Monday 21 September 2015

To talk of many things – a second letter from Julie

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
July, 2015.
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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.


Update October 2015.

I have found some photos of darling old Furble to attach for you to see. I know that you shall fall in love with the little rascal, just as every one else who has seen him does! I guess that he is with Rosie (Rosie was our dearly loved and much missed Cairn Terrier) and they are having a fabulous time together at Rainbow Bridge!!! We have been so blessed to have known such loving and special little friends in our lives.


Dear Julie, just think Furble and Rosie may already be friends just as you and I are. Hugs Barbara

29 comments:

  1. Warm smiles and love back, Julie. It's very nice to meet you across the vast sea of the Internet. Your love for your dogs is infectious and I hope they are all as healthy as possible for a good long time. And now I feel like I ought to go check out that book as well, and read 'Pigs is Pigs!'

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    1. Hello Claudine, I love the way Julie is spreading warm smiles around the globe, and I’m sending them back to you now. xxx

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  2. Good morning Barbara and Julie! Blogging will always be a very special place and time of my life where I met people I have grown very fond of...my life is going in another direction now, but I stay close by to those bloggers who I admire. A time and a place for everything...Julie, I wish you a full life of discovery and beauty, and Barbara, you are so special. Much love! Anita

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    1. Hello Anita, I’m missing your lovely blog, but I wish you the very best of everything in whatever you do. Thank you so much for taking the time to call in and say hello. I appreciate your friendship. xxx

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    2. So sad to see Anita going and hope she will visit my blog sometime in the future or stay in touch. I absolutely loved her posts!

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    3. I hope so too Eve, Anita is such a wonderful person, and her blog will be sadly missed.

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  3. How lovely that you have forged such a strong friendship based on your mutual love of books and dogs.

    A lovely post that filled me with such warmth, thank you for sharing.

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    1. Hello Tracy, that is such a lovely thing to say I know Julie will be delighted. xx

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  4. What a sweet post. I certainly relate to losing our beloved pets and loved the pics of her new family. Wonderful article.

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    1. Hello Donna, I'm so pleased you liked it. xx

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  5. Hi Barbara and Julie,

    Such a lovely post, sharing the love of dogs and books and loved seeing the photos of your sweet dog family. I understand how hard it is loosing your best friend and such an important member of the family.
    Thanks for the kind note you left on my blog, I was reading on my ipad and was about to moderate the comment and I accidentally pushed the delete button, so sorry about that.
    Hope you have a lovely week
    hugs
    Carolyn

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    1. Thank you Carolyn, I so enjoy reading Julie’s emails and was sure others would enjoy them. I feel very lucky to be able to share them. I understand that loss too. It is so difficult to cope with and never really goes away.
      Don’t worry about deleting the comment I’ve done exactly the same thing in the past. I will leave another comment to make up for it. xx

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  6. Another example of how wonderful the internet can be. Julie sounds like a very positive person. I love hearing about other peoples interesting lives. Thanks for sharing her correspondence.

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    1. Thanks for saying that Darlene, I think Julie should write a blog of her own and feel very lucky to share her words here.

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  7. Wonderful post! Great to hear from Julie. I think it is fabulous how we can connect to people all over the world thanks to the computer. It opens us up to new people and opportunities. So sorry to hear about the loss of Julie's pets. I know how difficult that is.

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    1. You are so right Stephanie losing a beloved pet is such a difficult thing to cope with.

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  8. Isn't it amazing how books can close the gap across the world? Her Koo looks like Pinky who is also from a shelter and was my brother's dog. So sweet, huh? I love the tale about her wanting to be with friends and the mutual agreement about living with them. So cute--have to do what's best--eh?

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    1. Hello Eve, amazing indeed and so nice to find like-minded friends from around the world.

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  9. Hello Barbara ,
    I enjoyed reading your friend's post, so beautiful and well-written.
    Her new pets look great, I liked their names too.
    Take care and have a great day :)

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    1. Thanks Aunt Mary, I hope your day is going well. Barbara

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  10. Looks like you've each found a pen pal, a kindred spirit! I feel blogging brings the world together, giving many of us the opportunity to see how much more alike we all are as human beings rather than narrow-mindedly fussing about differences. That top picture of Georgie is gorgeous--I thought it was a painting at first, and LouLou--what a face! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hi Marcia, I absolutely agree with you. Blogging has opened up the world and given us all the opportunity to interconnect with one another. Hooray for that!

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  11. Internet indeed has made it possible for many people to make friends far and wide and be in touch with the world especially for those who are in places where big cities and towns are far away to reach. Lovely post Julie and I am so glad that you found a friend like Barbara through the internet

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    1. Hello Shashi, for me the very best thing about blogging is the connections and friendships we all make. I don’t suppose you and I would ever have ‘spoken’ without the Internet – we may have passed one another somewhere at sometime, and we might have even smiled at one another, but that would have been that. The same with Julie we live on opposite sides of the world so the chances of us meeting must be very slim, but I now think of both of you as friends.

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  12. What a sweet and charming post! Julie needs a blog!

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    1. Hi Diane, absolutely! Julie if you are reading this, I agree with Diane you would be a brilliant blogger. x

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  13. It's Julie from Australia here,and I simply wish to say a huge and heartfelt comment to everyone who has written and left such genuinely lovely comments about my letters and my beloved dogs! I have never done a blog before,but am now feeling that this may well be something I shall enjoy,if my dear friend Barbara might kindly teach me all about it next year(2016) when her household has farewelled the very welcome family visitors from this vast continent where I live! I have garnered such joy from writing to you Barbara and also from your generous sharing of my letters with all your followers! I am more than content to just continue having you pass my little ramblings on as you feel fit though,so whatever happens,I will continue to share my smiles and interests with those who wish to know more!!
    Bless your hearts and thank you all once again for reading my Words,be they of Wisdom of Otherwise!!!
    Computer Literate? Sadly,a big fat NO!!! Literate? Most definitely So!!!!

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    1. Hello Julie from Australia, thank you so much for calling in and leaving a comment.
      It will be my absolute pleasure to help in whatever way I can. I’m so please you’ve decided to give it a go it would be a crime not to! I’ve really enjoyed receiving and sharing your emails, but it will be so much nicer for you to write a blog and to get to know the people who visit/comment on it. I’ve made some really special friends that way, and I’m sure you will too. I will be taking a break from November until Feb 2016, but I will email you shortly with a few things for you to look at. Blogging is surprisingly easy once you take the first few steps.
      Thanks for your friendship and your lovely words, Barbara xx

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  14. Thank you so much dearest Barbara! I have had a very brief look at the links you sent to me,,and I appreciate your kindness and friendship SO much!

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I really appreciate your comment. Thank you!
Barbara xx