November 29, 2015

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.



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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 26, 2015

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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 9, 2015

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.



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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 2, 2015

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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 26, 2015

Tillie Tinkham's Frocks & Fashions at Tasha Tudor Inspired Doll Fair!

Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!
Little Hitty Diane and Hitty Beth are so excited to see Tillie Tinkham's newest line of handmade fascinators! Little Hitty Diane has an eye for the yellow rose with sparkly tulle, however Tillie directs her to the smaller red spotted fascinator with forget-me-not and yellow twirls! Hitty Beth likes the yellow rose fascinator, too!




Hitty Rachel is assisting Tillie in her Frocks & Fashions Booth.
The flowers adorning the fascinators are all handmade originals made by Tillie Tinkham.
Amongst the flowers on the fascinators are forget-me-nots, roses, violets, bachelor's button, "pink" (Dianthus), and water lily.


On display at her booth are two forget-me-not inspired frocks that Tillie made especially for the Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair: one with forget-me-nots scattered on pink and one with forget-me-nots on beautiful blue! Each of the forget-me-not inspired frocks has a matching forget-me-not fascinator. She also made a dark blue frock with a striped pinafore.
Tillie Tinkham and her fascinators have been featured before on the Corgyncombe Courant, as she has been in the Millinery business for years. Millinery means hat shop and frocks are dresses.


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

Nanny Nettie-Kin reminds us of Tasha Tudor and we and the dolls and critters of Corgyncombe will continue to be celebrating this, the 100th year since Tasha Tudor's birth!

Tasha Tudor illustrated delightfully festive fairs in her books "Corgiville Fair", "A Time to Keep", and "All for Love". "A Time to Keep" in September features the dolls' fair with booths for selling.


Forget-Me-Not bouquets decorate Tillie's Booth at the Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Doll Fair!

Nanny Nettie Kin's Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not seeds are sold at a booth at the Annual Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair.  Seeds to sow for a beauteous, bountiful sea of dainty forget-me-nots!

Nanny Nettie-Kin holds the Annual Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair to promote the delight and appreciation of her favorite flower, forget-me-nots! Tasha Tudor also loved forget-me-nots!

Hitty Beth was brought to the fair by our friend Hitty Beth's Mum who also delighted in attending the Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Fair.
Tillie Tinkham suggests Hitty Beth try a fascinator with a "pink" (Dianthus) atop with pink twirls.
Hitty Beth is wearing the frock that Tillie Tinkham made especially for her.
Hitty Beth loves the frock and looks so sweet in it and the fascinator with the "pink" atop looks lovely with the frock!
Tillie Tinkham covered the hat boxes with special Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not wallpaper exclusive to Corgyncombe.

 Quackenbush and Dilley Dibble Dabble
at the Herb & Flower Booth
at the Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair.
Last we saw Dilley Dibble Dabble and Quackenbush they were buying forget-me-nots at the Herb & Flower Booth. As they joyfully perused the fair Dilley spied Tillie Tinkham's Frocks & Fashions Booth. Dilley hastily tossed to Quakenbush her parasol, her seed packet and her hat...

Dilley paddled her big-little webbed feet as fast as she could and flapped her wings, quacking all the way in excitement to Tillie Tinkham's Frocks & Fashions with delightful fascinators!
Paddle, waddle, quack, quack, quack!


Dilley made a ducky beeline to the water lily fascinator.
Oooohhhh, a water lily!


Doesn't Dilley Dibble Dabble look like a little flirty ducky in her water lily fascinator!
Tillie also sells lovely satin pincushions that she made with the tiniest handsewn stitches!


Little Hitty Diane says that Hitty Beth's fascinator looks so pretty with her frock!


Little Hitty Diane asks Hitty Beth, "What do you think? Is it me?"
Hitty Beth says "That fascinator is you!"


Tillie Tinkham's Bitty Buttons!
Making these buttons takes a lot of effort and time.

Tasha Tudor had the children use buttons to buy goods for their dolls and animals. The currency for the dolls and critters at Corgyncombe is buttons and the goods at the Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair are purchased with buttons, as well.


Quackenbush is heard saying that Dilley is some cute little quacker!
She just glows!


Tillie's inspiration for Dilley's water lily fascinator.


Hitty Rachel is amused!




Inside Tillie Tinkham's Frocks & Fashions, little Hitty Diane stands upon a hatbox to see herself in the mirror sporting her red spotted fascinator with forget-me-not and yellow twirls.


Hitty Diane is thrilled as the red spotted fascinator with forget-me-not and yellow twirls is so zingy and goes perfectly with her yellow frock! She thinks little Andy will think she is quite the bee's knees in this Tillie Tinkham original!


From Her Own Dainty Paw and Golden Thimble!

Tillie Tinkham, the seamstress mouse at Corgyncombe, received the Golden Thimble Award for her exquisite efforts in sewing, frock making, millinery fascinator fashioning, hatbox designing, and button & pincushion making.

As they were leaving the Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair, Dilley Dibble Dabble and Quackenbush could be seen swimming across Corgi Creek. Dilley with her new water lily fascinator and Quackenbush carrying everything else! They paused and Quackenbush rested on Forget-Me-Not Island where they both admired the Forget-Me-Nots and agreed they had the best time at the Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair!

All who attended the Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair had delightful thoughts of all the forget-me-nots at the fair and all the seeds that will be sewn for next year's Annual Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair!

We hope all of our Dear Readers enjoyed the
2nd Annual Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair!


Some of the photographs and some of the writings on this post are from previous Corgyncombe Courant posts that can be found here on the Corgyncombe Courant and from our previous postings elsewhere on the internet.




Here is a link to:
Forget-Me-Not Blue, Dilley, Dilley: Tasha Tudor Inspired Dolls' Fair!
Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!



Here is a link to Hitty Maple's Pancakes & Doughnuts:
Birthday Celebration Tasha Tudor Inspired Forget-Me-Not Dolls' Fair!
Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!



Here is a link to Ima out gathering forget-me-nots with Tasha Corgi for the 2015 Fair:
Gathering Forget-Me-Nots for Tasha Tudor Inspired Dolls' Fair!
Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!



Here is a link to last year's 2014:
Forget-Me-Not Fair at Corgyncombe!
To Sow a Sea of Forget-Me-Nots!



Here is a link to:
A Flower Favoured by Nanny Nettie-Kin and Tasha Tudor!
Oh, the Delight of Forget-Me-Nots!



Our email:
atthecottagegate@yahoo.com



http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2015/10/tillie-tinkhams-frocks-fashions-at.html
copyright © 2015 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 1, 2015

Nanny Nettie-Kin's Baked Goods at Tasha Tudor Inspired Dolls' Fair!

Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!
Nanny Nettie-Kin made the cakes for the Corgyncombe Doll Fair using the receipt for Becky's Birthday Cake from
"The Tasha Tudor Cookbook".




In the crowing roosters beverage cooler is Stillwater Iced Tea.
We ourselves enjoyed Tasha Tudor's Stillwater Iced Tea made by the artist and author's own hand!
Tasha Tudor had a special pet Rooster named Chickahominy.

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

Nanny Nettie-Kin reminds us of Tasha Tudor and we and the dolls and critters of Corgyncombe will continue to be celebrating this, the 100th year since Tasha Tudor's birth!



Tasha Tudor had the children use buttons to buy goods for their dolls and animals. The currency for the dolls and critters at Corgyncombe is buttons and the goods at the Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair are purchased with buttons, as well.

Hitty Rachel has placed some buttons on the counter in payment for a cake and some Stillwater Iced Tea.


Nanny Nettie-Kin rings it up!


Nanny Nettie-Kin had a baked goods booth at her Forget-Me-Not Dolls' Fair last year, too.


A lovely bouquet of forget-me-nots placed amongst the cakes.











 Nanny Nettie Kin's Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not seeds sold at a booth at the Annual Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair.  Seeds to sow for a beauteous, bountiful sea of dainty forget-me-nots!

Nanny Nettie-Kin holds the Annual Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair to promote the delight and appreciation of her favorite flower, forget-me-nots! Tasha Tudor also loved forget-me-nots!


The cake was made for our doll Becky's Birthday Celebration in 2008 using Tasha Tudor's receipt for Becky's Birthday Cake.


The cake I made in celebration of Tasha Tudor's Birthday in 2008 using the Becky's Birthday Cake receipt in "The Tasha Tudor Cookbook".

The Corgyncombe Forget-Me-Not Fair has continued in several posts with more to come here at the Corgyncombe Courant!!!

Some of the photographs and some of the writings on this post are from previous Corgyncombe Courant posts that can be found here on the Corgyncombe Courant and from our previous postings elsewhere on the internet.



Here is a link to Hitty Maple's Pancakes & Doughnuts:
Birthday Celebration Tasha Tudor Inspired Forget-Me-Not Dolls' Fair!
Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!




Here is a link to Ima out gathering forget-me-nots with Tasha Corgi for the 2015 Fair:
Gathering Forget-Me-Nots for Tasha Tudor Inspired Dolls' Fair!
Celebrating Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday Year!



Here is a link to last year's 2014:
Forget-Me-Not Fair at Corgyncombe!
To Sow a Sea of Forget-Me-Nots!



Here is a link to:
A Flower Favoured by Nanny Nettie-Kin and Tasha Tudor!
Oh, the Delight of Forget-Me-Nots!



Our email:
atthecottagegate@yahoo.com



http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2015/10/nanny-nettie-kins-baked-goods-at-tasha.html
copyright © 2015 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~