Tasha Tudor and her pet grey parrot play a trick on dinner guests
Around 5 a.m. here at our house, baby rouses for his ‘first breakfast.’ It is still very dark with the curtains drawn, but I know a sliver of dawn has started to lighten the sky because I can already hear them— the birds have woken.
One thing I love about our old house here in the old part of town is that it is so full of big trees and the life that goes with them. There are several families of birds living and nesting in our yard– and the feeder under the big cedar tree is usually drained within the hour. It is so fun to watch them living their little birdie lives just outside our windows; learning to fly and flit, twittering and trilling, foraging the yard and eluding the cat.
Judging from her art and life, Tasha was also a big fan of feathered friends. Not only did she keep doves, parrots, chickens and little finches, but she used them constantly in her artwork. Little birds are constantly appearing in her paintings, which I also love to paint. They are either a central subject or a little detail peeking out of a border, part of nature and of home.
Tasha also named her little make-believe postal system “Sparrow Post”, where all the dolls and animals exchanged letters with her children. I love that idea— so full of make believe and imagination! How Tasha found the time to keep up with all her correspondence AND an entire imaginary postal system (and do all the other labor intensive things she did!) I’ll never know. But its a wonderful tribute to her imagination.
And while I can admire Tasha for all her bird mothering, I am content to watch my feathered friends in the wild. They never cease to entertain, and their constant song is the backdrop for our summer. At our house, we love to see the cardinals and robins. Sometimes a pretty purple finch or yellow finch will stop by for a snack. We also love the mourning doves, who come by to sing us their low mellow song.
Do you have any favorite birds of summer? Or keep some as pets? Do tell!~
happy Tasha Tuesday!~
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Sleightholm Folk Art 
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