Tasha Tudor Day Giveaway Closes at Midnight!

{sneak peek of our Tasha Tudor Day Festivities}

Our Tasha Tudor Giveaway (see post below) ends at Midnight tonight, Monday, August 30th. We'll announce the winners and share our Tasha Tudor Day festivities shortly! Thanks for all of the wonderful comments so far, keep 'em coming!

Tasha Tudor Day Giveaway!

{one of the beautiful birthday cakes Winslow Tudor bakes with pretty Japanese candles}

August 28th is a day that holds much weight as it approaches. Of course, we are joyous, because it is a day to celebrate Tasha's birthday, but it means we feel the 'missing' even more. But she left us with so much to celebrate, and so many blessings.

image from Storybook Woods

Many bloggers have joined in celebrating August 28th as "Tasha Tudor Day" thanks to Storybook Woods and other bloggers  (check our new "Blogs We Like" links on the right!) who spread the word and the love for Tasha. It's a day to do something "Tasha-esque" in her honor, to take a moment or two to sip some tea, flip through a favorite Tasha book, or perhaps garden or bake something special. Isn't it lovely to have traditions, to have things that make us stop for a minute amidst the busy-ness and remember? Not only to remember dear loved ones, but to remember that every day we have with dear loved ones is precious. That every day we have the ability to bake something or dig in our gardens or enjoy the way the light reflects off the pond is a day to be grateful.

We'll probably spend some time doing all of the above...reminiscing, taking afternoon tea, perhaps making some ice cream and a cake to celebrate. Speaking of ice cream, did you read Winslow's most recent Tea Story? He talks about the Tudor traditions surrounding ice cream, which are also liberally sprinkled through Tasha's illustrations. Perhaps that could be your Tasha Tudor Day exercise...find all of the drawings of ice cream (and corgis and children licking the dasher!) in your collection.

Tasha used a traditional old-fashioned hand-crank ice cream machine, much like the one below. In honor of Tasha's birthday and the blog world's Tasha Tudor Day, we're hosting a give-away! We will be choosing a whole bunch of winners, so be sure to enter!

Grand Prize winner will win an old-fashioned hand-crank ice cream maker AND a copy of Tasha Tudor's Cookbook (which, of course, has her ice cream and cake recipes!). A second-prize winner will win a copy of the cookbook! And last but not least 5 lucky participants will win the "Making Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt" booklet!

To enter: Follow us on our blog and/or leave a comment on our blog (go ahead and do both for two entries!), being sure to leave your email address or a way for us to contact you. Please note that the giveaway is only open to US residents due to shipping costs. Entry will close at midnight on Monday, August 30th. Spread the word! Link to us on your Tasha Tudor Day post!

Porcupine Destruction

 (photo courtesy of National Geographic)

I had this rather glamorous view of porcupines in my head until I actually saw one in person. I didn't realize they had tails (silly me)! They're rather...cumbersome looking, a bit awkward, slow, and apparently, quite destructive. We all arrived in the garden one seemingly innocuous morning, and were walking around inspecting and chatting as we tend to do first thing....and came upon this sad sight:

At first we (Winslow, Jenna, and myself) thought it was the bear that roams the property. But then we saw this:

Which is obviously not a bear mark. The clean cut made Winslow immediately claim porcupine. Upon the mention of which, we immediately found the proof!

quill in Jenna's hand

There is actually a porcupine den in our woods. I'm trying to decide if I want to brave a hike there....hmmm...thoughts? Have you had any experiences with porcupines in your woods/yards/gardens?

Tasha had many incidents with porcupines, who loved to steal her raspberries. It was always a fight to get enough to make raspberry jam! Of course, homemade raspberry jam is the best in her thumbprint cookies (from her friend Linda de Christopher), available in the Tasha Tudor Cookbook! I love reading the story behind all of the recipes in the books, and this one has a good story, too. Pick up your copy and take a look. These are so lovely on the porch with a glass of lemonade! Or...of course, Stillwater Punch, which also requires Raspberries for the syrup (recipe also in cookbook).

On yet another hot Vermont day (is it fall yet?),
Natalie