Friday, June 6, 2025

Friday's Finds : Bagley Glassware

Bagley Glass, founded in 1871 in Knottingley, Yorkshire, was one of Britain’s most successful pressed glass manufacturers, producing elegant Art Deco designs until its closure in 1975. 

Among its most striking creations was the Rutland vanity set, a 1930s dressing table ensemble crafted from rich amber-coloured glass. 


This set consisted of two candlesticks...


A trinket dish...


Two small cream pots, and a larger loose-powder pot...


Each piece was designed to capture the era’s fascination with geometric elegance and warm, honeyed hues.

When placed on its matching amber tray, the pieces shimmered in the light, embodying the glamour and refinement of early 20th-century vanity décor. 


Today, collectors cherish Bagley’s glassware for its historical significance and enduring beauty.

You can find this complete set in my Etsy Shop... ♥


Thursday, June 5, 2025

Tuesday's Travels : The Haunting of Hill House

 I absolutely love the theatre. It's 

always so special and probably more 

memorable because I don't go too often.

~

The tickets were a birthday gift 

from my sweet, thoughtful daughter.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle 

and The Haunting of Hill House 

are among my favourite Shirley Jackson books - 

so this was the perfect gift!

It was a dry, chilly day 

with Autumn leaves on the ground...

...and a rare (for this time of year) blue sky.



After a short train ride...


...where I ate a spooky biscuit 
to get me in the mood for a scare!


I arrived at The Dolman Theatre in Newport.


The show was spooktacular,
The acting was spot on,
and there were plenty of jump scares, too.


I highly recommend going to see this show,
if it's ever performed in your area.

 

Tuesday's Travels : Paris in December

Paris is a city that never truly belongs to you - it remains 
just out of reach, slipping through your fingers 
like the last notes of a forgotten melody. 

We visited in December, when the air 
carried the scent of roasted chestnuts and the quiet hum of 
distant laughter. The city was alive, yet somehow, we felt like 
spectators to its brilliance, wandering through its streets as 
if searching for something we had lost long ago.


Standing beneath the iron lattice of the Eiffel Tower, we 
watched as the mist curled around its frame, softening 
its edges, making it feel less like a monument and more 
like a memory. We lingered there, listening to the 
murmurs of passing tourists.


The Christmas markets were a blur of beautiful, 
twinkling lights and hurried footsteps. 

Wooden stalls lined the streets, offering mulled 
wine and delicate ornaments, each one 
a tiny fragment of Christmas joy. 



Inside the Louvre, time stood still. The Mona Lisa 
watches with knowing eyes, as if she understands 
the quiet sorrow of those who wander without purpose. 

The halls stretch endlessly, filled with relics of lives 
long past - sculptures frozen in their final gestures, 
paintings capturing moments that would never 
come again. I traced my fingers along the cool 
marble of forgotten statues. In awe of
every single artifact.

The Louvre - a museum of ghosts. 







We took a trip to the Moulin Rouge and gazed as it shimmered 
in the night, its red glow spilling onto the pavement. 



Not daring to venture inside, we travelled further on
to Galleries Lafayette - a masterpiece of light 
and reflection, its Christmas display dazzling in its 
extravagance. We stood beneath the Christmas tree, 
watching its inviting golden glow flicker.

The crowds moved around us, their arms filled with 
carefully wrapped gifts, their voices carrying 
the excitement of the season. 




And finally, I must mention the Metro...

It rattled through the tunnels, carrying strangers to places 
they longed to see. We sat in the dim light, 
watching reflections flicker against the window, 
faces blurred by movement and time. 

The city rushed past, indifferent 
to our presence, and we realized that Paris was not 
ours to keep. It was a place of fleeting moments, 
of beauty that belonged to no one and everyone all at once.





As we stepped onto the platform, the cold air wrapped around 
us, and we knew it was time to leave. Paris had whispered 
its secrets, had shown us its brilliance - a city of lights
forever just beyond our grasp.

Tuesday's Travels : Shrewsbury

 A little birthday outing!

I'd never visited Shrewsbury before, but my partner 

surprised me with a little trip for my birthday.

The buildings here are just beautiful.




Our favourite place to eat was Dough & Oil.

It's so cosy, with a chilled vibe, and their pizzas are amazing!

Click HERE to learn more about them.




Our dessert was eaten at the local lounge...


...with its extravagant vintage decor.


If you've never visited a lounge, 
you can click HERE to find one in your area.

I promise you will not be disappointed.

Tuesday's Travels : Ghosts of Steam

There is something undeniably spectral about the Ffestiniog Railway - a railway that has outlived empires, carried the weight of slate and industry, and now hums with the echoes of a bygone age. As my partner and I stepped onto the platform at Porthmadog Harbour Station, the scent of coal filled the air.





The locomotives, magnificent relics of Victorian engineering, stood like sentinels of time, their brass fittings gleaming under the pale Welsh sky. As the whistle pierced the quiet, we boarded, settling into the polished wooden seats that had cradled countless miners, merchants and dreamers before us.




As the train lurched forward, the landscape unfurled like a forgotten painting - ancient woodlands and mist-cloaked mountains.  The railway itself, first opened in 1836, was built to serve the slate industry, its tracks winding through the heart of Snowdonia like veins of history.


Passing through Boston Lodge Works, the oldest railway workshop in the world still fulfilling its original function, I imagined the ghosts of engineers past, their hands shaping the very locomotives that still breathe steam today. The restoration has ensured that this heritage remains intact, allowing visitors to step behind the scenes and witness the craftsmanship that keeps these iron beasts alive.


After our little trip, we browsed through boxes of vintage books - I may have bought a few too many of these - and wandered off to our hotel for a bite of something delicious.



Tuesday's Travels : So Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson studied philosophy before diving into film-making. His early short film Bottle Rocket (1994) caught the attention of producer James L. Brooks, leading to his first feature-length film.  

Over the years, Anderson has built a distinct cinematic universe, collaborating with actors like Bill Murray, Angelica Houston, and Scarlet Johansson.  His films, including The Royal TenenbaumsMoonrise Kingdom, and The Grand Budapest Hotel have earned critical acclaim for their unique storytelling and visual mastery.

 Anderson’s aesthetic is unmistakable - symmetry, pastel palettes, meticulous framing, and a sense of nostalgia that feels both whimsical and melancholic. His films often resemble living storybooks, with characters navigating worlds that are both meticulously crafted and emotionally rich.

This sparked the "So Wes Anderson" trend on social media.

Over the past few months, my partner and I have tried our hand at a few Anderson-esque photographs - adding filters and stylising them to perfection, and these were our best picks of the bunch...


~ Railway~

~Metro~

~Cabin~

~Seafront~