Today is my day for B I R T H D A Y G R A T I T U D E and we’ll start with my favorite song ever in the history of the world . . . MUSICA! Good Morning Crocus, ♫ Good Morning Daffodils, Hello Tulips, ♪ Hi there Miss Hyacinth! Hello fresh spring air, you smell so good! ♫ Hello Sunshine ~ Hello GIRLFRIENDS! ♫
T O M O R R O W I S M Y
So many things to be grateful for and I thought today would be a really good day to talk about them.
Let me first say that if I put every one of my blessings in this post, reading it would become a full time job because they pretty much go to the moon. But I have to start somewhere! My favorite magazines have arrived and for my own birthday present to me, I’m taking them to lunch this week. Me and them, alone, at a corner table, with a knife to hold them open so I can eat Sesame Noodles and read at the same time. One of my most favorite luxuries, reading all alone in restaurants (a sidewalk cafe on the Champs Elysees? Oui!)
And him, my shadow, he’s more than a luxury, he is my must-have. And the very best present I could ask for, he and Girl have been playing this last week, chasing each other up and down the stairs, you can hear their feet running back and forth upstairs, ambushing each other, jumping off the beds. It’s wonderful! So good for Girl and just what I was hoping for her when I brought Jack home. I hope it lasts. Jack is 2 1/2 years old and this is a first!
Spring has come to Martha’s Vineyard! The early morning light is exquisite. Pristine, fresh, clean, and a miracle if ever I saw one. Especially after this winter!
I have huge amounts of gratitude for Mrs Bowditch who lived in our house from 1949 until 1980 and was so good about planting for spring bloom. I got to meet her once. She’s been my inspiration.♥ I hope she knows I’m taking good care of her house for her.
Our daffodils are in bloom. Thank you!
We have nature’s address, it’s out through the woods along a dirt path that takes us here . . . no leaves on the trees yet, but the sun is lovely and the breeze smells wonderful, and you can hear the waves.
Crocus! Pure miracles. First there is snow and then there are crocus!
I’m grateful for talented Kellee who made me this kitty last year. xoxo
And for little children who write me beautiful letters with borders. Thank you Little Children! xoxo
I’m grateful for these, my own research department, my diaries . . . Yes, I know I’ve been MIA from our dear blog, and I’ve missed you! But every time I’ve tried to do an update (and I have tried!), I think “Oh, just let me add this one more little thing to my new book and THEN I’ll go do a new post” . . . that’s when I fall into “the zone” and have to say help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up. But no one comes, so what can I do?
I can’t save myself, and honestly, I really don’t want to. I like it in there. I’m driven in the best possible way. I wake up and RUN to my paper and pen before all my morning fresh-from-dreamland thoughts disappear. I have 418 pages of our new book written, Girlfriends. Of course, probably 50% of it is what English people would call “a crapjob” ~ but that’s OK, first I have to get the whole entire thing down on paper, and we’ll worry about crap removal later on. I promise, it will be distilled, only the juicy bits will be left when I get done. It’s almost my birthday and I feel so grateful to have this passion.
And then this . . . digging through my photos, I found this one. I am SO grateful for these two cutie-pot-pie Leos in my life, the Blog Daddy, John Patrick Stewart Jr. (hi Dad!) and my partner in crime, Joseph Buckminster Hall. ♥
And I’m so grateful I was ever a part of this group of little people. ♥ ♥ ♥
I love sharing my birthday with Gladys Taber. I love being born on the same day as someone who was a light to the world. ♥
I’m excited that Joe and I will be at the Friends of Gladys Taber meeting in Connecticut in June — I’ll be speaking and signing A Fine Romance and we get to tour her house Stillmeadow for the very first time!
And right after that, I come home to this . . . these are my high school girlfriends (last fall in California) . . . and they are ALL coming to stay in my house for four days in June! I’m grateful I have this to look forward to! We have stories, we laugh, we have fun! They are like sisters to me. I have some house fluffing to do! (And with my “passion” in full bloom plus old man winter to sweep out the door, this house needs it! 🙂
I’m thankful for this, because this means YOU. ♥
Counting the blessings of my last year, one of the best of all was going out to meet so many of our Girlfriends. Look how cute Lucy and Ethel are! I’m telling you, this was a ball!
A Fine Romance was such a blessing ~ it took me here ↑ (both of those horse pictures are still on the door of my studio, one from Jessie and one from Sydney) . . . and it took us all here ↓♥ To Beatrix Potter’s house in the Lake District. M A G I C A L , I almost can’t believe we were there.
And tomorrow, on my actual birthday, I get to go to lunch with my best girlfriends here on Martha’s Vineyard ~ 
making me grateful for a Spring Birthday ~ the perfect excuse for a girlfriend lunch. And then we’re all going to the nursery together! Our nurseries close in the winter, so this will be a treat, our first visit this year! Sometimes my California girlfriends wonder why I would want to live in a place that has such a cold winter, and this is part of the reason. It’s thrilling to go to the nursery for the first time, seeing the first flowers, smelling the warm sun on grass. It’s a miracle every year. The more miracles, the better. ♥
And this weekend, I’m going to write us a new Willard! Oh yeah, I think you deserve a birthday present too . . . make sure your addresses are all up to date. It won’t go out for about a week and a half, I’ll be sure to let you know.
One more wish, my birthday wish for you is that you go through your days gracefully growing more beautiful and wise, never missing a sunset or the opportunity to count your blessings, I hope that’s how we stay forever young. ♥ xoxo Love you . . . ✥Wham, *❊ BAM,✱ whoosh,✶* sparkles *♫*✱•*¨*•.☆.♪•*¨❋**••*¨ ✱*•★.* ♪* ✱ •*¨✸*•.★.♫•*¨☆✱*•*♥. . . feel that?
D O N ‘ T F O R G E T T O
Have a happy happy birthday Susan! I hope your day is filled with as much joy and giggles as you bring to us with each blog post! I feel so blessed to have this part of you in my life!! Happy happy birthday !
Happy birthday from Louisiana. Do it up big! Enjoy your tea and magazines. You’ve earned them!
Thank you so much for you FOSB Girlfriends, you helped me start a wonderful pen pal friendship with someone in SC. So blessed to have a god-fearing woman to write to.
Be blessed, here’s a sip of tea to many many more birthdays!
Happy Birthday to YOU , Susan ! I am SO glad you were born and that you share your gifts with all of us ! God bless you with health, happiness, and many, many, many more wonderful birthdays !!!
🙂
H*A*P*P*Y* *B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y, Suuuuusaaaaaan!!!!!
Every one of your 67 years full of life’s UPS and downs has laced into making you YOU!!! And we are all gifted from all your sharing! As you famously quoted,
“Today you are you, that’s truer than true, there’s no one alive that’s youer than you.” ♥ Dr. Seuss
There’s only ONE Susan Branch!
Be Celebrated!
xoxoBeth
And one Beth sweetheart as you.
A very Happy Birthday to you! I hope that when you turn in for the night, you just smile at all the wonderful things that happened on this day and look forward to many more! So excited about your latest project and the upcoming Willard! Thank you for sharing with us!
I did, I went to sleep and a swirl of happy birthday memories. It was perfect. Thank you for that wish Rebecca, it worked!
Hi Susan!
I’m so glad that you had a wonderful birthday. What a gorgeous spring day it was here in WNY ~ I imagine it was where you are, too. Happy belated Birthday, dear Susan! You’re such a blessing to us ALL. (smile)
Wishing you a glorious day filled with birthday surprises. Happy birthday to you!
Happy Birthday! You share it with my favorite (and only I may add) son-in-law. Today is also the wedding day of one of my son’s best friends and his wife’s best friend. I love it when such romance comes together like that. 😉
May you feel the joy you bring to us. If you do, it will be a very joy filled birthday.
Happy Birthday Susan! Your day sounds like it will be special whatever you do…you always see the sunshine and rainbows in everything. 🙂 Enjoy!
Susan,
Maligayang Bati sa Iyong Kaarawan! (Pilipino language)
“Happy greetings to your birthday” not exact translation, however, “Happy Birthday!” Enjoy your day and have many more! Thanks for making us happy! Salve
I love getting Happy Birthday in other languages! xox Thank you Salve!
Happy birthday! From a fellow April baby, I hope you have a fabulous day!
Dear Susan,
Happy, happy birthday! We were all worried that something terrible had happened to you because you hadn’t posted anything for sooo long (or at least
it seemed). Looking forward to the next book!
All best wishes for a wonderful day and the year ahead. Thank you for all you do.
Just sometimes I get lost in work. I come up like the groundhog, peek around and go back down. Thank you Lynne!
Dear Gladys writes:’For me April is a time for remembering. It may be because it is my birthday month or it may be because the long winter is over. There are other special days..a phone call from far away, a cherished bone from the Irish or it may be seeing the lights of a neighbor shining across the fields.” Best of Still Meadow pages 137-138. Susie, I think I hear the Unicorn rustling in the bushes. Happy Birthday precious Girlfriend.
Thank you Ricki ♥
I, too, love having an April birthday. Mine is on the 19th. I hope yours is wonderful. I think that you are a “light to the world” exactly like Gladys Taber was. Have a wonderful day.
Happy Birthday Di!
Happy Birthday Susan!
You bring happiness and so much love to our lives! Enjoy your special day!
Love and hugs,
Mary (from Cleveland, OH)
Happy Birthday Susan! Of course you are an April baby … full of sunshine and hope and the ineffable ability to renew and refresh us all!
Here’s to a beautiful birthday and another wonder-filled year ahead!
Dear Susan….Have a peach of a Birthday! Bet it will be as sweet as you are! The nursery sounds delightful! I saw pansies for sale at the groc. store today! [Want to get some soon!] What did you see at the nursery today? Did you purchase some pretty plant? Spring is soooo Wonderful! Love the birds singing in the morning! Thanks for sharing so many blessings with us. It helps keep our minds on being “Thankful!” Happy Spring and Happy Easter! Thank you too for the Quinoa recipe!! Will try it soon! Went to a speaker at our local food market, a nutritionist, this morning and she spoke highly of it! I have tried it a few times, just plain. It will even be better in your salad tho! 6 weeks left of teaching!!! Retirement will be an adjustment…but my body is ready…my brain will get there eventually. My emotions are up and down still a bit….but that’s true with any NEW adventure or chapter in Life! THANKS for your encouraging blog!!!!!!!!! xoxo
I have a garden plan for this year. We stopped at the nursery on our way home, to get the lay of the land. But they have a big sale on Tuesdays so we’re all going back then! I bought four lily bulbs. Had to get something! You’ll love the quinoa, I promise.
Good luck, Sherry. Enjoy those last weeks of teaching. I am coming up on 2 years retired(educational technology integration specialist), and yes, my body is more than willing, what with arthritis discomfort and all, but my mind still hasn’t caught up. I try and keep in touch (everyone is so busy), and I am working on reinventing, but I do miss the kids and my colleagues. Hope you find an exciting and fulfilling new chapter. Finding Susan and being inspired by all she does has certainly aided in my transition. Happy Spring.
Happy Birthday Susan, thank you for the many pleasures you have brought me through your books and this blog. I wish for you leaves on the trees, right now!
It’s a slow unfolding around here . . . everything is budding though.
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day. If your weather is anything like Long Island today…it will be a beautiful spring birthday day.
It was GORGEOUS. Just waiting for the sun to come up now to see what the day after will bring us.
Happy Birthday, Susan! Your birthday is 2 days ahead of mine. I love having a birthday in the spring! And I send you wishes for many blessings in the year to come.
Happy Birthday dear Joy!
Susan, I am so glad there’s you!!!!!
Wishing you the “Happiest Birthday” ever! This blog is just wonderful. I have been looking for a new blog from you for days & here it is and everyone has made all the perfect comments. You know I get up early and check everyday to see if you are sharing a new blog.
I picked some of my Daffodils, and have them right here at my computer.
I live three hours from the ocean now. Never thought I would be land locked. I use to be seven miles to the bay and 45-60 minutes to the ocean depending on the traffic. So seeing the photo of the house so close to the waters edge just makes my heart fill with joy. You gave me a blessing with this photo.
Something about those waves gets us every time.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Susan!! :] Was planting my garden today thinking of your wonderful garden inspiration you’ve given me! Hope you enjoy your special day!! <3
Happy, happy birthday Susan! Thank you so much for all your beautiful posts- it is one of my happiest moments to sit with my coffee and read your lovely posts with the musica! You have brought me a lot of joy since I discovered you (from an ad for a fine romance in my Victoria magazine- another simple pleasure)- so thank you, thank you. It is hard to find people who love all the things I love- to give new life to old things, Victoria magazine, Beatrix Potter and the Beatles- and of course the wonderful kitties! XO Have a wonderful year- Amanda from Tampa :*)
Oh that’s so nice to hear, to be found in Victoria! Thank you Amanda.
You make the world a brighter place. The Happiest of Birthdays to you!
Happy birthday, Susan. Hope you enjoyed your lunch and reading your magazines. I love Tea Time too.
Hugs,
Ellen
HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS to a very lovely human ~ who helps to make my days happy and lovely, too! I so hope that all of the light, beauty, vision and whimsy that you inject into the world, will flow back to you. Ending this year with gratitude is just the perfect touch! Beauty really is all around us, and thank you so much for helping us to see it more clearly. You blog/books/art are part of what I’m really grateful for.
Thank you dear Lynn.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUSAN!!!!
Thank you for bringing so much brightness to us all!
Lots of Love
(p.s. That picture of Joe and your Dad is so sweet!)
Happy Happy birthday, the world is a better place with you in it Susan!
Love Leanne NZ
I love having a friend in New Zealand Leanne! Thank you!
Happy Birthday, Susan! and many more…
Hugs
Happy Birthday!!!! Hope your special day is wonderful & you have so much fun with your girlfriends at the Birthday lunch:0). I hope you receive some special gifts too because you are a special gift to us! Many more Birthdays wished for you with lots of love, good health, & blessings.
XOXO,
Linda
PS What kind of Birthday cake did you feast on? Or~~~maybe a tasty dessert?
My girlfriend made a Pavlova! Here’s the recipe. It was SO good. Martha says if you make it, don’t smooth the meringue to the edges of the pan, round it as they say. It was so good there was not one crumb left. Perfect for spring, with all kinds of fruit on it. YUM!
I enjoy reading alone in restaurants/cafes, too, Susan. I think it’s like a series of mini vacations. And is there anything more precious than those old family photos? Thank you for this beautiful blog today, and the happiest of birthdays to you. xo
Dear Sweet Birthday Girl, wishing you the most wonderful day because you deserve it ! You put out so much love and caring out to all of us , so it will come back to you tenfold .Really enjoyed your St. Patricks Day post as we just came back from a nine day trip to Ireland and I was layed up with a bad cold that I brought home with me. We spent St. Patricks Day and my birthday there. It was beautiful! I used the time while I was down with the cold to catch up on reading some books on Beatrix Potter by Susan Denyer , Marta McDowell and June Buckley. Just can’t get enough of Beatrix . What an interesting life ! Love seeing pictures of your Jack and Girl. Jacks Poirot mustache is just too cute . We have two grandcats and a granddog so I understand about wanting to grab that kitty love all the time. You just can’t stop yourself. Ours are Gumbo ( girl cat) , Boudreaux ( boy cat) and Disney (dalmation,boy dog). The cats are from the same litter but Gumbo is short- haired and Boudreaux is long-haired like a Norwegian Forest cat . Can’t wait to try your recipes from your March and April posts. Really enjoy the pictures of your house in the different seasons. I did check out your writing about your visit to Hill Top on your blog and the tour of your Peter Rabbit room as you suggested. Loved both of them! Sometime I will have to send you a letter and pictures of some of my Peter Rabbit collection. Hope that your day has been special in every way! Knowing you and your Prince from the blog, I’m sure that you are probably doing something fun and adventerous.
Gladys must be so delighted you share the same day!!
You’ve done her proud!
Wheee! You’re like a good fairy to us all, Susan, sprinkling love and positivity with your beautiful painting and storytelling and musical choices. Can not wait for the next book…how eagerly anticipated it is already with all your snaps of your your piles of journals! I so hope to meet you on one of the west coast swings. AND THE KITTIES ARE PLAYING TOGETHER! JOY OF JOYS! :))
xxxxoooo
Happy, Happy Birthday! Wishing you health and happiness in the year ahead. You make every day special and your blog is like a present for us every time we open it! A favorite quote, “Age is just the number of years the world has been enjoying you!” certainly applies in your case!
Ohhh, thank you Barb. xo
Have a great birthday. Sure wish spring looked like yours here in northern Minnesota!
Hi Susan, I just met your work in pinterest and looked you up on google. Happy birthday and I hope to become a new friend to you this year, lots of love Bettina
Love meeting you here Bettina!
A Very Happy Birthday from Canada ! Thank you for taking time for the Spring
blog . We have had snow showers today but the geese and robins are returning so SPRING is awakening after a cold Winters slumber. Love the fact your cats have the fever, mine too ! lots of wall jumping and crazy antics.
I love Victoria magazine too .I think I will treat myself that looks like a lovely edition this month. Have a lovely time at the nursery they are one of the joys of spring…… so much more enjoyable than the shopping mall !!
Cheers Denise
That’s for sure. Want to be outside!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR SUSAN!! Wishing you a perfectly lovely, magically delicious day! Thank you for all your gifts to us & your blog & M U S I C A!! I love it all!!
Happy Birthday, Susan, and as we sing at our house, “…and many mooore!” You make every day fun.
Have a very Happy Birthday!! Loved your last book!! And very much looking forward to the new book.
Happy Birthday dearest Susan….Hope your day is filled with sunny skies and warm breezes. It’s lovely here in NW Ohio, and hope it stays and stays!! Thank you for each and every message you send…you cheer my heart so…..many blessings to you.
love Toni xoxo
Happy Birthday Susan (and Gladys Taber)!!
Hope you are enjoying YOUR day!
Dear Susan,
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day and best wishes.
Your friend, Alice
Happy Birthday Susan! Hope you have had a lovely day….this beautiful sunny (finally!) New England day was meant just for you! Hoping all your wishes come true! oxox
It was perfect. We went to a restaurant on a golf course and sat near a row of windows that looked out on the sunny day.
Very Happy Birthday Wishes, Susan. Have a GRAND day!
Happy Birthday! Love your “musica” but especially today with Louis Armstrong.
April birthdays are special with spring bursting out and birdsong in the air. Lucky those who are born in April! Stay well!
Judy
Happy Birthday Sweet Susan,
Here’s my birthday gift for you! From me and Paul: youtube.com/watch?v=MjF1bG5LUcs
Make it a GREAT one!!
Much love,
Diane Marie
Perfect!
A very happy Birthday to you today Susan! Aren’t April birthday’s the best! Mine was on the 10th and I’m still celebrating! Being a bit older than you…. it’s allowed! I’m a late bloomer in discovering you and have become addicted to your blog and all of your books. Looking forward to meeting you at the Friends of Gladys Taber meeting in June.
Wishing you good health, happiness and may all the joy and smiles you give to others come back to you threefold!
How nice Janice! Look forward to meeting you!
Wishing you Birthday Blessings!! Hope you enjoyed a blessed day! You are a blessing to all of us girlfriends!
Hugs,
Laura
P. S. Can hardly wait for the new Willard!
Wishing you continued birthday blessings and joy today, Susan!
Hope that you’ve had THE best day today celebrating with Joe, your friends and your adorable little cats. There’s not much more I can add beyond your other 500+ birthday wishes, but here’s to many more Happy Birthdays with plenty of cake and all the glory you deserve!
Thanks for sharing your special day with so many!
Nina
Happy Birthday! Did you know you share a birthday with another of my favorite author’s? Today’s is also Beverly Cleary’s birthday!
I didn’t know that! How wonderful!
Dear Susan,
My very best wishes for your birthday and for health, happiness, and peace in the upcoming year.
Fondly,
Debbie
P.S. Today, April 12, 2014, would have been my Dad Henry’s 100th birthday!
Happy Birthday to you! My birthday is April 12, too. A spectacular day to have been born. I hope you had a day full of sparkle and joy, surrounded by family and friends!!
Happy Birthday Lizzy! Yes, I could not have asked for more!
Hope you had a fabulous birthday today dear Susan!… I just know Gladys Taber is smiling down from Heaven and saying “I’m so happy I share my birthday with Susan Branch”… xoxoxo Julie Marie
I know we are kindred spirits!
Oh Ms. Susan! Your Happy Birthday to me! I found a Mrs. Rabbit and Bunnies and Tailor of Gloucester figures at a little shop today. They were only $10 a piece. I have them on my mantle with Tom Thumb. I’m sooo excited! Oh! I forgot to tell you, I found some Mangers pear cider. Very yummy! I hope your day was wonderful.
Good find Chrissy!
Dear Susan,
I hope you’ve had the happiest of birthdays – filled with all your favorite things!
What a perfect time to wish, in return, a bit of the joy that you share with all of us so freely every day!!
Running in circles here as well, for some weird reason! Still not too late to wish you a Happy Birthday! Lunch out sounds like it was fun! I know there were other things that have made this a special day for you.
xo Nellie
Never to late, thank you Nellie!
Happy Birthday, Susan!!! I LOVE you!! xoxoxox
I was kinda worried about you! I kept checking every day for a new blog, and after a while I just came on here and checked to see if you had left recent comments on your March 31st blog, which you had. So I was very relieved!! 😀 Then I knew that you were just busy working on your book!
I just finished reading another Kate Morton book – THE DISTANT HOURS. It was great!!!!!
Twelve days ago I rescued a kitty that had been torn up by a dog! He was such a mess, it was difficult to look at him!! 🙁 You wouldn’t recognize him now, he is doing so well!! So now I have 9 cats!! :-/
Love from Mary S. in Fresno, CA
I’m so happy you were there for that kitty Mary.
P.S. I am thrilled to read the Jack and Girl are playing together!!! Yay!!! 😀
Mary S. in Fresno, CA
*that*
Jack S sez “yes”
Happy birthday to someone who puts smiles on faces and cheerfulness in hearts! May your birthday be FULL of blessings overflowing, not just for YOUR day, but for the entire year! Thank you for blessing all of our lives with your wit, your art, and your heart!
Sincerely,
Carol
Happy, happy bithday Susan! I hope it was a glowy, sunshiney, beautiful spring birthday day on the island for you. I also love to take a book to lunch, or anywhere for that matter. It’s such a treat! Your A Fine Romance was a blessing, I’m so looking forward to the new one. When my daughter Madisson was born, the first thing she heard was me singing Happy Birthday to her, I hope you spent today with Joe and many friends, celebrating, eating birthday cake and having the birthday song sung to you. Hope all your wishes come true!
Singing! I can’t imagine a better way to be welcomed to the world than with a song from my mom.
Thank you Susan. She is 15 now, but it used to be her favorite song for many years — she was the “Birthday Queen” — at parties she was definitely the only one sitting patiently waiting for the cake (chocolate, of course!). As a side story, my husband had a special song picked out for her (had thought of it as a young man for his future daughter) that he kept secret until I was in labor, at which time he popped it into his cd player and put headphones on my belly. The last thing she heard before entering the world was Stevie Wonder crooning “Isn’t She Lovely” and the first thing she heard was me singing Happy Birthday” to her. Two beautiful songs for any birthday girl!
Enjoy the daffodils, charms of new spring, and immersing yourself in our new book!
That makes me cry . . . you two!
HAPPY HEALTHY BIRTHDAY SUSAN! Thank you for all your wonderful books, images and memories! 🙂
Sorry I didn’t get to wish you a Happy Birthday but I had just gotten out of the hospital the night before and didn’t even get to all of my e mail. I hope you have a super duper day and here’s to many more!! Big hugs Susan. *S*
Hope you’re feeling better Cyndi. xoxo
Happy, Happy Birthday Susan! Enjoy your special day and thank you for giving so many of us “special days” too! You are today and will always be
“Younger than springtime” to all of your loving friends. God bless you.
Happy, Happy Birthday Sweet Susan! Hope your day is magical! Have Fun!
Dear Susan, First of all, hope you’ve had a Happy, Happy Birthday! Sorry it’s late. I’m sure you won’t get this until Sunday, but I’ve been on a girlfriend trip to the beach today having fun, lunching and laughing out loud about the antics of my newly divorced friend. Loved your blog this time. The pic of Joe and your dad was great. Such handsome guys! I want to thank you again for the creativity and originality that you send to us all on the blog and in your books. So fun to experience. I really look forward to your next book! Again, hope your day was special, because you truly are – special and one of a kind! Thanks for being you.
Birthday Blessings to you, Susan, from our hearts and home to yours! The Henderson ladies (me, my 2 teenage daughters, and my darling, dearest cat (who looks a lot like Girl) Callie want to tell Girl and Jack “Happy Stair-running!” We love to hear our kitties playing and chasing each other over the house. I’ve always said that you could tell a lot by a person by how they treat cats….AND by how cats respond to them! 🙂
Feliz Cumpleaños! Y muchos mas (and many more)!
Happy Birthday to Susan! May you celebrate all month! Thank you for sharing bits n pieces of your life and wisdom…and most of all…making me smile!
Well, I hope this doesn’t get to you after your birthday, but Happy Birthday anyway! I was happy to hear that the cats are now playing together……I always found it so sad that Girl just stayed upstairs by herself when you got Jack. I think your being away so long this summer maybe brought them together.
Hope you had a great lunch with friends.
It has warmed up here in Idaho so have been doing lots of yard work and today planted 2 new pink Hollyhocks……tommorow some Lily of the Valley. Our nurseries close all Winter also so am looking forward to next week visiting a few. Happy Birthday again and thanks for thinking of us on your special day. Linda from Idaho!
Girl has always stayed upstairs . . . that’s why I got Jack, thinking that maybe he would bring her out to play, but it hasn’t quite worked! This new development has been wonderful. Yesterday they stood about 3 inches apart at the open kitchen door. Even Joe was surprised! I got four Lilies (bulbs) yesterday and today is “yard day” ~ I’m right there with you Linda!
°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆Have a great day!!
╔╗╔╦══╦═╦═╦╗╔╗ ★ ★ ★
║╚╝║══║═║═║╚╝║ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
║╔╗║╔╗║╔╣╔╩╗╔╝ ★ BIRTHDAY ☆
╚╝╚╩╝╚╩╝╚╝═╚╝ ♥￥☆★☆★☆￥♥ ★☆•
Happy Birthday to your dear dad xoxo
Hi Susan
GEFELICITEERD met je verjaardag! ( happy birthday to you!) hope you’ll have a wonderful day with lots of sunshine! Here in the Netherlands its a sunny one!
Today a Sunday to relax, and tomorrow we have again much pots and pans and clothes ect. to put in boxes for our big moving day! Your books still are not packed yet, keeping them till the very last moment out of the boxes. Wish I could send you some of our forget-me-not flowers those little blue ones are all over our garden and look beautiful with the pink tulips next to them!
Lots of love,
Willemien
LOVE forget-me-nots! Good luck with the move Willemien. Making a new home! Dig up some of your forget-me-nots and take them with you. For good luck and never forgetting.
I am late….I am late….for a very important date;) Happy Belated Birthday Sweet Susan….Love that photo of your two best men! xoxo
First I have to say, Happy Birthday! What a beautiful time of year for a birthday :).
I wanted to tell you how a quote from one of your calendars made my mom laugh yesterday in the emergency room! My 76 year old mother was cleaning with a vacuum cleaner, tripped over the hose and cords and fell down a few steps to the back door landing, turned, and kept falling down another step or two out the back door and hit the back of her head on the concrete step. By the time I arrived she had a bump on the back of her head the size of the palm of her hand. When they told us all looked good from the cat scan I told her how she must have been doing a great job of cleaning because Susan Branch says “housework, when done correctly, can kill you”. She laughed and agreed. She even repeated this to the people in the ER. She’s doing great now but I wanted to let you know how firsthand, we truly understand just how true this statement really is!
Laugh Out Loud Funny . . . not what happened but what you said. Live and learn Girlfriends! Give your mom a hug for me Michelle! LOL
Wishing you the happiest of birthdays yet! May you feel all the love and joy you give to others on your special day! No apologies needed for not as many blog posts…we are all anxiously sitting on our hands trying not to jump up and down as we squeal with excitement over another book from you! 418 pages you have written in such a short amount of time while keeping up with everything else in your life…you are truly amazing! So happy that you are a part of all of the lives of your “Girlfriends”! Have fun at lunch and visiting the nursery..and most of all Happy Birthday! P.S. I don’t believe it was a coincidence that you and Gladys share the same birthday….and I don’t believe it was a coincidence one of her books was left for you in your first house on Martha’s Vineyard. As a woman of faith, I don’t believe in all the crazy cosmic stuff, but I do believe in “Godwinks” which others call coincidences….some things are simply meant to be and through the hand of “the man upstairs” things have a way of lining themselves up and happening in a person’s life. 🙂
I’ll never understand how things happen as they do, but I do believe the hand of God is in it all.
My dearly departed mother’s BIRTHDAY is Monday. I can’t say why that makes me so happy that your birthday is so close to hers but it does! HAPPY BIRTHDAY dearest Susan! BTW – your home looks beautiful in the spring – like it’s made for all the spring flowers and blooming trees – all decked out with it’s Easter bonnet on!
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY SUSAN (and many, many more)!! It has been months since I graced your blog and the reason for it is I’m still recovering from the ongoing back issues and dealing with elderly parents (so very hard), BUT the main reason is I’ve been immersed in helping my Beautiful Daughter with “their” Wedding plans!!! I have looked at so many beautiful dresses, flowers, cakes, and finally everything has been ordered, delivered (she is best friends with the Fed Ex person), and May 10th is fast approaching. We attended her lovely shower on the 5th and the wonderful gifts they received were over the top (I don’t remember getting big items hmmmm), and I won the who knows Angela game (Surprise), we had a fun time. Oh, now get this one of her Bridesmaids made cucumber sandwiches and I thought of you!! Well, I hope this also pleases Pat M. who is just perplexed how in the world I have managed to stay off your blog for so long!!! I’m trying to feel better before the big weekend to wish my Daughter her Happily Ever After with the Man of her Dreams whom we adore and love very much. I often wonder how I can feel such happiness and a bit of sadness at the same time over this milestone in Angela’s life? The sadness is just knowing our little family unit will never be the same….although gaining a son that truly brings a glow to her lovely face says it all…Happily Ever After. Blessings to All.
You have been justifiably MIA as who wouldn’t be at such a happy, busy time. Blessings to you and your family! xoxo
Have a very Happy Birthday Susan! As always you remind me to put at the forefront of my mind all the little things in my life that make me so happy. :} Sylvia
Happy belated Birthday Greetings Susan! Hope you had a fab time with your girlfriends!
Thank you for the reminder to count our blessings everyday sometimes I for one forget…..and need reminding.
And just one more thing. You made me laugh when you said crap! I say it all the time and a friend of mine hates it but I always think nothing says crap like crap! What’s funny is I didn’t realize it was an English thing more so lol.
Anyway hope you are still in the midst of celebrating your special day! I have to keep an eye on roast Sunday lunch so catch you later! ps cannot wait until the new books finished xxxx
Its just the English can be so much cuter with things, including the word crap!
hApPy birthDAY dear Susan…
Because of YoU, I can see the world through the eyes of an Artist.
Because of YoU, I hear new Musica to hum along my day.
Because of YoU, I can taste new favorites like…Hot Milk Cake, Touchdown Chili, and Kim Crawford Sauvignon.
Because of YoU, my heart grows Stronger and Softer.
And, because of YoU, my life has been Blessed!
…hApPy birthDAY to YoU!!!
For myself, it was such a surprise and thrill to meet YoU last fall in Iowa City! All I could do was try not to cry…truly, it’s true. However embarrassed, I was that day, I will always cherish my little glass jar filled with a “kiss from Susan Branch!” Bret just looks at me….and shakes his head with a smile.
Be Blessed dear Susan! May you continue creating and appreciating such a wonderful life! And…when it comes to BiRtHdAy wishes…well….may they…..
youtube.com/watch?v=uAERYfeiYBc
XoX with love,
Dawn : }
And because of YOU Dawn, I have a happy tear in my eye. ♥
Hi Susan,
I sent Happy Birthday wishes on your FOSB; I am so very happy to be a “new
girlfriend”! Reading your book A Fine Romance was the ultimate road trip as
a third party; your notes will guide my husband and I one day across the pond!
We share a spring birthday, I am April 1 and life is so very grand! The daffodils in CA have been 3 bunches for $5.00; my house is full of spring and so is the
backyard with my Sweet Peas! You probably love them too.
Since meeting you, I have started a little book with favorite sayings; it’s a hand-
quilted sweet birthday book given to me 30 years ago and I decided it is time to use it! On the day I find the quote I’m writing it on that date!
Oh yes, I hope you had “long life noodles” yesterday; it is an old Chinese custom and my mom always insist (Chinese, Japanese or Italian pasta).
Happy Birthday to you … you inspire and such a dear heart in our lives!
With Love and Aloha, Evie in San Diego, CA
Very nice to meet you Evie, thank you so much!
Happy (belated) Birthday to one of my favorite persons ever…..Susan Branch! I am so thankful you were born and that God has given you so many gifts to share with the world. You are a blessing to so many!
Happy Birthday Susan!!! You and your books, blog, Williard are at the top of my gratitude journal. You help me to look at the small things and to open my eyes to my surroundings and appreciate the beauty around me. I think I take too much for granted and that is never good. Thank you for reminding me of life’s little moments. Right now it’s a little windy here and my beautiful wind chimes are blowing in the breeze making beautiful music….I need to go write that down!!! Have fun with your magazines…I LOVE Victoria also and have the happiest of birthdays!!!
Kathy from Ohio
I love chimes too. A good way to hear the wind.
Happy belated Birthday, Susan! Hope it was grand.
Several years ago when I read Gladys Tabers books I remember
being a little confused about who Jill (?) was and was Gladys married?
Have you read and understood these parts?
Jill was her best friend. They were both married and lived in New York and they found the house as a weekend getaway and they took their children there in the summers. I forget what happened to the husbands . . . I think Jill’s husband died. Someone else will very likely correct me on this, and I hope they do!
Jill’s husband was a doctor and he died. Gladys and her husband were divorced in 1946. Jill was only 60 or so when she died so Gladys was on her own at Stillmeadow for a number of years. Jill’s children and grandchildren were very close to Gladys as were her own daughter and grandchildren. I think this is right from what I have read.
From what I have read Gladys Taber and her husband Frank bought Stillmeadow with her best friend from college, Eleanor Mayer (Jill) and her husband Max, because both couples felt New York was no place to bring up healthy children. After Gladys and her husband separated, and after Jill’s husband died, both women continued to live at Stillmeadow where they raised Gladys’ only daughter, Constance, and Jill’s son and daughter David and Barbara.
MUCH better. Thank you Mary!
Hap, Happy Birthday, Susan! My first grandchild, Olivia June, missed your birthday by 3 days, but at 8 lbs. 7 oz. her petite mother was very glad she didn’t wait any longer than she did! She was 10 days late as it was. It turns out she was born on Michael Learned’s birthday. Ms. Learned played the mother on the Waltons (my all-time favorite TV program) who was named Olivia. I was able to meet Richard Thomas, who played John Boy, a few years ago and have my photo taken with him. It’s interesting how often people share birthdays with people they feel akin to–like you and Gladys Taber. I share mine with Louisa May Alcott. By the time Olivia grows up she’ll have had her grandmama’s love of the Waltons imparted to her! 🙂
Happy New Baby Cathy, I just love her name Olivia! Olivia June. Just beautiful.
Congratulations Grandma Cathy! I saw Olivia’s picture, she is just sweetness! The two of you are going to have so much fun together. Enjoy!
Chris
Thank you, Chris! She’s just 9 days old today. I get to see her again this Sunday. 🙂 I’ve got to convince my son to put her on Skype so I can see her every day. It’s an 80-minute drive so we can’t go nearly as often as I want!
Happy Birthday, Susan! It is so cool that you share a birthday with your hero, Gladys T. My “Birthday-Buddy” is one of my favorite singers and actresses, Judy Garland. We were both born on June 10th. Someday way off in the distant future, I hope to meet her somewhere over the rainbow. Have a relaxing time at your table for one!
Yes, way way off! 🙂
Hello Susan,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU…..Yes I knew, we share APRIL….I am the 27th…All these years with you Susan, and meeting you 3 or 4 times, has been so great, and I feel that I have always known you, and understand you and share so many things that you love,that I love….Yes, Girlfriends are very special as we get Older…going to be 67…but a realllllllly young one…My girlfriends and I still love to go Dancing….I so cherish the …little things in life as you do…like a flower blooming, or walks on the Beach…so important. Have a Happy Birthday Month….
Love, Carol O. in So. Calif. just over the Bridge from mom, with your Red Toile Gravy Boat..
LOL, I love how you tell me who you are! All those wonderful hints! 🙂 Thank you Carol!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! SUSAN. Enjoy your beautiful day!
Happy Birthday a day late! Glad it was such a good one for you. Raining here in Pueblo today, which is a rarity, so I’m really enjoying it. Especially since I got some Johnny Jump Ups and a couple of perennials planted yesterday.
I guess Girl has figured out Jack isn’t going anywhere, so she might as well enjoy him. My evil kitty Miss Katniss Everdeen and my sweet Springer Spaniel Abigail Gwendolyn have gotten used to each other too, and now play together when Katniss isn’t sleeping, which seems to be about 20 hours a day.
Happy Birthday!! It’s been a while but I just had to join in to wish our “special” girlfriend/sister a very happy, blessed birthday!!
Here’s wishing you the happiest of birthdays! It sounds like you have some great fun things planned to look forward to!!
Happy (belated) Birthday, Susan. So sorry I missed you yesterday. I’ve been checking almost daily for a new blog but wouldn’t you know, I missed yesterday–got wrapped up in some Spring cleaning.
I do want to thank you for all the happiness and inspiration you bring to all of us. Hope it all comes back to you a hundred-fold!
Happy Birthday Susan! I like to celebrate the whole month of April (my birthday is on Earth Day) and I hope you also enjoy each day with laughs and smiles!
Happy Birthday, Dear Friend,
I love this post. It is simply filled to the brim with love.
Our family wishes you a BLESSED Birthday.
Love, Carla, Jeremy, Sam and Atticus
I think you wish came true, it was lovely and doesn’t seem to be over yet! xoxo
Dearest..kindest..most talented..brilliant..creative..amazing Susan Branch…hoping you are having the Happiest Birthday ever…and that it has spilled over into today as well..Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your celebration !
♥ ♥ ♥