Tea Time Tuesday # 155

Happy Spring and Happy Tea Time Tuesday! The calendar says it is spring and the sun actually did pop out for a bit. I thought I would bring some sunshine into the house to cheer me up a bit. I love daffodils and jonquils and green and yellow!

This is the spring tea cup I purchased in Washington state during my Tasha Tudor Valentine Gathering weekend. I wanted to save it for this spring time post. Isn't it sweet?

The cup and saucer is marked Hammersley and it's named Yellow Jonquils. Sorry my photo is a bit blurry.

I love the embossing on the pieces. It just adds such so much to the china.

Ready for a spot of tea? I really enjoy this Queen Mary tea. It's so yummy.

This is a new addition and such a darling little perfume bottle lady. I adore her.

The bottle top is actually a half doll. She has a cork on the bottom to act as a stopper.

She is marked Germany on the bottom of the bottle and she is in great condition.

I love the darling round doily with crocheted daffodils. Someone did a lot of work...such a craft that is disappearing.

I am not sure what this little flower's purpose is, but it's very cute. It may be a candle holder.

Jimmy found this adorable Steiff chick last fall. It's so cute and perfect for spring.

I like to hang this little butterfly doll on the wall decor with little jonquils. It's time for spring!

And who wouldn't love the Daffodil Fairy?

I hope you have enjoyed these little sunshine yellow springtime treats. Think spring, flowers and sunshine. 

Tea Time Tuesday #154

Yesterday the postman delivered a package that I have been waiting for for a quite some time. I signed up for the Tasha Tudor Valentine's Day and my package never came. My partner lives in New Hampshire and has been snowed in a good amount of the winter. Her hubby forgot to mail my package too, so it was really late in arriving.  I was thrilled with her box and what she chose for me.
She learned that I was watching the Victoria special on PBS and discovered that I love all the English shows on PBS. She put together a little tea in a box gift.

I love the dainty cup and saucer. The colors are perfect and it's a fun addition to my collection.

Here's the markings on the bottom of the cup...it's marked Old Royal Bone China England.

This sweet little porcelain lady was also included. Isn't she wonderful? Do you think she is keeping a secret? I think so.

I loved the card that Allyson sent...very Victorian and so pretty.

And what a grand box of PG Tips tea! It's such a wonderful tea...always a classic.

Nice and hardy for a rainy day.

I can buy King Arthur's flour out here in Oregon. I was happy to find a package of their scone mix in my box! How fun. I can't believe how delicious this mix is. I made them in the drop form, which is so easy and it's pretty hard to fail. Jimmy was just thrilled. He loves cranberry orange. It did give a little recipe for a glaze that really added a nice touch.

Yummmm....the finished projects.

Flaky and so flavorful.

Such a delightful treat on a rainy day. I will be participating in the Tasha Tudor Easter exchange and Stephanie's Tea Cup exchange next. Happy Tea Time. 

Tasha Tudor First Friday Book Review and A Big Tasha Score!

Happy 4th of July! I hope you got to enjoy my Tea Time Thursday post to celebrate the RED WHITE and BLUE! It's also my Tasha Tudor First Friday Book Review day. Jimmy and I went to a sale last weekend and one of the items I got was a copy of THE DOLL'S HOUSE by Rumer Godden and illustrated by Tasha Tudor. I have read it before, but it's a fun read, so I wanted to refresh my memory.
It is a darling book about two sisters who receive a doll house that has been been in the family. The dolls are delighted and you get to follow their story. Tottie is a little wooden Dutch doll and my favorite. The dolls WISH for things to happen and they often do!
The original version of the book was published in 1948 and it was illustrated by Dana Saintbury.
May Massee, who was an editor at Viking Press, was the one responsible for publishing Tasha's very first book~PUMPKIN MOONSHINE. Tasha and May remained friends and even though she had retired, she introduced Rumer and Tasha. They became friends and Rumer visited Tasha at her New Hampshire home. Tasha also visited Rumer in England when she spent a year there.
The book was reprinted in 1962.

The dollhouse family...Mr Plantaganet, Birdie, Apple and Tottie. Pick up the book and enjoy! It is available in paper back form and it's not expensive. If you like HITTY and MISS HICKORY, you will  enjoy this book.

I had so much fun at the sale! The lady was a sewer, a doll person, a miniature collector and she had a dollhouse. The house was loaded and written up as a "digger"...the kind of sales I love! We went back the next day for the half price sale. Lots of goodies to keep and lots to sell.

A few treats for Miss Annabelle! She now has a better sized quilt rack and a wooden ladder! She likes Estate Sales too!

So, you are wondering about the title of this blog post...what was the big score???? The second day when we went back to the sale, I was digging around in one of the rooms and I saw this box. If you are a Tasha Tudor fan, you know that one of her little companies was called THE JENNY WREN PRESS. I was ordering goodies from the company when I was first introduced to Tasha. So, I got excited when I pulled this box out of a pile of things. What was inside?

When I opened the box, it was filled with all kinds of things from the Jenny Wren era. Lots of advertising, envelopes, letters, sticker and fun things for my collection.

There were 6 catalogs to look through. Oh, I wish all of the goodies were still available!

I opened an envelop and squealed with delight! A copy of THE JENNY WREN BOOK OF VALENTINES and the little doll sized Valentines and envelopes. A score for sure! But wait, there's more!

I found the first 6 issues of the TAKE JOY! magazine in the box. These were published from Tasha's next company...Corgi Cottage Industries. They are really fun and filled with all kinds of interesting articles for the Tasha fan. These are from 1997. Two more copies were published in 1998 before that company was ended. Another score! These are very spendy on Ebay!

 This invitiation to afternoon tea is so sweet! It was all tucked into the envelope and had a return envelope with it. All of these items are in really great condition!

Then I found one more treasure. There was a copy of THE LETTER...a little newsletter that was once published by Elaine Hollabaugh. She would have fans send in photos and stories of interest.  I found some very interesting correspondence from Elaine to the lady who's house I was in...Donna Turner.
Donna was living in Klamath Falls, Oregon at the time. She made a miniature room depicting the cover of Tasha's book BUTT'RY SHELF COOKBOOK. Donna wanted to submit it to THE LETTER and Elaine accepted the offer, however, Donna got the information to Elaine too late for publication.
I couldn't find anything to tell me if it was ever published. I was left wondering.

When I was on my trip back east, I wasn't able to go shopping, so I came home with most of my spending money. I decided to order the book THE DIRECTION OF HER DREAMS by WM John and Priscilla Hare who own The Cellar Door Books. It is a very large book, filled with a lot of information on Tasha's books, publications, newsletters, magazines and even articles and advertising flyers. It is spendy, but I have had it on my wish list for quite some time. I was looking through the book for some information on THE LETTER and found that in the Fall 1987 issue, Donna's miniature scene was featured! I looked to see if I could buy a copy, but I could not find one anywhere. I was looking through my Tasha things and what did I find....the copy of THE LETTER that I needed!!!
I only had two copies of it and can you believe, the fall issue was there? I still cannot believe it.

Here's the article and the photo. It was not at the sale when we arrived, so I have no idea what happened to it. I don't know if Donna is still living. It was so amazing that I was in her home and have many of her items now in my collection. It was so neat to find another Oregonian who loved Tasha. We do love her too, even if we don't live in New England.  Yes, another score!

Oh the best part.....the box wasn't priced. When we took it up to the counter, I was sure it was going to be quite a bit, but I was willing to pay the price. The gal who runs the sales looked at it and said,
"How about one dollar?" A dollar! I am still so excited and will keep it all in my Tasha Tudor collection. 

My Visit to Tasha Tudor's Home~Corgi Cottage

The Tasha Tudor Family was very kind to give me a private tour of Tasha's home and garden after I missed the Corgi Cottage Garden Tour, due to the problems I had with my flight.Tasha's grandson Winslow was my gracious guide. The family does not allow you to take pictures on the property, so all the pictures you see here are from several books or pictures that family has posted and used in their newsletter or during other tours. None of these pictures were taken by me. There are lovely Pinterest boards too if you are so inclined.Her lovely home was built by her son Seth in the 1970's without power tools. I thought that the house had been emptied after Tasha's passing and I was a bit in awe when I went into the house and everything was still there! I felt like Tasha had just stepped outside for a bit and I expected her to walk through the door any minute. It was quite magical! Her home is a charming maze of rooms with tiny narrow hauls and funny doors recycled from other buildings.It would take pages and pages to really share all the details of each room with you. The family is working hard to restore the gardens that Tasha once had. This picture above is looking at the front of her home when it was once filled with wonderful gardens and flowers. I really like this photo.

You are looking at the barn in this photo and where my tour began. As in many New England homes, everything is connected so you don't have to go outside in the winter. A home in this part of
Vermont knows all the seasons and winter brings snow. There is a marionette stage at the end of the barn with red curtains, just as you see in her art work! A treat to see that.

The May day that I was there was overcast and misty, more like this photo. I love the stone walls in New England and stone foundations that you often see.

I love the hand stenciling on the walls in the one of the kitchens. It was done by Linda Allen who stayed with Tasha for 11 years. They published several books together. You will find a buttery, a hen pantry, a summer or electric kitchen and a winter kitchen in this house.

I was so happy to see all her sets of pink luster on the shelves by the sink! I have studied this photo for years, but to stand in front of the shelves and just look and look and look was totally amazing!

The fireplace is yet another place that has been photographed often, but it's pretty exciting when you find yourself right there in person!!!

This is Tasha's bedroom. It's a separate room that looks like it was added on, much like rooms would have been added in the past. There is a canopy bed and one of the three windows looks out at the dove cote. The dollhouse is in a glass case that Seth has just built and they are in the process of filling the three shelves with the dollhouse inventory that has been returned from Williamsburg. I didn't want to leave.Can you imagine looking at all the little miniatures and dolls that you have seen in books for years? I so wish I could have taken pictures. The picture below will show you some of those wonderful dollhouse items.

The parlor is off of the kitchen and it's a lovely large room. I had to chuckle at the mark on the ceiling where the Christmas tree stands. This is the magical room that was closed off to her children as they waited for the doors to open to view the decorated tree with real candles burning.
Off of the parlor is the little library, filled with many many books. We were taken up the small stairway upstairs to shelves fill with more books and several more bedrooms. We then went down another stairway and found ourselves in the kitchen!  Seth met us to finish the tour as Winslow needed to return home. Seth took us out the door, around the side of the house by the bay tree and into the greenhouse. I love the greenhouse! We finished walking and exited the property.
Yes, Tasha doodled on her walls and left messages as you can see in the photo below. So funny. You could spend all day just reading all the notes. She wrote on more than one wall too!

Seth walked us to the car and the tour was ended. I will never forget the day and my visit. I didn't go into great detail with this blog post out of respect for the family.They are a bit guarded about the home, and rightly so. It is a real treat to visit Corgi Cottage.