Sunday Thoughts

I am absolutely filled with gratitude and joy on this Sunday afternoon. What a week! You just never know what you will be asked to do, right? It was a long and stressful week with my daughter with her extreme back pain...extra care for Otto, trips to the ER, pharmacy, and doctors.

Thank you all who held her up in prayer and sent your good thoughts for Angie and for me. The internet is an amazing gift at times when we find ourselves needing support and prayers. I THANK YOU all for that. Your kindness is also good for my daughter to see and understand my friends...I talk about you all so much!

She just had an amazing turn around yesterday after facing the possibility of surgery just the day before. I am praying that she will not over do and will just take it a bit easy. I know that is hard for a mother to do with an active 2 year old and an 8 year old step daughter home for the weekend.

Thank you Lord for this healing and thank you all for your love and concern.

I hope to make it around to your blogs again. It seems everytime I get back into blogging, something seems to come along in life!

Hoping for a return to normal and a good week ahead for you all. 

Happy 100th Birthday Tasha Tudor!

Happy Birthday Tasha Tudor! You would have been 100 year old today! I usually have a tea to celebrate the day, however, life had different plans for me today. I was so looking forward to  this day! I was planning a Pink Lusterware "pink" tea.

I woke up at 4 AM before the sun was up and before my sweet grand baby Otto was awake. I enjoy the early mornings, but I really wasn't wanting to wake up quite that early. I love that quiet time before the business of the day begins. About 6:30, I heard Otto making his little squawks and he was waiting for Gama to get him "up"! We played and I took him over to his other grandma's house for the day. The house is so quiet tonight.

I had to drive out to the Sunnyside Kaiser Hospital to pick up my daughter Angie at ER. She is still in pain and nothing has improved since Wednesday when we were there. The ER doctor was very good and she was able to line Angie up for an epidural to try before surgery. My poor Angie still can't walk and I had wheel her around in a wheelchair. Then we dashed out to the clinic to see her primary care doctor to sign papers for work, line up PT and write renewals for her meds.
I got her home around 3 PM and then went on home to my house.

So, it was way too late to have tea...

But, I had to find a way to say Happy Birthday to Tasha! So some of the dollies wanted to get together and wish Tasha Best Wishes on this special birthday.

Miss Annabelle could never let the day slip away without joining the other dolls with good wishes.

I am disappointed that I didn't get to celebrate in style, however, I did think about all the wonderful things in my life that have come from my exposure to Tasha Tudor. I would never have met so many lovely Tasha fans, never made the trips to New England, never gotten into dolls and miniatures, never found Pink Lusterware and never ended up with a library of Tasha's books! I have met so many talented artist, doll makers, historians, quilters, farmers, gardeners, dog breeders, collectors, chefs, fiber artists, authors and writers~all because of Tasha. She led an interesting life and yes, she was human and I don't agree with everything she said and did, however, she sure has been an inspiration. Belonging to Tasha groups has added to all the holidays and given me so much to look forward to all the time. She has become a part of my life and that has made me very happy.

My very dear friend LaVonne is coming to visit in October and I'm going to have that tea then to celebrate Tasha's big day! Another fun Tasha thing to look forward to!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TASHA!

Tea Time Thursday #85 Pink Lusterware

Happy Tea Time Thursday! It's almost Friday as I am trying to finish up this post on Thursday. My daughter Angie is having some severe back problems and we have had our little Otto here for two days and nights to give his mama a break. I will be taking her back to see the doctor tomorrow. I am just praying she is not going to have to have back surgery. So, on with the post.

I discovered Pink Lusterware through my interest in Tasha Tudor. If you are a fan, you will see bits and pieces of her many tea sets and cup and saucers in her work. I just adore Pink Lusterware! Pink Lusterware is pottery that has a final metallic glaze made with gold powder that gives it a iridescent shine. It's the gold powder that turns the glaze to pink. It was first made in England in the 1790's in Staffordshire. Both Spode and Wedgwood produced it and other companies followed, thus a great deal of it was produced.

Last year when I was able to visit Tasha Tudor's home, I was just in awe of how much Pink Lusterware was in her home...it was in several rooms. This photo shows a little shelf in her kitchen and yes, it was filled with Pink Lusterware!

This photo is of Tasha and Joan Donaldson having tea with lots of Pink Lusterware. If you would like to enjoy a story by Joan about tea with Tasha and Pink Lusterware, visit her blog....VISITS TO CORGI COTTAGE. It's a very sweet story. Joan has posted lots of fun stories about her visits with Tasha.

So when we were in New England on our trip this summer, Jimmy wanted to find a set of this beloved china for me as an anniversary present. I was just wanting to find a teapot! This is a set that also has a story. We had found a beautiful set at a lovely antique shoppe in Bellows Falls, VT. Windham Antique Center has quality items and we were excited to find a set from 1830. It had a teapot, cream and sugar, and 8 cups and saucers. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it. The shop gave us a discount and we arranged shipping. The 2 boxes arrived and we saved them for our anniversary. Sadly, the teapot was smashed along with cups and saucer. I was soooo sad.

The only saving grace was the other set we had purchased in Concord, MA. It was so reasonable and we thought we would just sell it. It was missing one cup, so it only had 7 cup and saucers. It is a pretty soft pink set. When we got it home, I actually liked it better than the other set. This goes so nicely in my tea room.

I had taken some photos of the original set at the antique shoppe before we left. This is the last look at the teapot in one piece. It was a pretty set.

The antique shoppe was very kind to issue us a replacement check. I hope the post office grants their claim.

I had hoped to have a tea tomorrow for Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday, but it might have to wait a bit. My daughter is more important right now.

Bethany Tudor's Band Box

As we approach Tasha Tudor's 100th Birthday celebration on August 28th, I want to continue to share some stories and items from our summer trip to New England. I may have explained how I got interested in Tasha Tudor, but I like to tell my story! Jim, Angie, Gina and I were on a little summer weekend trip to Newport Or when the girls were very young. We would always take them to Canyon Book Store and they would get to choose a book. I was wondering around, just waiting for them to pick a new favorite when I stumbled upon this book...DRAWN FROM NEW ENGLAND. It was written by Tasha Tudor's oldest daughter, Bethany, in 1979. I fell in love with the life story of the Tudor family and the art and illustrations of Tasha Tudor. I went on the hunt when I returned home. There was a charming little book store in downtown Portland called Skidmore Books which featured mostly children's books. The owner and I became good friends and she would call me when she got a new order in. This was in the early 1980's  and I really loved the work that Tasha was doing then.
I was hooked and look where that little book has taken me! WOW!

This is a picture of Bethany holding her book. Notice the doll on Bethany's lap in the photo below. I love the smile on her face.

Here we have our a group photo of those who attended the Gathering. Bethany is sitting by Suzanne in the photo below. Bethany and Suzanne have become good friends. It was fun to get to meet Bethany and chat with her a bit. Her voice has a lot of Tasha's sounds and it just makes you stop a bit when she talks. She is quiet and a bit shy.

 I think she enjoyed the evening with all of us. She had a little table with some items for sale.

Here she is talking with Christine Crocker, another member from Oregon and a wonderful doll maker.

Bethany also has some children's books...here's a few of them.

When we went to visit John and Jill Hare at the Cellar Door Books, we purchased this little pink band box made by Bethany Tudor. It is just charming.

I just love band boxes! I saw a lot of antique boxes on our trip, however, they are out of my price range. I have a few small ones that I enjoy.

The green one was made by my doll friend Christine LeFever and actually goes with a doll that she made. The sweet little round one is from the Doll Fair. I'm not sure, but I think maybe Suzanne made it. The heart shaped box is made by an Oregon artist. I love the label in the top.

This is another book that I really LOVE! Tahsa Tudor's Old-Fashioned Gifts. I have been wanting to make these little ones.

I think I'm going to collect some vintage wallpaper and buy some little cardboard boxes and have a craft day when LaVonne comes to visit in October. I think that would be really fun to make them together. 

Sunday Thoughts

Good Sunday Morning! Most everyone has heard about the 23rd psalm....THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD. It is just so beautiful and meaningful. Tasha Tudor illustrated this beloved psalm in 1980. It was written so long ago by Kind David, the same David of David and Goliath. Some may not know what a psalm is, so here is a very simple explanation. They are full of praise, some are joyful and some are very serious. I love to read the psalms that can be found in the bible.

Here is the psalm if you'd like to read it. Enjoy.

Thee sun has been bright red for the past two mornings. There are so many forest fires in the WEST. The smoke was so bad in our neighborhood yesterday, as the wind was bringing all that smoke right to us. I am praying for all the men and women who are fighting the fires and for all of those who have lost their homes. SO SAD. This is one of the reasons I chose this psalm today. We need our Lord, our shepherd. 

Tea Time Thursday #84 Orchard House

One of my biggest disappointments last year when I was in New England was that i didn't get to visit Louisa May Alcott's home~ORCHARD HOUSE. I didn't want to go home this year without a visit to her home in Concord MA. We made it the day before we had to return home. Oh, it was worth the wait!

I was so excited when we arrived, I just thought I was going to faint! It was just as I had hoped and imagined.  The tour was delightful. It began with a video where an actress speaks to you as Louisa! It was so charming and you really felt like she was being interviewed. Clever.

As we waited for our tour to begins, we snooped around the grounds. Lots of gardens and flowers and yes, an orchard.

Jimmy was sitting down and soaking it all in...so peaceful.

This was her father's school on the property. We didn't get to go inside but it was fun just to see it.

As with many of the museums we visited, we were not allowed to take pictures inside. The foloowing pictures are from the official Lousia May Alcott website at Orchard House. I am thankful to be able to look at the photos and remember the tour.

This is May's room. I just didn't know she was such an accomplished artist. She used to do drawings on the walls in this room and they have been saved! It is so neat to see them. One of the things that impressed me with this house is that it was a home. Of all the places we got to visit, this house felt like a home. I loved that about it. It just seemed real.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on Nov 29, 1832. She took several jobs to help her family as they struggled financially. She took in wash, was a teacher and was a nurse during the Civil War. Before she wrote Little Women in 1869-70, she wrote poems, short stories and even wrote some plays. She loved drama. She was an editor of a girl's magazine too. She died on March 6th, 1888. She had several sad loses in her family during her short life. Do take some time to read about her life and her work.

Cute note cards that I had to purchase for my pen pal letters. She wrote Little Women at the little white half desk in the picture above in her room.

I am always on the hunt for different copies of Little Women and of course her other books.

Oh yes, it is Tea Time Thursday! I had to buy some tea at the museum for this fall. It's just too hot right now for a good cup of afternoon tea! I am saving it. I did think it would be fun to feature these two teacups I found last year....just the right color!

The teacups are a Johnson Brothers pattern called Susanna. I have never seen it and I know it isn't too old, but I just like the pattern. Fun for fall and even Pumpkin Moonshine time.

I haven't read EIGHT COUSINS yet, but it is on my list!

And of course, as this is Tasha Tudor's birthday month and I am posting about her and our New England trip, I had to include Tasha's illustrated Little Women. It was published in 1969.

One week from today is the celebration of Tasha Tudor's 100th birthday.