Gracie’s Life Experiment

Double Bah Humbug This Week November 29, 2008

I was lying in bed this morning at around 3.30am tossing and turning thinking about all the stuff I haven’t done for the emigration.  Then around 4 ish I heard this tapping noise.  Looked out the front cos I thought someone was trying to break into the car.  Nope nothing, security light not on.  Made a quick toilet break and I heard the tapping noise again.  So I lifted the bathroom blind and opened the window to survey the garden.  WHAT???? 2 dark hooded figures are doing something to the shed door.  I shouted Hey – Get away and they scarpered quickly.  Shouted at hubby that someone was breaking into his sheds.  He got up super quick and looked out the window and said there was noone there.  I said, there WAS!  Front security light then went on.  Switched on all the house and garden lights and lo and behold wooden shed door wide open, brick shed door 1/2 crowbarred.  Hubby panicked as he’d only just that evening put a load of stuff into the wooden shed. 

Called police as hubby went outside – first time I’ve ever called 999.  How exciting.  Mostly I was just scared as our back garden is totally enclosed I thought the burglars might be hiding in a dark spot of the garden waiting to pounce.  The police, full credit to them arrived just as I put the phone down with the operator.  They got in their car to cruise the area for random people wandering about at 4.30am.  About a min after they drove out of sight a young lad in a dark hoodie walked out from somewhere in our cul de sac and stopped at the bottom of the drive before bending down behind our car and picking a baseball cap up.  Hubby opened the front door, v scary and told the guy that the police would want that.  Odd the guy didn’t run off, he actually came up to the front door and gave hubby the cap.  Very odd as it’s definitely not someone from the cul de sac, he looked a little spaced out TBH.  Then the police with dogs arrived to track/see if anyone was hiding nearby.  Apparently they hid behind a caravan a few houses away before leaving the estate.  So we emptied the shed contents into our lounge and went back to bed (I couldn’t sleep a wink).  Policeman came totake details at midday today.  Apparently a shed 4 houses down was broken into as well, so it would appear they were just opportunistic burglars.  The copper told us they wouldn’t be able to get any evidence from the sheds and that hubby could fix/secure them he also took the cap back for forensics.  2 hrs later shed doors are fixed and then police ring up again to arrange some fingerprinting.  Do wish different bits of the police would talk to each other.

Funny they broke the wooden shed containing all hubby’s toy soldiers and science gadgets which were ready and packed in crates, but they decided to leave them and attack the brick shed door, which does have a hasp on the outside but also a heavy duty internal mortice lock too.  They totally buckled the hasp but couldn’t snap it and then realised it had a bigger lock.  At which point they then started to split one of the wooden slats (hence the tapping noise).  After all their hard work they would have been sorely disappointed had they got in as we’re moving in 2 weeks and all the contents have already been sold/cleared out. 

So.. yay me!  I managed to scare off some burglars by shouting at them…. or perhaps it was the sight of me with be hair at 4am in the morning that did it.  Either way I’m relieved that nothing was taken and more importantly none of us hurt.  I’m a bit spooked and paranoid now.  Thank God for looking after us.  His angels have protected us 2x this week already.  We so need to get outta this country.