Gladys Taber and Stillmeadow Farm

 
    I love a good book and have read many over the years.  During spring and summer months here on the farm when the days are longer, I’m outside more than I’m in.  By the time we get into bed I fall asleep before I’ve turned eight pages of whatever’s on my nightstand.   When fall arrives and the days are shorter I start the hunt for good reading material.   We are not night owls up in this house. We rise around 5 a.m. just because we always have, and of course there are the dogs and horses and chickens to tend to.    Come autumn and winter when  the light bleeds out of the sky by 5 -ish and the temps are chilly at best, we hibernate in the man cave by the fire with some sport or another on the flatscreen  for him and a book for me.  The dogs are happy with this arrangement for they nestle among us in front of the fire and one or two on the bed when we hit the hay.

     I’m so disgusted by  our current political atmosphere that I have been seeking respite from all that blustery ego and dagger waggering crap… and I have found it in the wonderful books of Stillmeadow by a renown (but unknown to me till now)  author… Gladys Taber.   I discovered Gladys through another favorite author of mine – also a respite read if you are looking for upbeat home and heart warming stories, art, recipes and musings on life.  You can find Susan Branch’s wonderful blog and post about Gladys HERE.   If you click on the link, scroll down her post a little to find info and a tour of  Stillmeadow.

    A little info about Gladys – Born in 1899, died at the age of 81 at her Cape Cod home, she was the author of 59 books including the Stillmeadow series currently on my nightstand.  She was a columnist for Ladies Home Journal and Family Circle, had a bachelors degree from Wellesly, an M.A. from Lawrence College and taught creative writing at Columbia for years.  Gladys married Frank Taber and had one daughter, Constance. The young family lived in a small, dark apartment in NYC, but she and her childhood friend and NYC neighbor, Eleanor (Jill in the books) yearned for a simpler, cleaner life in the country to raise their children and beloved dogs, away from the smog and noise of the big city.

     After two years of searching NJ and CT for an affordable farm, the two families purchased the vintage 1690 Southbury, CT farmhouse for $30K  and soon found there was much work to be done as the home was dilapidated beyond what they had assumed upon purchase.  The women initially commuted on weekends, but within two years they decided to move permanently to the farmhouse.  For many years after, Gladys wrote of life at Stillmeadow.  It’s unclear what the role of the husbands were at the farm, they are not mentioned frequently in the books.  What I found out by doing some research is that Gladys eventually divorced and Eleanor’s (Jill’s) husband died of cancer at some point.  Gladys and Eleanor delighted in gardening, cooking, tending the old farmhouse, raising their children in the country and their beloved dogs  as well.  With her talent for writing, Gladys brings her readers along with her on their journey, these homesteading stories and recipes now treasured for generations.
 
     Sadly, Jill passed on in her 60’s of cancer and Gladys found herself engulfed in grief.  In one of her later books she shares with her readers the grieving experience and what she found helpful to cope with such a terrible loss.  The title of that book is Another Path – I just purchased it on Amazon (all books are now out of print but if you’re lucky, you can find them online or in a bookstore that carries out of print books).   The following are photos I’ve found online – hopefully it’s OK to share them here with you.  Then I’ll show you a few of my own.

 Below Susan Branch in 2014 at the front of the house, which can’t be seen from the road.

    Yesterday, the Mr. and I took a ride to Stillmeadow Farm. I was thrilled to learn it was just over an hour’s ride from This Old House.  While the home is not open to the public, it’s still owned by Gladys’ granddaughter.  Amazingly,  it’s reported she has kept it just as if Gladys had stepped out to run some errands. The Land Trust of Southbury has been working with the Taber family to help them keep the homestead.  The farm once consisted of over 40 acres, but the Southbury Land Trust has bought some of it to include in their parcel right across and surrounding Stillmeadow Farm.  One can’t help but think Gladys is smiling down on the arrangement.

  The old road Gladys lived on is still unpaved and surrounded by fields and forest, all part of Land Conservation trust now.  There are newer homes up the road that I’m guessing weren’t there years ago.    As we drove  down this little hill her beloved Stillmeadow came in to view.  It’s sits just off the road and honestly, it’s as if no time has passed since she last walked the grounds –  I half expected her Irish, Holly and cockers Tiki, Linda and Teddy to run out to the picket fenceline to make Gladys and “Jill”  aware of the strangers in the road.

   I remember a passage where she describes a conversation with her companion, Jill, talking of how it must have been before there was plumbing in this 1690 home as they stared at the ancient wellhouse… the occupants would pull their water up from this well, even in the chill of winter, and warm the buckets of water over the fire, one at a time..returning outdoors for each additional bucketful for bathing or cooking or cleaning chores.

   That well house needed paint and was on Jill’s “to-do” list still sitting on the kitchen table when she passed away suddenly after a brief illness.  Of the two, she was the fixer upper and had accomplished so much in her time at Stillmeadow.