Bit weird or not?

[Foxysoxy01]

I'm not sure if I'm being a bit ridiculous so could do with some advice or a good talking too!

Bit of background needed but this may be quite long, sorry

Where I live it is quite rural. I have a dog I walk morning and night around the same time each day but not same time on the dot. I sometimes walk on my own (with dog) sometimes with someone else (more often than not in the evenings)

There are two walks both rural with no street lights and nothing other than the odd tractor, walker, horse rider etc etc. Just to add neither of these walks lead anywhere other than one to a house that then branches off to a longer walk.

So the track I went down today has a house at the top, one a bit further down then nothing till the big house at the end where it branches off.

The middle house (although closer to top of track than middle) goes garden, house, gateway, garden, shed, fence, big tree with the track running along side.

So that's the background now what happened.

I have walked past the middle house, down to big house and am on my way back. I see someone coming and get dog back on lead. The person notices me and moves quickly from right hand side of track to under the big tree (just off left hand side of track) just behind shed of house. Person lights a fag and turns around facing tree.

I find this bit odd but carry on as I get next to him he is still just off track under tree and facing the actual tree. I'm getting a bit on edge as this is clearly a bit strange behaviour.

I say good evening (admittedly I might have sounded a bit nervous) the person turns round while lifting their hood up so I cannot see their face.

I walk past quite briskly! (I'm not sure if IABU but something about the person did frighten me)

As I get nearer the middle house gates I see they are not in as car is not on drive (there is a mid 30's woman on her own living there) I stop and turn to look thinking I wouldn't actually hear if the person ran up behind me. They are still under tree looking straight ahead (not at me, but across the track into side with hedge)

I carry on and as I get to the next house I look again but can't see him and I was not about to walk back and see if he was still there.

Now the whole behaviour of this person was off. They very clearly did not want me to see their face. They were either an incredibly burly woman or a man, fairly thickset about 6ft obviously in black and just quite terrifying.

I am home alone tonight and just a bit worried I suppose that he was either waiting for a person walking (maybe not with good intentions!) or to break into the middle house? Or the thought did cross my mind if was he waiting for my but chicken'd out.

The woman that lived on her own is I suppose fairly vulnerable as her house is a bit away from any others and she is on her own (the house is quite large and obviously worth a fair bit of money so you would presume there could be antiques etc)

This all happened about an hour ago now so it was dark.

I'm not sure if I'm just being silly or should o go and check if he is still there? Phone someone? Or just ignore it all.

Writing it all down makes me think I am over reacting and the bloke maybe just wanted a walk but it really didn't feel like that at the time. His behaviour seemed odd and his body language was quite menacing tbh.

What do the collective of MN think?

Sorry it was so long!

The symbols on that paper look pagan by the way. Very odd....

The symbols on the bit of paper look like maths homework, although weird to keep your homework under a rock!

There isn't really a centre to the village. I suppose the pub is about a mile away but the village is just sort of houses spaced along the main-ish road with other tracks and roads coming off it occasionally.

Wow, all put together it does feel like something is going on, I completely get your reluctance to get police involved based on what you've got - do though. Better they know about something that's nothing rather than nothing about something.

Those symbols are very remiscent of those burgler code markings but the only ones that match to ones on line are the x's (the one in the circle meaning don't bother and the other meaning loot). That weird A could be an interpretation of alarmed?

I think I'd want a conversation with someone in a uniform anyway.

I'm intrigued by the idea of bauble leaving car jackers. Do they only operate around Christmas or do they have appropriate seasonal markers they leave for their accomplices?

Mini pumpkins, tiny bunnies etc.

You've got to like a thief who does that rather than just text his mate to say, it's the Volvo as Rose Cottage

Looks like boundary divisions

There isn't really a centre to the village. I suppose the pub is about a mile away but the village is just sort of houses spaced along the main-ish road with other tracks and roads coming off it occasionally.

Ive lived in a village like this, to anyone visiting it just looks like a road through the woods, but there's actually loads of houses 😂 unless you have I spose it's difficult to explain.

And being one of two houses visible from the road and with the postcode ending halfway up my driveway I was basically the Royal Mail/DPD/yodel depot for it 😂

Probably someone trying to have a spliff in peace

This either a wind up or someone has mental health issues ... there was a thread a while ago about a woman who found strange markings on paper stuffed into her stone wall. Everybody said either pagan, mentally ill person or even someone with dementia. There were also flowers left... does anyone else remember that thread?

You've got to like a thief who does that rather than just text his mate to say, it's the Volvo as Rose Cottage

One can only presume they like to give their potential victims a fighting chance of avoiding the theft.

Very sporting.

I suppose texts are incriminating?

Have to say I like the festive theme - shame they're wankers

Those symbols are very remiscent of those burgler code markings but the only ones that match to ones on line are the x's (the one in the circle meaning don't bother and the other meaning loot)

Did they decide that at the last Burglar Conference?

Glad you are all finding humour in my misery!
I shall leave a note out tonight with a link for this thread so whoever it is can educate himself on burglar etiquette.

I also live rurally and my usual dog walk sounds very similar to yours so this has really creeped me out. I'll be taking a gurt big walking stick with me this morning.

It does sound like someone playing games with you. Why would a potential burglar draw so much attention to themselves?.

I hope you get some answers. We've installed a CCTV camera which covers our house access as the village gets unwelcome "visitors" from the nearest city.

I've been waiting for the Troll hunting, tbh it's taken longer than I thought it would.

Why would I be winding you up?

I'm a regular user and been here a while. I'm sure MN would confirm I don't have any other names, accounts or anything that would make me a troll.

I found the bloke on the track quite frightening tbh and won't be walking on my own for a while. The rest of the stuff makes me a bit uneasy but mainly I just think it's someone taking the piss so trying to be fairly light about it all.

I think someone's dabbling in spells, this looks like something out of Buffy or a Llewellyn book. It's also very untidy, 1/10 for presentation and probably much, much less for efficiency

Best guess - Yesterday was Solstice, it was placed on/near your boundary, the three turn anticlockwise spiral is likely a banishing, the cross in a circle could be Earth the cross on its own I cannot remember but the A symbol with the upward flicks on the legs of the A is a common one, it's like air but with a bit more. It's decades since I was interested in symbols etc. but it will come to me eventually.
There are now so many fantasy books with their own symbols it's hard to work out any meanings.
It may not even be bad intent, there's other meanings for the spiral that could be "banishing" say illness.

OP, can you put the image into an Image search engine like Tin Eye or Google Image Search and see if it turns up anything similar? I've tried but cannot save just the image you posted to do that with.

Do keep it for the Police to have as evidence, there may be fingerprints on it, so put it in a plastic bag once it's naturally dried out.
If you're bothered or superstitious about things like that, put it somewhere and sprinkle a circle of salt around it, that will neutralise any of its "magic"

As a one-off I'd think it's just some prat, but with all the other stuff you've had going on, it's really time you put all the weirdness together and told the Police, they may know of someone who does this sort of thing quite regularly.

Did they decide that at the last Burglar Conference

Yup - think it was Belmarsh 2015

Police released it a while ago if you google. Think it's based on the old hobo system.

Either way makes more sense to me than magic spells tbh.

Right the markings thing was backed up by Warwickshire police ( www.warwickshire.police.uk/article/12474/Suspicious-chalk-marking-found-by-resident-of-Queens-Avenue-in-Shipston-on-Stour ) but then Worcestershire police said they were talking out their bums...

Take from it what you will I suppose.

Take from it what you will I suppose

My favourite thing is this-

www.warwickshire.police.uk/article/12579/Burglary-reported-less-than-150-metres-from-suspicious-chalk-marking-was-foiled-thanks-to-sharp-eyed-local-resident

Burglary reported less than 150 metres from suspicious chalk marking

I mean... they're stretching it a bit aren't they? It wasn't even the same street.

What marking means "A house on a different street 150m away"?

Over on horse and hound markings are a contentious subject.

Plaited hair- kids or the wind. Cut hair- probably caught in a fence and sliced.

Chalk marks and such are usually big indicators of your property being marked.

Leaving items in obscure places generally gives a potential thief an idea of how observant you are or how regularly you visit somewhere. When we had our farm done over it was a barn we rarely used and when we actually looked around you could clearly see there had been twine looped over the handles and someone had drawn an arrow in the dust of a window to where the machines were stored.

Chalk marks and such are usually big indicators of your property being marked

They are big indicators that there are utility works being done in the area.

Apart from Warwickshire and their super cryptic direction markings every other report I have seen is debunking it.

*They are big indicators that there are utility works being done in the area.

Apart from Warwickshire and their super cryptic direction markings every other report I have seen is debunking it.*

Ok. The whole agricultural community is lying...

Also, the men with Irish accents in the white vans often mark houses with dogs that go in the garden. I've been told that by the people who do it so I'm likely to believe them.

the men with Irish accents in the white vans

Hahahaha.

Oh yes, I have heard of them.

Fuck me.

Sassenach85 I remember that thread and thought of it once I seen the update about the paper. I’ve no idea what it all is. Could be a teen trying a spell or a stalker or markings for where or what to steal etc I’d log it with the police just to be sure. Maybe they have had similar elsewhere and can make the link that we can’t.