Thursday, November 20, 2014

Tasha's bird feeder and corgyn

Tasha feeding the birds in her hand-woven dress
Feed the Birds

While most folks know that Tasha loved her many canaries, diamond doves, parrots, and zebra finches, she also cared about the song birds who visited her farm. Each spring, she and I would compare the arrival of the first wren and the hermit thrush. I loved how the white-sparrow resided on her farm and its plaintive call sounded during Tasha’s summer solstice party. Of course, some of the song birds showed up in her illustrations, swinging on a garland or sitting in a bush. One wintry morning, Tasha and I watched a gathering of blue jays as they swooped down to her bird feeder and then back to a leafless branch. She had just come back inside from filling the feeder, with a little help from Owen and Megan, two of her corgis. She was amazed by the quantity of jays and kept counting them, trying to ascertain exactly how many were fluttering in the trees. That moment must have lingered in Tasha’s thoughts, because when she sent me a packet filled with copies of the illustrations for The Real Pretend, there were the blue jays, fluffed up and sitting midst pine branches that wreathed the scene in the kitchen when the children explain their dilemma. Tasha had also painted me as the mother, another one of her charming ways to include friends in her books. So now when I sprinkle bird seed on the snow and fill my feeders, I often think of Tasha and her great love for her feathered friends.

9 comments:

  1. Oooo hooray!! Another post :-D
    Dearest Joan this is perfect timing for this sweet remembrance you have shared with all the snow that has come! Today I started getting winter seed ready to set out for the birds tomorrow!
    You have such a wonderful way of bringing your memories to life in your writing :-)
    I am going to pull out my Real Pretend book and look for you! (I already know to look for Sarah) ;-)
    I wanted to mention that I have and enjoy a few other of your books, and am presently reading Wedded To The Land and am enjoying so very much!
    Thank you so for sharing!
    Many many Blessings and much Warmth, Linnie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Once again, I love the photographs. Your remembrances have been wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such a great Tasha memory, thanks for sharing........blessings

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Joan--it was a nice visit with my tea after that lovely trip I mentioned on FB...LOL! It did the trick;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. These are truly lovely memories of dear Tasha. Thank you so much for sharing them all!

    Love,
    Marqueta

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a wonderful memory, I love these photos of tasha's wintery garden. I think feeding the little birds, especially in winter, is so important. I tend to paint more birds in winter scenes than any other, myself! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you, friends, for the kind compliments about the memory and my writing. And because you asked...I will work on a piece about how Tasha and I met. :) If you have any other suggestions, please tell me! Have a blessed Thanksgiving. Yours from Pleasant Hill Farm, Joan

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you so very much for sharing your time with Tasha. I adore her and only wish I would have had the chance to meet her. I look forward to many more posts, I hope.

    Best always,
    Kama

    ReplyDelete