Journal 68

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for your comments on my article, Lenoir. I went to Bramhall for the Easter weekend as my sister and her daughter had come over from Australia and were staying there, together with my dad and his partner who had come over from France. A childhood friend of ours (Andrea) joined us on the Saturday. My sister and I were massive Blyton fans as children, along with Andrea and her sister Claire, and we enjoyed reminiscing about some of the things we used to get up to - playing board games and making our own board game based on Five on a Treasure Island, forming a detective club and a book-lovers' club, pooling our money and taking it in turns to buy a book, disguising ourselves, swimming in the sea, toasting marshmallows over bonfires in the garden, having midnight feasts, performing plays and, last but not least, begging our parents (in vain) to let us go camping by ourselves in a forest - preferably with the aid of a horse-drawn caravan! Enid Blyton influenced so many of our games and activities!

[Chrissie777]

...playing board games and making our own board game based on Five on a Treasure Island, forming a detective club and a book-lovers' club, pooling our money and taking it in turns to buy a book, disguising ourselves, swimming in the sea, toasting marshmallows over bonfires in the garden, having midnight feasts, performing plays and, last but not least, begging our parents (in vain) to let us go camping by ourselves in a forest - preferably with the aid of a horse-drawn caravan! Enid Blyton influenced so many of our games and activities!

Sounds like a lovely childhood, Anita.
How long will your sister and her daughter stay in the UK?

[Anita Bensoussane]

My sister and her daughter are in the UK for two or three more weeks but they're travelling to different places to visit friends and relatives.

[Chrissie777]

I hope they are having a wonderful time and good weather! ♥

[Courtenay]

That's lovely that you've got your sister and her daughter visiting and you were able to get together, Anita. What part of Australia do they live in, out of interest, if you don't mind me asking?

[Anita Bensoussane]

They live in Tasmania.

[Chrissie777]

Errol Flynn was born there.

[Courtenay]

Ah, I've never been to Tasmania (though I grew up just the other side of Bass Strait!), but my parents have and they found it really beautiful. Have you ever been to visit your family there, Anita?

[Rob Houghton]

They live in Tasmania.

Errol Flynn was born there.

he was indeed!

[Daisy]

Time has slipped by and I realize I haven't commented on the latest Journal. As ever, it was a great collection of articles - something for everyone. I really enjoyed Rob's tasty contribution, and Anita's in depth look at the characters of the Five (well some of them) was very interesting. I liked the way Anne was studied... and yes, she did morph into a "housewife" in later books and in some way is a more rounded character at the beginning.
Reading Enid's diary entries was fascinating and the whole Journal was, as always, a work of art and far superior to any other comparable product for the price.
Thank you Tony for your meticulous attention to detail - for the illustrations with which the articles are so beautifully enhanced and which must take so much time to assemble and set within the various contributions.

[Lenoir]

The latest index up to Journal 68.

pdf

Word

[Anita Bensoussane]

Great stuff - thanks very much for that, Lenoir!

[Courtenay]

Thanks, Lenoir, that's very helpful. I'm currently toying with the idea of writing a series of articles (if Tony's happy to accept it, that is — I will be in contact with him once I've written the first part) and having the up-to-date index has helped to confirm that this particular topic hasn't been done in exactly this way before. And no, I'm not letting anything on yet. All will be revealed in time...

[Lenoir]

Great that it came in useful already

[Eddie Muir]

Most useful. Many thanks, Lenoir.