If you've read my accounts before, you'll know that I lived in a house built in 1920. It's on a huge plot of land with the original carriage house behind it. When we bought it, my sister and brother in law wanted a little house of their own here in Texas, so they renovated the carriage house completely. They took it down to the studs, new wiring, heat/ac, insulation and put up an eight foot privacy fence toward the alley. These old neighborhoods still have an alley bisecting each block. The carriage house is charming; two decks and two sets of stairs lead down to the carriage area and we fitted it out with a washer/dryer and storage areas.
They decided not to use it, so I bought it from them and use it as a rental property. Now, I know it has it's own little quirky things going on. My back porch faces it so that I can see the second floor where the living quarters are. Sometimes, I can feel someone looking back at me or when I walk in I'll have a sense that I've interrupted a conversation. When the renovation was happening, we'd turn everything off, go downstairs, have lunch and go back up to find a radio blaring, the towels in the bathroom on the floor or the doors that we'd left open were shut. Nothing major, just enough to get our attention.
Our new tenant is an old friend. She's cut my husband's hair for 35 years and I've known her for 17 years. She's level headed and logical. She's been there since Hurricane Harvey. She lost her house, unfortunately and she's going through some personal things. She's just a lovely person who is lavishing the place with love. She has it looking beautiful and homey.
So, we were very surprised last night when she called and hysterically described being in bed and hearing a conversation in her living room. It was two men and she heard them moving from the kitchen to the living room. She was so scared that she locked the bedroom door and didn't dare go out until it was quiet. She was behind the door with pepper spray and I got a frantic message on Facebook that Jeff (hubby) needed to come up there. She could hear two of them right outside the bedroom and they opened the bathroom door and slammed it and the last she heard was someone going out the front door and closing and locking it. She said she was trying to pretend to herself that we had gone up there for some reason and hadn't told her.
Well, he grabbed shoes, flashlight and gun and ran up the stairs to her apartment. He checked all of the doors, windows (second floor it's an 18 foot drop to the ground) and the fence gates. They're all locked with very sturdy padlocks. Someone would have had to jump an eight foot fence. He went through everything and there was no sign of anyone. Our dogs are also great if anyone is in the alley we know about it. This being Texas, all of our neighbors are onto anyone not belonging hanging around. They're also the type to go out with a gun and confront anyone messing with property. They didn't hear a thing, the dogs never barked and this was fairly early at night - probably 9pm at the latest.
We got her calmed down, but I just got another message from her. She was blow drying her hair this morning and her blow dryer sparked and threw the breaker. She had to throw the blow dryer out and every time she goes into the bathroom, the breaker trips. With all new wiring, I don't see how this is possible, but we'll take the logical approach and replace it and we have electricians coming out today. How we're going to calm her down again, I have no idea.
Not a very interesting story, but it is puzzling. I might have to go up there and have a little talk with the place and ask them to stop scaring her. My sister and brother in law spent one night there and my sister was very sick at the time... Someone rubbed her shoulder as if to say 'it will be okay'. She said it was comforting.
Will let you know how this develops...
Thanks,
Emma
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Emma