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
GOLDEN EAGLE FESTIVAL

RACING through the mountain range on horseback, the Kazakh people practice their ancient tradition of hunting with golden eagles .

FISH TSUNAMI

A TSUNAMI of predatory fish gather for their annual hunt .

CATERPILLAR AND MANTIS BATTLE IT OUT

A little caterpillar fearlessly scampers down a branch and confronts a praying mantis .

CHUCKLING SEAL

CHUCKLING away, this little seal appears to find something hilarious .

FACES OF ORPHAN VICTIMS OF AGENT ORANGE

These are the faces of orphans suffering from the horrifying effects of chemical warfare .

EXERCISING OTTERS

A group of otters put on a show of aqua aerobics, as they raise their flippers perfectly in sync .

MAN CONTINUES HIS WORLD MAP BACK TATTOO

An American man continues on his mission to document his journey around the globe by completing a world map tattoo on his back .

WORLD’S LARGEST JIGSAW

Made up of 40,000 pieces, putting in over 200 hours of work and blunting endless blades, this is the final result for the world’s largest jigsaw, finally finished on Wednesday .

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER BEAR

An American black bear mimics John Travolta’s famous Saturday Night Fever dance move by hurling its arm in the air .

WOMAN LOSES 9ST AFTER JUNK FOOD ADDICTION LEFT HER £1.5K IN DEBT

An obese woman has lost 9st after an addiction to junk food left her £1 .

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE BUG KIND

THIS alien-like bug would look more at home in outer-space but it can actually be found wriggling around here on Earth .

MIDDLE-AGED SOMERSET COUPLE TAKE UP WRITING TO DEATH ROW INMATES

A middle-aged couple from Somerset have developed a rather unusual hobby to occupy their time: writing to killers on death row .