I believe

       I’d like to thank each of you who drops by this little blog space, some of you have been visiting with me here for more than seven years!.. and we’ve become good friends.  While this blog’s traffic isn’t as big as it used to be, I still find the writing and sharing a rewarding experience.  I also love to read about your families and traditions, your pets, your recipes, your tips and tricks and your way of life in another part of the world we live in.  
     Who knows.. someday when I’m gone, my children and grandchildren and maybe even greats might  look over this blog to find some of my recipes or my thoughts on a subject or to reminisce about the homes we’ve lived in, the animals we’ve loved, stories of their own adventures too. 
       I love this time of year.  Even though the chores on a small farm are greater due to the weather issues, life does slow down a little in a good way, especially at night.  At This Old House we tend to hunker down in the man cave or the family room with  a seasoned wood fire crackling in the fireplace.   We settle in for meals together at the table and  are sometimes joined by the kids and their significant others.  There’s just more of that togetherness and less -out and about-.  
 
     Now that the kids have places of their own, more often than not it’s just the guy and I, and the dogs.  I miss the noise of a family all living under one roof, but the quiet has it’s blessings too, and so I focus on those and look forward to the ruckus when the kids do visit.  We are so very lucky that both of our children live near home. 
    Speaking of ruckus, our newest canine member of the family, Miss Sally – has been with us now for about six months.  We absolutely adore her and she absolutely adores her bones.  Sally is a crazy mix, a real Heinz 57.  The best guess is Corgi, Basset, Dachshund, Tennesee Treeing Hound.  All that rolled into one makes for a pretty odd looking dog –  notice the shape of her little front legs – very stocky legs, but also very deformed.  The vet assures us she’s not in pain and she gets around just fine – runs right along side the big dogs without a care in the world.   I hope that will always be true.  
      Our Family room – Christmas is coming, how I love this holiday – baking and cooking and wrapping and giving, some of my favorite things to do for others.  I love traditions that bring families together, things that remind us it’s not all about “those crazy men in Washington “-  Do you know that is an actual Santa line from the original Miracle on 34th Street movie?  Some things never change! 
     My wish for all – Whatever your struggles, I hope you find resolutions,  peace in your heart and mind. May we all experience better health and prosperity in all it’s forms,  may there be more good will and less anger among us all. 
    

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.

Gladys as a young woman with one of her favorite cockers – 
Gladys in her element at Stillmeadow…  

with daughter Connie and favorite cocker,  named Especially Me.
Notice there’s a dog in every picture – 
part of the reason I love her so. 

The next three pictures are of the interior…
Photo Credit to Susan Branch, who’s link I placed
above will take you to a lovely description of her tour 
of the homestead.  
For all the fabulous cooking Gladys put forth over the years,
 her kitchen was tiny! As Susan B. said on her blog…
it’s a one-butt kitchen

Books and more books in every room

The main hearth, which you can see  hasn’t changed much.
Gladys did some fine cooking on cold winter days over that fire… 

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

Gladys had written that no one used the front door except the dogs and now that I’ve visited I understand why.  The front door is in the backyard.  The back of the house faces the road. 

Just a few of Gladys Taber’s many books… 

 Cookbook photos found on apronfreecooking.com
 I’ve had great success finding old books on Amazon –  Below is my current GT collection
And this is what I love about books, why I won’t buy a kindle – they are something you hold in your hands, share with others, they are an heirloom, a piece of history in and of themselves. They are concrete, not a file on a gadget.  I love the smell of books, the feel of books, the idea that they have been or will be enjoyed by many others before or after me.   Gladys’ “Another Path” ,  her very personal account of dealing with grief –  arrived in the mail the other day. I ordered it from a used book dealer on Amazon.  Inside was this note… 
  The book was published in 1963.  I googled Margaret Aylworth and only two things came up in the search that were relevant to that name.  

   This Margaret and her spouse lived in California.  The husband died in 1962.  His wife passed later in 1977.  Could this be the Margaret that bought the book I now have… as a birthday present to herself, possibly to help her grieve the loss of her husband?   
So… 

    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.

There were lights on in the house and cars in the side yard…
While it’s not clear if her family lives there full time, 
I didn’t linger too long taking pictures
as it felt a bit stalker-ish with someone “home”. 
They’re probably used to the attention, as I’ve
read of many fan pilgrimages to the farm
but I’m sure it gets old.. folks staring in at the homestead,
camera pointed – 
There is a small pond fed by a lively brook to the left of the house..
and a  summerhouse  as well. 
Many a dog swim and children wading
and spring frogs were mentioned in the books. 

Directly across the way is an equally charming old homestead 
with a beautiful big barn…
Neighboring famer George Phillips was frequently
mentioned in the books.  
The Land Trust now owns the barn but I’m not sure
about the charming house right next to it. 
For many years it was empty while Gladys lived across the way,
due to some sort of legal issue. 
I don’t know it’s current arrangement, although it looks
lived in and cared for.  
                   Stillmeadow on the right in this picture…

While googling around for images, I found these  pictures of the two properties in the snow –
This is why I love New England – our four seasons are spectacular and so worth the occasional nuisance.

 Perhaps a Gladys Christmas Card? 
  So.. if you’re weary of the recent nightly assault of discouraging news and long for a simpler time, find yourself a  Gladys Taber book and get lost in a bygone era.  She was one remarkable woman, and lived through a difficult time – the World Wars in the mix, after all.  Her words of wisdom can still be applied today.   Both women knew struggles and loss, and found respite in the countryside where they entertained friends and family and shared their goodwill and good sense and homesteading talents with the world through Gladys’s writing. 
Till soon, friends –