The Enid Blyton Society

Hurrah - we're back with Bobs and Enid at Old Thatch! Thanks, Tony.

Enid's colour-scheme for the new wing of Old Thatch sounds fresh but soothing - sunshine yellow, mauve and green.

The rare mentions of "Gillian's daddy" are always interesting. Today he's up a ladder sawing dead branches off a golden elm, which he will then chop up for firewood. I like Enid's descriptions of the way the different logs burn. The elm logs flare up, lighting up the room and "making purple shadows dance on the bare walls". The apple logs are quite different, being "slow and dull in their burning" and "hissing like snakes".

Bobs' scuffle with the "hedgehog" is amusing to read about and I love the bold style and spirit of 'January Days', even though it seems a little premature in this freezing weather to say that "We're marching into spring!"

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Yes, lovely letters to read this week and very interesting to hear about the new colour schemes and the happenings in the garden. Poor old Bobs, not only with his great battle but also how he "disgraced himself... by jumping up on [Enid's] new mauve bedspread, and lying there, all covered with mud!"

Sadly I couldn't really see the letter properly. All the words were much too small for me to see them.

Have you got a zoom facility on your computer, Julie? I use mine to read the letters. I click on the vertical row of three dots at the top right of my screen, which brings up a table. One of the features in the table is "Zoom" and I increase the size to 175%, which enables me to read the letters comfortably. Hope that helps - or that someone else can help if your computer/device is different!

Thanks Anita, it worked a treat, I could read the letter. I'll have to remember that for the future.

It's good to see the letters back again. Interesting to see mentioned that Enid is burning elm wood. I was reminded of the old wood for burning rhyme " Elm wood burns like churchyard mould, even the very flames are cold..." Enid doesn't think much of apple wood but the poem says that "Apple wood with scent the room'. I haven't heard of blue primroses before only blue polyanthus.

Lovely poem this week I know it from the Enid Blyton Poetry Book but it's nice to see it here on its first publication. The book is quite scarce and expensive now.

I'm glad the zooming worked, Julie. The letters provide a fascinating insight into life at Old Thatch in the 1930s and it's a shame to miss out on them.

A simpler way to enlarge the font is to press Ctrl and whilst holding it down, press +. Each press enlarges it more. Just press Ctrl then - to reduce the size back to normal when you've finished.

Thanks, Nigel. It's just trying to remember these things!

It's a busy time at Old Thatch at the moment and Sandy falls in the pond. I'm sure it's true that Gillian copied Enid and dried her toys with her hankie. Bobs has a puzzle to solve this week, the solution is, I think, in the story Think Hard Boatman in the Eighth Holiday Book. Another lovely poem too.

A lively morning at Old Thatch - it's like a zoo at times! I enjoyed the puzzle but I've come across other versions of it before. I think I first encountered it in Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopedia.

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Yes, I enjoyed the letters as well — quite a lot of antics going on! I'm glad Enid was able to cure the fish that had the fungal condition; I was half afraid she'd have to put it out of its misery.

I've seen other versions of that puzzle too, but it's a good one. A lot of the other versions involve, say, a dog and a chicken and a sack of grain, so the dog can't be left with the chicken and the chicken can't be left with the grain. This isn't quite the same, but it's the same principle and is fun to work out.

Poor Enid is ill in bed this week but still manages to produce a lovely, newsy letter. She could have given herself a break by getting Bobs to write the whole 'Children's Corner' for once!

Very interesting to hear about the wisteria being moved and about the letters from schools in Malay, Egypt and New Zealand. I enjoyed the little puzzle too.

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Lovely letters as usual. I'm not sure about the reason Bobs gives for not being allowed in the bedroom while Enid was ill — "The Mistress says she doesn't want us or the cats yet in case we catch cold too" — but I love his reasoning in the next line: "but I think we're much more likely to catch hot because there's such a big fire in the bedroom." Sounds lovely and cosy! Was Hugh given the task of keeping the fire going while Enid was in bed, I'm wondering, or did they have a maid?

Oh yes, and I laughed out loud at the editor's footnote to "the doctor has forbidden me to do my 'Round the Year' nature article. I do hope I may be allowed to do it next week." — "Miss Blyton's article will appear next week. We forbade her to do it, but it has just come in!" Seems Enid was an incurable workaholic even quite early in her career, but it's obvious how much she loved doing what she did.

I must be dimmer than the average eight year old from 1933 because try as I might I can't solve the puzzle. I hope we get the answer next week. Enid is delighted to receive a pound note from the school in Egypt and I'm not surprised, I checked the value online of a pound in 1933 and it equals £50.04 in todays money. Astonishing, that's inflation for you!

Edit: The answer has just come me - it's easy when you know how.