~TAKE JOY~ TASHA TUDOR~PART #1

Take a turn off the beaten path, follow down a dusty dirt road...
Seth Tudor, son of Tasha, and Winslow Tudor, son of Seth, await our arrival...

We are a group of twenty or so and are quickly gathered together at the "Rookery" a home base to the Tasha Tudor and Family business...we are divided into three groups and assigned a leader- ours is Seth; Seth's wife Marjorie, and their son Winslow lead the other two groups.

Friendly banter soon filled the air as we plodded along field and trail leading to Tasha Tudor's beloved Corgi Cottage. Seth opened an old wooden gate, and the world of Tasha Tudor was at our fingetips...Corgi Cottage is a timber frame New England style cape home. It is adorned in weathered clapboards and moss covered cedar shakes, built by Seth for his mother forty years ago. Upon entering the home you soon have the feeling that Tasha is home, perhaps out working in her garden...her china teapot and cups are waiting, everything appears to be left just the way she would have had it, or as the books about her portray...The rooms are small, cool and dark, indeed the feeling of a chipmunk's nest. We are respectful of her home and belongings, however, it is not a museum and we were allowed to "touch". Once in her kitchen, I stand at Tasha's sink, I gaze out the window as my hand touched the old hand pump, her tin kitchen still placed in front of the fireplace...her art work space, along with pencils, paint and brushes set by the north window, also a small bed for napping...down a narrow hallway we discover the room that holds her loom, treaded and left just as it was when Tasha passed away. A steep narrow stairway leads us to the second floor where two small bedrooms and an adjoining alcove are found. The bedrooms lovingly decorated with the style we reconize as "Tasha Tudor" We return downstairs and soon discover that Tasha had a real bathroom (flushing toilet) her dressing table set with all her lovely antique brushes, combs and hand mirror. Wild flowers placed in vases are scattered throughout the house. There are shelves from floor to ceiling filled with books and smalls. Tasha Tudor was a collector of many items, among them being books, beds, old photographs, antiques and dishes. Every nook and cranny of Corgi Cottage is filled with items that delight the eye...

Next we are taken into Tasha's bedroom, a small room, bright with the afternoon sunlight. This room too is filled with antique furnishings, her bed is adorned with a white quilt, there are bed curtains and window treatments that coordinate. This is the room that Tasha Tudor passed away in. Seth speaks so lovingly of his mother, to the world she was known as Tasha Tudor but, to her family.... Granny...