Hello Lucky Girls . . . from your other lucky girlfriend! MUSICA? Something old and delicious? OUI! Let’s celebrate SEPTEMBER!
Hi Girls! It’s the month of the changing light (as you can see), and one big wonderful moon coming on the 27th. Are we lucky or what?
Mark your calendars for this moon. Try to plan a picnic and go somewhere to watch it rise. It’s going to be a big one! A “Super Blood Moon Eclipse!”
Also, it’s the month of my sister Shelly’s birthday . . . this is the photo she found on her phone on the 15th. Her twins made the hat for their dog Lucy. Aren’t they adorable? Imagine finding this on your phone! My sister is one lucky woman! ♥
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SHELLY!
And me? I’m one very lucky woman too . . . because I have diamonds on my walls and I didn’t have to do a thing to get them!
Shimmering away . . . sparkling up my kitchen!
And this too!!!! Not quite as sparkly, but just as exciting to me! It came last week. I showed our Girlfriends on Twitter, but thought I better put it here too, just in case you didn’t get to see it. A “BOX” arrived!!! I grabbed the camera thinking . . .
Because I just “knew” what was in it.
The printer had promised me she was going to overnight a copy of THE FAIRY TALE GIRL to me the moment it was off the printing press. And so she did! I went real slow. Savoring the moment. In a ripping and tearing sort of way.
My first peek. Thar she blows! EEEEEK!
Oh my, oh my. Words fail me. It’s the best and the scariest and the funnest feeling I have. Pure butterflies in my stomach. My baby is born! Ribbons and curls, oh what a girl . . . ooooh, she’s heavy!
I could never get used to this.
I thumbed through it really fast, just to see. The paper is perfect, just what I hoped it would 
be. The color? I could not ask for more. The ribbon? Oh yes, just where it should be. “Printed in the USA” is prominently displayed. (Because, as you know, we’re worth it. ♥) Thank you R.R. Donnelly in Crawfordsville Indiana, for doing an excellent job for me and my Girlfriends!
Here’s a little peek inside . . . you should smell it! And very soon, you will! !t won’t be long now!
Because today (Monday) it arrives by the truckload to our Studio in California and Sheri, Kellee and 
Alfredo are all ready! They’ll begin packing them up and sending them out to YOU! They are so good and so fast, I believe they will have them ALL out to everyone by the end of this week, or very close. The first books will go to the winners of the give-away we had a couple of months ago, and after that, it’s first-come first-serve. I’m SO excited that it’s finally happening!
That’s my Summer Book, and that thought is as good now as it was then. Those little girls are two of my sisters, I painted it from a photo of them figuring out their outfit for Halloween, wearing the same pair of pink pants and same jacket. Mary is on the left and Shelly is on the right. They are very enthusiastic!
We’ve had a busy week! We took a day and went off-Island to go shopping (and out to lunch to delicious BLEU in Mashpee on Cape Cod, so good, so FRENCH! I had escargot! Oui! I vill eet zee snails eef zay come in zee gahlic buttair!) . . . this is the way the harbor looked from the front of the boat as we were pulling out of Vineyard Haven.
And these are my favorite thing I bought while we were off . . . fuzzy new slippers. Because we’re going to the far north next week, and we think it might be cold up there! We HOPE! Leaves are beginning to blow across our yard, so we think the time is just right.
And here was the sky as we came back into the harbor later that evening. . . . Hello. Welcome home. Thank you very much.
We also went to Lowely’s gallery opening to see her beautiful new art . . . it was a group show and several of the artists gave away cards with their art on them ~ I brought them home and made a little kitchen gallery of my own.
If you look at the card in the center window on the lower right side, you will see what a little splotch of sunlight, in just the right place, can do.
And Him. Mr. Precious. Jack. These days he LIVES to go outside. I’m out, taking pictures of the turkeys in our yard, and he’s inside and not happy about it.
“Please Mommy!” He rubs himself on the screen, “Please please please! Please take me out!” He doesn’t get to go alone. I have to carry the little lord.♥
“Grrrrr,” he says, trying to stare me into submission. Never fear, I do his biding, I carry him out so he can get his greens. Lawn munching is his favorite thing.
And this one of MY favorite things. Letters. When we got home from our little trip off-Island, 
I found this letter waiting for me. I knew you would love it. Who doesn’t love a handwritten letter!? Anyone who thinks the world has changed too much for their liking should read this and know there are kindred spirits in every generation. Many, many more than we might ever suspect.♥ Look how wise 15-year-old Emily Pulver is already! My kinda girl!
Bye Bye Girlfriends . . . watch your mail, XOXO 
Susan, I received my book today. It’s beautiful and wonderful and I am excited to read it. Thank you for sharing!!
Jeanette
Happy to hear it Jeanette!
My book(s) arrived this afternoon and I had to leave to go socialize with my former workmates! Tore myself away after a quick perusal — so enticing — looks wonderful. Tomorrow I’ll bury myself in it interspersed with watching the Pope visiting some prisoners!! Full moon on top of that — I’ll be having an emotional blitz. Had fun with all my Transcriptionist pals though. Now I can fall asleep with The Fairytale Girl 🙂 So happy, so happy.
Me too, an emotional Blitz! 🙂
I got my book yesterday….happy, happy, happy. Could not put it down. I was reading “A Fine Romance” for the third time and set it aside to start the “Fairy Tale Girl”. LOVE IT!!
YAY!!
So, I was reading this post on Friday…..it was 4 o’clockish….and some of the girlfriends were receiving their books. Being in CA, I leaped up, and down to the post office I went to check our post office box. 🙁 but, alas…..it wasn’t there. 🙁 BUT, tomorrow is not far away, and I will be checking first thing in the morning! Sigh…
Hope you have it now Jan!
Maybe my book will come tomorrow! (I hope!) I can’t wait to read the story of how you started your island voyage, found your charming cottage and began your real life! Loved the pic of your nephews (they’re cute) but especially enjoyed the expression on Lucy’s face: “I love these boys, and that’s the ONLY reason I let them put this hat on me!!”.
My favorite picture was the one taken of your kitchen window sill ~ I love it, and the view through the window is magical. It really does look like a fairy-tale garden!
I know I’m mixing up posts, but just wanted to wish you a great beginning to your book signing adventure. You’ll meet even more kindred spirits along the way ~ people whose lives you’ve touched with your vision of home!
I think you’ll love the story of how I found my first little house . . . such a little miracle as far as I was/am concerned. Thank you Lynn!
I love the photos you always put with blogposts. I love the bits of your day and life you share with us. It makes us somehow desire to treasure our bits and pieces of our life, look around and know we are blessed to live in Our home, country and towns. Value neighbors and want to make new friends where ever we go. Thank you.
Debra
Very nice Debra . . . it’s true, we are amazingly lucky people. xoxo
Oh Could Monday Be Anymore Exciting Than this!!
Just in time to enjoy over my lunch hour – my book arrives! The unpacking is with a squeal of delight that makes others in the lunch room wonder. To hold it and touch it and then open it and see the pretty book mark and the pages! I don’t want to eat now – I don’t want to get food on it – I just want to go away into a wonderland that I know awaits the soul.
Its gorgeous!!! Thank you a zillion times over…..
Charlene
You are so welcome Charlene, it’s wonderful how you Girlfriends appreciate it, I’m thrilled with the job the printer did, too.
Dear Susan,
I opened up my mailbox and there was a package inside. Could it be?
It is!! “The Fairy Tale Girl”
Imagine me bringing you a bouquet of Dahlias, or handing you a freshly baked Apple Pie, or a painting of some Nasturtiums from my garden to show my appreciation for all of the happy hours I have experienced through the the years enjoying your cookbooks, calendars, and journals. And then there was “A Fine Romance”, which I LOVED. Can’t wait to start “The Fairy Tale Girl”, but if I start it, I’ll finish it, and I’m already sad about that. Please come to Eagle Harbor Book Co. on Bainbridge Island, Wa. next Summer. I’ll bake you a pie!
Warmly, Andrea
LOL, that sounds just wonderful!
Hi Susan,
I am hoping you will make a book tour stop in Kansas at Rainy Day books again.
Would love to see you once again.I bought my daughter a copy of your book ,that evening which you signed, and she calls it her favorite book !
I will be watching for your schedule !
We’ll definitely try!
Dear Susan,
I just returned from the most wonderful trip of my life and I owe it all to you. Thanks so much for sharing your life and experiences in “A Fine Romance”. My friends and myself spent 11 days in the Lakes District discovering many of the sites and foods that your so elegantly described in your book. I did bring along the book, but didn’t think to photograph it on route.(sorry) We thoroughly enjoyed every minute, whether sightseeing, hiking, dog petting, eating or drinking. The English folks that we came in contact with made us feel so welcomed. It was a trip of a lifetime for us and we have wonderful photos and memories to share. It all started one day, at a tea party my friend was having, she had “A Fine Romance” on a table in the garden. I glanced at it and went home and ordered it, read it, and asked her if she had any interest in reenacting your Lake District experience. So happy she said “YES” and the rest is history.
So looking forward to your new book.
With much appreciation for your talent.
Paddee Neff
How positively wonderful for you Paddee, I just LOVED reading this. It makes me feel so good to think other people experience the same wonderful things we did. Trip of a lifetime is exactly how I would also describe it. Such a daily dish of discovery!
I loved “A Fine Romance”! My husband and I have wanted to go to England since we first married but because of “LIFE”, we have not been able to go yet. We are planning on making it happen within the next 2 years and can’t wait to fulfill a long-awaited dream! Your darling book encouraged us to actually make a plan to go! We can hardly wait!
Your new book looks so cute, too! I can’t wait to start reading and loving it!
Are you planning on a tour “out west” at all in the near future? Hope so!!! We had the opportunity to meet both you and Joe 2 years ago in SLO, CA at your book signing of “A Fine Romance”. We also met 2 sweet girlfriends with whom we stay in contact. Thank-you for that.
Thank-you for sharing your life and beautiful work with all of us kindred spirits out here.
With love and appreciation,
Ann McKenna
The plan is the thing! Good for you Ann! We plan to get out there for a good book tour after the second book comes out. Hope we’ll see you in SLO!
When my book arrived on Monday I promised myself that I would read it slowly, savor each page. Well, that didn’t happen! I waited until Tuesday (torture! why do we do those things?), then I read 90 pages in the first sitting. Now I am almost finished! (Boo hoo!)
Was with you every step of the way, feeling the emptiness and profound sadness of a failing marriage, smelling baby powder and the fresh scent of clean babies in Smallville. You’ve captured it all with your humor, insightful tenderness and deep emotion. (I’ve reread a few chapters — outloud — to my husband, who enjoyed hearing about life with the Stewart kids! Especially camping trips! I think he is going to read AFR and then onto this book!)
Now, the next volume will undoubtedly be of special interest to me as my association with the Vineyard was mainly between 1982-1998! Yikes! Looking forward to it like crazy.
Great read, Susan! Thank you.
I received my book on Tuesday. I too, thought you must read slow & savory but of course that didn’t happen. I read the first 90 pages like Jackie P. above & then went crazy yesterday & didn’t stop until I was finished. What a treat! This is such a wonderful love letter to your family but especially your parents. I cried & cried when you wrote about their love & sacrifice for your brothers & sisters. You expressed what I have never been able to put in words how your dad came back from war & married your mom & set on the road to give you each a foundation of a happy family (page 193). In so many ways I lived the same story but not with seven brothers & sisters. You truly are “The Fairy Tale Girl”.
I can’t wait for the next book. I have been such a fan of yours since your first cookbook in 1986. Please keep up your talent for writing & drawing, your many fans would cry buckets if you stopped. I know it must be lots of work but we are all so grateful of your sharing your talent with us. I wish there was so way to repay your gift of sharing your many talents with your fans but until I can think of something. I just have to say thank you again for your generous heart.
Barbara Stewart
That’s all the repayment I want, that’s what makes me happy. Thank you Barbara. I love writing, and feel like there are so many more books inside me, my only complaint so far about growing older is the thing about time! Must hurry! xoxo
Dear Susan,
“The Fairy Tale Girl” arrived yesterday. I read it, completely enchanted, all afternoon and evening! You have a true gift for storytelling. I was particularly delighted to read that the teachings of one art teacher in elementary school who truly helped you to “see” came back to you so beautifully, and now you enthrall us all with artwork and stories. Thank you.
I eagerly await the second installment.
And we need to know whether Pooh lived happily ever after!
Barbara
Oh yes, although I don’t remember her name, I definitely remember her teaching. She was something! I’ll tell you more about Pooh in the next book. xoxo
My book arrived today! I brought it to work with me so that I could look at the pages and show my co-workers the book “my girlfriend Susan Branch” wrote! It is, of course, a work of art. I love the heaviness of it, and how rich and thick the pages are…and that it is Made in America!
I haven’t even started this book, and I can’t wait for Isle of Dreams!
Wonderful job, Susan…just wonderful!
(forgive all the exclamation points, but your books bring that out in me!)
I seem to have the same problem myself! I just looked at my new post and it’s one crazy exclamation point after another!!! Oh well, joy unconfined is not a bad thing! xoxo Thank you Susan!
Hi Susan…I see some BAD weather is coming your way. Batten down the hatches, lay a fire, lots of old movies…sounds good to me. Be careful and prayerful.
love and prayers, Toni from Sylvania OH
It’s been all kinds of weather, but all really wonderful, windy, rain, sun and shine!
Reading your book, The Fairy Tale Girl, was like watching Downtown Abbey…..
I didn’t want it to end.
Ha ha ha . . . the second one is longer than the first. Hope that helps!
Your book arrived yesterday and was read completely by this afternoon. It would of been finished sooner but had a day of bridge interrupting me. I also grew up in So Cal a wee tad older and the memories you brought back to me were bittersweet, wishing I could live those precious years again. (I have through you). You expressed the times so very well for a girl growing up then. I didn’t want the book to come to and end but then……look forward to the next. Do you know how special you are?
You are a gift to us and I thank you for sharing your thoughts and life. I truly believe in fairies and magic how could one not!!!!!
Love your words Bobbie! XOXO Thank you.
Oh, Wow! I was thrilled to receive your book in the mail, and though I was under time pressure for a project I was working on, I slipped in reading The Fairy Tale Girl whenever I could! I was shocked how quickly it came to an end; I am very glad you have a sequel!
You are such an engaging writer, speaking to the heart, and describing things, people, events, emotions, and scenes in a way that they can be seen and felt. I love your humor. It was difficult to read about your heartbreak, and I am thankful to know that your life got better, even without reading your sequel. 🙂
I laughed, got angry and sad, and rejoiced while I read your book! I was really pleased to read about how and when you found out that you had drawing/painting talent. Boy, Howdy! You do have talent~~and in so many areas. Your descriptions: of decor, gardens, the ladies’ house where you first saw a beautifully set table and when you roasted your first chicken, your many experiences, your emotions, your times with friends and Cliff–love them all. Very well, done, Susan.
I have read A Fine Romance a couple of times and am currently reading it again. You have inspired my husband and me to plan a trip to England next fall in celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary. We happened to meet an English couple recently, who were on holiday in our area, and we invited them to our home. We had fun talking about places we might visit and learning that they would be glad to host us in their home for a portion of our stay.
This is a bit rambling, but it is difficult for me to capsulize my thoughts about The Fairy Tale Girl!
Thank you for sharing of yourself! Now I am off to read about your recent trip!
Blessings!
P.S. I visited Elizabeth’s sites and found that she is very talented, as well. Her renovated Greek revival is soooo well done~love the furnishings and colors!
I LOVE how we connect! Now with Elizabeth too! So amazing, this Internet world of ours! Thank you so much for the beautiful comments about The Fairy Tale Girl. You can’t know how much it means to me. xoxo