Kingston biscuits. They are an Australian biscuit, an oaty, buttery sandwich cookie with a delicious, creamy milk chocolate filling in the middle. They are yummy, but I try really hard not to buy p…

I'm joined today by the lovely Ellie Vallerini, creator of Sussex-based Ellie Vallerini Hats, to chat about all the royal hats we see today at Royal Ascot!   Lady Gabriella Kingston and her new husband Tom enjoyed the races today. Tom wore a grey felt top hat and Gabriella wore a cocktail hat with blush pink…

Torii Kiyonaga, c. 1783/84

Are you looking for some super-cute Minion cake ideas? Well, you are in the right place! We have put together a nice little round-up post of the 15 most amazing Minion birthday cake designs that will be a perfect fit for your upcoming themed birthday party. Spend a couple minutes looking through the list and ... Read more

Let your toddler do their thing while feeling super comfy and looking extra stylish in this short-sleeve jersey t-shirt from 100% cotton with a unique print. The tee is soft, durable, and bound to become the staple of your toddler's wardrobe.

A Young Nobleman, His Mother, and Three Servents, from the series "A Brocade of Eastern Manners (Fuzoku Azuma no nishiki)"We print high quality reproductions of historical maps, photographs, prints, etc. Because of their historical nature, some of these images may show signs of wear and tear - small rips, stains, creas

Albie was at Thoresby visiting an exhibition recently and took some  snaps of the magnificent hall for the blog. He also very kindly wrote a quick history of the place below: "Thoresby Hall and Park are situated on the eastern flank of Sherwood Forest, close to the Nottingham - York road. The first hall was built during the reign of Charles I in the 1600's, but burnt down in 1745. The Earl of Kingston had the hall rebuilt in 1767. This lasted for 100 years before being replaced by the present hall though in a location about 500 metres north of the old. By this time the Kingstons had become the Earls Manvers and amongst their other properties was Pierrepont Hall in Nottingham. The Manvers continued to occupy the hall until the late 20th Century when it was acquired by the National Coal Board (so that they didn't have to repeatedly pay for coal mining subsidence). After several other owners, it was bought by Time Warner and converted to a spa hotel complex which opened in 2000. The park covered around 2000 acres in area and was said to have a circumference of 10 miles. Most of this is still owned by the Manvers family with just the grounds near the hall being owned by the hotel. The stables and courtyard are now a craft centre which is also separate from the hotel. The lake was used by the owner in the late 18th century to re-enact naval battles. Like many aristocrats of that period, he had miniature sailing ships to play with. There was a full time naval captain who maintained them from an estate house now known as Budby Castle (though it was never a real castle).” Albie The statue of Robin Hood is by Tussaud-Birt (November 1948) a grandson of Madame Tussaud (famous for her London wax works) and can be seen in the Stables Gallery (above) at Thoresby Hall. It once stood in the centre of the courtyard (below).

Els llibres anomenats "d'autoajuda" mai m'han cridat l'atenció, ans al contrari. I els pocs que he llegit amb vingut a confirmar les meves sospites: serveixen de ben poc, almenys a mi que sóc escèptica per naturalesa amb aquestes coses. Quan vaig veure que Angle Editorial treia aquest llibre el meu primer impuls va ser dir que jo el volia, sense parar-me a pensar en la seva temàtica. La portada m'havia robat el cor: tres gats i negres!!! Val a dir que jo convisc amb dos d'ells i ja veieu qui presideix aquest bloc. Dit i fet, me'l vaig agenciar tot i saber que és el que em trobaria, però l'edició era tant cuca! És un llibre d'autoajuda, és clar que sí. I segueixo pensant el mateix que fa dos paràgrafs, però almenys aquest m'ha arrencat més d'un (i de dos i de tres...) somriure. L'autor ens vol convèncer que si actuéssim com ho fan els gats seríem més feliços. Garnier ens posa com a exemple de superació al seu company de vida, en Ziggy, a qui a més dedica el llibre, que amb les seves tres potetes, ni manca una arrel d'un accident, és força eixerit i espavilat i es creix davant les adversitats. Tant les petites il·lustracions que acompanyen el text, com certes afirmacions categòriques, sota el títol de «per rumiar-hi» o les pàgines dedicades a «la jornada del gat», fan que la lectura sigui amena i no es faci pesada. Està estructurada en capítols molt curts, per anar llegint sense cap tipus de pressa. He de dir que a mi, personalment, ja en tenia convençuda d'entrada, tot i que repeteixo que no crec en aquest tipus de lectures, però és cert que si miro els dos peluts que tinc a casa... i comparo amb el que l'autor m'explica, no hi ha cap dubte que ells sí que saben gaudir de la vida, que compleixen la màxima que hi ha un temps per a tot i que tot es fa sense necessitat d'anar treien el fetge per la boca. Que bonica que és la teoria, oi? Sense creure a ulls clucs tot el que ens explica, és cert que hi ha coses que són veritats com a cases de pagès: com que ens cal demanar ajut i delegar feina quan ho necessitem; cuidar les amistats o prendre'ns un temps per a nosaltres. Però de veritat ens fa falta un llibre per saber aquestes coses? Reconec que és una lectura entretinguda, divertida, distesa, amb tocs d'humor ideal per als amants dels gats i per les persones que si creuen en aquest tipus de llibres. Jo, tot i el meu escepticisme, n'he gaudit força. Al final del llibre troben un test per avaluar el nostre quocient de gat, que es força curiós de fer. «Els gossos tenen amos, els gats tenen servents.»