I moved to Suffolk around 9 years ago with my son. I met my (now) husband a couple of years prior to that. We both had unhappy previous relationships. We decided to move in together. We have a blended family and kids are now 12, 16 and 18.
We were essentially "starting again" and had to look for a four bedroom place to accommodate the family. We both love older properties and found one. It had to be the right price and neither of us are scared of hard work. The condition really would have put most people off but we absolutely fell in love with the place (nine years on we are still working on it). It had been on the market for a while. We offered, it was accepted, we were over the moon!
I remember the day I drove here after the sale had gone through. My husband had been here a day or so before. It was a November evening and I saw the lights on and through the window I saw our kids running around, a whole lot of life had been injected into this lonely house. It sounds strange but I had such a strong feeling the house was happy, as well as us.
The way I feel about our home hasn't changed but things have been happening, but only relatively recently, perhaps the last year or so. To be honest, I am so curious to find out what other people think.
The house was supposedly built in 1805 and I almost expected some unexplained activity, I'm quite sensitive to things, as is my husband. For the first eight years or so - absolutely nothing.
Our small rural village is drowned in local folk law and tales which I find fascinating. We have a derelict mill at the bottom of our garden and a lane nearby that a white witch is supposed to haunt. It's very dark here at night. Again, never bothered me at all - it's actually really nice and has a good feel.
I remember having an argument with my husband one evening and storming out the house. It was winter about 10pm so very dark. I walked across and sat in the old mill ruins and just cooled off (if there was anyone around I would have looked nuts!). I had an overwhelming feeling of comfort and calm. After about half an hour I went home and we sorted things out calmly. My husband later suggested it was the white witch guarding me in those late hours and calming me down - I'm not sure but open to it - it's quite a romantic idea.
Anyway, I am straying from the point of this story...
About a year ago I fell asleep on the sofa. My husband doesn't like it when I do that. Apart from anything, we both have very demanding full time jobs and renovating the house really takes it out of you. He nags me about getting proper sleep. Whilst asleep I felt a very gentle nudge (just like he would do) and it was obvious someone was trying to wake me. I woke but didn't open my eyes as I was comfortable and just wanted to be left. The same nudge two or three times. It was no good, I opened my eyes and said something like "ok, I'll come up", but my husband wasn't there. Still I put it down to my slow reaction and thought he must have just given up and gone back upstairs. I was about just to simply follow him up but the first thing I noticed (as I was coming round) was the lounge door was closed as absolutely no light coming in and there was certainly no noise from an opening or shutting of a door. My stomach started to turn at this point. I didn't hear my husband's footsteps going up our very creaky stairs either! Ok so now I'm freaked and still trying to justify things in my head, went into our bedroom. He's fast asleep. I popped my head into the kids rooms hoping it had been one of them (and still trying to justify what just happened). Yep, they were asleep too. I jumped into bed next to my husband, wrapped the duvet around me, willed sleep to come and it did.
The next morning I told my husband. He is open to the paranormal but I got the impression it was a half dream. This convinced me too, and it could have been. I still think about that night and I'm probably more uneasy about it now than I was then.
It was after this that the knocking started. It was less frequent back then and only me that heard it. I automatically looked at the clock when it happened and it's always between 3 and 3:30am. In itself I find that weird. We don't have the heating on a timer or anything like that. You could also argue it's a natural body rhythm to wake or be in a particular sleep state at that time, open to opinions. It just all seems too real. The reason I'm posting this is that my husband is now hearing it.
So, what happens? We go to bed, we go to sleep. At around 3am I wake with a start to hear two very gentle knocks on our bedroom door. The only way I can describe it is a gentle polite knock you would do before entering any room. It's not aggressive, it's not loud but it is very distinctive. The same gap between the knocks at the same time of night- and right there next to where I'm sleeping. I've jumped up a number of times and turned the light on/opened the door etc... Nothing and nobody. And that's it. I made sure I reported this to my husband each time. He began getting a little concerned but still hadn't heard it himself. I felt like an idiot. Until now.
The experience has now transferred to him but seems a bit more intense. He's also hearing footsteps on the stairs and much more regular than I ever did. It's almost nightly now. It's the worst it's been last night. He said he was woken almost every hour by the knocks or footsteps or both. In a sleepy state that may be exaggerated but he's certainly very tired today.
For me too, a new experience at a different time of day. The other evening I was alone in the house taking a bath. I had my headphones in but thought I heard the knocks on the bathroom door this time. I turned my music off and didn't hear it again. What I did feel was cold air in the steamy bathroom. I was actually on the cusp of calling my husband to come home but I didn't. I knew it would sound ridiculous and also he was due back in half an hour. I braved it out and told him when he got in. He admitted to me he had also experienced the cold sensation.
So, this is all very recent but seems to be ramping up. I must add that at the moment we feel no malice in whatever this is...wait...even while I'm typing this I feel that cold air again. It's about 9am now and I have a full house. Hubby is in the bath and kids upstairs. This is weird and making me even more determined to type...
Thoughts please. New to this site, don't know where else to go with this. I'd like to log this activity somewhere to like minds and opinions.
Still cold in here... I'll update hubby when he's out the bath shortly... To be continued, perhaps?