First, MUSICA, and second… Hello All💞, and third, I thought I would talk about this thing that’s very popular in Europe (and probably all over) right now called Hygge ~ While we were traveling I would walk into a bookstore in Great 
(great and wonderful) Britain, and invariably, on the front table would be six different books, all with some cozy atmospheric picture of H💟ME on the cover and called some variation of “HYGGE,” which makes sense when you find out Hygge is Danish for “cozy.” So I checked it out and it’s pronounced “HYU-gah,” but I like to pronounce it “HUG,” since the word embraces (so to speak) the entire spirit of Hygge. We’ve had Hygge for a long time around here too, but we’ve called it other things … the way my mom said it was,
And sometimes it’s known as Living the Dream; or Having it All; or Living Large; or The Pursuit of Happiness; and let’s not forget . . .
Oh yeah. It’s all about making a world of Contentment in your own
Unfortunately, we can’t control what goes on in the outside world, which seems to get more ridiculously uncontrollable every day, but we CAN control what goes on in our own homes ~ whether it’s one room, an apartment, or a mansion. Hygge has nothing to do with money, it’s an equal opportunity bringer of joy.
Hygge is a state of mind and a recognizing that what you seek, you already have. I’ve perfected my Hygge in rented rooms and tiny apartments when I was younger. I make it every time we travel in a small train compartment when I bring along my feather pillow, my comfy slippers, a new wonderful book to read, my electric kettle, my favorite cup, my favorite tea, and some homemade cucumber sandwiches. That’s Traveling Hygge, there’s more to it, but today we’re talking bout Hygge In-House. In YOUR house to be exact!
There are a thousand ways to Hygge yourself, and if you’ve been hanging around this Blog long enough, you know that’s mostly what we love to talk about. How to make a Homemade Happy Life . . .
Over the years, I’ve recognized that most of the little things that make life wonderful are found in the same basic framework I use when I give a party: They always seem to appeal to one of the five senses, plus that magical sixth sense, the highly personal one called 
“imagination.” Because the senses are kind of your everything. If they are constantly fed a diet of car exhaust, too many people at the mall, the dentist’s drill, fast food cheeseburgers, news of starving children, killer germs on the loose, and culture collapse, staring into your phone for hours on end, and perhaps a quick frisking at the airport, you are just not going to be happy! SO simple. You might have to go out and experience all of that, but then you can come home, where YOU are in charge. Whew. Look around your home. How does it feel? How does it sound? How does it look? How does it smell? How does it taste? Are there flowers, candles, a cozy throw for you, books, teacups? Is there toast and cheese? Are there pancakes? Is there pretty music that sends you to the moon? Now for number six: see any whimsy, anything that only says YOU in all caps? The question is, does your house FEED you from the well of sweetness?
Hygge thyself!
When it’s all rainy and gray outside . . .
Make a fire or light a candle . . . light many candles!
Lots of you know how much I love houses ~ I have one room where there are only paintings of houses on the walls. Over the years, when I’m out and about, I might see a little candle house, the one with the green roof is my newest in this long slow-growing collection. I found it in Scotland where so many of the real houses are white stucco. What could be more Hygge than a candle IN a house? It’s the Hyggiest! And long, and slow-growing? That’s Hygge too.
Light the candles and then go make yourself a cup of tea, and cuddle up to watch an old movie . . .
This is Audrey Hepburn and Gregory adorable Peck in Roman Holiday. Five Stars! I have a wonderful list of old movies that could keep a person busy and in Hygge City for a whole winter if they wanted!
This is the June page from my new 2017 wall-calendar and just a reminder, because the main thing about Hygge, as you can probably tell by just reading about it, it’s so HEALTHY! It doesn’t weigh you down, it makes you buoyant, up and ready to go! It’s priceless, and it’s a gift you can give yourself because it’s FREE!
Read a book that will light your soul, send your heart to the moon, make tears flow down your cheeks, and inspire you to greatness. Read biographies about your heroes. I love reading about the life of Beatrix Potter because she makes me want to be a better person.💞
I think it’s very Hygge to put dried flowers in her books . . .
Even housekeeping and doing laundry can be Hygge, if you wait a moment and let yourself SEE the before and afters . . . and just how pretty wrinkles and patterns can be, smell the cleanness, feel how organized you must be as you are hanging things to dry, there in the Village of Hygge, where you are in charge of your environment, and your environment is not in charge of you.
And how lovely it is to have your hands slippery in warm water caring for your things, washing them, loving them, making them last forever. You can sing while you do it, and that will make the other people in the house happy too. Really, it will.🎵
Luv-lee bubble baths, where all tensions rooooolllll away in the water . . . play the MUSICA! Because guess who’s in charge? You are!
It’s hard to find words for how wonderful a little petty-pet can be, but I tried.
Put something fun on the calendar, something to look forward to! Hygge is having a dream, and making it come true, even if it takes ten years!
Make a picture wall in your bathroom. It’s zen. No one wants to come out of my bathroom now! See HERE.
Have a Jane Austen tea party and Celebrate her birthday on December 16th, use her books as centerpieces, tell everyone to wear a hat … I have lots of recipes for delicious tea party food! (Just click on which recipe you’d like to have.)
There is also Doing Nothing that is totally Hygge, especially if you find you are doing too much: sleep in! Do it in the coziest flannel jammies you can find. Keep the room cold so you are cuddled under the covers. Moosh the pillow around your ears to keep them warm. Don’t laugh. This can be done! As my mother said, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!” Put it on your calendar if you have to!
This is Joe (look close to see him), enjoying the Hygginess of it all!
This was the sky over our house this morning, after a few grey days and even some rain. How heavenly is that?
When I was little I used to go outside at night before bed, to look at the stars, and fill my lungs with a big breath of fresh night air to take back to my cozy (Hyggie like crazy) bed with me. I still do it sometimes. The stars, they have secrets, and if you put your ear down close, and listen hard, they will tell you.❤️
My dad used to say, “Be an Elf,” and to me, that’s the same exact same thing as Hygge. It’s a hug. Kind of virtual, but you definitely still feel it. Christmas can be a lonely time for some of us, especially if we’ve dreamed of a certain kind of magical Christmas but have never quite gotten it. I say, this year, think about how you can give it to yourself … a nice big Hygge box of jammies and candles just cannot hurt, with a card signed, “Te Adoro, with all my heart, 💞 your darling Santa, who loves you.” You can wake up, find it all wrapped up under the tree along with the cashmere sweater he left for you, smell the roast chicken he put in the oven, drink the hot chocolate he made for you, count your blessings and be very surprised and thrilled.💝
And another thing this season: Be sure to Shop Small and Buy Local. Because most of the money you spend when you do that, STAYS in your community. That’s a very good thing. Very Hygge. Wear a cute hat when you do it, spread some sunshine. Send love to Tennessee, if you have a little extra, to help the families affected by the terrible wildfires. Send them a little Hygge. And that’s it, oh no, it’s not, I forgot, one other surprise I have left for you! Pretty Hygge too.
This is the Giveaway we have from the new Willard (which just started going out today, it takes about four days for it all to go, so be patient, and if you’re not on our mailing list, you can still sign up) . . . Anyway the prize is a signed copy of the new Heart of the Home, a bird in a gilded cage for your tree, and two dream charms, one is Christmas Joy, and the other (the red one) is Heart of the Home…and all you have to do is leave a comment and you’ll be entered for the drawing! BUT, there’s something else, because Hey, it’s Christmas, and Hey, we’re Hygging today!
Oh yeah, It’s Heart of the Home AGAIN, signed, like the first one, and also, the now out-of-print A Fine Romance, also signed ~ and there’s a little dream charm too, “Girlfriends,” plus, yes, 
it’s the teapot that we bought in an antique store in the Peak District in England that I wrote about in A Fine Romance … I thought, because I have enough teapots, that I would get quadruple the pleasure from this one. First I got to use it, then write about it, then I got to paint it, and now I get to share it. How much more Hygge can you get? Te Adoro, with all my heart, 💞 your darling Santa, who loves you.
So there will be two drawings! Two winners! Just leave a comment, and I’ll announce the winners here on the blog in a week or so, when everyone’s had a chance to enter, and I’ll email them too.
I’m home.🏡 Feeling so lucky! Happy to be here. Sending love to you all.💝
Welcome home, Susan and Joe! What a delight it was to follow your journey on Twitter and your blog! You’ve sparked a huge desire to travel to the UK! Sending you happiness and many blessings for a magical Christmas!
For those of you who love the UK I recommend the book The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks
Me too!
Hi There
So glad you are home safe and sound….wishing you Merry Christmas best for the new year too!!
xxoo love,
Hillaire Gallagher
Welcome home!
I already received the best Christmas gift ever–my husband is home from Afghanistan! We are taking our time with the decorations, trying to put more thought and feeling into each. After all, we still have to catch up on last Christmas, too!
SO happy for you both. Please give him extra Hygge’s from all of us for what he does!!!!! Best Christmas ever!
Merry Christmas from New Hampshire!
OOOOOOOOOH
you always restore my faith in humanity!
thank you, thank you for giving all your time to us
and also giving us the green light to be cozy cozy!
101 huggy hugs,
Teri
Oregon
I have so missed your blog while you were away and am so glad that you are back home safely. I can’t believe that I even signed on to Twitter- something I thought that I would never do! It was not the same though. I was especially pleased to see so many comments. We are in this together and hopefully we can bring about change in the world- one small deed at a time. While you were away I was especially in need of the hygge that your blog provides. So, I listened to the audio version of The Christmas Train by David Baldacci while driving to and from work. I thought of you and Joe and your train trips cross-country (Joe buying Christmas lights to decorate your window to bring a little happiness to those on the outside). A cross-country trip by train has definitely been added to my bucket list. I just wish I had someone to share the adventure with. Now, I must curl up with Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher. Although I’ve read it many times, it always fills me with hope at this time of year.
I have an eye appointment this week, and I think that it’s a good thing. I still haven’t found Joe in the picture. Every time I think I see him I decide that it’s an illusion. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and HAPPINESS always. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but know in my heart that the prizes will bring happiness to anyone who receives them). If I close my eyes I can picture the woman having her second hip replacement pouring tea from your teapot or the grandmother of two beautiful granddaughters sharing memories over a cup of tea).
Take Rosamund Pilcher on your cross-country train trip, she is the perfect person to share the journey with!
Dianne, I love “Winter Solstice”. It was Rosamunde Pilcher’s last book and in my opinion, her best. I read it every year at this time, too. Her son Robin has written a few novels. They’re good but I don’t feel compelled to reread them. I haunted thrift stores and garage sales until I had Roseamunde’s complete library of books. I like her short story collections, too. Hugs, Elaine
Thank you Elaine- and hugs to you as well. I, too, love everything by Rosamunde Pilcher. Winter Solstice is my all time favorite, however. I also like September especially since the “cad” in the Shell Seekers ends up being a good person afterall. His mother’s influence I’m sure. I have read a few of her son’s books, and they are enjoyable. They just don’t hit the same spot in my heart. I long to go to Scotland- hopefully in the not too far distant future. I am half British (actually Welsh/British as my mother grew up on the border of the two countries. Her father went to university in Scotland). Although my father’s family came to this country in the 1600’s, I’m told that I have a European soul. I sometimes think that it’s a kind way of saying that I’m too old-fashioned! Just noticed that you live in Toronto. I hope to visit Montreal in the Spring. Have you read Louise Penny? If not, treat yourself! (there are now 12 books in the series, and they just get better and better)
Look at all the comments!! I’m so excited for you. See, you can voice your opinion and not be judged (not by those who really matter anyway. Maybe I shouldn’t say that, but I think it’s true). Such a good idea to take Rosamunde Pilcher with me. I can have Oscar Blundell “in person” if not “in the flesh”.
Oddly enough, I think we got a few more new Girlfriends than we lost…I still think people care when they see an honest try for understanding. XOXO Sending love Dianne!
Welcome Back! I really enjoy reading Willard and have enjoyed your talents throughout the years. Happy Holidays!
I’ve been away for awhile, as in stopped reading your blog. No particular reason – just did. Well, I’m back and won’t leave again. Your post filled my morning with joy. Merry Christmas and Happy Hygee!!
Happy to have you back!
Welcome home! Luv-lee blogs! Looking forward to you next book and meanwhile giving copies of your previous ones and calendars for a merry Christmas. Wishing you, Joe and Jack the merriest yet!
Hygges and kitty kisses,
Candace
Susan, so happy to have you back home. I missed your blogs while you were away!
Happy Christmas to you!!! I also have to step out before bed and gaze at the night sky. With or without stars the night is magical and still in my yard. Missed traveling with you as we did last time, but certainly understand the technology challenge. Very much looking forward to snippets as you share stories of this adventure. PEACE
Lindy in Holland, Michigan. PS. Please send snow!!!!!
I’ll do it for you if you do it for me! xoxo
What a nice and generous give away! I”m “Hygee-ing” right now, couch, laptop, blanket, and watching Little Women! Glad you guys are safely back home. Cheers!
Thx so much for always lifting my spirits!
Welcome Welcome home we have missed you and Joe ,thank God you had a wonderful time.
Sorry to say I took A little vacation from reading your blogs but we’re all back
Happy holidays. Nancy from Kansas
Glad!
Have had a cold for several days. Sick and tired of being sick and tired. Everyone is at church so I made a pot of hot tea with a new Christmas mug and sat down to read my Willard. Already feel better.
Good!
So happy you’re back home and getting ready for Christmas with all your followers and friends. I can’t wait to read more about your trip, but there really is no place like home and hearth and kitty by the fire.
Thanks for reminding me that cold winter mornings with frozen toes can easily be turned into The Village of Hygge with a pair of fuzzy slippers and a cup of double strength English breakfast brewed in a cup from the “good” China cabinet. You have come thru for me many times over the years. You may not know me, but I know you. Thank you again from a friend-to-be.
I kinda know you too Debbi, in an odd way….xoxo Thank you back!
Love your windmill mug!
Thank you! How exciting it all is!
Merry Christmas blessings to you and Joe! Thanks for all your lovely inspiration, Susan!
I always send my girlfriend (50 years so she’s really family) Susan Branch things in her Christmas Box. We are both avid fans. You spread such joy.
All the best.
Welcome back! I love the picture of you and Joe at the top of the post on the queen Mary! I bet you miss it already, although it’s great to come home!! Oh, heavens, yes enter me in the give away!!! Merry Christmas!
We do miss it, but then we have this! xoxo
I’m here hoping that I can win this drawing. I’ve never just come out and said I wanted to, but, would make a great Christmas gift! So, here’s hoping 🙂
Carol M
So happy you are both home safe and sound. Your blog is a treat for the soul and heart as well. Wishing you both a joyous and blessed Christmas.
Susie C
We all need Hygge very much every day
I so enjoy your writings and art work. It makes my day, week, month and year.
Welcome home!!! So happy to hear from you again. I don’t think you realized how much we all look forward to hearing from you, you make my day. My house is all decorated for Christmas, except for the tree, cards sent and some cookies baked. You inspire me Susan and I thank you for that. Merry Christmas and a very happy (healthy) new year!
Fondly, Chris
Thank you Chris!
Susan, You are such a lovely and charming person and this post filled me with such joy and Hygee-ness! I forwarded it to my daughter to further share the love. Thank you and may your December be absolutely wonderful and be everything you desire.
And the same to you Cheryl!
So glad you’re safely home again. Next trip you should have a “knit along ” so we can do something while we are waiting for the next update!!
Ha! What a great idea!
Trying to get used to my new oven, baking xmas cookies and they are not turning out. Old recipes which are fail safe, are somehow giving me grief this time around. Christmas apron on, Ella Fitzgerald singing carols, sat down with my kitty, decided to let my frustrations go with my oven, and read my December Willard instead! Just what DR Santa ordered! Merry Christmas to all
Use your darkest cookie sheets … no bright shiny things. Merry Christmas Kathy!
I SO enjoyed tagging along on your latest trek to Great Britain ~ thank you so much for taking us all along!! (Can’t wait to read the book – hint, hint!) So glad you’re back in your hygge home, enjoying it all! Season’s Blessings to you, Joe, and Jack! Here’s a “hygge”! HUG!
So happy you are home safe and sound and feeling hgge! The Sun is streaming in my kitchen window sparkling on my mom’s red and green glassware bringing her hgge to me. I lost my sweet mom 5 years ago and it still hurts. Hang on to all the hgge from your dad and he will never leave you. I love my red vintage kitchen filled with items from my childhood. I put on one of mom’s aprons and we are there together once again. May God bless you, Joe and Jack this Christmas with His love and grace.
I’m right there with you Lin, LOVE the light on your mom’s glassware. xoxo
A loving man by the fire with his stocking feet propped up in a chair. What could be better?
Thank you, Susan! Your blog is my Sunday morning treat!!!
Hi Susan! I just finished reading your 3 books and loved all of them!! I especially enjoyed Fairy Tale Girl. I live in Bakersfield California and go over to the Central Coast every chance I get – Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, Cambria and of course San Luis Obispo. I too love collecting pieces of beach glass and heart shaped rocks from the beach – I have a bowl full that I keep on my coffee table. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us!
My pleasure, thank you for telling me Connie!
This post made me cry…I really needed it. Hygge will be my word for the season (I’ve always loved cozy)–to spread to others and keep for myself. Oh, and the post about Jack–fantabulous. Thank God for creatures. Thank you!
💝
Welcome back home! I love your blog….it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I also call you my friend Susan, the artist and author, when I tell my husband about your trip. I feel like I know you!
Well, tell him I said hello! xoxo
Lovely post, and yes, now is especially time to practice hygge! Glad you’re home safe and sound.
Lovely as always. Welcome home!
Welcome home. Happy holidays from Harwich. We’re dreaming of a sane, just, equitable and peaceful world for all in the New Year. We can dream, right?
It’s the first step. xoxo
Merry Christmas
What a lovely post this is. I so enjoyed it. Glad you are back.
Welcome back and Happy Holidays! Hygge!
Thank you for a lovely and inspiring blog. I love the tea party for one poem.
So glad you posted a new blog——lost my dad in September and am having a really, really, really hard time learning to live in a world without him. Wasn’t going to put up my tree, but I know he would hate that, so up it went. I hung a lot of his old ornaments on it (I know he was there helping me) and I have to say it made me feel better. I guess all i needed was a little Hygee! Thanks susan!
It’s a cold world without our dads. We keep doing what we do because of them. But you know, there’s even more, he would be proud of you. Sending love. xoxoxo
Welcome home!!! Thank you for the warm and friendly blog. It really is such a pleasure to get lost in your stories and pictures. Thank you for sharing. Hygge!! That is a lovely concept for this season I will be practicing. Merry Christmas.
Dear Susan~
What special gifts for the holidays! I would love to win but the anticipation is a fun gift as well! Christmas Hygges from Michigan! <3 Sallie Dee
Susan, thank you for all the wonderful work you do.
Dear Susan, I was brought up in Denmark so HYGGE has always been a big part of my life, and especially this time of year where the sun sets at 4 pm. Lot’s of candles , warm socks and extra blankets, a good cup of tea or hot chocolate and Fred Astaire on the tv. I brought, that with me to my 25 years living in California,according to my friends I succedeed.Now back in my native country I have an added thing of loveliness, your enchanting books which I am sharing with my sister. Thank you for all your wonderfull ideas and a Happy Christmas to you and Joe.
I’m thrilled to be included in that lovely list of comforts. Welcome home to you Marianne, and hello to your sister for me!
“Had I not created my own world, I would certainly have died in other people’s.” ~ Anaïs Nin.
I often feel ennui about the monotony of adulthood (I’m 24 and reality still hits hard sometimes), but it is a beautiful thing to realize there is so much potential for comfort right in my very home. Holidays can be horribly melancholy due to the loss of loved ones, but thank you for the reminder that my world is up for my making. As long as I have my sweet husband, French press, books, bubble bath and dark chocolate, happiness is surely mine!
Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
Ah yes, 24. And reality. I’m almost 70 and still dealing with it. But it’s up to you, don’t forget, in many ways. It sounds like you are on the right track Amanda! Blessings to you and your sweet husband! xoxo
Dear Susan,
I’ve been reading about Hygee and it was so fun to read your post as well.
As always, I really enjoyed the Willard. The Cookie Jar and the stories are fun, and now I am thinking about how to create my personal “weird”!
Let me know how it goes!
Welcome home!
Welcome home! And thank you for sharing your glorious adventures! Looking forward to keeping up with your holiday “doings” in the next few weeks!
Oh, dear sweet wonderful Susan, this post was just what I needed in my gray snowless Minnesota day! There really is no one else like you in the web world. I am so very very grateful for all that you do… your ! Your calendars have been on my walls for YEARS, so I think of you almost daily.. I hope your heart will be full of peace this holiday season! I love and adore you! Debb
So lovely of you to say that.💝 I feel lucky to be in the company of so many wonderful people. xoxoxo
I am very happy you are home and with your spirit full of wonderful memories! Thanks you make us travel with you and let us dream together. Merry Christmas for you and Joe!
Hugs from Germany
We are better together. xoxo
Welcome 🏡 Home! You bring so much joy! Thank you for sharing your life with us!
Oops, wrong email address.
Welcome Home! You are such an inspiration – I love reading about your life at home as well as your travels abroad – truly a breath of fresh air! Happy “Hygge” Holidays!
I have just discovered you and read A Fine Romance, which brought back happy memories of traveling in England! My British friend was kind enough to let me read her book but of course wants it back, so I would be thrilled to have my very own copy to read over and over.
Hope you win Mary!
You have been one of my favorite authors & illustrators for those past thirty years ~ have many of your wonderful books and cookbooks!
I just completed my annual order of my Susan Branch 2017 wall calendar (and always, one for my Mother) ~ I have saved every one for sooo many years. My Mother has even used your calendars as wall art ~ many years of memories hanging within those beautiful illustrations and little snippets of wisdom!
Thanks, Susan!
Thank you Jane!
Christmas music with flutes and violins and occasional jingle bells playing, fire dancing in the fireplace, red and green holly tablecloth covering my table and Christmas cards on table with an extra supply of stamps, pen filled with ink, chicken dinner roasting in oven, wooden bowl filled with apples and oranges, spicy candle lit, tea steeping, slippers on….blessings all around. Happy 4th of December, dear Sue.
So glad your back home. And you enjoyed your trip. Love reading the blog. Looking forward to your next book. A friend and share the love of all your stuff. Can’t wait to see what’s next. Wishing you, Joe and Jack a very Merry Christmas.
Sweet Susan,
You make my heart smile! Love all you do and how you do it! Your mind is a garden of delights — thank you for sharing with us
Love and Merry Christmas to you and Joe and those sweet kitties.
Carole Brotherton
Lovely, and just the happy message I needed on this dreary day. It sleeted a bit earlier, if you can believe that. I cannot!
Thanks for your good cheer, delightful pictures and quotations, and even the charming border designs you create as the cherry on top.
Hugs from Virginia!
And back to you Barbara Anne!
Loving your tea and your art and your books and your quotes and your photos…and everything else! There’s a place deep within me that always feels hugged and satisfied when I read your blogs — they are a feast for the eyes and heart. Thank you so much for sharing yourself with us. You are a blessing to me!
You are a sweetheart to tell me Barbara, thank you. xoxo
Dear Sweet Sue, so glad to have you and Joe back home for the Holidays. My daughter is helping me decorate as I just had neck surgery. I so look forward to your blog and Williard. Keep up the good work. You brighten my days. Stephanie
Hope you are feeling better by the moment!
Spent the day getting our home all ready for the holidays so my sweet hubby will come home from a business trip to our Christmas wonderland on Tuesday. Thank you for the inspiration you always provide…off to finish hygge-ing my little nest.
Xoxo!
Ellen
Dear Susan,
I truly hope your latest trip to the UK results in another book. Your drawings and scrapbook artifacts really lend themselves to another story. Please consider it!
I’ll do something, there is doubt about that, just not sure what at this very moment, I’m incubating. Thank you Hilary!
Thank you for sharing your talents with all of us. You are a blessing. Welcome home!!
Oh, Susan, you are the best! I have just now read the latest Willard and finished reading your blog post! You make me feel so good about life! What an inspiration you are to all of us girlfriends! Thank you so much! And I was able to visit your beloved Martha’s Vineyard this fall! I fell in love with it and, “if the Lord’s willin and the creeks don’t rise”, I will be back some day! Merry Christmas to you, Joe and Jack!
It’s dangerous to come here, I always tell everyone, a little piece of your heart is always left behind! xoxo
Susan, your trip to the UK was so perfectly romantic! You know, not in the love-sense of romantic, but in the sense of beauty, and emotions, and history . . .your whole itinerary was fantastic, as well as your notes and pictures that you shared with us! I so wished I could have hidden in your suitcase this trip! Thank you for the wonderful journey.
I’m going to love sharing more photos with you!
I was just about to get the Christmas blues that I often do when I read your blog…feeling so much better. Thank you.
Make it the way you like it Laural, have nature and music too. Take your book to lunch. xoxo
You always make my day! Thank you!!
I’m glad you’re back. I enjoyed following you on twitter. Would love to see more pictures of Scotland when you get a chance.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season – Merry Christmas!
Dear Susan,
Glad you’re back! We missed your blog entries – always a joy and full of sweetness.
Merry Christmas!
Elaine in Bradenton, FL
Welcome home! Thank you for reminding us what is really important. You are truly an inspiration!
So VERY happy you and Joe are safely home! Missed you…..
From my beach home to yours…..MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Lorie Hartsig
You took the words right out of my mouth except I never knew about Hygee! This post was a joy to read. I always give a few Susan Branch gifts and these would be such a joy to give. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and thank you for all you do.
So glad to see you back on your Blog and Willard. Your blog is important because it’s about the most central thing in a person or a child’s life….home…home can change our destiny. Hygge to you!
Absolutely!!! That’s why motherhood (and fatherhood, and grandmahood) is the most important job in the world. It’s everything to this world of ours.
Hello Susan,
It is so great that you shared about Hygge! My husband said, “Of course she wrote about what you are into.” I read an article about it a few weeks ago and it included a list of 10 Hygge things to do. So my husband and I committed to making an effort this December to intentionally focus on the basic pleasures in life with our family.
Much of what you listed would fit right into this list of 10 like unplug electronics, sip cocoa, uncomplicated your suppers, enjoy the out of doors, decorate with nature. So thanks for the encouragement and ideas to add to our list.
Heart-shaped rocks and beach glass…we have heather we picked off a mountain in Scotland on our stove shelf right now. xoxoxo
I do so hope you will write a book about this trip. I absolutely loved ” A Fine Romance”.
Thank you Becky!
Wishing your household the happiest of holidays from Your Michigan fans! You are the sweetest inspiration for our souls! Thank you for all your talents and highlighting for us the joy of a happy home and family!
Love, happiness and joy to you this season!
Welcome back home! I look forward to reading your Willard! Have a Happy Christmas!
Welcome home! Yes, yes, yes — this post was just what I needed to hear!! Forwarded it to my two kids & had my husband read it. Also, wanted to give you a heads-up that some of us have still not received our Willard newsletter. I even signed up again yesterday, but still nothing (a glitch in the system perhaps?). It’s the first one I’ve not received in years. Thank you for your enchanting stories & pictures as well as your words of wisdom.
I hope you’ve gotten Willard so far, but if not… go HERE… Thank you Jules!
I can’t believe it! I’ve been hygge all my life and I never knew it! Every word here is how I live my life — surrounded by love and pretties and a space that is clearly home; friends who form a circle of love and a wonderful love to stand in the center with me (well, OK, two if you count Lizzie Cosette, and she’d be very put out and stop purring if I left her out of anything!)
Please write the Book of Hygge. Or maybe, really, you already have!
Biggest hugs and welcome home!
Oh, the Hygge — just what I needed today, and as always in a generous and comforting dose from Susan! I had to look for Joe in the picture, then found the stockinged feet, like Santa reclining in front of the fire for a quick break. I still go back over your Tweets and pictures. For an island so small, it’s mind boggling to me how huge England and Scotland seem — so many great “houses”, 11,000 acres for sheep, mile after mile of gorgeous country, homes and villages where no one so much as bats an eyelash if it’s centuries old! Y’alls nighttime race home for the Poldark finale was hysterical, as was catching THAT look from Demelza shortly before she spun around and landed the supremely deserved blow (be jealous, Evil George — not all the practice in the world will make you that good). Not to mention that I don’t know how you could stand long enough to photograph Joe standing before the front door of Highclere without swooning. Mrs. Hughes would have run out with smelling salts! I hope that after the love of home and Jack are around for awhile, you and Joe can plan yet another trip, even if it just swirls in the back of your minds and hearts for a season. It’s such a dream for most of us, but you allow us to bring it in our homes for our own inspiration as much as yours. Looking forward to my next Susan Branch wall calendar as always. Blessings to you, Joe, and Jack during this beautiful season of Advent.
It’s what I think too, England seems HUGE, but it’s not, it’s just got SO much history and heart and humanity, that it makes it bigger than it is. Thank you Frances!
The visions I see as I read …….I must come to Martha’s Vineyard ‘
Susan, Your heart is such a wonderful thing and that you share it with all of the girlfriends is a Joy for us all. My heart thanks yours…Marge
Welcome home, I love the Willard and the new blog post. Oh, no A Fine Romance is out of print! I so love giving it as a gift. I have bought so many, and I just ordered it for my daughter along with the friendship charm when you were away on your trip. She is 16 and tells me she wants to go to England for her high school graduation. Only time will tell if we can manage that. The give aways are so fun, you always have such special treats. We are all winners though each and every time we encounter your everything! You are good people, 😉 I look forward to your next project, no matter what it will be. Kitty kisses to Jack from my little Macee. Happy Holidays-aren’t they grand.
Dear Susan, I am sending you a whole bunch of hygge ! your blog filled me with hygge. and my holidays will be better because of it.
love your blog! Merry Christmas! Patty
Love your idea of being an Elf! When I was in college years and years ago an upperclassman /(woman in our college, it was all women) would be an elf to a freshman. You’d get a tiny present or surprise at odd times your freshman year. It really helped ease the homesickness and stress of being a newbie at college.
How sweet that is. It really never takes very much to make someone’s day. xoxo
Glad you made it home safely. I hope you’ve been shooting hair thingies non-stop for Jack to make up for your long absence!
Oh I have, he would not have it any other way!
Snow before Christmas!!!! The snowflakes are drifting down….blanketing our woods with white. Decorated snug inside all day today and I am singing. Susan, I hope the snow comes your way too.. all the way from Michigan.
Lucky!
Jersey Higges to you and Joe and Jack and Everyone. So glad you are back safe and sound and back in the groove.
Merry Christmas wishes to you and yours!
Thank you, Susan, for making life a little (lot!) more sweet with your writings and artwork!
Welcome home and Merry Christmas from currently snowy Illinois.
Welcome home and Merry Christmas! The items for give aways are wonderful! Keeping my fingers crossed.
Your calendar, hung on our Family Bulletin Board, cozies up our kitchen so!
Hard to believe it is December already– where did this year go? I still have yet to order 2017! Love your calendars as they make every day a special day!
Merry Christmas to you and Joe! May the new year bring as much joy as you both give us in sharing with your blog!!! Big Hygge to you both!!!1
Wishing you every good thing now and for 2017! xoxo
Welcome Home!
As I’ve been putting the sparkle on our home, I’ve been thinking of you with such gratitude. I’ve always loved home caring and really, truly enjoy the simple, everyday chores like laundry, washing dishes, baking and decorating for every season. For a long time I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. I thought I was just boring and old-fashioned. But you and your blog have helped me realize that I’M NORMAL! Lol! Thanks!
I have a print of yours from Country Living that hangs in my kitchen. It’s an adorable little house scene, done in mostly red and white, with a little banner “Contentment” over the house. There’s a Mark Twain quote on the very bottom that says “Shut the door; not that it lets in the cold but that it lets out the coziness.” Home, contentment, coziness…..aaahhhh. A bubble bath…now that would just be the icing on the cake but I don’t have a deep, wide tub so I’ll enjoy a long, lingering, bubbly shower instead after the busy day I’ve had.
Good luck on the give-aways, everyone, and thank you so much for your sweet, generous self, Susan Branch! Love you!
xoDebbie
Thank you dear Debbie, definitely one of the NORMAL ones! XOXOXO Love you!
Didn’t know that we needed a word for cozy other than Susan Branch but you’ve brought this gift from your travels. Thank you.
The pictures of the lovely hygge gifts you wish to present to two of us give a feeling of comfort just looking at them.
Welcome back, so grateful to have you cheerleading the making of Christmas and all that that means to us.
Thank you Jo’L!
Oh SUSAN what an awesome life you have! Thanks very much for sharing it with us!! Girlfriends forever! Christmas blessings to you and Joe and Jack!