Since we’re all going to be busy these next few days, I thought I’d wait until after Thanksgiving to draw the name of our lucky winner and 
make sure everyone has had time to sign up for our Giveaways (there are two, scroll down to next post to read about them) ~ this allows everyone to BE the actual winner for a little bit longer. Until the bitter truth is revealed by our in-house bitter-truth revealer, Vanna, when she draws the winning name. Until then, maybe a blog filled with photos of all kinds of holiday decorating? And MUSICA?
But first off, speaking of honey. Look at us, we’ve got almost 1800 comments on the last post and everyone of them is a pure jewel.♥ If you ever feel sad about the world, which is easy to do these days, read the comments on this blog and it will cheer you up. I sit here and cry when I read your 
words of encouragement and kindness ~ you’ll never know ~ and when I read that you’re waiting for a tornado to pass, that you’re raising three rowdy boys and a husband, that you have Chinese friends, or you are Chinese, that you are from everywhere, Mexico, Germany, England, The Netherlands, that you have tea parties for your girlfriends and read to your moms. You are true Fairy Tale girls, getting through surgery, new knees and chemotherapy; nursing, celebrating and remembering loved ones, sharing 
the things that make you feel grateful, cuddling your pets and your children, watching old movies for strength (Little Women makes the MOST wonderful background sounds while you are rolling out pie crust btw), laughing about how your daughters race to change the calendar page each month. You stop mopping the floor to read Willard, you love Gingerbread tea, and you send blessings to each OTHER ~ yes, you do that ~ you even talk Arf and Arfy to me now. Your Christmas cookbooks have magazine articles tucked into them, you love Louisa May 
Alcott, you love wearing your elf charm with the card that says: Go. Be. Love. The World Needs You. And that’s just the beginning of the beauty of YOU.♥ Thank you so so SO much. You reaffirm my forever belief that the world is filled with wonderful, good-hearted, loving people. If you need any reaffirming yourself, I encourage you to read these comments. And leave one yourself, if you haven’t already. All comments from these two posts will be entered into the drawing. Oh yes, and thank you from the bottom of my pea pickin’ heart. I wob you too.
Now, down to business Girlfriends: let’s talk about tablecloths and silverware, place cards and table settings, shall we? (Would like to Un-invent spell check, so far we have table scares and silver wipes.)
Here is my dining room on a relatively calm day. No big projects on the table, but you can see it’s the holidays because I have paperwhites on the window sills. The calm before the storm.
This was a table setting for New Year’s Eve a few years back . . . champagne corks for place cards . . . and old books, and old glassware I’ve collected over the years.
And here I am thinking about tablecloths and bread baskets . . .(for some reason I’ve been singing this song all week, now it will be your turn!)
And here is Girl Kitty trying out the tablecloth . . . Oh yes, I have lots of help! Don’t think I do any of this all by myself.
And here is the table set for Thanksgiving. I use all our mix-and-match smaller chairs in order to get more people around the table . . . two at each end, so we can serve 14 here. I like it best when people are a little bit squashed together. The party is more lively that way! Secrets can be told! And little bouquets, all the way down the table, so no one has to peer through flowers.
You all know what a china and linen fiend I am, just like so many of you! It’s the never-ending quest for beauty. I love setting the table more than I love cooking! The cooking is the support system for the table setting!
The painting is the support system for the cooking. It’s all tied together.♥
We have three “eating places” inside the house. This table is in the living room, for when it’s pouring snow and when we want to have a small cozy dinner in front of a crackling fire.
Here it is, all draped and ready, pillows on the chairs for a comfy dining experience. You’ll note that I don’t really care if everything matches perfectly. The red tablecloth on the bottom, by the way, is an old bedspread.
Here we are in the kitchen for a casual dinner and no tablecloth, with napkins that don’t have to be ironed. But the candles are lit, the cute bread basket is there, the mugs I got years ago at Dansk in Carmel, the iron candle sticks I found in an antique store, and the heavy pottery pieces I bought way back when, done by Santa Margarita (CA) artist Paula Teplitz in the 1970s. You wouldn’t believe how I would haunt craft shows looking for her work. I found everything one piece at a time. Each is different and all depict animals and nature.
Oh my! I just decided to Google her and see if she was still around. And she is! Go here and “like” Paula . . . this will be a total surprise for her! I don’t think she knows how much I loved her things and still do. ♥
I still set the table with Paula’s creations. Or bake pies in them.
Speaking of setting the table ~ This is how my grandmother taught me to do it at Thanksgiving when I was little, except in those days it was much simpler, only one fork, not two, and one glass and the one glass was for MILK (mmmm, a big glass of ice cold milk? YUM! I can hear the eeeewes from here). And the napkin goes on the left.
Sometimes I get so excited to take the picture, I do it before I should. Here I’ve already lit the candles (on the bedspread) while I’m trying out glasses. Ignore the napkin placement, it doesn’t stay that way . . . thank you.
See? Sooner or later I do figure out where the napkin goes! I love a romantic, old-fashioned table, one that brings back memories we’ve maybe never even had.
You’ve probably noticed, candlelight makes everything more beautiful. BTW, be sure to take photos of your table. I’m often so busy I forget, and now I wish I had them all! (See Girl Kitty, under the table?)
Candlelight puts a twinkle on everything at the table including into the eyes of the people you love. And of course, don’t forget the MUSICA.
And of course, I’m a big one for quotes, no matter where I am!
I think books make the MOST interesting table decorations and use them all the time, this is a set of Shakespeare we found in an antique store (I must sound like a broken record, but the truth is we rarely buy anything new). The corks are from other memorable parties. I’ll tell you about 
those leather baby shoes in my new book Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams . . . I found them in my first house, they’re part of a magical mystery. You realize that I’ve told you all about what happened before I went to Martha’s Vineyard, and lots about after I got here in my books and on my blog, but not very much about the five interesting years after I first arrived on the Island in 1982, totally unprepared for pretty much everything, and until I met Joe in 1987. We’re about to change all of that. In words and pictures.
Oops, books. As decor. Yes . . .
Thanksgiving is a good time to evoke memories with cookbooks and an old recipe box. Little bowls of faux fruit and wooden spoons, why not? As I always say, shop the house for table decor.
This romantic setting was for a Valentine’s Day party.
All books work: Christmas books, old fairy tale books, 
garden books, books on tea, bird books, 
children’s books, books of poetry, wildflower books, books by favorite authors, even songbooks ~ all make wonderful companions at the dinner table.
We use this old set of Charles Dickens for Christmas (plus some of Joe’s childhood books).
Old Christmas books are perfect in front of the fire for a Christmas Tea. You can see them here, emitting comfort from their very presence.
They also fit well with my small collection of house candles . . . because ♥ home is where my heart is.♥
And now? Place cards . . . just a few little easy ideas . . . because place cards are a very nice thing to have. That way people know where to go, no bumbling around the table. Something I did once for a buffet but unfortunately did not take pictures of: I enlarged cute and funny pictures of all the guests on my copier and used them for place mats instead of place cards. When they came to the table with their filled plates, they knew just where to go.
So easy if you are a champagne-cork saver . . . This way all your past memories join with the ones you’ll be making at the dinner table.
They almost make themselves. I just used scissors with a decorative edge (from Michaels Crafts) to cut out the cards and the wires on the corks did the rest of the work.
Leaves, from the yard. Beyond easy, almost cheating. I used a whiteout pen to write Joe’s name on this nice thick rhododendron leaf.
And they can be small and simple . . . A watercolor brush and readable handwriting is all you need for this little card. I try to write the names big enough and dark enough so people can see them without their glasses!
Now of course, you need the fastest way possible to shine up the silver, right? You really don’t feel like sitting there all day polishing it piece by piece . . . so here’s what you do. (Click and be amazed.)
And maybe your wooden spoons are dried out and almost splintery looking? Can’t have that. So easy to keep them dark and buttery . . . Use a pasty brush to coat the wood with mineral oil ~ let it soak in and voila! You can read more about your wooden things HERE. P.S. My dad carved the Sue spoon.♥
Most of the time, my house is decorated rather simply, unless it’s the holidays or we are having a party. The living room, in real life, is almost naked.
I change pillows and quilts for the season and leave room for flowers. It’s a little like a movie set.
Because flowers change everything.They are really the only decoration you need. Maybe some nice votives too.
A little bouquet here and there cheers everything up, don’t you think?
My bread basket cheers me up too. I found it at a flea market, zeroed in on it, mine, so mine. It is the little things! Now, don’t think you have to do ALL of this, or even any of it. Mostly, you know, it’s just about the gravy. And having fun. And hugging the people you love. Now, a couple of last things before I go, something you should all be aware of ~ There are:
And let’s talk about Black Friday, which is the perfect day for a stroll in nature. . .and if not a stroll, then perhaps a little sit. How they ever made the day after Thanksgiving dedicated to spending money I will never understand. So, turn your Black Friday into Earth Green . . .
This is the perfect place to pray for our world because even the smallest voice can be heard from here. How can people fight over television sets in discount stores when there is this?
and this ~
and this?
XOXO With love forever from me to you . . .from this House of Creativity to yours . . . now about to celebrate its 166th Thanksgiving.♥
P.S. For anyone who might have missed WILLARD (with all the newest news), click there. And if you’d like to have Willard emailed to you in the future, click here to sign up.♥
Your photos and thoughts make me so happy.
Happiest of Thanksgivings to both of you and your fur babies. You know how much you and Joe are loved by us all. Thank you for taking the time to blog when your so busy it means the world to me and i know it does to all the others. God Bless you both and we will all pray for OUR COUNTRY LAND OF THE FREE , HOME OF THE BRAVE. GOD BLESS AMERICA , WE ALL NEED TO PRAY TO KEEP OUR NATION FREE IN GOD WE TRUST. Also Thank you for mentioning Black Friday we all need to realize whats important and what truly is not , He who dies with the most wins is not a way to GO. LOVE YOU , CHEYENNE & Robert XXx
Great comment Cheyenne and it meant all the more to me since I became an American citizen this past week! I’m English and have been here 44 years so it was time.
Ah, a brand new American! English person! How wonderful Judy!
Sheer inspiration – Thank you
I am so with you on the use of old books in decorating and have given away all newer dishes and have only used older ones for over 25 years. There is a website called Project Gutenberg that has thousands of old books to download. It has been a long time since I have been to a mall. Give me an antique shop anytime. I know you will enjoy the holidays!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving Susan and Joe. I just ordered your new Spring book. I can’t wait to complete your story!
Happy Thanksgiving, Susan. My little boy loves to pick up leaves, so we might do a little project with writing words on the leaves like you did for table placement. Reading your words takes me away to a quieter and peaceful place.
Hello! I’ve been enjoying your blogs and also the latest Willard. Thank you for bringing your love and beauty and fun to all of us out here in Web-Land. I’m scurrying around getting my house ready for family arrivals and Thanksgiving. But I did take time to pre-order your new book–am very excited, but will patiently wait, as I know the wait will be worth it. I’ll look again through your blogs and the Willard, for decorating ideas that even an arthritic, ten-thumbed girlfriend like me can do. And, once again this season, I’ll be making your Famous, Fabulous Faux Cranberry Orange Marmalade and a batch of Cranberry-Apricot Holiday Chutney as gifts for family and friends. Everyone loves the Marmalade (and even I can make it), and the Chutney’s purty good (and easy-peasy) too. Now I’ll end, sending you and yours my wishes for very Happy Thanksgiving, filled with family, friends and great food !
This is my “pleasant time” when I find your newly updated blog. It is always pleasant without fail. Thank you Susan and Joe and kitties and all the interesting things surrounding you. The little things are really the greatest things! Love it all. Joann
In spite of all the bad things that happen in the world, I still have faith and believe that goodness prevails! I want to wish you and Joe a most Happy and Merry Thanksgiving. As for Black Friday, I will be home creating something…probably the few remaining Christmas cards I need to finish. I make them early so I can enjoy the process and not have to rush since I don’t mass produce them.
Your house looks lovely and you do inspire us! Thanks!
How wonderful that your book was published in another country. It is beautiful and now they can enjoy your books too!!!!!
I’m with you about Black Friday and now stores are opening on Thanksgiving. Just horrible for those who have to work. I know nurses and doctors and firemen and policemen have to work that day, but a store is not necessary to life. At least for a day. I plan to spend the day with family around the table eating and playing games. I love those iron candle holders. I don’t buy anything new either. Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to you and Joe!
I’ve been following your blog for some time and find it a breath of fresh air in a to fast paced world.This isn’t so much a response to a busy few days, but a response to you and your way of life and the effect it has on others. I especially love the photos of jack and girl kitty and your cozy home. I have three kitties. Six years ago I took a moma cat and her two, three week old kittens in. No one wanted them. The vet told me she was about 5 to 7 years old and estimated she had already given birth 10 to 12 times before. Moma, Katy and her daughter, Maggie are tuxedo kitties and then there is dust bunny, who looks like a maine coon cat. He’s almost twice the size of Katy and has beautiful fluffy gray and white fur and is the sweetest, most cuddly cat I’ve ever had. I named him dust bunny, because that’s what he looked like. A little dust bunny. As you might guess they are a little on the spoiled side. I’ve always felt mama katy deserved to be spoiled after the life she must have lead before she came to me. When live becomes overwhelming and I need something to remind me that there is so much good in this world, I look up your blog and it brightens my day. Thank you!
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I am so thankful for discovering you! I have given “A Fine Romance” and “A Fairy Tale Girl” to all my girlfriends and they loved them both as much as I have. I was smart this time and have copies of the new one on order for all of us. It will be the perfect harbinger of spring. I am so grateful to live in a time when you can post all these fabulous images of your beautiful decorating and share it with the world. In color! My grandparents had that old set of miniature Shakespeare plays and I think they may have ended up in my house. I like the idea of using them as part of a table decoration.
I will confess to being much closer to the character Barbara Stanwyck plays in “Christmas in Connecticut” or Katharine Hepburn (my favorite actress) in “Woman of the Year” when she tries to cook Tracy breakfast at the end…(“any idiot can do it…” ha!) However, your work is truly beautiful and it has brightened some very dark days this past year. Happy Happy Thanksgiving – with gratitude!
Dearest Susan,
How I needed your sensible, kind, homey words today. With the 24 hour news stations broadcasting doom it was getting very difficult to keep my Thanksgiving spirit alive (and Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday of them all! An entire day dedicated to counting our blessings. And we have so many to count!) Your calm words and beautiful photos lifted my spirits and had me singing as I cleaned and cooked for the big day. I thank you. And I shall be joining you in observing Green Friday!! What a lovely thought. You are a huge blessing to me.
Blessings and a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Carol
I spent the afternoon setting my table for Thanksgiving. I agree with you, it’s so much more fun than the cooking. Also, a great stress reliever having it done way ahead of time.
I received your book for my birthday this weekend, and am reading it every night before I go to bed. Can’t wait for the next one.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving! I love china & setting the table too! So I enjoyed this post so much. And I am in love with the Joy mug made by Emma Bridgewater! Think I will have to have one for me & one for a gift! 😊
Cannot wait for the new book!
❤️❤️❤️
Dear Susan,
I am watching the Voice right now and feeling so lifted by the wonderful singing from these young, talented performers. Then I just read your blog, which was so beautiful in the way women share their lives with each other and when needed, support is so heartfelt and gladly given. Your blog, Susan, inspires all of us through the ordinary and the exceptional! I will sleep happy with a smile tonight.
Thank you for the Thanksgiving Tips. I agree that we should appreciate time spent with family and friends on Turkey Day instead of running off at 3:00pm to a mall for dollar deals. I don’t even shop on Black Friday. That’s the day I start writing my Christmas Cards. Plus my dog is really tired from being crazy with 5 other dogs and wants quiet time with Mom. Jack and Girl kitty probably feel the same way!
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Thank you so much for affirming my cluttered way of life. It is so difficult to give up all the old stuff that is filling up my home. Each item brings back a memory and is special. Have a great Thanksgiving.
Hi Susan, I read in your Willard letter that you are planning on visiting bookstores you missed on your last book tour, but I hope you’ll reconsider and come back to Oklahoma City. I loved meeting you when you were here before. I also loved reading The Fairy Tale Girl and am highly anticipating reading your new book when it is published. Thanks for sharing your beautiful world with us. It makes me happy.
Love all of your beautiful table settings. I hope you have a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving!
I went to visit my 91 year old mother last week. I took my copy of “The Fairy Tale Girl” for her to read. She really liked it, and told me she wants her own copy. Perfect idea for her next birthday!!
Hi Susan
Really enjoy your blog and all the pics. Would love to visit Martha’s Vineyard someday.
I’ll definitely take a walk with my big ole dog on black Friday and enjoy the beauty in my neck of the woods on a small lake in New Hampshire. Thanks for your lovely blog.
I have been a fan for many years now. I came across an adorable little store in a small town of Arroyo on my 25th birthday trip to Hurst Castle. My sweet husband knows how much I love antique stores and we stopped in town and to my surprise found your adorable Heart of the Home store. ( Sad it’s not there anymore) This was the first I had heard of you and I had no idea but it was your grand opening. I purchased a Girlfriends Forever book, Sweets for my Sweet and a few other little things. ( I still have my gift bag ). I read up on everything within one day of my trip and I was in love with all Susan Branch things from that moment on. A few years later you had a book signing at the Madonna Inn and I went and had the pleasure of meeting you in person. You are such an inspiration to me and such a joy in my life. I have devoured all of the books you have written with the most recent book Fairy Tale Girl. I know that I was meant to find out about you and I just think you are wonderful. Thank you for being you!!
“Go.Be.Love. The world needs you.”These words are beautiful! I’m inspired to make a banner with these words!
Thanks for playing my song – Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen!
How I love your posts! They are so simple but so profound. I, too, hardly buy anything new. It is such an adventure to find something tucked away in an antique store. And the stories they could tell. Thank you and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Getting ready for the holidays can be exhausting, but your blog reminded me that preparing is half the fun. Decorating our tree I remember my mom would unwrap each ornament wrapped in tissue paper and she would hold it in her hand, looking at it and I could almost see the fond memories in her eyes. Now that I’m older I understand how much fun it is to savor the moments on the way and not just the end result. Tomorrow I’m going to scope out my treasures in my house to use on my holiday table. Thank you for your inspiration Susan and Happy Thanksgiving!
I love reading all the comments from all these beautiful girlfriends. They are so sweet and such a such a blessing to me too. Love all the different table decor! So beautiful. I think I need to add some candles to my table. Love the way that looks and feels. Happy Thanksgiving to all! So much to be grateful for. So many blessings! Love you, Susan!
As always, a visit with you feels so personal. I love that you have let us all into your home and life and serve up big helpings of inspiration for our own homes and lives. Thank you – a hundred thousand thank yous. 🙂
A gracious, joyous good morning to you, dear Susan, even it’s not morning when you read this!!! Your beautiful post and inspirational photos gave me the boost I needed today. Books on the dinner table — wow. Heavy pottery — wow. That historic photo — wow. (Spelled backwards it is still wow!) Y’all have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. We indeed have a great deal to be thankful for. (Oh, before I forget: Dan Fogelberg —wow!) Sending love from here on Windy Hollow Farm in cold-today North Carolina.
All the photos are so warm and welcoming. I love this time of year. I will be doing quite a bit of baking, brewing and mixing tomorrow …love all the preparation. I put my turkey in the low oven overnight to bake and smell it when I wake, just like many, many years ago….Scotland will be so wonderful . I have ben there three times and it is a beautiful peaceful place. I would like to return. Can’t wait to take your trip with you!
So excited to say, NorCal has been painted with glorious color the last few weeks! Breathtaking colors! We’ve even had rain, snow in the Sierras, & another storm coming thru today! Thank you for sharing your pictures until we could take our own! Love your Blogs, Willard, Facebook & Twitter! Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!! XOXO!!!
Your pictures and your reminiscences I feel, are what make each Thanksgiving so special, to me. Using great-grandma’s cut glass cranberry dish, the sparkle of polished silverware, the smell of starch in the tablecloth, bring back and enhance the experience. I, too, love the setting of the table and the stories that stay with certain dishes, and even remembering them on my mother’s and grandmother’s table. After all, isn’t Thanksgiving being thankful for all we have in the past and in the now? Even the foods are evocative of times passed. Thank you for the peak into your home as you prepare for the holidays. I have two adorable grandsons 2-4, so I am looking forward enjoying their young impressions of this day, and enjoy adding to my memories too. Happy Thanksgiving!
Dear Susan,
Wishing you and your family the happiest of Thanksgivings! We are headed to the ocean for our annual gathering and rejuvenation. A time of reflection and introspection…and I know you have figured that out!
Happy Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble! Gobble!!! Love being friends with you & all of your friends too!
I do hope & pray that your know that you make the world a kinder, gentler, happier place! For that & so much more, I thank you!
So many good ideas! My Navy son is unexpectedly able to come home for Thanksgiving and we are beyond excited. He lives on the other side of the world from us so this is a very special treat. I’m taking a couple of days off work this week to stay home and make sure that everything looks as wonderful as the food tastes and your beautiful tables have really inspired me !
SO happy for you!
I love all of your table setting ideas. The little touches here and there make it all beautiful while being very cozy. You are right that a nice table setting makes any meal delicious and relaxing. In our fast paced days, lingering over conversation and home cooked food is a luxury these days we rarely indulge in. Why is that?
Your table preparations remind me so much of my childhood when I would help mom bring out her white tablecloth and best dishes and silverware. It was so exciting putting it all together while smelling the turkey in the oven that my Dad always made. I saved the famous turkey roaster from the basement when my parents moved to an assisted living place. Still makes the best turkey ever! Do you remember those adorable Pilgrims and wax turkeys that had chocolate candy on the inside? My mom had them as table decorations, and although we never ate the candy ( too cute), they looked so darling nestled against the basket cornucopia and fall leaves we gathered from the oak trees outside. This was in the late 1950s that I am thinking about. Most likely my mom found them at our local Woolworth’s store downtown.
Wishing you and Joe a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
Happy Thanksgiving wishes to Blog Daddy too! Do you cook the turkey still?
This year we are getting take out from our friends restrauent
across the street – using homemade cranberry sauce from Sue however and have backup stuffing just incase theirs is too gunky — basically we are just relying on their turkey , potatoes , and gravy ….for the main course . We think we can load up the takeout boxes enough to have “leftovers” too.
We love to make yeasty biscuits with strips of turkey and smothered in gravy as next day meals …….
Dearest Susan, How I love the old picture of your old house. I love old houses. They live & breathe. My Gram & Mom taught me how to make a house a home, where our family was cozy & helped one another through life. I’ve always felt that through a well organized home, came organized thinking, where productivity could take place. To this day, I can’t sit down to sew (my pleasure) unless my house is in order. My first priority of my day is to see to it that my house is picked up & in order for the day. I don’t always succeed in my goal, but I do try. The reason I enjoy your blog is that your ideas for living in a cozy atmosphere are within your writing & pictures. Your warm personality shines through in everything you do Susan. You make home a sanctuary for your family, which is what I’ve tried to achieve as well, over my seventy seven years.
My daughter will hold our family Thanksgiving at her home this Thursday. This is the first time I’m relinquishing cooking on Thanksgiving. She wants me to sit back & enjoy the day. She “must” know that the way I enjoy the day is to cook. Perhaps that’s why she’s given me the pleasant duty (I’m not being sarcastic) of making three pies, a cherry, a pecan, & of course, a pumpkin.
I’m remembering Thanksgiving when I was growing up, where our family gathered around my Gram’s huge dining room table, where there was always room for guests who didn’t have “family.” Mr. Kent always came to Thanksgiving dinner. He walked from his house, to Gram’s, through the backyards. He was always dressed in a suit. Even though he couldn’t hear, he always seemed to enjoy our company, & of course, the food. And there was Aunt Nettie, & a cousin who came for the entire week of Thanksgiving. They were always welcomed. Gram spread her love for humanity through her food. She even fed hobos who would come from the woods across our road, to our back porch, where she’d feed them on the back porch steps. Don’t ask me how they knew they’d be fed if they came to our house. We’d often have the first snow of the season on Thanksgiving night.
And so, dear friends, let us be truly thankful for past Thanksgiving’s, & for being able to be thankful for this coming Thanksgiving, that we are free from bombs exploding, free to worship as we wish, free to sleep in warm, clean beds, free to do as we wish. Thank God for all of our blessings, because we certainly have many, many blessings. (Sandy from Chihuahua Flats)
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I may have just missed your comments on the last blog or two. Glad to see you here and know you are well and getting ready for the big day. Happy Thanksgiving, Sandy, loved your Thanksgiving memories.
Chris
Hi Chris, Wondering if we’re related. My Gram’s married name was Wells. My Grandfather was from OH. Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed my message. It’s Thanksgiving Day, & I’m just getting up. (Sandy from Chihuahua Flats)
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are such a bright spot, a wonderful light for all of us that guides us through these times of world scariness. You make me stop to appreciate the small, though most important, things in life. Through your books, I have them all, you show us how simple, honest and lovely living can bring so much joy to the world. You bring joy to my world and I thank you. Happy Thanksgiving!
Everything is so lovely. Feels warm and snuggly to me, and I can smell it all 🙂
Dear Susan,
I Have come to admire your work and more, your spirit. What a garden of eden this world would be if we could see the world as you do. I manage a bookstore, a Barnes and Noble store I Cedar Rapids, Iowa. My friend, Ivy, also works there. She too loves your work and it has seen her through some difficult times. I just preordered your new book for us. She is an artist and a mom of 2 sweet boys. If you ever get a chance, check out her website, Sugar Bee art. She does the most amazing sheep that will bring a smile everytime. I am inviting you to our store. We would so love to have you visit. I know it is a big chain, but in Cedar Rapids, it is what we have. I have tried to make it a part of the community for 20 years now. Recently the joy of coloring has come and we have a coloring club with over 30 people each week. (When I your coloring book coming?😆!) Art has always been a part of the store. We display local artist’s work or art from children year round. Looking at your map, the drive wouldn’t be too out of the way. Please! I was able to find used copies do all of your cookbooks and gave them to Ivy for her birthday and she is so excited to be hosting her first Thanksgiving with your support and guidance. You really are an inspiration to her. I look forward to your words and art as well. I gave away so many copies of a Fine Romance. I would loan it to friends and when I realized the joy it brought, I couldn’t bear to ask for it back, so I would buy another copy. I recently found a good amount of Gladys Taber ‘s books. Thank you for that. And thank you for being there. I loved the Fairy Tale Girl. The music memories were wonderful. I could just feel it. I have lived most of my life in Iowa, with a short adventure in Oregon. Iowa is a wonderful place, very beautiful and is just waiting for you! Thanks again for all you do. Now I must go feed my birds, it’s cold.
Well, you know what, Diane? That was such nice a nice note, we are going to try and come. I kept your email address, and as soon as we get dates set so we know exactly when we will arrive, I’ll email you and let you know! Your store sounds wonderful! Hello to Ivy too!
I was born in Iowa City and grew up in Cedar Rapids. Might have to try to come when Susan is there… 🙂
Would be great to see you again Pat!
Oh Susan! You just made my year. I called Ivy right away and we are both over the moon. I am terrible at email, so I need to give you the email at the store, [email protected], that is the best way to reach me. Ivy just got your calendar and was reading your latest blog when I called her, so it is meant to be. I hope you are having a wonderful day. I just finished feeding the birds and my golden retriever, Midge, is having fun playing tag with the squirrels. (She is on a tie out, all are safe). I hope you know how important and powerful your words and thoughts and art are in this sad world. One last thing, I wanted Tim to be the top baker last night on the British baking show. You? (Love that show!, my heart is forever in Tudor England) . Have a wonderful day.
We’ll (probably Joe) be in touch very soon, Diane! I know that the BB Show is on again, 10 pm, but I am way into dreamland by then. I need to hunt for the replay, I’ll go look! Thank you, hello to Ivy!
Blogs and Willards and Thanksgiving all together–what a wonderful week!
Thank you so much for the table setting inspiration! It all looks so lovely. I could sit and stare at the picture of your dining room all day. I love the wallpaper in there. Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Your tables are beautiful!
wow. so, what is left to be said….sooooo many expressions of thanks to and for you, Susan!! oh, and I surely DO agree with all of them. thanksgiving is, and always has been my VERY favorite holiday!!!!! it was my parents, and my grandparents wedding anniversary, soooo, it really did involve TONS of thankfulness!!!!! I can still feel the love. wonderful memories!! and, sharing visits with you….wow….this month has been MORE than bountiful !!!! I’ve been feeling VERY sad-hearted over the condition of the world…..HOW can some be so cruel and violent???? listening to little pieces on npr….wow…..heart-wrenching stories. important to be shared. well, anyway, as I often say….thank you…for being you. reading all the comments….call them visits as well…..from everyone….also touches my heart, but in a VERY good way. may you ALL have a peaceful thanksgiving, with MANY blessings to count!!!!! thank you, all…..for being you!!!!! you will maybe never know how MUCH you mean to those of us blessed enuf to “know” you.
Hi Susan! I’m making your Thanksgiving stuffing for the first time. I couldn’t find sage leaves in a jar but purchased rubbed sage. Now I’m wondering about the measurements. Can you tell me about how much I’ll be using? Your recipe notes about 1/2 cup but I thought I would double-check. A very Happy Thanksgiving yo you and yours! Thankful for you and all the kindred spirits you’ve brought together through your blog.
Yes, it’s about a half cup. But taste it as you go . . . it’s delicious even before it’s cooked.
The stuffing turned out great! Everyone loved it and it was easy to make. If I’m lucky, the leftovers will last through the the weekend. 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Goodie!
Your posts are always filled with so much warmth and inspiration! Thank you, Susan. Now inspired to cozy up my Home Sweet Home. <3
oh, sorry…has anyone else noticed ( i’m SURE you have…) the Verizon commercial that tells us all to get into the “spirit” of…..wait for it!!…..oh, yes, they did!!!…….”THANKS-GETTING”……really…..first time it was on….my body just became airborne….like I was CATAPULTED across the room…..my poor head alsmot went thru the tv…..I was ( & am…) simply AGHAST at this. wow. truly grounds for doing NO business with this company. what think you?? just. simply. awful. “thanks-getting”…wow. as I say…..WHAT are we becoming???? oh, dear.
Thanks getting. One of these days they will go so far that EVERYONE will see them for what they are. I think it’s getting closer all the time!
OH MY!! Chris I totally agree with you -Thanks-getting! – we should follow Susan’s suggestion and spend the time outdoors and with friends and family instead of shopping.
Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends! Even though here in Canada we celebrated Thanksgiving last month, the sentiment is very much the same. It is about counting our blessings, being grateful for all that we do have in these two amazing countries, paying attention to all of the beautiful things in life, most are nature’s gifts to us and most importantly being thankful to our riches blessings, friends and family. You are definitely a kindred spirit Susan. Thank you for reminding us by how you live of all the good there is in our world. You are truly an inspiration!
Oh Susan, Your words are lovely; they’re just what I need to hear in the midst of all of the sadness and worries in our world right now. Thank you. I have never understood the mad shopping on Black Friday either and will be joining you out in nature, wonderful, restoring, beautiful nature. And saying prayers.
I’m baking cookies today for Thanksgiving and feeling sorry for myself as this will be my sixth Thanksgiving holiday since my beloved husband has passed. It was his favorite(he was a big foodie and wonderful cook). I just read Willard and I must thank you for lifting my spirits. Please enjoy a wonderful and blessed holiday.
I hope I’m not overstepping, because every person needs to find their own way, but I would imagine that if you felt well enough to volunteer somewhere to feed others, your Thanksgiving would take a turn for the better. It must be very very hard. I can’t imagine. Sending love to Jane xoxo
Once again you have brightened my day. It’s great to be reminded to slow down and try to relax for the busy holidays ahead and I love your idea for Black Friday!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and Joe and your family!
I am new to your blog. I am deeply touched and profoundly moved by this beautiful and dreamy post. Thank-you, thank-you and thank-you for creating and sharing beauty in word and picture. I feel happiness, today, that matches my childhood feelings…when my family and the world outside our country home was all I needed to feel full of life. So magical and splendid.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Wishing you and Joe a blessed Thanksgiving. I set my 2 tables today for our family Thanksgiving gathering. Will have 18 including hubby and I. Now I am off to pick up fresh broccoli and cauliflower. I make a tasty dressing for cauliflower. I use 2 Tablespoons of hellman’s mayo to 1 teaspoon of Chinese mustard. I heat them in a small egg poacher pan and pour over the cook cauliflower. It has converted many of our friends to cauliflower lovers!
Quantity can be increase using same ratio or add more mustard if you like it spicer.
Thank you for the love you spread thru your blogs and your books.
P.S. Came across an issue of Country Gardener from 1997 that featured an article about you. Great photos in it of your home and garden. I had marked “keep this issue” on the cover.
Susan, thanks for the house tour AND the Gladys quotes. I love Gladys and am so glad you are here to help keep her words and works alive. Her books are worthy of rereading every so often, especially since she wrote during the darkest days of WWII. We can all use the reflection and calm that you both inspire. Have a lovely Thanksgiving (emphasis on the first syllable).
Happy Thanksgiving! I’m with you on table settings Susan, it is almost as important as the food. Your web site makes me so happy – I not only “Like” it, I LOVE it!
Your words and your art are like a balm to my weary heart! Oh look, now I’m a poet! Thank you, Susan, for this inspirational peek into your charming home.
Sigh. Wishing you the HAPPIEST of Thanksgivings — you’ve just made mine complete!
You have given me a mindset to embrace every holiday moment. You are a gift! Just order my new favorite book !
I love your blog. It is a breath of fresh air. I wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. My Joe and I are spending ours at home with 2 of our 3 children and their families and a very good friend, because no one should be alone on Thanksgiving. Before I forget, my kitty Skeets wishes Girl and Jack a happy too!
What a cherished picture. Your heart must have leapt when you found it!
Your home has seen so much through the years, and now so many have seen your home! Remember the Yankee photo shoot!!! WOW!
Susan! What if your dear trilogy of books comes to the big screen!!! I’m sure the walls are cheering you on, along with all of the girlfriends!
XOXO Georgie from NJ
Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for the everyday magic reminders! xo
So beautiful and inspirational. Just love how comforting and pretty you make everything. What a wonderful world this would be if all women would take the time to make things so special for their family and friends. What a great Thanksgiving!
Yummy too.
Susan,
I have to say that my favorite part of any gathering is the table. I love to set a lovely table. I once, (dare I say nearly 30 years ago), invited a friend to dinner and set the table with linen tablecloth, good dishes, polished silver, crystal glasses that were my grandmothers and served tacos and cookies and cream ice cream. It was a lovely dinner and we all had loads of fun – the most important part. She felt very special to see the table and was so surprised to eat taco (she loves tacos).
I still love to dress up the table with fine lines and dishes or go very casual but fun and festive and serve something simple. I love having lots of people and making them feel special and lots of conversation and laughter around the table.
Wishing you and Joe and all the kitties a wonderful Thanksgiving. Blessings and love to you.
Susan, wishing you, Joe, Girl Kitty and Jack a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am so very grateful for you and your art.
Hi Susan from Martha’s Vineyard! It’s Jane from Whidbey Island, WA. We just weathered a gigantic storm — nature’s supply of firewood now has the chain saws buzzing. Out came the sun today and it’s forecasted through the weekend. Praise God! I hope you have a lovely day, with friends and kitties and lots of pie. We have a new puppy. What’s better!?
My best squeal of delight was reading that you are planning to come to the northwest on the book tour if we get you enough “likes.” Can we “like” once a day — or more?
God bless you and yours and all our blog friends!
Lovely table settings, Happy Thanksgiving Susan!!
We started remodeling our kitchen and dining area yesterday. The carpenters were supposed to be her 4 weeks ago but got delayed at another job and showed up yesterday. That’s ok! We have a flexible family so my dear mom offered to host the dinner and hopefully we will be done in time to host Christmas Eve! (Fingers crossed!) We are doing a modest remodel to our old farmhouse that has been remodeled twice in the past 80 years, one due to a kitchen fire. Painting cabinets, scraping the popcorn ceiling off, new lights, new flooring, and new countertops…who knew there were so many choices for counters now??? Ugh! Anyway, so glad to be part of this big family of girlfriends. I wish you all a happy, happy Thanksgiving and send love and light out to you all!
I will be having Thanksgiving at my mil’s house but I can’t wait to pull out my Christmas books and set the table for Christmas breakfast! What a darling idea and of course – my Christmas From The Heart of the Home will be right there in the stack!
Happy Thanksgiving. We passed a reader board this week: “GET RICH QUICK!! Count your blessings!” So true.
Love your table setting guide. Maybe the visual will help me remember now. I can never remember which side the napkin goes on, so switch back and forth, till it looks right – which usually does turn out to be on the left, ha – though not always, I must admit, when it’s just the two of us – but when there’s company I do want to get it right (which is on the left – hmm…maybe that will help me remember too. If it’s on the left, it’s right!). And I love, Love, LOVE the Gladys Taber quote. Any chance that FOSB (Friends of Susan Branch on Facebook), could share that whole little ending of your post? I would so love to share that with others and maybe others would too – Go. Be. Love. THAT is what the world needs more of, for sure, right now (now I’ve got the Dionne Warwick version playing in my head!). Thank you for being the Love. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours’~
Wishing you and your family a truly happy and blessed Thanksgiving, Susan! I just finished pulling your cranberry sauce (the recipe from the 2014 calendar) and it will be wonderful. I like my cranberry sauce simply made, and you were right; this is the only recipe I will ever need! We will have all our children here, and our grandchildren, and I am so looking forward to all of us being together. Hopefully the turkey will be done on time, and there will be lots of joy, laughter and fun as we enjoy being together.
Thank you so much for your last few posts, and for the wonderful Willard which arrived several days ago. I had to read it the first time in the evening, when I guess I was a little tired after being with kindergartners all day long, so I reread it again a day or so later. You lift up my spirits and make me smile. We are all truly blessed to have you in our lives. Happy Thanksgiving from a snowy Chicagoland to you…. along with a hug.
Oh books, beautiful books! You’re probably familiar with this quote attributed to Cicero, “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” So true! I love your idea for Black Friday. It is curious how we can be thankful on Thursday and then greedily trample our neighbors on Friday. Thanks for a beautiful post. Happy Thanksgiving and joyous green Friday!
Well said! Happy Thanksgiving Jules!
I love you, Susan Branch! I miss Gladys Taber so much and you’re the next best thing! Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas.
I love seeing photos of your home and table settings. I am a china addict, too. I have a lot, but you might have me beat. A book from you on decorating would be great. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
As always, thanks for the beautiful blog! You keep me on the right track. I am always happy when I’m reading your words and seeing your photos and artwork. Good to know that for now I’m still a winner! Yay!
To all the F.O.S.B. , Sue and Joe, and all the furry family members: Here’s wishing you All a most blessed Thanksgiving!
Oh Thank You for your Thanksgiving reminder that we have so much to be thankful for. The beauty around us, family, friends! We will have the 40th Thanksgiving in our home this year which now will include a Great Granddaughter! We raised 2 boys, and three of our 7 grandchildren, and have so much to be grateful for! Our house will be celebrating its 104th Thanksgiving!
I’m so glad to see your table settings with your lovely dishes, flowers, candles and traditions. I love to use the beautiful cut glass dish that was my great-grandmother’s cranberry sauce dish and I use my grandmother’s China, with flowers and candles, and it makes me feel connected. I am surprised when I hear people say they can’t be bothered getting their “stuff” out to share on this Day, Thanksgiving itself is filled with tradition and I think the coziness that comes from decorating with love, care and memories is the heart of this feast, and I appreciate your corroboration of these thoughts. Happy Thanksgiving!
I just love your website. I always check to see if you have posted a new one. I love your home and all the beautiful pictures you post of the lovely area you live by. You inspire me to be happy living a simple life. I am a crosstitcher. Whenever I sit down I have a piece of linen in my hand and am happily stitch away. I am happily waiting for the sequel to your next book. I read it in a day–couldn’t put it down. Love! Love! your kitties!!! I hope to see you in San Francisco next year on your book tour. I live 4 hours away in the mountains, but won’t miss seeing you.
What an inspiration you are!
I had decided on the dishes I would be using for Thanksgiving and then my sons asked to invite friends….so that changed that, because there are not enough place settings. It is perfectly ok…the more the merrier!
Today I made your cranberry sauce, it is now a yearly tradition, and some Chex Mix for nibbling after during the card games! Tomorrow I will make pies.
On Thanksgiving my husband will go bring my first husband’s mother here. She was recently widowed for the fourth time and one of the true blessings in my life. She had a fresh flower arrangement sent to me today for Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
That’s wonderful that you held on to you mother-in-law, and that your husband supports it. True Love. Happy Thanksgiving!
Your blog always gives me such a cozy feeling. Just love it and your lovely books too. Have given several as gifts to favorite girlfriends. Two close friends were diagnosed with breast cancer in October. One is having chemo now and the other will have surgery in a few weeks. Am thinking your new book will be just the thing as a treat for them. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving on the Vineyard!
Hugs to you and your friends. xoxoxo Big hugs.
Hollywood, Hollywood – I’m so excited for you, for us!!!!!!!!! Missing Nora too, she was a treasure. Good thing the holidays are here, focus, focus and breathe!!! xoxxoxxo
Susan, Love the pictures of your beautiful home. I am in nesting mode this week and want to cozy up my home too. I noticed a large book open on your living room table. Is that a dictionary? Our late neighbor gave us his wife’s dictionary years ago and it looks like your book! Our neighbor’s wife loved to play Scrabble and loved to keep her dictionary handy. It would be a nice tribute to her to have ours out to be used easily. See? You inspired me once again! Happy Thanksgiving!
Your table settings are absolutely beautiful! Love the collections you have too. Thanks for the inspirations for Thanksgiving!
Thank you so much for sharing your table settings for everyone to see! Love looking at all the collections you have too. You’ve inspired me to pay more attention to the details in decorating for the season.
Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! Another post so soon! We’ll be having a small Thanksgiving this year. Just our daughter will be visiting, who is a vegetarian, so I’ll be making a chicken instead of a turkey, but with all the traditional sides, including your corn pudding which is our favorite. And I’ll be setting a beautiful table just as if we were having more company because we deserve it. I agree on Black Friday, and have a rule that anyone who comes to our house is not allowed to shop on Thursday or Friday. It’s all ridiculous, and I actually won’t shop at stores that are open on Thanksgiving Day. I try to buy as much as possible locally, and it’s better anyway because the things are more unique and not the same old things you can get anywhere. Wishing you and your family the Happiest of Thanksgivings. One of the things I am grateful for is the joy and inspiration you bring. You are truly a gift to us “normal ones”.
I love your take on Black Friday. The idea of shopping on that day has always just scared me. I am not much of a shopper on any day as it wears me out. So instead I look forward to the day after Thanksgiving and I go outside and find things to change my house dressings from fall to Christmas/winter! Thanks for sharing your table decorating ideas with us….I am going to use the pinecone, leaf, and newsprint name cards idea for our Thanksgiving table!! I am shopping with my mother in law in Belleville on Saturday- a lovely valley in Centre PA where the Amish and Mennonite cultures flourish and shopping seems a little more manageable and they have a nice little thrift store and a country store with bulk goods, like cloves for making orange pomanders. Which is on my list for good smelling things to make this year for gifts! Happy Thanksgiving!
Such peace, love and happiness. You never disappoint. Many Thanksgiving blessings to all.
Whenever I need a shot of happy, comfort, or inspiration I turn to your blog and your books. The beautiful words and lovely pictures always make my day. There’s a cute little independent bookstore in the cute little historical town of Lititz, PA that I’m sure you would love. 🙂
Dearest Susan, I hav become more and more attached to you… Coming to your blog and reading all your wonderful things that you share with us is like going to the candy store I find so much pleasure in my visit with you. I myself barely own anything new for me it started when my dad had decided to work for himself and have a hauling co. Which was cleaning out residents where people had passed on and their children didn’t care to keep their things sadly… My love of old things started back thenhe would come in with the trucks full of vintage things that no one cared about. I would go and look and the more I looked and found the more I couldn’t wait for the trucks to come in. I can’t begin to tell you all the things that I found could’t keep it all so as I got older had kids worked for him and sold a lot of things for extra money but I developed my own love of vintage my home is filled with much of it then later between that thrifting flea markets I have many things and I love it all and use it all. I just last week was givin a lovely table cloth and pretty Blue collection dishes from my daughter law who was at an estate sale and thought of me the woman gave them to her because she said it was for her mother in law… So sweet and caring both. I just wrote about them on my blog. I soon in time will be moving to my moms old house a little cottage my great grand parents who came from Russia bought in 1925 in San Francisco it’s in great need of work but I want wall papper and seeing you dinning rm made me want it more. I love your like me and you love many things I love and you share it all with us. We are having a close family day Thursday a family meal. Starting a new family tradition since all older member are passed on… In her broken house I hope next year I can show photos of a remodeled cottage. Love your home Garden I don’t do Black Friday I agree with you there is so much more of life than that but the world is a bit upside downfocused on the wrong things I’m glad I can come here and find peace with you.. Wishing you and all friends and families a wonderful Thursday I don!t celebrate Thanksgiving.. But I do thank God everyday for all he has givin me… Love to you and everyone
Love your linens, dishes, silver and glassware–is there anything more fun? Tomorrow I spray paint pine cones with shiny silver paint and pink glitter for a centerpiece (even though there really isn’t a need to improve on them in their natural state, is there?). Cranberries are ready to become sauce, stuffing cubes are awaiting the companionship of celery and onions, and the gravy whisk is ready for its work. Yay! Thanksgiving! Thanks for the joy and pleasure you bring with your photos and artwork and cheerful news. Thankful for you at Thanksgiving! Have a wonderful holiday with Joe, kitties and friends!
Thank you for all the Thanksgiving inspiration! 🙂
Hi, Sue
Thanksgiving seems like a wonderful time to say “thank you” to you
~ for all you do to make the world feel smaller, cozier, more inclusive ~ like actually publishing your book in Chinese! What a wonderful thing to do!
~for all you do to bring light and hope into our lives ~ how many times over the years your blog was like a deep breath of fresh air when world events clouded our days and smothered our joy ~ such a gift to your readers!
~ for all you do to give us the courage, the inspiration to be our best selves ~ to care for our friends and our homes and ourselves. How refreshing to realize that it’s ok that I’m not perfect…who is?…It’s not perfection you preach. It’s doing whatever we do with love from our hearts.
~and finally, for all you do to make us laugh! At life, at circumstances, at ourselves. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve laughed out loud here ~ at kick-kick-kick a bird, at hanging teabags, at morning science, at kitty antics, at the many stories you’ve shared of your family, Joe and your close circle of friends!
So you see? It’s a wonderful time…Thank You, Susan Branch….for being you!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
xoDebbie
I loved all of the pictures especially the table decorating ! It inspired mr ! Let’s just say gold glitter was involved with mine ! I believe everything is more fun with a little bit of sparkle ! I can’t wait to read the next book , I really enjoyed Fairytale Girl. I wish u and Joe a gobblestasctic day.
Happy Thanksgiving Sue! I can’t wait to decorate my table and use some of your ideas. I LOVE, love the champagne corks! Sadly, I have been throwing them away all this time. But I will start now with this Holiday and maybe have enough for Christmas (I do drink a lot of champagne at the Holidays – it makes me SO happy!)
Bless your heart Susan! I had a drawer full of tarnished silverware and was really dreading spending the time and effort to hand-clean 12 place settings. I decided I’d try your method with the foil, 1/2 C. salt, !/2 C. baking soda and very hot water. Yipee! it worked. Now my Thanksgiving table settings will be sparkly and I didn’t spend a whole day polishing each piece with silver cleaner. Thanks for that big time-saver hint. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of those you love and enjoy. We have much to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving Susan! I have enjoyed all of your thoughts and pictures so very much. They remind me of when I worked at the Big House and the dinner parties that I cooked for and set the tables for. So much fun when you have limitless crockery and cutlery and tableclothes, etc. to work with! You are so blessed to have the things you do and you make it all look so very homey and welcoming. That is the secret to good housewifery, making a house a home and a place that people want to be. You are a treasure. Love and hugs. xoxo
PS – Reading the Fairy Tale Girl for the second time and A Fine Romance for the fifth. To say I cannot wait for the next installment is an understatement indeed!
Soon Marie!
Bless you, dear Susan, and may you and Joe have a most beautiful Thanksgiving! You are such a gift to the world. 🙂 So much deliciousness in this post…thank you for YOU.
With love and great admiration,
~ Irina
p.s. The photo with Girl Kitty under the table…can’t stop giggling! 😉
xoxoxo
I have been following your blog since your visit to the Emma Bridgewater factory. An avid Emma pottery fan living in England I then started following your adventures and never looked back. I enjoy every blog and Willard you post, love the pictures of your house and your ‘things’ but I must say this time you have outdone yourself. This has to be my very favourite blog post. Thank you so much for sharing and for making us remember the good things in life and that there is so much to be thankful for, even in such difficult times.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Joe!