REAL LIFE VICTORIAN
A woman has taken her house back in time - by spending £10,000 to transform it into her Victorian dream home. Quirky spinster Julia Wood, 42, lives her life like a 19th century lady and can often be seen leaving her terraced house wearing ankle length velvet and carrying a parasol. The self confessed "eccentric" has transformed all five rooms of her property in Leicester with late 19th or early 20th century decor. Her lounge, bathroom, bedroom and kitchen are filled with antique furniture, fireplaces and artefacts and even nude portraits complete with lighting from the period. She has a large mahogany mantle piece in her lounge and sips tea from an 1890s crockery set she says she bought for just £10. Her kitchen, which also acts a sitting room, includes an Edwardian day bed, wood burning stove, antique tub chair, pine table and even a black fridge. The author and writer, who has lived in the home for two years, is an avid Oscar Wilde fan and says she lives her life like a character from one of this plays. She said: "I must have a Victorian or Edwardian aura. I was just born in the wrong era. But Downton Abbey has changed things lately. Sales of long gloves have gone up hugely, I understand. All of a sudden I'm in fashion.
Other great stories
SNOWY SQUIRRELS PLAY A GAME OF BALL
Throwing their arms up in the air, these energetic squirrels play a game of ball with a walnut .
LIGHTHOUSES OVERLOOK GLOWING SUNRISES
The lighthouses of Brittany, from Brest to Le Conquet, stand tall on France’s north-western coast against stunning scenery .
GATEWAY TO THE UNDERWORLD
SPURTING water 20ft into the air, this is one well you wouldn't want to dip your bucket into .
LAST MILITARY HOSPITAL TIME CAPSULE
INSIDE Britain's last Naval hospital where scurvy was cured looks like an NHS time capsule .
CHIPS IN: MAN MAKES £4K A MONTH SENDING POTATOES IN THE POST
A man has made a SPUD-TACULAR amount of money sending potatoes in the post .
LIFE-LIKE PENCIL DRAWINGS
AT first glance these images could easily be mistaken for photographs, but they are in-fact real life drawings created using nothing but coloured pencils .
SUN ALLERGY MUM NICKNAMED 'VAMPIRE' BY KIDS
While most Brits look forward to long hot summer days, a mum-of-six will be staying in the shade - as she is allergic to the sun .
EYE-OPENING INSIGHT INTO KENYA’S LARGEST DUMPING GROUND
PILES of trash provide a living for thousands in Nairobi, Kenya .
YOGI - BEAR - POLAR CUBS MORNING BEAR-ROBICS
A young polar bear cub becomes the yogi bear as she stretches off for a morning aerobics session .
UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP
A brave cricket takes his chances as he sits on top of this green papua tree frog .
ADORABLE CHRISTMAS BABIES
WEARING tiny Christmas accessories, these adorable babies get into the spirit of the season .
THE ENCHANTING FOREST OF FIREFLIES
WITH the phosphorescent blobs and mesmerising patterns, these spectacular images may look like the hall marks of an enchanted forest but it is in fact the scene of thousands of dancing FIREFLIES .