It’s a beautiful summer day on Martha’s Vineyard when I’m writing this; bees are floating through the lavender, beach towels are flapping on the line, a gentle harbor breeze is softly rustling the trees. But so quiet ~ it’s perfect beach weather ~ that’s where everyone must be. There are no cars on the road, a rare thing for summer on this island. All I can hear through my open windows are birds. ♥
Soon I’ll show you more about what’s going on here but today, I think we need just one more visit to Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top Farm — our second visit in a week — you knew I would have to go back!
Remember how gorgeous the sky was on the first day we found our way to Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top Farm? It wasn’t like that the second time . . . here it was on June 7, over the Lake District, dark, rainy, and moody. Musica? Yes.
Before we left the Lake District, I needed one more look at Castle Cottage (the light beige house above) where Beatrix lived happily-ever-after with her husband Willie for thirty years. It’s privately owned so this is as close as I really wanted to get, but there it was, a sweet comfortable-looking little house just across the meadow from Hill Top.
It still felt funny that we could just drive here. Beatrix Potter has been so far away from me for so long, almost on another planet. But shockingly, like any other place, like any old McDonald’s on the corner, you can drive right up, put on your blinker, turn in, and park. Go through a little gate, walk up a path and there it is! Where it’s been for over a hundred years, with visitors just like me, coming and going.
I didn’t get a ticket to go into the house again because I have that vision permanently pressed into my heart. I will never forget looking at the view through the wavy old glass of her bedroom window, the same ripply view of hills and green and cottages she saw all those years ago. But there were a couple of things I needed to do before we left — I had unfinished business. As I was walking through the rainy garden for the last time I noticed little wet side-path I hadn’t seen before. At the end there was a green door in the garden wall. I went to investigate. I didn’t want to miss anything.
I pushed it open slowly, making sure I wasn’t going somewhere I shouldn’t — then ducked under the dripping lilac to go inside. It led to the walled vegetable patch in front of the house, and gave me a slightly different perspective on the house. I was inside the iron gate for the first time. All alone, in the rain, in Beatrix Potter’s garden. ♥
Of course, Peter Rabbit was bound to get in trouble in this neck of the woods! Such temptation; rhubarb and strawberries too.
There were little details I couldn’t see from the other side of the iron gate, like this recess in the rock wall. It’s called a “bee-bole” ~ it’s made for sheltering bee skeps like this charming white box hive that Beatrix had “fixed up” — she also painted it into The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck — later I painted it into the journal I kept of this visit. (You would have enjoyed watching me juggle camera, umbrella, hood on rain coat, purse and tears while taking photos.)
I also came back to get the name of the roses climbing over the front of the house. I asked the person at the door but she didn’t know. Which surprised me . . . they must get asked that question two-hundred times a day because those roses smell like heaven. Don’t inquiring minds want to know? So they can grow them all over their barn? Or something? So I emailed the gardener, and guess what, he didn’t know either! My blog girlfriends thought maybe Zephirine Drouhin.
Here they are, up close. They also look a little David Austinish with so many petals, they smell like David Austin roses too, really strong, but the gardener only called them cabbage roses.
The other thing I had to do was to take a photo of my miniature Beatrix Potter book as it soaked up some local ambiance, so I could bring it back to the Peter Rabbit Room to spread the wealth (a little more magic never hurts). The little book is so proud in that room since we got home, its buttons almost pop, bragging around to the Beatrix Potter People of where it’s been and what it saw!
Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail hoist it on their shoulders like a returning hero.
But this is what I really came back to Hill Top for . . . I knew, the moment I left the first time, I had forgotten something. I must have been crazy to even think of coming all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to England, then to the Lake District, over the narrowest rock-lined roads you can imagine, on the wrong side of the road, risking life and limb, and then leaving this behind? I scare myself sometimes. I’d picked it up in the gift shop and then put it back, regretting it every moment since, dreaming about it!
It’s an exact copy of the first book Beatrix Potter (who, as you can read in my journal of this visit, A FINE ROMANCE, is not only an illustrator, but so much more. Most 
importantly, a conservationist savior of the Lake District, but also a respected natural scientist and regular person, despite being a genius, who was very proud of her prize-winning sheep) paid to have published herself, exactly the way she wanted it to be. For this special, first-time-ever reprint, they used the same cover she designed originally, but they also added a dust jacket taken from editions published in 1903 by Warne; in a charming calico pattern supplied by Edmund Potter and Company (Beatrix Potter’s family business, isn’t it adorable? Oh, for ten yards of that!). They put the book in a special little bag and the only place you can buy one is at the gift shop up the garden path at Hill Top Farm. ♥ I could not go home without it.
What makes them extra special is, except for the surviving original books, there are only 1000 copies like this. On earth. (At least that’s what they told me, and I choose to believe!) And they all have numbers written in them like this.
The book is written in her own handwriting; all the pen and ink drawings are in black and white, just as they were when she first published the book. Only after Norman Warne started publishing Beatrix’s books were they done in color. He believed in her.♥
I had (was forced by a power stronger than myself, therefore the court would surely rule me not responsible) to steal a flower from the garden to keep in the book. Stealthy, like a cat, despite the pouring rain, looking both ways and still seeing no one — into the dripping mock orange and climbing honeysuckle I went. Rain pattered my umbrella as I tucked the wet rosebud softly, ever so softly, into my raincoat pocket, and was out of there before anyone noticed, leaving only a trail of muddy footprints, a clue soon to be washed away by the deluge; because I needed to press a real Beatrix Potter flower into my book more than I cared if I went to the Far Sawrey town jail . . . in fact, I took two flowers . . . . the rose, and an Iris for my journal.
And then it was time to go. Other than going inside and asking to take a nap in her actual bed, I thought I had done it all. The rain was coming down hard, Joe was waiting on the other side of the little gate with the car running, reading his newspaper. I stopped and took that one last photo of Castle Cottage ~ nostalgic, recalling memories that weren’t even mine ~ across green Post Office Meadow. Nothing in the village of Near Sawrey has changed since Beatrix walked the narrow lanes with her border collie Kep at her side.
I hope you enjoyed our visit — I wrote more about this dream-come-true in our travel journal in case you also have a place in your heart for the life of Beatrix Potter . . .
Thank you Susan for sharing your trip. You are kind and generous and your posts always brighten my day. My bassett hounds name is Beatrix after one of my favorite illustrators! I would treasure this gift!
Wish you could bottle that effervescent happiness & delight in all things that you possess. The world could use it. You are a great friend.
Thank you , Dear Susan, for all the joy you spread with each and every blog. I definitley have an England trip (a Susan Branchey kind-with lots of sheep) on my “life won’t be quite complete until I do this” list.
Winning the book would be fantastic, but I feel that I have already won. Just reading your blogs have added so much to my life. Simplicity and gratitude abound helping to make this sometimes harsh world into a better place. Thank you for sharing all you are.
Thank YOU for liking it!
You are so generous to us. I love the book. And to think it is her own writing. That is the reason I love your books. You can feel the love and care that goes into each page. Happy summer to you. Lucy
Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to get this book. What a thrill it would be to get it. I have loved BP for many years and thank you for letting us come along with you on the trip!
I am hopping on in here to sign up. . . lippity. . . lippity. . .
Thank you Susan! Your way of sharing this trip with us is heartwarming!
Dear Susan,
A really big Thank-You for taking us all along on the most wonderful trip!! And a special Thank-You to Joe for allowing us all to follow. I’ve learned so much. I never guessed that the British countryside would be so very beautiful. It reminds me so of New England where I grew up. As a big forever fan of Beatrix Potter and her works I’m hoping that I might just be the winner of that special book!!!
Thank-You again!!!!
I’m so happy that you have had a wonderful trip. I love to hear about your experiences. Maybe one day I’ll get to take a trip like yours!
Dear Susan,
My life would be so dull without you and your adventures. You make me want to move to England or Massachusetts or wherever you happen to be writing to us from. It’s so typical of you to think of us – Thanks a million times over. Enjoyed your trip so much that I just keep going back and re-reading and looking at all the pictures again and again. You’re the bestest!!!!!
My “boys” are grown now, but I have fond memories of reading Peter Rabbit to them, especially at Easter. Susan, you have done an absolutely fabulous job of capturing your trip….thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
OH MY! How wonderful; The secret garden and the books…You are brilliant and generous. Just as I suspected.
Loved the journey and you are a fantastic traveling companinon. Where are we going next?
Welcome home, Lindy Hebel, Holland, MI
Wow Susan! Thank you so much for taking us on this wonderful trip 🙂 I am very glad you remembered what you had forgotten on your first Hill Top Trip!!I love Beatrix’s works. I love your works. I’m very excited for your England book!!! THANK YOU for diligently posting and sharing . . . We sure appreciate your efforts 🙂
Skinny girl is a bottled product featuring mixes of vodka and tequila –the Cosmo mixes
White cranberry juice , vodka , soda water and crushed ice ….skinny for youooo!
Welcome home Susan…loved stealing away with you to England..loved every minute of it! Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
xoxox
My grandmother owned a bookstore in the ’40s and I treasure each of the Beatrix Potter books she gave me as I was growing up. It was my first taste of England, little people and animals. I later followed the Raggedy Aan adventres with Johnny Gruelle. Thank you for sharing adventures and the loveliest BP book.
The trip to England was so much fun. I have to say that winning the book would be very exciting not just because it is Beatrix Potter’s but because of the other beautiful lady who signed it!
Thank you, Susan. I love your tour through England and hope to visit there someday. I read “The Tale or Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle” to my 2 year old granddaughter often because she loves it so. You’re such an inspiration!
I’ve never left a comment before on any blog but I just really want to say “thank you so much”. Life is so sweet because of people like you.
Those, like yourself, that can write such beauty, give so generously, enjoy life so much it makes you enjoy it!
Thanks
Oh Susan! Thank you! Thank you! for another beautiful and FUNNY post. You made me laugh out loud! I can just see you “sneaking” roses off the vine!!!! Too funny! Honestly, I don’t think they would have cared since … THEY DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT’S NAME!!! (Poor little rose.)
I would be supremely happy to be chosen by the RNG for the give-a-way!!!! Thank you for the opportunity!
Thank you for your sweet, kind, loving and sharing heart!!!!
oxoxo
Deb
Susan, It will be a treasure to whoever wins the book! I love the lamb you painted in it. But all the things you have shared with us on your trip have been treasures we all have been able to share. Thank you so much. I hope you are all rested up and settled it. What fun that you took your miniature Beatrix Potter with you to visit Hill Top Farm! You do the most fun and inspiring things.
Dear Susan,
It would be for my daughter Tiffany, who is getting married in August, it would be such a perfect wedding gift! Hope It’s my lucky day!
This summer’s treasures:
fireflies abound every night
full moons and starry summer skies
warm sunshine
wild strawberries, our resident doe, butterflies, and cottontails (not Peter but perhaps distant relations?) in my garden. A few flowers,too!
our own summer trip and memories as well as those shared by others-thank you for the trip to merrie olde England and Beatrix Potter’s garden!
Oh, Susan! Such a treat was your last post and your giveaway, well, not words! It’s just the biggest opportunity I can think of; a Beatrix Potter book fresh from England, with a pressed flower from Hill Top, no less! No Way! Well, I guess life just keeps getting better and better. I’ve just really enjoy all your latest blogs. Thanks ever so much for sharing them all! Judy
Dear Susan,
How I have loved reading your blog! It just takes me away from all the stress of the day, I can feel and smell all that you are experiencing just by the way you write 🙂 Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you share with your fans! My mother and I have been fans of Beatrix Potter for so long, if I am the lucky one I will turn the pages with care as my mother (who passed away last year) looks over my shoulder and once again reads me a story. xoxo
Thank you for sharing your trip with us, it was magical, just getting to
enjoy your photos.
And thank you for bringing back a book to share with a friend, who will
the lucky girl be???? I hope it is me!!!!
It would be so nice to have this little book! It reminds me of when my girls were little. Each Easter, the Easter bunny, AKA me, would leave a copy of a Beatrix Potter book, so, by the time they were grown they had the complete colection. It was so fun to draw it out over the years and see their reactions, even as teenagers.
Also, the rose looks like a David Austin, ‘Constance Spry’- considered the matriarch of his roses. Very fragrant but blooms once a year. Thanks, Vita
My heart skipped a beat to read of your generosity for one of your lucky fellow travelers. Surprise, yes! What a treasure.
1,634 comments!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness the random, fickle-finger-of-fate, pluck-you-out-of-the-jar method is used! Susan, you have drawn us to your heart-warming blog with the most dear, sweet sentiments and memorable photographs of your English sojourn. I have enjoyed every moment. Like many Girlfriends, it was the “pause that refreshes” in the afternoon with a cup of tea. Thank you for sharing your joy, your love, and your enthusiasm. You brighten our days…charlene
I have loved reading about your glorious trip. It has been a wonderful experience for us as readers, and even just viewing the book and your inscription is delightful unto itself. Thank you susan.
OH! MY GOODNESS!!!!!! My heart did two or three back flips when I read that there is the teenist possibility that I could be the owner of a book with my two most favorite illustrators and authors on the planet! I know without a doubt that this a huge hug from God, as I am reading this in a hotel room, on one of the saddest journeys of my life. I am on my way from Michigan to Maine, to my parents home to begin to dismantle their gorgeous ocean home; a home filled with memories of many family reunions and years of laughter.
My dad died 6 months ago of a broken heart over the death of my mother only 9 months before. They had been married for 10 months shy of 60 years.
Beatrix Potter WAS the image of my parents life!!! Bless you for sharing your stories and pictures, you are a little ray of sunshine in my life right now!
So very sorry for your losses Nel, must be very hard, but you know they are together now, where they really belong. xoxo
We have all received a wonderful gift from you, Susan….sharing your trip with us … blow by blow descriptions and the wonderful photos….I have enjoyed every bit of it….longing to go to England someday myself. Thank You! 😉
OhSusan!
Thank you soooo
much for taking us along to England and especially to Castle Cottage! I absolutely love Beatrix Potter & your charming blog. I’m so hopping I win the personalized book from you!
Oh Susan, I’m crying big old tears of sheer joy! You have a such a sweet, sweet heart. Thank you. I’m so grateful that I can make a cup of tea and read your delightful blogs. That’s the real gift:)
Oh Susan,
I have been in the UK with you all the way through your trip. It was my one chance to see all these great places and you took the photos of the most interesting details of the houses and the country. Really thankful that you could post as often as you did as I checked daily for an update. Love to have the Beatrix Potter book, as I see a thousand plus others would also so you’ve picked the right prize.
Thank you for sharing your trip with us and for your generosity in buying a limited edition of the self-published book for us. I’ve been to Hill Top Farm, and I wish one of these books had been available when I visited years ago.
Dear Susan….It is after 9:00 eastern standard time for you…I sent my comment to you earlier this afternoon and I didn’t see it, but gosh, you have tons of comments!
That is awesome. I loved your reference to Bees in your Lavender as being “smudgy” so cute and an apt description. I have a few in my lavender but we are in a drought in Chicago so not as many as I would love to see. Love your words, art, and most of all your perspective on life. Thank you! Another Susan
Susan, you have inspired my mother and I to take our own wonderful trip to England! We are calling it our “Yippee Trip!” We’ll be leaving in September and will hopefully visit some of the enchanting places you have written about. Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh good for you! You will love it, I bet it’s even more beautiful in September (if that’s possible!).
Just so you know….it’s Bonny…not Bunny…but, I don’t care how you spell it! You are too kind…taking us on this trip and now this! Thank you for sharing!!! ~*
Wow, what a nice surprise – I loved “our” England trip and I’ve always
loved Beatrix Potter. It sounds like you are settled back in – it’s great
to go but so nice to come back home.
Thank you so much for sharing so many wonderful things with all of us!! You really brighten my day and inspire me in so many ways!! I love everything you do and I especially love your sense of humor!! You make me laugh and I love to laugh!! You’re GREAT!!!
XOXOX!
When I was growing up, I always dreamed of living in England, close to Beatrix Potter’s house, a far cry from the Australian Outback. I haven’t yet made it, but have shared the passion for her books with my children. Her stories were and still are magically and take you away to another world. So do yours….
Thank you for sharing your trip, the photos are beautiful and how you share the story is just entrancing….
Just love your blog and the books.
Susan are you aware of the series of light mysteries “The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter” written by Susan Wittig Albert? This is a series of books with Beatrix involved in village life near Hill Top Farm. Near Sawrey, Far Sawrey and other authentic places are all part of each book. Just today I picked up the third book from the library. Fun and interesting reading.
I wanted to let you know about the series, but of course I would also like to be entered in the drawing for the book. Thank you so much for your entertaining blog.
Yes, I just finished the first of the series! The perfect book to read while riding your stationary bike!!
It always makes my day to see a new posting from you! I too am a lifelong fan of Beatrix Potter’s, I remember checking out her tiny little books when I would go to the library at school. I have given sets of these books to each of my grandchildren and hope to have one of my own someday.
Thank you for sharing and especially for being such a special “friend”
🙂
Lori
Oh, oh, oh! You aren’t serious, are you? What a perfect keepsake! I was fortunate enough to visit Beatrix’s house when my mother and I visited my brother (who was stationed in England whilst in the Air Force. I know! How fabulous is that?) I only wish I’d been as deviously sneaky as you to pluck a posie!
You are a dear to think of all us girlfriends over here desperately awaiting your updates that whisked us away on a charming journey. We are the lucky ones, aren’t we 😉
We definitely are the lucky ones!! 🙂
I have so loved seeing the photos of your trip — it’s been 7 years since I’ve been to England. Your obvious joy in your holiday made me miss the cottages and gardens and weather!
Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle is my favorite. 🙂
Love the blog and your posts. Especially loved the vicarious trip to England with you!
I have loved reading all your posts about your trip and have enjoyed it vicariously! Thanks for the opportunity to win the Peter Rabbit book. Such a dear surprise!
Love reading of your adventures- and would certainly love, love, love the book!
Thank you for not only sharing your trip, but also a memento! I would definitely treasure this book! Cindy
I have so enjoyed your journey to England and your books. I feel like it was my vacation, too.
Please include me in the drawing!
Your trip to England such a pleasure,
Each charming photo, oh how I treasure!
How thoughtful of you to let us tag-along,
If I was to win the cherished book, I would burst into song!!
XOXOOX to you Susan! Thanks for being such an inspiration to so many!
Della 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing England through your eyes, Susan. Thank you for sharing your anticipation, joy and excitement with every turn in the road. Your heart is truly wide open and so very giving!
I have LOVED every entry of your England trip, your excitment is catching!
I would love to own the book and give it the very best home here in Oregon.
You have inspired me with your collections and wonder for the world.
Susan, I feel through your words here as if I was reading the letters of a dear friend, and my heart is filled with your sweetness and light!
Keep writing and creating for all of us who love you!
Cheryl
I have enjoyed seeing the sights of England through your eyes, I must say traveling with you was really wonderful and loved every minute of it. Thanks for taking me along. What a nice remembrance it would be to have the Beatrix Potter’s book for my very own. Thank you again.
Oh what an absolutely perfectly lovely day; much better than had it been sunny and bright. The magic doesn’t work for me as well when it’s sunny and bright; it has to be misty and quiet to allow the wee folk and unicorns to slip quietly around.
Exactly!!! You should have seen it across the Yorkshire Dales, positively teeming with fairies and leprechauns!
Thank you for sharing your trip with us! I need to go to England, visiting these wonderful places. Maybe I could get there in time to purchase one of the 1000 if I don’t win your give away.
Hugs, Carol
Hi Susan,
So wonderful to have you back…..but loved all of the posts from England. Thank you again.
xoxo Pam
ps I was rivited to the copy of the original Beatrix Potter book. So facinating and lovely to look at.
Dear Susan,
I have so enjoyed reading about your trip! The pictures have been gorgeous. I have seen
places I didn’t know even existed. I love all your things. This was the first year in many I don’t have your calendar
I’m so sorry we ran out last year, but we got the new 2013 calendars in early, it’s in our web store right now — hoping we can keep it from happening again this year!
Yes, I learned my lesson & will not wait so long
this year to get next years.
Thanks for the opportunity to win this beautiful book!
Sorry! It had never happened before, but you know how strange things can suddenly occur! I hope there will be no problem this year!
You are the most amazingly generous person… With your talent, your time…. What a lovely gift to a girlfriend. Thank you Susan
Dear Susan,
The book that you are willing to share with one of us is just beautiful. I have been a Beatrix Potter fan since my daughter was a little girl and had a Peter Rabbit bedroom. She has passed all her Beatrix Potter to her sons and I now read the Beatrix Potter stories to my grandchildren. Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip with all of us and may the remainder of your summer be just wonderful.
Pat Holland
Oh, Susan! My heart was already racing when I saw the pictures of Hill Top Farm. Then I saw the reproduction books of Peter Rabbit! As a former kindergarten and preschool teacher how many times have I shared this book with my students? Over 27 years of teaching and raising my own two children , I can almost repeat it by heart! I would dearly love to win the copy that you have personalized! Thank you for your generosity.
Dear Susan, Checking into your blog everyday as we traveled with you and Joe through England has been a true pleasure and delight. You really made me feel as if I were with you on your fabulous trip. Your descriptions and pictures were just wonderful; I could almost smell the rain and the roses in Beatrix Potter’s garden. Taking us all along with you has been such a gift! I’ve looked at the blog over and over again, just trying to take it all in. Thank you, thank you. Also love hearing about Martha’s Vineyard. We visited there last year for a day; can’t wait to come back for a much longer visit. THANKS for your artistry, your humour, and your kind heart. Cannot wait till we’re all together again on another adventure! Your fellow traveler, Peggy
So happy you enjoyed it Peggy!
Thanks Susan for your terrific blog. I really enjoyed your trip to England – thanks for sharing with us! My 80 year old mom is also enjoying your blog. She loves the pictures and the music too!
Have you ever thought of doing a children’s book featuring your kitty Jack?
Thanks for the opportunity to win the Beatrix Potter book, and most importantly, for sharing so much beauty through your blog.
I’ve thought of it, just not enough time! Say Hi to your mom for me!
Oh! Bad girl Susan! But if I were with you, there in that garden, I would have held your umbrella for you while you picked the flowers! Bad girls need to stick together! Anything for Beatrix Potter! Yay!
Oh my goodness-I’ve been hoping to see one of your own lambs! Darling! I would love, love, love to have this special book, but would be equally as happy for the girlfriend who wins this, should it not be me. So generous of you! Cheers!
Thank you, Susan, for sharing your experiences with us and especially Beatrix Potter’s home. It inspired me to refamiliarize myself with the books I shared with my children as they were growing up and to learn more about this amazing woman. 🙂
Dear Susan,
I love Beatrix Potter stories and drawings. I have watched many of the stories over and and over with my children when they were small. I can’t part with the old VHS tapes we have.
Love your blog. It is my mini vacation in the midst of busy days.
You are the sweetest person to think up such a wonderful surprise for your girlfriends. I have loved all your posts about England so much. I wish you could have stayed longer and just kept writing about it. You really made us all feel we were there with you. Next time take the smell-o-meter so we can smell all the wonderful smells from roses to tea shops.
We really do need that invention!!! Ocean air . . . that’s the one I want to send you from here!
Thank you for a chance to get this book and for sharing your wonderful trip with all of us! You are so very generous!
First time commenting, Susan, but just had to try for this lovely book — as much for the personalized inscription from YOU as for the book itself I might add. I truly adore your blog for all its charm and loveliness. Each entry is like a letter from a cherished friend. God bless you for sharing your heart and all the goodness in it…
Nice to see you here Rosemary, thank you so much!
dare i write to you,susan, in hopes my name might be drawn to win this book. you know that we have all won already. taking our dreams on this trip with you. again thanks. b
Do you know how many people you touch with your generosity? Of course, this book is an amazing gift. But, also, I have so much LOVED visiting England through your pictures and words! Going to England is my dream. If I could go to England, the two places I would be sure to see are Jane Austin’s house and Beatrix Potter’s Lake District. Thank you for taking us there!
Thank you so much for sharing your English adventures with us. I still remember my happy glow eight years ago as I walked up the road in Sawrey from the ticket office to Hill Top. There was a feeling of disbelief that it was possible to be in the actual place that Beatrix Potter had been and that it has been saved for us to enjoy and love today. I dream of returning but am still thrilled to know I got there once.
I really do know exactly how you feel! 🙂
Thank you SO MUCH for all the tremendous time and effort that HAS to go into sharing all these wonderful adventures with us!! You seem to have the same child-like love of “cute and sweet” that I still have at age 63! And from all the comments, I know I am not alone out here! It’s nice to know others love the same cozy, homey things that I do. I have loved Beatrice Potter ever since I had my first baby boy, named him Jeremy, and then found the tiny darling book, Mr Jeremy Fisher. I put it in his nursery and every room there after, until he got old enough to protest! Then I put it away and have now passed it on to him and his wife and their children. I love HER drawings and I love YOUR drawings.
Thanks again for your sweet, open way of sharing your life with us!!!
Thank you Susan, you are so thoughtful! I agree surprises are such fun to plan! This little book (treasure) would go so nicely along with my children’s Beatrix Potter books that I now read to my grandchildren♥
Susan,
I have followed your trip and been brought to tears by what you have shared with us! My longing to see England was intensified and I am grateful for your generosity in taking all of us along with you. Like so many others, I feel you and I are kindred spirits in many ways. I have enjoyed your books for many years and am so glad I found your blog. How sweet of you to give one of your girlfriends a special gift from Hills Top Farm — and how much more special it will be with your additions! You are a treasure!!
Did I miss it?! Did I miss it?! Is it too late?! Oh, so excited! You have been so generous with your give-aways to the Girlfriends, but this! this is the best yet! At least for me. I love books, had my nose in books from very young, my mom started me out on the Little Golden books. Even as an adult I still feel a strong draw to so many of the Children’s classics: Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, Charlotte’s Web and of course Peter Rabbit and Co! I think it’s something about the innocence and wonder of life as seen through child’s eyes. So much possibility! What a memento of “our” trip together! Thanks for working so hard to make it possible for us to travel with you. ♥ ~Katherine
First love goes deepest . . . ♥
Susan,
Another generous gift from you, the behind the scenes tour of Beatrix Potter’s home AND a one of a kind book!
How special….I enjoy your posts and am in awe of the # of responses you got. You are so blessed!
Susan-
Your blog is a bright spot for me on a daily basis!
Corey
I so enjoyed your trip to England – so many places I’d like to see! Thanks for taking us along. I would be thrilled to win this book!
I can’t tell you what joy you always bring with every post. Your books are wonderful. I am a preschool teacher and I got the staff hooked on them a few years ago. Of course like all kindred spirits we like many of the same things. Beatrix Potter is one of my favorite authors from childhood. She and I share the same birthday. Thank you for the inspiration you bring to our lives.
Wow! What an awesome trip you had!!! I love, love, love Beatrix Potter!! Brings back amazing childhood memories for me. My mother would always read to me when I was a child. We had t.v. and the radio/stereo, but, my mom insisted we read (and read out loud) as much as possible. One of my favorite stories was, of course, Peter Cottontail et al from the Beatrix Potter books. I grew up with a huge garden and we raised rabbits for a time, as well. So, I felt as if I lived the Beatrix Potter stories. I’m always so happy when you have updated your blog as I so enjoy escaping to ‘your world’ as often as possible. Having said that, I love your website, as well! Thanks for doing all that you do!
Dear Susan,
Again, your generosity in sharing your treasures is unbelievable! How very Exciting this is! Someone is going to be soooo thrilled to get this book! Thank you for the opportunity!
Denise
Thank you for this beautiful post and oh dear, to win a copy of this limited edition of Peter Cottontail would be over the top, or should I say “over the hill top”!!!
Susan, what can I say that hasn’t already been said about the Heart that you possess and what a very dear person you are to share this lovely book with one of the girlfriends. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!! I haven’t been on here for awhile and it’s obvious already 1634 so happy I decided to check on my emails (39) and saw where you had a new blog. I have to admit to you this was the 1st thing that I suspected you might be giving away just knowing how thoughtful that you are; but, I never wanted to presume so I wouldn’t dare comment on your Dads hints….haha I have enjoyed every single step of this journey and reading every comment (think it may take some time that I don’t have right now to read 1634) but I will try……and the blog where you mentioned “me” falling in the creek and sending Pat to check on me and Dawn set off a penpal friendship for all of us and I want to thank you for allowing all of us to chat and become friends on your blog. You truly mean so much to all of us and you inspire kindness, compassion, freedom of our inner self to be the best that we can be, and taking chances by trying new adventures!!! You are a true treasure so I feel that I have already won. Blessings
Oh how thoughtful of you to bring an extra back home……..to give away! Thank you also for all of the pictures and stories you have shared. What a treasure for all of us! Hope I win the book, but will be happy for whoever does. Visiting England is on my bucket list as well as many other European countries!
What a wonderful post. I have enjoyed all the posts of your trip. Thank you for sharing. I do love how you told us about your adventure in sneaking a flower or two.
Such a wonderful trip! I’ve enjoyed your journey – thanks for bringing us along.
Thank you for taking the time to take all those great pictures. It makes your trip come alive for me.
What a treasure!!! Viewing these beautiful areas of England was a treat. Whenever I saw a new entry, I’d stop, brew a cuppa and enjoy.
And to have this opportunity to have a chance at receiving this beautiful book
-so exciting!!! Thank YOU!
Thank you Susan for “our” wonderful trip to England and the chance to be chosen for the Beatrix Potter treasure. I’m saying a prayer and keeping my fingers crossed!
Oh my! My heart certainly skipped a beat upon reading your last post! We are all winners after having traveled with you on this trip. It has been a dream of mine to visit Hill Top Farm. Now I’m really ready to go absorb it all! Thank you so much! Looking forward to your “Journal”!
I loved reading your trip diary so much that now I am planning to visit England next May with my best girlfriend from 3rd grade – we are 57! XO
I would have HAD to steal a flower, too!!! How fun to be in Beatrix Potter’s garden!
Oh Susan,
I’ve been away for so long…since St. Patrick’s Day, in fact, as the requirements for all the college applications and decisions for our son got truly overwhelming. Since graduation I have slowly been going backward through your blog and have recently “embarked” on your wonderful long trip to England. I am so enjoying it but I did read your most recent two posts because I HAD to read about Jane and Chawton and then your gloomy Lake District photos were so arresting. My sister dearly loved the Lake District above all other areas she has visisted throughout England. She would be so throroughly thrilled by the magnificent Beatrix Potter book that I just had to check back in with you and try for it. You are so wonderful to have gotten one to share and I know it will be a lifelong treasure to someone lucky.
Welcome, welcome home. I am looking forward to “going along” for the rest of your trip.
I have just loved going back to England with you. My husband and I took a trip there thirteen years ago (I can’t believe it was so long ago!),and what I found so wonderful was that everything looked just like I had imagined it would. Your pictures brought back so many great memories. Thanks!
Oh Susan, thank you for the chance to win this darling little book and your drawing and signature in it. I have loved your travel to England and back. I was also on vacation traveling with my 81 yr old mom to 10 National Parks out West. I also kept a journal everyday. You gave me inspiration to write this journal. My mom and I shared some great memories and we will always have them in our journal as we reminisce. (sp?).
Julie
I attended kindergarten, first and second grade in Potter School, Wharton, NJ. I believe this qualifies me to “win” this wonderful book!