I actually hate to move past the last post. It’s so beautiful in the garden, especially with the bees buzzing and the birds singing! ♥ But I thought today I would show you some of the art I did for Country Living Magazine.
Just after my first book came out, I gathered all my courage together (it always takes courage, even today!) and wrote a letter to the editor of Country Living Magazine, who, at that time, was Rachel Newman (she quit her job a few years later to become a wonderful oil painter; go look at her amazing art! She definitely did the right thing; so wonderful to see people follow their dreams!).
I sent her a copy of Heart of the Home with a letter asking her to please let me do something in their wonderful magazine, paint, write, cook (work in subscriptions, sell ads, sweep) anything would have been OK with me! That magazine was my bible, my best friend! We went out to lunch together every month!
There were no computers in those days; I couldn’t email it; my letter had a stamp on it and it went snail mail. I wrote it in my best handwriting, and put little watercolors of rolling pins and measuring cups between the words to try to make her like me.
I waited, thinking every day, I wonder if she got my letter. I wonder what she thinks. I wonder if she’ll write me back. Probably just be a form letter with the words “no thank you” on it. Maybe I’ll never hear anything at all. Waaaaa.
And then one day, I opened my mail box and found a letter with the Country Living logo and return address on it. My heart skipped a beat; please God, don’t let this be my subscription renewal notice.
And it wasn’t! I jumped and leapt out of the PO back to the car when I read that Rachel had already seen my book! And wanted to get in touch with me! To figure out how we could work together!
It was such a surprise! One of my dreams! It taught me that at least you have to ask (I know we have lots of artists reading this, and I just wanted to say that “No” is a very popular word, but asking is free).
The Country Living staff decided that what they wanted was for me to illustrate recipes; a page every other month. Which I was thrilled to do as I think you can tell! After I’d done quite a few, they asked if they could make some of the designs into prints. So four designs were chosen, we called them “Kitchen Art” since that’s where we figured most of them would go, on the walls of someone’s kitchen . . . and they were sold through the magazine. A few of you have written to tell me you still have them!
That’s what made me think to show these today. I really don’t think most of you ever saw them, so I thought I might share them, now that we are in the new world of computers and blogs and can show anything we want! Hope you enjoyed them!
Also had to show you this photo I just took; the blur at the bottom left is Jack, doing what he does, but look at the light, at 6:15 am! Streaming in! Hooray! I’m going to work in the 
garden today! It’s not pretty out there, all brown leafy and dead, but it’s going to smell good when I rake and prune, and I’m going to love it!
Do you realize that the average person today lives better than most of the kings and queens of England did? That’s what I was thinking this morning when I turned on the furnace. We can fill the kettle from our faucet right there in our own kitchen! And turn on the lights with a flick of a switch as we walk through the dark house to our art studio! Carrying our tea in our favorite cup. ♥
It’s a wonderful world! Enjoy your day girlfriends! XOXO
Hi Susan! I think I DO remember seeing your work in Country Living. I remember when Rachel was the editor and I did not know she was an artist, too!
No light here at 6:04 am. Snow. Oh well.
I hope gardening is delightful for you today!
Good morning, Pom Pom~
I just peeked at your blog and I want to tell you that you’ve made my day! I belong to a small prayer group of women and we’ve been planning activities for our upcoming week-end retreat. Each of us takes a block of time during the week-end to lead the group. I will be using my inspiration from you to make crosses…Thank you! I’m getting so excited now, thinking of gathering the materials for this life-giving project!
Blessings to you!
And THANK YOU, Susan, for doing your part in connecting all of us to each other through your blog! That, too, is a blessing!
* Hi Debbie P…from Weedsport, NY *
From: Dorothy Ann on Cougar Mountain, WA.
I thought I would connect with you today and say a little “hi”.
I saw your sweet comment reply to Susan today and I wanted to let you know I also read your reply to me on 3/2…re: Susan’s “More Little Things” Blog.
You commented about what I wrote to Susan…”For now and forever, that’s always and ever, little things do mean a lot!”
You said it was a perfect quote for the end of a movie.
Oh, I so agree with you. By the way, that quote is a line from the popular “top hit” song from the 50’s and 60’s…”Little Things Mean A Lot”. Kitty Kallen first recorded it in the fifties and I have a CD set of Music from the 60’s where Joni James re-recorded it and it was a hit once again! Beautiful song!
Have a marvelous day, Debbie and so nice to meet you!
* Dorothy Ann from Cougar Mountain, Washington *
Oh my Dear Susan, I have not only seen the recipes in Country Living….I still have the copies. Many, many, many issues of Country Living and Country Home dating back to 1980. My most favorite magazine in the WORLD! Okay now you know I’m a hoarder! Not like those ones on TV…I’m not that bad…I don’t think? One day going through old issues, there you were! OMG, Susan Branch! I didn’t know who you were at the time, I just remember the recipes and the art. So I knew you….before I KNEW YOU! And love you! Have a great day.
XOXO Thank you!
That’s exactly what I was thinking, Chris…..I knew Susan for many years….but now I KNOW Susan! It makes me wonder how many other people I know but would love to get to KNOW! ….interesting.
I too have all the recipes from Susan Branch in Country Living Magazine. I always admired the art and couldn’t bear to throw the recipes out when I finished reading the current issue. So…I have them all. AND, here we are all these years later blogging with you, Susan. Love it!!
Amazing! I thought those recipes were all forgotten by now!
I love this post! I wrote a comment earlier (I think this year) about how I used to track down the magazine just to look at your recipes and this was no easy thing – trying to buy a ‘foreign’ magazine in Australia way back then. I work in publishing and am involved in art and always encourage artists to be brave and send in their art submissions as you never know where it may lead. I try to publish all first time submissions (unless they offend our sensibilities) to encourage the artist as I know how scary it is facing rejection of something so personal. I love your art Susan; always have and always will. It comforts me! ♥
How wonderful to hear from you . . . that’s such encouraging information for young artists! Thank you Annie!
We have older artists we publish for the first time as well….all their lives they’ve been too afraid to submit their art and I could cry when I think about the clever, wonderful people out there creating fabulous art and no-one ever gets to see it. Be brave everyone!
Love you Annie!!! That is so great!
Oh yes! I’m turning into one of those people who just won’t go away! lol
I really wanted to ask if you had ever seen Sara Midda’s books? She’s a fantastic English artist and my favourite book of hers is; In and out of the Garden….I just know you’d love it…beautiful watercolours and lettering. Published in the late 1980’s but maybe still available.
Yes, love her work!! Haven’t seen much of her lately, but I loved In and Out of the Garden.
I love Country Living! When my kids were small, I would wait until they took their naps and sit in a quiet place and read every square inch of that magazine. Lovely drawings AND I love your kitchen garden. Grass here in Idaho is still brown, waiting everyday for one little green sprout of my tulips to appear!
OMG! Am I the first to leave a reply? I don’t believe it! Like everyone else, I wait, not patiently, but anxiously for your blog every day. I get bummed out when there is nothing. I know you are busy, but really….we all need more of you!
Once again, you have inspired me in one way or another. Most of the time is is not the usual or what one might expect it to be. This morning…it is to be thankful for…welllll…EVERYTHING!
Have a wonderful day in your garden. Best, as always!
xo
Ha! by the time wrote and posted I was not the first. Happy to be near the top in any event! Just for fun.
You have to be pretty darn quick around here! 🙂
Thanks Cheryl!! You too!
I love your living room with the light streaming in….it looks so cozy and inviting. What a wonderful day you are going to have….Spring has sprung no matter what the calendar indicates! And it is exciting isn’t it. Makes me want to dance a little jig. And I checked Rachel Newman’s link…wow…she can paint…awesome. Here in the hills of TN the day is bright and beautiful with the promise of goodness and joy.
I love that she was brave enough to leave the thing she had done for years and GO for it!
I remember your drawings in Country Living! Always loved them!!! What a beautiful picture of the light streaming into your house! Couldy and very windy here this morning! Yep – we have it pretty good! I thought of that last Friday night when I was in the shower, and boom – the lights went out!!!! Yikes!!!! We were without power for 2 1/2 hours! Thank God for my lovely battery operated candles that are on timers and were already on in the livingroom!! So pretty!!! But that stint in the dark made me thankful for the lights, and how dependent I am on alot of our modern day conveniences. Have fun playing in the dirt! I need to go to our fancy grocery store – they advertised they have Daffodils on sale today!!!!!! And I do LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Daffodils! ♥
LOVE daffodils!!
I think of that nearly everyday too…..and am so grateful for all that we do have! It disturbs me that there are actually people in India and China and other places in the world today that dont even have the “luxury” of clean water and a toilet! I think it is good to remind ourselves that because of the old days and people trying hard to improve the conditions , we now have all of these wonderful contraptions and electricity etc…..Have a wonderful day getting Daffodils! I love the larger ones that are pure bright yellow! 🙂
Holiday, FL
Oh I just LOVE them!!!! Any chances that we could get them reprinted??? 🙂 🙂 🙂
Isn’t that light shining through just delightful!!! We are starting to notice the difference here too. Soon it will not be dark when i get home from work and the birds will sing a song of joy!!!!!!!!
Wonderful! Maybe we could get those reprinted . . . I’ll ask the girls!
That would be FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
I would really love that also 🙂 Cold here, freezing drizzle but was 75 in Denver yesterday!!! Wishing spring would “stay” . . .
That’s the frustrating thing about Colorado in March and April. Two of our snowiest months.
I live in Dallas now and spring has sprung… The Bradford pears are in bloom and tulip and daffodils everywhere. Soon the azaleas and bluebonnets will bloom. These are the best two months in Texas. Give me Colorado for the rest of the year!!:)
Hello Susan! You are so right about March and April in Colorado. Just enough warm weather to “trick” your senses and then wham – back to winter reality!!!!! One day in fair-weather clothes, sunroofs open and the next all bundled up in coats with defrosters on!
Sara, just noticed you’re from FL too. Holiday is not to far away from us here in Zephyrhills. Nice to know someone close by is a kindered spirit!
FOSB 4~Ever! ~ Doreen ~
Nope that isn’t far at all 🙂 But…right now we are trying to move to Georgia!!! I can’t wait!!!
Susan, I just traveled from Florida to Connecticut and back, stopping in Georgia. All of the Bradford Pears were in full bloom in Georgia, just gorgeous!!! I told my husband we were planting one as soon as we finally get a house!! 🙂 And daffodils don’t grow here in FL but we saw tons all the way in between 🙂 I had forgotten about how lovely hyacinth were too but they were in the yard of one of the houses we looked at and memories swarmed my heart 🙂
What a great trip with all the spring flowers in bloom!
It was a week of seasons! We left Florida and it was 80 degrees. All the way up to Connecticut it was like spring and all the flowers were starting to pop up out of the ground and in Connecticut we got winter and snow to play in! It was my grandmothers gift to us 🙂 She passed away which is why were on the trip. My husband and kids have only seen snow one other time and it was not as much as we got in Connecticut this time. We ahd enough to build snowmen, have snowball fights and make snow angels 🙂
Perfect way to celebrate her life! Nature!
I remember your delightful illustrations and the lunch in your garden from one of my all time favorite magazines. We had a new baby and no money when I began to subscribe, so the magazine was a treat and a luxury! Thanks for the walk down memory lane and thanks for your delightful, cheery blog posts filled with simple joys!
xoxo!
Good morning Susan!
I think I still have those Country Living magazines as they too were my bible for decorating, recipes and inspiration. I had such a hard time parting with them so I would cut out the thinks I wanted to save and I put them in a folder. One of my favorite sections was Simple Country Pleasures by Jo Northup. She had a way of describing things that you felt like you were there with her. Your writings are alot like hers as you really have a gift for writing as well as drawing and painting. I’m on vacation in Florida this week but when I get home, I’m going go through my magazines and see if I can find those, I might have some new kitchen art for my kitchen! Have a beautiful day and thankyou for being you. -East Longmeadow, Ma.
I loved Simple Country Pleasures too. The whole thing was so inspiring!
Oh thank you so much. Love the recipes and artwork…I’m assuming I would not find these in any of your cookbooks, so I will be printing them out.
Have a good day playing with the earth!
Susan, Thank you for this post. I had just about decided that I just dreamed I first heard of you through Country Living. I have even been to the storage barn, looked through my old magazines, and still couldn’t find anything…well, it’s out. Yes, I save old, decorating magazines, and I don’t know what to do, because the longer they are around, the more they seem like heirlooms or something. Anyway, thank you for clearing this up for me. (I loved the pictures of your house today.) Have a blessed day.
Rebecca
With the way the world is going, your magazines ARE heirlooms!
It is wonderful that you keep them. I throw everything away and, of course, always regret it. How fun to get them out on a rainy day with a cuppa and spend hours looking through them.
I definitely do remember your work in Country Living, and have saved a good many of the pages. They were my introduction to your art and I simply loved them. My daughters (young girls at the time) loved your art as well, and now they are wives and mothers in their thirties. We will very often gift one another with Susan Branch books now!
Thank you so much for having the courage to contact Country Living! So many have enjoyed your art as a result! I believe I read in one of your books that you didn’t start painting until age 30 or so (do I remember that right?) and that has always encouraged me. I am twice that age now and I would still love to learn to paint. I haven’t given up on the idea, and now I am off to take a look at Rachel Newman’s work through the link you shared.
Thanks for the memories and inspiration today! I love your blog and am so thankful you are doing this.
That’s right, I didn’t know I could paint until I was thirty! Was a good surprise! Its never too late!
Oh yes indeed…I remember these gorgeous illustrated recipes in Country Living!! It was my very first introduction to your art. So whenever I found your stickers or cards (or whatever) afterward, I always knew at a glance that these were by “Susan-Branch-of-the-Country-Living-recipes.”
Of course, when I purchased Autumn, I knew we were kindreds. Sigh… Isn’t it simply the best time of year? Autumn comes off of the bookshelf and sits on my coffee table every September, and remains there until Christmas decorations come out, except when it is being perused by me or my husband or my daughters or a guest. It just invites perusal, you know?
Thanks for the memories with your Country Living Art!
Hi Susan! I t’s absolutely gorgeous here in Webster,N.Y. I plan to have a fabulous day—-windows open—out to lunch– – no housework! You get the idea!
Have a fabulous day yourself!
Hello Sharon in Webster…this is Elizabeth in Montana who was born and raised in the 19th Ward in Rochester…
Susan, What a lovely post with your most-gorgeous artwork! Thanks for sharing. I’ve got to go dig out my old copies of CL and see what I can find. I’ve been an admirer and fun from the beginning and held on tightly to anything and everything you created! Some things just don’t change and that’s fine by me. Have a lovely day dallying about in the garden. I can just smell that wonderful earthy smell of the soil…Thanks for the respite to start my day! Hugs and love to you! xoxo, Jeanette
The living room picture is great! I can see your reflection in the mirror taking the picture! 🙂
You’re such a cheery person. I hadn’t seen those recipes – they’re delightful looking! That pumpkin stew caught my eye, especially.
Yes, enjoy the 6:15 light, because it’ll be gone next week – 🙁 But it’s comin’ back soon. 🙂
Your happy faces tell the whole story!
There is indeed something special about the light this time of year. I am outside early everyday to feed my horses, and no matter how chilly, the light still says spring. I actually posted this quote on my blog last week. “A light exists in Spring, not present in the year, at any other period, when March is scarcely here.” Emily Dickinson. Thanks for the encouragement and your beautiful, cozy blog!
So happy to see your new post today! I always look for your post first when I sit down to the computer every morning. This morning is beautiful and sunshiney…good for getting out and running errands and shopping. This is also my son’s birthday, so I will be getting the cake and making dinner plans at his favorite restaurant. Even adult sons need special days! Love Country Living magazine…have subscribed for years. Yes, I remember your illustrated recipes in CL. I think I tore them out and placed in plastic sleeves so I could save them in my recipe folder. Have a great day working in the garden. Love you, dear…xoxo
Thank you! Happy Birthday to your son, have fun!
Susan – Thanks so much for sharing those great Country Living recipes….have had your books for ages but never saw those – did not always get the magazine – WHAT was I thinking. Love the sunlight….yay! I had to pull my kitchen shade down this morning because the sun was so bright in my eyes with no leaves on the trees to shade it, and I thought….wow, that is a good sign, Spring IS coming. Home for a few days caring for my sweet husband who is having some surgery today. While we hate that he has to have it, we are looking forward to a few days of being home together, me being nurse, with lots of tea, movies, reading…and healing. Cozy. That’s the cure ! Have a wonderful day in your garden !
Sounds wonderful — give my best to your husband, hope it goes quickly and easily!
Thanks for the good thoughts….feeling much better today – but it amazes me how fast they send you home after you are cut open !!!
Me too!! Modern medicine, one more thing to be thankful for.
Healing thoughts to your husband! You’re right up 272 from me – I’m in Ephrata. 🙂
How about that ? Small world ! We are transplants here – arrived about 4 years ago…and LOVE the area ! Maybe we will bump into each other in real life !
Good Morning Sunshine, the spring warmth is wiggling in up here on the tip of Massachusetts on the mighty Merrimac River. I so loved seeing your Country Living art. I have been finding Susan Branch art all over my home. I just found a box of note cards and surprise they were of your Kitchen Garden the box itself is a treasure and I have had it so long, I still have 8 of the cards ! I went in my recipe drawer and found your recipe cards! See you have been with me for a long time. I’m so glad I found your blog this year. I am having fun going back and reading older blogs. It could be too that I’m finally getting into “Technology” and my husband says he created a monster, only teasing me he loves it too. I’m off to do house work, change the fishy’s bowl, put up my spring curtains, a little dusting, and then an outing with my best girlfriend to hunt the vintage shops. Love you, have fun in the garden, can’t wait to start mine, still snow on the ground. Paul says wait until the weekend, we’ll mark it out together! Yeah, I can’t wait, it’s like waiting for Christmas. Kindred Spirits stick together.
Yes they sure do!
Hi Susan,
I am another that has copies of your artwork from Country Living. I was thrilled to see your work there, and always tried the recipes. Yum.
Thank you for the photos you post. Like I said before, they have a true artist’s touch.
xoxo Pam
Thank you Pam!
Hi Susan,
I will be looking for those. I have some older magazines, maybe I have just the right ones. Hope so. I see old copies at the thrift store sometimes too.
Looks like a nice book about MARTHA’S VINEYARD,wonder if I can get that on Amazon, have to look.
Beautiful day here too,a person can get WAY happy on a day like this.
Nancy Jo
Hi Susan!! I have been with you from the beginning! Has it really been THAT long? 🙂 But I have to admit that my favorite is the new blog! It is like reading a mini Susan Branch book almost every day! And I love getting a peek into your pretty, cozy and comfortable house of creativity! Thanks so much for sharing so much of your talent and joy!! Enjoy your day in the garden xoxo Debbie
I do remember your work in Country Living! I remember Rachel Newman as well, although had absolutely no idea she was a painter! It’s always so nice to hear about women who’ve followed their bliss. It’s also always nice to hear encouragement, especially from another artist.
You know, the thing I love the absolute most about the internet (blogging, facebook, art groups, etc) is the incredibly supportive community of fellow artists I’ve discovered here. It’s truly a blessing to connect with others following the same path, and I can’t tell you how much the encouragement means! While I’ve made it into a couple of magazines, it’s never been a result of my own submission, but via a show or event in which I was participating. Maybe I should change that, hehe. 🙂
As always, you’re an inspiration!
♥ Carolee
I feel the same way about the internet, such a world of creativity opened to us all!
Susan, thank you for your artwork from Country Living magazine this morning. I remember discovering you from that work!
Your living room looks divine with the rays of light coming through! If you don’t mind me asking–what is the color on your walls? Is it a soft mint or am I mistaken? I love your white furnishings–so cozy and romantic!
Have fun digging in the dirt today—my favorite! xoxo ♥
Yes, it’s a very pale milky green.
Your wall color reminded me of the color I chose for my 4H project my senior year of high school — Complete Room/Interior Design — I painted the walls, made draperies, bought a new bedspread, painted accessories, antiqued bookcases, purchased a fluffy white rug — had SO much fun with, spent very little overall and got a blue ribbon for my efforts! It fed my dream of being an interior decorator which I;’d formed at about age ten. I ALMOST got there later in life when I had two girls growing up fast — but real life stepped in and it didn’t happen. But I still do my dream job everyday in my own home/s and play with my art in other directions — life is good.
What a great project! Where was the room?
It was my bedroom in the ranch style pre-fab house which my family had built when I was in junior high — in OH. — the smallest of the three bedrooms which I eventually gave up to my great aunt. When she came to live with us there, as she did periodically all my life, I shared my younger sister’s room until I went off to college.
How fun to do a whole room! Your mom must have loved it.
Thank you Susan—It’s lovely! ♥
And we can see you in the mirror taking the picture!
Thank you for the morning light. Sunrise time — a new day! Wonderful.
I love cleaning out the garden in early Spring with the anticipation of sprouts, new birth, and that lovely faint color of green peaking from stems and the ground. My Japanese Maple has one tiny red leaf sprouting this morning. Glorious. Enjoy your day with the dirt.
Elizabeth…you made me want to run outside and check on my Japanese Maple! lol. I have been noticing buds on some of our bushes and trees this week, but I never looked at our JM….have a great day! 🙂
Oh, do I remember your darling pages in Country Living magazine. I would wait in anticipation for each of my Country Living issues to arrive! I saved them for years and then had to declutter to make room for newer issues. Out went the magazines but I saved your pages! Yes it is a wonderful world! That song always brings tears to my eyes. Have a great day in your garden!
Priscilla in SD from CA
Susan, Years ago my brothers helped me move and after carrying a large heavy trunk down and then back up flights of stairs, they opened it up to find my stash of “favorite” old magazines. They said no more. So, I went through and cut out my favorite pictures and keep a file of them all. Funny, my taste has never changed. One is of a crescent cookie recipe from a Christmas Country Living Magazine. It always made me so happy and I actually make them every year. I’ve collected your art and recipes for years. THANKS
XOXO
I love visiting your blog…just as much as I enjoy opening one of your many books that I own. I’m a long time subscriber to Country Living. I enjoyed the older magazines more than the current ones, however. Your pages were the first ones that I looked at. Once in a while, I would frame one of your pages to decorate my walls. I tried and enjoyed your recipes and still do. Your calendar is on my wall….so you see I am a big fan.
The second thing that I loved about Country Living was the monthly column by Jo Northrup. I missed her so when she stopped writing for the magazine.
I found a website that you might be interested in.
artjournaler.typepad.com/pomegranatesandpaper/2009/06/pretty-photographs-not-covered-with-lines-and-creases.html
So glad that I found your blog…I get many hours of enjoyment coming here.
Balisha
Thank you Balisha!!
Good morn to you, Love the sunshine streaming into your lovely home. Always loved CL and is still the only magazine I receive. Also always loved your drawings and receipts! So cheery. Thanks for the reminder. Will revisit some of my old CL issues! E-ing from St. Louis.
Hi Susan and Good Morning from down here in Philly!
One question: is the date under the artwork the date of the issue of the magazine, or the date you painted the artwork? The squash muffin recipe artwork is one I’d love to own; if the date is the issue of the CL magazine, I’d have an easier time.
Also, we made your Banana Fritters last night, and we poured over your decadant chocolate sauce… oh, to die for!
It doesn’t get much better than this!
The Philadelphia Flower Show is in full swing here this week: Hawaii, Islands of Aloha. Talk about feeling Springtime!
Thank you over and over for your wonderful, full-of-vibrant-color posts!
The dates on the artwork are the issue dates of the magazines. You are so welcome Patricia!
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your Country Living artwork! I had never seen them before, do you remember what year(s) that was? Your work is so uplifting and inspiring and we’re lucky today for the blogs and websites so we can all share past work and nothing is lost!
I think it went from 1987 to 1991.
So much to be thankful for…gorgeous morning sunlight streaming in through bright windows…..last night the moon was shining through my windows so much that I hated to draw the blinds! Have fun out in the garden! Thanks for sharing those Country Living pages! I’ve been finding them, here and there, at a thrift shop….I think I’ve collected maybe 6 or so now. Always a treasure to find! I LOVE how recognizable your artwork is. The other day I about jumped out of my skin….felt like I won the lottery….I was at a thrift store and hanging up on the wall was a huge, custom-framed print of “A Prayer for a Little Home!” Who would/could part with that, I said to myself!? It came home with me and is now hanging perfectly on my kitchen wall by the back door where I see it every day!
You were the perfect person to find it!
Good morning, Karen~
I just want to thank you for your comment on Mirabel Osler…I’ll be looking for her book, too!
You’re welcome, Debbie! We’ll have to compare notes once we’ve read her book!
I just ordered it from ebay yesterday!
LOVE this post!
That’s my favorite magazine! I want to be transmitted into each and every photo for forever. I’ll be looking at it with a new light now. 🙂
I also love Country Living but the English version – I wish we had some of your art work in ours! Still loving your blogs.
Your Country Living is now my favorite magazine of all . . . I just adore it!
Is it possible for Susan to get published in that magazine?! Wouldnt that be awesome!!!
I really like the British Country Living magazine, too, much more than the American version. The British one just has more “flavor” of the magazines that ours used to have…
Oh yes, I did love opening Country Living and seeing your cheery, whimsical art and recipes inside (I still have lots of those older issues!). Hmmm, you’ve got me thinking…my dream has always been to write for Country Living (remember Jo Northrop?). She inspired me each month to see the simple pleasures of country living through her eyes. When I started our farm blog, I created a label titled Farmhouse Thoughts where I could jot down my writings. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll zip them off in an email asking (begging?!) and see if CL will respond. Thanks for the happy morning post!
Good morning Susan,
Country Living was my bible too! I so remember your art work and recipes in every issue for a good long time. That and Simple Country Pleasures were two of
my favorites. I still enjoy the magazine but not quite as much as back then. What a joy in was when I would open the mailbox and the new issue was there! It’s the simple things that make us smile. Now i have your blog to enjoy!! It makes me smile and brings such pleasure. It makes me feel like I am lucky enough to be your next door neighbor. Have a great day in the garden. Hugs to girl Kitty and Jack!!
Colleen from Cumberland, Rhode Island
Oh my gosh…the wonderful memories of getting CL in the mail and standing, staring at the cover for a few minutes, in awe and excitement! I always loved your beautful recipe feature. I was young and that magazine really helped shaped my creativity as a home maker. My Grandmother and I would pour over the pages together. She was a master quilter so she loved all the old quilts they would feature. Sunny and gorgeous with tulips and daffodills galore here in Lodi, Ca! Have a ball in your garden:)
SO cool! Can definitely imagine how EXCITED you were to hear back from her and learn that she wanted to use your adorable art. Are you still doing that for them or was it “limited time only?” The blueberry cobbler and peach pie look terrific!
And I love your lamp photo. Don’t you just adore lamps? I don’t like harsh overhead lighting, but I loooooove lamplight. I even have two little lamps on my kitchen counter to cook by!
We are lamp people too!
I love lamps on kitchen counters. I love when supper is done and the kitchen is clean, and just a lamp is on in there.
Me, too!
I loved the pages from CL so much that I cut the magazines apart and used them in my Home Economics classes in displays,etc. for many years…I’m retired now but I kept many of my “lessons” that I could not part with yet and your art/recipe pages are among those !!!!! Enjoying your art and your blog everyday now!!! Gloria
That’s so nice to hear! How funny things happening you never imagine!
I remember those recipies and saved them which is why I fell in love with your books. When moving as far as we did I had to toss things and some got lost in the move so its so nice to see them here. Dont forget we set our clocks AHEAD this weekend so the light will change. My Daffodils and Crocus are all blooming and the birds are filling the nesting boxes…Spring is here….Even if it is still cold out. Got to love it. Thanks for reposting these treasures of yours.
Thanks for that reminder that all we have to do is ask. I tend to be a bit shy about these things, but it cost nothing to ask – not even postage, nowadays.
xo
Claudia
I love those full circle moments….it was ‘meant to be’ that you sent that letter when you did, Susan! It’s a beautiful morning here in Eastern PA as well, and although we’ll lose some of that early morning light for awhile after we turn the clocks ahead this weekend, it will come streaming in again in a few weeks 🙂 Plus we have those brighter evenings to look forward to as well! Yeah, Spring!!
Confession: I read your article in the Romantic Homes (?) magazine right in the store, shhhh, it was worth it! Every time someone jostled passed me I wanted to say, “I know this woman; she’s very talented” as if that gave me the excuse to block the aisle 😉
:-)!
Susan,
I first saw your art work in country living and became an instant fan, now every morning i get up make coffee and have my Susan Branch fix. It really is just perfect. Thank you Susan, i’ve been a long time fan.
Thank you back Susan, nice to see you here!
I still have your art work from Country Living. I cut the pages out (they’re a little yellow now) and put them in my recipe book. They’re beautiful.
Thank you!
It makes me so happy to see a new post! Of course I read it again and again, as I do with all your wonderful posts. And I also enjoy reading all the girlfriends comments, so much fun! Your art work is phenomenal Susan, as are you photographs. They make me warm and happy inside and out! I also love my living room in the early morning hours, so peaceful and quiet. I’m looking forward to springing forward on Sunday and getting some extra light in the evenings! Life is good! It is a wonderful world!
here in Cinti. we are home with the flu. Reading your blog always makes me feel better!
Feel better soon!!
Wow, that brought back memories. I cut all your recipe pages out and they to this day are still in my recipe folders. Does not seem as it was that long ago. bright sun shining this am on the central coast and Pacific is deep blue this morning. Have a wonderful “outdoor” day!
Good morning Susan! What a beautiful sight, the sunlight coming through. I can see you in the mirror taking the picture. That was so sweet, it made the picture so much more personal, watching you take a picture of your home to share with us. I took the entire room in, I love the colors on the walls. I might just have to copy that for a bedroom upstairs. Also–thank you for the Country Living “kitchen art”. That would be great if they would re-print! Have fun in the garden. Supposed to be warm today in Ohio….might have to get dirty myself!
You continue to inspire me over and over. I love Country Living magazine and I absolutely love your recipes and artwork. I anxiously look each day to see if you have posted anything new to your blog and then I print it right away. I save each printing and go over them periodically for more inspiration. Thank you for making my days wonderful.
I have your brownies and gingerbread boys pages in my favorite recipies file, Susan! I enjoyed seeing your country artwork every month in Contry Living and trying your recipes! I remember When Rachel Newman started Country Living. I missed her when she left. I continued to subscribe until about a year ago. It just wasn’t the same Country Living. Thank you for a trip down memory lane! I’m glad I found your blog. I can see your artwork and home everyday! I do have most of your lovely books. You are a sweet person.
God bless, Kathy in Illinois
Thanks Kathy!
I’m still swooning from looking at your garden pictures from yesterday! 🙂
I’m a long time Country Living subscriber and, I believe, that’s where I discovered the wonderful Susan Branch! To me, it was a match made in heaven. I thought your drawings encompassed everything about Country Living (and still think that way!) Your art is warm and comfortable. It absolutely draws us in and makes us smile.
Enjoy your day in the garden, and I look forward to seeing pictures of the fruits of your labors! 🙂
Have a wonderful day, everyone.
Marilyn (in Dallas)
Good Morning Susan,
Thank you for sharing the Country Living Kitchen Art! I have the Watermelon Basket you did for Country Living from July 1987. I got it from my mom who has been a Country Living subscriber for a very long time (and now I am too). I remember my mom taking the Watermelon Basket to many a summer gatherings (picnic’s, family reunions, patriotic holiday’s, etc.) it’s a timeless dessert presentation.
The sun is shining this morning here in Thompsontown, PA and we are supposed to have a high of 62 degrees today! So if you don’t mind I think I will do a little gardening with you today and plant my Paper Whites to brighten up my garden window.
This morning I share a song (it’s been in my head since I woke up) with you and all my other girlfriends – Good Morning (from Singing in the Rain). Anyone can check it out on You Tube. Have a great day!!
Thank you Angela!
My mother & I would rush to get the latest copy of Country Living, back in those days, and drool over your lovely recipes and artwork. When it was time to cull the stacks of magazines, I would carefully cut out your page and slip it into a page protector and put it in a three ring binder. Today, that binder lives on my cookbook shelves, right next to the notebook my mother filled with recipes and homemaking ideas and poetry and quotes and gave to me the first Christmas I was married. In case of fire or flood, they are two of the three things I will go back into the house for, once all the family is safely out! 🙂 And I absolutely love, love, love your picture of the light streaming into your home this morning…Oh to be at Susan’s house, now that spring is there (to misquote a famous line). Enjoy your beautiful day. Love, Stacey
xoxo Stacey!
These bring back some great memories from my Country Living Magazine days. I used to devour each issue. Both you and Rachel are an encouragement to me. Here’s why. I have recently begun painting again, after working alongside my husband in his contracting business for 30ish years. Now I am his caregiver, since he has early onset Alzheimers. So in getting my little part time artwork endeavor off the ground I DO hear “no” a fair amount. The blessing is that with “yes”, “no”, or “maybe”…I get to do something I love for a few hours each week. My husband always encouraged me to exercise my creative juices so I know he is pleased, even though he doesn’t say much now.
Sending blessings Laurie . . . love hearing from you.
Bless you — so glad you are keeping something positve for yourself durning a hard time. Caregivers too often don’t or can’t allow themselves any room but it is SO important to hold onto some time and pleasure.
So well said Dottie!
Thank you, Susan — I speak from experience as I was in the role of caregiver with very little room for myself when I first began reading your blog. My mother was with us for nine months and I miss her dreadfully but know she is in a better place and out of the pain and fog which closed in upon her for the greater percentage of those last months. I am only now after a year beginning to find my way to giveing myself some of those good moments again.
You speak wisely from experience. I love knowing you are following your brilliant advice! It has to be so hard!
Yep, I love to sit in my sun room and paint. I get lost in the process and think about so many things that the particular subject reminds me of. I started writing online about my daydreams. I call them Watercolor Journals on my blog. It has been SO fulfilling. Thanks to both of you for your kind thoughts.
I was so moved when I read that you have started painting again….how wonderful! Please don’t give up if you hear a “no”…..my older brother is the most wonderfully gifted artist and singer and he became beaten down by hearing that and not having any money at the time to start something on his own, and I always felt so sad that he stopped trying…..he still does his artwork for himself, but I always felt that many many ppl have missed so much by not being able to see and share in his creative spirit! I don’t have any abilities in the arts …I am the appreciator!…so I believe if you can’t sell it….give it away and make someone so happy! Keep up the creating of beauty and hang in there!
Thank you Diane. I do give paintings as gifts too, and in fact, that’s how I got started. Then someone said why don’t you start an Etsy.com store, so I did. I’m exploring other venues too, like local art fairs, and art walks in our area. It’s been fun. Truly, I appreciate your encouragement to press on. Will do!
I too love Country Living magazine, thank you for sharing with us! Checking your blog is one of my favorite things to do in the morning-it’s like having coffee with a friend. My garden is calling me too! Yesterday the wind had the scent of blooming flowers-odd since there are no blooming flowers. Maybe my heart secretly ordered them for me!:)
I too, cut out and saved some of your illustrated recipes from then. I loved Country Living back then, and I still subscribe. I think spending time on my grandparents farm in North Dakota, where you pumped water, or caught rainwater in a barrel, and went to the ummhmm “outhouse”, I have grown up appreciating those everyday things that the kings and queens didn;t have either.. It was a good eye opener for a girl growing up in the suburbs. I’m in MA too, and yes, what a perfect day!! Thanks for another great blog. ** If you had your own magazine, I would subscribe – it could even be quarterly rather than monthly – : ) **
You are very thoughtful 🙂
Heh, put me in for a subscription, too!!! 🙂
hi susan,
im a bit behind today, catching up on the pretties you give us with each post.
i purchased country living for many many years. clipped out recipes and pictures of my someday dream home, decorating ideas. i just love it. i must have seen your kitchen art in them at some time……. old brain here with poor memory hehe.
on sunday i made those banana fritters, they were sooo yumyy! daughter does not care for banana’s so i made her some apple fritters. added cinnamin to the left over batter and made fruitless ones. very lovely addition to our irish rashers and eggs!
now for that beautiful garden…………. it is my dream garden. wish i could “clip” pictures from your post to put in my “dream home book” someday i want a garden like that. it is so restful to look at and i imagine, to work in. thank you so much for sharing the beauty around you. enjoy the spring sunshine, its n ice to have sunshine when i wake up also, but monday it will be dark again for another lil bit 🙁
have a wonderful day dear lady.
Fantastic WOW !! your art is breathtakingly beautiful ! Country Living Mag is even more awesome now that you have put your art into it ! I think this art of yours will boost their sales to a record high ! I know I am going to get a mag now that you have art in it ! It will be a keeper for sure ! Thats great . Have a good day !
Oh dear, it’s not there now, this was a long time ago! Sorry! It’s still a good magazine! 🙂
This is such a sweet post and says so much about your personality and perseverance. We are all afraid to be told “No thanks”, but you really put yourself out there. I’m going to carry this lesson inside my little old self for a long time!
XO,
Jane
I still have all of your CL recipe pages, tucked in plastic sleeves, in a binder! 🙂 Isn’t it fun to hear all the stories of those of us who have been loving your art and wonderful ideas for years and years? We’re all SB sisters at heart!! Love the morning light – and that cute little blur in the corner. So ready to plant something, but I’m packing up to move to Dallas, so the planting will have to wait. I’ll just enjoy looking at pictures of your precious garden!
Yes, it’s so fun, and I didn’t even know! Good luck with your packing!
Susan
You are right it is a beautiful world!
I am a compulsive magazine reader and I tear out anything that I love! I have almost all you Country Living magazine art. They are filed away in my recipe file. Someday I hope to frame them for my kitchen. I have been following you for many years. Willard in the mailbox was a joy to receive at a time when I needed cheering up. I am still a subscriber to Country Living, but I miss the old format! God Bless to you and Joe!
Angie V
I also remember your illustrations being one of the highlights of getting my magazine in the mail. I used to cut them out and hang them in my cubicle at work! I have one in a cute white frame in my kitchen right now! You really do make our life’s happy and bright. Thank you.
I’m kind of surprised so many people remember them…thank you Norma!
You’re surprised, silly girl?! Your page in Country Living was so unique and special and stood out among anything else in the magazine, in my opinion. It made the recipes all that much more special. No WONDER people remember and have been following you!
I am the only person who never read them? Boo Hoo…..! I could feel left out with the girls on here except that Susan thoughtfully included some of her stuff today thankfully! I discovered her such a long time ago at my bookstore and I had no money in those singleton days, so I would stand there and read the entire book! Lol. I saved up ten dollars for a keepsake book that I adored, and I treasured it and kept in in perfect condition….until that Christmas when I chose to give it to someone as a gift to cheer them up. It was difficult to let go at that time, but look at me now! On this wonderful blog and I own most of the books!
You’re not the only one! Plenty of people never read them … we are just in rarefied company!
Dear Susan, I really enjoyed your post. I wish you a wonderful day to match your cheerful and happy “wake-up”.
Susan! What a TREAT! You are so GENEROUS to share these Country Living Inserts with us, your long distance Girlfriends… ( as well as your HEART, Your HOME (love those pictures!!!), your works, your thoughts, your drawings, your recipes, your DREAMS… and of course your kitties and your precious Joe). I was laughing reading about your Country Living lunch dates! I have mountains of Country Living in my basement (we are going back decades here!) I had tears in my eyes as I read of you reaching out with hope… waiting… waiting for your dream. Oh, how fragile our dreams can be! Sometimes we keep them under wraps for fear they will break and be crushed to be gone forever, when the very thing we need to do is to reach out and share them. (Easier said than done.) And I had such JOY in my heart when you received your letter from Rachael
I’ve been struggling with dreams recently… what are mine… where can I start? Then I saw this quote on a friends wall in FB.
“Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing… the IMPOSSIBLE!” St. Francis of Assisi
Isn’t that GREAT! ENJOY your garden today… and the Full Worm Moon tomorrow night! I am reaching through the web giving you a heartfelt HUG of THANKS! Yes! It is a Wonderful World! XOXO
Georgie
P.S. I’m still hoping that Heart Pan comes back in stock soon 😉
It will, Judy told me it should be in soon!
I love your art work you shared – just beautiful – and I must have seen them before when I subscribed to Country Living … I just did not know about “all the wonderful” at the time. The two times of day I love the best – Sunrises bring the beginning of the long shadows and sunsets always bring closure to the long shadows – and these long-shadow times have the best light. Love your picture of the living room – makes you want to sit down and just “be.” Always my thanks for your sharing. Judy C
Good morning. Just lovely illustrations. I just happen to have two pints of blueberries, I’ll need to try the blueberry cobbler recipe.
(Riverside, CA)
Good timing!
Susan….do you have the good fortune of owning one of Rachel Newmans paintings? She’s a wonderful artist.
Not yet, but I’m definitely thinking about it. I love oil paintings, and hers are really good!
Today is a wonderful day. I’ve had the flu and this is the first day in almost 2 weeks that I woke up feeling good. And the sun is out and it is 55 degrees; I’ll take that. I loved seeing your Country Living recipe art again. I still have one you did for sugar cookie hearts in my recipe box. Country Living is the only magazine I have continuously subscribed to since I got married in 1980.
Happy you’re feeling better, good day for it!
Thanks for sharing your Country Living artwork. I remember seeing it, that is the way I became acquainted with you–back in the “olden days” when Country Living’s focus was antiques, gardening, and cozy homes like your’s, before they were 2/3 ads and pushing more modern styles. I saved my old copies and have them filed seasonally and love to sit and look through them…No gardening here today as it is dark, foggy, and raining. Good day for a break later with a pot of tea and knitting or a good book! Have a good day! 🙂
I am so glad you shared your Country Living art with us- NEVER knew!! How brave of you to ask! I wish I was brave like that- I don’t even like asking friends and family, let alone total strangers! I’ve always admired people who are able to just ask for what they want and be okay with whatever the answer is.
Love your sun shining in- it’s shining in here in Vancouver, Wa too. Wishing gardening was on the list for today, but I have a young one to get to a violin lesson and groceries to buy and a very messy desk to sort through and organize so some creating can take place. love to you Susan and ‘girls’!
It’s scary . . . not really that OK with “whatever the answer is” – much prefer YES!
Dear Susan~
Thank you for the absolutely beautiful blog post this morning! Have I told you lately that I LOVE you? (That’s a beautiful song too!)
Happy gardening!!
Kisses~~Karen
good morning susan, good morning everyone!! the sun is out, the clouds are gone, and its chilly but nice outside. the turkeys, ducks, and chickens are out for the day and have been fed and cleaned out the water tubs and refilled them and the duck’s pool, have some feed out for the deer, refilled the bird feeders and the hummingbird feeders, swept out the barn, gathered some eggs( about 6), have the coffee on and got the cats and the squirrels fed. time to grab a cup of coffee and sit back for a minute then get busy on the laundry and do the bed linens today, and sweep off the porches, and the floors, run the vaccuum around and get busy dusting. going to be a busy day here. i miss my clothesline but soon it will be back up and i’ll be using it to dry the sheets and clothes. saves me some money in the summer time. love the country living magazine, and i do save mine, so i’ll have to be digging back and looking at them again. i love the art work you do, its so comfy and homey. well this country gal has a ton of chores to get done today so i have to run, you all have a wonderful day today. hugs…… 🙂
You are wearing me out Pat! When is naptime?
whats naptime???? LOL!!! i usually have a tea time in the afternoon though!!!!
Lucky for all us girlfriends that you had the courage to send that letter. I have 26 pages of your art from Country Living, including the ones you posted today. I love the Spring Garden Pasta recipe page with the sweet bunny and her saute pan. I keep them in plastic sleeves in their own little notebook and take a look at them every once in a while. I always feel so happy after a look through. And the recipes are wonderful as well. Like you, Country Living is my favourite magazine, along side Victoria magazine.
Amazing! I didn’t even know how many I did!
I first “found” you in Country Living magazine…and have loved you ever since…I too remember Rachel Newman and her letter/s at the beginning of the magazine…Country Living is still my favorite magazine and I devour it every month…there is still snow on the ground here in western Minnesota so no working in the yard…I can smell the earth as you work in your garden:-)…have fun!!!
P.S. I’ve got tea cups and saucers hanging in our Michigan cottage just like the ones you painted in your squash muffin recipe…love them…
I still have several of your recipes, including the wonderful peach pie, that I tore out of the magazines. They are treasures (and delicious). I wish you still contributed to Country Living.
Sun is shining today in Pocatello, Idaho, but yesterday – snow! I’m so glad to see the sunshine and to get to read your blog. Thanks, Susan!
hi susan…i too have been an avid reader of country living magazine since 1984, two years after i got married and we bought our first home (a small townhouse) i started subscribing to it. i had kept every single issue until about 5 years ago when my husband talked me in to letting them go to the recycling plant. not very smart of me…i remember your illustrated recipes in there. a couple of years after we bought that townhouse was about the time i discovered you, your art and your first book…”heart of the home: notes from a vineyard kitchen”. i was mesmerized from the first glance! i have every single one of your books and am chomping at the bit to get my hands on your next one! i keep all your books on my bookshelf in my office/studio, and over the years (because i couldn’t take a chance on them getting dog eared or messy in the kitchen) i have collected them all over again. now don’t laugh…i got them from local used book stores and other places as i came across them. that way i would have a “used” set that i can use regularly and the “nice” set that i can look at periodically when i want to see nice clean pages. i love your art and your spirit…so thank you for reminding me through your work, and this blog, that there is always good and beautiful in this sometimes scary world of ours, and we are very fortunate indeed…bel alton, maryland
🙂 That’s so nice! I feel honored!
Sounds exactly like something I would do! Sometimes I do that same thing with CD’s I like. I’ll have 3 or 4 copies of the same one.
good morning again everyone, heading out to the front yard to do some gardening, the housework can wait a bit, i got the dishes done and put away and the dishwasher emptied, but now i’m off to go plant some sage. i think by the corner of the house by the kitchen is a good place, gets lots of morning and afternoon sunshine and is easy to get to for watering. will it grow well near rosemary???? does anyone know???? thanks and have a great day everyone. hugs…….. 🙂
Both rosemary and sage can get really big, like medium sized bushes, so be sure not to put them too close together. I’d put them at least 3′ apart. Have fun!
thank you for the help susan, i have a big rosemary bush right in the middle of the front garden, by the living room window( gets so fragrant when its wet) so i think by the corner is far enough away for the sage to grow, i just needed to know if they could co-exist in the same garden. that poor corner is so empty and bare, its needs something and that sage will do nicely so off to go play in the dirt, and maybe get those planter boxes ready for the jasmine i plan to plant in them for the front porch. i love playing in my garden, and love my little house. i hope to get the jasmine planted and blooming by summer and have it growing around the front porch posts and rails. should be a lovely frangrance when the summer is here and the screen door is open, best air freshner i can think of. hugs…… 😉
Sage is great because it has a flower too! Jasmine grows like a weed in California, I have it over every door, but not so much on Martha’s Vineyard.
had jasmine by the front door when i was living down in San Diego, the fragrance was heavenly. i just hope it can survive up here in oregon. just got in from playing in the dirt and got the sage planted, its happy in that nice sunny corner by the kitchen, and i may just ambitious enough to go get a lavendar plant and start that in the garden, i love the fragrance of that as well. i have a big bell shaped dome to put over it to keep it from freezing but will let the sunlight in to keep it warm.
Sunshine and warmth here in Knoxville, TN today. Not a bad day for working in the garden; however, we are in the kitchen baking for our daughter’s upcoming wedding on March 17.:-)
Enjoy your time working with the good earth, Susan! xoxo
What a perfect day for a wedding!
You helped my heart today!!! I just got notice that a music teacher friend had passed away last night. Your home, your garden, your recipes, your art and the evident joy for life that you share touch me every time I visit. Thank-you!
So sorry Marianne! xoxo
I love your artwork Susan and how could Country Living Magazine refuse you, they definitely had more sense than that! Your Summer Book arrived this week and I’m so enjoying it. I hope you enjoyed your time in the garden. We had heavy rain today so gardening was a no-no. I’m hoping tomorrow is fine as the Queen and Catherine are visiting Leicester at the start of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tour. We’re hoping to get a glimpse of them.
How fun!
I still have the Blueberry Cobbler page (June 1990) that I pulled out of my Country Living magazine. The page is a mess with stains from many years of use. Why I never copied the recipe to a card, I don’t know – I must have loved the illustration!
Sometimes we need to be reminded that it is indeed a wonderful world. Thank you Susan, and you make it even more wonderful!
Hi Susan,
I am sure you know I love everything country. If your work happens to be included in a magazine I feel the whole magazine is welcoming! I recently found some Willard letters you use to mail to everyone. One dated April 30 1998 was filled with stickers. It brought back such wonderful memories. I still look forward to receiving Willard by email. I enjoy the comments from twitter friends when they get their copy of Willard. Thanking you for all you do for us! Wishing you and Joe a wonderful 2012
Thank you Mary! So nice to hear from you!
Hi Susan,
It is a wonderful life, thanks to you and the good Lord. Just wanted to share with you what I did last Monday night at my “Ladies Bible Study”. We are studying the Book of James. In James 2:8 says….”If you keep the “royal law” prescribed in the Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself; you are doing well.” So, I made all of my girlfriends in my group, your “Love is Love’s reward” hearts bookmark for their Bible to remind them about loving one another! I made them on heavy cardstock and I told them about you and your blog and about your recipes and how wonderful you make the world a better place! They were thrilled!!! They loved it. So that’s what its all about…sharing the love….thank you Susan for making my world a better place and I shared it with my Bible Study girls and they loved it and now they are going to be new “converts” to Susan Branch. Much love to you all……. Judy Ann from Georgia!
P.S. They wanted to know if your recipes were difficult? I told them they were fantastic and easy. I told them I bought three of your cookbooks! They are hooked!
How nice of you Judy Ann! First off, doing that thoughtful thing and making everyone a bookmark! It goes perfect with your studies! They must have loved that . . . and thank you for sending them over here, we always love new girlfriends! That’s exciting!
I still have mine from the magazines too! i adore them and was instantly hooked with you 🙂 but It was Heart of The Home that hooked me first <3
Beautiful paintings, Susan! Will have to check out Rachel's site too.
Love your living room, the color seems inthe same family as my robin's egg blue 🙂
Happy Gardening! Still under snow here on PEI, but spring is definitely in the air!
Love,
Denise of Ingleside, PEI
Hello Susan,
Everyone’s response is a genuine tribute to the love and generosity you extend through your talents. When your art/recipes began to appear in Country Living, it added a delightful whimsy to the magazine. I continue to be blessed by your blog and warm expressions of joyful living!
I’m touched!
Loved the old Country Living magazine crammed full of decorating ideas and crafts…and the STORIES. I think there was a section called “readers corner” or something like that and they always had the best stories. All of that is gone. I think when Rachel left, things changed. I still subscribe but it isn’t anything like it used to be and there is so little left! I moved 6 yrs ago and had to give up all of my issues going back to the late 70’s. But I remember them well. I think I first discovered you Susan in the pages of that magazine! So it’s a treat to see these.
Everything in me perks up when I see your artwork in some unexpected place. Lately, I have been seeing it in a little newspaper that advertises craft shops and quilt places called the Country Register. I love the little article they have every month called “Tea with Lydia”. I always cut out your artwork, (even though I have every book!) the tea article and other recipes and such that just can’t be discarded. Thanks for sharing these that were in Country Living Magazine. Inspiring as always! Never get tired of them!
My dear friend is going through a divorce at the young age of 60. She had to sell her house and is moving into an apartment. She is only keeping what is precious to her. We were working on her bookcases and I came upon your books (she has them all). I held them up and she said “They will have to put me in a pine box for me to part with those”. We both started to laugh and I knew right away that as soon as your new book comes out I am getting it for her even if she doesn’t have an inch to spare! Enjoy working on your garden….our package from Burpee arrived here in sunny Pennsylvania! We are ready to get spring going.
Would you please give her a kiss for me? That’s so funny! Hooray for Girlfriends!
I love that you talk about courage because it seems to me that so many of us women don’t do what we really want to do or what we love because we’re afraid. Afraid of what?? What’s the worst that can happen? I always think, “the world won’t end if someone says no to me”. I’ll just go ask elsewhere. Like you said, Susan, asking is free.
There are so many quotes that talk about that kind of courage. Irma Bombeck, for example, said, “It takes guts to show people your dreams.” But life is short. So if you want a white picket fence, you have to go get it!
Dear Susan,
I know now that you are truly magical. Needless to say, I am NOT a morning person. However, looking at the picture of your beautiful living room in the early morning has inspired me to get up early and appreciate the beauty of my cozy living room. And, soon to arrive are 2 teacups and saucers in the Johnson Bros. Rose Chintz pattern that I fell in love with and ordered, when I saw the teacups here on your blog. So, I’ll be up early (moment of prayerful silence) and drinking coffee (yes, coffee – not tea, yet!) and just appreciating all the beauty and joy and blessings we have in our lives – of which I count as you as one along with all the lovely people who participate in this blog. All of you truly bring me so much joy. Thank you.
Pam
That “moment of prayerful silence” is so wonderful, such a great way to start the day! Noticing the little things! And you’re getting cups!!!
Hi Susan. I think that Country Living was the first place I saw your work with the recipes. I think I still have some in a box of recipes. I loved your work right from the start, and I loved the recipes. Your art work has been a favorite of mine for years. Now I have the story of how it in got into the magazine. Thanks for sharing yet again another one of your great stories. Have a great day everyone.
P.S. I loved the blur! *L*
Please add my dittos! What a treat to walk down memory lane! I often wish that I had kept all my old Country Living magazines – (I so looked forward to the issues that had your adorable hand-lettered calligraphy and water colored art work) but after 3 moves it just wasn’t possible to store them anymore – and they were donated to our Friends of the Library. I would SO love to see your Country Living recipes reprinted in a book and it would be even more wonderful if it contained some of the charming photography that you have taken of your lovely home and beautiful island home. Along with Princess Girl Kitty and Jackie-Boy (of course)! Something to hold and cherish once more.
I am working very hard on making that happen!
I’m with Lori, I’d love the see them too.
I love your blog. I love your art. Thank you for this story. It gives me inspiration to put my story in the mail.
Scary but why not? Good luck!!!
Everyday is a gift and this one is wonderful. It is warm and sunny here in north central West Virginia. I have been outside raking leaves out of the flower beds and trimming shrubs. It feels great. Don’t you love to see the buds swelling and new growth? It gives us such hope for all things. I planted foxgloves year before last and it looks like I will enjoy blooms soon. I have lots and lots of forget-me-nots this year. My sister “the garden witch” gave me a few plants. I had no idea they reseeded so easily. I love that! Hope you enjoyed your day scratching in the dirt.
I’m going back out soon, it’s so nice. Buds even on the roses.
Hi Susan!
You must be at a similar longitude & latitude as Ohio, because I, too, love it when the sun returns to that level in the sky where it shines in the windows every morning. Great picture!
Thanks for sharing all your pretty recipes, too. I can’t wait to make that peach one!
fondly,
Rett