Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Tented Room

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Editor

The guest bedroom here remains little changed. Used for a while as our bedroom and then a study, it is square in plan with two double sash windows and high ceilings. In the original house it was the front parlour … Continue reading →

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Dinner Dogma & Dino – A Midwinter table setting

Posted on September 1, 2015 by Editor

A short video – depicting the table setting for our midwinter Christmas – seating for 10 our largest yet – requiring two tables.

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Our little Dacha

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Editor

Almost a year ago I posted that we were about to get back on the tools and start work renovating the hall. That turned out to be a little optimistic. What I didn’t know then was that within a matter … Continue reading →

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Old friends and old rivals reunited

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Editor

  The other day while looking at an Old Sheffield Plate salver, a friend identified the marks, a pair of suns, as those of Mathew Boulton. Boulton was, he said, ‘a highly regarded Sheffield plate maker.’ I was fascinated. Why was … Continue reading →

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Sacrilegious fun

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Editor

One day I saw a chair that intrigued me at Maiden & Fosters’ weekly auction. It was a good quality copy of a Chippendale-style chair. By the state of its varnish – yellowy and shiny – I would have dated … Continue reading →

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A bowl, a plate, a conversation

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Editor

  Viewing the local antique sale my attention was captured by a Chinese bowl decorated with two red dragons and with a distinctive disk of gold in the centre. What initially caught my eye was the auction house’s accidental arrangement … Continue reading →

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Back on the tools

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Editor

  A few readers have asked where we’ve gone? The answer is no further than the hallway where I have spent a great deal of time staring into the distance – thinking. The hallway has always been something of an … Continue reading →

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A Georgian pursuit

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Editor

It began with my usual Maiden & Foster weekly viewing. This usually happens on a Monday, part of the new week although Douglas has said he prefers Thursday. (The auction occurs on a Wednesday.) Thursday is the official day for … Continue reading →

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When pretty and useless collide

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Editor

  This week I should not have been bidding at the local antique sale. However I was slightly out of sorts, having missed even placing a bid on a painting I’d had been researching and generally keeping an eye on … Continue reading →

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In praise of Candle Power

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Editor

A good friend of mine, married to a professional fireman, lives without candlelight. Indeed she lives in a house from which all forms of naked flame are exiled. Her husband has, somewhat sadly, seen too much melancholy evidence of what … Continue reading →

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