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!!! Thank you for inspiring me! I need to get my home “Hyugge’d” up!! I’ve been feeling terribly unmotivated until I read your wonderful letter to the girlfriends. 💕🎄💕 Thank you!!
xoxo Good Wendy!
Put up my little bird tree late last night…progress is being made!!!
Proud of you! Great strides! 😀 xoxo
Welcome home Susan. I love your posts and enjoy their arrival! It really is like a good visit with a friend from afar. Thank you for taking us on your vacation with you. I am about half way through your twitter posts and savor reading them as well. A month back I read and finished your book ” Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams” I loved it! Can not tell you how it spoke to me on so many areas. Life has been full of “Jonah days” this last year! Next I waited patiently for book two…”Fairy Tale Girl” to come from the library! Big day arrived and to my surprise, “Fairy Tale Girl”is really book one! I am loving it as well but I do know how it ends!!:) I am putting a hold on “Martha’s Vineyard”, as I need to read it again this time in order! Yes, my 55 year old mind is in need of a winter of hygge….Thank you for all you do for all of us!
Ha ha ha, yes, I did it all backwards! Last one first, then first one, then second one! Totally appropriate for me. I say something, then I think of more I forgot to say!
Welcome Home and Happy Christmas! as I think they say in England! Loved the latest on Hygge….what perfect timing to get some inspiration from you to cozy up my home in time for the holidays! The Cranberry cake looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it for some special friends! Thanks so much for all the great ideas and wonderful quotes! Hugs to you and yours! Roberta in snowy Montana
Your paintings are so lovely I just want to move into them. They are beautiful and sweet, but not too sweet, just right. It seems like I’ve loved your art forever. Now I’m just as charmed by your writing. Thanks for the blog, it’s delicious.
Thank you for saying not too sweet. 😜 xoxo
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 20 years since I started collecting your books. Now 20 years, 13 books, several Christmas ornaments, lots of notepads, Christmas cards, & numerous calendars, later, I am still mesmerized by your art and writing! You are by far my favorite artist (though don’t tell my sister, she too is an artist and might be a little hurt), and your art just keeps getting better every day. I just purchased my new 2017 calendar and the mini one to go with it, and love it. I can’t wait for Jan. 1! THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for bringing me so much pleasure! Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
You are so welcome Lynnette. Luckily we can have more than one favorite artist! Thank you for including me and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Hygge has been on my heart these last days. Faced with the diagnosis I was hoping it wasn’t and losing a dear friend yesterday, it’s a heavy time. I dragged myself through the last Christmas boxes for the sake of a warm, festive, happy home for us to enjoy. My younger daughter keeps saying, “I just love how it all feels!” And “it’s all SO pretty!”. I’m slowing, pausing, breathing deep these moments, praying love and meaning and joy into them. May it be hygge for our hearts, minds, and souls.
I’m so sorry, sometimes it’s hard to rise above the overwhelming too muchness that life can bring us. One day at a time Brandie, and living through your daughter’s hopeful heart.💖 Sending love and prayers. xoxo
Ohh I’m so sorry, Brandie…praying with you for this sorrowful season you’re in. Hold onto your Hope!
Even with a lackluster,robotic effort in decorating your home for Christmas, you have given to your family the very Gift you yourself feel lacking…JOY!
Theirs will re-ignite yours!
Put on a Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness…
…even in your own pain, you have nurtured Gladness in your Home, especially for your daughter. HYGGE!
xoxo
I’m sending hugs and prayers as well. I’m so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. I’m glad you can take joy in your daughter. Take good care of yourself, Brandie.
I have been where you are and you are in my prayers Brandie. Who would have ever thought Christmas could be so hard?
So glad you had the opportunity to go back to England. It’s such a hygge place, isn’t it?!?
Enjoy the coziness of being home! ❤️ xxx
So glad you are back home safe and writing again, and drawing! Trips are wonderful, but it’s also good to be home and cozy.
You bring us such joy! Thank you Susan!
Tis the season for baking, decorating, warming, and fellowshipping. Thank you for wonderful holiday inspiration. Old Man Winter is breathing down the Front Range of Colorado, so now is the perfect time to light those yule logs, turn on the Christmas music, and spend hours in the kitchen. I love the holidays!
I am excited to here about your latest trip to Great Britain! Your last adventure inspired three friends and me to take a trip to England and Scotland! I hope I will be able to visit again. Thanks for your inspiration posts and your latest giveaway!
Good to know you’re home safe and sound! We’ll all be looking forward to hearing about your “across the sea” adventures over the next few months. In the meantime, I’ll be crossing my fingers that Vanna will pull my name!
Your blog always makes me feel welcome and Hygge. It’s like a breath of fresh air, or maybe more like a crackling fire in the fireplace and a warm snuggly blanket. (I never did see Joe in the photo. Was he buried under a pile of pillows? LOL). Warm hugs from Oklahoma. Sometimes I wish we’d get more snow, but when it comes to outside animal chores, I’m glad we don’t. Merry Christmas <3
Two Hints: Look for some feet and a computer. Merry Christmas Liz!
I would LOVE to have a copy of A Fine Romance…didn’t know it was out of print. 😖
I set aside a few for our webstore, it’s just out of print in bookstores and on Amazon… for a while, until we get a chance to do a reprint. Hope you win Tosha!
Lovely to read another Willard! So much joy in your writing – thank you for sharing your beautiful spirit! Loved learning about hygge – proud to share that my mom has ALWAYS infused her home with it — just never knew the word! So glad she instilled the desire in me to add hygge to every corner of my own home! Sending love from “chilly” So Cal (- it hasn’t risen above 70 in DAYS – brrrrr!!!!!).
Ohhh, poor thing! LOL!
I enjoy your joie de vivre, Susan. It’s true, you’ve been advocating for Hygge (by other names) for years. Happy holidays from Northern California!
Same to you Karen! It’s the little things in life!
I love your blog!! Full of Hygge!! Greetings from Cologne, Germany!!
Greetings to you from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA, Ivanna!💞
Please let it be me
Thanks Susan for the brightness you bring
Susan, so glad you are back and you had a wonderful trip! This post has got to be one of my favorites – great timing when we are all trying to ready ourselves and homes for the holidays. Hygge fits the bill and is perfect. All your new quips and sayings are so meaningful and inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing your world and reminding us to take care of ourselves and concentrate on the positives!
Carol in CT
I ❤ this Hygge!!!! It’s everything. Love ya, Susan!! XOXO
Oh you made the snow flake girl’s day by sending hugs:) I can’t find or see my Willard! Are they all delivered yet? You have a beautiful HYGGE overflowing day!
Yes, they’ve all gone out! Not sure why you didn’t get yours, but HERE it is for you Caroline. Please check your spam folder, see if it got waylaid there. And please sign up again, just in cases!
Thank you for the wonderful Willard! I so enjoyed every moment of it while having a cup of tea yesterday:) Do you remember the very cute nuns who visited you at book signing and made the best bees wax candles? Well, I ordered some and they are wonderful!! and now I’d like to order some more and I can’t find the link…. Know any cute nuns that make dripless red candles? Have a day absolutely overflowing with blessings! Caroline PS I hope you got my Christmas card! I sent it to Vineyard Haven figuring everyone knew you!
Oh, yes I do remember them, and in fact, we are going to the Convent to visit them next week! Not sure if they have their wonderful Beeswax candles in RED, but THIS is their website. We had a LOT of mail, which I’m still trying to get to, I’ll watch for your card! Thank you for thinking of us! xoxo
Love how you share the need for us to pamper ourselves sometimes, Though I too have had Christmases that were hard I
cling to 💘the real reason we celebrate this season.We experience great peace and love when our lives are centered around our need for a Savior. This is the time of year when we can reflect during those quiet moments on what His love means to us. Have a wonderful Christmas! We appreciate you Susan, your love and your caring.
Still trying to wrap my tongue around the word HYGGE but thanks for the lovely inspiring post!
HYU-gah! Or, for simplicity sake, Hoo-ga, or even better Hugs. xoxo
Ah, Susan, when I see that I have received an email from you, I open it, sigh, relax, and prepare to enter a sweet, comforting, homey world. Thanks so much for sharing yourself and your world through your posts and books, and especially your travels! Thanks for this great giveaway – would love to win! Merry Christmas!
Even though my Willards are hit or miss coming into my inbox (not sure what my computer is doing with them!), I always manage to find your latest blog. I enjoy reading every one of them. I’ve been a fan since your very first book. Thanks for the many years of reading and cooking enjoyment!
I wonder too, what happens to WILLARDS sometimes, but in case you didn’t get yours Diane, HERE you go, and Thank you!
What a precious post. Love that we all so need. Thanks.
Thank for your charming, make me want to dive into your blogs and books! <3
Warmest wishes for a wonderful homecoming and holiday season, Susan! So glad you have so many special memories from your trip! Welcome back and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you and Joe! I am going to start hygging up our home for the Holidays.
Just love your blog and all you share with us. Thank you!
Thanks for the cookie recipes.! Love the potato chip cookies. When I fix them, everyone comments! Lynne
Nobody seems to know what they are when I make them, I love telling them about the potato chips, they smile and say, NO Wonder!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST- i needed something to smile about…..waiting to hear from the doctor about some major bypass surgery……scarrrrrrrrrryyy!@!2 But now that i have had a Hygge from you- – much needed- and most appreciated!@!@! thank you….have a wonderful day. Oh and it did take me a minute to find Joe in the photo….hahaha. Merry Christmas!@! Much love sent your way for you and Joe and all your friends and family to have the happiest of holidays.
Love hearing your positive message. Hope we hear you breathe a huge wonderful sigh of relief very soon. Kisses!
Hi Susan! I’ve been reading about hygge too and trying to embrace it and make it part of my everyday life, especially as we get into the winter season. You are so much a part of my idea of hygge because I look forward to reading your blogs-it’s my time to relax and escape my world, if only for a short time. I read the book A Year of Living Danishly and she talks about hygge and its origins in Denmark which is supposed to be the happiest country on the planet-at least according to the United Nations.
Susan, my friend and I enjoyed meeting you when you came to Cincinnati. You are such a treasure!
Focusing on the positive has got to help! Thank you Cindy!
Thank you for the big hygge! I am going to get lots of those this Christmas with my 8 month old triplet grandbabies. They give the best hygges!! Merry Christmas to you and your sweetheart. Love you!!
A. Triplets! and B. 8 months old! The best most adorable age!!!!! Next year they’ll be walking! SO fun Joy!
Thank you for the joy of all of your posts. It is such a pleasure to see your home and the area around it. Making our home cozy has always been the goal at my house. Quilts, quilts and more quilts are the ticket. Love to sew them and use them. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
I just loved this post and it confirmed that I must be doing something right. You Susan are the Queen Mum of Hygge. Ted always thought I was crazy because when we travel, even for a short trip, I bring the electric tea pot, my own cup, sheets, comfy snooze blanket and my favorite cookies… Brussels.I need my little home comforts even when away. He says I’m spoiled. I say nobody knows how to spoil me like me!! A few days ago I went to my Mom’s attorney for her estate and the young secretary saw my last name and asked if I was related to Molly. YES!!! That’s my daughter. She told me that she had a very bad childhood and had cleared away most of her childhood memories but had kept a few of the good ones. She said coming over to my house when she was 6 yrs old to play with Molly was one of her best memories. She said she felt good at my house. Now, this was at a time in my life that I didn’t think I was doing well. A new divorced mom with 3 young children and a husband that I was much better off without but it was still very hard. Scrounging for babysitters, I worked 3-11 as an RN so wasn’t home most nights to tuck them in. I didn’t think I was doing anything right. So, when she told me that her happiest memories of childhood were when she was at my house, well, it just made my day. You also make my day with every sweet post. We should be sending YOU gifts but that’s a pain in the bum at the post office. So I’m sending you a hug full of Hygge instead. And..I really love that teapot !!!!!!
You just never know when you are actually saving the life and future of someone who watches how you handle life and is moved by it. Wonderful Cindy! xoxoxoxo
What a beautiful post Cindy. So glad that you were able to make a difference in the life of your daughter’s friend even though you yourself were struggling. It just goes to show that we never know how much good a little act of kindness may do.
Welcome home, Susan and Joe, glad to have you back. Merry Christmas and a warm Hygge, to you!
💗Love!💗Love!💗Love!💗
Thank you for creating and sharing
this precious oasis.
Happy to have you here Tara!
Oh! Such a delight to find you and your sweet photos and inspirations this morning, the birthday of my elegant and wild mom, who passed this summer. How she looked forward to Willard and your calendars each year! In her honor, I’m getting my Hygge on today! Thank you for such a lovely gift! Blessings of this beautiful season to you and Joe ~
Much love to you Nancy, happy birthday to the memory of your wonderful mom! xoxo
Welcome home, Susan! Such a lovely post. I needed that! I wasn’t able to spot Joe in the photo. I enjoyed reading about your picture wall in the powder room. Right now my hallway is covered with baby pictures (our own and grandchildren) and the fridge has travel pictures and Christmas photos displayed. Thank you for the wonderful articles you have put in the drawing. That would be hygge for sure!
Merry Christmas!
Nancy (from Bakersfield)
And don’t you notice that no one can go down your hall without stopping to look at the pictures no matter how many times they’ve seen them? 😀 My dad had a hall like that.💖
Dearest Susan,
Welcome home to you and Joe! But I sort of feel that no matter where you travel, you Susan have a knack of taking a bit of “home” with you!
Happy Christmas to you and yours,
Rebecca
Love this Hygge post….so inspiring, cheerful and so very positive. Blessings to you and Joe.
Merry Christmas Susan and Joe and Kitties!
I so enjoy your inspirational posts. It inspires me to make my home a sanctuary and treat others with respect and kindness. Thank you😊
Your writing and your art, dear Susan, are like sparkling twinkly lights and beautiful fragrance for those of us who visit your “oh, so refreshing”, beautiful blog! I feel my pulse mellow out, my muscles relaxing, and my brain changing to a happy channel when I “sit down with you awhile”. Welcome home. Thanks, friend!
The Happy Channel! Love it Gigi!
Merry Christmas, Susan,
Welcome Home. It is always so good to be home after a trip, and how great that it is the holidays and you can decorate. Give Jack a hug from me
I will!
Read your books out of order & that worked best for me (#2, #3, then #1). Just finished Fairy Tale Girl last night – wow! Your story is enjoyable, interesting, heart-wrenching, and beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with us, as well as your creativity and inspiration.
Oh, thank you so much. I read magazines starting from the back going to the front, so I guess it really doesn’t matter!
/What a great blog post, after a rough Fall (election wise). It reset my heart and gave me many wonderful ideas for the Holiday season. Thanks, again, Susan, for tuning in to what is really important…all acts of kindness (to ourselves and others). Have a very wonderful Holiday season.
Thank you for being here Cynthia!
LOVE ❤️
Joy! So delightful!! Hygge forever! 💚
Welcome home! Looking forward to seeing some more of your visit to England and Scotland. My husband and I were there for the first time at the end of September for 16 days. It was better than I imagined it would be! We divided our time between Yorkshire and the Lake District. Both were so wonderful and so different. We are already planning another trip back! It probably won’t be for another couple of years…plenty of time for you to write another wonderful travel book based upon your trip! 🙂
Adore both places, good choices to guarantee a wonderful amazing time! Us too, maybe again in a couple of years.
Love the message from this blog! My mom was the “Master of Hygge” – soft lights, open windows to let in light breeze, lovely music playing on radio, whistling as she cooked all the meals for us 5 kids and our dad, little copper teapot with pot of ivy in it … I could go on and on. So thank you for bringing all those memories back to me today. Ironically, I’m sitting here
writing in my gratitude journal (Days from the Heart of the Home 😊) and was going on to your website to buy another for next year! So in my journal today will be the “Hygge-filled” home I grew up in and my girlfriend Susan Branch who is the present day Hygge Master.
LOL! Well that sounds good! xoxo Love your mom, Julie!
Just looked, are there no longer “Days from Heart of the Home” available Susan? What would you recommend from your collection that’d make for a good gratitude journal?
I was thinking I need to design a good little journal…because now that Days has gone out of print, we will be needing one! I just use plain lined diaries I get in bookstores. But I’d like to have a better one myself!
Susan
Glad you and Joe had a great trip. Have a wonderful Holiday! Looking forward to a new book!
Every month a page from your big desk calendar gets filled in with all my family’s plans and engagements and then I tape it to my fridge. I love the quotes and illustrations and the whole “feel” of it. Thank you for sharing your talents!
Thank you Elizabeth!
Dear Susan,
Happy Holidays! Thank-you for such a wonderful post. I made it last
a good long time had a pot of tea by my side. Love all the pictures! Now time for me to pull out some decorations, thanks for the nudge. Love,marisa
Hi Susan, I have always loved your calendars. I just saw an article that Yankee republished and now I know you have a blog! Yeah! I was wondering if you have an open house at the vinyard in December. My friend and I always go for tea to celebrate Christmas and we spend a week on the vineyard together in the summer, so I thought this year we could come to your open house (or if you do a tea?) for a day trip! thanks for letting me know… (also I saw that you have a beatrix potter collection. I have a small one that was in my baby hope chest, but I cannot have babies, so I was thinking of displaying it for me, would love to get inspiration from your Peter Rabbit Room!)
We don’t do an open house, just normal little parties for our friends and family. I have a Peter Rabbit Room and I don’t have children either, so what ever makes YOU happy is perfectly wonderfully Okay! Sending love Dawn. xoxoxo
What joy to wake up to your post this morning! My mood soared, my heart smiled, and life was better immediately! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!
A lovely post. I’m currently reading ‘The Cozy Life: Rediscover the Joy of Simple Things Through the Danish Concept of Hygge’ by Pia Edberg. She describes it as hygge (n/vb): pronounced HOO-gah. Such warmth emanates from this concept. Congratulations to both of us for discovering it. xo
Good gracious Susan a thoroughly inspiring and heartwarming post full of hope, love and happiness. It makes me think yes I can, yes I can, yes I WILL!
Thank you Susan and Merry Christmas everyone!
Dear Susan! I’m so glad you and Joe are back home! I know it was a wonderful trip and I look forward to hearing all about it! But, as they say, “there’s no place like home”! I plan to write more to you soon and finally send pictures of me reading A Fine Romance on the QM 2 from last year. But, I’ll just have to write a little today. First though, thank you for your message about the election! I was heart-sick, and it really helped me! I know it has been hard during the aftermath; but, I’m so grateful you spoke up. And, thank you for this wonderful message about home and hygge! It’s Serendipity because I had just read about how it’s celebrated in Europe just before you wrote about it! I would have written more before now but My father-in-law (who we look after) is seriously ill in the hospital, and I’m recuperating from a major cancer surgery I had in September, so it’s been intense. But, just like in 2012, when I was recuperating from my last surgery, your tales of the crossing and travels through England and Scotland have brought me great Joy this Autumn while we’ve been going through these latest challenges! If you recall, when I saw you in Kansas City in May, I told you I was dealing with another recurrence; but, that I had gone to Germany and was doing well. Unfortunately, I did end up eventually having surgery, but it well went and I am healing day by day. You did look sad and serious that day, so I figured later it was probably because of your precious Dad. I was so sorry to hear about him and Girl Kitty, but I picture them joyful and well, snuggling together in a beautiful, loving and wondrous place with other loved ones. Give Jack a kiss for me, and enJOY this magical, joyful season! Peace, Joy and Love to you and Joe and Jack, Diedra
Very intense, Diedre. I do hope things are getting better. Your positive attitude has to be a huge plus in not only your life, but for all your loved ones. And Yes, you surmised correctly, I was sad, and trying to be up when in my heart, I was not so much. It was so new then, and way too soon to even think about talking about it. I need time to absorb things like that, and am still working on it. Peace, Joy and Love to you too Dear Diedre. xoxo
Welcome Home, Susan and Joe! So glad you had a safe trip.
Was curious if there’s any news on the “mini series”? I think this would be something wonderful, and as special as you, your work, and Joe.
Have a blessed Holiday!
The newest news is that it’s in rewrites… first draft’s been done, now another, and probably another, until everyone is happy with it! Thank you Janet, and same to you and yours!
So glad for you and Joe to be back HOME with kitty Jack! I’m wondering how he did without you and what was his response when you returned. Has he forgiven you yet? haha My husband and I moved our family this summer to a house on a hill in the country. It’s not far from where we spent the last 26 years, but far enough to require an adjustment in every way. Memories are at least 95 % of what make home “feel” like home I think. For that reason, I’m especially glad to be in the midst of the holidays— a time ripe with memory-making opportunities y’know.
Jack was oddly perfectly friendly to me, and acted like we’d never gone away!!!! We slipped right back in to what it used to be. He sleeps next to me, and cuddles next to me in my chair, so all is well! Happy New House Valerie! And to lots of wonderful new memories!
Welcome home Susan and Joe! Thank you for another beautiful, warm, “feel good” post. Sending you a hygge!!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours! xoxoxo
Thanks for the inspirational ideas to make our lives more contented! Things have been so negative lately, I’ve been in a funk.
Do you know the name of the pattern of the dishes over the words “Have a Jane Austin tea party…?”
Yes, on the bottom they said, Tuscan Fine Bone China Made in England. The minute you invite your friends to your party, your funk will disappear! xoxo
What a great idea for a bathroom picture wall….talk about cozy!!
So inspirational – all of it. Your posts bring a smile to my heart.
Yay! Home, hOMe, HoMe… happy HOME! Welcome back ~ te adoro, tambien! 🙂
Just what I needed. I didn’t know there was a name for it. Hygge it is! I’m cleaning out and reorganizing things in my apartment trying to make it more of a comfortable and cozy home for me and anyone who visits. Thanks for inspiring me to go on and keeping doing it. It’s been a tough few weeks in this country and more than ever I need to feel softness at home. Many thanks for taking the time and all your hard work for this wonderful blog.
((((((HYgge))))))) to you Carmel. xoxo
Welcome Home Susan! Everyone take a deep breath…
Happy Holidays!
victoria
Susan–Will the charms that are sold out ever be available again? Thanks, Chris
We sort of wait until we think we can sell them. They are expensive and the people we buy them from have rules, they make us buy quite a lot of them at a time. Which ones are you interested in Christine?
JOY! Double Dipped and triple sparkly fairie dusted JOY!…you bring Susan…even my glittery red toenails are smiling’!!!
This is the best thing I’ve read in a long time. A book on hygge was the first thing on my Christmas list this year. (Hope my husband remembers!) But I have all your books and I don’t see how anything could embody that spirit more. Are you sure you’re not part Danish?! 😉
Thanks for sharing your lovely ideas and joie de vivre with us. Happy Christmas! (bringing back Britain a little for you there 😉 ❤️🎅🏻🎄
Yes, LOL, part Danish, why not!? xoxo
Thank you, Susan for your hygge points of view. Today, with all the craziness in the world, your words were just what my heart needed to hear!
We hope your Christmas will be filled with snow and laughter. From all your followers,
IPWC,GA
So glad you’re home “safe and sound” from your wonderful trip. This post, and the Willard, were very welcome reads for me. The give-a-ways are great, just in time for the season! I know chances are slim but any chance is better than none. Looking forward to more posts in the new year!
Better odds than the Lottery, Rhonda!
Dear Susan,
Thank you for your lovely post. So pleasant and beautiful! We live in a 1920’s cottage and it is our cozy haven. One of my favorite things is to have my own little tea party with my grandmother’s old chintz china pot and dainty tea cup from England and sip lemon ginger tea while watching a favorite old movie on TNT. Pure bliss.
I am so glad that you and Joe had a wonderful trip!
Hygge (hugs) to you and Joe this Christmas season and welcome home. Thank you for your warm, wonderful cozy words, paintings, quotes, blog posts, Twitter tweets AND fabulous books. Love them all. They bring such joy and inspiration to all of us especially now when your words of wisdom are needed by many of us now more than ever. As one commenter wrote, your blogs and books are delicious and I love devouring them. Thank you for being you.
Thank you Carolyne!
Welcome home and thank you for the inspiration, I’m hoping you decide to write that book 🙂 Wishing you and all your readers a festive holiday season and a happy, healthy 2017.
Funny that you mention Hygge I seem to keep running into it all around the internet. LOL. Happy Hygging (is that a word?) I’m off to do some more of my own.
I’m so glad you are back. you bring so much joy to my little corner.
We had our first snow of the season yesterday! Luckily, we’d finally finished getting the yard ready and the gardens all tucked in just the weekend before. Funny to travel all the way across the ocean and find a new word to describe something we’ve been working at for quite some time! I love it! Hygge! I went to a Christmas brunch with a group of old friends just recently and heard one of them describe our little stone cottage as “cozy and charming” and how she couldn’t wait to visit us again. I felt like it was one of the greatest compliments I’d ever received!
So glad you had such a wonderful trip- can’t wait to hear all about it! Glad you are back and snuggling in to enjoy the holidays!
I’m thinking books about Hygge might make good Christmas prezzies. I love how cozy your home is. I have been so obsessed with little houses this Christmas. I really like the idea of collecting house paintings.
Can’t think of anything better to celebrate than HOME!
Hello, Susan!!!
So glad you and Joe are home, I can’t wait to see your Christmas posts, or any post for that matter! This one was lovely, and inspired me to light a candle and put fresh, heavenly smelling sheets on the bed, just to cuddle in!! I’m still decorating for Christmas, I have a lot complete but oh so much more to do!! I love that picture of Jack, in this one he looks like a solid black cat, just like my sweet Midnight. She loves to cuddle on the couch near the fireplace as well. Thank you for being YOU!!!
From the back, Jack is solid black!
Happy to be reading your posts again! They are so warm and full of ideas to make our crazy lives a little saner and happier! Can’t wait to put some of your ideas to use and hunker down with my family and dog this holiday season! It’s the simple things in life that are truly the best!
Welcome back ❤️
Love you Susan Branch!!! You really make my Day every time I edad your blog. And to see to it I have got in my banda right now my copy of A fine Romance! Did I tell you that I love you? Hugs from Spain!
Hugs back to you Mercedes! xoxo
Dear Susan, welcome home and thanks for the Willard and all the lovely tweets from overseas, you uplift and lighten the load of daily life, so much. Hygge – today I took the old pumpkins from the front steps and composted them and put up balsam wreaths to complement last night’s snowfall. Also brought in a bowl of boughs for the dining table, and will put up a tree and decorate this weekend, with favorite old Christmas books – doing my bit. I love this time of year, it’s all about dark and light and their balance and coexistence. Blessings to you and your family, through the holidays and beyond. Looking forward to whatever book projects you cook up (so to speak) in the new year. ;O)
I always love knowing my composted Halloween pumpkins are part of the foundation for our new springtime garden! World goes round! Happy Hygge dear Sarah!
I Want to win
Dear Susan,
I simply can’t thank you enough for this post! It has hugged my heart in a big way, offering much- needed comfort and solace. I have found myself “involuntarily” at home these days, having lost my job of almost two decades. It has been a shock to my system and my sensibilities, and I am still trying to regain my balance. One reason your entry resonated so strongly is that I have been drawn to many books of late related to the topic of Hygge. I find myself inhaling them; and those, together with your books, posts and blogs, have been a tremendous source of comfort and hope as I have grieved the loss of something I loved for so long. You see, I have always felt a strong kinship and sisterhood with you as you write about your experiences of loss and change, and then, happily, finding your purpose and direction. It reminds me that new adventures can and do await those who are willing to look for them. Anyway, I thank you…and I appreciate you…and I just wanted you to know.
Yes, this just may be a blessing in a very big wolf-costume disguise. Happens that way sometimes. But I’m sorry at the heartache I know this must cause. Sending Hygge hugs to you and wishing you every good thing!
Christmas cheer and hygges to you and yours (as you have given to us)! 🙂
Hello Susan no a very big welcome home to you from the heart. It is so nice and exciting
To go away but in the end there is no place like home. Welcome home and Merry Christmas!
Hygge is being warm and cozy reading your blog on a cold rainy day. Life is Good.
Read your three books in order … one after the other … Finished a few months ago. I enjoyed them very much…and…it made me want a kitty. Sooo, we rescued one recently. He is five weeks old. A friend found him terrified in the middle of a busy street. She is actually the one who rescued him…we gave him a home. He is adorable and fun, and I thank you for putting that yearning in my heart. A tiny kitty hug is headed your way with wings … ~hug~
Oh you saved a kitty. And now he will save you. xoxoxoxoxo Thank you Kay!
What a post about contentment! Thank you, Susan. Speaking of contentment today is my hubby’s birthday so I baked orange creamsicle cupcakes. You’re never too old for cupcakes or birthday parties.
No, you are NOT! Happy Hubby’s Birthday! 🎉
Thank you for the December “Willard” – it’s like getting an early Christmas present!
Reading your newest Willard and blog is a wonderful way to spend a few minutes with a cup of tea. Thank you for the peace and inspiration they bring! It’s like I took a relaxing trip and never left my home. Perfect Hygee!
Dearest, dearest Susan and Joe…soooo glad you’re back in one piece. ‘there is no place like home’. SO much happiness in our own little rooms…one by one…each different, yet so the same. We just sprinkle happiness all around. Thank you for always being the ‘queen of the home’ Many blessings as we wait for the birth of Our Saviour.
Dearest, dearest Susan and Joe…soooo glad you’re back in one piece. ‘there is no place like home’. SO much happiness in our own little rooms…one by one…each different, yet so the same. We just sprinkle happiness all around. Thank you for always being the ‘queen of the home’ Many blessings as we wait for the birth of Our Saviour. ( ps…this not a duplicate post.) Toni M.
Welcome home! Be it ever so humble…