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
HIS BAIT WAS SEALED
15-foot-long great white sharks on the hunt, in False Bay, South Africa - SHOCK and awe pictures of 15-foot-long great whites on the hunt will leave you stunned .
ADORABLE CHIMP SHOWS OFF GYMNASTIC SKILLS
WITHOUT a care in the world, this little chimpanzee shows off her gymnastic skills as she swings around her enclosure .
CLIMBERS TACKLE 200FT TOTEM POLE
TOWERING 65 metres into the sky, this terrifying accent is a dream for climbers .
WORLD'S FIRST SIGN LANGUAGE RESTAURANT
A world's first restaurant has opened in Canada, where having your order fall on deaf ears is a good thing .
WHITE TAILED EAGLES FIGHT FOR FOOD
The claws come out at meal time as a group of white tailed eagles brawl over road-kill .
FISH AND BIRD TANGO
A trout manages to escape the jaws of a hungry cormorant - only to find itself back inside the bird's long beak .
VICTORIAN TENNIS RULE BOOK REVEALS GAME PLAYED BY THREE
TENNIS was a game made for three according to the first Victorian rule book .
HYPNOTIST JAILED FOR SEX ABUSE
A hypnotherapist filmed himself sexually abusing a 19-year-old patient while she was in a trance-like state .
FRIENDS REUNITED
IT'S the iconic TV show that influenced a whole generation in the 1990s .
TRANS WOMAN'S £100K TRANSFORMATION FUNDED BY ONLINE FANS
A transgender woman has revealed how she was able to fund her transformation using £100K gifted to her by online admirers .
HUBBY LEFT ME FOR BEING A COUCH POTATO...SO I LOST 13 STONE
Most women would jump at the chance to put on some lipstick, sling on a pair of heels and head out for a romantic meal with their other half .
WOMAN LOSES 11ST AFTER BREAKING TOILET SEAT
A 23st woman who was left humiliated after breaking a TOILET SEAT has lost an incredible 11st .