Each Box contains a miniature scene or room setting. Although I have seen boxes of this type before, I was immediately struck by the high quality of the workmanship and attention to detail employed here.

Isn't this Victorian Photographer's Parlour wonderful! I think it is one of my favourites.

I like the little camera and the chair set in front of a velvet curtain, ready for the next customer. The William Morris wallpaper in the background is a nice touch too and the potted plants are ones typically grown in those times. The spiky one on the right is called 'Mother-in-Laws tongue'. Not very flattering as it implies that this relative would have a sharp tongue!

This is another great scene.  It is the inside of a garden shed. The owner is obviously a keen gardener as you can see from the tools and the vegetables on display. The lawn mower is an old-fashioned hand-driven one. Nowadays most people use a motorized mower. On the table is a tray of compost ready for potting up some more plants or bulbs in the terracotta pots sitting on the floor.

There is, however, another side to this gardener. Note the deck-chair laid out with a copy of a popular newspaper. A cold drink (probably a beer!) and a plate of sandwiches are waiting to be consumed. Could it be that this gardener uses the shed as a place to relax and get some peace and quiet away from the family. It is a little refuge.

Through the window you can just glimpse an attractive garden so perhaps he (or she) deserves a rest after all that work.

The lady told me that she and her husband make the boxes as a hobby to give them an interest in their retirement. She said that they make a good team as her husband uses his woodworking skills to make the boxes and she creates the interiors.

They sell them at a number of local markets, just booking  a stall when they have enough boxes to sell. In particular she told me she enjoys getting out and about and having the opportunity to meet and chat to people.

The boxes vary in size. An average one would be about 18cm wide by 23cm high and cost about £20 for this size. They are extremely reasonably priced for the amount of work involved.

This nursery would make a wonderful gift for a baby girl. Traditionally we say 'pink for a girl and blue for a boy'.

The high-chair and other furniture look very well-made from painted wood. The cover on the cot is hand-crocheted.  On the floor is a box of nappies for the baby and a cute teddy bear.

The poster on the wall seems to be a prayer for the well-being of the child. The label says 'musical'. On the back of the box is a musical movement which plays a suitable tune when you wind it up. It could be a lullaby.

This little sewing room looks cosy. The sewing machine is very authentic. It's quite an old-fashioned one but people get attached to their old machines and are often very reluctant to update them. I can't see what is being made. It is probably a dress or a blouse.

I like the little books on the shelf. They could be a set of encyclopedias or some needlework books.

What an excellent present for a golfer! I don't know how the golf clubs were made. They look so real. The lady said that the most popular boxes were the golfing ones and the ones with the old-fashioned toys. They do make lovely gifts.

If you are clever with crafts it would be wonderful to make a personalized box that reflects the work or hobbies of someone you know. You just need a deep box with a glass front and a lot of imagination!

Here are a few more of the designs. These smaller boxes have a postcard or photograph as the background. I think this idea is very effective.

They use a variety of materials for the boxes. Sometimes the craftswoman chooses dolls-house wallpaper or wrapping paper for the background but sometimes she just paints it herself. Her husband makes some of the miniature furniture but it would be easy to purchase dolls-house furniture to get a similar look. She is very clever in the way she creates objects from anything she has to hand, often painting and cutting paper or cloth to give the right effect.

Wimborne Market is a small general market held every weekend in the town of Wimborne in Dorset. It is held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from about 8am until late morning.

The market is situated on the edge of town on the Poole road. There are some antique stalls but also ones selling items such as crafts, new goods, clothes, fruit, vegetables and plants.

The market is held throughout the year but on winter mornings there are sometimes only a few stalls. It is busier in the summer months.

You can hire a table at a market or fair to sell your goods. This is called a market stall.

If you are driving along in your car, admiring the scenery and suddenly the engine stops, you say that it has stalled.

If a cow or a horse is kept in an individual space inside a stable it is called a stall.

The seats in a theatre on the same level as the stage are called the stalls.

This word can be used in a variety of ways. Here it means all the articles that Zara puts together to give the look of a room in miniature. In the theatre a 'stage set' is the collection of items on a stage that would be on stage for a particular scene, to give the impression of a room, a forest or whatever. 

The cutlery laid out for one person at a meal is called a setting. You may set the table for four people for dinner.

When the sun goes down at dusk we say that it is setting. We may see a beautiful sunset.

A person with a sharp tongue is someone who makes sarcastic comments and insults other people.

This might seem an unusual way of using this word. In this case it means 'used'. You could also use it in sentences such as

"Whilst at school I employed my time well and learnt English"

or

"I employed a clever method for getting my car cleaned. I waited until it rained!"

 Of course the most common use of the word is when talking about the job you have.

"They employed me because of my skills as an English translator!".

A good phrase to use when you are talking about any work where you have to check each thing you do very carefully.

To be an accountant you have to display a lot of attention to detail when adding up figures.

An old-fashioned word for a sitting room.

The plant here has sharp pointed leaves, which we call spiky. You can also have spiky hair if it sticks up in points.