I’m still working on the pond. It needs hydroponic plants. But I’m in the middle of reading Julia Child’s bio this month. I posted something last week here. If you’re a fan, I can’t recommend this book more…especially if you’re a fan who was left cold by the film, Julie and Julia. (I’m reading the e-book on my Kobo look book, and the photos on the back lit screen are excellent.)

Julia led a fairly mundane life up until World War II. After that, she flew in dangerous planes, crossing dangerous territory. She lived in open huts and washed her undies out in rationed water. Ironically, food wasn’t a huge part of her early years, other than the fact that she had a ravenous appetite.

I’m at the part where she marries Paul Cushing Child. And though I’ve lived in New Hope, Bucks County, PA for almost twenty years…ten in town, nine here in my home three miles outside of town…I never knew Julia had such strong local ties to this area. Her brother-in-law, Charlie Child, who also worked in Washington with his twin brother Paul, had a home in Lumberville, which is a few miles north of New Hope. It’s still a quaint little enclave overlooking the Delaware River, where tourists from all over the world pass through. There’s even a general store.

Julia and Paul were actually married in Stockton, NJ, just over the bridge from Lumberville on September 1, 1946. But the reception was held at Charlie’s house in Lumberville. And they would return to visit Charlie and his family many times after the wedding.

When I owned my art gallery in town, I met tons of celebs passing through. Soap star Eileen Fulton bought a silver tray from me. Lanie Kazan bought a rug. Mick Jagger stopped in, Streisand passed through the door, and the artists from the New Hope school were everyday fixtures. I’ve heard stories about how Jackie Kennedy dined at The Canal House, and how Jessica Savage drowned in the Canal. But I’d never heard a thing about Julia Child. And, surprisingly, there isn’t much information about it on the web.