Autumn Memories

 🎵Autumn Leaves🎵

Click on photo to enlarge

Tasha Tudor's book, Season's of Delight, is a pop-up book about the delights of each season.  The above is her Autumn page.  She has two other books exclusively about the different seasons:  A Time to Keep and Around the Year.  In 2015 I did a post on Take Joy Society using Tasha's October photos from A Time to Keep.  These are from Around the Year. . .

Exploring Corgiville

♫Two Spirits Soar♫

Artists and writers often base their stories and illustrations on a real place.  So I went in search of the small village of Harrisville, New Hampshire that Tasha Tudor paid homage to in her Corgiville series.  It is off the main thoroughfare crossing southern New Hampshire, an adventure getting to in itself.  As the speed limit dropped I was greeted with this glimpse of Corgiville (aka Harrisville). . . .

View Outside My Window - August

♫Through the Trees♫

It was February and there was snow on the ground the last time I showed you the view out this window next to my drawing table. . . .

An Afternoon with Tasha Tudor

♫Simple Gifts♫

Several members of the Maryland Chapter of the Tasha Tudor Museum Society gathered today to hear Tasha Tudor's "Gentle Wit & Wisdom."  Even though we had to settle for Tasha's visit on a cassette tape, we felt she was sitting at the end of my dining room table talking about her life as we made cut-wool rabbits. . . .

Maple Syrup Festival

♫Maple Sugar♫

Several members of the Maryland Chapter of the Tasha Tudor Museum Society gathered at Cunningham Falls State Park in Thurmont, Maryland last Saturday for the Park's annual Maple Syrup demonstration.   Maple sugaring was one of the things Tasha Tudor featured in several of her books:  A Time to Keep, Around the Year, Seasons of Delight.  This drawing of hers is in Mary Mason Campbell's book, The New England Butt'ry Shelf Almanac. . . .

A Tasha Tudor Christmas Celebration

♫Joy to the World♫

In 2011 The Historic Odessa Foundation in Odessa, Delaware had a wonderful exhibit called A Joyful Tasha Tudor Christmas.  The curator did an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of a Tasha Tudor Christmas.  The exhibit was set up in the Wilson-Warner House (1769).  In several of the photos I will point out the items that are reminiscent of Tasha's home.

The creche in the bread oven, the tin oven, stockings hung from the mantel, the tea service, spinning wheel, loom-woven coverlet, lustreware tea set, and candles. . . .

View Outside My Kitchen Window - September

♫A Moment Lost♫

I took this from a slightly different angle because I wanted you to see my Dahlias.  This is the first time I've planted tubers and didn't realize they got so large. . . .

Tasha Tudor Day Celebration

♫Simple Gifts♫

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

Our Artist Vacation - Day 4

 ♫Leaves on the Water♫

We woke up to the sound of rain. Today was the Tasha Tudor House and Garden tour!  I did this tour in 2012 and it had rained then, too, while I was on the tour.  Oh, well.  Last time our group lucked out and was in the house when it started to pour, but the house was so dark it was hard to see every thing I wanted to see.  We were not allowed to take photographs, so I had to depend on my mental camera to record every detail.  The photos and paintings you will be seeing were taken off the Internet, or scanned from books about Tasha by Richard W. Brown.  A few are from my last visit which you can read about here.  Afterall, how can one expect to talk about Tasha Tudor and not show pictures?!  

We needed to be in Marlboro, VT by 8:45. We got there in plenty of time and I didn't have any trouble finding the place this time, now that I knew where it was.  The family does not put out signs even on the tour days because they do not want passersby to just pop in.  People come from all over the world for this tour, and I'm sure would feel they had a right to sneak a peek for their efforts even if they weren't invited.  

You turn off the main road and travel a mile or so on this road....

2012

Life in Miniature

♫Music Box Medley♫

My interest in miniatures began when I was 6 when I collected and traded the little miniature toys that came in gum ball machines.  It wasn't until early 1978 when I was 27 that my interest expanded to dollhouses when I took a class in making miniature furniture.    With the help and guidance of the teachers I made 12:1 scale reproductions of my dining room table and hutch.  By the next year I was a Mom to a baby boy so I set my hobby aside until I had a little girl to share my interest in dollhouses.  Well, three boys later, that was not to be.  Fast forward to 2008.  I'd been a fan of Tasha Tudor for 16 years by then.  I'd been collecting all the books by and about her for several years, one of which was "Tasha Tudor's Dollhouse"....

Happy Birthday, Tasha Tudor

Tasha Tudor was born on this date in 1915 and passed away in 2008....

New England Adventure-Day 8

♫Music♫

Day 8 – Saturday, October 14, 2006

We got to Shelburne Museum by 11:00.  The ticket was good for two days because it would take that long to see everything.  This Horsehoe Barn was a held carriages, coaches, and sleighs....

Decorating for Christmas

♫Christmas Songs♫

We just got our tree today so I can show you what I've done throughout the house.  My daughter-in-law, Paola, and her sister, Marijose, decorated it for me.  Isn't it beautiful....

TA-DAH! Week 9

♫Free to be You and Me♫

#9 - Try to be Different

"Unconventional people do not take themselves too seriously" and eccentrics are healthier according to Loretta LaRouche.  She encourages us to step outside the box in which we've put ourselves.  She suggests things like wearing a tie or scarf with a bit more flair or underwear that is unique, if we're not ready to make a change everyone else can see.  She has some wackier suggestions, but I'll let you think of your own.

Throughout my life I've been drawn to these sorts of people--people willing to go against the trend.  Tasha Tudor, in the above photo, was one such person.  She celebrated life and found joy in hard work, eschewing modern devices for a lifestyle more akin to the 19th century even though she lived into the 21st century.  Because she was also a recognized children's book illustrator/writer her eccentric lifestyle was an asset.  For those of us without a particular talent we must compromise in order to gain acceptance from our peers.  Unfortunately, this can cause a great deal of unhappiness since we may feel pressured to abandon who we really are.  Hence, LaRouche's comment about unconventional people not taking themselves too seriously explains how those who dare to be different are able to be so.  

Your assignment this week is to throw convention to the wind if it allows you to be and do what you truly feel led to be or do....then deal with any uncomfortable feelings by reminding yourself not to take yourself too seriously.  Just to be clear on what that means, I found this wonderful definition on-line:  "When someone says you "take yourself too seriously" they may mean that you worry too much about yourself and you're maybe a little bit self-conscious/have a bit of an ego. It's hard to put into words...but in a nut shell it means uptight/lacking a sense of humor about yourself (lacking the ability to laugh at yourself/let loose)."  

Take Joy

♫Simple Gifts/Amazing Grace♫

Yesterday was the 97th anniversary of author/illustrator Tasha Tudor's (1915-2008) birth.

Many of her devotees commemorated the day by getting together for tea--one of her favorite activities, taking tea each afternoon.  Tasha had many activities besides illustrating books, such as, gardening, caring for her many animals (Corgi's, cats, goats, various kinds of birds, and chickens in her later years, and in her early years, besides the above, she had cows, sheep, ducks, geese, and a pet crow).  Also in her earlier years she cared for her four children, made and performed marionettes, made dolls for her 4:1 scale doll house, spun and weaved, made candles and soap, cooked and canned, and much more.  

I celebrated by attending the pilot Chapter of the newly formed Tasha Tudor Museum Society.  The Museum's #1 mission is "To provide inspiration to the public by immersing them in the world created by author, illustrator and early American lifestyle icon, Tasha Tudor."  Among the attendees was Tasha's former editor, Ann Beneduce.  We enjoyed hearing about their friendship along with the stories the other attendees could relate about meeting Tasha.  Time and again her endless energy was mentioned, her eagerness to share her love of Corgis and gardening, and anything else she might have had in common with you.  

The Chapter explored ways in which Tasha Tudor's memory could be kept alive through her books and the promotion of her lifestyle, especially for the younger generation.  For me it was her courage to be herself and to go after the kind of life she desired.   I wrote about this in an earlier post.  We also talked about her joy for life. She never hurried and was deliberate in her speech and actions.  She seemed to savor every moment of living.  In her book "Take Joy", which is dedicated to Ann Beneduce, the first page is a letter by Giovanni Giocondo, dated 1513, in which he writes, "The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy.  Take Joy."

http://www.proseandletters.com/Prints/FraGiovanni.html

I think it was this mindset that allowed her to do all that she did.  I daresay we would all have her boundless energy, if we were able to see life through this "lense" of Joy that she possessed.  For one thing we would never be depressed, which is often behind a lack of energy.  We would be our most creative because we'd "see" things that others pass by.  We would be curious and seek to learn new things because we'd be more aware of the possibilities.  In short, to Take Joy would be taking life by the horns and wringing every last drop of good out of it.

So, Tasha, I wish to thank you for the beauty you brought into this world through your lovely illustrations and for the Joy you shared with us through your example.  

Let It Be Easy

♫Let It Be♫

Alan Cohen in his book "A Deep Breath of Life" asks this question about his life:  How would I be doing this differently if I were willing to let it be easy?  By easy he means "honoring your aliveness.....acting from the place in you where life is meaningful.....and releasing any notion that you must participate in activities that deaden you."  With this in mind I examined my own life....

How do I honor my aliveness?

Caring for pets....

Poetry and Gabriel add a richness to my life that is special because animals have no guile and love with their whole hearts.  They get along with one another, but the times when their wild side emerges they never hold a grudge afterwards.  It is pure entertainment when both are feeling frisky!

I especially love it when they join forces in their escapades!

Making a home...

My home has always been very important to me.  Over the years I've enjoyed finding ways to make it more comfortable for my family and me.  It has been a place to express my creativity.

Gardening...

Making a garden engages all 5 senses--sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.

Playing with dolls...

I love miniature things.  Decorating a miniature house is like having a second home to dote over--and much cheaper.  Finding just the right items, especially when it's been found in a yard sale, is very rewarding.  Making it myself is even better.  I made the kitchen rag rug, straw broom, and kitchen and coffee tables.

Collecting...

I collect children's picture books whose illustrators appeal to my love of pretty pictures.

In my basement my husband had to build shelves for all the books and matching dolls and stuffed animals I'm collecting to share with my future grandchildren.

I collect the books of my favorite illustrators like Susan Branch...

And Beatrix Potter...

And Tasha Tudor

Reading...

I read instead of watching TV.

Writing...

I write stories about Poetry and Gabriel.  

Travel...

The Arizona desert is breathtaking.

And driving through West Virginia in the Autumn is always inspiring.

What makes my life meaningful?

My family and friends...

My family is all grown up and on their own now, but they are still very much a part of my life.  

My family history...

I've researched my roots and written my ancestors's stories.  They've all contributed in some way to who I am and show me I, too, have a legacy to leave.

My blogs...

This was my first Blog, a daily devotional.  I actually wrote it in 2004, but did not post it until 2011.

My second Blog filled my need to continue looking for the ways in which God is in all of life.

The stories on this website were written between 1997 and 2003.  They are very special to me and I just wanted to share them.

This is this Blog.  I wanted a place where I could share my thoughts about my life.

And finally, what activities have I released that deaden me?  

Anything that doesn't fall into one of the above categories! There will always be something you will have to do that does not appeal, but when you have a choice, ask yourself, will this make a difference in my or someone else's life.  Life is too short to waste doing things that really don't matter in the scheme of things.  

♫The Beatles - Let It Be♫

Dare to Dream

♫Dare to Dream♫

I recently visited the Tasha Tudor Museum in West Brattleboro, Vermont.  I've been a devoted fan of illustrator/author Tasha Tudor (1915-2008) since I first read about her 1830's lifestyle in Victoria magazine in 1992.  She embodied the following from Henry David Thoreau and often quoted it:

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

She is praised for her illustrated children's books, but followed for her lifestyle.  I admired her for having the courage to live as she pleased.  Her family belonged to high-society Boston, but she wanted to have her own farm, doing much of the work by hand without the help of modern conveniences.  She did not live by the dictates of society, choosing instead to live by an earlier century's sensibility.  You can read more about her life here and here.  

The Museum was exhibiting some of the antique clothing she'd collected in her lifetime.  Click on the first photo to start a slide show...

The family hopes eventually to expand the museum on it's own site:  http://www.tashatudormuseum.org/museum_grounds.htm

I think Thoreau's advice about advancing confidently is key to realizing the life we've dreamed of.  Afterall, where do those dreams come from if not from someplace within us, placed there from the beginning....