Louisa May Alcott's Birthday; Hitty in the Garret at Orchard House!

Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!

Hitty looks out from the garret window at "Orchard House".
There is a warm, cozy glow coming from within the windows.
Louisa May Alcott wrote "Little Women" at Orchard House.
In the book, Jo, the character for Louisa, did her writing up in the garret.

Click Here for Lovely Music

Today is the anniversary of Louisa May Alcott's birth.
She was born 183 years ago on November 29, 1832.

My 5th great grandfather Eliakim May was 1st cousin to Abigail (May) Alcott's grandfather Samuel May. Abigail (May) Alcott was Louisa's mother; "Marmee" in "Little Women".

Tasha Tudor illustrated "Little Women" and "A Round Dozen, Stories by Louisa May Alcott".

Ima points out "Little Women" whilst little Hitty Diane and Hitty Rachel admire the bobbin lace bookmark atop the Louisa May Alcott book.

This winter the dolls at Corgyncombe are going to read "Little Women" and Louisa May Alcott's "Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag" series which includes one of our favorite stories "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving".

We gave Tasha one of our handmade bobbin lace bookmarks in the pattern called Love-in-a-mist, like the one pictured on the Louisa May Alcott book.

 Sarah making bobbin lace.

This is part of what Tasha wrote to us: "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...

We wrote to Tasha Tudor about some of our ancestral names and Louisa May Alcott being a cousin of ours through the May family. It was so special to share an interest in genealogy with Tasha Tudor. It is such an inspiration for Sarah in her genealogical researches.

The following is what Tasha Tudor wrote to us in another letter:

"That fine red envelope full of photographs and the pages of Family names, was no end impressive."
"Have fun with your genealogical researches. What fun!!"

 

Hitty agrees, "What fun!"

Our email:
atthecottagegate@yahoo.com


http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2015/11/louisa-may-alcotts-birthday-hitty-in.html
copyright © 2015 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cooking and Baking at the Freeman Farm at Old Sturbridge Village!

Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!

Cooking and baking at the Freeman Farm at Old Sturbridge Village.

Tasha Tudor has many, many delightful illustrations in books and cards of baking and cooking in an old fashioned way!

In the drawer is kept "pumpkin leather". Pumpkin leather was made by boiling pumpkin, then putting the pumpkin through a sieve. The pumpkin was then spread on sheets to dry in a warm oven.

The sheets of pumpkin could be put with milk and reconstituted for making into pumpkin pies.

There is a receipt for pumpkin leather in "Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook, Authentic Early American Recipes for the Modern Kitchen."

Our second cousin John May married Delia, one of the Freeman daughters. John May, Delia, and their children lived with Delia's parents at the Freeman Farm in the late 1830s.

In the story "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving" written by Louisa May Alcott, when the children were left alone due to an emergency, the older girls of the family thought they would continue fixing the Thanksgiving meal. In pondering what "yarbs" would be best to put in stuffing for a turkey, sage was considered but sweet marjoram and summer savory were decided upon. Mistakenly catnip and wormwood were the "yarbs" grabbed in the darkness of the storage area. The catnip and wormwood totally ruined the stuffing!

My 5th great grandfather Eliakim May was 1st cousin to Louisa May Alcott's great grandfather Samuel May.

Thankgiving is a tradition passed down from our early New England ancestors.

We at the Corgyncombe Courant hope that all of our Dear Readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Our email:
atthecottagegate@yahoo.com


http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2015/11/cooking-and-baking-at-freeman-farm-at.html
copyright © 2015 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autumn Splendor in Our Ancestral Vermont Near Tasha Tudor!

Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!

A Lovely Autumnal Country Road
in Vermont where once my ancestors lived!
It is not far from where Tasha Tudor lived.

Click Here for Lovely Music

Dappled light on a quiet, non-paved Vermont road; a road less traveled!

From "Anne of Green Gables" by Lucy Maud Montgomery:

"October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry-trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.

Anne revelled in the world of colour about her.

"Oh, Marilla," she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it? Look at these maple branches. Don't they give you a thrill - several thrills? I'm going to decorate my room with them."

One of our old ancestral family cemeteries in Vermont.

Spectacular Vermont Autumn Colors!

In "The Real Pretend", several of Tasha Tudor's illustrations are bordered with colorful autumn leaves. My daughter Sarah of Corgyncombe was Tasha Tudor's model for the illustrations of the little girl Kathy in "The Real Pretend".

"Seasons of Delight, A Year on an Old-Fashioned Farm", written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, shows the beautiful autumn season and such tasks as raking leaves, picking apples, and making cider.

In "A Brighter Garden", Tasha Tudor illustrated several of Emily Dickinson's poems regarding the various seasons. Our favorite Autumn illustration shows a small old New England town with a church against the Autumnal hills. Emily Dickinson was a cousin to my great great grandmother Emily Jane (Jones) Shepard.

The 100th anniversary of Tasha Tudor's birth was on August 28th, 1915.

We at Corgyncombe will continue to be celebrating this, the 100th year since Tasha Tudor's birth!


Our email:
atthecottagegate@yahoo.com


http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2015/11/autumn-splendor-in-our-ancestral.html
copyright © 2015 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Old Wheels at The Farm!

Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!

Recent additions to the Corgyncombe Carriage Collection.

Top Buggy in Autumnal Loveliness

The top, which is not shown, needs repair.

Click Here for Lovely Music

On the cover of "Corgiville Fair", written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, is a carriage with a family of excited Corgis and a Rabbit family with a wagon full of carrots and other vegetables entering the Main Gate of the Fair. The back cover shows farm wagons with entries for the fair. A large variety of different wagons, carriages, and carts for different purposes abound in "Corgiville Fair". The title page has a buggy pulled by a goat and driven by a Corgi smoking a pipe, crossing a covered bridge. The first two pages are a magnificent spread of Corgiville, showing many carriages, one cart even pulled by a pig!

In "A Time to Keep", written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, Tasha shows ladies seated in carriages watching the marionette show.

In "Around the Year", written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, the endpapers show a carriage crossing a bridge and August has a carriage crossing a covered bridge.

A farm wagon that has racks that can be added for using as a hay wagon.

In "Becky's Birthday", written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, Becky's Father drove the village children home from Becky's party in a hay wagon.

In "Becky's Birthday", written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, Becky and her Father went to town in a buggy to purchase things at the store.

The 100th anniversary of Tasha Tudor's birth was on August 28th, 1915.

We at Corgyncombe will continue to be celebrating this, the 100th year since Tasha Tudor's birth!

Our email:
atthecottagegate@yahoo.com


http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2015/11/new-old-wheels-at-farm.html
copyright © 2015 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~