So it's pitch dark, I'm alone in this house in the middle of nowhere,

[neweurope]

absolutely no neighbours far and wide - busy renovating (don't live there yet)- and the doorbell rings. I speak into the automatic-door-opener-whatyacallit, and this guy says, very politely and with a very heavy accent:

"I'd like to get the gravestone of my uncle."

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I might have freaked but a week ago when the SO put some of my books into one of the sheds he remarked that there was some kind of very large stone in that shed. So I kinda could make the connection. I told him to come back at a more civil time, namely not in the dark.

Now I'm puzzled. In Germany you don't keep people's gravestones in the house, you put them on the grave which must be in a graveyard. So why is this person's uncle's gravestone sitting around on my new grounds?


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[Bunny]

1. Holy cow! That is really creepy!

:scared:

[Der Blaue Engel]

2. OMG that is the most adorable bunny in the entire world!

:D

[neweurope]

3. It certainly is, but say something about this person's uncle's gravestone

!

;)

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[Der Blaue Engel]

5. I had no useful input, but was overcome with a cuteness attack

:D

[neweurope]

11. Cuteness while I deal with gravestones... *sigh* Here's some

especially for you:







:hi:

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[Der Blaue Engel]

22. Lol

Blame Bunny. :D

As for gravestones, maybe the person who lived there before was a gravestone maker? Or maybe the uncle lived there, and kept this stone around in preparation for his death. As someone with "gothy" tendencies, I think it's kind of cool and will be interested to hear what else you find out about it.

[neweurope]

I'll certainly keep you informed *g* That uncle hasn't lived there

the last 18 years, that much I know because I know the people who HAVE been living there.

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[Bunny]

6. Are you sure your new grounds are not on top of a cemetary?

That would be weird!

[neweurope]

12. Yes, quite sure - actually it's the old water works of town :)

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[Bunny]

4. He/she is indeed adorable, but it ain't mine.

I got the pic from the internet. :hi:

[myrna minx]

25. OMG--It's one of those Uncle's gravestone/adorable bunny threads.

:rofl: :rofl:

[neweurope]

27. *laughs* Yes, I understand people tire of those!

We see them a brazilian times! :hi:


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[skygazer]

7. Well, I don't know about Germany

but I know in the U.S. cemeteries sometimes get moved or closed down. I used to frequent a bar in an old inn and it turned out that the large stone step outside the door was actually a gravestone! It had come from an old cemetery that was moved because a road was going through the site. Some of the stones were broken and some lost and this one ended up as a step.

It was rescued by a man who works in the area to preserve and protect old cemeteries. Maybe something similar happened with his uncle. Or perhaps his uncle had the stone made beforehand (people do, you know) and it got left at the house somehow.

Lots of possibilities...

[Call Me Wesley]

8. Could it be

that this uncle's grave was digged out after some years and the guy brought the gravestone home?

[no name no slogan]

9. Maybe he forgot to pack it?

:shrug:

[neweurope]

13. *rofl* That must be it!

:rofl:

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[xmas74]

10. Was he buried on the grounds somewhere?

It is a possibility.

Here's something even odder that I heard about once through a coworker: her father ordered his stone while he was still alive, had them print all the info and the designs on it, leaving only his date of death to be carved on later. He stated that he wanted to be sure that they did a good job on the stone and that he was getting his moneys worth. And he stored it in his barn until his death. His daughter said that he'd occasionally dust it and would keep it clean.

[skygazer]

14. That's not really that odd

A lot of people do it and it makes perfect sense to me. I've never seen the sense of leaving it to the grieving family to worry about.

[no name no slogan]

16. I'm taking the easy way out

no funeral, no grave, no headstone. Just chuck me in the dumpster with a note that says "PLEASE TAKE" in big capital letters.

Or better yet, just put me out on the curb on trash day.

That way I'm the city's problem, not my relatives'.

[neweurope]

17. Quite agree with you. I certainly don't want my nephew to disturb strange

women at night asking for my gravestone two decades later...

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[skygazer]

19. Ah, c'mon neweurope

You're not THAT strange! :rofl:

[neweurope]

21. Ah well,not THATstrange...

;)

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[myrna minx]

26. This almost sounds like a scene out of "Young Frankenstein. "

:hi:

[neweurope]

28. Don't know that - but it was weird.

:hi:


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[xmas74]

18. It was odd in the sense of how obsessed he was with

the headstone. Actually, the oddest use I've ever heard of w/ a headstone is an article that I read in Mother Earth years ago. A woman found one that someone had commissioned and then refused to pay for. She bought it for almost nothing and used it for baking. She rolled out her dough and used the ornate patterns in it as cookie cutters. (Actually, I think that's kind of cool but I'm a baker by trade.)

Myself-I'm getting cremated. My attorney has all the paperwork and knows what to do.

[neweurope]

15. Maybe this guy's uncle was just as strange... The man said

his uncle used to live in this house. The funny thing is that I know the people who have been living there the last EIGHTEEN YEARS... and now this nephew comes for his uncle's gravestone...

And he also spoke with a heavy accent, and eighteen years ago there were hardly any people in my country who were foreigners, and certainly not in the old water works ...*headscratch*

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[xmas74]

20. Could be the family didn't know he had done that

until he passed on?

Maybe he had passed on and they found out about the headstone.

[neweurope]

23. Yes... but his uncle hasn't lived there the last 18 years...

That is certain. It's funny however I look at it, and imagine me, paintbrush in hand, expecting my SO and getting a stranger who demands the gravestone of his uncle at night..

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[xmas74]

24. That's an odd one.

I'd find out who he is.

[neweurope]

29. Oh, I want to find out everything about it. The uncle, the

gravestone, the nephew, why the nephey claimed he just arrived from the highway, why he came to me at once at night... I used to be a journalist and stories like this one don't let me rest :)

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[xmas74]

30. Sounds like a great ghost story.

Can't you imagine telling it around a campfire?

[neweurope]

31. But Im ALREADY telling it around the campfire... The dear DU

camp fire:)

But wait till the nephew comes back and I twist his arm to get the story! WHY does the man arrive in the dark of night, claiming he just got off the highway, wanting to get that gravestone - after at least eighteen years have passed?

I've been saying there's a ghost in the old water works. Of COURSE it's just some workers (some water works' workers still have keys to the property) forgetting to switch off the lights...

Of COURSE it was only a sweet water works' worker who FINALLY after two days emptied the garbage can AND put it behind the house (and the fence) where it belongs...

And OF COURSE it's just the big tree in front of the house groaning in the dark.

Life at this house promises to be interesting ;)

:rofl:

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[xmas74]

32. I do so love a good ghost story!

Tell me more when you get it sorted out. I have a group of Girl Scouts that I need to take camping soon and I must arm myself w/ some stories.

[neweurope]

33. Oh, I'll certainly report as soon as I find out more!The old couple

who have lived there the last eighteen years only to move to an old people's home now called me two days ago to ask "if we had already regretted moving there".

:rofl:

Now is that a normal question to ask? This coming from a couple who assured us (when we first visited the place) that it was the absolutely nicest place in the whole world?

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[xmas74]

34. It's a ghost!

You are so lucky!

I've always wanted to live in a haunted house!

[neweurope]

35. Well,I DO hope the ghost only groans and switchs on/off lights and empties

garbage cans. I hope he doesn't leave blood smudges on the stairs and the like. That I could hardly tolerate. A little groaning would be o.k., though, if better to take if I were not alone..

:hi:

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[xmas74]

36. If it empties garbage cans

then I wouldn't worry. Consider it free labor.

[neweurope]

37. Yes,quite right; maybe he could dust a little while he's rampaging

round...

*g* I'm excited. I've been living in an apartment for twenty years where nothing has changed other than the people underneath us. We finally decide to move and all kinds of interesting things happen.

:rofl: Wait till I catch the nephew!

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[xmas74]

38. Good luck!

Sounds like a heck of an adventure ahead of you!

[neweurope]

39. Thank you! I'm certainly excited :)

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[obxhead]

40. My heart stopped just reading your post....

I would have totally freaked and maybe come to see the views of anti gun supporters. wow.

[neweurope]

41. *g* I'm oldfashioned but I DO praise that dooropener-telephone-

thingamajig! I'm not fainthearted but in that lonely area I'd hate to have to walk to the gate at night to speak to strangers.

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[Richard Steele]

42. Here's a wacky theory:

It's not a gravestone, and the stranger at the door
was no one's nephew.
He's just a mentally deranged person who is in the
habit of ringing the doorbell in the middle of the night
with his bizarre request, and has been doing so
for a very long time.

And HE is the reason the former owners asked
if you regretted living there yet.
He drove them nuts for years.

[neweurope]

43. *rofl* The first thing I'll do to-day is march into the shed and examine

that stone! Love your theory, though!

:hi:

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[Richard Steele]

45. It's late here, and I can't sleep, so I am getting kinda silly.

My other theory involves a coded message in the
uncles will, and a buried treasure!

[neweurope]

47. A treasure... not behind the plaster because that had to come off.

Not buried on the grounds because there are hundreds of rabbits who would have dug it up by now. Where could it be...*mumbles to herself*

Must I take apart the floor in the cellar now brick for ancient brick?

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[Richard Steele]

49. No, it won't be within miles of there.

The 'uncle' left a series of the stones
scattered across the globe,
each one disguised as a normal stone,
but containing a single hidden clue...

[neweurope]

51. A global treasure hunt! Anybody else find a gravestone in their shed?

:bounce:

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[Richard Steele]

54. Y'know, whatever the real story is....

You really need to get a picture of that stone,
just for the Lounge.
I'm really dying to find out what the deal is now!

[neweurope]

55. So MissHoneychurch has to come over with her camera.

I haven't seen the stone myself yet but I will as soon as I get there to-day!

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[Swamp Rat]

44. Maybe he has loads and loads of treasure hidden in the house!

Next time tell him to write you a note, detailing where specifically to look, and that you will look for it when it is convenient.

Remember me, if you find anything. ;) :D

[neweurope]

46. f I find anything we'll all have a big party, everybody in the lounge!

With LAKES of German beer and TUBS of the special potato salad!

:hi:

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[Swamp Rat]

48. ¡Quiero tapas!!!! .... pulpo gallego en la madera!

Voy llamar mi hermano en Madrid también. ;)

[neweurope]

50. Tapas and madeira? *headscratch* That would be fine!

You'll soon be in Madrid? Ahem *coughs* my Spanish is nonexistent...
:blush:
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[Swamp Rat]

52. Enschuldigung!

Scheiße! Ich bin konfus! :blush:

[neweurope]

53. No need to apologize for offering to bring gallons of madeira!

;)

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[Swamp Rat]

56. Actually, I meant to say Octopus ala Gallego,

served on wood (madeira), smothered in olive oil and red pepper. :9

I think there should be a meet up in München (or anywhere in Bayern) for Oktoberfest! :D :toast:

[neweurope]

57. Your octopus sounds fine! I'd like some right now.

But now I'm off to look at the stone :)

:hi:

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[neweurope]

58. That damn tombstone tried to kill me!

It is standing with the engraved side to the wall. I tried to move it just ever so little so I could peek behind it. Damn thing started to move on it's own and I was VERY afraid for my legs for a second or two! And for all that it's very un-interesting. Black, has a cross on it and the words "Family Konietschke", no dates, nothing else. Uncle, hah! It's a whole FAMILY that wants that tombstone!


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