August 28, 2010

Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebration!

A Kindred Spirit Special Edition!
Sarah in pasture with Corgyncombe Dairy Goat Carmella Lucille and other goats, too. She is wearing an old fashioned English smock and is holding her great grandfather's old hay rake.


In the 1947 edition of "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, the lad on the "My Shadow" poem page is wearing an old fashioned smock.

Diane and Sarah have many interests in common with Tasha, such as spinning, weaving, natural dyeing, knitting, gardening, old fashioned clothing, dolls, cooking, corgyn, goats, birds, and the old ways of living.

All these daily things remind us of Tasha. We had so many things in common.
How grateful we are to have been her friend and kindred spirit!!!


At The Corgyncombe Dairy, a bowl full of dairy goat Carmella Lucille's cream.


The colour of the smock reminds us of dairy goat Carmella Lucille's cream.

In "The Workwoman's Guide", originally published in 1838, there is instruction on making a smock.
In referencing bunnies and knitted rabbit wool items from Beatrix Potter's stories and a knitting pattern, Tasha Tudor mentioned "The Workwoman's Guide" and wrote to us "Maybe you also own this invaluable work?" Those at Corgyncombe find that "The Workwoman's Guide" is indeed a most valuable guide. It contains information, patterns, and instructions relating to bonnets and caps, collars, stitches, shawls, frocks, sleeves, knitting, household items, and many other things. The book has instructions for making little stitches and "neat" and "neatly" are predominant words.




"The Real Pretend" written by Joan Donaldson and illustrated by Tasha Tudor.
Sarah of Corgyncombe was Tasha's model for the illustrations of the little girl Kathy in "The Real Pretend". It is a true story about a little girl who goes round to her neighbors, taking pretend orders from the Larkins Catalog.


Sarah in one of the Corgyncombe Cottage gardens in her frock from Tasha Tudor's antique frock collection.


In honor of Tasha's birthday Diane made a cake from the Becky's Birthday Cake receipt in "The Tasha Tudor Cookbook". It was decorated with ferns, goldenrod, Joe-pye weed and forget-me-nots. The above photograph was done in celebration of Tasha Tudor's birthday two years ago.


Charlotte celebrating Tasha Tudor's birthday a year ago. Charlotte finds a nice place in the shade to enjoy her tea, cake, and ice cream. Her cake, decorated with forget-me-nots, is from The Corgyncombe Bakery and her goat ice cream is from The Corgyncombe Dairy.


Diane's bobbin lace pillow is dressed to do a bookmark with spiders and half stitch fans. The wooden bobbins are turned in a design called bees knees. The bobbins are spangled with beads that serve as weights to keep the bobbins from rolling about, for tension, and they also look so pretty. Collecting beads and spangling is great fun. Sometimes the Corgyncombe lacemakers, Diane and Sarah, get their beads from old glass necklaces. Their collection looks like a treasure chest!


The letter box is full of some of the letters that Tasha Tudor sent to Diane and Sarah. The Corgyncombe lacemakers gave Tasha one of their handmade bookmarks called Love-in-a-mist, like the one pictured on the corgi card in the letter box.


This is part of what Tasha wrote: "Dear Diane and Sarah, Such a delightful surprise the other day to receive your nice letter full of your news, and with the charming photographs of Sarah making lace! I assure you I am impressed no end by your new skill and really treasure the dainty lace Bookmarker. Thank you so very, very much!!!" She goes on to say, amongst other things, how she is eagerly awaiting spring...




Sarah and Daisy, we call her Daisy Petals. Can you see why?




A picture of a child at water's edge, wearing an old fashioned smock, on the cover of an old Victorian Herbarium. A herbarium is a collection of pressed flowers.


Green beans and peas from the Corgyncombe Vegetable Garden.




A thistle found behind the big old barn at Corgyncombe, that we call "The Ark".


A pat of Corgyncombe Butter stamped with a thistle print.


Butter churned at Corgyncombe Dairy using the cream from Corgyncombe Dairy goat Carmella Lucille's milk. Diane's butter churn that is a reproduction of a churn Tasha Tudor had. Diane's husband planted cosmos in the vegetable garden at Diane's request, for cut flowers to be arranged in bouquets.


Tasha Tudor added to a nice long four page letter to Diane, a P.S. about how she enjoyed Diane's article about butter making. Tasha commented about how white goat's butter was and she said "I use it in all my cooking! Delectable!"




Sarah and Daisy Petals.
In the background is The Corgyncombe Vegetable Garden.



The little lad on the cover of "Mother Goose", illustrated by Tasha Tudor, is wearing a smock.


Tasha Tudor, Sarah, and Owyn Corgi in the garden at Corgi Cottage.


Tasha Tudor in her kitchen at Corgi Cottage preparing chickens for our supper.


Sarah playing her violin in her Mum's garden of herbs.
Tasha Tudor was delighted to see Sarah in her "charming" old fashioned frocks and also delighted with Sarah's preference for pretty music.



When Sarah was little we went to hear a quartet playing at an old historic house. We then went out to dinner. Our after dinner plans were altered as Sarah announced that she wanted to go back to listen to the "pretty usic". The event was held on a different day than it had been in years past so it was practically a private performance. Sarah sat on her Daddy's lap with her elegantly dressed bear until the evening's entertainments were brought to an end. The cellist was so impressed with Sarah's attentiveness that she invited her to feel the cello vibrate as the bow graced the strings. In a few years hence, Sarah would start playing the violin and played 1st violin in her own quartet!

Tasha Tudor enjoyed hearing Sarah play her violin.


Spinning in the garden on a warm summer afternoon is so pleasant.


Tasha Tudor spinning on Diane's wheel.

Sarah with Corgyncombe Nubian goat kiddle Lucy.

Corgyncombe Nubian goat kiddle Louisa May

Eliakim and Lydia playing in the snow at the Corgyncombe Corg'ery.
Corgyncombe Cottage & Corg'ery is a little farm in the valley where the corgyn dwell. Corgyn is plural for corgi. A combe is a valley, dale, vale, or hollow. Diane and Sarah made up their own exclusive word: "Corg'ery" ....... a corg'ery being a farm where an abundance of delightful corgyn dwell. Some spelling variations of their own word Corg'ery include: Corgiery, Corgi'ery, Corgery, Corg'ry, Corgi'ry..


Above, the turkey is roasting in Diane's Tasha Tudor reproduction tin kitchen. Wassail is in the kettle hanging over the fire. Clove oranges can be seen floating in the wassail.

Christmas morn dawned with a thick lovely lacy frost about everything. The frost lasted all day and with the snow already on the ground it gave one the feeling of a perfect winter wonderland. In the afternoon my husband started a fire and we roasted a turkey on the spit of my new Tasha Tudor reproduction tin kitchen. I put a kettle of wassail on the tripod over the fire and whilst tending the fire and the turkey, we enjoyed delicious wassail (non alcoholic). Some of the frost started coming down from the trees and it was snowing lovely frost. The creek could be heard cheerfully babbling and the smell of the turkey roasting was a delight to the senses! Later, I put a kettle of potatoes on the tripod over the fire to cook. The turkey was delicious!!!

Diane made the above photograph of Sarah and Tasha Corgi into a Valentine card that Tasha Tudor was delighted to receive. Tasha Corgi was named after Tasha Tudor, and Tasha Tudor was very honored and declared herself to be Tasha Corgi's Godmother. The Johnsons have had six corgyn: Tasha Corgi, Katrina Corgi, Ethlyn Maria Weaver Corgi, Emily Jane Jones Shepard Corgi, Eliakim May Corgi, and Lydia Rebecca Sly Corgi. The Johnsons are so grateful to Tasha for showing us through her illustrations how delightful corgyn can be!



Here are links to our blog posts with last 2009's birthday tea:
Tasha Tudor, A Birthday Celebration!
A Tasha Tudor Birthday Tea!

Contact us at our email:
atthecottagegate@yahoo.com



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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos. Lois

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