Tasha Tudor Birthday 2011 Celebration and Giveaway!

A Tasha Tudor Giveaway of "Drawn From New England"!

A lovely green gingham frock from Tasha Tudor's Clothing Collection. A daisy head wreath seems to be the perfect touch that looks so Tasha Tudor like with the frock. Diane made the wreath from flowers around and about the old barn at Corgyncombe. The frock and wreath of daisies look like they belong at a Birthday party! Tasha used her wonderful clothing collection to draw from.

The daisy head wreath on the art stand made by Seth Tudor, son of Tasha Tudor, encircles an illlustration from Tasha Tudor's book "1 is One" with a young girl wearing a green gingham frock.

Wild flowers were always a favorite for Tasha Tudor to draw in her famous borders around her illustrations. On a mossy log, collected in the antique vasculum are Daisies, Chicory, Clover, and Joe-Pye Weed. Diane lines the inside of the vasculum with moss and the plant specimens really do stay fresh for several days.

This past Sunday, August 28th, would have been Tasha Tudor's 96th birthday.
Diane and her daughter Sarah were so blessed to have Tasha for a friend.

Diane and Sarah had many kindred interests in common with Tasha such as spinning, weaving, knitting, natural dyeing, dolls, corgyn, goats, birds, gardening (flowers, herbs, and vegetables), old fashioned clothing and frocks, fireplace and woodstove cookery, canning, sewing, quilting, old books, and the old ways of living.

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!

Apples were another favorite subject for Tasha Tudor to illustrate.
Pictured in the above photograph is the Red Astrachan Apple from an old book of old fashioned apples in the Corgyncombe Library. There is a tree at the end of our woodshed that produces an enormous amount of Red Astrachan apples.

Diane's work table at tea time.

A basket of this year's Red Astrachan Apples. These apples were organically grown at Corgyncombe.

The goat kiddles also like the Red Astrachan Apple tree but not for its apples but for its tasty leaves! They stand on their back hooves stretching and reaching for the prize leaves. They look like little ballerinas as they hop, stretch, and dance about on two hooves!

A charming lady wearing a dirndl, fashioning a flower wreath. Around the photograph are daisies and pinks that grow wild on the lawns at Corgyncombe. You can find girls wearing dirndls in Tasha Tudor 's illustrations.

Corgyncombe's little darling Clementine!

Old fashioned flowers made into a bouquet, in the center Golden Glow, then Calendula, and on the outer edge Goldenrod. The leaves on the outside are Joy-Pye Weed.

The door of the antique vasculum shows ladies and a young girl doing the wash with goats nearby. This reminds us of the Shirley Temple movie "Heidi" when she arrives with her Aunt in the village where the women are washing their clothes and she meets Peter the goatherd and the goats.

In the old days children would go out and about in the woods, fields, hills, and dales and gather plant specimens for studying botany and pressing. A tin vessel with a tight fitting lid would keep the flower specimens fresh. This tin vessel is called a vasculum and has a strap for carrying over your shoulder. When Emily Dickinson was a young lady she made an Herbarium with plant specimens. The specimens were pressed until dried, then put in a book and labeled.

Tasha Tudor illustrated "A Brighter Garden" a collection of poetry by Emily Dickinson. We named our Corgi Emily after Diane's great great grandmother Emily Jane (Jones) Shepard and Emily (Jones) Shepard's cousin Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, as well as Emily Dickinson's mother Emily (Norcross) Dickinson. Tasha did such lovely illustrations in "A Brighter Garden".

Whilst Melissa was in Europe she visited many Art Museums.
Amongst the places she toured were Switzerland, Germany, Austria, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Netherlands, Scandinavia, and France.

Melissa is sister to Amelia, a doll who lives at Corgyncombe Cottage & Corg'ery.
Everyone at Corgyncombe Cottage was overjoyed that Melissa has returned from her European tour to join Amelia and her family and all at Corgyncombe Cottage for the Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebration!

A Morning Glory and Echinacea in the Corgyncombe Gardens.

The old photograph was taken in Chur, Switzerland, near where Johanna Spyri set her book "Heidi". The boy in the photograph has a vasculum with a strap over his shoulder and the girl has her vasculum beside her on the bench. We love their hats!

The boy's vasculum.

Here is Melissa with her hat, earrings, hair ribbon, and locket in the shape of a heart.
Melissa reminds us of Tasha Tudor's doll Melissa... very much so. Tasha Tudor's doll Melissa was her model for the illustrations in Tasha's book "A is for Annabelle".
"A is for Annabelle", illustrated and written by Tasha Tudor, is about an old fashioned doll and some of her belongings from A to Z, such as her hat, earrings, hair ribbons, and her heart shaped locket.

Diane's great great grandmum was also named Melissa. Melissa's grandparents lived at one time a few miles from where Tasha lived in Vermont.

The title page of Tasha Tudor's "1 is One" displayed with the daisy head wreath on the art stand that is a replica of the art stand that Tasha Tudor had.

A book about Tasha Tudor's life
"Drawn From New England, Tasha Tudor;
A Portrait in Words and Pictures by Bethany Tudor".
Details about the Giveaway at the end of this post.

Diane made the above photograph of Sarah and Tasha Corgi into a Valentine card that Tasha Tudor was delighted to receive. After Tasha received the card she illustrated the scene. The illustration appears in the book "The Art of Tasha Tudor". 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!

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 her daughter 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..

Herbs drying at the Corgyncombe Herbary.

Gathered Calendula.

Lily Dibble Dabble

Sarah thought Lucy would look lovely in a dirndl!

Tasha Tudor illustrated Sarah with the little tree in the snow with a moon overhead and Sarah feeding the goats in the barn. There is a sweet little corgi at Sarah's feet. The feeding the goats card is featured in the video "Take Peace, A Corgi Cottage Christmas with Tasha Tudor". The goat that Sarah is feeding reminds us of our Nubian goats Daisy and Clementine.

Christmastide feeding the animals, Corgyncombe Nubian Goat Kiddle Louisa May having Christmas dinner. Louisa May was named after Louisa May Alcott. Diane's 5th great grandfather was 1st cousin to Louisa May Alcott's great grandfather Samuel May. Tasha Tudor also illustrated "Little Women" written by Louisa May Alcott. Tasha Tudor frequently used her Nubian goats for models in her illustrations.

Hanging on the drying rack is Thyme, Parsley, Rosemary, and Sage from the Corgyncombe Garden of Herbs. Tasha Tudor illustrated a book called "A Basket of Herbs" written by Mary Mason Campbell.

On the table is a delightful find found right after Christmas, a wooden implement for crushing dried herbs. It was found at an estate sale near where my early New England ancestors lived. Maybe they used it! After herbs are crushed, they are put in glass jars or packaged and put in the herb and spice cupboard for storage.

Lavender, Dill, and Calendula are also hung to dry.

For years we have been inspired by our friend Tasha Tudor's doll families. Tasha Tudor made her dolls look so real and we know that they were real to her. Our dolls seem very real to us, too. Our doll families have many children, cousins, Mums, and Aunties who like to do all the favorite things that we like to do best!

Melissa gathered wild flowers from along Corgi Creek.
She is wearing an antique frock that we know Tasha would have loved!

The teapot reminds us of Tasha Tudor's flower and ribbon borders, especially those on the February Valentine's Day pages of "A Time to Keep".

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

Lily Dibble Dabble, on the floor, is hopping up and down asking Melissa if she has heard about the Corgyncombe Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebration Giveaway! Lily Dibble Dabble's sister Debbie Dibble Dabble has hopped up on the chair that Seth Tudor made, a miniature replica of one that Tasha Tudor sat in do her artwork.

Diane's yellow cupboard filled with yellowware.
On the bottom left are yellowware milk pans.
Tasha Tudor loved yellowware and frequently illustrated pieces from her collection.

Morning Glory in the Corgyncombe Gardens
"Grandpa Ott" heirloom variety

Tasha Tudor in her Marionette Theatre at Corgi Cottage.
We just love the happy look on her face!

A member of the Corgi Orchestra and Mert Bogart, Tasha Tudor's Marionettes.
Mert is a character in Tasha Tudor's books "Corgiville Fair", "The Great Corgiville Kidnapping", and "Corgiville Christmas".

Sylvie Ann and Ethlyn Corgi from Corgyncombe celebrated the
70th anniversary of "Pumpkin Moonshine" in 2008.

Tasha Tudor's first published book was "Pumpkin Moonshine" in 1938. In Tasha's book, Sylvie Ann went out to the cornfield to find the largest, best pumpkin. In "Pumpkin Moonshine", Sylvie succeeds in getting her pumpkin out of the cornfield but the pumpkin has multiple mishaps as it rolls uncontrollably down the hill. Tasha's real niece, Sylvie Ann, was the model for the Sylvie Ann in the book.

Tasha Tudor's Birthday Celebration is more than just a one day celebration. It's the every day kindred old fashioned tasks and the seasonal celebrations all throughout the year that we have in common with her.

Lily Dibble Dabble is excited to announce:
A Corgyncombe Tasha Tudor Birthday Giveaway!!!

In honor of Tasha Tudor's Birthday, the Corgyncombe Courant is having a Giveaway of the book
"Drawn From New England, Tasha Tudor; A Portrait in Words and Pictures by Bethany Tudor".
Bethany Tudor is Tasha's older daughter.

Diane received a copy of "Drawn From New England" one memorable Christmas when the snow on the trees was Christmas card perfect and there was a light sparkly snow coming down.
"Drawn From New England" has photographs of Tasha as a child, her parents, her children, her dolls, some of Tasha's illustrations, and some photography by Nell Dorr. Bethany wrote about the family finding an old house in New Hampshire when she was a child and later Tasha's move to Vermont where her son Seth built her a wonderful old looking house! In the book, Bethany speaks of "Pumpkin Moonshine" Tasha's first published book, Tasha acquiring her first Corgi, seasonal celebrations, and many more interesting things in Tasha's life. The cover has a delightful photograph of Tasha and her Corgi lovingly smiling at each other! It is surrounded by Tasha Tudor's illustration of lovely wildflowers.

If you enjoy hearing about Tasha Tudor and the old fashioned things she pursued, then you will love this book!
(Lily Dibble Dabble is not included in the giveaway.)

To Enter the Corgyncombe Courant Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebration Giveaway of "Drawn From New England", leave a comment on this post "Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebration 2011" or on the previous post
"A Corgyncombe Tasha Tudor Birthday Giveaway!".

This Giveaway is open to the Corgyncombe Courant's Dear Readers in the United States and Canada.

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The Corgyncombe Courant is saddened by the destruction of the floods as the result of Hurricane Irene and sends their prayers for all those effected.

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