December 20th, How can that BE? Time is rushing by . . . we need to catch up!
38° this morning Girlfriends, still dark around the edges out there! Listening to my favorite MUSICA, and thinking of you. ♥
It’s been relatively quiet at our house . . . especially after Yankee Magazine left! The good kind of quiet. I’ve been working hard on our book, painting new bits of art for the English Diary. This Union Jack bunting was hanging all over England where we were there, crossing over the streets of every little town, celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. I had to paint it into our book; it would not be complete without it!
In case you are new to my blog, I’ve been working on a diary of the trip Joe and I took through the English countryside last spring . . .
And you know what? I have 130 pages done! I think it’s going to be around 200 pages, so we are getting there! It’s fat, heavy, exciting to flip through and see it coming true. I love waking up in the morning and going into my studio to paint. Here’s the page I’m doing now . . . not quite finished! That’s Alice, my English girlfriend Rachel’s dog (below) . . . we stayed with them while we were there.
Every day I get to wallow in the memories of this wonderful trip. Did I tell you there will be an Index in the back of the book with links to everything? Oh yes, to places we went, bookstores and pubs, places we stayed, tips for what to bring, how to drive, what to wear; all kinds of things. So that’s how I spend these wintry days, wrapped in a shawl, hovering over an art table with my pen or my two-haired paint brush, thinking, what do they want to know next? And in-between time… I’ve been taking pictures around the house!
When I make tea or lunch, I keep my eye on the windows over the kitchen sink, not to miss the daily Cardinal gathering on our driveway. Look close, there are two males, and four female Cardinals there! Notice that the boys are guarding the area while the girls eat? Look how stand-up brave they are!
The girl’s feathers are so much more subtle than the boys; no wonder they fall in love with these handsome guys and mate for life. Wouldn’t you? They are wonderful husbands.
Here’s our kitchen door; Joe has finished putting up all his lights, roping and wreaths. We are decked!
And because of Yankee Magazine coming last week (to photograph the house for next November’s issue of the magazine), we are CLEAN and shiny.
Some of you have asked me to post photos of our pantry . . . I suppose this is about as good as it will ever look, just don’t look too close! That is Jack’s regular bird-watching post. My niece, Holly, painted the “Friends” sign for me when she was twelve. It was supposed to hang on my garden fence, it did for one summer, but I was afraid the weather would wear it out too soon. So in it came and there it will stay. Holly is twenty-four now and just about to graduate from college. ♥
Everything is neatly folded, more or less — on the pantry shelves! I had no idea what they might want to photograph so I needed to make everything at least passable!
Before they came, I washed all the “red” dish towels and hung them on the wooden drying rack in the pantry.
Jack likes the ironing board too, another good bird viewing position in the pantry.
This is sort of how our living room looks most of the time … empty, peaceful, clean. All I would need to do to have a party is add food and flowers. All I would have to do to redecorate completely is to remove the red, change the pillows and quilt for some other color (except I like the red too much!); that room is like a prop, really easy to change. Those slip covers are all washable, so don’t worry, come on in and bring your cranberry juice! The carpet has been there for almost twenty years!
And here it is, not quite as peaceful anymore, all the little bits and pieces that turn it into “Christmas” have been added, pillows, flowers, stockings, wreaths, roping, Christmas books, sugared fruit, a tree . . . . . . And Joe, the honey on the floor.
There he is, a contented man, cozy in front of the fire. Lately he is asking why we need to have a coffee table. Maybe you can explain it to him. He isn’t listening to me.
And here’s the mantle at night, and the clock ticking.
Was just thinking, I’m not sure if I showed you this chain idea — if so, ignore me. It’s so simple and easy … you pop a couple of thin nails into a hutch or bookcase, and then . . .
You hang a chain and fill the holes with greens and decorations. Jack, of course, helps.
Speaking of Jack, we brought our deer down from the attic, which was a bit of a surprise for Jack. He was full of questions: “What is this? Is this an animal? Have I seen this before? Why is there an animal on the table?”
“Hmmm, it has a bow. I like bows. I like to eat the skinny ones. But this one, maybe if I smell it, I will know what this thing is.”
“Or touch it. Those, the sticky-uppy things, what are they? They aren’t ears. Horns? This thing has Horns? Why? I think I’ll bat it, see what happens.”
“I’m leaving, this feels a little bit embarrassing in fact. To have a human who puts horned items on the table, why? It’s stupid. I need quiet time. “
“I need time to myself to ponder the reasons behind things. Like, what is life? Why can’t I go out there.”
and why is that thing behind me.
Because we love it when our little neighbor Iris comes to visit . . .
So all is settled down at Branch Hall. And last, I thought you might like to see one of my favorite decorations . . . for every year . . . I may be a little bit jerky with the camera, but I love the bells, and everyone who comes in here says … Oh, I used to have those … so guess what? Next year we will have them in our web store, just in case yours slipped away from you.
It’s a most wonderful time of year. ♥
I’m putting together a surprise Give-Away for next time Girlfriends, something very very homey . . . have a wonderful day! JOY to the WORLD! ♥ xoxo
I would LOVE to watch a youtube video of you painting! That would be sooo cool!
Requires organization of me, Joe, camera and sunlight in the studio, but I will try!
Oh that would be great to see you painting. I ditto Rebekah! 🙂
I Love your iron bird at your back door. We collect Iron critters. Every year we go to the Art festival looking for something new from this one Gal who makes such fantastic things. I am going to see if they have anything like that next year. I love birds and feed a Bazillion of them daily so it would be fitting.
Oh HAPPY DAY!!! LOVE the new post!!! As usual, you have transported me to a place of contentment and organization!! NOT the way my place feels now.. I have not been very good with keeping up with things this season for whatever reason and now have to get ‘er done!!! BUT.. right now.. I am off work… the wind is howling, and it is SNOWING!!! FINALLY!!! and It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.. so this girl is gonna make her a cuppa coffee, turn off all the lights except the tree and mantle…light a few candles.. and snuggle in for a little while til hubby gets home!!! Ahh.. There is nothing like staying home for real comfort!! “~~Jane Austen!!! 🙂
Perfect thing to do, let everything just stop for a moment, that is the true secret of enjoying a real Christmas!
Soooo true.. Then my fire-in-the-fireplace-making hubs got home, I whipped up something fast and easy and then… I …GOT… MY…Christmas Cards done!! YAY!!! Better late than never… now on to the grocery store today…. I think it is almost Christmas, eh???
Almost Diana . . . very exciting!
OK, it must be Christmas because the picture of the cardinals made me cry—-yes, the little brave man cardinals allowing the women to eat—that’s just too wonderful. I have a brave wonderful man cardinal in my life; well, actually, he’s human, but it hasn’t always been that way, so this just touched me.
The home is lovely and I especially love: everything OK….just everything. The pantry is amazing. The floor, all the stuff, the quilted ironing board cover…did you make it? I have a quilted ironing board cover but it’s not a real quilt—it’s quilted pretty fabric but hmmmmm, it will get old soon.
My youngest daughter and her husband are currently ‘on the road’ headed home….well OUR home. They said that passing through Lake Tahoe this morning was extra fabulous. They are ahead of the big storm coming there, so it was sunshiney and super bright and beautiful. They are bringing my grand-pup, too. I miss them all….
OK, gotta run—counting down because I still have lots to do. If Yankee Magazine had come here, I’d be done now….but NO…….they made me procrastinate and now I’m rushing around as fast as my feet can move me, which, by the way, is NOT as fast as they used to move. Trust me.
You’re wonderful for sharing…… love it all, including Joe’s red socks. And Joe….YES, we HAVE to have a coffee table—-all those pretty things on the floor in front of the fireplace would have no place to be displayed…..
xoxo
Joann
Even the threat of Yankee is a good thing! Have a party Joann! That’ll do it! I found the ironing board cover on my travels through the midwest, in a huge antique store. When I got home, I called them to try and get more for our web store, but the woman who made them had been sick, and now had passed away — which was sad. She just found old worn quilts and cut out the best parts for the cover — I think you could even do it with a new quilt and it would be darling (and probably last longer) … and fairly easy to figure out how to do. Welcome home to your family and grand pup!
I know that you get many comments on your wonderful blog and of course your stunning art, but I just wanted to say thank you again for sharing your home and drawings. I enjoy them more that I can say! Have for years and years. Makes me sound so old-LOL. Well– I quess I am old 🙂 Jack reminds me of my 7 fur kids!
That makes two of us Claudette!
We are young at heart though!!!
The Branch Hall is very festive and beautiful. Isn’t it interesting how there is a huge celebration we call Christmas with all it’s splendor, color and pageant just before the earth falls silent to rest until spring?
We have been hit by a blizzard and I have been snowed in for 2 days. It has gotten as low as -22 at night. The county will send out the plows to dig us out and clear the roads hopefully this afternoon. Until then plenty of hot chocolate to drink and wood in the stove. It is beautiful out and looks like a winter wonderland just in time for Christmas.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.
Treese/Colorado Cowgirl.
I love those kinds of storms, hope we get one this year! Stay warm Treese, our cowgirl girlfriend!
I am starting to save my pennies now for the book. The recession (aka job loss) doesn’t allow for many splurges, but there is no way I am missing out on this book. Following you during your trip did more for me than you can ever know, so having a souvenier to remind me of how much I looked forward to your updates will be priceless. All your blog entries keep me going, but the ones from England were extra special.
When I was young, I told everyone I was going to be an English Nanny when I grew up. Then my sister told me I never would because I wasn’t English. Oh big sisters….
Kill joy! 🙂
Thank you Susan for helping me already with Christmas gifts for next year!!! I know of at least seven different girlfriends who will be overjoyed to find your new book under their 2013 Christmas tree!! (Plus, of course, one for the “giver!”)
Thank you for also sharing the video of your beautiful twirling angels. Whenever II hear tinkling bells I’m always reminded of the line from “It’s A Wonderful Life… “Everytime a bell rings, an angel earns it’s wings.” There must be many, many new angels earning their wings tonight!
Let’s pray that is true. xoxo
I so enjoyed your post today….it’s always a happy surprise I look forward too each morning….I was in an accident yesterday…totaled my van….caused two other cars to have damage also….no one was seriously hurt…but I have felt so so bad…I got bad whiplash and am resting in bed with my computer….yipee! I so appreciated the tour in your cozy home…if we didn’t love you we(would covet)your life…what is so wonderful is that you inspire us to want to make our homes cozier and more meaningful. Thankyou a hundredfold….May you and Joe enjoy and be refreshed this Christmas season….sit a little longer in front of the fire for me…….and drink some yummy tea…….Merry Christmas…evangeline
OMG, I’m so sorry Evangeline. I pretty much ran my girlfriends into a tree one time. Luckily it was a pine tree with needles to the ground so, in a way, we were padded, and didn’t go into the trunk. But I cried for days, thinking I could have killed my friends. Slowly over time, I quit being so mad at myself, but it’s hard. I’m so sorry! All the things you said I should do, you should do. xoxo
Oh, those angel chimes! I’d totally forgotten about those! I didn’t know they were still available, so can’t wait till you offer them for sale. When my mother died, I didn’t know till much later, and someone else swooped in and took everything, even my personal belongings. I would have loved to have kept those. I shall look forward to being able to at least replace them.
Thank you, soooo much Susan!
Swooped in. Very wrong! xoxo
Hi! We have a cold, blowy, rainy day here in Knoxville. The house feels so cosy with the Christmas decorations and lights. Thankfully today is an at home day, the first in weeks (somewhat over committed here!) and it is a real treat to find a new post!! I really enjoy all that I do but miss the days at home that I had when I first retired. You seem to have found a way to make home the main focus and this post made me realize that in the new year I need to do that too. A resolution!! Thanks for making me realize that getting back to gentle days where there is time to quilt, read, and try new recipes is important.
Isn’t being creative the most fun there is? I just love it.
Can you share the Cardinals? Just box a family up and send them out to California! Thank you so much! Merry Christmas to you! 🙂
Box up a family ! Do you mind if I put them in foam peanuts? I know some people don’t like peanuts as padding in boxes. Otherwise I will just have to wrap them in tissue.
You seem to have a real love affair with lamps and I have a thing going with
frames. I took notice of the frame over your kitchen door to the right of the
hutch. It is such a cute size and I was wondering what the “picture” is. I see
you also collect stone hearts….as do I. Jack is a hoot!
Pat S.
You have a good eye! We have a weekly newspaper here on the island called the Martha’s Vineyard Gazette. There is always an interesting, smart, or funny quote at the top of the masthead, so for the whole year of 2000, I saved the dated mastheads with the name of the paper and the quote, about 35 of them. I had them all framed, as a souvenir of the millennium … I picked out a quote that fit my family member or friend, and wrote on the backs of them — that was my Christmas present for everyone that year.
Clever girl:)
Well, kind of free too 🙂
Your home is so wonderful and cozy! Did you say you can wash the slipcovers?! I have always wanted the white slipcovered look but with 2 grandsons I was thinking I didn’t have a chance – but maybe I can! I saw a beautiful sofa at Pottery Barn but I didn’t ask about the care of the covers…can you help lead me to where I might find something similar which I can wash if my sweet boys have a little “accident” or even I have an accident – Hee! Have just gone thro a blizzard here in Iowa with 12 inches of snow – its beautiful – have a wonderful Christmas!
The man who made my slipcovers has moved away … so sorry. Ask at Pottery Barn, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they had an easy care fabric. Also, you can get an estimate from a decorator for recovering, and choose your own fabric. Twelve inches of snow, I just hope that storm is on its way to us!
Thank you so Susan! I will take your suggestions to heart! I’m trying to blow this storm your direction since you really want it! 😉
I appreciate that. Every day I get up while it’s still dark and peek out the window first thing, hoping to see all white out there, but so far, it hasn’t happened!
It’s coming…
Slip covers are amazing! They really aren’t hard to make if you can sew, I’ve made several for chairs. The Pottery Barn sells slipcovers for their style of sofas. Ikea also has them. I have to tell you about my Red Pottery Barn sofa. I found it at a thrift shop for $35. Slipcovers and all — in great condition. I think that was my find of a lifetime! 🙂
Isn’t it great when you find the perfect thing at the perfect price?
I just LOVE “coming” to your house! It is always so “gezellig”! There’s that “word” again! Cozy just doesn’t do your home justice~
Thanks for sharing your wonderful home at this time year and all year round!
Blessings <3
love ya!
Love having you here Elly!
Hi Susan, 40 here yesterday but C not F… horrible weather and very dry, so lovely to see your winter… I have to say I love the lamb on your mantle… he looks like he is purposefully trotting somewhere. Adorable. Jack is gorgeous too cats hate to be embarrassed. Iris is just gorgeous, you are so lucky to have her pop in for a visit. Merry Christmas.
Where are you with the C not F?
Haven’t even gotten past your cute “Jolly Jingle” drawing…was sooo excited! Saved it for my screen saver! Thank you sweet Susan! [I think that is the sweetest name, cause my sister is a Susan too…] Anyway, I wanted to let you know, that I think you would have been a good and kind teacher! I would have loved to have you be my 2 daughters’ teacher! Your kindness is contageous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wishing you and yours the Merriest Christmas!
Now back to your blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Peace be with you in the New Year! God bless you!
What a nice compliment! Really nice … teachers are such important people!
Hi Susan,
I cant believe its the 20th already either, time is flying by. Your home is beautiful, love your christmas decorations. Really love the chain idea, I will be using that one for sure. So many possibilites. Thanks so much for sharing. I hope you and Joe and the kitties have a wonderful Christmas.
Michelle
Thanks soooo much for sharing your home with us, it is absolutely beautiful!!!! I live in Northern Illinois and the snow is beginning to fall. Looks like we will have a white Christmas! My 9 month old sheltie got her first taste of snow today!!! I think she actually tries to catch snowflakes with her mouth! As for Peaches my cat, he is inside keeping warm! Funny when it gets cold and snowy he wants to become an indoor pampered cat!
Oh, Susan, your delightful blog is just what the doctor ordered. I can’t tell you how tranquil your photos make me feel. December is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I have a wonderful husband and two marvelous adult children. My son is working in Afghanistan and won’t be home this year, and so we feel a bit melancholy. Both my dear mother and beloved stepmother passed away in this month, so that is always with us as well. Your photos with Mr. Jack never fail to lift my spirits. His little face is so expressive! I’m really looking forward to your book coming out and really enjoy getting a peek at the pages!
I wish you and Joe a most Happy Christmas!
Too much for this year, Denise, please tell your son how much people here appreciate his (and yours) sacrifice — I’m so sorry about the loss of your two moms, I hope you can feel them watching over you. Thank you so much, it makes me happy to hear that Jack’s little face has the same effect on others as it does on me! I look across from me now, he is curled on a ball, even while sleeping he is social, right in the middle of things. Merry Christmas Denise.
Aren’t the cardinals wonderful – especially when they are hopping around on clean white snow by the bird feeders. Love the reaction Jack has to your white animals. I find I am constantly decorating – a little thing here, a little change there. We have a white tree this year with red bulbs – quite beautiful when lit. How in the world have you kept your carpets so nice after 20 years, especially with black/white cats. Our tuxedo kitty leaves lots of black hairs everywhere even if I brush her daily. Merry Christmas all!! P.S. Can’t wait for the diary and new book!!!!!
Maybe it’s just my eyesight, but for some reason I don’t notice any cat hair from my kidlets. Don’t know why … maybe holding onto those hairs in case of winter storms!
Hi Susan…..Jack is soooo precious. I just love the photos of him. Also love Joe’s red socks!
I loved everything about this post…..your cozy Christmasy home, your pantry, the deer and that Jack! The picture of the back of his head with the Christmas tree is one of my very favorites. And I cannot wait for the book. Seeing all those pages just gave me goosebumps. It’s nice having it to look forward to. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
I do it to get shared back with, so thank you Charlene!
What a lovely pantry, Susan! I have always wanted one, but alas…none here. My mom had a long narrow one when I was a girl that on the weekends my dad would convert into his dark room. Such fun watching the magic of the photographs come to life. After I left home, they changed the pantry in to a closet and a half bath. Thanks for sharing your pantry with us.
Kim
Old houses have these odd rooms .. and few hallways. I have been in some old houses where you walk from one bedroom to the next, through three of them in a row, with no hallway. You have to go through each one to get to the last! Love that!
The house looks wonderful as always. It’s so comfortable looking, as Iris can attest to. How pretty is she. I’m sure Jack is beside himself but he’ll get over it.It’s nice to have neighbors come to visit. I love the bells and candles. It’s been years since I had them and yes will have to get them again. My girls loved them. My house is not up to the usual Christmas standard but I just haven’t been able to do a lot. The shingles stink and they’re not going anywhere fast. Three weeks now. But I did get some baking done, biscotti on it’s way to Michigan to my parents as well as bourbon balls. Simple things and my Dad loves the biscotti so much. My daughters things got to Okinawa so now I can really relax and my mind is at ease. There are just some things that are traditional and we all look forward to. Unfortunately my great grandmothers Suet Pudding, brought from England by her ancestors, will not get made but that’s ok too. There’s always next year. We are together and what I can get done is great but doesn’t matter if it doesn’t. After all the reason for the season is the birth of our Lord. I can’t wait for the diary to come out, I think about the lambs and look at the videos and just have to smile. As far as Joe and the coffee table it may be a lost cause to try and explain. If it wasn’t there he’d be asking why there wasn’t a place to put the tea pot and cups and snacks. *L* Sometimes we just have to do the eye roll and go on. To all in the path of the storms stay safe. *S* Hugs to you, Joe (who looked so comfortable) and the kitties.
Love today’s blog – the photos are lovely, as usual. I called my husband over to see the pictures of Jack. We have our own cat full of personality – Joyboy. Best of allis the mention of the new book. We are all just full of anticipation !
Oh, Susan, you wrote yesterday that you would be back soon and you did not disappoint…I just returned home this afternoon from caring for my elderly and frail mother. Feeling a little blue, I hurried to see if you had posted anything, voila! There you were with cardinals…gorgeous living room with whites and reds… antique dresser just oozing serene beauty…Jack the absolute crackerjack of a kitty (i am so in love with him)…bells…the sound of your soft voice as you did that little video of the bells…gorgeous linens hanging on the drying rack…a sneak peek of your England diary….picture of your dishes…I felt so uplifted by it all that tears of joy are now running down my cheeks. I can hardly see to type. Thank you, thank you. I wrote to you yesterday that I sent a wish for you to be blessed as you create. You surely were blessed and turned it into one great big blessing for all of us. You are loved…plain and simple. Thank you for turning this upside-down week into something that makes more sense to our fragile little hearts and minds. I am going to submit this comment and then go back to look at all of it again before I cook dinner.
Thank you so much Paula, I’m very touched by your sweet response. Please give your mom a little hug for me. xoxo
…our fragile little hearts and minds. This is EXACTLY how I would describe my emotions this past week, too, Paula. Today, I was able to breathe more deeply and find more peace in my personal blessings…Now I feel more able to focus and get caught up on the joyful preparations for Christmas. I KNOW this blog plays a big part in helping us move through the good and the bad, always feeling connected to each other. You’re so right…Susan is a blessing!
Yes, Debbie, you are right about being able to breathe more deeply. The blessing of Susan is that she shares her heart of her home so that we feel inspired to be the beating, pulsing, beautiful hearts of our own homes. I never leave her post without feeling inspired to make my own home a little more cheerful, a little more homey. Isn’t just wonderful synergy? Thank you to Susan and to all of the beautiful women who share their hearts. I never knew I had so many girlfriends.
Kindred spirits … thank you Paula!!
Dear Susan,
Love this blog, and the very special and sweet touch to it was Joe lying on the floor! Love the fact the both of you “live” in your home!!!
Merry Christmas!
Cocoa from San Diego!
If you only knew! 🙂
Thank you for the peak into your pantry. I absolutely love it! So glad to know I was not the only one wanting to see inside that “magic” room. My Mom had a tulip bowl just like yours. I believe my sister has it now. Your bowl made me smile with memories of Mom’s kitchen. Her bowl sat on top of her refrigerator for years. Love your blog. Thanks for sharing your joy with us!
Thank you for the lovely “visit” this evening – it did my heart good! How warm and cozy your home is and how good of you to share it. Funny enough, my husband is also lying on the floor of our living room at this very moment – his favorite spot to be. I’m afraid I gave in on the coffee table debate, and we use side tables exclusively. Good for you holding out!
A Merry Christmas to you and yours!
The sofa is long enough that you would feel sorry for the person in the middle! 🙂
We have the very same angel chimes as the set you have on the left. Is yours about 50 years old? Mine was my mother’s and none of my sisters wanted it. . . can you just imagine that?!! I also think it’s so neat that your neighbor’s dog comes to visit on her own and makes herself at home. It’s even more interesting that the kittens allow the visits! Your home looks like it could be right from the pages of a magazine. Hey, I have an idea! Maybe Yankee Magazine should come and do a photo shoot/article for next year’s November issue!! 🙂
You are the one with the taste in the family! (don’t tell them I said that!) Yankee? You think they would? 🙂
Susan, you are such a role model, because you just get better and better! Every post is such a delight. Love the Polka Dots and Moonbeams today. And the lovely Cardinals, I miss them so much! And Jack with the deer (and owl) is priceless! So is Joe with the laptop in front of the fire. Just tell Joe where would the coffee go if there was not coffee table. There’s a Joe floor and a Coffee table. Although, you could call it a ‘joe’ table, too, I suppose. The tree is gorgeous. The buffet is gorgeous. The pantry is so, so, so PANTRY! Delightful little sign made by your niece, and wise of you to keep it in and preserve her wonderful artwork. Your blog is such a heartwarmer. And the book! Looking so forward to it being published, and, at the same time, relishing the joy of your sharing as you go. Thanks to you, we’ll always have England! Joyous Christmastide, Susan, Joe, Girl Kitty, the ever beguiling Jack, and all the wonderful Girlfriends!
i love Christmas. thank you for sharing your home with us! i love seeing homes with trees all lit on the inside and the merry twinkle of the lights on the outside. my daughter even put lights on her daughter’s outside play cottage! they had snow so now the lights glow in the snow. did i mention that i love christmas? many years ago ,a friend and i put together a book called ‘the joy of christmas’. we sold thousands of them. over 6,000. they were all hand tied with red yarn. it was fun to include our fav food , gift ideas and family traditions. one of my favorite traditions is: after christmas put all the cards you recieved in a basket on the table and each night at dinner time take one card and pray for that family and/ or share a memory about that family with some story of some past fun with them. for our children it was a way for them to connect with people who were far away but still in our hearts. it made christmas last way into the new year, blessings/
What a nice tradition!
Susan,your home is lovely & so cozy. It has effected me in this way, that I want to get out my knitting needles and enjoy a cup of Christmas tea.
Wishing you & Joe a wonderful Christmas, and give Jack & Miss Girl Kitty an extra hug and kiss from me. See you next year……. Love Ya! Betty Marie
Yes, let’s sit and knit and talk!
Susan,
I just love the way you decorate! There’s always something that reminds me of Christmas’ past. Your blog is so heartwarming and such a nice place to be! Love the photos of Jack! You must take some of Girl Kitty so that she does not feel left out. We girls can’t let the boys think they run the show, you know! (I also mean the human boys…Don’t you dare get rid of that coffee table! LOL!). Have a great evening!
Pamela Jo
~xoxo~
I know why it reminds you of Christmas past! Because it is! 🙂 Girl won’t come down stairs. She wants to sleep!
You probably won’t see this but your house is beautiful and looks so comfortable. Your tree is beautiful. And I love kitty kitty. He is so cute in all the pics. I love looking at all the things you post. I have alot of your stuff and I love your art.
Thank you Karen!
Susan: I envy you your cardinals. Out here on the left coast, we do not have those glorious birds!….arden in Portland, OR.
p.s. I LUV the chain/greens idea…so much more stable than trying to tie greens to a string! I might try that on my mantel. Cheers for a Merry Christmas!
Jack has the most delightful look on his face; good job for capturing it. And, here I thought that half coffee table was a good thought -smile-. “Joe Honey” looks cozy and comfy on the floor, in front of the fireplace.
Merry Christmas Susan and Joe!
Your home looks lovely! Very inviting. I like the chain idea . I immediately thought painting each link alternating red and white would be cute. I may need to try that. 🙂
We had our first snow this am in Missouri. Very beautiful almost magical as long as you weren’t on the highway. The Cardinals are beautiful . Enjoying your blog thanks for all the joy you spread ,most appreciated especially in these troublesome times. God bless us everyone!
This post was so much fun, Susan. I love everything about your home, but quite honestly, I can hang out in your pantry! Love-love-love it. xo
Susan, you always have such warm, comforting posts. I feel like I’ve known you for years and years. I always have your Christmas Joy book on my side table during Christmas time and it, like your wonderful blogs, always makes me smile at your whimsical musings and just relax a little during this crazy time of year. Thank you and Merry Christmas! Oh and love all your four-legged creatures!
Thank you for such a lovely post! I love your angel chimes, they are sweet and lovely. Your home looks so warm and cozy! Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
You too Debbie!
Merry Christmas, Susan. I look forward to the new year with your book and posts. Each time I open your blog I’m taken home to New England. Thank you 🙂
Hugs and pats for Girl, Jack and sweet Iris.
I just love the cardinals. I saw the male of a couple that was here in Spring. At least I think he is the same one that was here before. I always liked you stockings too. Mom has always knitted stockings for my sisters, our spouses, and our children.
Today my “other” girlfriend stopped by and we were talking about cookies. (Have we had enough stollen and coffee this afternoon, why bake more??) I saw your e-mail as I was signing off with my husband, and she said I know Susan Branch! (She knows you!) So I got out Christmas From the Heart of the Home and she started writing! Then I said… let me send THIS to your e-mail, and I showed her THE cookie jar. Magic!!!
:-)! Magic!
I love seeing the pictures of your home, it just brings such joy and creativity.
I have been in need of an ironing board cover, and seeing what you have, is what I am going to use and I have just what is needed in making one. I love the deer on the table, I can understand why Jack is curious. I also see the birds outside eating from the feeder, it is such a joy to watch them. Junco’s are visiting now, hopefully the blue jays that sometimes visit won’t scare them away. Yes, it is the most wonderful time of the year!!!
Perfect, I really think those ironing board covers are brilliant … thick — and probably fairly easy to make! Let me know how it goes Jeannine!
I will, And you made Emily’s day when she saw the pictures of Jack.
And that makes my day … what goes around comes around!
The before picture of your living room looks nice but the after with all your little touches (and Joe on the floor, which is a true sign of comfort) sure looks homey. Celebrating the holidays at your home would be a joy. As soon as you said Yankee was coming to do an article on your home to be published next year I ordered a subscription. I’ll be ready when the time comes. Thank you for a beautiful post. p.s. I LOVE your pantry!!!! I could iron there for hours. xoxo
It’s really good in a snow storm, if we ever get one!
it must be wonderful to travel through England again while writing this book, your home is the perfect place to show Christmas, this house was made for this, I love that Jack, what a face!
If only I could step into your blog, and sit with Jack and you. Your home is so inviting. Merry Christmas to all.
Hi Susan,
Merry Christmas to you and to yours!
Thanks for this latest blog, loved all your decorations but did have my favorites which were as follows…..
#1 husband on the floor in front of fireplace, #2 cat up on top of cupboard, ironing board, and table, #3 Jack acting as your decorating critic giving his two cents about the deer on the table, even though I personally like the deer on the table, but who can satisfy a cat?
My sides are splitting with laughter, how funny your blog was and I really needed that!!!!
Thanks for sharing your real home with us.
Jamie 🙂
PS Id buy one of those brass chimes if you get them in the store next year and then we can both be a “little jerky” as you put it! Your so cute!!!
Love hearing your favorites Jamie! 🙂
Susan, so nice to see your birds. I enjoy mine so much, about 6 or 8 cardinals this year. More than ever before. The babies from last year stayed with us. We sometimes have 4 male, and other time 4 females….but never 8 at one time, 6 or 7 occasionally. I feel so blessed with our assortment of birds, and feel happy that i have time to sit and watch them…and our 4 black squirrels and 6 grey ones. Oh me….how fun they are, especially when we put out peanuts for them. Your home AND pantry are wonderful to look at. I lay on the floor like Joe, with my feet in a chair….it’s good for my hips/ arthritis!
Have a wonderful few days before Christmas!
Love,
Jane Alexander
You too Jane!
Especially lovely post. Can’t wait for the book. My dream is to travel to England and perhaps I can use your book as a guide. Something wonderful to look forward to.
Your last quote was amazing, just love it.
Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the cheery blog today…it was so nice to see your lovely home decked for Christmas. Enjoyed that peek at your adorable pantry too.
It has been raining in Ohio with heavy winds all day. Temperature is supposed to drop tonight – so maybe snow!! That is what we need!! Wouldn’t a white Christmas be wonderful? It sure looks cozy by that fire…glad all is peaceful on the homefront.
Susan, I love, love, L O V E your hutch! Of course if I had one, it wouldn’t look near that good because it wouldn’t have Jack on top of it 🙂 Thank you for instilling the Christmas spirit into us…
Hi Susan,
I wish I could come to visit you and curl up in one of your living room chairs! Maybe take a nap! You are really like my soul sister. We love all the same things. I have followed you from the beginning. Your heart is so full of Christmas spirit. I was wondering if you made the beautiful paper Christmas trees (Scherenschnitte in German) on your bureau or perhaps you have a company name where they can be purchased? They are just lovely! I wish you, Joe, Girl Kitty & Jack a very Merry Christmas (Iris too! So sweet…) and look forward to buying The England Book in 2013! Please say prayers for the Newtown, Connecticut families and their angels- this happened only about 15 minutes away from me. Best Wishes for a Happy 2013!
I am saying prayers for Newtown constantly. xoxo Love to you Elaine.
Your tree is exquisite! love it, and love the mantel. I think it’s wonderful that the neighbor’s dog comes to visit!! cute story, a girlfriend called me a couple weeks back, early, about 6:30 AM but I was awake. Hi!! She said, are you missing something? me…I don’t know, what? How about your dog! what? is he gone? She said, well he was on my front porch barking. Ron opened the door to see what was going on, and said…Hey I think this is Barb’s dog barking at our front door. my friend said, well, let him in! and in he came. I doubt, however, he made himself at home on the couch! Sue, you are such a dear that even the animals feel drawn to you, as we do.
I animals for loving who we love and feeling comfortable enough to just “drop in!” Too cute!
Susan, Your home is so beautiful and festive for the holidays. Joe did a marvelous job with the exterior, love all the garland and wreaths! Please give Jack a chin scratch for me…he is such a cutie. Girl kitty, too. We must not leave her out. 🙂 Merry Christmas to you and your family, both the two footed-and four-footed family. 🙂
Thank you for letting your girlfriends see your home, it is a delight to see.
Merry Christmas from Sebastopol California.
I just love your pantry. What a joy it must be to have that room…I think I am going to start converting my laundry to something more like you have there…God Bless and Merry Christmas and Happy Winter!!
Yes, you can do it, I have this wonderful shelf I should show you. Very very shallow, one can deep, but tall and takes up a wall, so LOTS of stuff can be there, yet it takes up no space. Thank you Pamala!
Did you say we could bring our CRANBERRY JUICE??? Hmmmm. I am watching the White House Christmas special and it is lovely, but truly…does not compare to the warmth and charm of your Christmas house. Love the chain idea. I reeeeally need another Christmas decoration idea to add to my boxes of stuff.
To get a peek at the English Diary is almost too much for me. It will be so welcome when it gets out!!
It is going to be 20* tonight in our part of Texas, which makes it a little more Christmassy than the 70* of late. Our little family from North Carolina (son and daughter-in-law and 2 grandchildren) are hopping in the car day after tomorrow to come to Grandpa and Grandma’s house and we are about to pop! Love getting their beds ready and having everything ready to go!
We will talk again, I am sure. You are doing wonderfully in getting us in the spirit of the season…after the overwhelming horror of a week ago.
Bless you!
LOL, yes, what I reeeeeelly need is another Christmas decoration! LOL Rosemary! And, thank you!
So many things to make you smile ~ dogs sitting quite happily on the (white) couch, cats sitting on the dining room table pawing at reindeer antlers, sideboard filled with interesting Christmas delights, husband laying on the floor by the fire surfing the web, mantelpiece covered in beautiful Christmas greens. I always come away having been satisfied. Thank you, Susan. How delightful!
MERRY CHRISTMAS! (to all the girls and ofcourse Susan!) I don’t have much done yet for my move which will take place after the new year…..but I’ve decided I will bake after I swore I wouldn’t. Soooooooo, I will be happily baking for 3 days and wrapping the gifts, too. And I will NOT be frantic! I will be kind and loving to all I meet….remembering the reason for the season. All at the same time I am trying to set up a non-profit to spread kindness around here, there and all around the world. So let’s be KIND to one another, together!! It’s about time we choose to have the good win over all the bad. If anyone has faith and feels led to pray for this, PLEASE DO! I would be most appreciative. I will be happy to let you know how it is going.
I thought I saw your comment already Kirsten, but in case the gremlins got hold of it, just wanted to tell you, I love what you’re doing … and sending prayers your way!
MERRY CHRISTMAS! (to all the girls and ofcourse Susan!) I don’t have much done yet for my move which will take place after the new year…..but I’ve decided I will bake after I swore I wouldn’t. Soooooooo, I will be happily baking for 3 days and wrapping the gifts, too. And I will NOT be frantic! I will be kind and loving to all I meet….remembering the reason for the season. All at the same time I am trying to set up a non-profit to spread kindness around here, there and all around the world. So let’s be KIND to one another, together!! It’s about time we choose to have the good win over all the bad. If anyone has faith and feels led to pray for this, PLEASE DO! I would be most appreciative. I will be happy to let you know how it is going. Once again, thank you Susan for your beautiful blog. It encourages me!
Good for you Kirsten! Good for all of us!
Hi Susan,
I really love that final quote on friends and have used it in the past when writing to some special people in my life. It just makes me want to give a big sigh and settle back in a comfy chair. I put that quote in the same category as the words ‘ companionable silence’. Doesn’t that term conjure up cosy ness, warmth and deep friendship?
There is so much joy in sharing your beautiful home through your photos and words. That new book had better have a huge run printed as we’re all hanging out for it……but….don’t rush…..we want as much of it as possible……200 pages?…….how about 300?……just kidding of course.
I really appreciate that you spend your precious time responding to so many of the girlfriends comments…..bless you…they are a joy to read…..sort of adds length to your blog posts!
Companionable silence — lovely. It’ll be as many pages as it takes to get it all out … I just hope I can get it to the printers sooner rather than later because it takes four months to get it printed!!!
Did you catch me swaying around the room to the music? I LOVE Polka Dots & Moonbeams! Such great music. Your home is lovely, thank you for sharing. The icy cold rain hits the window panes tonight as I sit by the Christmas tree enjoying your lovely photographs. Susan, you are so very inspiring.
What’s up with men and coffee tables?? I just had this exact same conversation last weekend with my fiance. My mother, who is 91, was aghast that someone would even consider not having a coffee table.
I admire your dedication to the book writing process. It’s all the more thrilling to see the pages begin to stack up in a pile.
Happy Christmas!
~ Jamie
I know, put your head on “his” shoulder, and slow dance around the room … it reminds me of Sabrina, sitting in the tree, watching the garden party (in the movie Sabrina).
I remind Joe that our coffee table was also built for feet! Feet UP! You would think that would do it!
Happy Christmas Jamie!
Ohhhhhhh!! I LOVE Sabrina, it’s my favorite Audrey movie, the way she talked, glided around a room…..and sang “La Vie en Rose”…and Bogie was so suave and debonnaire. Haven’t all of us dreamed of being Sabrina in that tree peeking at a garden party?
I tried the feet up thing too, didn’t faze him. My mother’s concept that a coffee table is made for decorating didn’t help matters. We are on the hunt for our new home, actually our new OLD home on a farm (not as easy as you would think) so I’m letting the coffee table debate rest, with feet up, for right now. Somehow I just KNOW a coffee table will already be living in the house we find. 🙂
Enjoy the weekend!
~ Jamie
House hunting! exciting! Yes, just adore Sabrina! Hope everyone has seen it! It’s pure magic! The scene at the end is one reason Joe and I went on a ship!
Merry Christmas Susan, Joe and the kitties! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful home. Peace and Love to all the girlfriends! XOXO ♥
I love the end quote-that’s my hubby and me after 40 yrs. Your house looks
lovely and sparkly! Happy Holidays to you and Joe-can’t wait for the book!
“With the breath of kindness . . .”!
Oh Susan, your home is so lovely! Don’t you just love it when you have a reason to get your home all spic and span? I bet Kitty and Jack like it too…lol they have the greatest roosts don’t they? Our little dog Rusty perches on his kennel and watches everything from the birds, to the neighbors cats (which he doesn’t like!
With the kitties, they will nap in the same exact spot for months or even years, and then one day, for no reason, abandon it and never return; go somewhere else that becomes their favorite. I have always wondered about that!
Oh, how strange…but you know cats, they have a mind of their own! smile… and only they know why they do what they do! smile…
Susan,
I just love getting to tour your home. It is so beautiful and so cozy. So neat to see your “boys” relaxing and enjoying themselves too. 🙂 Just so homey there. Thank you, as always for sharing everything and so much of yourself. You are the neatest person and so fun!!!
You are a doll to say that Glenda!
Oh. I keep forgetting to ask. Is there anyway you are going to put all of your posts in your blog in a book someday. There are so many things you share that I wish were all in one place for me to look at over and over and over! 🙂
We should!
I was just thinking the same thing! What a JOY that would be. Especially in full color! I am not the most tech savvy person in the world and cannot (or don’t have the luxury of time to find) older posts that I want to see and read again and again. A Book of them would be divine. At least you wouldn’t have to “write” it Susan, maybe just “edit” it. But, if you decide to do it, don’t leave out anything!!!
I just need somemore arms to get this all done, because I’d love to do it!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful home….full if inspiration. Hope Santa brings you the warmth and joy that you share with all the girlfriends. Thank you!
Susan! On the 15th picture from the top, I see a sheep figurine! I collect sheep figurines! I love it! They are hard to come by but I have quite a few now. ( I loved all of your pictures of sheep and lambs in England)
I have hunted and hunted for them and finally found them and will have them in my web store next Christmas for everyone who has fallen in love with lambs like you and me!
I remember my mother telling me in a letter from England a long time ago, that she had a collection of sheep and lambs. Unknowingly, I had cross-stitched her a picture of lambs in a country scene and sent it to her for Christmas one year. She was thrilled to have it to add to her “collection”.
Now that is really kindred spirits!
Thank you for the lovely pictures. Does Joe lay on the floor when his back aches? Because that’s what I do sometimes! I also have some of those angel chimes–I think they might be from Sweden, right? Such a peaceful look and sound. Merry Christmas, dear souls!
Yes he does it for his back! And just to be reading in front of the fire!
I forgot to tell you that everyone I’ve sent mini-banners to for Christmas has loved them! I customized each one to the recipient & really had fun! Thank you for such a wonderful, quick creative idea! Loved even more that I had everything right here to create them! My friend and I laughed at her husband’s reaction – I made one that said “No Pouting” so she could hang it in her kitchen and could just point when her grandchildren needed a reminder. Well, as she was unrolling it he thought it said “No panties” and wondered why the heck I had sent an X-rated banner!! We’ll never let him forget that one!! 😉
That is good! 🙂 I think that is just about the cutest present! I’m sure your people are loving them!
A lovely post, Merry Christmas to you, Joe and your kitties. I love that your pantry looks like something I would imagine in an old farm house, its not a show place — it just says -home-. Its time to say ahhh, relax and have a nice old fashioned family Christmas. The best of everything to you and yours, thanks for all the fun posts this year, its like having this great ongoing magazine full of everything I enjoy (and I am a bit of a magazine junkie), but this one doesn’t cause any clutter or pile up in the corner.
I feel like it’s a magazine too! A little decor, a little food, a little story, some of this and that.
I agree, and I love this magazine!
I’m so glad Sandy … and Merry Christmas to YOU … Lots to celebrate this year! xoxo
Yes, so much to celebrate and be thankful for! I met with my oncologists last week in Boston, and they said I am doing “amazingly well”!!! Merry Christmas to you and Joe!!
Just love to hear it Sandy! xoxo
We all do!
Oh Susan, I love your pantry! So cozy, I could smell the ironing being done! The jar of oranges is a great touch! I didn’t notice your reindeer last year on the table, Jack is so funny, love the thoughts you give him, lol! I enjoy seeing your neighbor come for his visits, feels right at home doesn’t he? Does he know where you keep his snacks? When my son or daughter-in-love walk their dogs up the driveway they always pull up to our door knowing I have treets for them! I love living so close to them! It is such a blessing!
Blessings to all!
Jeannie
I did a little shopping inside my house … wanted “white,” so I rooted around in the attic, which is just full of Christmas stuff, and found him in a big plastic trash bag!
Yes! Iris knows exactly where the snacks are and really can’t settle down at all until she’s had 4 or 5 of them! I agree, it’s a blessing. I feel honored she chooses us to come to! Of course, those treats have a lot to do with it!
Love the pictures of your home….it is so beautiful and warm and cozy! Thank you for sharing with us…even personal things like a pantry! Even it is cute! and cozy! So inspiring! Merry Christmas to all!
I can’t explain to Joe why you need a coffee table … we got rid of ours 26 years ago when our first born started to toddle and we’ve never put one back. We have six little three-legged Italian tables where people can put their cups and plates. It works! And doesn’t everyone have those chime angels? My sister, brother, and I loved our mother getting them out each year and then making a mad dash to find candles to fit the holders. Last year at a Salvation Army Thrift Store I found a German-made wooden nativity which turns on the heat of candles too. Wise men circle the Holy Family. I love it!
Sounds adorable! The fire doesn’t burn it up, obviously … would love to see it.
What a find! You are so lucky Brenda.
Hello Susan,
Thank you for sharing your beautiful, cozy and heartwarming home! I love it!
I have a set of those little chimes they belonged to my Grandmother. I love them too. They make such a soft, sweet tinkling sound. My Grandmother used to put them on the dining table at Christmas dinner. I think I have another set that I purchased at a Charity shop.
Jack is such a sweetie! One of my kitties is laying here on the computer desk in front of the screen as I am typing this, his name is Hemi because he has such loud deep purr. Poor guy, he is 10 years old and just had 16 of his teeth pulled 2 weeks ago. He has 5 left, 1 more canine has to come out after the holidays. He is doing quite well now.
I quite enjoyed your hubbies red socks! Definitely adds to your decor!!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Warm regards,
Candice
Oh poor Hemi. I’m glad he is better.
Susan,
Lovvvvve your pantry!! Thank you for sharing it! I don’t know why today’s modern houses ever did away with the pantry. I think they just moved the storage/laundry rooms to the garages, which are so less charming. Who wants a car in their pantry! As with the rest of your home, your pantry is to die for, ahhh. I betcha the back of your closets are filled with charm too. You are, dear friend, the queen of charm. 🙂 So sweet of you to share it all with us!
Nicest thing you can say! xoxo
The tree is so beautiful…your home is warm and welcoming…love the kitty and the white owls…lol…you know I love owls…phyllis
What peace and joy you must feel in your cozy home! Such fun to study every room you shared. When you showed the “before” and “after” of the living room, I felt like I was reading a kid’s magazine where you had to find and count how a picture changed. When I had my cardinal teacher/girlfriend luncheon in early December, I was doing some decorating and ran across the set of angel chimes we had when we were kids. Teary-eyed from wonderful memories, I assembled it and could harldy wait to light it. We had it burning the day of our luncheon and ALL of us had fond memories of them making joyful noise to us when we were youngsters. PRAY TELL, if you know, the best place to find replacement candles for them. MANY THANKS!
Earlier this week I was out to lunch with a dear friend and we were talking EXACTLY the gist of the wonderful quote at the end of your blog. How wonderful it is to have friends who accept us for what we are — and who know we occasionally say and do things that need to be “blown away”. Don’t you feel so much closer to your friends this time of year? I continue to reach out to them and to my family, but also to store clerks, to waiters, to the kind gentleman who opened doors for me today — sharing a smile, lingering a moment longer — feeling comfort in their presence and friendliness, feeling hope for peace in our world. Blessings to all! Ethel
Yes I do Cathy, there is something about this beautiful season! You are being an elf! xoxo
I just wanted to share something that this comment reminded me of. A friend of mine told me recently that she went to Walmart and paid off the layaway of a family that hadn’t been able to cover it and the date when they had to pick it up and pay for it had passed. Walmart then called the family to tell them that their layaway was paid for and ready to pick up! She has inspired many of us to do the same. Isn’t that a great idea?
Beautiful! That’s what I call Christmas!
I thoroughly enjoyed your post. That Jack is quite a character, isn’t he? I wish I had my camera with me this morning. As I was shoveling the berm that the snowplow left, my Max was playing ice hockey in the street. He was batting the balls of snow with his front paws and sliding all over the ice. It was a sight to see!
Merry Christmas from North Idaho!
They seem to save their best stuff when the camera is nowhere to be seen!
Your home is beautiful! I grew up with angel chimes; a tradition my mother from Germany always had. We use red candles. It would not be Christmas without the sound of the angel chimes and the Finger Klatschen cookies (thumbprint cookies filled with red raspberry perserves and powdered sugar. Have a wonderful, merry Christmas! Your blog blesses my life all year long. Thank-you so much.
Thank you Marianne xo
Would you please share with us what the little hearts hanging in the center of your dish cupboard say?? And the little narrow sign above your door looks so intruiging also! Is that a special picture above your mantel??
We l♥ve the details! Thank you!
OK, I made a note of it … I will show them soon!
I’m so impressed that you have over 200 comments and there isn’t a giveaway! And I love your home decorated for the holidays. It’s so warm and cozy; just what I love. I’m excited to see your (“our”) book coming together. I can’t wait to see it and the Yankee Magazine article. It’s like being a child, waiting for Christmas to arrive! Does Jack know he’s an internet star? He’s so cute; I love seeing his sweet face and hearing about his antics. I hope you and Joe have a wonderful holiday.
Seems like Jack is grooming himself for any possibilities in life; honing his talents of ball chasing, leaping and jumping, eating well, getting lots of rest, exercising … so I’m not sure, he may be more ambitions than he looks! 🙂 Thank you Kristi!
What a wonderful post. So warm and cozy. What a surprise when I saw in your pantry, the tulip bowl that I grew up with!! That was our potato salad bowl, our cookie mixing bowl, it was used every time my mom needed a big bowl. I have no idea what happened to it but I know that the last I remember it didn’t look quite so bright and pretty as yours. It was well used. Susan, have you ever made boxed Christmas cards? I would love to send out a card of yours to people I love. Also, I would love embroidery patterns. I have the cake plate one that you did, have you done others?
We do have boxed cards in our web store . . . also some other embroidery patterns for dishtowels too.
And yes, that bowl, such memories!
Susan, your home is so lovely. I love how you’ve decorated everything. Looks so homey and inviting. I wish I could have all my old glassware on display like yours. I don’t know how you keep everything so clean! We get so dusty so quickly here. Plus having 4 cats and a dog doesn’t help! I just love Jack! He’s so cute, and always looks surprised at life.
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful home with us! Merry Christmas to you and Joe and the kitties.
A couple times of year, just sort of casually, I start putting everything in the dishwasher! Cooking does make the glasses dirty, but the prettiness of it is worth it to me to just wash them every so often. Merry Christmas Vickie!
I don’t know why I’ve never thought to put all my blue glass and pottery in the dishwasher! Mine are usually very dusty from the kitchen grease because it’s such a chore to wash them. Your idea will definitely help me keep up with it!
Oh good … I really sort of have a theory that if it can’t survive my dishwasher, it pretty much can’t survive living here. There are exceptions, but not too many. Be sure to know that if you have gold on any dishes, they can’t go in the dw, because it will likely come off.
I’m oh so happy to have found your blog, Susan! I have bought your calendars and books for years and became a blog reader/part-time poster on my own blog a couple of years ago but never thought to see if you had one. Duh!! Oh what I’ve missed! Oh well, I’m here now! I went back and looked at your most recent posts. Of course, your house is exactly as I would have pictured it but I’m enjoying getting a sense of your personality through your writing … as if I didn’t already have a great sense from the way you express yourself through your art. I’m a huge fan and am delighted to have found you here so I can get more regular doses of your delectable art and simple style that is so appealing to my eye and heart.
Hi Lori! So nice to meet you here! Thank you so much for your sweet comment!
Hi Susan, I just finished reading and looking at all of this, and the mini movie of the angel chimes, and yes! I had those once upon a time! I think I might buy stock in your local candle store. I see you support them very well! I have been enjoying Christmas Joy, savoring some of it every day. And it has added to my Christmas Joy!
This info my be out there somewhere, but I have seen your initials joined with JBH, so is Joe not a Branch? Is he a Hall, as in Branch Hall?
cheers, sandy
Yes, he is Joseph Hall —
I didn’t know that the boy cardinals stand guard while the girls eat!! That’s awesome!!
I adore your pantry!! It looks so old fashioned, and I LOVE old fashioned!!
I need my coffee table so I’ll have a place to put more stuff (decorating stuff, that is!)!!
Jack is such a crack-up!!! He always makes me laugh and laugh!!
Your little short video is wonderful!! My mom had the angel chimes when I was growing up, but I have no idea where they are now. 🙁 I am so glad you are going to carry them in your store next year!! They sound so pretty with the Christmas music playing!
One year for Christmas,the poem you have here at the end (“Oh, the comfort…”), I wrote out in calligraphy 3 times, framed them and gave them to my 3 best friends. It’s such a great poem!!
Thank you, Susan, for the Christmas blog! Your home is warm, cozy, charming and inviting! I love Christmas time so much and can never get enough of it!
Love from Mary S. in Fresno, CA (Mary Shearer on Twitter)
What a nice gift to give, and receive!
A comment to Amy J. who has a cat, Max……..My mother-in-law used to have a cat named Muffy. In the winter, when the sidewalks got icy & slippery, Muffy used to run, then straighten out his legs, then slide on the walk. He’d do this intentionally three or four times, until he got bored, then he was off for another adventure. Muffy would do this antic every winter. It was a hilarious sight. Don’t you just love watching cats play?
Our Wire Hair Terrior, Jack, is best buddies with one of our cats, Bootsie. They really love one another. Each morning they greet each other, with Bootsie rubbing up under Jack’s chin, back & forth, while Jack patiently & quietly stands & enjoys the rubs. Then Jack washes Bootsie’s ears. The joy pets bring to our lives is a true blessing.
Merry Christmas girlfriends, Sandy of Chihuahua Flats
Your home is just beautiful, loving and cozy.
I just love the pictures of Jack, he always brings a smile to my face as did Joe’s red socks.
My husband also loves to lay on the floor, it must be a man thing.
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful life with us.
My dad watched TV from the floor forever…so it really does have to be a man thing, because he could have had the sofa, if he wanted to move 5 pajamaed children! But he seemed to like it there!
..Dear Susan …good morning !!…thank you for inviting us all in to your lovely home and heart !!…sooo much to comment on !!!…everything looks so much like, well, CHRISTMAS !!….for joy !!!…something about that mantle photo tho just really felt like home to me…I can’t say “thank you,dear Susan, for all you do ” enough !!. such a little boy that Jack is… full of wonder and excitement !!..and the birds !!..we have a huge cardinal family too, out back, along with robins and bluejays and woodpeckers…wow..it’s so much fun to watch them all eat and play …well…I’m randomly rambling this morning,,,feelin’ like a little kid immersed in the excitement of the season !!!…oh, yes, thank you for the peek into the progress of the English diary…can’t hardly wait !!…dear Susan..once again, “Take Joy “….
Loved that happy comment Mary! xoxo
Susan, Your house looks lovely and comfy and Christmasy! I love your pantry. I wish I had one. They are so convenient, such a smart idea. I love the Jack pictures. He seems calm compared to my new kittens, but mine are still “babies”, Double the mischief! I hung big jingle bells on the tree this year, and we are finding them all over the house! We have so many laughs with our new kittens! Your banner idea was so timely for me this year. They are kitten proof decorations when hung high enough! I took my decorating to a new level this year, so to speak. 🙂 Enjoying the season, which is quiet for me this year. To everything there is a season….
They are convenient … and really needed I think … especially in cold winter places where you need somewhere to dry clothes, and keep canned things, and all of that. Let’s start a movement, bring back the pantry! 🙂
Love the “new level” of decorating!!
Bring back the pantry!
Furry high five!
Hello Sandy, this too will pass with your new kittens and great you can have a sense of humor with them rearranging your decorations. I have always thought to a cat a Christmas Tree must seem like a giant “play pretty” put out just for them? It truly isn’t their faults during the year we shake strings with feathers attached, toss balls (Susan), so to have a tree with hanging shiny ornaments (Eureka)!!! ha Hope you are feeling well and I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year. Blessings
I was going to tease you all that, contrary to kitties, dogs are angels and leave the Christmas tree alone…but then Sandy might write in and tell you about the year our Lucy was little and we didn’t decorate the bottom third of the tree at all because she would help herself to carefully remove the ornaments and “teeth” on them. Or worse yet, the year we had a male collie who marched over and “watered” the tree–thankfully the day AFTER Christmas when the presents weren’t under the tree! Wellll, they say confession is good for the soul…I am having fun with the stuffed kitty that looks like Girl Kitty that I bought. I move it around the house–on the rocking chair, on the fireplace mantel, bookcase, etc. The funny thing is how “real” it looks when you are standing directly opposite it and the lights are low…and guess what? It leaves our Christmas tree alone! LOL! Merry Christmas all…
So there you go, and Jack and Girl haven’t touched our tree, so kitties are angels and … what was that? 🙂
Even your stuffed kitty, angel. You are surrounded by them!
Hummmm sure hope your ornament eating dog story gave you some peace?? haha there are some pets that just do not pay attention to decorations like my precious kitties! OK…..
Smokee just cannot leave the little bear sitting atop my wooden rocking horse with the twine tail??? He thinks it is so funny to go up to the bear and touch it with his nose and when it falls over he looks back as if to say…”why doesn’t it just stay down”….he doesn’t paw it or try to chew it he just doesn’t want it up on the horse!! So, if that is the only thing they touch I’m good with it. Phew are we done with the confessions??
Hi Deborah, Yes,,we are having fun with the kittens, and I hung all kitten proof decorations on the tree this year, nothing breakable. The kittens are still at the “baby” stage, just cutting their adult teeth. (The vet told me) I am glad you are feeling better, and I wish you and your family good health and happiness in the new year too. If we are healthy, we don’t need anything else! I love that you ended your comment to me with “blessings”. My mom wrote that on every letter and card she sent. Now that she is gone, sometimes my brothers and I write that on cards we send to each other…
Kittens are just the most adorable little creatures and I’m sure they are keeping you on your toes. Thank you for your wishes for good health, I can sure use that and have made the decision to “live” with or without great health because it beats the alternative? I survived the Holidays (so far) and did about 90% of what I wanted to so that made me happy and I have a strong will/spirit which you obviously also have and we just have to move forward. Enjoy your kitties and I will always wish you….Blessings
Good morning Susan! Thank you for the English diary update! What a delight! I wish you could be cloned so you could come over for tea, cookies, and decorating! I hope you and Joe and the kitties, of course, have a very happy Christmas and a terrific New Year! Thanks again for the joy you bring to us.
I would love to have clones, I could live such a bigger life, I could be all over the place! 🙂 I could send one of me to the gym for one thing and that would be GOOD!
Oh my, if we could clone ourselves…just think what we could do! My house would be clean, all the Christmas baking done, the cards would be done, etc. I’d just assign a job to each clone of myself instead of having unrealistic expectations timewise with just one of me…but I’m not sure Norm would be happy more than one of me to deal with! LOL! 🙂
Oh, he’d love it! 🙂
GoodMorning Susan……..
Thank you for such a “Comforting” post. Love your Cermaic Santa with the plant in it, followed by the showing of the book……wow 130 pages. Thats is a lot as last you shared you were on page 80. Your picture of Alice…..is so Spot on, Rachel will be so happy to see that. Your Excitement is contagious so of course cannot wait till we get the next update.
Wow…..you have a crew of Cardinals…..lucky you…..yeah! I have only one pair but I have tons of chickadees, juncos, finches, nuthatches, two red squirrels, tons of woodpeckers too. I love just to spend time watching them all fly, eat, jump, run, climb or sometimes they just perch and look at you when you see them. Love my birdies as you love yours!:) I so love your Hutch and Pantry. I love the Tullip
bowl along with the other pitchers…and all your wonderful tablecloths and napkins. I love all your old fashion items…..just comforting and so pretty to look at and the memories they all must hold for you. Then the pictures of Jack and all his antics with every picture you took and the Christmas tree…..so beautiful.
Your living room so cozy.
I so thank you for this post….I have been under the weather with a virus so your post is always nurturing for the soul and Cranberry Juice, well I had CranApple juice this morning…..nice and cool to sip on. The winds are howling here and rain is on its way. One more thing here…..Coffee tables are a must…..they are an American staple to each household. We have many…..one is an orginal clawfoot cherry or oak coffee table. That is where we put the old fashion doillies or runners on with so many different decorations for the season and other coffee tables hold plants or a book or two……so please tell Joe he must keep them.
I know my post here today was long…..but your Comforting post just makes me want to reminice about the good ole days of yesteryear. Love, Hugs &Smiles
Barb:):):)
Hope you are feeling better Barb . . . love to see you here, and read your comments! Thank you!
Lovely, lovely! I’m looking for washable slip covers for my couch. I’m looking for a similar color to the ones you have on your couch. Can you advise me as to where I can get some good slip covers that don’t cost a fortune? I’m looking for any resources the girlfriends may have too. Many thanks. Merry, blessed Christmas to you, Joe, kittens and all the girlfriends!
Google “slipcovers” and put in your city and state and see what you come up with. The man who made mine has moved away, so I can’t be of much help, but most decorator shops provide this kind of service, and you can choose the fabric (easy care) yourself. I have never made them myself, but people do … if you’re handy that way. I think some of the girlfriends might have better advice than I do . . . so we’ll see!
Thanks so much. It’s a good start!
I have been wanting to ask you and finally am going to do it. Your house is immaculate and lovely, but you are continually working, painting, gardening, cooking, blogging, entertaining, and taking trips. We see a gazillion nick-nacks and lovely items displayed everywhere. soooooo pretty. The question is….do you have someone who helps you clean? (maybe that’s too personal a question) I find it impossible to keep all my cups/saucers, candle holders, bedrooms, bathrooms in tip top shape. Wears me down (working full time and a part-time job too) to spend all the rest of the time keeping up. You might not want to share, but I’m guessing you must have “help”. (and I hope you do)
I don’t really mind, I’ve actually answered this before — Yes, I have help … I suggested in one post as a wonderful thing to have, help, even once a month, for a couple of hours — such a gift! We have someone come once a week … she vacuums the whole house which is a job all by itself, and does the bathrooms. The knickknacks are my job, because I don’t want anything to happen to them. But I do put them in the dishwasher! I have to. Washing everything by hand would be insane. And some things sit for a while before I get to them. I’m kind of on a rotation system, pop a few things in the dishwasher every so often to keep up with it.
I’m having foot surgery in a few weeks. So we hired someone to help clean while I’m down. It was October when we talked with Sandra, and my husband said, hey…why not just start now, why wait til January!? I wasn’t sure, it felt a little extravagant for me. Our son is away at college, it’s only Mike and me and our awesome frenchie Layla. I mean really now! Really? WRONG…WRONG…WRONG!!! Since October I’ve learned Sandra is the best thing since sliced bread! My house looks so amazing. I love coming home after work on Sandra Day, the wood floors shine, the furniture is polished, the house smells marvelous. How did we live without her?! I would cut back on just about anything before I could go back to P.S.(pre-sandra)! We love her!❤
❌⭕❌⭕,
Tawni Urrutia, in peat dirt ridden Lodi, Ca
I did the same thing, went for years thinking “extravagant” — and got over it really quick! 🙂 Plus, you have to think, you are helping someone else with an income!
Good, beautiful, rainy, shortest day of the year ! What an other magical post ! Your home and beautiful Joe on the floor, whimsical Jack on the table, enchanting Branch Hall, has filled me with so much joy this morning!!! We share so much love for our homes that are truly lived in with so much love, we need to spread it around and have it last all the year long. YOU are such the inspiration, such a LOVE ! I am off to Idylwilde Farm this morning with my best girlfriend and we are getting fresh fruits and vegetables, cheeses, breads, flowers, you name it they have it, for our Christmas celebration with family and friends.It is such a wonderful open market, you would just love it ! It is off of route 2 in Acton, MA. it would be a nice field trip for you and Joe and then visit Concord on the way which we do and Oooo Lala, magical trip ! I think all the girlfriends would love that trip and just in your backyard, you could do it in a day. So sorry, I am getting a little too suggestive here, aren’t I ? But, I just love the area we live in, there is so much to see in our own backyards, actually everyone can do this, just need to explore. Which reminds me the beautiful birds, now that is really in everyone’s back yard. You just need to feed them and they will come. Susan, again, Thank-you for you, I say this so much but I am so Thankful for your sweet heart, a true gift from God. Now off to do more elfing, I just love my job, creating a wonderful, loving Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and yours and to everyone ! OXOXOX 🙂
I adore our backyard, Concord, yes!, Plymouth, Boston, Salem, Vermont, New York! You did a pretty good elf job yourself, Wendy, with that comment! xoxo
Thank you for the lovely post – I needed that as we all did. And Jack – – what can I say? He is adorable and I love his expressions. Stay dry – it is wild and windy here and I’m afraid it is headed in your direction. They suggested bringing in holiday decorations so they don’t blow away. Can’t wait to see more about your fabulous trip.
Bleassings – Lynn
Sorry – BLESSINGS – fast fingers.
You too Lynn … I actually could use a little storminess!
I love your beautiful home. I love the decorations. I love the tree. I love Jack’s face! I love the thought of your peaceful home in the wee quiet hours before the bustle of the day begins.
Wishing you and Joe a very Merry Christmas!
My favorite time of day, it’s so peaceful — and the best of all is during a snowstorm!