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
FALSE KILLER WHALE BEAMS AS HE CATCHES HIS LUNCH
Say cheese! This cheeky chappy isn’t in the mood to live up to his scary reputation as he is pictured here cracking a killer smile as he goes about his daily business .
RESCUE TURTLES OPEN WIDE FOR DINNER
A pair of BEAUTIFUL rescue sea turtles spot their catch in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef .
SCULPTURES THAT WILL LEAF YOU SPEECHLESS
GIANT garden sculptures don't beat about the bush .
CCTV CAPTURES NEWSREADER WALKING INTO A CANAL WHILE TEXTING
THIS is the shocking moment a clumsy radio newsreader plunged into a freezing canal while texting her boyfriend instead of looking where she was going .
SURPRISE BABY: WOMAN REVEALS SHE DIDN’T KNOW SHE WAS PREGNANT UNTIL SHE SAW HER BABY’S HEAD CROWNING
A woman has revealed how she didn’t know she was pregnant until she saw her baby’s head crowning .
WOMAN LOSES 13ST AFTER BEATING HALF-TON POTATO ADDICTION
A woman has lost over 13st after beating her addiction to POTATOES .
FROZEN WATERFALLS
COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: SWIMMING WITH SHARKS
Armed with a snorkel, flippers and her skimpy bikini, an intrepid female free diver swims alongside an array of reef sharks .
GRAVEYARDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
From the tails of fighter planes to black and white checked buildings, graveyards take different and unusual forms around the world .
FOSTER FAMILY FACE LOSING THEIR HOME AFTER SIGNING UP TO GOVT HOMES SCHEME
A family of foster carers are facing bankruptcy and homelessness after they signed up to a Government scheme to renovate their house to be used for disabled children's short breaks .
MESMERISING FUNGI
With luminous colours and alien- like features, these magical mushrooms look like they belong on another planet .
OPEN WIDE! MONKEY GIVES FRIEND AN UNEXPECTED DENTAL CHECK-UP
This cheeky macaque gets up close and personal as he examines the dental hygiene of his fellow primate .