Hi Everyone! How are you? We are home safe and sound, and happy, so happy to be here. Here are just a few photos of our family reunion at Vallecito Lake, “a beautiful spot, surrounded in tall pines, sheltered in a secluded mountain valley” at 8,000 feet, just outside of Durango, Colorado, and more proof that . . .
This was the moon-set at 5 am across the lake the morning we drove away, all packed up and heading back for the train and home. Stopped in the dark, tires in gravel, in the cool mountain air, with lake lapping on shore, for this photo of paradise.
Here’s just one of the jillions of group photos we took . . . My fandamly, not all, but lots. The kind of fandamly that likes to stand in freezing water. Note who’s not in picture.
My nephew Ben, arriving with the “equipment.”
In this very lovely, spiritual place which has been a gathering place for us for years . . . ever since my brother Jim moved here years ago . . . the lake is surrounded in wildflowers . . .
Where we did what we always do, we ate, we told stories, we sang . . . this is my brother Chuck dancing with my niece Heidi, daughter of my other brother Brad, at the campground. Chuck sang too, songs he wrote ~ one of my favorites that I requested so I could record it for you ~ is a sad song called “To Be a Man” (not about my dad) . . . want to hear it? Listen close to the words . . .
And lucky me . . . these are the three “kids” that Joe and I took to England and Paris on the Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2001, when, from left, Heidi was 11, Holly was 12, and Matty was 18. That’s Auntie Mame in the middle there, basking.
More wonderful moments than I can tell . . . Shelly’s twins, Paden and Mason, and my great nephews, Ben’s boys, Wyler and Beckett.
Mas Musica? Something old, something wonderful . . .
This was our cabin with the screened in porch … at Croll Cabins, right next to 5 Branches campsites … perfect for a family reunion ~ you could have a cabin, or set up a tent, or bring your camper, park next to the lake, and walk to each other’s places. It was heaven.
More wildflowers in the campground.
And now, before we talk about an important birthday celebration, and have a new giveaway ~ I just want to say thank you . . . your 900 comments in the last post were so beautiful!💛 When I was sad and missing my dear Dad, Jack to some, Blog Daddy to many, but John Patrick Stewart, Jr. in real life, all I had to do was read your words, filled with comforting, loving, life affirmations and I felt so much better! My dad would have loved them too. 💕 He so enjoyed reading your comments.
T H A N K Y O U
And now, here’s Joe . . . bringing in the cake . . . because we want to extend heartfelt
T O
. . . who would be 150 years old on July 28 . . . wouldn’t she love to know how many wonderful events are taking place this year in her memory! (Actually, I think she would feel humbled by it.) But I want to add my own respects and admiration to the many voices (you can read some of them at the Beatrix Potter Society, and become a member like me! They send the most wonderful newsletters, both online and in the mail, and there’s more information about the celebrations HERE and HERE and good shopping for BP stuff, HERE), and it all keeps coming. Because she was truly something else.
As most of you know . . . I took a trip to see Beatrix’s famous Hilltop Farm a while back, something I’d wanted to do for many years. And it was everything I’d hoped it would be, filled with the little bits of her life that she saved just for us, so that someday we could go there and be in the presence of magic.
Most everyone knows about her “little bunny books” and that they are the best selling children’s books of all time . . . and that they started with her illustrated letters like this one below that she wrote to the children of her former governess . . .
Many words have been written, both by her and even more, ABOUT her including a wonderful movie I know you would love, Miss Potter (if you haven’t already seen it). 👏 But her charming books are only the beginning of what made Beatrix so very special.
Before she ever wrote a book, Beatrix was a serious scientist whose discoveries were summarily dismissed by the scientific community, simply because she was a woman ~ this was Victorian England where women were not supposed to be scientists (or much of anything else). Her scientific discoveries were a fascinating part of her story ~ she discovered something which is still viable today, but the loss to the scientific world was nothing compared to what she was able to offer through her creative love of nature to the imaginations of children the world over, when she picked herself up, dusted herself off, and self-published her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. And the rest is history herstory.
Because the story didn’t end at that misogynistic defeat, nor even at the glorious success of her books, she was just beginning to find her true place where she would leave her real legacy. When she lost her first love, she was inspired to buy a small farm in the Lake District of northern England, a place she’d been drawn to since she was a child. And, not long after, she left book writing behind her and found a new passion in farming and raising sheep, preserving a breed that was almost extinct. She loved the old ways and bought her 
furniture for Hilltop at barn sales and auctions. She hand-embroidered her own bed coverings and never put electricity in her house, so you can just imagine the quiet sounds of birdsong and wind and snow fall and teacup-in-saucer noises that she spent her life enjoying. And she took her bunny-book money and bought 14 farms and over 4,000 acres of the Lake District to keep them from the greedy hands of developers. 👏 And she helped to start the National Trust. She married late and was happy with her husband for 30 years. If you’d like to read more about Beatrix Potter, try the wonderful biography by Linda Lear, Beatrix Potter, the Extraordinary Life of a Victorian Genius. 
Beatrix saved this land for forever enjoyment because she was far-thinking, not just thinking about today, but thinking about forever. She was ahead of her time, and 
This is her little town of Far Sawrey in the Lake District where she made her home with her husband in that house on the far right of this photo. When you walk there, you walk where she walked, and really, nothing much has changed. I can’t wait to go back. Just to breathe that rarified air.
We’re going in the fall and I can’t wait to see the colors. . . we’ve only been in the springtime ….
Some of us discover Beatrix through her books, some learn about her through the National Trust, but I came to her through her little figurines, my “Beatrix Potter people,” which I found in my early 20s and have been in every place I’ve lived since then ~ I fell in love with the colors and the charm of her little critters, beautifully made in Beswick, England in the 40s and 50s.
Her life, once I learned about the things she did, as been an inspiration for me. I would love to do what she did. And all those wonderful animal figurines but, surprisingly, no lambs! So I painted this one in her honor.
And these are my People . . . some of them, there are more in other parts of the house, (and more in our webstore that I gathered as we drove across country) this is a gathering of the minds. They are coming together to have a little tea party to celebrate Beatrix. They made a cake . . .
for a Tea Party in honor of Beatrix Potter . . .
Try one of my favorite Tea Cakes EVER! Invite someone to tea, and make a little toast to Beatrix.
I’ve promised you this recipe for a long time, and now you have it, here and I also put it in my new, revised and expanded, 30th Anniversary edition of Heart of the Home, just out and available only here on my website and in some (actually any) independent bookstores (who contact us) until September.
It’s even more delicious than it looks!
Yum, Happy Birthday dear Beatrix! And also, in her honor, and in yours, a little giveaway … this wonderful little book . . .
Filled with descriptions of the woodland walks through the place Beatrix loved so much . . .
This useful book is filled with Beatrix’s charming color prints . . .
And lots of photos . . . it’s a great help for making plans for the next time you go . . . like a little dream book . . . I had one when we went and we followed the directions and the walks were wonderful…
I signed the book and will personalize it to whoever wins this drawing . . . all you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post and you will be entered, and in a few days we’ll get “Vanna” to draw the winning name, and I hope it’s YOURS 💖. . . but that’s not all …
Oh, yeah, Jemima Puddleduck wants to come too . . . .
This lovely old 1948 edition, the very first Beatrix Potter Person I ever bought, way back in the 1970s.
She stands tall and proud and perfectly dressed. We’ll do the drawing after I get back from Cape Cod where I’m going on Thursday, on Beatrix Potter’s actual birthday, to celebrate her life at the Brewster Ladies Library with the Beatrix Potter Society and 400 like-minded Girlfriends where I will be reading the story of my first trip to Hilltop from my book and signing A Fine Romance Falling in Love with the English Countryside. So excited! And humbled. and thrilled. And will probably cry.
That makes sense to me. Thank goodness there are so many.💛
Hello you adorable thing. . . if anyone will be on the Island on the 25th of August, I’ll be doing my last talk and signing in the USA (for this year) for Martha’s Vineyard, Isle of Dreams, for the Aquinnah Library at the Old Town Hall in Aquinnah at 5 pm. 📚 It’s free, so you would just show up and voila!
THANK YOU GIRLFRIENDS. For everything. Have the most wonderful day! XOXO 💚 Love you!
What an awesome birthday present you’ve given me! A new posting to fill my soul with inspiration (another trip to England, sigh, Beatrix Potter, who should inspire all of us ladies of a certain age, and a chance at a fabulous give away)! I’m so excited. For all of you of a younger age, 65 is the best birthday ever! (So far, hee hee)
I just gave myself “Martha’s Vineyard” for my birthday (I’m generous that way). Thank you for always making me feel…cozy ;-P
Thank you for the new blog! I think I went into withdrawals from not reading them every week. I started following you on Twitter so that filled the gaps!😀 I met you in St Charles and you looked at my bunny book. Your words were so kind and when I look at my photos of that day, I can’t help but smile. You are very precious to us girlfriends! I can’t wait to go on your new adventure via the Internet. Thanks for being our version of Beatrix Potter!
I am a rabbit collector and have been a huge fan of Beatrix Potter for years. Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures of her little town as well as your lovely tribute to her. Your giveaway book looks like a joy to read!
P.S. The cake recipe looks fantastic!!!
Just finished isle of dreams just loved it … thanks for sharing and all the inspiration. Thanks for the chance to win
…
Welcome Home, Mame!
Your family is so charming and real and right out of the 1950’s. I’m so glad you had that time together – to sing, and remember, and share, and hug, and laugh, and love. There is absolutely nothing better for grief than to have family share it and help disburse it into sparkles of life memories. And the camp site is pure heaven.
I must admit that when I saw the photo of Joe with the candle topped cake, I broke down, missing my own Joe – gone 24 years ago, who always made a big splash for my birthday and would march out with cake in hand and the birthday song in a beautiful golden tenor voice. I’m so happy to know your Joe is what my Joe would have grown into. Ah well.
I hope you can weave yourself back into the tapestry of your summer life – gardening, tea parties, friends, and no deadlines!
You are loved and blessed and in my prayers,
L.
Glad you’re home, safe and sound, wrapped in fandamly love ♥ Jemima Puddleduck, isn’t that a name that just rolls laughingly off the tongue? Can’t wait to see who wins the drawing, but I’ll eat Cranberry Tea Cake just for them 🙂
Susan,
Thank you for your post. Glad you had a fun family time. I would love to visit Durango, Co because when Oprah and Gail did a cross country trip many years ago now, they stopped in Durango and it looked like a lovely town.
Having a hot time here in Calif. and smelling the fire near Big Sur.
I can’t wait for you Fall blog from England,
Mary Ann
Jack is such a handsome boy! I enjoyed the Beatrix Potter information! What an interesting person she was! Lovely!
Our dear Beatrix has blessed us all in so many wonderful ways, and we are so grateful that she did! 💟
East-Central Illinois
Oh what a delightful giveaway! I collect the BP figurines and I don’t have Jemima yet. That would be a fun win! I bet her place will be beautiful in the fall and I will enjoy seeing and reading about it through your eyes and thoughts. Thank you!
Welcome home Susan🐦 Thanks for reminding me that Beatrix’s Birthday is coming. It’s on my calendar but then one must refer to the calendar to remember, at least for me. Glad to have you back home. You have been one busy little gal this year.
Hello Susan,
What a lovely post to celebrate family and Beatrix Potter.
Love you so much and we are praying for you and your family.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to win.
Love, Carla
Happy Birthday Beatrix! I would love to win the book of walks and Jemima
Puddleduck, my favorite B. Potter critter.
Pat S.
Oh, I must leave a comment, Peter, on Ms. Branch’s blog for she has been so very kind to us for so long and we love how she loves Ms. Potter. We’ll tell all of the wonderful girlfriends that Ms. Potter’s house looks just like it did when she painted pictures of it for her book called Tom Kitten so, if they want to see what it looks like, they can go to their local bookstore or library and see for themselves, and if they win the drawing, they will follow Ms. Potter all over the Lake District, where everything is lovely and green and there are rabbits hopping everywhere and farms weren’t broken up into lots but were saved because Ms. Potter bought them with her little books money and kept them safe. Oh, happy birthday, Ms. Potter!
Love your books. Enjoyed seeing you at Malaprops in Asheville NC.
Oh I dream of going to the Lake District! I really hope to some day, but for now I will enjoy her books and all the others about her. Thank you Susan for the opportunity to win and all the beautiful things you give me with your writings!
Oh how I would love to add Jemima to my children’s book collection with Pooh, Cinderella and Le Petit Prince! :oP Vanna, pick me, pick me!
I’m older than you and I probably won’t ever get to go to England. So I find so much happiness in your writings. I have just found you this summer 2016 and have already read two of your books and I’m reading the third now. I wish I would have found you earlier since I have found so much joy in your writings. I find myself enveiness of your dedication to the things you love. You have truly inspired me. I want to get every copy of Beatrix potter books and the ones about her. I run an antique shop so all the old artwork and the figurines are special to me. Thanks so much for entertainment.
I LOVE antique stores!!! xoxo
It’s MY birthday TODAY!
I spent it with lots of family while paying tribute to a wonderful man – my father inlaw. We buried him with a Veteran’s salute today! ❤️🇺🇸
I was so glad I got to meet you when you spoke to the Women’s Exchange.
Your books and blog make me SMILE!
Thanks for the JOY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!! xoxoxo
Oh, how I love your posts! I’m glad you are home safe and sound, and that you had that wonderful family gathering! Big families are such fun. I’m one of eight children, but sadly, there are only four of us still here. We treasure each other. Thank you for making this hot day more enjoyable!
Your letter was like visiting an old friend who has been having wonderful adventures. Thank you for a chance to win your giveaways.
Loved meeting you and Joe. Thanks for your inspiration.
Connie Erskine
Sending hugs to you and cheers to our lovely Beatrix Potter on her birthday!! Have a wonderful time and thank you, as always, for bringing happiness to all our lives. 🙂
What a lovely prize this would be! Pick me! Pick me!
Oh by all means throw my name in the pot!!!! What a lovely giveaway for some very lucky person. I can dream it will be my name Vanna pulls out of the hat!! Lovely post.
I so enjoyed this post Susan. I first visited Hilltop in 1994 with my daughter Amy.
We had fallen in love with Beatrix after watching a PBS special and couldn’t wait to walk in her footsteps.
thank you for your wonderful words
I’m a big admirer of yours and Beatrix Potter, too! Thanks for your generosity. Here’s hoping!
Happy Birthday Beatrix! I hope to get to Hilltop someday.
I’m so glad you are home after being gone for so long, dear Susan. You’ve had an up and down spring and summer. Take care of your heart and give yourself plenty of time to grieve.
How exciting it will be for you tomorrow as you treat the girlfriends to your feelings about your trip to Hilltop. My trip there last year continues to bring me so much joy as I retrace our steps there. I can’t help but see parallels between your life and the life of Beatrix Potter. No wonder I adore both of you! Take care of yourself, dear one. xoxo ♥
What dear friends I suspect we would be,
Should we ever meet and share some tea!
Oh. My. Goodness. I would love to own that book Susan! Thanks for the chance. I love Beatrix Potter also. Glad you had a great family reunion.
What a perfectly lovely newsletter, Susan! I was especially pleased to have a peak at your family reunion. We are about to enjoy ours (my side) this weekend +. I am the eldest of 7 and we will all be back with our spouses and offspring and their spouses and little ones in the town where we grew up and where our dad (soon to be 93) still lives. I am as excited as you were!
Second, the additional photos and words about Beatrix Potter! I love her work, the stories about her farm, and, of course, the characters themselves from her books. My first two collectibles were Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny. The only Jemima Puddleduck that I acquired is a stuffed one. What a thoughtful offering you are making for your dawing…walks with Beatrix P and one of your own cherished figurines. Oh and did I mention that I am a bit of an Anglophile!
I am so fond of your books, Susan. I have a copy of A Fine Romance in each of our guests rooms because it is such a visual feast!
Hugs
Patti
I need to emulate Jemimah Puddleduck’s posture. 🙂
I always love when I sit down to read your not. I feel like I am sitting with you enjoying our cup of tea while we catch up on life’s adventures. Thank you for allowing us a peak into your life.
Thank you for a beautiful post, Susan. The little book looks beautiful. Has Jack forgiven you yet?
He LOVES me! In his own way. 😳
So fascinated to learn even more about dear Beatrix Potter! Thank you for filling out her life even more completely. I’m very moved by her inspiring and extremely generous purchase of farms and lands with the purpose of keeping them a permanent natural heritage for future generations. I can see why you love her—there’s quite a bit of Beatrix in Susan Branch!
Dearest Susan,
I missed the last blog and was so sorry to hear about the passing of your dad. Fathers & Daughters have a special bond that can never be broken. You will always have that bond but it will just be a little different now. You always bring such joy to people and I’m sure your dad will still share in that joy but from a different, better place.
Thinking of you.
Janet
Hello Susan….soooooo very happy that you are home & I so thoroughly enjoyed & loved every single word, saying, thought & picture of your latest post. Thank you,
Thank you. How very fortunate for you to have such a loving fandamly (love this word!). Because of you, dear lady, I too have become a fan of Beatrice Potter & thanks to a sweet daughter, I am collecting her figurines. It is amazing where you can find one, tucked in a cupboard in a dusty antique shop, but oh what a find!
Thanks for your generosity with this give-away. Take care; rest & relax at home.
Second comment and I know Miss Vanna knows to count only one – smart girl! I wanted to ask you about that pretty little teaspoon. I looked in your online shop and didn’t see it. Could you tell me/us about it, please? I’m a tea drinker and just love that spoon!
Thanks!
I found it here in a store years ago . . . it’s hand done, and when I went back for another one, they were gone. Lots of people are making them in the Easy stores, if you Google, you should find it.
I always look forward to your posts Susan! Saturday is my new granddaughter-to-be’s baby shower. We were asked to bring a book in place of a card. Of course, my love for Beatrix Potter, I will be taking a collection of her beautiful books. How exciting it will be to share a gift that celebrates my granddaughter and Beatrix’s birthday at the same time.
Thank you for sharing your gift with all of us!
Kim
It looks like you all had a wonderful time being together as a family! Togetherness is so healing! Its fun to be together with people who know where we came from and where we’ve been and who we are and they love us anyway! 🙂 Lovely giveaway! Happy Birthday Beatrix!
Thank you, Susan. I’m reading Isle of Dreams for the secong time. Love it, love it, love it! It’s so dear of you to share your life ith us. I’ve started my own quote book of qoutes that I love. Thanks for the inspiration.
Welcome home, Susan!!! I have followed you for years and just finished reading your latest book, ‘Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams’. How inspiring!! I thought it was so great how you kept following your heart, and how things all worked out………but not without heartache and difficulty and loneliness along the way. You’re quite a gal and I’m glad you make the time to keep us up to date on your life!!!
The best blog, best books and calendars, best giveaways!! Best everything, including the best recommendations…the movie Miss Potter is wonderful! The best of everything to you Susan! Cheers, Kathy
Contest
What fun you guys had on the family trip & of course England.
Thanks for sharing your stories. So interesting.
Miss Potter is a great movie. I haven’t seen it in a long while & you sure have put me in the mood to watch it again. Thanks as always. Lisa
Your lovely thoughts and drawings warm my heart.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways! I do so love reading your blog posts! I delighted in reading about Beatrix Potter’s life…I didn’t know so many of those fascinating details. I wish I could buy a farm in such a beautiful place! And I can’t wait to try your tea cake recipe. Thank you Susan, for your creativity, inspiration, and love. I love you back!!
I love Beatrix Potter’s art. I bought a used copy of the book by Linda Lear and it came all the way from England—I thought that made it all the more special. She was quite the lady and did so much in her lifetime!
She was such a gifted artist and writer. Sad that she lived in a time in which her scientific abilities and curiosity were not rewarded, but how delightful that she pursued other outlets.
What a wonderful post! Sharing your super family and lovely photos. Such a perfect way to celebrate your daddy’s life. Plus all the latest on Beatrix Potter and her unique life. Vacations are wonderful…they make you appreciate home. Praying I win that fabulous book and sweet figurine. Who knows? It could happen. I am awaiting surgery and your Heart of the Home will be my companion. Happy Birthday to Joe and Blessings on you and yours. 💘 Love ya!
Dear Susan,
Thank you for coming up with the most delicious recipes and give-aways. I will definitely be making the cranberry tea cake. Yum! The book looks so interesting and Jemima Puddleduck is darling. I would love to win! And I am ordering your 30th anniversay cookbook.
What a wonderful spot for your family reunion. Bet you all had a great time. But I also bet you are enjoying your “down” time at home before you take off for the UK again!
Have fun!
Bonnie
I just love Beatrix Potter🐇🐇🐇🐇
So glad you are home and so glad you are looking forward to another trip to England. Wishing we could go too, but this year both of my children are getting married so we’re a bit preoccupied with a different kind of planning. SO, I can live vicariously once again with your travels. Happy Birthday Bea!
Love your books and your calendars and your blog!!!
I love your books and have ordered a calendar and cookbook. Please keep writing in your down-home way. I have always 50 years, to my Fanny Farmer Cook Book which you’ve mentioned. Can’t wait to get yours!!!!
I’m one of the lucky 400 who are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! Sure hope Vanna picks me for the adorable Beatrix Potter give-away.
Oh, Vanna! Please pick me! I would gift this to a friend (a retired librarian) who adores Beatrix!
I would love for Jemina Puddleduck to come to stay with me☺️. Thank you Susan for that chance.
Cottagelu
Virginia
I love, love Beatrix Potter. Her stories are ageless.
Can’t wait to try your cranberry tea cake – it sounds and looks wonderful. The book and Jemima would be awesome even though I know the chances of winning are minute. A person can dream. Thanks so much for all you do and write to make our days great and really feel like you ARE a friend!
The book looks so beautiful! You are always so sweet to give such lovely things to us girl friends. The cranberry tea cake is one I will try for sure…Yummy!
Hugs,
Debbie J
Susan I’m so glad you and Joe are home safe and sound. From the pictures above, I can see what a wonderful loving family you have. I just came back from visiting my family in Maine, and although it was really hard to leave, it felt really good to sleep in my own bed again and see my little Maltese dog Savannah. Yes – I have Beatrix Potter’s birthday marked on my calendar – who couldn’t love her and everything she gave to us! Welcome home Susan! Hugs from Sharon in Florida. xxoo
Happy to hear you are safe and sound at home again!
Lovely pictures of the family and your Dad.
The book of Beatrix Potter and her life I bought in Cumbria many years ago during our holiday there.
I do love to win that book with the walks and special Jemima Pudleduck because she was made in the year I was born.
My first Beatrix Potter item was her little book of Peter Rabbit and a small tin with Peter Rabbit on the lid.
Have a wonderful Beatrix Potter birthday!
Greetings ,Trijntje Huppel
Such a special giveaway. Thank you, Susan. I am in awe of both you and Beatrix Potter…your artwork and way with words makes me happy every time. God Bless.
Thank you, dear friend for today’s uplifting letter of many beautiful and lovely items. I found it refreshing. I am quite interested in Beatrix Potter!
Welcome Home!! I’ve been camping, fishing and quilting for 30 years and still love it all. Thanks for sharing your family pics.
Oh, I’d love to win one of your prizes! Thanks for the opportunity to win.
Susan, You are the Beatrix Potter of our day. You bring so much joy and beauty to our lives with your incredible talent and generosity. I look forward to every post.
Hi Susan, you are very brave in all ways.
You are very generous with your drawings
but please don’t give away your 1st
“people.” You would miss her and whoever
wins would be happy with any one of them.
Maybe I’m just too sentimental about things.
You are so lucky to have such a big, wonderful
family. We are very small but big with love.
Julia in SC
What a great post! I, quite comically, always think of pancakes when I hear about Gemima Puddleduck. A very sweet book which I will share with my sister if I win
So glad you can love a place in Colorado! I miss an ocean close by, but love it here; it’s home now. Love the give away. Read all these lovely stories to my daughter when she was small. Now reading them to the grands. An “Miss Potter,” wonderful.
Now, this is what we all need. Sweet images and thoughts of kindness and generosity fill me with hope. Many thanks for the respite.
Hi, Susan,
Your family reunion looks wonderful – sunny skies and a sacred space lighten your hearts.
The cranberry tea cake looks so delicious, I could almost taste it. Can’t wait to try it, especially with the Vanilla sauce…YUM!
Your post made my day. Thank you so much for being you.
Hi Susan, I just love reading your blog and can’t wait to try the tea cake for the 28th. I don’t have any cranberries in the freezer so I may try blueberries with some dried cranberries mixed in. Then in the Fall I will use fresh cranberries. Loved the Beatrix Potter info.
Your friend, Joanne
Happy birthday, Miss Potter! I’m looking forward to reading about your trip this fall.
Hi Susan and Welcome Home! I love Beatrix Potter and hope to get to the Lake District. We have friends and family in the U.K. and will be planning a visit. It’s been so hot and humid here but hopefully you’re getting breezes on the island. I definitely want to make the cranberry tea cake. I think afternoon tea should be mandatory. 😊. Be well and be happy and best to Joe and the kitties. Love, Karen.
P.S. I miss my dad, too.
Lovely, Lovely Beatrice! When I lie back and remember England, how grateful I am for all her endeavors!!
What a delightful family get together and I love Beatrix Potter, drawings, stories and the figurines.
So lovely of a post I must read her story
What a lovely give-away and beautiful tribute to Beatrix Potter. You’re truly inspiring!
Your art, books and posts bring me so much joy, thank you. 🎨🖍🖌✏️📚 I look forward to opening the email every time because I know I’m going to be delighted.😃💝
So happy to have just opened up my mailbox and there you are ! Family reunions by the lake, campfires, smell of the water and woods yummy! Cousins bonding, sisters and brothers uniting once again how wonderful ! Listened to your brother’s song, sniff, sniff. Well I am already anxious to read of your next travels. Let Vanna know I will be waiting for her to find my name in that big vat of names. Very lovely treasures to be received. Thank you Susan !
Oh my soul, what an absolutely perfect post!
You know how much I LOVE Beatrix Potter & was so thrilled to visit Hill Top Farm & a few of her other haunts this past spring…..
I am quite envious you are returning for a 2nd time in just a couple months & I do hope you have a glorious time~ we will all be awaiting photos! ♥
What a beautiful giveaway you are hosting~ such treasures that will be so valued by whoever ends up giving them a new home. ♥ Thank you for the chance to win!
XOXO Bekah ♥
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Hello Susan! So glad you and Joe have returned home safe and sound from your family gathering out West! How wonderful for all of your family to be together……you are so rich with family……so blessed!!!!! The tea cake recipe looks yummy, and I truly need an excuse to hurry up and bake one!!!! What an awesome account of Beatrix Potter’s concern for the future, she was truly a gifted and talented woman and unique in all of her ways! (It would be a dream come true to see her home, and I must read more about her!) Susan, I am currently reading a book titled “Where Lilacs Still Bloom”, by Jane Kirkpatrick. Each and every chapter, I think that you would just love this book! It’s a historical fiction of a woman, Hulda Klager, who really lived in the state of Washington from the late 1800’s into the early 1900’s. She grafted apple trees to produce larger and easier peeling apples so she could be more efficient in her apple pie baking for her husband and family. She also was smart enough to know how to cross pollinate her daffodils and lilacs to create different colors and versions. I have not yet finished the book, as I’ve been jotting down some of the lovely phrases that touch me. Like on page 22: “Inhaling a soothing scent from a flower could take away pain, the kind of pain that comes with loss and longing.” Didn’t know if you ever heard of this book and the author who has written other books. (Anyways, just wanted to share and tell you.) I’ve also been having fun enjoying the two of your cookbooks I ordered while you were traveling about, the 10th Anniversary Autumn and your 30th Anniversary Heart of the Home to keep me busy until your next great book is created!!!!!! Take care of yourself Susan. Have a wonderful Wednesday evening!!! (P.S. your brother’s song was very beautiful, and he is a very talented man!!!)
Lovely Carilyn … Hilda was amazing. The best I could figure out about apple peeling was to get my sister to do it! 😃 Thank you for the sweet words xoxo
Delightful post! Welcome home…💜
Hi, Susan,
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at the Brewster Ladies Library! I am coming with a friend and her daughter who drove up from Maryland to do this with us!
Welcome home, Susan! You have had a summer that so many of us would dream about and I know you feel blessed. Your last post was absolutely fascinating and refreshing, especially to see so many wonderful people attending your book signings. Reading your most recent book, Martha’s Vineyard, Isle of Dreams, has given me the inspiration I need to persevere with my journaling and art classes. I am also collecting old lace, doilies and ribbons to begin a fabric journal. This project will be perfect for quiet, winter nights. I can hardly wait for you to travel once again across the pond! I would be remiss if I didn’t also take this time to offer my sincere sympathy on the passing of your dad. What an extraordinary gentleman! Blessings to you, Joe and the kitties. Thank you for your continued commitment to your girlfriends!
I too love cats. I had a creme Persian for 17 yrs and miss him still. Now I am keeper of a relative’s cat when he goes away and she is a Ragdoll. But breed or not, all cats are a wonder to me.
So sorry about your dad!! Have a wonderful fall trip to England!! 💛 it there. I did a spring trip this year.
Dearest Susan, I have been anxiously awaiting your next blog. In these days of political squabbling, violence, and unrest, I so needed to see and read your words of beauty and simplicity. I always love your posts, and I wish the world could follow your example. Thank you for being the calm in the storm and a place of refuge in these turbulent times. Thanks-Ellen
Because of you, I too now own some of the Potter characters/persons. And just love them! The book would be marvelous. Thanks for the give away. Love your work.
I hope Vanna chooses my name, because my mother would LOVE this book!
Always enjoying you and your book’s. My sister gave me the Fairy Tale Girl book to read. Sits on my table so l can pick up to read anytime.
I love your pictures of your cats. I love cats.
Glad you are home safe and sound! Loved reading about your dad in your books-I plan on re-reading them this fall, by a warm fire with a candle burning and classical jazz on cd. I lost my mom at the end of 2014 and then my dad less than 10 months later. My thoughts have been with you. 🙂
Susan, when I receive my new blog I have to sit down right them and read from top to bottom. It always makes me so happy. Thank-you for always making my day brighter. Love you, Susie.
I watched the movie, Miss Potter, because of your book about England and loved them both!
Dearest Susan,
So happy to hear you had your family-time. What a wonderful way to honor your dad. In the midst of your summer busyness, and honoring Blog-Daddy, you still find time for us. You just know when we’re in need of your heart-warming words.
Enjoy and safe travels.
So sorry you lost your dear friend/father, Susan. My dad was so much like yours, and I lost him way too young. I know what it’s like to smile through the tears…good men, great fathers are so rare.
Blessings to you💕
Love hearing about Beatrix and now am so interested in learning more and going to her hometown. Thanks for this lovely blog post.