I’m weary of swords and courts and kings. Let us go into the garden. 🌸 Mary Johnston🌸 Chair dance anyone? Oui! ☺️ MUSICA
I ask myself the same question every day when I get up, “How do I move myself forward today?” It’s a great question, it gets me moving . . . because, I have places to go and people to see, and I need to work diligently in the direction of my dreams. Or I’m not happy. Even my tiniest steps forward add up!
For several years now, I’ve been on a mission, to learn more about the writing process, to see if I could figure out how to write my memoir books, to figure out how to get them 
published, and then to get it done. And while I did it, many other things in my life went onto the back burner. I was busy! And, one thing I wasn’t doing was deep cleaning, no good old-fashioned organization, or home care for my darling dear house that deserves better. But it got me for a mom, and 
therein lies the problem. As you are about to see. I can’t believe I am going to show such terrible photos. Normally I clean up before I take the pictures. It’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen it, mainly because we were hardly home last year, and when we got back, I began to “drop off” stuff in my studio, move it out of my view “until I had time to clean it.” I’m thinking someone else out there may experience this problem, so I thought I would do some before and after photos and talk about Spring Cleaning and how to de-clutter, lighten up, and simplify your life.💞 Shield your eyes, here we go . . .
The question is: Who’s in charge here? It was a daunting project to begin. I almost didn’t know where to start, every cupboard and drawer in our house is stuffed to the gills. But as 
time goes on, I’m becoming quite cutthroat about it. I choose emptiness. I took pictures of some of the harder things to get rid of. Now I own the memories associated with them forever! The bookshelves are full of books, some of which have been there since we moved into the house in 1989, any new books since then have had to find another place to go ~ I keep inserting tiny bookshelves in corners of the house, packing it all in even further, and now the only place left is the floor. But the floor is already almost totally covered with projects and boxes of who knows what, it’s layered. You could do a dig here, like James Michener’s The Source.
I began to empty the shelves and take most of the books to the living room, where I’m packing them to give to the second-hand bookstore on the Island. Not all of them of course. I kept the good ones! But not too many. I want empty shelves. I want empty shelves so bad. Room for new thoughts, new ideas! Room to breathe.
Because I can no longer live like this. I think it’s stealing my energy just having to look at it. There are three stacks of original art in plastic pages on the floor under the shelves! I don’t recognize the rest of it, it’s too much of a jumble. Stacks of books, stacks of papers, crowded Beatrix Potter people. I had to design cups on top of the mess in order to get them done in time. Doing a Willard in this mess would be impossible!
All so wrong. That door to the front hall has been blocked closed for maybe three years (It was way worse than this, I’d already moved most of the stuff!). And as I begin to move through it, I ask myself, do I need this, is it adding value to my life, and if the answer is no, then I say bye-bye! I want smooth surfaces, table tops especially. I’ve been getting happier and happier every day, and lighter and lighter, and basically, I’m downright giddy now! Waking up singing! The unbearable lightness of being!
It doesn’t look like this anymore. And as I’ve done it, shelf by shelf, going through everything piece by piece, file by file, box by box, I found interesting things I’d forgotten all about . . . and realized I was engaged in a form of treasure hunt.
I washed each shelf which had not seen the light of day since 1989. Basically the answer to how to do this, is one shelf at a time.
Yard by yard, it’s very hard, but inch by inch, it’s a cinch.
See the cupboards underneath? Same thing, one at a time. And that mess on the 
worktable? That BIG pile on the left is recipes, ideas, and quotes for my Tea Book which I’ve been adding to and saving for years, with no place to put it. It’s not there anymore. Now it’s organized, and my Tea Book project has one of those clean empty shelves all for itself!
And, I think, in my most maniacal of moments, now I have room ~ I can go antiquing again! 😜
Here’s one of the treasures I found, this card was in a recipe box I did for my mom around 1979. I forgot all about it, I don’t think I’ve seen it since then.
I’d brought home my mom’s recipe file from California, and inside were handwritten recipes and letters, from my mom, my grandma, and my great grandma. I also had recipes from my dad and my sisters . . .
And this detailed letter to my mom from my grandfather Willard’s mother, my mom’s “Gram,” and my great grandmother . . . her typing strokes are indented in the soft blue paper ~ Sioux City, Iowa is written at the top ~ and she is writing my mom in California about the only news that ever really matters to our lives. Turn off the TV, and this is what there is, the real stuff of life. 💌
This is the rest of the box I did for my mom . . . so I put all the recipes from everyone else in it . . . and a card explaining who is who, for the future people who will someday find it, maybe my brother’s and sister’s children, or who knows. Maybe some rescuing type of person in a second-hand store. But I have a picture of it now, so it’s mine forever, and the box will be saved in a special family file box.
Then I began on the file cabinet, pulled out each file, went through it, threw out tons of useless paperwork, then rearranged and put back what mattered. This de-cluttering adventure is a long-term project, but I would rather do it now when I choose to, than later, when I have to! Right now I just want to! Not all of it is memories, some of it is just stuff I don’t need. I’m recycling, donating, and throwing out. I already cleaned the kitchen and emptied the sideboard in the dining room, and got rid of 
half of it, and after I get this room done, I go upstairs! That’s also when I will get to start seriously painting four hours a day. As soon as the studio is clean and I feel the spaciousness of it, I’ll dip my brush in water, and hear the ringing sound as it hits the side of the dish and put my first color on the paper, early one morning, in the quiet, with my tea and my cat. I don’t think I’ll get the whole house done until sometime around August. I go as slow as I want. I go to the garden, I stare at the dogwood tree in bloom. Joe and I go to the nursery. I’m planning a tea party. I shoot hair bands for my kitty. I talk on the phone to Siobhan and Rachel in England. I design cups. I brake for John’s Fish Market chocolate shakes! But all while I’m lightening my life, and indulging in the treasure hunt and the joy of memory.
Luv-lee letters like this get photographed, and put into a “children’s letters” file. I’ve looked up names on some of the old letters ~ and amazingly found and followed them on Instagram (@susanbranchauthor)! Sometimes I don’t like the Internet, and sometimes, I love it!
And now, I have all my ideas for books in one place, in files, and NOT, as was before, in piles on the floor. Every day I feel better, I feel more and more inspired about what will come next . . . and think of the words I heard on some TV show, ” I tremble on the brink of life’s next great adventure.” But I can’t get there until I am out from under the weight of this stuffed house!
I’ve consolidated, whittled down, and distilled . . . honestly, so much of it just didn’t belong here anymore. I saved a few old things, like products I’ve made . . . put them into boxes, labeled them, and up the attic they go, saved for posterity. A very little bit of it. Stuff I hope that someday someone else will want. But if they don’t, at least it’s consolidated. I’m doing this thing just like I redecorate. Taking everything off the shelves out of the cupboards, washing and cleaning them, and putting back only what I can’t live without, and getting rid of the rest.
I had to keep a little bit of this! Just in cases.
And this too!
And of course the piles of original artwork . . .
All organized and stacked on those empty shelves where I can access them. Most of my original art is in an old bank safe in California. Each book I’ve written is totally intact, all the original pages are there, and each book is in its own acid-free box. 
Look at that. I’m making white space . . . ahhh, emptiness . . .
A finished person is a boring person. 💙Anna Quindlen
Don’t worry, I’m not the minimalist type, for me that would be going too far. And I’m not done. Only about half way right now . . . but I can see the trees in the forest! I thought you might like to see some of the treasures I found:
First off, this. The box of everything, all the photos, all the memorabilia, the diary pages, even some souvenirs, everything from the trip we took in 2001 with our nieces Heidi and Holly, to London, Paris, and Bath (where we first discovered the English Countryside) . . . our theme music from that trip was Dusty Springfield from the British Invasion cassette we had in the car . . . we sang as we traveled hill and dale . . . we still sing it. Joe sang it too . . .🎵 I don’t know WHAT to do with my self . . .🎵
Here we are boarding the ship in New York. In this photo, Heidi, on the left, is 11, my 
brother Brad’s daughter, who grew up in Colorado. On the right is Holly, she’s 12, she belongs to my sister Mary and grew up in California. The cousins had met only once before we took them away across the wide ocean for six wonderful weeks. We’d been planning it since they were six. It was the very best time I ever had. They were wonderful and funny and smart! The box with everything from this trip was on a high shelf here in my studio and hadn’t seen the light of day in years. I still have to go through it, and someday, when I get the photos scanned, I’ll do a post about that magical trip.
Something else, a note from my dad. Writing me about the correct way to drink tea.💞 Now it’s in my mom’s recipe box.
And this painting my dad did of his beloved dog, Chief.
And my mom’s jacks and balls. Which I labeled and saved.
And I found this photo of me and my brother Jim with my cute mom and dad, which I don’t remember seeing before, something else to put in her recipe box. Too bad about the over-exposure, but still . . . look how their arms lean into each other. They are in it together. And there’s a picket fence back there! I must have seen it and fell in love!
And this book was in the pile. I still remember the night I met Julia and how much it meant to me.
Deep in the files was this little notebook I used when writing my first book with all kinds of little reminders, quotes and notations, and even grocery lists. The address of Little Brown, and Random House. Lots of dreams tied up in this messy little book.
And I found the hollyhock seeds sent to me by Nicoline, one of our girlfriends from Holland, over a year ago! But I wasn’t here to plant them last spring, and we also went away in the fall, so they didn’t get planted then either ~ I decided to see if they would sprout, and look, they did!
Kind of a miracle . . .
You might remember Nicoline from our picnic in England! She and her husband came from Holland and she brought her own Petey doll to show me!
And now her hollyhocks are planted in my garden . . . I get so many plants from my girlfriends, I call my garden a friendship garden!
This was what it looked like outside this morning, the wisteria has begun to bloom, Lowely’s bluebells are blooming too, at the far corner of the picket fence!
I bring the blooming things in for the little shelf over my kitchen sink . . .
And took a photo of the inside of the little bells of Lily of the Valley . . .
And, you may ask, what has Joe been doing all this time! Oh, we are a team! He has been doing to the yard, what I have been doing to my studio. He’s been thatching, raking, mulching, top dressing, seeding and watering. Men ask, “What do women want?” But they should know . . . This is every woman’s aphrodisiac, someone to build a life with.💞 When we stand next together, our arms press together.
💛💛💛
You can hear Jack meowing! I love it when he talks in a video, not easy to get him to do it!
I heard the ferry boat whistle just now like a long musical note. 🎵 Sometimes I forget where I am, how close the sea is, until I hear the boat whistle!
And as so many of you know, the Studio has been busy too . . . sending out your new English bone china cups . . . 💞
And these are the people who’ve been making that happen. Alfredo, Sheri and Kellee at the Studio. Couldn’t do it without these wonderful people! Monday is Kellee’s birthday!
And I got mine!! Just as excited as everyone else!
I’m very proud of them. It’s hard finding really beautiful things, and then being able to afford to get them made, especially in foreign countries! Now we are importers! We talk palettes, air freight, and customs! TMI for sure!
It’s been a lot of fun on Twitter, so many Girlfriends have written and sent photos, saying, “Got mine!” Marcia (@msmrph) sent this darling photo of herself and her best friend Julie captioned “Tea for two Besties!” Makes my day! Our cup club is not very big, but it’s very wonderful!
We’re working to make your Christmas especially easy this year. I know it’s a long time until then, but in order to get things made in time, we have to start now… we love planning surprises. Especially for you. Like our dream charms. So many of you have asked us to bring them back, so we did. 💞 Here they are! I think they’ll be in our web store the first couple of weeks of June.
We reordered three of our most popular charms . . . Autumn (in that first photo), A Fine Romance (see the hedgerows?👍),
and the ever-popular “Be an Elf,” all with small gift cards . . .
And in the midst of cleaning the Studio, sort of on top of the layers, I did manage to finish designing the bottoms, the handles, and the backs of the new mugs, and sent them off to England where the process of manufacturing has already begun. They are supposed to be here by August! We’re taking no chances they would be late for Christmas, and we need that Autumn cup first! And, yes, they are in the web store for Presale right now! I know it’s hard to think Christmas, but please try, because, like with the last ones, when these are gone, they are gone. You’ll be glad when December comes and you don’t have to go Christmas shopping! ❤️ Here they are:
Santa Claus is coming to town! In 16 ounces of fine bone China from “the Potteries” in Staffordshire, England! And, yes, they are all dishwasher and microwave safe!
This is the back . . . (only a mockup, made from paper in these photos, will look a lot better in real life!)
I did a construction-paper chain for the handle. Oh by gosh by golly!
And we have a 16-ounce Bluebird of Happiness. Which is going to look really good in my new blue kitchen! 💙
Here’s the back. It’s trying to be whimsical!
And the handle. I think it’s adorable. But still, only paper!
And my Autumn cup is a little bit smaller, 11 ounces, because you asked! I’ll do one for every season, all this same size. The only difference between this design and the real life one to come, the handle is actually going to be on the other side . . . This quote will actually be on the “front” of the cup. . .
And this will be the back ~ the handle will be on the other side from what you see here, and the squirrel will be on the left facing the other way . . . I decided I liked it better like that. Decisions, decisions.
The handle. 🍂 Signifies abundance.🍁
And now, my Martha’s Vineyard, Isle of Dreams 16-ounce cup. You drink from it, and I hear, could be a rumor, but I think not, your dreams will come true. ⚡️
It’s a short trip to the Island, via cup. 🛳
And here’s the handle. 💙
Be sure to read the small print on the ordering page, it explains lots of things, like what we are doing, and why, when we retire each of the cups . . . too long for the blog, but extra reading while ordering and good clarification! Hope you like them!
Now, last but definitely not least, Jack. He has taught me a couple of new tricks. You know 
how cats jump up to rub on your leg? Well, he gets on the table and rubs (sort of butts) my forehead, and now I softly butt him back, and we have a meeting of the minds. He puts his head near mine and wants me to do it. We are blood cat brothers. He also LOVES the running water in the bathroom . . . we go there to play . . . he is rather calm in this video, because I have the camera and he knows it, but usually he makes me turn the water on and off really fast, he bites it and grabs it and sometimes he comes out of there wet! It’s his secret life. Joe doesn’t even know about this. How do I explain that I’m being trained by the cat?!
💙💙
And one more thing, I have a surprise for you . . . I thought we’d give away one of these new cups! If you already have yours, it’s okay, you’ll have a best-friend gift all ready to go!
And whoever our lucky winner is will get their choice of which one! In Love with Nature on the left, Little Things in the middle, or Love on the right. All you have to do is leave a comment! And in a week or so, we’ll get Vanna back from Bali (I think that’s where she is ~ she’s hard to keep up with!) to pull the winning name. And I hope it’s YOU! 🌸
Bye for now Girlfriends, have a wonderful day! Love and ❌’s, Me.
Oops! P.S. Almost forgot to say, in case anyone will be around, I’ll be signing books and visiting at Titcomb’s Book Shop on Wednesday, June 7, from 1 to 3pm … joining this wonderful, independent, family-owned bookstore in celebration of their 50th Anniversary! Please come by and say hello if you can! It’s on Cape Cod in East Sandwich, click above for details. There will be cupcakes, and you don’t need a ticket to come! 😘
Oh, I recognize that pre-look very well! My office (when I wasn’t living in the RV like now) resembled your plan – stacks and piles and over-crowded book shelves. Love the new look! Very inspiring! I also love the cups – so unique and beautiful. Looking forward to FALL very much indeed!
This post resounds with me on so many levels. Most of my little home looks much like your before pictures. I too am slowly trying to de-clutter. One shelf at a time one drawer at a time. I like the idea of taking a photo,the memory will always be with us.
I can make room for a Susan branch mug,it won’t take up too much room and would be wonderful to look at every day.
Love the video of Jack, my Bitz loved to play in the faucet in my bathroom.
Mary
I enjoyed reading about your slow weeding process. I’m almost motivated to start weeding out my books!
I love the clutter of a lived-in life … so nice to see a home reflect those who live a full life there. In my house? Less so. I get overwhelmed by my messes too!!!!
Thanks for sharing your work-in-progress.
The cups are lovely…must send in my order and the charms I love. Having vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard as a child I have that charm and the one for girlfriends. I guess so many of us go through periods of decluttering. I, like you, have kept too many things and find myself trying hard to part with some of them. Enjoyed seeing the before and after pictures. Have a wonderful summer and enjoy the vineyard…..
I want to be one of the two birds in a thicket eating berries and drinking sweet wine! LOL I have that same lamp shade at the top of the blog….. Wow! 🙂 That quote, “A house needs a grandma in it” brought tears to my eyes! I’m fixin’ to be a grandma for the first time – well, a step grandma but still! You know I love you! xoxoxo
Hugs,
Lisa
Love you back Lisa, and congratulations! A grandma! So wonderful!
As always, I love reading your blog posts! Thank you for the inspiration to declutter. If you can do it, so can I! 🙂
Right now we are remodeling a bathroom and my whole upstairs is in a shambles. Looking forward to putting away things and decluttering and cleaning when the contractor leaves. I don’t do well with chaos so I know just how you feel about all the decluttering. Love the cute cups and would love getting one.
Hi Susan, I love reading these posts almost as much as I love reading your blog! My girlfriends and I went to Remnants of the Past in the OC last week and had a marvelous time! Judy did a great job!! Take Care
She’s amazing! Would have loved to have been there. She found a new barn for it I think!
Would love to enjoy a cup of tea in one of your new mugs. While I wait, I will be doing spring cleaning of my own and thinking of you. Warmest regard, as always.
Can’t believe your spring is so green and georgeous! I did not order one of your cups, so hoping to win one. Pick me! Pick me!
I enjoy your blog and all of your books and love all of your new mugs! Thanks!
Dear Lady,
Thank you for sharing with us, a little bit of what has been occupying your time. I really enjoyed your blog! Just me and my Irish Setter (Riley) here enjoying each and every picture, quote, and sentiment. No need to reply to me. Have an awesome day! 🙂
Thanks for the incentive!! Quilting, sewing,cross stitch and needlepoint all to be organized…oh the books too…love your cups..especially fond of ” little things” mug….rings true to my heart, it is the little things in life I treasure…thanks for your lovely ideas, books and Blog!!!
Hello Susan,
One of your beautiful mugs for tea while i watch The Great British bake off would be simply lovely! 🙂
Hi susan I loved seeing the handwritten letters from your mom and grandmother they are so special. I have only one card left from my grandmother and she tucked two dollars in it and in very shaky letters wrote happy birthday love grandma. I treasure that card. Thank you for bringing back the memories. xoxoxo Sherry
Oh, yes! I, too, have been mucking out the drawers and cabinets, closets and hidey-holes. I was making good progress and bam! My son’s baseball season started. So, 3 evenings a week we are at the ball field, either here in town or traveling through central Nebraska to other towns. I am consciously enjoying every single moment of it as he will be a sophomore next year and it’s going by so quickly. The junk in my closets can wait. I’ve got baseball to watch and a first baseman to cheer for! I love your cups and your inspirations!
You are living my New Year’s resolution ….Minimize!!!! Love all the new cups!!
Your cups are charming…..I have just found them! I am delighted you will be putting out a smaller cup…..I love a small cup for my coffee, as does my cousin, for whom I will order your new 11 ounce mug! Carol in Texas
I have only just found your wonderful world !! Love love love reading everything I can find ! Love sharing with my sister. Also we were huge Beatles fans. We saw the boys in Chicago when we were 12 and 14 in1964!
Nice to meet you Charlene! And Hi to your sister!
Love love love ❤️❤️❤️the little video of Jack playing with the faucet water!!!!! Love the mugs too! I must order a few!
Wow, you have been a busy girl! Good job! Thanks for always bringing joy to my day!
The cups are lovely Susan. Thank you.
Spent this morning washing all the China plates and treasures in my open Welsh cupboard. Now waiting for the sun to come and shine on them. But first, the curtains. And the windows. And a bouquet for the table. Sigh. Thinking of you.
Such inspiration,,feels so good to de-clutter,,but always find something sweet i just need,,like one of your lovely cups,,,judy
Oh to drink tea from one of your beautifully & cheerfully designed tea cups….true bliss!
And thank you Susan for your de-cluttering news & tips…just what I needed. And yes….inch by inch, shelf by shelf…always good advice!
Happy Spring to you 💐
Love reading your blog, and especially love the quote, “Every house needs a grandma in it”. I did some deep cleaning last week with my quilting magazines/supplies and came across stuff I had forgotten. I have to confess though that I didn’t get rid of much…..too many memories. Thank you for this chance to win one of your beautiful cups…..love them all!
It’s me again!
Sent my ramblings before I included my email address🌸
Tired fingers but happy eyes to read your blog & to see your progress in
Organizing & designing your fabulous tea cups
Thanks you for being our artistic & amiable girlfriend Susan 💐
Helloooo….I think my other post vanished. I just want to say that I LOVE my new mugs. Ordered the bluebird and autumn one. Excellent….oh, yes….the decluttering….well I have no room in my mug shelf unless I remove some older ones….but I have used some of them for over 30 yrs….I keep things,but love order. I love to open a drawer and find it tidy. My quilting room is my Waterloo. I will tackle it. Thank you.
I think I have found a kindred spirit in you, because I love spring cleaning too!💓💓💓
Dear Susan,
Always so endearing to read your magical words that bring calm to my soul…especially at this time of the year when 7th graders are chomping at the bit for the doors to swing open to set them free so that they can dance and laugh through the long, glittering days of summer. Thursday they need not wish or pine for that any longer. You are loved here in Texas!
I would never part with my Ayn Rand books. My brother was visiting last Christmas and was bored one day so I suggested he re-read The Fountainhead. he had never heard of it! what?! so once he started reading he had to read them all. Next thing I knew he wanted to keep them! no, said I. I’ve had them since high school. He did sneak out Atlas Shrugged (ratty old paperbook) and bought me a hardcover to replace it. 🙂 anyway, I always say Pick me! and if you do, since I bought 2 of your new mugs then it will be easy to say which one I would choose: Little Things 🙂 I like they are over-sized, sometimes I am super thirsty, or quite cold and then it’s the natural choice to go for the biggest mug in the cabinet.
I need to take your example to heart and get busy purging and organizing. Thanks once again for inspiration!
Hello Dear Susan …. So wonderful to read your post and again you inspire as I am
clearing and cleaning all my shelves and piles … Re-doing my guest room/office as my
totally home office w/sewing machine out on the end of a long desk top!!
The past months have been busy and stressed with my brother Danny’s passing but
we are recovering and moving forward (even now with my strained pulled tendon but
it is so much improved in a few days!!)… thank you for your cheerful words and
photos … With Aloha-ha, Evie in San Diego💕💖💞
I think my dad is inspiring me to clean my space . . . make more room for light and thought. I hope it’s the same for you Evie. xoxo
May I just comment on my heart being warmed by your father also being an amazing artist!! 😄 yes! He must be looking down from Heaven at his artistic little daughter’s messes and sending you help and inspiration…lol. Your father understands…..!
My dad could do anything I think, but he really didn’t do art very often. He did “Paint by Numbers” in the 50s! So it looks like he wanted to do it, and had it in him, but he was an outdoors guy, always planting roses or making something with hammer and nails. I remember I needed a little drawing for something on a notebook when I was in grammar school … and he helped me do it. But this little dog art is maybe the one and only thing he did that was serious. That’s why I’m so thrilled to have it. Thank you Diane. xoxo
That is so sweet to know about your dad! He really was extremely creative and inspiring. I love the paint-by-numbers information about him. I can imagine he was so much of an outdoor…tool….garden kind of guy that he just couldnt harness his energy to concentrate long enough to be painting and drawing as much as he definitely could have! I do love that he always helped you to make your houses into homes for you. Beautiful! 😊
Nothing like a handy man!
Oh my! Susan I need to do just exactly what you are doing. And I have in a few areas – but the files – oh the files. Not my favorite chore I’m afraid. Your new white space and treasures and memories are all so charming! So excited to see the new teacups. I have your Santa teapot or coffeepot and it inspires such envy! I used to have one of your sweet little Christmas cookies plates but it broke a few years ago.
I have to tell you about our new kitten (well, he’s about 8-9 months old now) who is a pencil thief! Can you imagine? He finds pencils, pens, markers, even a straw and plays and plays and plays with him. It is most charming and most annoying at the same time. My daughter accidentally left her backpack unzipped and the little scamp kept sneaking into her room and taking out pencil after pencil after pencil. Can you believe that? His name is Grayson and he is so cute.
Thank you Susan for brightening my day!
I only have the cookie plate, and I treasure it. But I’ll soon be making more (if all goes right!). Love Grayson!
Thanks for being brave enough to share your “before” and “after”. After all if we can’t be honest with our girlfriends who can we be honest with?!? 🙂 My cup came last week and I love it! I have had cocoa, almond milk, and herb tea in it so far….maybe tomato soup or chocolate pudding next??
The everything cup, stew, chili, pudding … here comes fall!
Jack was so cute swatting at the water!
Sometimes I revel in the clutter of tidbits of things I love. And then there’s that liberating feeling after a “purge”, and THEN you have room for some new “treasures” to be discovered on the next jaunt to the thrift store! Yikes! Would love to add one of your cups to my treasures- plenty of room for that! They are beautiful! Love and happy days on the brink of summer-a lovely place to be!
Love your blog and am happy every time I see you in my email.
Would love to win the “Little Things” cup. You did such a beautiful job with them. Thank you for your wonderful blog! patty
Oh Vanna please pick me! Love to you Susan, and Joe! We were in SLO last week and thought of you. I wish I was organized as you. Maybe you will wear off on me and I can enjoy the process as you do!
I can never find my post to you to see if you responded or not. I’ve looked through a whole bunch of replies, but maybe you just didn’t reply.
Here I am . . . so many comments this time, although I’m reading them all, I’m not replying to them all, because I have cleaning to do! xoxo
Hello Susan! Your past several blog posts have been absolutely beautiful, showcasing everything Springtime!!!! Thank you for your inspiration of white space, it is worth gold!!! Your new blue kitchen is refreshing, and the new rugs are very charming!!!! I drank my morning tea today in your Little Things mug, first time! Oooooo la la!!! The feel, the colors, the richness of the bone china was perfect!!! Thank you Susan for writing the Gratitude Book! I’ve read it once, then soaked up every single page a second time, and have found myself picking it up off and on, just to study the pictures, and ponder one or two quotes at a time…….So beautiful!!!!! My Spring cleaning is going at a snail’s pace, but seeing all that you have completed, has given me a push to keep plugging along! Good luck with reaching your goal!!! My flowers are keeping me outside these past days, and I only have my cutting garden left to clean up, after my roses are freshened up, of course! Before I say good by, I wanted to ask you if your beautiful white couches are slip covered, or upholstered in white? I would like to order white slipcovers for my two wing chairs and couch and am a bit hesitant. Take care of yourself, and do not overdo. God Bless. (P.S. Happy Memorial Day to you & Joe, in advance!!!!)
Mine are slip covered, they were done maybe 6 years ago? They gave me some cleaning fluid in case of spots, which I’ve never had to use. Girl Kitty shredded some of the corners, but I like to believe no one notices but me! I’ve been really happy with them. They smooth out the busyness and provide light and serenity. Add fresh flowers and candles and you’re decorated! Happy Memorial Day! The informal beginning of summer here on the Island. xoxo
There must be something in the air saying we all have too much stuff!! My friends and I have been decluttering our “extra stuff” too. We have been having yard sales and then donate our proceeds to the charities that our women’s organization (Beta Sigma Phi) sponsors in California. We get to clean out our shelves and then donate to some worthy causes.
Ahhh, to be eighteen and collecting my first stuff at second hand stores. What booty I would find!
You are an inspiration dearest Susan, thank you for sharing your decluttering process with before and after photos. You have encouraged me to take control of the mess in my sewing room. Thank you! As always, the Jack stories are so much fun, hoping he climbs into the new “white” space on the book shelves. Also, love the photos of your beautiful garden!
I love the new mugs. Please keep them coming!!!!
Thanks for giving me inspiration to trudge up stairs and face my craft-sewing room mess! I really wished I’d ordered a mug when offered during presale, but couldn’t make up my mind which one! Pick it for me 😩 please! Your girlfriend from San Diego. De
I did the declutter thing just before Christmas……..but it’s baaaaaaaccccckkkkk! I’ve been Ill so as I lay in my bed, I make list after list of what I need to do when I’m better. Somehow just writing it all down then organizing and refining it makes me feel like I’m trying. Insert quote about good intentions here. So seeing your before and after photos were encouraging. I’ve memorized the before I just need to imagine the after! No, I need to actually make it happen! When I feel better. 😸💤
Hope that is very soon Kirsten. xoxo
Great minds think alike! I started weeding out my cupboards, closets, china cabinet, shelves, bookcases etc right after Easter when I put my decorations away . It was a neverending treasure hunt and I didn’t really feel that I had any messes like the one that faced you!! Since 1980’s I have collected magazine clippings and had made them into large notebooks all categorized. The notebooks were in cupboards and never looked at due to my computer and boards on Pinterest. So I began the process of throwing them all away (course I have had to stop and peruse all of them first) but it was sure fun to see some of the ugly clothes ads on the backs of some of these pages (we’re talking boxy jackets with large shoulder pads!!) What a walk down memory lane this cleansing has been.
Love your cups but on my SS income they are too spendy for me!! Not that they are not worth it but my gas company would rather I pay their bill!!! HA!
I am sure Jack is happy that you are home for a little while..!
Linda from Idaho where it is in the mid 80’s—last week still running the heater this week the air conditioner!! Go figure!!
Loved the process of tidying. I am doing that also. Those cups are so beautiful. Enjoy your posts so much.
I cannot believe I opened to your diary page and found you are doing exactly what I am doing…….. CLEANING OUT MY LIFE!! I find it very difficult to do because I tend to leave piles on the floor….”let’s see…this pile I will keep and this one I am not sure about and this one is GOING somewhere!!” Sometimes it gets very depressing and I have to run to the frig for the WINE!! Sorting through my life is sooooo much better with wine!! I, too, want to find another side of ME and can only do that if I make some changes. Good Grief this isn’t easy at all! Onward and there will be success. Haven’t talked in a very long time and I have missed doing so. Truthfully – I am looking to weed thru my belongings so I can see my house and move to a much smaller abode!! Maybe even in another part of the country ….. now that is a REAL change!! My best to you – you are STILL amazing to me – I send you hugs and smiles and my love!
Hi Pat! Nice to hear from you . . . on the same page as usual! I keep thinking . . . our stuff doesn’t change, but we do. For instance, now I like blue instead of red. I have a lot of red things that should go, but instead, my normal way is to stack them on the floor! LOL! It’s called “too much stuff!” Wine, brilliant! Sending love! xoxo
Pat, I love your wine idea to help with sorting! Wish we were all neighbors and could help each other out! But I guess we will just have to encourage each other here. I have missed you….and was just a little worried! Glad to hear something from you!
It must be fate!! Yesterday I was in tears over all the clutter in my home. I have been trying to declutter for years, but I start and just get overwhelmed. You have inspired me once again to not give up. Of course my art room looks much worse than yours did. I am needing some blank, empty space so much it hurts.
There is always room for one more mug. I’ve got to have that Autumn one!! I received the nature one, love the cute lamb.
Happy Spring and cleaning!!
I’m discovering it’s inch-by-inch, one little corner at a time, just take EVERYTHING away from that corner, clean it! Then put back only what you need. It works! xoxo Happy Spring to you Lisa!
That is so helpful!! Thank you so much Susan!! XOXO
Yes please the bluebird as it is the state bird of Virginia; my home state and blue is my favorite colour for over 65 years, Love the large size as I love a Big Cup of Tea. Smile!
You are truly a talented kind lady. Look forward to your teabook. Would love to join you again at Tidcombs. Who knows my daughter on the Cape just might be there. Smile
Blessings,
Sylvia Faye
Hello Susan,
Goodness what an honor and a LOVELY surprise to see myself again at the picnic, LOVE IT, and thank you! I hope the hollyhocks will bloom for you! I planted a few new ones a while ago, but the snails got to them…..
I was still having trouble posting a comment the last time, but Mick (our youngest clever boy) was able to help out, so I saw your sweet birthday message! I hope I’ll be able to post this too…..
Yesterday Tim (our oldest boy) and I went to apply for a visa in his passport, because he’s going to China for a whole month……We’re so proud he’s going, but I’m getting quite scared too…..He’s be going to volunteer at a school in Xian, and he’s really looking forward to that.
Last week he finished his highschool exams, and we’re waiting for the results, so lets keep our fingers crossed:)
Thank you dear Susan, for the joy you give us all, and for sharing, always sharing, making us feel HAPPY!!
With love from
Nicoline
oxox
Glad to see you here Nicoline! We don’t really have very many snails, so my fingers are crossed! Refresh the blog, that seems to be helping people, including me. China! I’d be scared too, but he’ll be fine, and have the adventure of his life. My nephew did the same thing and LOVED it. Love to you all . . . xoxo
We have been decluttering also. My husband said he wishes we could weigh the house because it’s getting lighter!
Yes please me too:) I just ordered my blue bird of happiness cup:) We have a blue bird couple making house in one of the blue bird boxes in our back yard! Here is hoping for a flock of baby blue birds:) The blue of them, in sunshine, is breath taking!
My house gets so messy in the Spring and summer because I just want to be outside:) And then in the Fall, I come in and look around and say, ” Oh my!” You are an inspiration over there. I wish you could be my sister but you are:)
PS… You inspired me to plant a wisteria last Fall, which now is 3′ tall and has 20 buds!!! We call her the rookie of the year 🙂
Good for you Caroline, harbinger of spring, and so beautiful, and smells like heaven! Making the world a better place!
What a wonderful post!! It made me want to go and do (a much needed) deep clean. It’s so very beautiful on your island already, we are a bit behind here in Nova Scotia. But everyday is just a little bit more beautiful than the next.
The work you are doing on your house is amazing!!! Good for you!!! We can’t wait for all the creativity that will come from all that “White Space”!!!!!! YAY!!! Now I feel like I should get up and go de-clutter something!! 🙂 Your mugs are beautiful!!!
Inspired to organize!! Thank you! ❤️ Your post!!
Well…thank you for the inspiration for my day!…With a rainy day before me, and too many options, it is my day to clean out my office…I am always amazed at how much paper is generated on a daily basis…time to clean out, shred, throw out!
Thank you for this wonderful “letter”….does a person’s heart good to read it…
Happy to hear that! Have a wonderful day!
Your posts are always so inspiring! Love the mugs!
Thanks so much for inspiring me to get to my cleaning project that I have been putting off!
Oh pleeeez, pleeeeez pick me!
Inspired by your organization.
I too am overwhelmed with my collections and junk.
Thanks for sharing!
Belén
My pleasure Belén!
Dear Susan,
I am always delighted when you share photos or video of you yard. I am a master gardener and live in a zone 4 area so I covet your wisteria! I have tried growing it but it never makes it through the winter here. Your fountain on your porch is precious. It has inspired me to put a little one out on my porch that I had hidden away. I dug it out of my storage clutter 🙂
Thank you for being you!
Anne
It makes the nicest noise come through the screen when the porch door is open… In another house where our bedroom was on the ground floor, I used to have one outside the window . . . was heaven!
Well congratulations on the de-cluttering efforts- it looks fine to me either way, but then again, you are hearing from an emotionally -motivated- keeper- of- all- things sentimental ! 🙂
Yes, I want to win the cup. No shame here, but your style of writing draws me in, (and has for oh, so many a year!) and I occasionally do need to tell you I appreciate your candid, warm fuzzy way of sharing with us.
Thanks for that! Hugs from a friend who is yet unknown to you !
Nice to meet you Sue! Thank you!
Dear Friend,
A true friend inspires and encourages our best behavior most often by their own example. They show us that sometimes something we don’t want to do is what we really need the most or that work can become play when you are doing something you love. Perhaps they turn a much needed clear out into a treasure hunt or make an old cardboard carton into a cozy home for tender memories for sharing with family. Maybe they just remind us to take time for gardens and tea time and magic no matter how long our list of to-do’s is.
Happy Day to you my great example and lovely friend-I-haven’t-met…yet!
Love to you,
Deborah
Everything you said is exactly why I love my girlfriends. They figure me out sometimes before I can do it myself. It’s true love. xoxo
I absolutely love all the mugs!! Everything you make is always so beautiful! Thank you for being such a wonderful inspiration!
That was so much fun….Thank you!
I LOVE your mugs! They are just beautiful! So glad you are doing them and one for each season will be a treat too! Thank you, thank you! Your blog is such a treat!
Susan,
It’s been inspiring to me to see the before and after photos of your cleaning project. I am retiring in eight days and I have a number of rooms to “root out.”
One of the rooms currently in process is my “spare room” which is becoming my sewing/ crafting/ quilting room. My husband has installed cabinets on one wall and below them will go a counter space. We are using an old table, cut in half, to span the wall for the counter. My inspiration for that came from a photo you posted once showing your sewing space using an old table. The best part is that my sewing machine will be centered in front of a window looking out to the woods in the back yard. Enjoy your clean spaces! To creativity and creating!
It sounds perfect!
Ah, I feel so much better to know that your studio gets so messy. It gives me a bit of validation for my artistic chaos. I have a framed quote in there: “It’s my mess, and I love it!” But like you, I’ve been slowly pressing through to produce some order. So much to process. I’m taking many tearful, but joyful trips down memory lane.
The cups are all so precious and beautiful. Do they HAVE to be limited editions? That’s just sad.
Blessings,
GG
I tried to explain why on each individual cup page ~ They make us order a LOT of cups as a minimum order . . . which is why we do our presale, so we make sure we have enough for everyone that wants one. But then to order them again, we’d have to buy a LOT more, and we worry that after the presale we would not be able to sell them because most everyone who wants one will have gotten it. It’s complicated and I wish we actually OWNED the factory, then we could do anything we want, but we don’t. “It’s my mess and I love it” goes for so much! 😜 Thank you Gail!
Hi Susan
As a follow up, I was able to read the newest blog in my e-mail, where like magic it once more appeared-left me wondering whether it is gremlins or fairies involved in all of this.
I am just about to begin a clean-up project, so this blog really came in handy!
I won’t comment on the tragedy in Manchester- we have to have some sane spaces in our lives, and I so not want to surrender my thoughts of you and all who read you who only want to send small pleasures and harmony back into the world. WE must keep up the fight for love, civility, courage and kindness. Marty.
I love your fairy idea Mary! Way better than gremlins! 😘 Love, civility, courage, kindness, acceptance, and knowing in our heart that all human beings want and love the same basic things, home and family, and a chance to make a living and a life ~ but that there will always be insanity, nuts and the truly insane, who hear voices, feel negative about life, believe lies, and use any excuse to do damage, even “joining” teams who’ve never heard of them, but it just shouldn’t be rewarded with fame.
Hi – I’ve also been “thinning” out my home – it’s a great feeling! Thanks for sharing! As always – love your blog!
I just pre-ordered your beautiful Martha’s Vineyard mug to remind me of my first visit there last summer which was a dream come true after falling in love with it from reading your books and blog. Thank you for all of the wonderful inspiration, I also will begin the de-cluttering to free up my life!
I empathize with the clean up and organize process! But it’s worth it in the end.
And as far as I’m concerned, you can keep creating the tea cups….they are all incredibly lovely!
I, too, am doing some spring purging and I agree it is good to do it at your leisure, not as a must. My parents left so much to sort and evaluate that I have vowed to do better for my children. Enjoy the process and the en”lightening” of it all. xoxo
Dear Susan,
I have been trying to declutter, and had reached the point of getting exhausted and losing steam; so I am beyond grateful for your story! I am reenergized, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Also, seeing your beautiful Spring at the Vineyard, and seeing Jack have worked their magic as well. I feel lighter, and hopeful, and ready to face my “stuffed house” again!
Sending you much gratitude for all that you do and share!
Xoxoxo,
Anne
Thank you back, Anne, it’s like we’re all in the same boat! xoxo
My two beautiful mugs came. They are really really nice. I mean, really nice bone china. I sit and read them. I am a mug reader now. I will pre-order the autumn and Christmas mug too!
I loved reading this post. I too am purging. It is a good feeling.
I love all of your books. They are an oasis of calm in this maddening world. They have simple messages reminding us to slow down. To enjoy the simple things. I just brought out my summer book even though it snowed here last week 🙁
I did visit Boston last month for the first time since we moved to Park City, UT 5 years ago. It was a lovely visit. I miss the ocean. I love seeing your pics of Martha’s Vineyard. I have very happy memories of summers on the Cape.
Anyway, you are a national treasure. Your books are beautiful and meaningful. Really, they are. Cannot wait for the Tea book. Tea is one of my most favorite things.
Thank you Janice, you made me laugh (snow!), and you made me cry. xoxo
Thanks for the inch-by-inch inspiration! I’ve been in my house 35 years and pretending I’m moving and what would I absolutely have to take. Finding surprises that make me wonder how did this get here and donating to hospice thrift store. Also have had a few rainy days so not having inch to leave it all and get out in the yard helps too.
Reading the comments and pleased to see we are all kindred spirits! XO
A couple of years ago, I started to de-clutter. Got sidetracked along the way. It is now time to get back to challenge. Thank you for the inspiration. A de-cluttered space brings so much peace.
Once again I’m inspired by your post. The end result of de-cluttering is always so satisfying. I am most guilty of “collecting” (aka hoarding) books and find it very hard to resist adding another book to my bookshelves and beyond for a some- day read. They tend to accumulate much faster than I can possibly read them. I would love to have one of your mugs to enjoy a cup of tea along with a good book.
Happy Springtime Rituals!
Hugs
Dear Susan,
I ordered 4 of the new cups last night. The set of 3, plus the Autumn one for a friend born October 1. She likes smaller cups, so it’s perfect.
After most of my comments not surviving, I’m reluctant to comment. I wrote when we got home to Maine this past Saturday evening. Just jabber about all the little things, so it wasn’t really important.
Went outside this morning to pick some tiny, wild violets and some of the little wild strawberry blooms. I put them into tiny glass bottles that my artist neighbor made and sit them on the kitchen window sill. I’m relieved we made it back in time. And just in time to see the old apple trees, lilacs and crab apple in full bloom. We’re lovin’ the nice, cool and damp weather after roasting in Tampa.
Thank you, Susan, and all the girlfriends who are sharing the angst of giving away or just tossing sentimental stuff. I’m the last of my line, too. No kids, or kin want them. But I can not leave it to my beloved step-daughter to deal! She will have all of her mother and grandmother’s things!! S0, off to the Habitat for Humanity resale shop.
Much love,
Debbie….finally in Franklin, Maine!!!
Just fyi, I replied to maybe three comments of yours this morning, and welcomed you home to Maine! xoxoxoxo I hope you can find them!
Well I needed a push to get started on reorganizing! I like to call it that but I really do have to get rid of STUFF. Clothes, books, kitchen drawers, etc. I will start as soon as I think what to get rid of first! LOL
Oh my, Susan, you found the button again. Collecting to remember, then not remembering, and purging an excess that seemingly produced itself. I’m down that road regularly. When I read your line about setting up new bookcases in corners of the room I had to smile a little guiltily because I did exactly the same just 10 feet from where I’m reading only 3 months ago.
I love my books, and my collection of mugs, too. Often, but with some fail, I’ll bring a mug home as a souvenir of a trip. And considering the world’s you’ve sent me to, I would love to be a recipient of one of your lovely pieces. Of course the beautiful, built-in consolation is that if Vanna selects other worthy recipients instead of myself, I’ll still be able to visit the charming, the breezy, the whimsical, the snug, the wholesome (and so much more) through your blog. And books. I do love books. Btw, since reading Vineyard, I was wondering if you have any desire to produce an illustrated book of some of your favorite quotations. Well … you’ve got cleared work space now and all …
I do have that desire Dee, there are so many more I’d include too!
The dog ate my homework – I think the computer ate my comment. 😊 Anyway, you know I love the kind heart and bright spirit that shines into and through all your creations, including your beautiful new mugs! Now, instead of organizing my own nest, I am heading out to the sunshine to play with flowers. We have had so little sun this year that it feels like a miracle!
Found it! (I think!)
Rosanne Murphy (Oregon)
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Oh darn. I just want to play with flowers and my kitty, read books, knit and drink tea while there you are working and getting organized. Maybe tomorrow.😊 Anyway, thank you for creating the beautiful mugs! I love the two I have (started with one but one just wasn’t enough). Now I must have Autumn and Christmas too! Suddenly it’s warm and sunny here in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, and my kitty wakes me in the wee hours ready to run outside and make funny noises at the birds, and climb the tree outside my bedroom then do a tightrope walk to the fence. She is in love with Nature, and so am I.
I adore you, Susan Branch!
😘 Julie!
Hi Susan,
I loved that first quote! Ha. . .how do you find such perfect things for our times?
I am a cat-sitter and I visited a cat named Scooter, whose owner would put the bath tub water on for him, just a trickle, but he would lap it. I was told to do this for him, too, on my visits. Scooter would jump in the tub as soon as I arrived and meow for it. Eventually, the owner ended up getting one of those cat fountains for him. So Jack is not alone in his secret life. . . so funny!
You are motivating me with your clutter clearing – the way you write about the treasures found makes it more appealing to do. I am in my 60’s, so it is more daunting to start, but you also can see all the experiences you’ve had and what a rich life it has been, with more to come!
You just have to clear room for the rest. . . right? I like spaciousness!
Your Santa cup is calling my name – Christmas in May?!
Happy Spring, lovely Susan! Birdsong and flowers be yours. . .
~Pamela
Quotes from the very old days, that still mean the same thing today, prove to me that nothing really every changes when it comes to the human experience! (Unless we choose to make it change!) I like the connection. Birdsong and flowers🏡 be yours dear Pamela! xoxo
Wonderful post as always and one I can relate to. I too am in the middle of spring cleaning and decluttering and trying to have a better attitude toward it. Rather than treating it as a chore I’m trying to make it a good feeling to be giving TLC to all the things I love in each room. Decluttering can be so freeing but emotional at the same time. What a great idea to photograph the items we find difficult to part with! Thank you for another generous giveaway! I love your new cups and it would be such a pleasure to win one.
Dearest Susan, your life is all about expressing itself on paper, and I think you are doing an amazing job of sorting, and consolidating! I have been weeding out my own home , with the help of my darling daughter, and I actually shed a tear about giving away so many of my “friends”….which are my books…lol. I grew up without a mother, and books were the way I filled my heart. However, I will never read most of them again, and it does feel great …despite the tear….to lighten up the chaos. So, I think I can understand a bit about being sentimental, and I applaud you for clearing the spaces! Its true…we need clean , clear spaces to begin a new chapter of our lives! 😊 I love seeing Joe outside in the gardens. You have such a lovely place to garden to your hearts content, and I am sure Joe must love digging and planting and making it so beautiful! My wonderful husband spent hours yesterday in our spaces outside, and the look and smell of spring is heavenly. This is our first year to see our Wisteria flower all over….and it is a dream come true. I could comment about your blog forever, but this is geting too wordy, so just know that I love all you wrote and the pictures! Thank you for being the best girlfriend we could ever have! Xoxoxo
SO much in common. Joe is out in the rain right now planting hydrangeas! Beloved person just came in and said, “Can you please come out and tell me if this is in the right place?” xoxo
We planted 4 Hydrangeas about 6 years ago…..one of my very fav of all !…and we love them. I laughed when I read that your beloved asked you about the right place to put them…haha. I am a control freak on where to plant and place bushes and plants, but occasionally….like with the “Rodies”….he plants them without my oh so perfectly wonderful direction….and they are now a little off center from where I would have liked them. Lol.
One must breathe through it. ahhhh. We have hole digging guys, can’t ask for much more. Well maybe a little, but not too much!
Like Vicki South of Arroyo, I too made a post on 5/22 and noted that it is not listed.
Is this it Jeanette? It was there, but there are over a 1000 . . . but anyway! Here we go!
Jeanette
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Thank you Susan for sharing your thoughts and life activity with us, I enjoyed this post as I do all of the others I have read over the years.
..lol.. with all due respect, I think people need to write down what day and time that it was when they “comment” and then be patient….. with love, as always…
…well, this is what’s diff, which has caused some head-scratching…before, when a comment was posted by a girlfriend, there it’d be, the words you just typed, there printed on the page, but with the message ‘awaiting moderation’ – and we all knew, most of us, that the comment had been submitted/received, and was just then waiting for Susan to moderate it, and it could take days because there’s a lot of comments and Susan is busy…but, since the gremlins started up, there’s no ‘awaiting moderation’ and the girlfriend comment disappears as if it was deleted, the second you hit ‘post comment’ (zapped, flown away; did it take, or didn’t it)…it was a new change, didn’t seem right…and then this, coupled with, for many of us, looking down at the name/email spaces and finding another girlfriend’s name and her email address where ours are supposed to be; well, another thing that was odd and different…so, at least on my part, it’s not some anxious thing of wanting myself to be heard by Susan, like I’m ‘special’ or something, but just trying to get to Susan to say, “hey, is this stuff supposed to be happening; is anybody else having problems with the blog or is it just me” – that kind of thing … and it turned out that yes, it wasn’t just me having the computer problem, and Susan has asked if we could clue her in on what’s going on, on our end, so, true, I’ve left a lot of comments about all that – but it seems likely Susan’s computer expert she hires is going to get to the bottom of it – but it was almost a sort of panic thing for those of us who love Susan and her blog so much; like a desperation of, oh no, we can’t miss a post, we’ve gotta be able to access her blog; we need our Susan therapy(!!)…
I’d realy love one of the cups. I thought that would be my Mother’s Day gift, but alas they were not! I was sure the emails with pics, texts and mentioning them in every other breath would have been hint enough! I guess I’ll have to take matters in my own hands for the next group! 🙂
Be your own Santa is sometimes the watchword! 🤗
I always enjoy pictures of your lovely home, inside and outside. It gives me so much inspiration. One of the things I enjoy the most since I retired is just to putter around the house all morning. Cleaning and moving things around. I love my little townhouse and my big yard full of flowers. Love all your cups but I think I have decided to order the Bluebird cup! It is ME!
Your writing is like one long Pen Pal letter, and you have so many Pen Pals all over the world. Cool!
Very! 👌
I could never purge or give away any of my beloved books! I don’t know how you did that….but good on you! I just spring-cleaned my closets and it was liberating to be able to see the floor, and I loved the feeling. So now I’m tackling the basement, this could very well do me in! Perfect blog to inspire us all to do a little house cleaning.
Thank you for your honesty and your motivating words. I just read this for inspiration to go tackle my own “creative” mess! I love your words and your art.
Love, love, love these cups! I actually thought I “might” receive one for Mother’s Day. 🙂 But actually…I got another surprise when I opened my card. It has been my dream to visit to the Lake District and Hilltop Farm for a very long time. I keep your book, A Fine Romance, right beside my bed and open it frequently as a reminder that perhaps someday I, too, will be able to go to England. My husband and children are making “someday” happen quite soon. I will turn 50 in August, and a 10 day trip to the UK was my combo Mother’s Day/Big 5-0 gift! I am beyond thrilled and can’t wait until we depart in late August! AFR is playing a big part in the plan making. I am finding out that the planning and anticipation are half the fun! 🙂 I have a book deadline on September 1st, so this gives me great motivation to ‘get ‘er done’ ASAP! Great post!
OH BOY AMY! How wonderful!!!! I’m so happy for you. Happy 50th, Happy Mother’s Day!
You have inspired me to start the de-cluttering too, now, while I “want” to and not because I have to. Thanks for voicing your bits of life, Susan. I, and so many others are on the same page as you. xo Clare
With de-cluttering, I always get hung up on my books. I love old books. How did you decide which to keep and which ones go? I end up moving piles around all day, and then keep bringing them back. It’s too hard!
I decided to keep the ones I still want to read. And the ones that changed my life. I kept Gladys Taber, the Bartlett’s quote book, Agnes’s Joy of Cooking and some of the other the books I found at Holly Oak. I kept autobiographies of Mark Twain and Benjamin Franklin, my first Julia Child cookbook, my favorite biographies of Beaxtrix Potter, all her vintage “little bunny books” Joe bought for me in England, and one each of our identification books for birds and wildflowers. I still use my quote books, so they’re here, at least for a while. I also kept all my vintage Christmas books. I’m not sure anyone will ever want my books, but these are the few I am happy to move if I have to, and need for peace of mind. And sometime, if I do win the lottery and manage to buy back Holly Oak, they would be perfect to go live there again. You never know! 📚 Good luck.
I can hear you sigh with pleasure as each area gets cleared, cleaned and back to beautiful! Personally, I cannot function in clutter. My husband is the opposite – he can’t find anything if it’s put away! We butt heads all the time over this, but I’ve learned to try and let it go, If it gets overwhelming, I just stack it in a pile where he has to deal with it before he can do what he wanted to do!
We have moved three times in the last 14 years, so we have eliminated much of our previous 27 years of clutter that was our first home. Now in our fourth residence of our 41 years of marriage, I think we are almost down to the things we really want to hold dear.
Love the cups, just wish I could afford them. 🙁
Joe and I aren’t quite on the same page when it comes to stuff, but he’s beginning to see the light.☺️ At least that’s what I tell myself.😜 We did our best to get our prices as low as possible . . . I think we did good because the 16 oz Emma cup retails for $52 … and ours are under $40 if you buy just one, and goes as low as $35 each when bought in a set. They’re a huge investment for us, shipping from England is crazy, so I understand how you feel, that’s why we have to do the presale, to make sure we don’t have a bunch left over…I wish they could be cheaper, and I guess they could, but they wouldn’t be very pretty, they’d be small, thick, and made in China! I hope you win Marianne, and this won’t be the last opportunity, we’ll give some new ones away as soon as they come in!
Ah. I really liked what I wrote to you, and some how lost. In one word, it’s love.
I love the charm, the whimsy, the wholesomeness, the cheer, the clutter to help remember and to create, the purging of what’s no longer of value, Books, your blog, and now your mugs.
One question: After having read Vineyard, I’ve been hoping you’d make an illustrated collection of your favorite quotations about your favorite things. Might that be on one of your lists? 😊
I just scrolled down, there’s another comment from you waiting for me to get to it, Dee . . . hope it’s the missing one, look for it in a moment. And thank you for all the LOVE! Yes, a book like you mentioned is on the burner!
I noticed that several comments mention missing prior comments. The pixies were busy. Or maybe you continue to strike the common chord and this time the server was overwhelmed. Either way, thank you for replying to both my comments.
And purchasing a mug should help keep me happy until your quotation collection is available (no pressure. But it would be awesome. Like everything else you do 💕)