For My Nuthead Friends

You know who you are!

I went to the thrift store yesterday and guess what I found in the Christmas ornaments for a quarter?



Could it be? Away in a walnut Manger? Do you hear what I hear? I am going with it! This doesn't top the nut ornaments I found in OR with Linda! I will post more as the Holidays approach! I have found a new love for Christmas ornaments made out of nuts! I know, but face it.....it's why you love me!

Peace and Thanksgiving

I've been pondering about this subject for the past week or two. It all began with my hay prices. Due to out-of-state demand for good, Montana hay, my hay prices doubled from last year. I was paying $75/ton (a great bargain, I might add) and this year it jumped to $150. I typically go through 10-14 tons, depending on the amount of mouths I feed. You can do the math. I almost sat and cried and my first response was, "I'm going to have to sell my sheep!" I fretted and worried and didn't like the angst inside me. After a week of stewing about it, I let it go. I prayed. I asked some friends to keep me in their thoughts and prayers and if I was meant to keep doing this, everything would work out. The relief was immediate. I've experienced that before. Sometimes it just takes me a while to remember I am not in total control and when I surrender it all, peace comes and comes quickly. Why can't I keep that notion in my pea brain?
Since then I have had an amazing turn of events. I've gotten phone calls about lamb, sold one yarn CSA and have another order for one for a Christmas gift. I've posted my lamb for sale on the net and had several orders. I had an increase in wool sales in my etsy shop. I taught a needle felting class with my wool and had a "full house". What can I say? I feel very blessed and it only affirms that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. I am grateful. I love this farm life. I am thankful. It is the season of Thanksgiving. I am at Peace.
Thank you.

Autumn Exchange

One of the things we do on my "Tasha Tudor List" is a fall exchange. We try to keep it simple and have a theme of some sort. This fall we were talking a lot about bunnies and mice. I am not sure how that conversation got started, but that's where we ended up.
Kaye had my name and here are the lovely treasures she sent me.



The little bunnies look like snow bunnies, which is perfect for a Montana Fall.
The potholder has 2 little pockets and inside each is a tea bag. Fun! And she made the knitted hat. What a fun exchange this was.

I had Terrie's name. Both of these ladies are new to the group, so it was fun to exchange with someone totally new. While I was at Linda's in Oregon, we had a craft day and spent one day making mice out of my wool for our exchange. Hers flew off to France!

Felted Corgi Tutorial

I am happy to share a tutorial I worked long and hard on that was featured on the Living Crafts Magazine blog.
This project was something we did in Vermont when I was there to visit Tasha Tudor's garden. You can read more about that in my Tasha Tudor Day post.
Anyway, I wanted a place to preserve this tutorial in time, so I am posting it here.
I will also add that I have kits available in my etsy shop.
Enjoy the tutorial.
Make a needle felted Corgi!

More of Tasha Tudor

I wrote before about rarely finding anything Tasha-ish around here and baited you a bit with the books I found. Well, I went to an estate sale and had the time of my life. I found some wonderful treasures there. Some for resale, some to keep! I spent so much time and money there, I had to write a check. Luckily I know the daughter and she let me! I was so giddy, I almost couldn't write it.
So in this box of books I spotted this little treasure.



Copyright is 1958. It was written for children and inside is just the purest form of Biblical scripture. It is a delight to read and view the images Tasha so carefully thought of and drew to match the Bible verses. It's very reassuring.

So if that were not enough, I drive back by this house the following week and their signs are up again. (No, I wasn't stalking or dumpster diving.....this house is on the main street into town from home!) They had very little left and were actually showing the house to a few people at the sale. I just wandered around and found a few more treasures. Apparently I had not dug deep enough in the book box the previous week because there staring right up at me was this one!



I have to admit that I already have a version of this book, but it's newer and the dust jacket is not the same. Needless-to-say, I love this dust jacket with the little sheep! The book itself is a real treasure. It's got the old-fashioned fabric cover in red. A Tasha drawing is on it as well.

So two fun finds in one week and at very reasonable prices. Just a dollar each.
What fun!

Tasha Tudor, Continued or Gone to the Dogs!

Living in Montana, one does not come across another person all that often who knows who Tasha Tudor is. It's always a delight when I mention her name and someone else knows who I am talking about. The same goes for her books and such. Few and far between in this state.
This past Saturday at a garage sale I was greeted by 2 Corgis. Of course I thought of Tasha as well as my friend Cat. Take a peek at the newest litter of Corgi pups on her blog! She has been through a lot and lost some of her precious dogs last year, so this is a very special blessing for her. Corgis are happy, intelligent and just fun to look at with those short little legs.
Having just lost Kirby, our Airedale, I know what Cat has gone through with the sudden and unexpected loss of a pet. Kirby was the light of this house. It seems so odd to say that, but it makes me realize what a bunch of dead-beat sad sacks we are. He was always happy, always there to greet you. Always. There is a big hole now and I've been very blue about it. I realize I need to pull myself out of this slump, but it's not easy. We still have Scooter and he's always in my lap if I am sitting down. And Ruger. He's trying very hard to fill the hole, but I am sure they miss Kirby too.
I have been researching herding dogs for several years now and my research has led me to English Shepherds. These are the old-fashioned "Shep" kind of dogs you see in pictures with shepherds and their flocks. They are a working dog, but loyal to their masters and smart as well. I've put a deposit on a pup and he will join our family in early Oct. He comes from a ranch in Idaho, Orchard Hill Ranch. His current name is Hickory.
Somehow this post went from Tasha Tudor to dogs, which seems natural to me. She always had a dog, and sometimes many, from what I've read. I was going to post about a couple of books I found lately, but that will just have to wait for another day.

Tasha Tudor and What She Means To Me

August 28 is the birth date of a children's book illustrator by the name of Tasha Tudor. Although she has been gone for over 3 years, there are many fans of hers who choose to remember her in some small way on her birthday.

I lay no claim to the day, as no one should. It is her day. The day of her birth. A day for us to remember her for what she has brought into our lives.

I first knew of her books when I saw them on the shelf of a home I was cleaning back in the 90's. The first one I saw had been on the coffee table. It was "Corgiville Fair". The homeowners had a Corgi, so that was fitting. It was nice, but I didn't go ga ga over it. Then as time passed I noticed other books about Tasha, not necessarily by Tasha. The one that stands out in my mind is the book about her heirloom crafts. As I thumbed through the pages, I was transported to a wonderful place. Soon after that I began searching out my own books and discovering more of them about her charmed life. Then someone told me about these groups on the internet where people with the same likes hook up and discuss things. Nothing short of an online fan club, but I had to check it out. To make a long story short, I met some very wonderful people in that group and we met to tour Tasha's garden several years later. It was the trip of a lifetime for me. Because of Tasha's failing health, we were not able to meet her or even enjoy a short photo-op appearance, but here we are all together in front of the Rookery. We were told that we were the first American private tour.



We had several things planned back at the motel, with one of them being a needle felted Corgi class that I taught. I brought all of the necessary supplies and we all made little Corgis.



Another project we did was making wool owls and bunnies like Tasha made. They are basically pom-pom animals and Suzanne led us through the process using wool yarn I brought from Montana to share. I thought it would be special to have them made from my wool. What a mess we made, but it sure was fun. I really need to mention the chicken feathers too. I had a Barred Rock die in the barn yard just before I was to leave. I spied her feathers and knew her death was not in vain! I plucked some and took them along on my trip. I know Tasha would have gotten a chuckle from that.







Linda worked her magic in the tea party department. A lovely spread was laid out for all of us and we enjoyed a time of tea and goodies as well as show and tell. Many of the ladies brought items to share from their collections.



We oohed and aahed over all of the treasures, but our biggest aah was when our beloved Kristen, aka Dr. Dolly, came walking in on her crutches, straight from the hospital. She had fallen at the airport while picking Linda and I up. She had ridden along with Suzanne and we only briefly were able to say hello and send her off in an ambulance. Poor dear. She really got shorted and had put so much into that event.
Her dolls and things arrived at the motel and we were able to enjoy her work, but missed her. It was good to see her, although briefly, in pain and pretty medicated!




So what is all of this about? This is about the life-long friendships I have made with true Kindred Spirits. Other women, and as it turns out, 2 men in the internet group, who love a lot of the same things I love. We share ideals, morals, a love of God, family and home. We all came together for different reasons. Some love her art, some love her lifestyle, some love both. No matter the reason, we are Kindred Spirits and without my facination of her life, I would have never met my dear, dear friends.
More than anything, getting to know more about Tasha Tudor taught me that you never have to grow up. It's ok to play with dolls, have tea parties and laugh. She gave me back my childhood as an adult.