Hello darling people! MUSICA
Get a cup of tea and join me for AUTUMN from the Heart of the Home, it’s blog time!
Trees make SUCH good sense when you can get one to talk. Fall is when they do it, you can hear it in the shhhhh of their leaves . . . and you find out they make sense in more ways than one! ♥
And they smell good too! Especially this time a year, when the air is filled with them. Here was our walk yesterday. It’s getting very beautiful out there. Still lots of green, but the change is coming . . .
As you can see, we are nowhere near peak yet, color wise, but a few things are beginning to burst, like the bittersweet . . . such a fun thing to decorate with although I can use it outside only because it’s not good for kitties.
You would NOT want to decorate with this inside OR out, because this is poison ivy. But isn’t it pretty? Our woods are filled with this climber that turns bright red . . . they should have called this bittersweet — because with poison ivy you get the bitter, but in the color you get the sweet!
You can see a bit more of it in red on the tree in the back . . . it’s gorgeous, one of the prettiest fall plants in the woods.
Bittersweet tumbles everywhere. It lights the shadowy places up.
Sassafras! Pretty pretty pretty. The wind makes the leaves shimmer in the light . . .
So I was wearing this kind of loose-knit sweater and I started gathering leaves, flowers and berries to bring home so instead of carrying them, I strung them through my sweater . . .
This face says Ha! I thought it looked great. I wanted to cover my entire sweater in them. Make a fall costume. But, when a car drove by us out there, Joe pretended not to know me. Silly boy. Doesn’t he know . . .
Here it all is, that’s our woods!
These are windfall crabapples I found on the ground under a tree when we were in New Hampshire. So cute, I brought them home to put on the kitchen table. P.S. They were free! Just lying around on the ground. Can you imagine?
And this gorgeous rose is the last one of the season from our garden. I debated, bring it in, or enjoy it in the garden? IN! I felt good about my decision. Up close and personal, not just for me, but for you too. Through the MAGIC of the Internet! I still can’t believe we can DO this!
October, my darling, slooow down. Last two months, please . . .I really love you. I had such fun painting this page, I want it to stick around for a while!
We almost always end up getting mums to decorate our porch, and then we plant them in the garden afterwards. And they always come back. These wine-red mums are growing in the garden now.
Lowely was just here for tea, she heard we’re going to have a freeze on Saturday! So I’ll cover the mums with a blanket to get them to last a bit longer. The hand-painted little thrift shop vase up there is my newest favorite thing ~ it was a gift from my girlfriend Pat ♥ . . . adorable don’t you think? For the collection . . . From one “little vase” lover to another . . . ♥
…How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells…
Top o’ the stove as of yesterday. . .
We are cookin’ with gas in more ways than one . . . because it’s getting chilly out there!
And it’s Casper time. A VERY friendly ghost . . . already lighting the bedroom window upstairs. . . hello to the street!
See him? Our pumpkins are up too. But you can see, although there are colored leaves on the ground, the trees still have a little ways to go. Mas MUSICA? OUI!
When I want to decorate I just shop my house and pull out anything that says “Autumn” to me, like these little faux pears and that pinecone I found out on the road. Nature (and the attic) provides.
I read my Autumn Book and set it up in my kitchen to get inspired . . . such a creative time of year! ♥
See, just little stuff we have around . . . the birds we sell in our web store ~ along with little faux leaves I got somewhere and saved.
We had such a nice time at our book signing in Meredith, New Hampshire with the good people at Innisfree Books ~ Lots of our Girlfriends were there!♥ By the way, I left lots of signed copies of The Fairy Tale Girl and A Fine Romance at this wonderful Independent Bookstore if you’re interested . . . they told me they would be happy to send you one for as long as they last. You can call them at 603-279-3905.
They decorate their store with huge posters that authors sign for them. I figured out where to sign the poster for The Fairy Tale Girl, but was having trouble with Autumn. The caption (and my left hand) would say, “Yeah, but where?”
But I figured out . . . and was very proud of myself!
We stopped in the BEST farm stands when we were up there . . . and got ourselves some very large pumpkins to carve for Halloween.
But my favorite thing was reading in front of the fire at Lowely’s grandmother’s house . . . a little bit of heaven.
I suggested Corn Pudding on the October page of this year’s calendar (up there ↑ and hopefully on your wall) so I thought I should give you the recipe. It’s in the Autumn Book too. SO good, SO easy, and DO float it in a puddle of maple syrup … It’s the perfect food for this time of year, I promise!
Jack. In his new capacity of door beggar. PLEASE take me out! Please!!!!!!!! I hope over the winter he forgets about the great outdoors because, despite his little mustache and his melting green eyes, this boy has terrible killer instincts and if he were set loose, I would fear for the world of birds, bunnies and other kitties! A neighborhood cat becomes visible through a window and Jack turns into a Rhodesian Ridgeback. One scary kitty.
I tell Jack he has it so easy. The cats in California are working cats! This is darling SAMMY . . . helping out at the Studio. He sleeps with us when we are there, and I have to say, I get a tear in my eye when I have to leave him. He looks a little scary in this photo, but that’s just the camera, he is the MOST wonderful kitty, SO loving. After Jack and Girl of course. (I think they can read.)
And Sasha! Another HUGE help at the Studio. Look at those front paws! I Love that my Studio has kitties. Kellee’s yellow lab, Reese, comes to work with her too, so we know we are running the RIGHT kind of business, don’t you agree? If things get too busy and Kellee and Sheri get stressed, they can just reach over, pet a kitty or a dog, and voila, stress is a thing of the past and they are smiling again!
I’m smiling too because we have 52 five-star reviews on Amazon for The Fairy Tale Girl!!! Already, before most of our Girlfriends in the UK have even gotten their books. You can’t ask for more than that! I had to check Amazon, it’s the only way I know to gauge how the book is doing. So exciting and so lucky! Whoever has taken the time to write those reviews, if you are reading this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank ALL of you. I love reading your comments here on the blog. I’m really overwhelmed to tell you the truth. This book was a long time coming . . . XOXO
Just so you know, every day I work on Book Two. Trying to 
get it done ASAP! Cliff hangers (I’ve come to realize) are so unfair! No matter how much fun they are! I think you think you know how this next book will end, but I think you will be surprised. *That’s all I’m saying*. And for all the talk about making The Fairy Tale Girl into a movie (or, a series with Zooey Deschanel in the starring role, ha ha), I have one thing to say, where is Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle) when we need her? Hear that, adorable Richard Curtis who made Love Actually?
And so are dreams. . .even if you don’t get them!
So, what else . . ? Oh, yes, I’ll be signing THE FAIRY TALE GIRL at Titcombs Bookshop on the Cape in Sandwich this Saturday, October 17th, from 1-3 p.m. if anyone is in the 
neighborhood.♥ Joe and I are having lunch with the Beatrix Potter Girlfriends before the signing, to talk about next year, the 150th anniversary of the Birth of Beatrix, a light upon the earth for her time here, and still, after all these years. There are plans afoot for a celebration. I will tell you more later . . . hope to see some of you at the signing.♥
Joy to the world, that’s all I have to say. Not really ALL I have to say. That’ll be the day.:-) We are starting to plan our cross-country bookstore tour for next year . . . we are very excited. You know how good it feels to put something fun on the calendar? Oh boy, do we feel good! Because we are also planning a very big birthday party for Joe next August. With a band and a tent and everything! 
PLUS, we still have another book to do, PLUS, Downton Abbey is coming, it’s all so exciting. PLUS Thanksgiving, PLUS Christmas. AND the first snow. Our cup runneth over. Love you Girls, have a WONDERFUL day. EAT corn pudding! XOXO
Oh please oh please carry your ghost in the shop! Angela
I would LOVE to, but he is about 15 years old and I got him at a craft fair!!!
Oh, Susan. Just like your books, your posts always make me feel so cozy, and give me that sense of home. Living in New Hampshire away from all of my family (they’re back in Ohio), the coziness is much welcome, especially as we near the holiday season.
It was such a pleasure meeting you at your book signing in Meredith. You are as sweet as your books, and clearly have a huge heart.
Best,
Tim
You too Tim, it was wonderful meeting you, thank you for coming! LOVE having you here!
Wow!!!! Tim!!!! We don’t get too many guys on here! So I just wanted to say… WELCOME. You are now an official Susan Branch Girlfriend! Hope that’s ok. We are all like friends and are happy to have you here. In case you were wondering… No, I am not the official welcoming committee. I was just so surprised to see a man’s name and felt compelled to write:) Thought it was darling of you to comment. Now I feel like I should say I am happily married and now I feel like I should stop typing 😉 Now feeling like what if your name is Timothia and you are a girl. lol Anyway… WELCOME:) hee hee
Yes you are the official welcoming committee! 🙂 LOL!
Ha Thanks:) even with that stream of consciousness? I thought about just erasing it, but it made me laugh.
Me too! 🙂
..good morning, dear Susan… good morning, everyone…greetings from the pacific northwest, where Autumn has been making her brilliant arrival as well..what a wonderful post you are giving us today (like always )..you give us so much !… so much to reflect on… ‘so grateful that I brought my Autumn book ( as well as other books by you) that I simply could not bear to put into storage…thank you for being here !!..now, to go back and reread and enjoy your stories and photography…btw, what a fun decoration for your sweater..simply charming…thanks for sharing..
Happy to hear from you Mary!
Looking forward to Titcombs on Saturday with the same girlfriend Carol that was with me 2 years ago at your Meredith NH AFR signing. We plan on a repeat of fun with our husbands in tow. See you Saturday. 😀
Oh GOODIE, Kathy, I thought of you when we drove up to that hotel in Meredith and I MISSED YOU! You were such a good welcome last time! 🙂 Sandwich is beautiful if you haven’t been there before. . . See you Saturday!
Good morning! Beautiful post–fall colors are the best! We’re just beginning the peak here in southern Illinois. By the way, I love your pig cutting board… I have one very similar. 🙂
Kellee’s mom made my cutting board . . . she made them for the store for a while, although I’m not sure we have them anymore.
Good morning from my sunny beach. I takeThe Fairy Tale Girl everywhere with me, even to my physical therapy sessions (following knee surgery) where I am sharing it with my therapists. They love the book, also!
Thank you Lorie . . . word of mouth, girlfriend to girlfriend, is the very best thing there is!
Good morning, Susan! Thank you for your new blog today. I loved your “Autumn” sweater – how ingenious of you! And I didn’t realize that poison changed colors – never gave it a thought – I’ll definitely be on guard. I was just looking through my Autumn book last night; I keep coming back to Scallops & Mashed Potatoes & Corn Chowder. That recipe looks like the ultimate comfort food – think I’ll try it this weekend. Beautiful Sammy in your California studio reminds me of the Broadway Phantom of the Opera! How wonderful to have your animals with you at work. I (finally) retired recently – being able to reach down and pet an animal would have made a huge difference in the high stress office atmosphere in which I worked! I glean so much inspiration from your homey decorating ideas – simple ways on how to make a house a home. Thank you, Susan, for helping us girlfriends make our homes (and lives!) a little better
You will LOVE that recipe Linda! It’s so delicious. I have a friend who just got a new knee and I’m taking her dinner tomorrow night and I just remembered, thanks to you, the perfect thing to take her! xoxo Thank you!
Linda…I remember a few years ago, we flew across the Atlantic (7 hours) picked up a hire car at JFK & drove ALL the way to Woods Hole (with one bathroom break) (6 hours) in time for that LAST ferry across to MV…arrived, almost sick with tiredness and cold…to the perfect warm glow of Sue & Joe’s kitchen and THAT VERY DINNER waiting for us! I’ll never forget it. The absolute definition of comfort food. Make it & love it! x
Oh Ray, you are so wonderful! xoxo
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Good morning, Susan! I was so happy to see that you posted this morning. I am on my second reread of The Fairy Tale Girl and I just love it, especially the part about meeting the Beatles! How unbelievably awesome that was. Also, the kitty pictures really struck me today. I have been thinking about adopting one….or two.
Enjoy your walk and thank you for taking us along!
It will totally make your day, and weeks, and months, and years and life! They are so much fun and so funny! xoxo
I loved your new fall fashion trend. Tres chic! And yes, we are the normal ones for sure. Enjoy this beautiful month of October. It goeth too quickly!
Oui!
Oh my goodness—I so enjoyed today’s post. Isn’t FALL grand?!! The corn pudding recipe is one of our favorites also. We always have it on the Thanksgiving table. It is so much fun to hear everyone’s comments on The Fairy Tale Girl. I was born in 1959 and growing up in that era has SOO many wonderful memories that you re-ignited through that book. Life really was so much simpler. Hope to see you again on your cross-country book tour.
I’m coming! Thank you Lynn!
Well obviously if you simply turn the poster a quarter turn you have plenty of room to sign
Or sign it over the top of the title “Autumn” like any normal person would :~) heh,heh,heh!
I was afraid I’d ruin it! Are you making fun of normal people?
Wonder if the AZ heat is getting to your dad 🙂 Is he saying you are not normal??? Remember Jack … the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree … heh, heh, heh 🙂 Normal is relative.
Yeah, I know! 🙂 LOL!
You are so right Mary in Phoenix ….I have no aspiration to be “normal”and Sue is my relative also fortunately our Arizona location is at 3500 feet altitude and the heat index is far below that of the Phoenix area ….that you suffer with, so we do feel sorry for you!
This weekend will be in the 80’s here … We go from summer to winter overnight 🙂 And yes, 70’s and 80’s is winter … but it’s that amazing crisp cool dry air … along with beautiful flowers on the tops of cacti that make winter in the desert so lovely. When we need real seasons we make the short trek to Prescott or Flagstaff near your neck of the woods to get it. Always nice to hear from you, “no aspiration to be normal” Jack! xo
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Such a lovely blog posting, as always! I love your leaf and flowers sweater decoration! I just recently received my copy of The Fairy Tale Girl through Amazon and I love it already. So sweet to put your baby and little girl pictures just inside the cover! Perfect reading for the autumn days!
Those pages, just inside of The Fairy Tale Girl, are from my baby book and that’s my mom’s 17-year-old handwriting. Thank you Sandra!
Hello darling Susan! Love your fall fashion! Ever since reading about Tom Bombadil’s Lady Goldberry from the River Withywindle, I’ve wanted to have a dress made from leaves and wondered how one could achieve such a straight-from-nature gown. And, as always, you show how easy it is – just take a walk through the woods in Autumn…Nature provides! Also love Tree Talk! So full of great tree-ish wisdom. Again, as always, your sharing blog offers so much colorful bounty to feed the creative heart. Thank you. I hope that the Sacramento area is one of the places you are putting on your calendar as you plan next year’s bookstore tour. We would love to welcome you to “The City of Trees”. xxoo
My dress of leaves wouldn’t last long, but isn’t that part of the wonderfulness. Now is the time! xoxo
Your Autumn book is in my kitchen too! My daughter made your apple muffins this week, using our hoard from Markham, Virginia. You make Fall the most fun. We lost our kitty Blueberry last week, 17 years young, crabby, & cozy. She loved making quilts with me, and I miss her so, so much. Sure has changed “home.” Already wishing for a Christmas kitten! Thank you for your cheerful post.
So sorry about Blueberry, but 17 years, how lucky you were! A Christmas kitten would be perfect! And so many good names to celebrate with! You could even call her “Christmas!”
I received your “The Fairy Tale Girl” book just one hour ago and oh, am I happy with it!
I ordered it at Book Depository in the UK; great and quick service :>)
Thanks for today’s post, wonderful as ever, and the beautiful book.
Love and cheers from The Netherlands.
Jeanneke.
So happy to hear that Jeanneke! Glad it’s making the rounds now! Hope you can come over to England next year when we’re there and join our BYO Picnic Basket Picnic at Stourhead in Wiltshire!
Oh, darling Susan – I just happened upon your wonderful post this morning — in the wee small hours — and immediately poured another cup of coffee (Starbucks country) and settled in under a throw to enjoy your missive. You, my friend, light up my life! You truly do. I walked around our little lake yesterday with a brown paper bag to pick up leaves to press. I love to have them on hand to tie to a package of cookies or tuck into a note. You inspire me every day. I am begging you to consider coming to the Pacific Northwest on your tour. We’re building a new house on Whidbey Island and you could christen our guest room! There are many wonderful book stores here. It’s the Martha’s Vineyard of the northwest — Oh, please come! Anyone from the area reading this — let’s start a campaign! Are you going to Beatrix Potter land for the celebration? I’ve been — and can picture the lovely ride in the old wooden boat to get there from Windermere where we stayed. It’s like a dream, huh?! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your giving way that just makes my day, time and time again.
Windermere and that whole area — you described it perfectly, like a dream. Thank you so much Jane for your sweet words . . . I would love to come to your Island one day!
I ♥ Fall! What a nice post to wake up to! Even though temps are still in the 90’s here (we tied a record at 100 yesterday!) fall is STILL in the air … or maybe in our minds … and hearts 🙂 Thank you for coloring our world autumn and inspiring us as you do ♥ Keep counting your blessings and hope all these comments inspire you as you paint away 🙂 xoxo
They do. Most inspiring words ever!
Mystery solved! All this time I thought Annie C. At was just loving YOU, Susan! She was covering the scent of the Studio Kitties! LOL I finally had to put the book out of her reach (is there such a place for kitties??) to keep her from rubbing the ink off the dust jacket! LOL Read the book in two nights… before bed… and dreamed of fairy dust… and magic…
We had frost this morning. Brrrr… we are having our annual heater war… who will decide if the heat must come on?? Can the fireplace be enough?? How many layers do we need inside?? So far, this is the latest we have gone! But, with more freezing weather coming, the geraniums will come in to the studio and, sigh, the heat will come on! Enjoy these “Fresh” mornings!
We just turned ours on for the first time, it’s brrrr cold outside!
If there was such a thing as reincarnation I think I would come back as a Giant Sequoia! Thanks for the “Tree Talk”!
xoxoxo
Lisa Hay 🙂
Yes, blowing in the wind and smelling sooooo good, with the perfect view!
Hello there Sweet Susan,
I will be seeing you on Saturday, I am going to be in the neighborhood early in the morning helping my 81 years young Dad and Mom take their boat out of the water for the winter. I am so excited! So after lunch with them Paul and I are going to stop by and give you and Joe a big HUG ! And of course, getting another “The Fairy Tale Girl”book because you never know when some special person is going to need the best present ever!!! Isn’t life grand when you can visit the most adorable people in the world and wait in line with them. What a fantastic day we have planned. See you then, Cheers, Wendy-Louise oxoxoxoxoxo
SO happy to hear that Wendy-Louise! See you there!
Not so sure I am normal (or want to be for that matter) because I am getting way too excited for your next book, the mention of making “The Fairy Tale Girl” into a movie, and corn pudding!! Thank you for inspiration every time you write! ♥
Thank you Suzanne, it’s the abnormal which IS normal . . . 🙂
Dear, dear Sue,
Thank you so much for sharing Autumn on Martha’s Vineyard with us! Where I am, here in the Tennessee valley, we’ve awhile to go before we see much color on the trees.
Yes, your calendar is hanging on the wall, and that Corn Pudding is on my “to make” list!
I do so love your sweater trimmings! That’s the perfect way to carry the beauty of fall along with you!
Ah! It must be an all-important birthday for Joe! Preparations sound like such fun!
Have you begun receiving stories from readers of FTG? You have given all of us such great encouragement to write our own stories as well. We all have them. Perhaps not with the thrill of seeing the Beetles, but with our own special times. The Everly Brothers lived in my town for a few years when I was in high school, and they sang on a regular radio program that we were able to attend as part of the studio audience. I suppose I’m telling too much about my own age.:-) Anyway, we have all had those dreams that became reality for many of us. I predict you will have several stories to read.:-)
It is sunny and cool here this morning, and there is a chance of frost at some point over the coming week-end. It is definitely time to bring in those last blooms of summer.
Sending good wishes to you, as always!
XO Nellie
Thanks Nellie, yes, there have already been some very sweet stories!
My book was waiting for me when I got home from AQS Quilt Show in Des Moines. I devoured it in two days. I tried to make it last but it was too delicious! It seems no matter how much you write or post, I want more! Your blog has inspired some fall decorating – I’m going to go find some Cinderella pumpkins for the front porch. Happy fall to you and yours!
From Michigan’s great southwest,
Penny
Same to you Penny, and thank you!!
What are Cinderella pumpkins Penny??
They are the ones that if they were big would make the perfect carriages to take Cinderella to the ball. Google them Margot, they are adorable.
Good Morning Susan,
All my life I have enjoyed the October moon. And not wishing the time away, I’m hoping for clear skies for this years October moon.
I’m so dense, I did not realize where the cover for The Fairy Tale Girl came from, and I had wondered, until I got to pages 105 and for sure on page 128 of The Fairy Tale Girl. Of course I love the book, and the cover is so special since I know that is you as well.
Thanks for the blog, it’s always a wonderful treat.
Love,kay
And one more thing most people don’t know, the border on the cover has big daisies, all with one missing petal . . . he loves me, he loves me not. Thank you Kay!
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Hooray! I’m glad you’re home and walking the path again!
I love Autumn and so does everyone else who has your lovely book! It’s a keeper for sure. I like to look at my SB book pile so I keep putting it back with the others but for heaven’s sake, I am going to go pull it out again.
I know this isn’t a comment-box-worthy question but where do you put the litter boxes for Girl and Jack? I still don’t have a kitten (weep!) but if we do get one (please, God!) this is a concern. Do you scoop every day? Do you use scented litter? Do you have two self-cleaning boxes? Sorry to bother you with such a mundane question! Smile.
Yay for Joe’s upcoming (well sort of) big birthday. My husband turns the big 6-0 this year and he says, “NO PARTY!” We will party him up any how because it’s a big deal and a happy deal and a thankful deal . . .
I only have one box for both cats to use and it seems to work, and yes we clean it every day. We have a fireplace upstairs that we don’t use, so we put the catbox in there. It never smells bad. We don’t like scented litter, just use a plain one. Kitties are SO easy. You just put the kitten in the box when you get home, and that’s it — you are done potty training. He will remember and only go there. It will be Joe’s 64th birthday . . .
I have a trick I use with our kitty litter to keep the smell down to a minimum and I put an old towel underneath the kitty box and around it ( its a big towel) to prevent tracking the litter all over the house. I mix the regular littler with corn cob litter, like arm and hammer’s fresh results, the corn litter absorbs the odors ad smells and leaves a fresh scent to it. we put our kitty box in the utility bathroom next to the kitchen. hope that helps out a bit. 🙂
Hi Susan
You never fail to remind me how perfectly perfect you are, and how much you make us all appreciate life 110% more! Just sat down to my computer with homemade oatmeal on this chilly morning (apples, cinnamon and brown sugar, pecans, little cream) and happened to see your new blog. In good spirits for the rest of the day! God bless!
Not quite perfect, pretty not perfect actually, but accepting! 🙂 You like oatmeal just like I do… I do it with chopped apples, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts . . . and lots of milk. Happy day Cam!
Good Morning! I really enjoyed this beautiful post! Autumn is my favorite season. This winner was so happy to get my copy of The Fairy Tale Girl and I devoured every page of it all in one day! As I’m a year older than you, it was so fun to read about things I’d almost forgotten about…like Little Latin Lupe Lu…lol! And your story about meeting the Beatles…I’ll just say this…you were a brave girl! 🙂 I can’t wait for Book 2!
Enjoy this beautiful fall season!
Cheryl
Thank you Cheryl!! xoxo
I just finished the book last night so I’m off to post my review on Amazon. It was wonderful and every bit as lovely as “A Fine Romance”. I’m just so sad it’s over and that we have to wait until May for the next installment. I have to say that I really loved the stories about your younger years best. Maybe you need to go back to the beginning, the very beginning and do another book from there. It was fascinating reading about your parents and your early years. Thank you for sharing with us.
Robyn that was such a nice review!!! I can’t thank you enough. So thoughtful! By the time you finish the second book, you’ll know why I didn’t start writing like this earlier! Thank you dear xoxo
Hi Susan,
What a wonderful post of autumn! My favorite time of year bar none! I just returned from my annual trek to Maine with my sister, Sue. The colors on the
coast are peaking about now. The pretty colors contrast against the evergreens up there and make it all the more spectacular. I’m almost finished my 2nd read of TFTG, I went so quickly the first time. It really is a wonderful memoir of the times for boomers. I’m a little behind you, born in 1953 but I so identify with the feeling of “what I will be when I grow up”, so different from the guidance the younguns’ get today in school. BTW, the pocket calendar turned up after about a month of AWOL. So happy! It was tucked in between a stack of magazines to be read, not a great statement on my homekeeping 🙂 Like all the girlfriends, the 2nd volume of the book can’t come quick enough but I guess the anticipation will get us through the long winter along with Downton. I hope you plan to come on the book tour somewhere near Philadelphia, maybe an East Coast tour pretty please?
Hugs, Kathleen
That’s what we’re thinking Kathleen! Hope to see you next spring.
GOT my BOOK! I’m so excited to be reading it and if it wasn’t for work I would be reading it all day. I can’t wait for book #2.
Yay Jamie!
You should get Jack a padded kitty harness and try walking him on a leash. Every cat I’ve done this with has taken to it right away and loved it. “Catwalks” around the yard are nice, and the gentle, exploring pace the cats set by themselves gives you reason to slow down and “paws” during a hectic day. It’s a safe activity for everyone, and the harness gives you control if a bird or squirrel suddenly appears. Plus in my city, it’s the law that all dogs AND cats must be leashed.
I tried Jack in a harness once. He turned into a wildcat mixed with bucking bronco and went stark staring MAD. Wriggled out of the harness, and got away! I had to leave him to pull himself back together in the bushes, then finally he let me come pick him up. I think I should have started when he was a baby.
Well, starting young does help, but even my older cats quickly learned that if you put your harness on like a good boy, you get to go out. They make such great harnesses now for dogs (I have Maine Coons, so I need dog-sized everything!) that go around the chest & legs & are escape-proof. You other choices are to get him a kitty stroller, or make/buy an enclosed kitty run/pen, or do what we did…add a screen porch on, specially designed to keep cats enclosed & away from the screens. It has a cat door into the house, so the cats can go in & out as they want. We even made an acrylic A-frame shelter inside the porch that acts like a greenhouse in the winter & heats up to about 80 degrees on sunny days. (I want one human sized!) The builder said he had never build a “cat porch” before, so it was a first! 🙂 Of course, if Jack is a little monkey, then he’s going to find a way to out-smart you and do his own thing, no matter what…
He’s a monkey alright. Just smart and I think maybe a little bored stuck in his cat existence. But I’m going to look for some new toys that he might like.
Mine love Undercover Mouse, a motorized wand that goes around under a round cover (pounce!), although people online report problems with theirs not holding up. I always supervise its use. My cats know which closet it’s in & just opening the closet door brings them running. We make blanket “tents” over the coffee table for games of hide & seek, slide yardsticks under throw rugs (“Mouse in there!”), I tie a big clothesline cord to my belt loop as I’m working through the house (I get followed & the cord gets chased), and of course there’s always the old empty box fun. “Super Ball in a Bathtub” is also a favorite. You really don’t want to have a bored Maine Coon…they can knock over chairs and remove sofa cushions for fun!!
You are very creative! I love all your ideas! I have Jack read this later and see what he thinks!
I love the clothesline idea, I do that but I tie a big jingle bell on the end, I once walked out of the house and across the road to the mailbox with that cord on my belt loop, just thankful the cats did not follow it that time but they were sure upset with me for having walked off with their toy so now the bell tells me its on my belt. I have that undercover mouse toy only its called the cat’s meow. cats love that toy, along with watching at all the windows for the birds that come to the feeders, the squirrels at their stump chowing down on their food, and of course kitty TV in our home… the fish tank!!!
As a fellow cat lover, I enjoyed all these comments so much. I had a Maine coon and, yep, you could walk him on a SMALL DOG harness/leash; he was one BIG kitty but also a big love and very docile. We have an oversized chain link dog pen in the yard…if you packed ’em in like sardines, you could probably fit six German sheps in there; it’s large…for the cat with a tarp-roof but, have to say, it’s not a big thrill for him; all he wants is OUT (at least it gives him a change of [safe] scenery and some fresh air). Think how great THIS must be: Rich people in my area built a big hillside home. They have multiple cats. Coyotes come out of the canyon; kitties can’t be outside (never safe, in any instance, of course…for any cat anywhere). They built the custom house so that this super-large area off the back of the home is a screened-type of enclosure for the cats that they can retract at the push of a button, like a huge instant playpen on the grass and, when kitties are ready to come in, push the button and screen disappears into the structure of the house. I have no idea how they did this, but they have a relative who is a contractor, so…somebody is a genius in THAT family!
☆♡♥★♬♪♫✰❀❄Sweet Sue This Blog~Post Has Me Doing The Pumpkin~Jiggity~Jig Oh My Goodness! ☆♡♥★♬♪♫✰❀❄I Love Jack!!! Purrrrfectly~Cute ☆:-) & The California~Kitties Are Oh So Sweet! 🙂 ☆♡ & Your Ghosty~Boy is Lit & I Love How He Welcomes Everybody in The Upstairs~Window!!! Booooootiful! 🙂 Your House is Truly~Enchanted!!! ☆♡♥★♬♪♫✰❀❄Excellent~Musica Today! ♬♪♫✰ I’m Reading The~Fairy~Tale~Girl a Little Each Day (Savoring Every~Word)…& My Autumn~Book Is Part Of My Fall~Decor!!!! I Make & Devour Your~Corn~Pudding All Through This Season Soooooooooooooo~Scrumptious! Oh And I Adore Your Autumn~Sweater…I’d Wear it All The Time….An Excellent Idea To Make One! 🙂 (& You Look So Cute!) 🙂 Sending Warm Hugzzz To You & Joe & The Kitties! Breathe In Every Magical Moment of Autumn Savoring These Magical Dayzzzz Love & Always a Bit of Pixie~Dust! xoxo Poof! ☆♡♥★♬♪♫✰❀❄ P.S. Have A Fun Book~Signing Weekend On Saturday October 17th is My Mom’s (Irene) 78th Birthday! Yay!!! Herbster & I Are Throwing Her A Birthday~Bash! Happy~Birthday Mommy! 🙂 ☆♡♥★♬♪♫✰❀❄
Happy Birthday to your MOM Angie . . . Love to the Herbster too!
🙂 I Have Been On The Phone With My Mom for The Last Two Hours & She Says “Thank~You Sue” 🙂 & Herbster Says “Love Back To You Too” 🙂 & I Say… “Let’s All Do The Pumpkin~Jiggity~Jig” Yay! xoxo Poof! ♥★♬♪♫✰We Are All Pumpkins Sweet Sue! 😉 ♥★♬♪♫✰
Angie – just had to wish your Mom a wonderful October 17 Happy Birthday – your mom and I share the same birthday!! Let the celebrations begin!!! Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
Happy Birthday Mari!
Oh Fairy Tale Girl the book was perfect! I read it through right after my pre-ordered copy arrived. Then yesterday while visiting my Mom who lives eight hours from me I read aloud to her starting at “Smallville” to page 234 while we laughed, cried and reminisced about our family’s life which ran parallel to yours! We too lived in Reseda and the similarities between our families are seemingly endless. We will continue reading to the end today. It is so much fun to do this together. I can’t wait till I have the chance to read it with my sisters! We cannot thank you enough for bringing to life your memories which so encourage our own! I just know we must have bumped into each other in the aisles of Reseda Library. Love and a million thanks! Chris
I was just thinking the same thing about bumping into each other when I read what you wrote about the library! Tell your mom and sisters I said hello! xoxo
Loved this post so much…it’s just started to rain here in our corner of England…grey & mizzly…pure Autumn. Making a big cup of tea and taking a break from baking to say hi to darling YOU and the darlings band of girlfriends known to man (or woman!) It’s filled my soul right up! xoxo
The darlingest band of girlfriends known to man or woman! Love you dear Rachel!
😍
good mornin’ Susan from red,orange and gold-leafy Seattle….it was a little giftie to see your post this morning…..your autumn sweater did not surprise me as your creativity abounds! 🙂 I made the spiced pecans from the Autumn book and it actually tasted like fall! Thanks for all your photo’s and thoughts and reminders of what is important…..let us know if your sweater idea also works for collecting wintry nature bits!
Regina
Loose knit is the trick! Mmmmm, you have just made me hungry for spiced pecans!
You are such a joy Susan! Thank you for all the beauty you create with your art and words!!
Thank you so much Christie!
Nora Ephron was a light upon the earth for her time here, also.
Absolutely, I loved her too.
Hey Susan, loved reading your blog today about autumn and I learned what poison ivy looks like in Fall and I have a lot😁. I can’t wait to get your new book, I am excited thinking about it.
Happy Fall!
Just don’t touch! 🙂
It’s a beautiful day in Indiana today…thank you for sharing the lovely autumn colors in your photos Susan…Looking at my copy of “The Fairy Tale Girl” and just getting started reading…Excited to have it…..I always love your blog posts….they are a momentary escape to think about….. Have a wonderful day…!
Have a great day Teena!
Good morning from northern Michigan where we might get a few of those white flakes this weekend…you always give me so much inspiration to get my house prettied up for the season-whatever season-we have mums and pumpkins outside and leaves and apples in a basket…definitely making corn pudding…yum…
I’ve been looking for bittersweet at our local farmers markets…haven’t seen any…wow-I’ve never seen such huge bittersweet bushes as the one in your posting…do you have Japanese lanterns? Love decorating with them in the fall when I can find them…
I’ve seen them, but I don’t have any . . . LOL, I just remembered a little story I saw on another blog and saved . . . about Chinese lanterns if they’re the same thing ~ here’s what it said: When we first went into business, we sold our plants at market. One day, a customer approached my husband and asked him the best way to deal with mint that had taken over the garden. My husband told him we had planted chinese lantern, and that had killed the mint. The customer thanked him, began to walk away, paused, turned and asked how he would deal with the chinese lantern.
“Oh, that’s easy,” my husband said. “Move.”
I guess it must be invasive where they live . . . bittersweet is here too, so I love finding it in the woods.
I wonder what name bittersweet is known by in the UK? I’ve Googled and Googled with no success. Chinese lanterns are easy to grow but didn’t know they kill mint!
Probably somewhere they are invasive . . . like mint is here. Good question about the bittersweet — maybe someone will know.
Deb, I think it’s Solanum Dulcemara…we know it as Woody Nightshade. Lots of birds like it, I know…but not good for us mammals! x
Now you’ve all got it right. What you refered to as Woody Nightshade we have here too. My mom called it Deadly Nightshade, which is more of a bigger bush with purple berries. Yes it is poisonous and the birds do like it. I asked my mom when I was a little girl why it didn’t kill the birds since they are so much smaller than us. She didn’t know.
Just remember that bittersweet is extremely poisonous to kitties and dogs… 🙁
Ok, Deb…I think this is the final answer!! I was wrong, Sue’s photo is of American Bittersweet (Celastrus Scandens) native to North America and, although poisonous, used by Native Americans to treat intestinal & venereal diseases apparently! I don’t think it grows over our side of the pond, sadly…gorgeous berries! x
I heard the Native Americans used it for those things too, but as a poultice . . . but we get lots of not-so-right info on Google sometimes, so don’t quote me. Thank you Ray!
Yes! I didn’t think it was growing over here. I looked up all sorts of links and frustration set in. Oh, well, I’m sure there will be something to forage for to bring indoors instead of it. Thanks for all the help, Susan, Margot, Pat, and Rachel {speaking with mouth full of chocolate brownies}
HI to Margot, haven’t seen you in a while now?
It will make your pumpkined and mummed house smell perfect!
Welcome Home!! I’ve missed your posts!! Have some things to do around the house right now but going to come back later with a fresh cup of coffee and savor this post. ((hugs))
Dear Susan,
Thank you for bringing fall to us in southern California where summer refuses to leave. My home is decorated for the season and if I keep the air conditioner humming I can pretend that we’re really experiencing my favorite season. We just returned from Yosemite, one of the grandest places on earth. Although the majestic granite is still breathtaking, our drought has created forests of dead and dying trees and trickles for waterfalls. It’s so so sad. So we pray for El Niño and a solid snowpack this year.
On a positive note, I devoured your book and savored every word and picture. I had no idea what you’ve been through or how you started on the path to becoming our Susan Branch. I admire your talents even more and your resilience too. Thank you for sharing in such an honest way, dear Susan. Lots of lessons to be learned in The Fairy Tale Girl. And I shared my thoughts in an Amazon review.
Enjoy this beautiful season and the work on our next book!
I am praying for El Nino too . . . it sounds like it could be a good one. If I lived on the side of a cliff in the Hollywood Hills, I might bring myself to some flatter ground! Thank you Patty, for the review!! xoxo
Wonderful blog!! I have read “The Fairy Tale Girl” twice……felt I might have missed some important detail the first time…and I did. My admiration runneth over for your talent, Susan. To consistently keep diaries of your life is one thing, but to put all of that into a book (or two!)…..is quite another……… never mind to have it be a 5-star smash!! Love your blog! Thank you, thank you! xoxo
Oh Ann Jane, you are such a doll. Was wonderful seeing you at Innisfree!! XOXO
It was great seeing you, too, Susan……….and amazes me that you remember me out of all of the hundreds of people that you see at your book signings. After all, I only have to remember you (and Joe, of course)……….I still regret not having him sign my “A Fine Romance”…page 16. Maybe next time!
Yes, no problem, next time! xoxo
Good morning, Susan.
The nicest way to take a break is with anything written by you in the company of Maui and Jombie. Thanks for the ride through my home state and the glorious moon while you were in Meredith.
Spring is coming to Florida with cooler nights and drier days. I open the house after dinner and enjoy the shine my house is getting from my ‘spring cleaning’. We don’t walkin the woods because of the low-to-the -ground residents. Instead, I am known to stop roadside to pluck my pieces of naturals for decorating (my grabber stick rides along with me and adds well more than an arm’s length to my reach).
Maybe this year your book tour will bring you south….crossing my fingers!
Have a happy day!
That’s what we are planning Chris! xoxo
Two wonderful things this morning—-It’s COOLER here & you put up the most cozy Autumn blog—makes me so happy ! Everything I love , particularly THE STOVE—-thank you !
Thank you back Pat!
We sorta have to fake Autumn in Texas. We do put out pumpkins and pots of mums, but otherwise we get something more like a second spring, but in reverse, so much of the fall color is the faux indoor stuff. Yesterday I made an addition on my counter-I used a book holder to prop up my copy of your Autumn book as part of my kitchen decor. It looks great next to the decanter of seasonal candy coated almonds (my addiction from World Market) that comes in shades of orange, beige, earthy green, and plum. We’re on the fifth bag, since everyone keeps eating them and I have to replenish my decor.
LOL, I used to fake it a little bit in California too! “Replenish my decor”, hahahahaha! 🙂
Happy Thursday, Susan!! I absolutely LOVED all the fall pics and descriptions! Here in So. Cal. we have very little evidence of fall……only heat and humidity! I am, however, willing it to get here with countless decorations both inside and out! I’m off to the fridge and pantry to see whay I need for Corn Pudding! Have a great day!
You too Gail!
Fall, tho it’s way too short, is my favorite season. So glad to have your Autumn book with it’s recipes, decor ideas, colors, more recipes, and wise words.
Thank you so much Donna!
I hope you are coming back to Michigan with your new book tour~~so delightful to meet you last time.
LOVE all the fall decorations…the ghost is the best. I have done a little ….love fall but not what follows. Winter is okay until about March…then it needs to be gone. But in Michigan that doesn’t happen.
Happy Day…thanks for brightening mine.
Yes, March, clearly 31 days. Long. 🙂
Wonderful blog in this…my FAVORITE SEASON! I am recovering from my third major surgery in just under two years. No Cancer this time…hooray! Colors are beginning to change here and I find myself singing “The Best Things in Life are Free” as I drive along the road. Such God-given beauty!
Hooray is RIGHT! Hope you are feeling better!
Good Evening from Wales!
What a delight to find this treat earlier, and now I’ve got a moment I can dip in again and this time leave my words, my appreciation for your words on Autumn ~~~
Yes, it is all out there in the woods! For Free!! Omy! whoever would’ve thought poison ivy would look so cool! Yikes!
At the moment I am savouring every delicious page of The Fairy Tale Girl and Kleenex have awarded me User of the Month and given me shares in the company {between the book and Downton Abbey} 😉 It is a lovely feeling book, a good weight in the hand, and just quite comfortable to hold.
Can you believe, I got tagged in blogland? I was asked to share my replies to a series of questions on Hallowe’en. I loved it, and was thrilled and excited to be tagged. I am very easily pleased.
I’m looking forward to seeing the burgeoning number of photographs on F.O.S.B. and more that you share here to, as everyone gets their books and shares, and you go from signing to signing ~~~ oh, such good fun. Wish I had a cat so I could share my picture. Sigh ~~~ would a bear be okay instead?
~~~Waving~~~from Across the Pond~~~Deb in Wales xoxo
Bear is fine . . . also butterflies, birds and even a tree is good. xoxo
This is how Pet Rocks came to be !
But did Pet Rocks ever come to rule the house like cats and small bears? 🙂
Deb xoxo
Let’s HOPE not! 🙂 LOL!
Perhaps not but they were stepping stones (:-) to the
“Chia Pet ” craze which came to life as an alternative , necessitating due process to keep them living…..
My dad knows his history.
Always a joy to read your blogs. You bring my favorite season to life as we wait patiently in Northern California for autumn! Still above normal warm temps here but so thankful for the cool nights & shorter days. Loved your fall sweater idea – so clever & festive! You are so blessed to have such a lovely place to walk each day! Breathe in that crisp autumn air for all of us! 🍁🍃🍂🌿🍁
I will be happy to do that Trudi!
What a great post. I sat down w Your yummy Apricot Tea and a piece of pumpkin bread w a thick slathering of butter and turned the musica up loud and absolutely got to pretend like it was AUTUMN. It was 95 here in Frisco, TX yesterday and although I have had my fall decor up since September, I am starting to get a little upset by these temperatures;) Susan, Is there any way you would consider Dallas or Plano or Frisco or Mckinney {Mckinney is a cute little old town w lots of shops and little gingerbread houses} Texas as one of your stops. They are all part of the Dallas area. I would organize a little party with my friends and maybe even have my mom come out to visit. Just wondering and hoping:) I absolutely adored your sweater decorations. Just something I would do and Tom would act the same way as Joe. A few years ago we were in Germany and were walking home and decided to buy a Christmas tree to carry home to our friends. (Of course I am not into small Christmas trees) so they bundled it up for us and we carried it down the streets and I would try to help carry it, but Tom didn’t want me to hurt my back so he wouldn’t let me. BUT… every time a car drove by he acted like he was really struggling and made gestures like why wasn’t I helping. You should have seen the faces of those German drivers. They had never seen something so funny. I am not sure I have ever laughed so hard either. Then we rang the doorbell to get my friend to answer the door with the tree standing next to us. The look on her face was priceless. The Christmas tree store was a long way from her home. Good memories:)
We’ve been talking about choosing a place in Texas where everyone could come, and Austin seems to be the consensus with the girls on Twitter. Your husband and the tree. . . LOL!!!! That is too funny!
Austin is probably the most fair place and I know my hubby will love it. He went to UT there and now we can make it a couples getaway. Great! Can’t wait for dates:) xoxo
And we’ve never been there and have always wanted to go . . . so that’s the place!
Have been there and all I can say is Austin is Awesome!!……..sounds like a Country Music song title, I know. It is a fantastic city!
Every one says so, can’t wait to see it!
I can get to Austin….no problem! See you there!
Perfect!
Dear Susan, I love everything you create. Your joy is such an inspiration. I got a chuckle out of your post. Did you mean to make a pun when you said “Cliff hangers are…so unfair!”? I just couldn’t help but think of your ex-husband after finishing The Fairy Tale Girl!
I started to write “pun not intended” — I am always jumping off Cliff’s and then laughing at myself!
Susan, Thanks for your blog post! Love how your mind wanders and works! Thank you! Kathy
I agree with the wandering, not sure about the working! 🙂
I had just sat down with a cup of coffee and there was your newest post! Ah, relaxation and joy all at once! One question I have been wondering, where do you find all of the perfect quotes that you put in? They fit just right and I love reading them! It’s peak leaf-time here in Maine, enjoy yours when it arrives!!
I talk all about the quotes in the second book, Deb . . . it’s kind of a long story!
I always wanted to know about the quotes too, as my college roommate and I were what I call, quote savers. I keep a hand written book of my favorite quotes, which is sort of like a journal. I thought I would have it filled by now! Some guy in college told me I was very goal oriented. LOL One has to be in college to make it through I guess. I made it halfway, because I guess I thought taking care of everyone at home and in the World was more important.
I never got there, so you’re ahead of me Margot!
I don’t think so. You discovered your useful, masterful talent, on top of your love of HOME. I have yet to find a real talent. Jack of all trades, master of none.
You know what got me into your artwork? That house with the heart in it. Got a calendar every year not knowing about your cookbooks. LOL Got the first one in 2005? Caught up now. 🙂
Heart and home. Go so well together!
I just wanted to say how much I loved “Fairy Tale Girl”. I (sadly) finished it last night. I can’t believe your Beatles story… what an amazing thing! I am also a huge fan of the Beatles and have seen Paul McCartney live at least two times. Incredible! I saw you last fall at Titcombs but will not be able to make it this year. Boo Hoo! Keep on writing… it must be so therapeutic. I know it is for me as your enthralled reader. I wish you all the best! Always…
Thank you so much Jane! xoxo
Perfect timing! I just sat down with a cup of tea and read there was a new SB post! So delightful! Got a kick out of door begging Jack. My cat, Louie, is a hunter-wanna-be too and I shudder at the thought of it. There would not be one bird, bug, butterfly, etc. left on the earth if he were to be outdoors. No, he is my prisioner and he can only ‘look’ at the wonders of outdoors. They are good kitties. Your decorated sweater was so cool and colorful. What fun!
I’ve made a mistake, I took Jack out and sat with him for a few minutes almost every day. Now he’s a madman! You are smart to keep your cat prisoner! Basically, I don’t think Jack is speaking to me right now.
Boy winter is not going to come fast enough! Cats do not like to be cold or wet, so you might be saved……but come spring, he is not going to forget. After BB3 (former barn cat) lost her eye and I moved her into the house, I swore I was not going to let her go out anymore. She would be an indoor cat. But she begged and pleaded and she could see her brothers outside and I relented. But I worry about her all the time. We have no traffic where I live (it’s 2 miles to the highway), but she is still at a disadvantage with only one eye. But the less she is out the happier I am!
Yes, LOL, I know, “he is not going to forget.” How we do worry about our little guys. xoxo
Dear Susan,
Thank you for a beautiful post, a wonderful new book (I inhaled it in a day and a half [I had to sleep in there or it would have been one day], and for all of your creativity which inspires me to do more. I do have a request…is there any way you would sell prints of the pumpkin and mouse that you show in this post? I LOVE that little guy to pieces and so badly want to hang the picture in my home.
xoxo,
queenmum
Maybe I should put him in the next calendar and then he’d be on nice paper and everything!
Oh, yes please!! I save the pages of the calendars, have them laminated, and hang them on the door of my office at school; my students love them. I often have them look for little details; they are so excited to find one or two. However, I will definitely mat and frame this if it appears one year! Thanks for thinking of that.
xoxo,
queenmum
Love that queenmum! xoxo Do your students call you that?
Hi Susan, I called the shop about the mouse and pumpkin sometime earlier this year, as I wondered if it was ever available as a print as well. I. LOVE. IT!! Please consider making it into a print as I sure wouldn’t want to take a calendar apart. BUT, if that’s what you may decide to do, so be it, I’d take that cute image any way I can!
OK, I’ll suggest it to Kellee and see what she can do.
Oh I sure hope it happens! I can’t help but think it would be popular with many ~ especially all of us year round Fall people.
Susan, I love the book! It’s wildly entertaining, beyond insightful, and so painfully honest I found my eyes filling with tears often. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself, I admire you so, and like everyone else am eager for the next installment ~ can’t wait! Enjoy our beautiful Autumn, it’s always too short!
Always too short! Thank you so much Elaine! XOXO Nice to hear that.
Loved you blog today full of Autumn, my all time favorite time of year. Finished reading Fairy Tale Girl and boy did it jog some memories of my own. I keep saying I need to write them down before they are lost. I don’t know how you do it but you do it all. So thank you for jogging memories and giving us neat decorating ideas, and great recipes and wonderful art work and funny stories and being so upbeat. You are the kind of friend everyone wishes they had. Just want to let you know, you are my idol. So there!
Oh Carol, how sweet, thank you so much!
Amazing Blog! Thank you!! I hope you come to NJ next year!
Probably will!
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Wait till I tell my sister.
Oh Susan how I loved reading Fairy Tale Girl…I think we must be sisters from a different mother!! I so relate to much of your life…I did get to marry my first love and high school sweetheart. Next year we will celebrate 50 years of marriage…now that is a fairytale come true. You are such an inspiration and oh so smart, your artwork is the sweetest.
I can hardly wait to preorder your next book. I do hope you will come near my home on your next book signing.
I trust you are enjoying a beautiful fall day as I am…
We are, it’s crazy beautiful here today, cold, clear, breezy, fall day! xoxo
Dear Susan–just ignore me if this is to personal of a question, BUT I just love the white T-shirt you wear under your sweaters. It has little ruffles and so pretty. Could your share the brand with me?
Also I am reading your new book slowly, because I don’t want it to end.
Thank you, Pam
I love them too, but they don’t make them anymore!!!! Makes me crazy, because they are just perfect. They are 100% cotton and came from Orvis.
Thank you I knew I had seen them, but couldn’t remember where. Hopefully they will get them back soon. Pam
You inspired me to write them, I sent them photos, and they said they would try!
Aren’t we lucky to experience the change of seasons? So exciting, the fall colors, the nip in the air……not like California, for sure (well the southern part). When I lived in San Francisco, it got chilly….but that’s about it. Good luck writing and painting. We are rooting for you and send prayers everyday that you will never tire of writing and painting. Cheers from the other coast (WA State)! Kathie in Odessa
I love those prayers Kathie, thank you!
Lovely post as always. Loved “The fairy tale girl” I did not read it for the first two days after it arrived just kept picking it up and looking through it. It is candy for the eyes
Then having read it its food for the sole. I wish you old do a tour here in the UK.
We’re coming to England next year, having a BYO picnic basket at Stourhead in Wiltshire, hoping lots of our European Girlfriends will be able to join us. I’ll give the date etc as we get closer to the time. Thank you Diane!
Thank you for making me smile today and reminding me how wonderful this beautiful autumn season is. God is good to us in so many little ways!
Beautiful post. I love normal ppl. It is warm in Texas this afternoon. I have mums on my frony porch a pretty wreath on the wall for fall. I love the tree art…maybe a print for my fall decor? What say you? The pumpkin and mouse are adorable. The kitties all of them are so cute. And a fireplace to hide the kitty box. Excellent. I have a hidy place for mine, but not as cute as yours. Thank you for the pleasure of the lovely post. Tata for now.
Thank you back Deborah!
Amazingly it’s going to be 70 degrees in Seattle today, a nice walk with the Yorkie for sure is in store this afternoon, and I’ll try to keep the sweater ‘nature decorating’ to a minimum (who are we kidding?) And are you sure Sammy is a boy?! Look at those “bedroom eyes” and Marilyn Monroe beauty mark….what a cutie! Now there are 54 reviews on Amazon & I’ll be leaving one after I read MY copy of FairyTale Girl, since I was delivering your SLO mail in 1977 & feel I was THERE at the beginning of the “art” part of the tale. As Frank would sing, ‘you’re too marvelous for words’.♥
LOL! You delivered our mail? How great is that? Small, small world! XOXO
I received A Fine Romance in the mail yesterday. Susan – I had no idea how beautiful the book is. I have not started reading it yet because I find myself thumbing through to look at all the artwork. Thank you so much for such a gift! I am awaiting the arrival of The Fairy Tale Girl also and can’t wait to read it. I also want you to know that today’s blog is one of my favorites. Take care Susan!
Thank you Peggy! XOXO
Oh Sweet Sue…another lovely post. The sun is making all kinds of sparkles on my walls as we speak. You make so much fun out of the smallest of things. I loved your sweater and the fact that Joe pretended not to know you…totally cracked me up. I picked up leaves yesterday and stuck them in my window panes. So pretty, like natures stained glass. I finished your book and my 25 year old daughter, Jess, just finished it too. I hope you know you have a whole new generation of girlfriends out there. She just got her very first apartment and it is so sweet and cozy with all of her little thrift shop treasures. She had “Little Sue” on her shoulders pointing and saying, put this here, and hang this there. You would be proud! I tweeted to you that I loved the October page of my calendar. That little squirrel kills me. I have a thing for them, and chippys and red squirrels too. so sweet. HAPPY FALL to you and keep on hunting and gathering and telling us all about it…you are simply the best
Thank you Mary! Please give my love to Jess too. Red squirrels! So cute!
Mary, we have black squirrels here in Westfield, MA. Adorable, but a little more feisty than the gray squirrels. If you google, you can read the history and see pictures.
Hi Susan – I’m one of the CA ladies who met you and Joe on Sept. 18. You both were so gracious to us, and we were thrilled to see your first copy of The Fairy Tale Girl! Later on our trip, we shopped at Titcomb’s, which was close to our rental beach house, so we will imagine you there on Saturday! Best wishes!
So nice to hear from you Chris! XOXO Thank you!
Susan, have you seen the beautiful pink peanut pumpkins in the grocery stores now? Oh, my, they are so pretty. Some have smooth skin and other’s look like peanut shells have been scattered over them, kind of warty but in a good non-toad sort of way. They are a pale blush peachy pink colour and are great for indoor decorating. Just thought I’d mention them to you and the girlfriends. Hugs.
I haven’t seen them . . . but I’m off to the market at 7 am when it opens this morning, so I’ll look! Interesting, for next year’s calendar I painted pink pumpkins for October (breast cancer month) ~ and now they have them! Perfect timing!
Hi Susan,
Loved seeing your post today 🙂 I took wish it would all slow down a bit too. Got your wonderful “Fairy Tale Girl” last Thurs., and finished it on Monday! Wanted to make it last longer, but couldn’t help myself. Wish I’d known you growing up, how fun you sound! And the Beatles story!!!! I’m not kidding when you were talking about going back the next day and actually meeting them and talking to them my stomach really felt the butterflies! Wow!! The break up was sad, sorry you had to go through that, but I think it just made you become the one you needed to be when you met your “Joe”. Anyway, loved it, can’t wait till Mother’s Day for the next! I had a question for you if I may? Several Christmas’ ago you wrote a wonderful story about your Christmas (s) growing up and Grandma arriving and throwing open the trunk full of presents, etc., etc. Loved that story, one that I think about a lot beginning this time of year, and wondering if there is somewhere I might read it again? I really, really want to go and make your corn pudding, but I fear it is not on my diet that I am having so much trouble sticking to this time of year. 🙁 Have a blessed day.
I thought I might write that story into a little Christmas book someday soon. I’ll have to go look for it. XOXO
Oh YES a SUSAN BRANCH Christmas book! I have your others and would LOVE another!!! I think you are Christmas:)
LOL, well I sure do love it! And have always thought my “look” as I grow older, will be “Mrs. Claus” !
Well little “Mrs. Claus” a little Christmas book would be wonderful, I could set it out with my other SB Christmas book! You think Joe would be Santa?? Thank you Susan for your books, your blogs, your Willards! You are so inspirational.
Joe has been my model for Santa is some of my paintings! Very fitting! Thank you Paula!
I just finished “The Fairy Tale Girl,” and I’ve got to say that I was STUNNED…. Why you ask? I have been a huge fan of yours since your first book, way back before the internet when we received “Willard” in the mail and would wait with bated breath for the next one. You see, your wonderful books and newsletters helped me step out of my stressful world and remember to enjoy the important things in life; they helped us all take a deep breath of comfort. I always wished that my life was as beautiful and perfect as yours and longed to step into that kind of life on Martha’s Vineyard.. a dream world. BUT what I’ve just learned by reading this amazing book, is that you were going through exactly the same things as the rest of us, but you chose to have positive eyes and a tender heart. You could have been bitter, but instead you counted your blessings and have helped the multitudes count THEIR blessings!
Thank you!
Nan
On Nan, thank you so much! Yes, I do think we all went through it together. I also think kids still do!
Oh Susan! I’m on the second read of Fairy Tale Girl! I am enjoying it so much! We are the same age so there is so much I can relate to!!! Imagine you actually meeting the Beatles!!! I would have just died!!!! LOVE this Autumn post. Being newly retired, the hubs and I did more Fall decorating than we have in a very long time. It was so much fun. Now we are taking “leaf peeping” tours of our local area. You know, for all the times we said we wished we had time to go here or there. Well, now we do so we are! 🙂 Take care and I will be anxiously awaiting your next book next Spring! Love ya! Asha ox
I did almost die! 🙂
The Fairy Tale Girl should at least be a Hallmark movie. You inspired me to pick up a little fall on my afternoon walk.
LOL! Yes!
👍
Hi Susan! We returned Sunday morning from our Canada/New England sojourn on QM2. 🙂 We are not at peak with the leaves here either but pumpkins are around every corn. I have been obssessed with pumpkins from the time I was little. Something just fascinates me about them and they are such a happy color. I will have to make the corn pudding – and float it in a puddle of the pure maple syrup we bought in Quebec City. I have your calendar the wall in my cubicle and there it is – corn pudding! We still have to pick up our mail as the post office has been holding it and I’m guessing that my copy of “The Fairy Tale Girl” is there-along with all the wonderful Fall magazines! My very favorite Fall poem is “October’s Party” by George C. Cooper. I remember the first time my grandpa read it to us and I’ve loved it ever since. I was born in the Fall and married in the Fall; it is truly my favorite season! The best you and Joe and the kitties. Be well and be happy!
Thank you Karen, and welcome home!
Thank you so much for the tour of Fall colors. And the delicious corn recipe and lovely photos of the kitties. I bought a beautiful purple Mum a few weeks ago to enjoy inside. Since I have cats I thought I better check – just in case. The ASPCA website lists them as toxic to cats, dogs and horses. I never would have guessed. So off it went to a friend. Also found out the lilies we all love – Oriental – are dangerous. Dang! We’ll just have to enjoy them from a distance. Happy Fall –
I read a huge list at one time of very many flowers that are toxic to animals. My cats don’t seem interested in eating flowers, so most of the time I don’t worry about it too much . . . I only worried about the bittersweet because sometimes the berries drop off and I’m not sure what the cats might do if they are curious about the little orange thing on the floor!
I can tell you what our schnauzers would do with “the little orange thing on the floor”!! Instantly into the mouth! I found some silk bittersweet that looks very real and every year I bring that out… 🙂
Happy Autumn from east-central Illinois! Our leaves are not at peak yet, but are very colorful. We have been having such lovely warm, sunny days and crisp, cool nights. We’re supposed to have frost tomorrow night, but still, nice sunny days ahead. I’m very lazy this afternoon and reading your post has made me want to go out on the patio and read my Autumn book. Enjoy!
A good thing to do! Highly recommended!
Oh Susan! Thank you so much for all of the gorgeous, colorful photos of Fall! Living here in Sacramento, CA, we do not see anything regarding Fall except more drying out of our all ready parched trees and shrubs. Going for a walk this morning with my camera in hand left me quite saddened by all the dry plants, trees and ground. Needless to say, there were no photos taken.
Therefore, I savored all of the abundance you shared with us in this post even more!
I am on Chapter 12 in The Fairy Tale Girl and I am trying to read only one chapter a day, relishing your narrative, your watercolors and experiencing your emotions with you. My heart is full and I feel so honored that you are sharing your journey with us.
With much affection,
Chris
Thank you Chris . . . wishing you lots of good rain!
I am thinking that we won’t make it to the Cape after all. We haven’t left yet. I don’t know if I should head out Friday on my own. (13 hour drive)
That’s a long way by yourself Margot . . . I’ll come down there one of these days!
Then I will be in WI. I may still be here in Dec. with the way things are going with the sale of the house. You just have to see Wmsburg then. Beautiful! You could see Door County, WI. Beautiful in Summer!
I can do the drive, but I think I may go up the end of the month instead. Will you do any signings on MV?
I just scheduled one here in Vineyard Haven for the Saturday after Thanksgiving . . . I think it’s the 28th.
OK I will get with my friends up there and bum a night on someone’s couch. Does the ferry schedule change then? Ours in WI does and it even comes with an ice breaker on front. LOL
It changes a few times a year — you can see it online at Steamship Authority, Woods Hole to Martha’s Vineyard.
Door County is beautiful any time of the year! If Susan does a book signing there, we’ll drive over with our schnauzers!!! 🙂
You will all have to stop by. Always good coffee (or tea).
Missed seeing you Margot! Hope you are well? I do hope you get to go to at least one of the signings ~~~Deb xoxo
I loved The Fairy Tale Girl so much. You put words down in such a relatable way that they enfold and absorb the reader into the very pages. I graduated high school in 1975, so I “felt” your 60’s and 70’s atmosphere, the people, and the events. I knew the words to every song you referenced, and still can’t get “I Am Woman” out of my head! Toward the end of the book, I began to read slower because I wasn’t ready for it to end, and May is a long time away yet. And, although I did finish, it is still with me and I feel somehow changed for the better in reading it. Thank you seems a very trite thing, indeed, for the gift you’ve shared with all of us, but I do thank and love you for your talents, your wisdom, and your willingness to share your life with all of us.
You are expressing the exact way I hoped The Fairy Tale Girl would be received. Thank you so much for this . . . It’s so inspiring to read comments like yours (and everyone’s!) while I’m finishing the second book! XOXO
Sue
Just opened my very own copy of Fairytale Girl. Your artwork and photos bring your story to life – good enough for the big screen. Also love all the colorful Fall photos on the blog, our Fall in California Sierra is tardy due to HOT weather, but cooler temperatures are forecasted.
Also, love your indigo scarf! You are always so darn adorably fashionable!
Once again, a big congratulations on Fairytale Girl.
xox Sarah
Thank you Sarah! XOXO
Good Afternoon dear Susan from Long beach CA. Its been so hot and even muggy here today. Do you think we will get a little trickle of rain perhaps this evening? It sure would be welcome. Thanks for taking the time to put this post together with all the fun things to do and thing about in the next few months, aren’t we all the luckiest!
Was talking to my mom yesterday and she was mentioning the hot and muggy weather. Looking for you all to get a break soon — need the cool weather to provide people with energy! We ARE the luckiest Mary Ann!
Another lovely blog post!! How I wish I could have been at the book signing in New Hampshire!! But then there is hope for a later date. I will definitely keep track of your progress across the country once “Isle of Dreams” is out and you and Joe are “on tour”.
I am surprised to see that your leaves and ours here in south central Pennsylvania look much the same. I would have expected that, being so much further north, yours would be more colorful. We, too, are just beginning to see bits of color. There is still a lot of green. But then maybe we can hope that fall will just last and last. This is truly the best time of the year! XOXO
We’ve been late, but I have to say each day when we go on the walk there is a MARKED difference from the day before. It’s changing like mad now . . . the photo I posted is completely out of date . . . the woods are splashed with bright leaves.
Thank You so much Susan you always light-up my life love your books cards pictures stickers & calendars…. Thank You everything you say paint or do~~~♥
Fills my heart~♥ Big Hugs, Brenda Ackley Whidbey Island, Washington
Thank you back Brenda, you are quite a heart-warmer yourself!♥
Hi Susan
Love everything about this post* I always do, but your sweater!!! oh my goodness you are just so hysterical. I love your sweater so much. How creative you are, love it. I would have been so afraid a spider was in something and would crawl on me. 🙂 enjoy this gorgeous Fall day Susan, thanks for sharing all those fabulous pictures
deezie
LOL, I never thought of that! Better watch what I’m doing! 🙂
Good Afternoon from the Windyyyyy Cityyyyyy, actually it’s more like the Far west farm counties…..we have leaves, & corn stalks blowing & swirling thru the air today & decorating not only my clothing too but my hair……but it’s nice & sunny & just warm enough to grab a cup of tea & sit out on the porch to enjoy a little reading break of your wonderful blog. I’m taking advantage of this because this weekend they are predicting that there will be frost on the pumpkins. I predict there will be several of your warm the heart & soul recipes being made here then…I just love this time of year, & especially reading about the way you love it too. Please keep writing & making pretty paintings!!!
Dearest Sweet Sue, I’m just wondering why all of a sudden any comments I write are getting hung up in the waiting for moderation section for hours/days??? Especially since ones after mine get posted!!! I use safari so are they not showing up to you. I’ve resubmitted a few times & then they are there. Ok and I totally know that you can’t answer every single post but I do hand it to you that you have been doing that a lot. And I have to say without a doubt when I see that it’s like OMG SUSAN READ IT….& SHE RESPONDED….happy jig lol. So wondering if I should submit using chrome…..Is anyone else having this happen??
I know, I want everyone to know I read them and love them, but it takes a while to get through them all. Plus the new ones are the first ones I see, so sometimes the first ones wait much too long to be attended too. Sorry!
Thank you for the mid-west weather update Cynde . . . sounds just wonderful! xoxo
Wonderful, wonderful ! yet again, “wonder-full”. Thank you so much. The leaves in Vermont are turning their glorious colours against blue skies. I realised that I very often pass the place where you took one of your Vermont photos recently. It makes me smile. It is the one of the barn and the Flag and the Bernie sign… Your blog entries bring me joy, thank you Susan!
PS: I love the red squirrel too. Where did you learn to paint nature so well? !
I don’t know . . . it’s all a mystery to me! I think love had something to do with it! I watch squirrels every day as they leap and jump and hang from our bird feeders and sometimes I sketch while I’m watching and I think that’s where this guy came from. Love all the flags up in your neck of the world!!
I look forward to your posts so much! I hope you stop somewhere in Ct on your book signing tour -meeting you is on my bucket list!! I am almost done reading Fairy Tale Girl -it is so good. Once I finish your books, I go through them again just to look at all the details I missed the first time. I love how you make your books -real pictures and art work. So pretty!! Thank you for sharing your story with all of us.
My pleasure Beth and thank you for your kind words! We will try to get to Connecticut!
Thank you Susan for all of your beautiful words and paintings! I look forward to your blogs and have all your books. My husband and I are visiting Nantucket right now for our 30th anniversary…maybe someday we’ll make it to Martha’s Vinyard too! We love it here, and we’re enjoying October on an island too!😊
Happy anniversary Sharon! Have fun!
Loved your decorated sweater. Very chic. I have your new book and am trying to save it for our trip to Texas. It’s been hard. I keep looking at it and looking at it and have to make myself put it down. I want to read it slowly and somewhere where I am relaxing. I have peeked at the inside cover with all your baby information. Wish I had mine. We were born just two years apart. Sometimes I feel like we were separated at birth.
LOL, well I hope you like it when you finally get there Kate!
Here’s a little poem you might be able to use sometime … it’s credited to George Cooper, dunno who he was; my mother (b. 1908) gave it to me long ago:
October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came –
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind, the band.
from Alice in Wisconsin-land
Love it!
🍂. ☺️
Every time I see bittersweet mentioned I think of an old movie from 1965 called Joy in the morning. With Richard Chamberlain & Yvette Mimieux..she would pick it to cheer up her sparcely furnished home. I was facinated by bittersweet. 🙂
I do wish we had a bookstore in our town of Roseburg you could come to, but it closed a few years ago. Only a used book store in town. That and whatever Walmart and Costco carry, oh and thank goodness for Amazon. 🙂
Yes, I know . . . it’s gotten bookstore-sparce out there!
Oh Hi Sue,
Love to see a new post. Thank you! Well I read “The Fairy tale Girl” twice, JUST AS GOOD THE SECOND TIME. Now since its a very Autumn day here today I will take the Autumn book to bed and read that again. You do keep me busy and I like it that way. I oiled a very old wooden bowl today and pressed some leaves and worked on an embroidery. My house is clean and I cooked a nice dinner, I need to lay down now.
Hugs Nancy Jo
Love the way it all sounds! So glad to hear FTG is good the second time too! xoxo
I enjoy your posts and bog….puts things in perspective. Thanks for all the suggestions..they are full of whimsy. I think I am developing the happy gene.
Also finished The Fairy Tale Girl, lovely and the second time for A Fine Romance; you make everything luscious. Looking forward to the next part. Thank you for sharing life.
Thank you for being here Hillaire! xoxo
Hello Susan, love your blog today and your fall foilage sweater. You are a hoot. I too just finished The Fairy Tale Girl. Oh my goodness, it is Amazing and another masterpiece! What an absolute treasure. I am still laughing about your Beatles adventure. Crazy funny. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep for weeks after that adventure. But seriously, Thank you for sharing your life with all of us girlfriends. You are one heck of a classy lady. Can’t wait for Book two.
Take care and Happy Fall. Still waiting for it here in Southern California…sigh…..holding our breath..we might get rain in Valencia. Woohoo!
Even though it was the Beatles, because we were so young, it still seemed like a fairly normal day . . . just doing what came naturally. It was only later I could see what a different kind of thing that was! I am PRAYING for rain in California. Lots of it. Just hope the people on the cliff’s and next to the rivers get out of their houses until it’s over!
As always, just a beautiful post. I LOVE all things autumn! I also love your Fairy Tale Girl. I finished last night & wanted it to keep going so I can hardly wait for the next edition. So many things resonated with me. I went off to college in 1972 not knowing what I wanted to do, got married after my 3rd year; thrilled to be able to use that hope chest filled with hand stitched tea towels. Ha ha! No longer have that husband, but I do have the tea towels. Wish I had met the Beatles along the way. Thanks so much for a beautiful story. Great Big Hugs.
Yes, tea towels are forever! LOL! Thank you Troy Louise!
Writing from Mabelvale, Arkansas, and here on October 15, we broke a record with the hottest temp on this day (95+ degrees, I can’t bear to type the actual number). So really REALLY loving all the fall pictures from up East, I know it will be here soon. Will be getting my Autumn book out tonight. And Susan, reading in Fairy Tale Girl today about your dad’s phone co. job, my dad also retired from telephone co. (Southwestern Bell), same for me. So of course I spied that wonderful old wall phone in your kitchen picture. Thank you for still having a land-line!
We love our land line! xoxo
I have an old rotary wall phone, and the tile guy who was here this week asked me what I was going to do with it when I move. LOL
I am keeping it.
Ha ha! I think lots of people have them here on the Island. When I first got here, you could call Edgartown with just 4 numbers!
Wow! No letters in front??
No nothing. Now we have to do the area code PLUS seven numbers.
I just stumbled onto something in my grandfather’s stuff as I continue to go through my deceased mother’s things and it’s a wooden clothes hanger from a ‘cleaners and dyers’ place in Santa Monica, California, and the phone number burned into the wood is HE 9890 (the HE standing for Hempstead); thought it was kinda cool and I’m keeping it! My gramps died in the 50s (as Susan says, ‘come with me…back to the olden days, to the 1900s….’) and he was born in the 1800s, so I think this slacks hanger is pretty darn old. It’s put together with these decorative metal clippy things on the ends, very classy.
I still know my phone number from Claire Avenue, DI 45331 (The DI was for Dickens.)
Got one better for you: When Mom died a couple of years ago, I moved back into the family home…we never let go of the house…and I have kept the same phone number our family has had since 1955…and, yes, our SoCal phone number was taped across our foreheads when we were tots (just kidding…but it was one of the first things I might have ever memorized because Mom made me recite it over and over and OVER again) and it was the same thing, with the two letters and the five numbers, later replacing the letters so that it became 7 numbers. I wonder, did this happen all over the country? And where the heck did they come up with names like Hempstead and Dickens? Sounds kinda British! Crazy! There’s probably something written about the history of these things somewhere…
Locally two more I remember were State and Diamond. I have no idea where these came from!
I am loving these stories! Hang on to the hanger!!! I have my grandpa’s pens that have the old numbers.
I still remember the address of where we lived in Milwaukee when I was in Kindergarten. My mom could not believe it, when I recited it back to her three years ago. Maybe…fresh young brains have better memory banks. LOL
Mine was WA, For walnut, and 5 Numbers.
I LOVE the advice from a tree! How clever! And what Frank said too…
What an interesting fence post… is it a boundary marker or just a truant post?
You are SO right, you and Joe are the normal ones, and your self-decorating behavior is not abnormal in the least, more like ‘extra-normal’ because you were just doing a little additional accessorizing! I bet those people who drove by thought it very charming of you and will do the same thing someday. 🙂 You really do have a talent at poking posies in just the right containers and placing leaves and pears just so. (sigh) I am not so inclined, but I try. By the way, what are those plants with the blue berries? I don’t think I’ve ever seen those before.
My family refers to corn pudding as corny-corn, which my niece Lori always brings to our Thanksgiving Dinner. We never have to figure out what we’ll take, because we’ve all been bringing the same dishes for years. (We love tradition too.) I’m the oyster dressing, baked apples w/red hots & marshmallows, and pecan pie person.
My, my… Jack with killer instincts? A Rhodesian Ridgeback? That’s some serious kitty anger! You better hope he doesn’t figure out how to open doors! Diddy & Boo, my two cats, are okay now, but were upset for a few days after we had to help our Pomeranian, Peka, cross over. My vet told us to be sure to let them see and sniff Peka, because it would help them process his passing. They had been together for 10+ years and were all best buds. Every once in awhile one of them will start mewing really loud and then come and find me when I call to comfort them.
I’m looking forward already to winter, but first I have to get past my birthday, Oct. 25. It’s the big 7-0, which I can honestly say doesn’t sound old in the least to me when my mom lived to 102! I’m just getting a good start. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
The fall color is late here, maybe by next weekend. You have such a lovely place to walk, and I’m sure the change during the next couple of weeks will be just spectacular! 🙂 Sara 🙂
No, 70 is young! 🙂 You have another 32 years at least. Better get busy! XOXO
I am so sorry for your loss. You sound like such a caring person trying to make things ok for your other pets. I used to have a petsitting business and it always broke my heart when they passed and to see the other animals grieve. This is a poem I used to give my clients. I hope it might help you. The Rainbow Bridge… Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….
Thank you so much for the kind words, Charissa. What a lovely reunion to look forward to! 🙂 Sara 🙂
Hugs:)