After I published Julie’s previous letter Diane from
Always Crave Cute left a comment suggesting that Julie needs a blog of her own I agreed with Diane and asked Julie about it. This is what she said; You asked if I have ever done a blog, and truthfully, I haven’t as yet! But I adore the written word and have even written articles for magazines over the years. Many folk have asked if I am a writer by profession, and it always makes me smile. What a huge compliment!!
Now for the next instalment - over to you Julie;
August, 2015
So ... is the weather still gorgeous over in UK? We have been in the throes of a rather chilly snap which has affected the southern half of Oz as well as most of the Eastern coast. We are far enough North that it has not affected us up here! Thank heavens as the cold and I am not fond bedfellows at all. So many youngsters have been seeing and touching snow for the very first time in their lives this weekend. Amazing! Brrrr....
Cobweb in Julie's garden.
It's beautiful Julie but did I ever tell you about my fear of spiders? I can only imagine the fearful eight-legged nightmare that built this.
I am smiling as I think of your family members in Adelaide. My step mum, Adele, is from the Adelaide Hills and snow is so very rare in that area. The news reports were filled with children who were having such a fabulous time as they made their snowballs and even Snow Men. The huge smiles on their mesmerised faces was a real delight to see, after all the awful and sad stories which the news has been filled with for what seems like ages. Of course, though rather chilly here in the tropical area of North Queensland, it is gorgeously sunny, so the early-morning temperatures climb very rapidly to the mid 20s, and it is just wonderful at this time of year and quite heavenly really! I know what you mean about the warmth you are having, which means that a raincoat is quite a nuisance. And to think that our idiot Prime Minister (who no one admits to liking) keeps on about there being no such thing as Climate Change!! (Julie wrote this when Tony Abbott was in power. Malcolm Turnbull, a former investment banker and lawyer, is the new prime minister.)
Our seasons have changed so radically in just the past three or four years, that even the fruit crops such as Mangoes, don't know whether it is winter or summer. A good thing about the lovely, if weird weather though, is the amazing strawberries which are available at the moment so cheaply in Queensland. I can easily live on them! I love all sorts of fruit and with everything growing to perfection here, I feel so lucky. We have got passion fruits on the vine at the moment, but my banana tree decided to curl up its toes recently!! I chop up my strawberries and then scoop the passion fruit pulp all over them, with just a small amount of sticky brown sugar. Too Yummy! And I love stewing the winter apples with a few strawberries tossed in too.
Another visitor to Julie’s garden
The weather the whole world over is just mad ... I think you and I had almost identical temperature ranges the other day, from what I saw on the World News! Your poor dahlias seem to be suffering the mixed up signals from Mother Nature, just as all the plants here are doing with the summery climate we are having during our winter. The mango tree which is in my neighbours yard, but overhangs into my yard is FULL of fruit and blossoms all at the same time! We do not usually see even the start of its flowers till late September for December fruit. It is totally bizarre! The Fruit Bats are not even aware of their favourite fruit being there so these mangoes are actually seeming to grow without being destroyed, unlike when they are on the trees at the normal time of year.
My girls are all out lazing in the sun right now. Bless their hearts.... They felt the chill earlier on, that's for sure! It was MUCH cooler than yesterday. We had just 6.5 degrees at 6.30 this morning. However, it had climbed to 14.3 by 8 o'clock, and now at 9.30am it is already 18. We should get to the mid 20's by lunchtime and stay there, till late afternoon hopefully. Mmmmm...Beautiful! My big chairs have lovely fleecy throws on them so it is little wonder that the Fur Babies love curling up on them early in the morning and late at night. Well dear Barbara, I shall head off and have a nice hot cup of tea. I think that going out on the veranda with the dogs and enjoying the warmth sounds like a good plan.
Much love and many smiles too, Jules xoxoxoxo
PS The wrinkly teddy bear is LouLou, my almost totally deaf Shar Pei. The big dog with the floppy ears is Georgie, who was so badly abused that my vet had to keep her over for four months to get her well enough for me to adopt. The small dog with the pointy ears is Koo, who has adopted us by coming over from next door after she decided that she loved the company and being allowed to sleep on my bed with the other two every night when she stayed for a weekend when Kylie and her sons were away. The boys still come to play with her all the time and it works out perfectly for us all.
All photographs courtesy of Julie Drew
Previous letters from Julie
here and
here
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A follow-up from Julie
I too had a shocking fear of spiders as a small child, and was cured of it by my darling dad! One evening there was a huge huntsman spider up in the corner of my bedroom and I was beside myself with fear, screaming for Dad to kill it! He flatly refused, instead catching it and putting it in a lovely big jar. He made me catch insects for it and basically have it as a sort of pet, telling me that it would be far more afraid of me who was so much like a giant to it, than I had a right to be frightened of IT!! I did release my new friend into the garden after a few days, by the way!! My dad is such a clever man to have thought of such a thing!
Well, it worked, and ever since I have had a healthy (if respectful where venomous ones are concerned) fascination for these amazing critters. I even did a long assignment when at high school, all about their web-spinning abilities!! I love to see the very delicate little webs in my garden as the sunlight catches them. They truly are beautiful and so amazingly complex.
Thanks so much Julie, I'm sure readers of this blog will enjoy hearing from you again, just as I do.
Love Barbara xx
This talk of spiders reminded me to wish you all a Very Happy Halloween.
A few weeks ago, I received an email from a lady by the name of Julie Drew. It turns out Julie and I have much in common, a love of books and dogs being just one of our shared interests. Since then we've communicated several times, and I'm very happy to say Julie has now agreed to share some of her thoughts here. Over to you Julie;
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I have made so many truly special like-minded friends since learning how to use the internet and more importantly how to add treasures to my ever growing trove! I envy you for the fairs and car boot sales which are so prevalent over there!! We have so few up here where I am living. This is why the internet has become somewhat of a lifeline for me!! I find so many amazing items all over the world, by looking online! It is the closest I shall ever come to personally trawling the actual fairs and car boots unless I visit one of the major cities! But I adore the relaxed lifestyle here in the tropics so very much, and the weather is just like a postcard photo! I am truly blessed to be here. It is winter here, obviously and the coldest we have got to at night/wee hours so far this year is 12!! By 10 a.m. the temp is always up to the low 20's, so you can imagine why the southerners all come here for their mid year breaks!! It almost feels like I have lived a holiday for the past 35 years I have been here!! Even when I was at work, I enjoyed it so much every day, that I never once got up and did not want to go to work!
Unfortunately I had to stop working a week before my 50th birthday which was such a culture shock for me! Then 8 months later we lost 2 of our darling dogs within 10 days of each other, and this is what really made me feel that my life HAD indeed truly changed immensely! Poor little Furble was bereft he had outlived so many 'siblings' over the years, and it was him who we had always felt would be the next to leave us. It was for this reason that the timing to get dear Georgie was so perfect! Furble had a reason to play again!!
Georgie
I knew his years were definitely numbered though so we got LouLou, the deaf Chinese Sharpei almost 5 years ago now, and this meant that Georgie, who is a real Mother Hen, would not suffer so much when Furble finally did have to leave us. It all worked out just beautifully for them all, really. And now as well as Georgie and LouLou, I also have Koo, another little sweetheart who was adopted from the Shelter. But NOT by me!! She was the little mischief maker belonging to the new neighbours who moved in next door!! Kylie worked all day and her young boys were at school and after school care, so Koo was lonely. She obviously saw the two very friendly dogs over the fence and decided to come to play! It got to the point that she was ALWAYS here, so we all had a chat about what was best for the dog's happiness, and decided that she could live here with me and her playmates!!! Little Isaac would tell people that 'Yes, he does have a dog, but she lives with Julie!!!'
TOO TOO FUNNY, but the boys come to play with the dogs often, and all is happy and fine! My trio are terribly spoilt, of course, and even sleep on my bed!!
Koo (left) and LouLou
Anyway, getting back to the end of working....I learned how to use the computer, and life opened many new and exciting doors for me! I could resume the old hobbies I had forsaken while the priorities of Aaron's schooling and the mortgage took precedence. OH! How glorious it has been for me to discover and buy such exceptional items! It has kept me sane and cheerful, that’s for sure! But the real bonus is that I have met such delightful folk who I can happily now call my friends, and I stay in touch with them via the magic of the internet! Life IS good!!
You are 10 years older than I am, as I was born in 1958. I came out from England in 1959 with my parents and older sister on one of the P & O liners. Apparently, according to Dad, who loves to relate the tale, I got so good at walking on the ship that when we hit land here in Oz, I could not walk on solid ground!! So I had to learn all over again how to walk!
My Dad did remarry after we lost Mum. He met Adele on her 30th birthday and they married 6 months later! It was obviously love at first sight because they shall celebrate their 40th anniversary in December!! I am so glad that he met such a gorgeously generous and genuinely loving person to share the rest of his life with, as Adele and her daughter who was almost 7 at the time they married, have definitely been our best friends for all those years! Dad is 15 years older than Adele who turned 70, 4 weeks ago!! I find these ages so hard to relate to as they are just Dad and Adele, the people I have known and loved for all this time. Still very young at heart and full of interest for life's joys!
I have NOT remarried after a traumatic marriage break-up. I just am so happy by myself, or maybe I am just selfish and love to enjoy my privacy! I have my dogs, my garden, my photography, and of course the internet which all keep me very content and busy. I also have very decent friends who watch out for me, while I have no family here. I have enjoyed this peaceful life for so long now, that I don't think I shall change my ways unless someone extremely special enters my life!
So,I shall happily continue to plod along, smiling at the day when I wake, and enjoying all the small things of beauty everywhere.
And THAT brings me to your comments about having sold, WITHOUT reading, Katawampus and Butterscotia!!!! How remiss of you, dear Barbara!!
(Sorry Julie I am ashamed of myself) You really HAVE to read them even if it is by the hideous method of on-line!!!! I know they are available. I saw them when I goggled his works! But to me the joy of reading such tales is the weight, the feel and even the smell of the old books!!! OH! and you must, must MUST read 'Pigs is pigs'!!!
Katawampus its treatment & Cure by Edward Abbott Parry Illustrated by Archie Macgregor
How utterly wonderful to have such ties to this country I call home! Adele is from Adelaide so I know it well! And my ex husband is also from there, but I won't hold that against the City of Churches as Adelaide is so fondly known! If you wish for me to send anything on your behalf to your granddaughters, do let me know? It is only about $20(10 pounds) for 5 kg!!! And that is anywhere in Australia!!! This is a genuine offer, Barbara! So do have a think...... Imagine the surprise the family would get at receiving something from you which has been sent in Oz!!!
(Thank you so much Julie, I just might take you up on that offer) My grandparents used to send boxes of treats to us when we were very small, and we got the hugest thrill when we opened them up! That was so many long years ago, when mail was the only form of communication! I must admit that the instantaneous arrival of emails never ceases to give me enormous pleasure, especially from overseas!!!
The whole world has opened up so much in such a short time. I am ever so pleased to have learned so much about you and to know that we truly do share so many interests. I have such an amazing array of old illustrated books as well as plates which have literally fallen out of really old book gems. I do not have the access or funds which you do, thanks to the additional shipping which is a huge part of any purchase I make, but I still am extremely fortunate and I do have some delightfully rare old treasures which give me such pleasure every time I look at them or read the tales within!!
Thank you again for your email and for being so lovely with sharing your interesting anecdotes. I do hope that we can remain in touch and swap little tales of fun now and then.
Fondest wishes, love and warm smiles as always, Julie
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Love and warm smiles to you too Julie and to all readers of this blog.
Julie's first letter will be found
here.
A week or so before March House Books closed I received an email from a lady by the name of Julie Drew. It turns out Julie and I have much in common, a love of books being just one of our shared interests. Since then we've communicated several times, and I'm very happy to say Julie has now agreed to share some of her thoughts here. This is a short excerpt from Julie's first email, there will be more to follow;
Over to you Julie…
Hello,
My name is Julie Drew and I live in tropical North Queensland, Australia. I often find myself linked onto your magical website, and thoroughly enjoy every moment I spend browsing through your treasures. But today I found your fabulous Aladdin's Cave even better than usual. I made the time to read your entries and feel that we must be kindred spirits, with so many loves which coincide.....
The first of these was your love for your precious Rosie who went off to Rainbow Bridge in 2009. (If you wish you can read about Rosie here) I almost cried with sadness at the loss of this beautiful little friend, and I know how much you must still miss her. I lost my Tibetan Spaniel, Furble, aged almost 15 in August 2010, and not a day goes by when I do not think of him as I feed my other 3 beloved fur babies. The second crossover interest is of course my love of old and antique children's books which I have collected since 'acquiring' my now 85 year old Dad's first edition of Enid Blyton's Boys and Girls Story Book No 2 which he was given back in 1934!! Stories from this were read to us each night at bedtime, for so many years; and was repaired so often by my ever patient mother to the point of it being almost totally rebound. It is completely non-recognisable from the outside, these days, but the contents are totally intact ,thanks to her efforts when I was a child in the 60's! Imagine my delight at discovering that this was one of 6 Annual-style books published by News Chronicle, filled to overflowing with the incomparable works of Enid Blyton back in the days before her Magic Faraway Tree tales which we all know and love so dearly in their original format before Political Correctness went mad and ruined so many old kid's treasures for good!! I have still got Dad's treasure here, but I also have completed collecting the entire set of the 6 books which I have recently enjoyed reading from Beginning to End! Dad was so very interested to learn that the book he loved so much as a child was just one of 6 which came out annually till 1940. I have been so blessed to be have been raised by parents with this love for the written and illustrated word! Mum passed away at only 42 when I was 17,and I inherited her super collection of books which had meant so much to me while she was still with us. It is the very greatest legacy she could have left for me in the 70's.
I have so many favourites among the thousands of books on my shelves (and tables, chairs, and also piles of them on my floors!!!) that it is very hard to say which call the loudest to me. But I can happily name the British Judge, Edward Abbott Parry's eccentric and delicious books 'Katawampus: its Cure and Treatment' with its sequel 'Butterscotia, or a Cheap Trip to Fairyland' as two of my absolute all-time cannot-put-down treasures!!! I only came across them in the past 2 years, both found in UK on completely different sites and a good 6 months or so apart. I have the matching Heinemann editions published in 1927, a good 30 years after they first appeared!! The strangest thing of all though, is that I had, some few years even earlier, been tempted to purchase the third (and final) book to feature the same characters; and it too is in the matching 1927 binding!! Oh Joy of Joys!!!!
Another little gem, and I do mean little, is 'Pigs is Pigs', an American treat by Ellis Parker Butler, from early in the 20th century!! It was actually first published as a short story in the American Illustrated Magazine, and then a few years later as a book in its own right. It was published many times after that in various covers! A bookseller in USA sent me a copy as a gift about 7 years ago due to my love of guinea pigs as well as dogs! I read it through and laughed till my tummy ached!! I did not even realise till very recently that it has more than once been adapted for film, and even nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Short Film, for Walt Disney in 1954!!! Now THAT, I really have to see!! Again, thank heavens for the internet!
Anyway, I really have taken far too much of your time for now, for someone you have never met!! So if you have not fallen asleep yet, I shall wish you a lovely weekend.
My thanks and many smiles, Julie Drew
