They say life is very often stranger than fiction...well Ive just had that experience.
I was sitting here working when my mobile rang. I saw that it was an Algarve number but did not recognise it, so I didnt answer simply because of expense..instead I rang the number (a landline one) on my landline.
A Portuguese lady answered but line wasnt too clear. Then I suddenly thought it might be my friend Susana (N.P) in Portimao (Ive mislaid your number Su..so maybe you'd send it again please?).
I said'Is that you Su..Susana?"
The lady said "my name is Susana..who is speaking?"
I said " This is Ellie in England".....silence.then...
"I have a friend in England called Ellie.She lives near London."
Still puzzled I said no I was in Lincolnshire .I repeated.
"Is that you Susana..in Portimao?"
Answer " yes ,I live near Portimao..not in it"
I then realised the voice was too mature for Su.
I said " Are you a business or private number?"
"No.This is a private number"....I replied
"Is there anyone else in your home that would call my mobile?"
answer "No"
I said "Then how did you have my number and why are you calling me?"
answer " I didnt call it"
Anyway..I ended up apologising for troubling her.
Can anyone explain how this could happen? Its really fogging me
P.S. apologies for rambling post...just puzzled..an apparently straightforward call from private no.in Algarve to my mobile...yet it seems..no one called me......

Wow...now that is strange. It certainly wasn't moi...I'm puzzled!

strange…..I had a call on my mobile at midday today …..number withheld…..I answered it and there was some turkey gibbering in Portuguese; I couldn’t understand a word and I couldn’t get rid of him. Maybe I should make more effort to learn the lingua…..This must sound terribly arrogant but I’m not feeling very charitable at the moment coz I bet it was the carpenter who had agreed to be here at 9am to do something I our kitchen!

Ellie there’s a moral to your story: answer it or don’t answer it, but never phone them back…

Sue I did realise after a few minutes that it couldnt be you..it was an older woman (and youre still a Spring chicken! )
an Ellie talking to another Susana (who thought I was an Ellie near London )Blimey..talk about crossed wires .. didnt need that this morning..shocking hangover (Chocolate & 2 much Blossom Hill )..
Could that have been a 'real' turkey Digger..talking a load of gobble..or maybe taking orders for Christmas?
wish you could have 'heard' this other Susana & me...dont know who sounded the barmiest
well..we women do love to talk

Ellie, think you have an open mind like me so don't always believe in the logical.? I've seen UFO, clairvoyants and healers have approached me in the most strange circumstances - even the kids now think we've experienced a road ghost unless it was a suicidal old man waiting for me to knock him down one dark night but why was he dressed up in old fashioned clothing. Has anyone experienced the shiver down the spine feeling of being watched - I went to investigate and large rottweiler on other side of large hedge got baby in house quick!!!!
Did you know there is a story of a girl, think American, who died but now and again on the forum she liked her forum name still appears now and again with messages:shock:

Haven't we all had those experiences of smelling cigarette smoke when no smoker in house, or smells of strong perfume etc. feathers appearing from nowhere.
Halloween coming up - maybe other users have some spooky stories to tell?
-------------------believe the unbelievable?

Well, I have to type it all again because the computer crashed when trying to reply to this post...imagine X-files music playing at this point.

But seriously speaking...the other night I felt a strong smell that I identified as being the smell of my dad's clothes when he returned from the farm on a winter day. I dismissed it, even as I smelt it, thinking it was a product of my mind (which it probably was)...but I was surprised that since the event I have been unable to even recall the smell and therefore cannot describe it.

I was feeling particularly low that day. I had heard of these kind of phenomena before but had never experienced anything like it or given it a second thought until recently.

Su..I hope you werent disturbed by your experience and hope it brought some comfort to you?
Ive had 3 similar experiences in my life.My Dad died suddenly/tragically in driving accident (at 47) when I was 9.One day years later(in my early 30s) Iwas alone in the house,playing piano..some old songs..when I started to play my father's favourite love song.Suddenly I felt distanced from myself..my hands seemed to play without me.I became scared..pulling my hands from keyboard..I looked behind me.fully expecting my Dad to be there..I felt his presence
twice more this happened in our new house..but then i didnt feel scared..more a warm feeling..one of love.
Who knows what this is? Maybe it is love that cant be destroyed even by death?
Or is it simply that Im my father's daughter? He is part of me and Im part of him? merely a biological fact? I like to think its a little more than that ..elliex

No, I wasn't disturbed as such...just curious! I engage myself in trying to explain the events in a rational way and therefore don't enjoy them as I should...and in this case maybe I should have felt grateful. I'm the sort of person who is fascinated by the unknown but then dismisses it all too quickly....I'm a skeptic believer.

I think your lovely post brought a new light into the subject. It is easier to believe when others we know have experienced similar events. Thanks for that Ellie.

It is really strange when you have these unexplained experiences but fascinating also. I have had several, but my hubby was a real sceptic until he experienced something for himself awhile back, it has certainly changed his outlook ,and he does not take the Michael out of me anymore.

The incident with the piano sounds quite an experience and rather sad.

I would never mess around with the supernatural for fun, as some "presences" are not so good, you can just sense it.

Piglet

Has anyone heard of sleep paralysis or old hag syndrome? Before I explain what it is I'll wait for some answers.

This post is becoming very interested. Please everyone, tell us your experiences.

Hi Piglet!
Yes ..piano thing was very weird..but my father was a good pianist and taught me from about 4 years old..so there was that strong connection.It did scare me..particularly cos I was alone.But shortly after it happened I sat and cried;then felt better!
But you are right to 'warn' about tampering with the suoernatural! My sis and family sat round a ouija board one night..and had terrifying experience..glasses moving..spelling out name of spirits..loud knocks..they never did it again!!
Animals pick up invisible presence too dont they?My boxer 'Percy' used to.Hed stand at bottom of stairs looking up at the top landing and growl..tho noone was there!!
When he died at 12..for a few weeks I thought I could hear him! I fact,there was no doubt I did hear him..that heavy breathing sound..and that smell dogs have when theyre wet? I smelt that too!
P.S. 'Old hag syndrome'!!! ..Su ..Ive had that after too much
Port!!
Please tell us what it is!
Yes like NP Id like to hear of others 'weird' experiences..anyone seen a ghost or had spirits around?

Oh Ellie...animal and spirtis rings a bell. I always had a feeling my dog used to see something I didn't in our house back in the UK. One day, I was at the garden door with him when he focused on something above his line of vision and started walking backwards into the house...and walked past me like that. I stepped back and he started staring at a point high in the kitchen. He was whinning a bit and I was calm (this is the bit I can explain the least probably because I am wimp when I'm home alone)...I grabbed a biscuit and tried to call him into the kitchen.

He would have none of it and our dog is obessesed with food. He carried on walking backwards to the bottom of the living room and just sat there. To this day I don't get it...I understand England is very haunted...our house was only 10 years old and apart from lamps bursting when I touched them, a few things going wrong and my sleep paralysis gone out of control I never really took the possibility of supernatural seriously.

Sleep paralysis is waking up and feeling you cannot move, as if something is sat on your chest or trying to strangle you. Some people report that they feel they are being watched by evil presences. It's said that only 7% of the population are affected by this although most would have felt this at least once in their lives.

Neurologists treat it as a sleep disorder although many of the events surrounding the phenomena cannot yet be explained by science. A lot of people report seeing an old woman with hunched back, dressed in black, sitting on their chest. The strangeness of this is that people from around the world, regardless of their background see this thing...

Now, I had it from as long as I can remember and always lived with this as being a sleep disorder. I stopped seeing the old evil lady around the age of 9, I'd say although everything else remained. It wasn't until I was 20, in the UK watching a discovery documentary on the matter, that I found out that the Old Hag wasn't something my child mind made up. It freaked me out completely seeing the spitting image of what I used to see on the telly.

Come on everyone. Let's share our stories. JOIN IN!

Oh yes….after consultations with the boss over an early evening snifter, I have the answers ……. “England is very haunted” says Ms Parker.

I have in recent years attended two funerals here in Portugal, and noted that prior to the burial friends & family visit the chapel to see the ‘body’ lying in an open coffin. I have not known this in England. When my brother died my aunt said go to see him in the mortuary or you will never really believe he is dead. I didn’t and I’m glad because I still sometimes think he’s around, in the same room, I sometimes consult him on big decisions. And I wonder if I would feel his presence had I followed my aunts advise. He is a ghost

I find funerals in this country horrid...I had to watch my dad lying there for too long - 24 hours - they don't close the church at night. My english husband went through that hell not knowing this could be done anywhere...

Yes.I believe its a fact that England and Ireland are the most haunted countries in the world!
Actually Digger..that does happen in England..when my late ma-in-law died 3 years ago..she lay in chapel of rest and we wereable to travel down to Dorset and say goodbye to her just half an hour before church service & internment.
I know its the same in France as Portugal..I went into church in Burgundy (alone) and was very startled to find an open coffin with deceased laying in a side chapel..pretty spooky!!
But years ago this was common in UK. My father lay in open coffin at our house.and was visited by friends/neighbours..this was 3 weeks before my 9th birthday and I have clear memory of taking my 7yearold brothers hand as we went in to kiss him goodbye...45 years ago almost..we werent scared tho..to us it was just 'daddy asleep'
woud be considered macabre today wouldnt it?
Su.. a work friend of mine (when we were teenagers) had that 'Old hag' experience! she woke in middle of night ..felt the bed clothes tighten around her...as she turned there was old witch-like woman sitting there staring down at her
She told me next day at work..she looked terrible & terrified...really badly affected her..she had to see doctor..and could never sleep in that bedroom again...