as "poltergeist phenomena," including the opening and closing of doors, windows, drawers, and so on. Poltergeists themselves are not necessarily thought to be active human spirits, but active human spirits are thought to be capable of causing "poltergeist phenomena."

There are all sorts of theories of poltergeists. As far as I know, they all emphasize that the thing is not a conscious, independent, human spirit. It may be a "split-off" portion of a living person's mind or some kind of free-floating complex of energy that appears to have a will of its own.

But if your phenomenon is playing with the dog and leaving handprints in your frosting (presumably as a way of saying hello or teasing you), then it seems to me like a human being. Maybe it has something to say to you or to this side in general, or maybe it just inhabits the place and is bored or wants you to know it's there. It may be able to communicate intelligently via audible knocks, or maybe it can leave its voice on an audio recording. So if you want to know what it's trying to say, you can turn on an audio recorder and ask some questions aloud, asking if the entity will try knocking on some object or leaving its voice on the recording.

I always advise people to hire a medium or two to read the place if they really want to know what's going on.

Interesting story!

Thank you all for your tips and advice!

The only things that were left behind when we moved in were the curtains and some rubbish under the house (nice!).
As far as strange 'sounds' are concerned there really haven't been any... unless you count the bloody possums scampering over the roof all night - took a while to get used to that clatter! (and no, before you ask they don't rattle loudly enough to effect the doors).

Hubby and I both work odd hours so I'm often home on my own and wouldn't say that I'm afraid to be alone. It's happened many times when he has been home happily engaged in the playstaion or doing the laundry (personally, I prefer him to be doing the latter than watching for cupboard movement )

Hubby actually came home one night to find them all open but assumed that I was trying to make fun of the situation and laughed it off... still doesn't believe that I had no hand in the event. He has only seen two of the doors creep open on their own but thought nothing of it.

It can happen at any time day or night but more often than not happens in the mornings. Once I was in a frantic rush to get to work and had already closed all of the doors before walking away to brush my teeth - it was only moments later when I rushed back through, still with the toothbrush hanging out of my mouth, and found them ALL open again. The pestering thing is that if I'm home on my own, the very tall Hubby device is not in service and I therefore have to climb my short self up a chair -in heels- to close the top cupboards. While performing this very tricky balancing act and cursing through splatters of toothpaste, I was climbing down ever so elegantly when only the top cupboard opened again. I hadn't even dragged the chair back to the dining room. I think that this was the first time I actually thought more into it because it was as though something was toying with me on purpose, not just the 'breeze'.
I actually did have a bit of a mimi tanti at this and yelled out 'Seriously, this is not funny I'm late and tired just bugger off' and after that there was no more openings that morning.

Still happens months later though!

As boring as it sounds there really is nothing else weird that happens other than the doors opening. Has anyone seen the Sixth Sense when Toni Collette walks back into the kitchen to find everything on a hinge open??? It's just like that only we don't have a scary psychic child who can see dead people - not that I'm currently aware of anyway. So far the only strange things our two year old sees regulary are the Wiggles. (Are they just an Australian thing?? I'm sure Aussie's will get that )

I think I will try to get a medium to come and have a gander at the place. Where does one find a genuine meduim though???

What is past exprince in this house?

EX-Prince?....B

I have a quick update for you all - I was telling a mate about all this and reflecting on this forum and a lady that she works with apparently claims to be a medium. They both came around this afternoon so that Ms Medium could 'feel' around.
Acording to Ms Medium, there is a strong presence holding itself not only in the kitchen but in the whole house. Ms Medium was very persistant in relaying that this presence was trying to shout something at me and insisting that they were in relation to myself, not the house. Being that the kitchen is the 'heart of my home' as I often say, it is where I spend most of my time where my husband, son and myself spend presious time cooking, talking and laughing together and is therefore where the presence felt MY presence most (does that make sense??? She explained it so much better than that).
Anyway - I digress - Ms Medium said that the presence, whom she could not identify, was trying to make sure that I knew it was there and had always been there. Aparently I 'called' to it subconciously because it felt that at this particular time I was in need of support and felt it important to watch over me.
It was quite a rushed afternoon so that was pretty much all I got. I'm still inclined to have someone else come in just to see if the story Ms Medium told me conflicts with others.

It was quite interesting to watch her walk around feeding of the atmosphere. Not too sure if by 'relation' she meant an actual relative tho??? I'd love to have a chat to it and see exactly what I need protection and support from

I'll keep you posted anyway.

Well, if your dogs are upset by this "thing" I don't think it should pose any harm.

she's legit (imho) ....B


halfhandshuffle:LACUNA COIL - Our Truth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDaDtHMgVxM

WOW thanks for update Dear. A relation could be that of hundreds of years ago, whom is related to you. Did you find this medium credible? Did she feel it was male, or female? I would suggest before you chat with "it" you call in a professional team of Paranormal Investigators in order to get possibly some evidence of what it truly is, and who. Maybe they can get some photos or EVP's..I had a medium in my house a few years back who felt the presence of my late "Father" and "Sister" but now that my ordeal is over, she was very wrong. So try not to take the word of one person, but follow your instincts ok? Be well...JN..

I'm not too sure how credible Ms Medium is. She doesn't do this for a living and she didn't charge me for the session or anything, my mate just works with her and mentioned that on a fair few occasions she had picked up on things and had admited to being a bit of a psychic. When I spoke to her she was quite happy to come up and look around. She did know a few things about me but I can't be too sure what my mate had told her or what she had seen about hubby in the media.
She couldn't identify whatever it was as male or female or anything, just that it was there. Apparently it was just very protective and once it knew what Ms Medium was doing it was 'insisting' that she make me aware of its presence. She said that with the cupboards it was just trying to shout at me that it was here and make sure I knew about it. She didn't actually say it was a reletive - just that it was 'in relation to me, not the house' and that it had always been around me but like I was saying - it felt that at the moment I needed to know.
Ms Medium didn't stay longer than an hour so I don't know if it was enough to go off, I'm still trying to reserch mediums so that i can seek another opinion. I'm at a really great place in my life at the moment and have never been happier so I'm not entirely sure why someone/thing would feel that I need watching and protection??? I have been through much darker times, surely that would have been a better time to watch over me rather than at this point? It really concerned me because my first instinct was to worry about something happening to my family but Ms Medium said that it insisted that it was me that needed protection and watching.... I have such a nice simple little life, the most dangerous thing that I do is hang the clothes on the line (I was told once that the average Australian bush back yard has more reptiles in it that the average zoo) !

LOL OMG reptiles..EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW...Like I said, if you are comfortable with whoever it is that is great, if not maybe try a team of Parnormal Investigators that will perform all sorts of tests to decipher what it is and what it may want..I dont have alot of faith in the medium, as most can tell a female from male, and many times exactly what they want. I dont think opening cabinets and draws is a form of protection LOL...If she was a "true" medium she could have contacted it..But just what happens and keep us posted..JN-

Well, Cupboards opening wouldn't bother me much... You can try to screw a few close (The ones you don't need, or clean them out, see if the screws get taken out too) but I don't think it is bothering you, unless it marks its hand on your cakes often. You should really try to get a camera to record. Also, try to get something to play music out loud, not too loud, and not with head phones

As for the dogs, I had a similar stories. My grandmother had like 5 small poodles. in the back of her house, was like a yard, but it was closed by 3 walls (Leaving the roof open, and the front, our house) one night, they suddenly wouldn't stop barking for about 30 minutes at the dark yard (we had no light back there) and we ignored them. It kept going on like that for a few days, and eventually the dogs would cry and be scared. My grandmother is catholic, and said it might be demons or something, so she threw some holy water, and it stopped... It was a bit weird though...

Just curious to the OP, have you tried tying the cupboard doors shut or buying child locks and locking them shut?

I wonder what would happen?

It would be very interesting if you were able to set up a camera overnight and post the results.

Setting up a video cam is a great idea. Then perhaps she might find an explanation for her experiences..JN

Here's the best remedy for that kind of ghost.
Anything that was opened, leave it open. (except front doors of course)
Just tell your husband you're leaving it open.
See what happens next.

Now thats an excellent idea, and that way if there is a spirit they will have to do something else to get her attention.

Yes, that's how to trick dumb ghosts.
If the drawer is not even, no way it is going to close.

Correct, unless her resident ghost closes it..That would be a fun experiment..

Both good ideas. What would it do if it couldn't open the doors?

The best haunting reports usually never have cameras installed. Understandably, they probably just want to get rid of it and aren't worried about video evidence. But installing cameras would be the first thing I would do. Not only to validate it to myself, but to my family, to study what's going on, to give footage to investigators, and to help the paranormal community in general. Even a little webcam would do the trick, and they practically give them away online, they're so cheap!

Anyway, that's my thoughts.. Best of luck to you, Marella. Glad you found UM, you came to the right place!

Thats what I was wondering. If it couldnt open the doors and drawers, would it shut them, then open them, so she would never know the spirit was there? LOL..I am not sure, hard to say. Webcam is another very good idea Ep..

I think Marella will be openning it.

Maybe it would do the dishes!

LOL Hopefully it does windows then poor Marella would have to lift a finger..

'

LOL What if they wouldnt open for Marella? Then she has a bigger problem..

Or find that there is no explanation.

*cue Twilight Zone music*

Does anyone know of or has anyone used a medium called Kerrie Wearing??? I'd rather go for someone that I can have some sort of reference for.

As for screwing the doors closed - I do have the child locks on them but they open anyway. I tried to keep all the cupboards open but the fridge opened.... maybe the smart ass is related to me after all. I wonder if I could train it to vacuum??

I have started leaving my phone camera on it when I leave the room, but so far nothing has happened while it's been filming.

Anyway, any references on the medium would help greatly!

I think you need a carpenter. lol j/k

I am from the United States so I have no clue of mediums in Australia. How about contacting a team of Paranormal Investigators, they are all over? JN

I'm from the US too and we're not all that rude!
I looked at everything I could find about Kerrie and she seems pretty solid.
http://www.psychicmedium.com.au/
I was amazed to see that she graduated from a college of mediumship! That is so cool!
I've never heard of a college of mediumship before!
I say, call her up and ask her to check it out! What have you got to lose?

Where can I find info on PN investigators? Does anyone know of any that are Down Under??

http://www.paranormalaustralia.com/

Thanks for your help on that one guys! I wouldn't have known where to start!

LOL, I don't think that you're all rude... and for the record not all Aussies are country hicks. Actually, lets set it straight here - I grew up in a little outback town and I can confirm that 'Crocodile Dundee' is about as far for the truth as you can get. Please don't think that we're like that! Does anyone remeber the movie Sarah O'Hare was in with Freddie Prince Jnr? They made her 'Over-Aussie' her accent so badly that aussies everywhere were cringing!

Yep, we're very laid back, into a beer and have haunted kitchens but we're not outback drongo's i promise!

And we're not all Forrest Gump's either. I'm from the Southern US and I can tell you that while we talk like that, we don't have any money. It's the yankees you have to worry about.
I have a true respect for the Australian's. My dad spent time there when he was in the Army, right outside of Perth, I believe. I'd love to visit, his story's were so grand. I was pretty sure that Crocodile Dundee was full of $hit, thank you for confirming that myth.
My dad really wanted to come back there to live. He loved it that much. Never stopped talking about it.

We are way off topic here. Haunted kitchens, that's it. So have you decided what to do about your kitchen?

I have found a PNI in the Blue Mountains area where we live, he runs a ghost tour in the area and knows a lot about the areas history. I think that I'm going to get them to come in and give me some info.

There are loads and loads of stories and sightings around the Blue Mountains, there are some really old areas with disturbing history that I have been looking at.... apparently there are a few ghost tours in the area..... really wish the Real Estate agent had mentioned that!!

If any of you want some stories, try looking up The Blue Mountains, St Columbus High School and Katoomba - they seem to have to most stories floating around about them.

I know Mr Katoomba! ....B

LOL.. Seriously, who is that?? Doesn't look like any of my neighbours! That's not meant to be an 'authentic' aboriginal is it?? LOL, not even close