MEET TASHA TUDOR

We all have people we admire for one reason or another. Meet one of mine, Tasha Tudor.

Of all Tasha's great accomplishments and the beauty of her life,

I admire her perfect simplicity the most.

I've always aspired to be more like her in that respect,

but always fall way short of that and her feminine elegance.

Herewith is part of her story.

TASHA TUDOR DAY is celebrated each year on her birthday, August 28th at Corgi Cottage in Vermont. Tasha was born in 1915 and lived a long and rewarding life of nearly 93 years

bringing joy to people all around the world.

She was a beloved author and watercolor illustrator of children’s books, a painter,

a passionate flower gardener and all things nature,

an ardent homesteader, a wife, a mother and a lover of all things Corgi.

Tasha lived all her life in New England in just four states

beginning in Massachusetts and then Connecticut and New Hampshire.

Her last 37 years were spent at her beloved home in Vermont

where her son, Seth, cleared wooded land next to his own to build her homestead.

Using only hand tools, he built her a Cape Cod style home, outbuildings and a barn for her animals.

She effectionaly named her homestead, Corgi Cottage, which it is still called today.

Visitors come from all around the world to to visit her home, gardens and museum.

It was here in Vermont that Tasha, now in her sixties, was able to finally master

such homesteading skills as flower and vegetable gardening, sewing,

knitting, birding, and raising farm animals, especially dairy goats.

At the same time, she also continued her work

as an author and illustrator of books, cards and prints.

Her many famous books included: The Private World of Tasha Tudor,

The Tasha Tudor Cookbook: Recipes and Reminiscences from Corgi Cottage,

and Tasha Tudor’s Garden.

Tasha spent many years here enjoying her family and especially her grandchildren’s growing up years.

In her final 20 years, she enjoyed teas, family and friends gatherings and meeting and spending time with her fans in person. She was admired around the world for her work as an author, painter,

gardner, her determined devotion to rural living and of course, her Corgies whom she was never without.

When asked how many Corgies she ever had at once, she remarked about a dozen or so.

The last Corgie she had was named Megan or Meggie.

Meggie was only two when Tasha passed in 2008

and she went to live with Tasha’s son Seth and his wife on the same homestead as Corgi Cottage.

Meggie

~ Gwen of IRISH ACRES

TASHA TUDOR QUOTES:

“You should see my corgis at sunset in the snow. It's their finest hour. About five o'clock they glow like copper. Then they come in and lie in front of the fire like a string of sausages.” ― Tasha Tudor, The Private World of Tasha Tudor

“There is no peace that cannot be found in the present moment.” ― Tasha Tudor

“I enjoy solitude. It's probably selfish, but why bother about it. Life is much too important, as Oscar Wilde said, to be taken seriously. I feel so sorry for those mothers who are devastated by loneliness when their children fly the coop and don't want to live at home anymore. They feel lost, but look what exciting things can be done. Life isn't long enough to do all you could accomplish. And what a privilege to be alive. In spite of all the pollutions and horrors, how beautiful this world is. Supposing you only saw the stars once every year. Think what you would think. The wonder of it!” ― Tasha Tudor, The Private World of Tasha Tudor

“Why do women want to dress like men when they’re fortunate enough to be women? Why lose our femininity, which is one of our greatest charms? We get much more accomplished by being charming than we would by flaunting around in pants and smoking. I’m very fond of men. I think they’re wonderful creatures. I love them dearly. But I don’t want to look like one. When women gave up their long skirts, they made a grave error. Things half seen are so much more mysterious and delightful. Remember the term “a neatly turned ankle”? Think of the thrill that gentleman used to get if they caught even a glimpse of one. Now women go around in their union suits. And what a multitude of sins you could cover up with a long skirt if you had piano legs.” ― Tasha Tudor

“She (Emily Dickinson) loved simplicity, and perhaps withdrrew into seclusion because it was the simplest way of doing what she wanted to do; express her ideas and thoughts in poetry which no one whom she knew would understand. This was as natural to her as breathing, but the pretense of the people around her seemed unnatural.” ― Tasha Tudor, The New England Butt'ry Shelf Cookbook: Receipts for Very Special Occasions

“I enjoy doing housework, ironing, washing, cooking, dishwashing. Whenever I get one of those questionaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down housewife. It's an admirable profession, why apologize for it. You aren't stupid because you're a housewife. When you're stirring the jam you can read Shakespeare.” ― Tasha Tudor

“There is no other dog that can compare to a Corgi. They’re the epitome of beauty. They’re such characters. A mixture of a dog and a cat, I think.”

“I have a one-track mind when it comes to Corgis. I think it is because they are Welsh, and my ancestors came from Wales. Don’t you think people look like their dogs? Just like a man and wife who come to look like one another in a very happy marriage.”

-- Tasha Tudor