Sick all week, but now on the mend. I'd been mightily miffed with the universe had I been sick for the holidays! And just when you thought you've seen it all... just look what Swedish photographer Emil Nystrom has done to the honourable Mr Pellew!


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Pardon the pun, but I couldn’t resist when coming across this snuff box on the Antiques Roadshow.


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Seeing how Easter is just around the corner, a Fabergé egg might have been more suitable to turn up on the Antiques Roadshow, but I thought that you’ll be just as happy with Nelson’s teapot. And it’s the real thing!


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And once again I wonder whether it's appropriate to celebrate something which is actually "Valentine-Got-Tortured-Day", but eh... much love to you, on this and any other day!


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http://xkcd.com/1259/


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Recently, I managed to buy a pair of almost new black luxury ballet flats made by REPETTO from an auction site for about £5. Unfortunately, they were a wee bit too large for me, so I gave them to a colleague at work, who has a similar dressing style (we're a two woman skirts + leggings + ballet flats army) and who is an all-around lovely person. ( Read more... )

I admit I find this item as exciting as a ceremonial sword, and depending on the previous owner, it might have been just as dangerous…!


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I have two left hands and ten thumbs, so I admire this item for the art it represents rather than the art you could create with it. And art it is; without a doubt one of the cutest sewing boxes I’ve ever seen!

Without further ado: Sewing Cottage!


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... the unemployment rates are high, the queues outside foodbanks long, and the death toll at the collapsed factory in Bangladesh has reached 400. There's still slavery. There's still child labour. There's still so much to do.

This cartoon by Iranian artist Karimi on the issue of child labour captures the mood quite well, I think.


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While the focus of this blog is on all things 18th century, with emphasis on the Royal Navy, I sometimes come across something which is either so bizarre (the Battle for the Eternal Light, for example!) or awesome that I stretch the timeframe a little. In any case, this is still Age of Sail, though thoroughly not sailing related ( Read more... )