Paranormal Pastry Part I

Well then, we all know each other a bit better, can we can start on the serious topics? Please, walk right in...



haunt v.
haunt·ed, haunt·ing, haunts v. tr.
1)To inhabit, visit, or appear to in the form of a ghost or other supernatural
being.
2)To visit often; frequent.
3)To come to mind continually; obsess.
4)To be continually present in; pervade.

I gave you the definition above because if I say, my pastry shoppe is haunted, visions of Hollywood horror movies might dance in your head.

I'm going to pick apart #1 instead to suit myself: A visit from a supernatural (read-existence outside the natural world) being. With #2 added in total.

Are you with me? I have 'spirits' in my shoppe all the time. Some of whom I know & some that I don't. Before you jump to conclusions it's not because I've been imbibing. In fact, just so you can't blame it on anything like that, I'll inform you that I am an absolute teetotaler. That aside, I can offer you no physical proof, only my honourable word.



I would like to make this a regular feature of my blog, since there are so many 'happenings'. Let me know your thoughts/ideas/experiences!

I'm having trouble deciding who to start with?! Some will be long posts & the last thing I want to do is bore anyone! Well, here goes...she is my favourite anyway...

Ruthie

Ruth was my all-time favourite customer. She was here since the beginning. The most kind-hearted human being I've ever met. I couldn't even try to list all the people that I knew she helped out, much less the individuals I wasn't even aware of.

She simply adored my angelfood cakes with marshmallow boiled icing, linzer cookies & cannoli. She came in to every Friday Open House we had, always at 9:00AM sharp. She was a brilliant painter (canvas-watercolour & oils).

*I apologize if my thoughts are all over the place with this post...my head is just flooding with memories & emotions.*

During the summer months she would stop in every Friday morning just to chat, sometimes vent her frustrations/disappointments, show us her paintings in progress & have a half of a cup of coffee. She always came in at 9:00AM sharp. I need to step back a moment: the first thing she did when she came in was to go directly to the coffee pot we have in the front room. I'm a freak about always having good, strong, freshly brewed coffee for our customers & friends. I used to keep the electric coffee bean grinder right next to the coffee pot, as I like to grind the whole beans right before I brew.

The last time she came to the shoppe, she was all shaken up. She had been involved in a car accident that wasn't her fault, I believe a truck turned into her & totalled her car. She was very bruised but still walking around. She came in to pick up an angelfood cake; she never missed anyones birthday. The next I heard - less than a week later - she had died. Some sort of complications, she had been in the hospital several days.



The next Friday was a scheduled Open House. My volunteers were waiting on several customers in the pastry room (near the coffee pot, connected to the front room), I was out front with a couple other people & we were discussing how this would be the first Open House ever that we wouldn't see Ruthie. All of a sudden, as the clock chimes 9:00AM, the coffee bean grinder goes off & keeps grinding until coffee grounds are flowing over the top. No one was near the 'on' button or the cord. We all looked at each other & I said, "It's Ruthie". There were nods of agreement, although later on we rationalized it could have been a freak power surge of some sort.

The exact same thing happened for approximately a year, every Friday Open House, always at 9:00AM sharp. I got into the habit of leaving just enough beans in the grinder for one pot of coffee so it wouldn't go over when it turned itself on. I believe that she came in, stood there & her energy somehow tripped that appliance. It's been over 3 years since her death. I replaced the coffee bean grinder a couple years ago, I keep the new one in the kitchen. I haven't told anybody that I saved the old one; I simply can't bring myself to throw it away.