berrima nsw – Communicating Creatively

Book Treasure Abounds!

25/11/202004/07/2021 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Books, Stories From Life

Last weekend on our mini-trip to Berrima for our ‘Other Anniversary’, one of the places we went to was one of our favourite bookshops, Berkelouw’s Book Barn. Berkelouw’s is a long-standing business which used to be a second-hand bookshop with approx. 250,000 books.

A few years back the business was converted to become a bookshop/restaurant/wedding reception venue. It now has only approx. 100,000 – 150,000 books.

Every year when we visit we set ourselves a budget and this year came away with more ‘book treasure.’

I was particularly delighted to pick up the following:

‘Artist’s On Art’ From the 14th to the 20th Century

It is an absolutely fascinating book which I am thoroughly enjoying ‘dipping into.’ To read what the Artists thought about Art in general and their own is indeed a delight!

‘Country Verse’ Edited by Samuel Carr

English Country Verse is set against English Country Landscape Paintings and it simply is wonderful to dive into and be whisked away to the English Countryside.

The other four books are novels and I am continuing to build up the library with classic authors of yesteryear:

‘The Black Arrow’ by Robert Louis Stevenson ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald ‘Sweet Thursday’ by Johns Steinbeck ‘The Short Novels by John Steinbeck’ – ‘Tortilla Flat; ‘The Red Pony’; ‘Of Mice and Men’; ‘The Moon Is Down’; ‘Cannery Row’ and ‘The Pearl.’

Our trips to Berkelouw’s Book Barn never disappoint and we are looking forward to our next visit!

Written by David Johnson

25 November 2020

Our ‘Other’ Anniversary!

22/11/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

On the weekend closest to the 19 November we head down to Berrima as it is the anniversary of us ‘going out to dinner for the 1st time.’ We have done this every year since 1994.

Why Berrima (as we actually went out to dinner to the River Canyon restaurant in Parramatta 19.11.94)?

Berrima was the place where Susan & I went on a day trip (as Friends) and she (finally) said ‘Yes’ to going out to dinner with me (having previously said ‘No’ 5 times…).

We did our usual stop at Berkelouw’s Book Barn and came away with some more ‘treasure’; had morning tea at The Courthouse Cafe; browsed some more shops then had lunch at Josh’s Cafe & Restaurant before discovering more shopping treasure at an antique shop.

Here are a few images from another wonderful day spent celebrating our, ‘Other Anniversary!’

Written by David Johnson

22 November 2020

Book Treasure

22/12/201904/07/2021 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Books, Stories From Life

In my last article, I spoke about our trip to Berrima every year. Within that trip is a visit to Berkelouw’s Book Barn which is situated just North of the Village, Berrima.

On a November weekend, 25 years in a row we have visited the bookshop. As mentioned previously, it used to contain approx. 300,000 books, though these days it only holds approx. 200,000 due to the owner diversifying to keep the business afloat.

It has a Wedding Reception, a Wine-Tasting facility and a Coffee Shop/Restaurant within it’s grounds plus a small Colonial Cottage which is used as a Guest House. All-in-all a nice retreat.

Each time we go there, we set ourselves a budget so that we don’t ‘go overboard.’ Seeing how both my Wife, Susan an I are both ‘Book-Fiends’ this is a great idea.

They have books ranging from a few dollars to in the ’000’s, thus it caters for all tastes in price and indeed, subject matter.

For many years the Photography section would be my first point of call, followed by the Art section then, Poetry, Sci-Fi, Garden and Self-Development and Poetry.

For the past few years I have been hitting the Art section first, then Poetry and I will have a quick skim of Photography followed by other sections.

We generally spend 1 1/2 – 2 hours there and sometimes it takes a half or all of that before I find books I want to buy.

This visit saw me purchase three books:

Matthew Arnold: A Selection Of His Finest Poems
The Making Of A Poem: A Norton Anthology Of Poetic Forms
How To Read A Poem and Fall In Love With Poetry: Edward Hirsch

I found all of them in the space of 20 minutes when I arrived at the Poetry section. All three books I love though I think the ‘How To Read A Poem’ book is my early favourite and possible one of the best book purchases I have ever made!

It looks such a beautiful read. I look forward to savouring it over time.

Three more books to add to the “Book Treasure” I have discovered at Berkelouw’s Book Barn, Berrima.

If you are in the area, why not pay them a visit or visit them online. You just might discover some “Book Treasure” of your own.
Great hunting!

Written By David Johnson

22 December 2019

http://berkelouw.com.au/

25th Anniversary!

08/12/201907/12/2019 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

Last month, it marked 25 years since Susan and I went out to dinner for the first time. Every year since, we’ve celebrated the occasion by spending either the weekend or the day on or close to the day in November. We’ve been married now for over 22 years.

We normally celebrate it in Berrima, NSW as it was in Berrima that Susan finally said yes to going out with me (after saying no, 5 times). What changed, you might ask? There’s a little more to it but that’s a story for another day.

Berrima, as ‘Aussie Towns’ states is ‘a historic village driven by tourism and handicrafts surrounded by farming and grazing, coal mining and cement manufacture.’

We always have a meal or two down there and although the order of things has changed over the years, there are shops/places within the town that we always visit and others that ‘come and go.’

One such place we used to love was ’Sprinkles’, a Christmas shop with all manner of decorations for sale including those charming musical and voice or movement-activated decorations. It was such a treat and we used to by a special decoration there each year. Sadly, the owner retired a couple of years ago and closed it down.

Another special place is Berkeleouw’s Book Barn which used to have 300,000 second-hand books. It now only holds 200,000 as the owners diversified (to stay afloat). It now has a Wedding Reception Centre, a Wine-Tasting facility and a coffee alcove and a restaurant where the eating space can be enlarged as some of the sturdy bookshelves are on wheels, thus can be wheeled towards the other bookshelves that line the walls to create more room for tables.

As a bookshop it has a different charm now to what it used to have. Not better, just different and we still enjoy ‘unearthing book treasure there!’ It’s great that they also retained the grand, old fireplace which is surely needed in the colder months in the Southern Highlands.

There are many other shops, including ‘Mrs Old Bucks Pantry’, ’Six Impossible Things’,’The Bay Tree Gallery’ (that has a wide variety of Artistic endeavours on display/sale’, ’Sticky Beaks Vintage Emporium’ (which is like 10 shops in one), ’The Little Hand-Stirred Jam Shop’, ‘The Brown Shutter’ but to name a few.