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Friday, August 29, 2014

Tasha Tudor Day Celebration


I hosted the first gathering of the Maryland Chapter of the Tasha Tudor Museum Society at my home yesterday. . . .


Those who love Tasha Tudor have commemorated her birthday since her passing in 2008.  The Museum Chapters were started in 2012 and each year the members have celebrated her birthday.  Tasha Tudor was a prolific illustrator of children's books, as well as author of many of them, over the 64 years of her career.  She was just as well known for her lifestyle.  She felt she belonged to the 1830's and lived much of her life within the ideals of that era.  There are several books about her life:  Drawn from New England, Private World of Tasha Tudor, Tasha Tudor's Garden, The Art of Tasha Tudor.  You would also learn much about her life through her children's books since many were stories from her life on the New Hampshire farm where she raised her four children.  Her children, and later their children, were depicted in her illustrations.

My first tour of Tasha's garden and house was in 2012.  It was a rainy day and I remember wishing it wasn't so dark inside the house.  I wanted to capture everything I could in my mind's eye since cameras were not allowed.  So when I learned her doll house had been returned to the house in 2014 I went again.....and it rained again.  This time Seth, Tasha's oldest son, led our group of four on the house tour.  He  brought along a flashlight which helped to illuminate the dark areas.  You can read about that tour here.  I met two ladies, Barbara and Beverly, on the tour who had also been at the first pilot meeting of the Pennsylvania Chapter in 2012 that I'd attended.  Barbara shared my Blog post with several friends who corresponded with me about their enthusiasm for Tasha Tudor and I was hooked.  I knew I needed to find Tasha Tudor kindred spirits locally and the best way to do that was to put out a call!

I spent all of August rereading the biographical books about Tasha, her craft and cookbooks, and several of her children's books looking for ideas for our Chapter gatherings.  I collected Tasha quotes to give as a hand-out, and had a contest to see who had the most traits in common with Tasha.  In the folder I made up for each attendee (there were five besides me, plus a reporter from our local newspaper) was a list of Tasha's published works, a museum newsletter, a pen from the museum, a postcard depicting the current exhibit at the museum. . . .

and a lovely illustrated card of what the Museum eventually hopes to build. . . .


I also made recipe cards of the refreshments I served from Tasha's Cookbook and from a Tasha Tudor card Barbara had sent me. . . .




I was so thankful for the respite from the heat and humidity of the day before as everyone gathered in my arbor garden.   I served the Lemon Cookies and Stillwater Iced Tea while everyone introduced themselves and talked about how they came to know about Tasha Tudor and what she has meant to them over the years. . . .

Before we got down to the business of the new Chapter I read off a list of things that Tasha was known for.  The person with the most things in common with Tasha would win the little prize--a Farmer's Almanac--a publication that Tasha used to help her determine when to plant her various plants each year.   As if on cue, someone noticed the hummingbird at the Fushia.  I was able to tell them, because I'd just read it in the Almanac the night before, that this was the day when hummingbirds start migrating south.  Meanwhile, the reporter from our local newspaper was nearby taking notes and the photographer was snapping away.  It made me a little nervous because it was enough of a distraction to make me forget what I was planning to say!  Gabriel (my Westie) must have felt my nervousness because he growled at the photographer when the camera was pointed at him.  We'll have to see if he makes it into the newspaper article.  ☺

Finally, I had to wrap up the discussion if we were going to keep on schedule.  I handed out a list of possible activities for the Chapter and asked everyone to add their own suggestions and bring them to our next gathering, Thursday, September 25 at 1:00 so we can plan the coming year's activities.  

With that done we headed to the house to browse my collection of Tasha's books. . . .

I served Tasha's special blend of Welsh Breakfast tea, along with the Washington Pie, on the front porch. . . .

I think we could have kept talking (in fact, I told my husband afterwards I should have made it a whole day affair!), but I had to remind everyone if they had a time constraint that we'd better head downstairs to the TV room to watch Take Joy.   The video capped the day, reminding us that life is to be enjoyed:  taking pleasure in simple things, being connected to nature, and celebrating everyday life.....Tasha shows us what is possible if we put our hearts and imaginations to work.

Rookery Ramblings, the family's Blog, is linking to other Blog posts about the various Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebrations.

The newspaper article can be found HERE.


28 comments:

  1. A delightful entry! I adore Tasha Tudor and wish she had greater popularity in the UK to facilitate my learning of her ~ so, I must beg to become an {absent} overseas member of your Chapter! Such a wonderful thing you have created, and all the gracious things you did to welcome everyone to the first meeting! I am in total awe. I so want to learn more about this woman, who I admire greatly, and hope to do some of that learning through your words and pictures here. Thank you, and I wish you every continued success with the Chapter! Waving from Across The Pond ~~~

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    1. Thank you for your well wishes for success! Consider yourself an honorary member.

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  2. This sounds like a very successful start to your chapter, Cathy! I'll look forward to reading the newspaper article, too!

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    1. Yes, everyone seemed to enjoy the afternoon. I know several were enthusiastic about continuing, plus I have 3 others who had planned to attend and hope to attend the next meeting.

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  3. Oh Joy Joy Joy!!
    What a wonderful time indeed!!
    Laura Ashley plates perhaps??? ;-D
    So glad to visit this post everything looks like a delightful day well spent!!
    I am your new follower, and I am looking forward to visiting again and again!
    Isn't this FUN?
    So nice to meet you!
    Well I am off to read of your T.T. TOUR
    Many many BLESSINGS and Warmth, Linnie

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    1. Welcome, Linnie! Good eye. Yes, those are Johnson Brothers dishes designed by Laura Ashley that I bought in the 1970's.

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  4. Hooray! Kudos on a successful first gathering of kindred spirits. Looks like a perfect setting in a perfect day. My, what a nice collection you've acquired of Tasha's works. Thanks for sharing the recipes; I had to Google Kirschwasser, and wonder at the term 'pie' rather than 'cake.' Looks delish. I spent much of my afternoon yesterday reading about the current and past celebrations linked through Rookery Ramblings and elsewhere. I'm looking forward to your newspaper article, and am already anticipating next year's 100th celebrations. Hugs from Alabama ...

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    1. Thank you Sharon. Someone suggested it's called a pie because of the layers of jam inbetween.

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  5. Hi Cathy,
    Congratulations on the first meeting on Tasha Tudor's birthday. Very well planned out and everything looked lovely. I am fascinated by the Stillwater Ice tea. Must give it a try. Looking forward to the newspaper article. Glad the weather cooperated!
    Chris

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    1. Thank you Chris. I did not follow the directions exactly in that you're supposed to individually add the fruit juices to each glass. Because that was impractical in my setting, I just mixed it all together. There was a lot left over, so I do not think it went over very well. You had to add your own sugar syrup and if you didn't add enough it was pretty sour!

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    2. I wondered how you pulled that off for a group. Still the recipe sounds like fun and is definitely worth some experimentation!
      Chris

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  6. I am one of the five that came and it was delightful in every way. The gardens were in bloom, the food was delicious and we all became fast friends as we found we had many things in common. Looking forward to the next meeting and thank you so much. Cindy

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    1. I am, too, Cindy! Be sure to bring your ideas with you. See you next month.

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  7. How delightful your tea looks, Cathy! You certainly planned a lovely affair for your chapter members. I'm looking forward to more posts about your love of Tasha Tudor and the newspaper article about your celebration. ♥

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  8. Cathy, you did a wonderful job with your first "Tasha" meeting! First of all, you were brave to take it all on! And everything looked adorable and so pretty. Your agenda was perfect too, a nice combination of get-to-know-each-other activities and "meatier" things as well. If I lived anywhere within 100 miles of you I would have gladly made the trip to be there. And I think a group of five to start is great. Sometimes it's easier to have a smaller group than 50+ members. You'll be able to do so much, take little field trips, go to exhibits, museums, tea rooms and bookshops etc. You guys are going to have so much fun! PS - I didn't know there was a "Take Joy" video. I'm going to have to Google Tasha and see what comes up. I received "Take Joy" as a Christmas present 35 years ago and since then have added many children's books Tasha wrote and/or illustrated but nothing on DVD or video. Don't you just love her gentle little pencil drawings? I love her color work of course but those little pencil sketches just get me. Well-done on all counts and have a great Labor Day weekend! PS - I love how protective Gabriel was. So typical for Westies, huh? They sure love their humans. :>) PS - I would have enjoyed the Stillwater tea - I love anything tart. I even ask for unsweetened shaken ice tea lemonade at Starbucks.

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    1. Thank you for your supportive words, Janet. :-) I wish you could have come and helped drink the Stillwater Iced Tea! There are two videos about Tasha's Life: Take Joy and Take Peace. The latter is about her Christmas celebration and the former about her life in general. You can find them for sale on the family's website or places like Amazon and eBay. Did you see the Blog post about the NY Chapter's celebration? You can find it at the Rookery Ramblings blog link I put at the end of my post. People are linking their celebrations to that post.

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  9. I loved your post & am so happy to have found your blog, I will enjoy going through old posts.
    I have the Take Peace dvd but can't find the Take Joy anyway, it doesn't help living in England.
    Enjoy your day.
    Michelle

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  10. Welcome Michelle! I know you can find places here in the States to buy it on-line (at the TT website and Amazon for instance). Mine is a VCR tape and I know it wouldn't play on your VCR players because it's a Region 1 format and yours is Region 2. But I don't know how it is with DVDs.

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  11. Cathy!~ What an amazing day! I would have loved to attend :D Thank you for bringing it to my attention that Oklahoma has a society in the works. I will have to see what I can find out about it! Hurray!
    On Tasha's birthday my whole family sat down with me and watched Take Joy. It was so nice! Tasha was such an inspiring lady. I can look at her books and the books about her again and again. Just wonderful! Best of luck with your new group! Cant wait to hear about all the fun things you'll do!

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    1. That's wonderful that your whole family watched Take Joy with you. In preparing for starting the Maryland Chapter I reread many of Tasha's books and the ones about her and watched the video twice if you count when I watched it with the group, too. I think I just may be an authority on all things Tasha Tudor now. ☺ You'll find there isn't any more information on the OK Chapter yet. Perhaps if you used the contact form and asked about it, Amy could fill you in on when and where.

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    2. Hey cathy! Yes I did contact the museum. Amy said she didn't have anyformation, even a city for me just yet. I told her to pass my info along...fingers crossed its somewhere I can drive to easily! Hope something comes of it soon!~

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  12. Cathy it looks and sounds like a great success. I wish I lived closer. You planned it so well with attention, it appears, to every detail. I'm sure your guests, charter chapter members, enjoyed and noted all your details. I look forward to hearing about your next meeting. Congratulations on a job well done.

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  13. Thanks for sharing your Tasha event; you are so detailed, Cathy. The gardens and table setting are all so lovely. I'm sure the newspaper article will bring more members.
    My Mom used to make Washington Pie with whatever jam or jelly she had at hand. It was easy to pack in lunches. I was just thinking of it the other day. Perhaps I will bake one soon.

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    1. Do you know why it's called "pie"? To me a pie is something that has a crust!

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  14. Cathy, Have read the entire blog and agree with all the comments. I make some of the recipes and have served the Washington Pie to my knitting group several times. I think that it is delicious---also good with strawberries when they are in season. I am sooooo looking forward to meeting everyone. Jean Lengel

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    1. Hi Jean! I'm looking forward to meeting you as well!

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