❤️ of the Home - September

Beatrix Potter Tea Party Get-Together

The Take Joy Society members got together today to celebrate Spring with a Beatrix Potter Tea Party!

When everyone arrived they browsed my collection of books by and about Beatrix Potter. . . .

After which lunch was served. . . .

The Menu was mostly from Susan Wittig Albert's "Cottage Tales" website*:

Pea Soup

Cucumber Sandwiches*

Tomato Dill Sandwiches*

Ham Salad Pinwheels

Nutty Cheeseball w/apple slices*

Lemon Lavender Mint Iced Tea

The recipes marked with an asterisk can be found HERE.

The Pea Soup recipes comes from "An English Cottage Year" by Sally Holmes & Tracey Williamson. . . .

At each place setting I put a violet plant in a teacup that was to go home with each member. . . .

We watched a short video about Beatrix Potter that can be found in the extras on the DVD "Miss Potter".  Here is another short biography on Beatrix. . . .

               

Then we made English cottages using cardboard, glue, moss, and plaster, sticks, and pebbles. . . .

We took a break for tea and carrot cupcakes*. . . .

Then resumed working on our cottages.  Here are the ones that were finished before everyone had to leave. . . .

I chose Beatrix Potter as our theme because she was an example of someone who took what gifts she had and shared them with others and in doing so found great joy in the process.  She'd always loved to draw and think up stories and shared them in picture letters to children she knew.  Eventually she thought other children might enjoy them, too, so she endeavored to have them made into a book.   When she couldn't find a publisher she self-published and the rest is history.  This year is the 150th anniversary of her birth (July 28).   She wrote and illustrated 28 books for children, but then went on to become a sheep farmer, raising prize Herdford Sheep.  She is also known for her philanthropy for having donated 4,000 acres of land in the Lake District to the National Trust which millions of people enjoy each year for it's bucolic scenery.

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Take Joy!

February Celebrations

Mary Mason Campbell writes in "The New England Butt'ry Shelf Almanac" (illustrated by Tasha Tudor), "The long darkness of night is shrinking, and day is stretching after its winter rest. . . "  We had 27 inches of snow last week so it looks very much like winter in our part of the world.  I love looking out my window at all the white as opposed to the alternative--brown.  But I must say I'm loving that when we sit down to dinner in front of the bay window at 5:30 each evening I can once again see outside.  Living further south and west of New England gives me more daylight sooner and I love that.

Mrs. Campbell also gives us some history on the first uses for tea in this country.  She writes that it was first introduced to New Englanders in 1670 and that "no one seemed to know just how to prepare or serve it.  There was no such thing in this country as a teapot. . .it was boiled, then the liquor was thrown away and the tea leaves eaten, sometimes with salt and butter, sometimes with sugar and milk."  She tells of an old Nantucket book that describes the first tea party there. . ."the hostess put a five-gallon bell-metal kettle of water on the crane, poured in four quarts of tea leaves and the whole was boiled for an hour, then the dark bitter liquor was drunk from silver porringers.  Since this did not produce a very palatable beverage, the hostess entertained a practical suggestion that it had not been properly prepared and the liquor had best be used to dye woolen yarns."  Mrs. Campbell includes this recipe, among several, to serve at today's tea parties. . . .

Tasha Tudor found ways to celebrate February indoors.  Making valentines, especially for the dolls, was a wonderful way to spend the still-dark evenings.  Last year the Maryland Chapter of the Tasha Tudor Museum gathered to make their own valentines along with a Sparrow Post mailbox.  You can read about it here.  I've been reading a lot about Beatrix Potter since the first of the year in preparation for a monthly post on Morning Musings about her since this is the 150th anniversary of her birth.  I know that Tasha was one of her devotees so I would not be surprised if Tasha had gotten the idea for her miniature letters and post box from Beatrix who had done the same years before. . . .

"A Time to Keep" by Tasha Tudor

Tasha also liked to celebrate George Washington's birthday.  Her great-great-grandfather Colonel William Tudor had been a friend and aide to George Washington and had helped form the Society of the Cincinnati.  He studied law under John Adams and served as the first judge advocate general of the United States.  I'm not at all surprised that she would encourage her children to put on historic costumes and re-enact our nation's history. . . .

"A Time to Keep" by Tasha Tudor

But I think she probably loved Valentine's Day the most because she was a romantic at heart. . . .

"Around the Year" by Tasha Tudor

"Around the Year" by Tasha Tudor

Note:  Clicking on photos will enlarge them

        Drag recipe to desktop to print

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Take Joy!

"Picture Book Perfect" Get-Together

♫River Flows in You♫

Take a cozy fire inside a cozy cabin. . . .

On a dreary-looking day outside. . . . .

Add cups of tea and the Best-Ever Scones. . . . .

With several friends. . . .

Lots of children's picture books. . . .

And Edie Hemingway leading a workshop on just what a picture book is and ideas on how to construct one. . . .

And you come away inspired!

Edie is one of the members of the Take Joy Society.  She shared her expertise on the craft of writing a children's book. In addition to being a published author she currently teaches a Masters of Fine Arts Writing class for Spalding University where she received her MFA degree.  Visit her WEBSITE to learn more about Edie and her books.

We followed along with her handout to learn about today's picture book requirements--the different types of books; number of pages for different age groups; what makes a good, publishable story; tips on how to make it fun and interesting.  She passed around books as examples. . . .

We discussed how hard it is to get a picture book published today.  Edie has the experience of being a published author yet she still has difficulty getting an editor interested in her two picture books.  The reasons stories are often rejected may have nothing to do with how good they are, but rather there are too many other submissions with that theme or that particular editor deems it not a money-maker. . . .

It was pointed out that Tasha Tudor's and Beatrix Potter's first stories were both rejected by a publisher initially and, in fact, Peter Rabbit's first appearance was privately published by Beatrix Potter with her original pen and ink drawings. . . .

Edie gave us more handouts with tips on writing a children's story by Carolyn Crimi and how to make a "book dummy" (in order to see how the text and illustrations will fit together) by Christy Hale.  Check out Crimi's website for information about the business of getting published.  Just about everything you need to know about writing and publishing a children's book can be found on the Web or at your library. . . .

While I was up taking the above photos I glanced out the window and saw a deer watching me.  By the time I aimed my camera it had turned to move away.  Did you spot its white tail in the earlier photo above? (see upper, third pane from the left in this photo). . . .

Edie is currently working on a new middle-grade novel that revolves around a steamship that used to travel the Chesapeake Bay.  This story was inspired by her 1930 log cabin's various doors that came from the steamship. . . .

She showed us the picture of the steamship hanging on her wall. . . .

And the keys to one of the doors. . . .

When Edie told us about the flying squirrels that kept finding a way into her kitchen over a period of weeks in the early years of living in her log cabin someone remarked that would make a great children's story!  Ideas for stories abound if you just pay attention, and even if you never get it published, you'll have the satisfaction of having written it.  Just let your imagination run with the idea....Who knows.....if you dare to self-publish (which is increasingly easy today because of the Web), you just might be the next Beatrix Potter.....


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Take Joy!