There's something weird going on in my house

[horseHorseHorse]

For the last couple of weeks I've been noticing lights on when I come in when I'm 100% sure I've turned them off. Milk out on the side when I'm sure it's been put away. Stuff moved around but not in an obvious way, just a "huh, I could have sworn I left that somewhere else."

Put it down to rushed mornings and my cats playing with stuff.

Been out most of the day, just went into the upstairs bathroom for the first time since this morning and there's blood on the loo tank. Thought it could have come from a cat bringing something in but the door has been closed all day, and it's on the third floor so it's not like they could have got in and out like that. Windows have been closed too.

I have already bought carbon monoxide detectors in addition to the wired in ones. They're all over the house but haven't picked anything up.

Have a loft but the hatch is tiny and doesn't seem to have been disturbed.

Have an internal camera which shows the front door and hall - no activity though it did show my dog going bonkers barking at something outside a couple of times today (though the external camera isn't up yet so I couldn't see what)

Only direct family have keys and they wouldn't do stuff like this. Will be changing the locks tomorrow!

I'm properly creeped out ATM! Husband will be back shortly from work thank god! I'm in the bedroom with the door wedged shut for the moment!

Please someone give me a rational explanation!

there were a few strange details for me and I wonder if this is a halloween story?

Are there any cobwebs in the bathroom
above the toilet? We get brown spots like that on our windowsills where spiders have mauled a fly or 2 they have caught in a web. Honestly the mess they make is ridiculous.

at 11.30 OP said she was so scared all alone with the dog. At 1am I said when is your DH coming back and she said oh he came back some time ago so I feel ok now. But in the posts there was no sense of him being there. It all feels a little bit strange but I'm sorry OP as I don't want to undermine you, I guess you were just stressed

Presumably your sister has a key to get in to collect the dog. Could someone close to her have made a copy without her knowledge do you think? Ignore everyone being horrible. I’d be freaked out too. As unlikely as it seems that someone’s sneaking in, there have been an awful lot of stories of exactly that happening.

I was going to suggest a spider having a fight with a fly too!

Like what?

Why the hell would I make something like this up? I have better things to do!

no it's just sometimes people do around Halloween.

I'm sorry, I hope it's ok. It all sounds very odd for sure.

I haven’t seen if you’ve answered whether it could be insect poo on the cistern. Spiders, flies and daddy long legs all leave droppings, and sometimes they look red/brown and similar to your photo. It would be by far the most obvious and least worrying solution!

Regarding the red stains in the bathroom, would I be right in thinking the bathroom had been used, perhaps for a shower, in the morning, and then left with the door and window closed during the day, when the temperature dropped with no heating on? And the extractor fan doesn’t work?

”When Serratia marcescens spreads and multiplies on bathroom surfaces, it produces a reddish-orange pigment called prodigiosin.”

“In humid environments, such as bathrooms, the moisture dilutes the red pigment, causing the stains to appear pink.
Without dilution, this pigment can sometimes resemble blood, which can be alarming to see in a bathtub or toilet.”

https://www.4abc.com/blog/what-causes-pink-stains-on-toilets-and-bathtubs/

We used to get this in a badly ventilated bathroom.

probably a gang thing

OP is certainly glued to this thread even if she has 'better things to do'.

This is all so weird to me. I've been reading this since the start. I believe the OP. I think there's probably a rational explanation, most likely things being forgotten, which we all do, combined with some insect/ flea/ stuff falling out of the extractor fan stuff going on. But hey, if anyone thinks she really does just want attention (which I personally don't think she does and don't see any evidence of) why not just scroll on? I think we've all been freaked out by things on occasion, real or not. I hope OP, you're ok and things go back to normal for you.

Is it possible either you or your husband is sleepwalking? My father once tried to ring the council in his sleep.

I think you've missed the posts around midnight when she says he's just got nack

ah yes sorry i did, thanks x

I thought I had.

Never seen a spider in there, and there's no cobwebs. (My bedroom is another matter atm 😑)

Wow, okay, had no idea that was even a thing! Think this could be the answer for the bathroom, thank you!

I'm sorry, would you like me to invent a loft dweller or ghost or something? 🙄

I don't believe so - neither of us have (knowingly) before!

I feel for you.

I have got notes of the lights on,lights off thing in a hotel room (hotel I stayed in every week for work). Also in a bathroom. At first I thought I had I had also forgot to turn off the light, was up and down all night because I kept being awoken by a clicking noise, and found the ensuite bathroom light was on, when I had definitely turned it off. So got up, turned it off. And then, back on again. Left it on, it turned itself off. Felt like I was going slightly mad and I had forgotten whether they were on or off, so I ended up writing it down in a 2.15am light on, 2.30 am light off sort of way. Clicking noise traced to a wardrobe in room. Seemed to stop when I was near it. Nothing bad happened, all low level stuff, unless you count me hardly getting any sleep with the bloody clicking and the lights going off and on. Went down to reception the next morning and said "look, don't put me in that room again, you have got a problem with your electrics in there, you cannot get any sleep". And, they knew. And not in a good way.

Go to the police.
I had a similar problem 15 years ago. I was a mature student at the time. I had 90 minutes drive to get to the uni and the same back. So I was out of the house 11 or 12 hours each day.
I was coming home and finding ornaments moved. Things been taken out of my freezer, plates being moved in cupboards, my mail opened, my uni work disturbed or deliberately destroyed etc. All very nasty but the worst was, I've got food intolerances and am ill if I eat wheat, nuts or eggs and after eating what should have been safe for me I became very sick and on one occasion ended up in hospital. After checking I found ordinary flour and ground almonds had been mixed in with my food stuffs. Really nasty and I was very frightened.
I spoke to the kids (they were both in high school) about it and they denied all knowledge of it. I believed them as it was upsetting for them too and there was no way they would do anything to make me ill. I'm a single parent and we are very close.
I took a couple of days off uni and parked my car at my friends house and waited upstairs and about 10am I heard my dog barking and the door opening and someone walking about downstairs. The dog didn't bark for long so I went downstairs and there was my father in my sitting room rifling through my mail. He had his back to me so I ran at him and shoved him hard and he landed on the floor. I put him out there and then and told him not to come back unless I sent him a written invitation. I must admit there was a lot of swearing by me and he refused to give me back my key.
I worked weekends and had a lot of contact with the police so I walked down to the police station and told them what had happened. They would have charged him but all I wanted was my keys back and for him to leave me alone. He was horrible to my mum and she was always anxious. He was also partly responsible for her death. (Another story for another day)
The police went to his house and got the keys from him. He was warned about his behaviour and told to stay away from my house.
My uncle (my father's brother) was furious with him. He phoned my father to see why the police were at his house he was in a rage screaming and ranting that I had no sense of humour as his actions were only a bit of fun to lighten my mood and he thought I was telling lies about being at uni as I was too stupid to attend.
Hopefully you'll find an answer to your mystery soon and I truly hope it's simpler than mine.
My heart goes out to you and you have every reason to be frightened.
If your problem continues go to the police sooner rather than later. I wish I'd done that.

OP, could it be that when you sister takes the dog out, she doesn't lock the door or possibly leaves a window open, so someone knows her routine and gets in when she's out walking?

But the question is who, I think if it was a homeless person there would be traces of mud etc from their shoes if they live outdoors, maybe more noticeable use of bathroom, sounds like it's all neat apart from those dots., and the food would be missing. Not a thief either - so hard to see who and why would go into the house.

I don't want to freak you out as it really could just be you're feeling on edge and it's making you question things more and more. However I've heard of people who have had their keys secretly cut by someone they know. I know two people and read about someone too! I know it sounds unbelievable but it does happen.

One it was her son who had been made to move out and sectetly cut the key and gave hers back.
Another it was a pervert "friend"/ acquantance who cut the key from in her bag one time and creeped around her house and I don't want to go into detail tbh.

The last I read about was a lady whose colleague she felt sorry for ..she gave him her keys to fix her car there and then outside her house and he went off and cut her house key secretly there and then.
He gas lit her doing stuff like you're talking about. For example putting one of her contraceptive packets on her desk at work. In the end he full on stalked her and later physically attacked someone else he was stalking.
I don't want to scare you but want you to be really careful with your keys i.e your children too should keep them in their pockets at school not leave them in their school bags where people can get them. It's so easy to cut a key.

You can put a key in the inside back door lock to stop the key turning on the other side on some locks to reassure you noone's using that door.

I know you don't think the blood is a cat but I too have had my cat scratch dramatically and a shower of blood spray like that.

I once emptied a bread bag of its crumbs into the loo when away when young (dunno why?!!!) and everyone couldn't work out what the hell was in the loo until I came back and explained so could just be remnants of something put on the loo top.

@CatAndHisKit i thought that too. Or a window doesn’t close properly/ can be opened easily from outside and a person goes in and out from there.