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Do you know the difference between high tea and afternoon tea? Both are traditional English meals but afternoon tea has probably spread to many other parts of the world whereas high tea, I think is particularly British. It’s certainly the meal I remember best from my childhood.

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My lensography Books Make Great Gifts

Lensographies (lists of Squidoo lenses) are usually not very interesting although they can be useful. This is more likely if you do lensographies on individual niche subjects.  It is also possible to make them interesting and attractive to visitors looking for information on the topic of your niche too.

First of all, don’t use the word lensography in the title or text because this means nothing to anybody outside Squidoo. Think of a good title using relevant keywords and that is going to sound attractive to someone searching on Google.

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I finished a Squidoo lens called Quiz: What Do You Know About the Old American West a couple of days ago.  I made it as a companion to an orphan lens (orphan because it’s the only one I’ve done on the subject) so that I could link between the two. That one is called Legends of the Old West and I made it as a Senior Squids group challenge. That’s why I never made anymore on the subject.

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Bournemouth Pier

I just spent a week’s holiday (vacation) staying at my best friend’s house in Bournemouth on the English south coast. I was very lucky with the weather because it was hot and sunny all day, everyday and the good weather continues still.

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Squidoo's Purple Star

When I was a little girl in primary and junior school, getting a tick and a gold star for my work was a real thrill and encouraged me to try harder. I’ve always been a sucker for praise.

It looks like 50 years later I haven’t moved on much emotionally. Since Squidoo introduced Purple Stars for exceptionally good lenses made by Giants, I’ve been just as thrilled as I was when I was seven years old each time one of my lenses has got one.

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For this week’s Squidoo Rocket Moms lens we have to write about a place we’ve visited.

This is so hard. My thoughts are whirling. Should I write about St Maartens, a Caribbean island I visited briefly but loved?

Maybe I should write something about Paris, France, a city I’ve often visited and one of my favourite places. I could write about the small French fishing town of Honfleur in Normandy, another place I’ve visited several times because it’s a favourite.

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Tower of London

I was so excited this morning after reading an email telling me that my lens about the Tower of London had won the very first Barker’s Best award from the Carnival of the Squid.

I’ve never had a proper training in either writing or making web pages so I always have a bit of an inferiority complex about what I do. It doesn’t matter that I used to be commissioned regularly to write for UK antiques magazines or that I was also given a commission by a major UK publisher, who contacted me out of the blue, to write a book about the UK antiques trade. I stopped doing his because of ill health and a lack of confidence that I could always meet deadlines.

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Bournemouth Gardens in the centre of the town.

I can’t believe I haven’t posted here for so long. My excuse is that I was still fed up with all the online politics but didn’t want to write about it anymore. On a happier note, I’ve also been away for a week staying with my best friend in Bournemouth, a popular seaside town on the south coast.

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The Quilt Museum and Gallery opened on 7th June, 2008, in the medieval St Anthony’s Hall, adding another unique attraction to York’s list of museums and collections.

The Quilt Museum is now the headquarters of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles and its world-famous Heritage Collection of 600 quilts which includes the earliest known signed and dated patchwork, from 1718. There is also quilted clothing, tools and equipment on display.

Additionally, special exhibitions of textiles from home and abroad will be shown in the museum.

When it opened, Janice Gunner, former President of The Quilters Guild, said: “We are all thrilled that the move into our new headquarters is about to become a reality, and with it the opportunity to share with the wider world the traditions and aspirations of this wonderful craft. St Anthony’s is a fabulous location, rich in history: a wholly fitting home for our own Collection, and a focus for the exciting and innovative work going on within contemporary quiltmaking today.”

The first exhibition of 2009 at the Museum started on January 20th and continues through to April 18th. It celebrates the use of cloth through the Quilter’s Guild Heritage collection in ‘Warp, Weft and the Printer’s Block’, and through the work of contemporary textile artist Cefyn Burgess in a Ruthin Crafts Centre Touring Exhibition entitled ‘Migration’.

Find out more about the historic city of York.

The Café Royal in Central London’s Regent Street, is closing after 143 years and its contents are all being auctioned by Bonhams on January 20. Its closure is caused not by the recession but by the redevelopment of that part of Regent Street.

For most of its life, it’s been at the heart of London’s high society. Celebrities numbered among it clientele are as diverse as Oscar Wilde, Princess Diana, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Noel Coward, Elizabeth Taylor and Mick Jagger.

Charlie Thomas, Head of Bonhams Knightsbridge Furniture, says “…Bonhams is delighted to be selling the contents of the Café Royal. Bidders will have the opportunity to acquire a small piece of this iconic London institution”.

Everything must be sold so auction lots are as varied as magnificent Venetian chandeliers, furniture, brandy casks, cigar humidors, paintings, mirrors, photographs and even a full sized boxing ring.

Because everything must go, it’s all being sold without reserve. The good news is that some things have relatively affordable estimates. “A large collection of black and white photographic reproductions depicting celebrities including John Mills, Noel Coward, Gertrude Laurence, Lord Balfour and Princess Marie Louise,all mounted, glazed and framed” have an estimate of £100 to £150(approx $150 to $220). In contrast, “A pair of early 20th century Venetian clear glass twelve-light chandeliers” have an estimate of £3000 to £5000 ($4500 to $7500).

Even some of the furniture has reasonable estimates. “An 18th century Dutch mahogany tripod table” is estimated between £200 to £300 (approx $300 to $450).

It will be interesting to see, in these straitened times, if lots reach their reserve or the magic of the Café Royal name propels prices upwards in spite of the recession.