Guess what tomorrow is??? Beatrix Potter’s 151st Birthday! MUSICA 🎶 And I have news!
The Genius, Generous, Life of Beatrix Potter.
Here’s where I was on this day, July 28, last year, celebrating the 150th Birthday of Beatrix Potter with so many of YOU and the Brewster Ladies Library, on Cape Cod. What a fun day that was!
Right after that, my Girlfriends, who also happen to be my nun friends (I’ve written about them before), sent me this wonderful little thimble to celebrate. Wasn’t that the sweetest thing? They love Beatrix like I do.💞
Because not all of you are intimately familiar with the life of Beatrix, I thought I’d at least give you a very simple time-line of her life so you can get the lay of the land, so to speak.
Most of you know how crazy I am about Beatrix because I wrote the whole story of my slow discovery of the person that she was, not just an artist, not just a scientist, not just an author, not just a business woman, not just a house-lover and adorer such as we, but more, so much more, a fierce, forward-looking conservationist whose passions still reverberate today ~ she changed her part of the world, and hence, in a sense, the whole world. . . that’s the hero I tried to tell about in my book A Fine Romance, Falling in Love Love Love, with the English Countryside.
So, to celebrate today, I thought I would take you on a special tour through a brilliant book about Beatrix that was published by Penguin Books in 2006. It’s written just as if it was Beatrix’s own scrapbook, in first person. But inside it says, “This is a work of fiction based on the journals and letters of Beatrix Potter.” Not entirely fiction, but kind of, because Beatrix didn’t actually make this book herself, it just looks like she did.
Using Beatrix’s words to tell the story of her life, the designer who compiled this informative book (who is not mentioned anywhere, but must be a kindred spirit, and girl after our own heart), filled it with Beatrix Potter artwork, mementoes, personal letters, stamps, and photos, and with words in what looks to be Beatrix’s own handwriting, with entries dated, as in a journal … and many of the things in the book, like the little photo album above, are glued-in and three-dimensional! I’m not kidding! Books like this don’t come along every day! Unless you make one yourself!
Pure charm, filled with pressed flowers and wonderful old photos, that’s Norman Warne there …
Above are glued-in “proofs” of the pictures for her first book. There’s even a real envelope that opens and inside you can pull out a perfect copy of the famous letter she wrote to Noel, her governess’s child, illustrating the story of Peter Rabbit for the first time on paper.
And on this page, an illustrated map of the Lake District unfolds … I could put ten exclamation marks after every page!!! Books aren’t usually made this way!!!!!!
Then, at the end, just when you think you’ve seen it all, and you are already sighing because you don’t want it to end, you find an amazing surprise embedded in the inside of the back cover. See the little ribbon? “Hmmmm,” you say to yourself, “What’s that?”
At first you don’t see it, but then, with a little tug, an invisible door opens . . .
and inside is an exact copy of Peter Rabbit that Beatrix had printed herself after having been rejected by publishers. (This was a very brave thing for her to do, considering women’s “place” at the turn of the century, but only the beginning when it comes to the bravery of Miss Potter). If you ever need a hero that will help you be brave, I suggest you read the biography of Beatrix Potter by Linda Lear. Forevermore, after that, you will say to yourself, “If she can do it, so can I.”
Her first printing, in black and white to keep down costs. A totally delightful surprise! I have to say, I think I might be forced to paint inside these little line drawings!
But you can do what you want when you get your hands on this little jewel, because, to celebrate the 151st birthday of my hero, Beatrix Potter, this book, and the book where I wrote about sailing the wild and windy Atlantic, then trekking across England in order to fulfill a long-time dream to finally walk through the doors of Beatrix Potter’s house at Hill Top in the Lake District ~ will both become the property of one of YOU darling people. Just leave your name at the bottom of this post, click on the tiny word that says “comments,” and leave a few words … and in a wee bit o’ time, we’ll draw a name and see who these books get to go home with. Happy Birthday, dear Beatrix. We will never forget you! 💞
One other thing . . . you remember the picnic we had last year in Stourhead, Wiltshire, England? Of course you do! And you remember how it happened? Well, just in cases, I’ll tell you again: When we knew we were going over to England last year, I wrote here on my blog, “Joe and I will be in the park at Stourhead, having a picnic, at 12 noon on September 18, and we would LOVE anyone who’s going to be in the neighborhood to BYO Picnic Basket and come join us and say hello!” We had no idea what to expect. Would anyone come? Might there be seven people? Could there be fifty? No idea.
As it turned out, there were sixty of us kindred spirits spread out on the lawn on a lovely spring day, next to a 12th century stone church, in a garden designed by Capability Brown over 200 years before, with the sun weaving in and out of the clouds . . .
And we had a wonderful, joyful afternoon, sitting, laughing and talking and getting to know each other, marveling over the unlikelihood of this happening at all … it was really a thrill. Lots of people from the US, lots from England, some Americans who now live in England, and others from Europe . . . a surprise and so perfect, I still live in the glow of it. People brought things, like gorgeous quilts they’d made, or their own Petey dolls, or their children, and lots of delicious lunches … and I signed books, and we had a great day.
We took a “class picture,” and I think you can tell by the smiles what a wonderful time we were having. “We all kept saying, we need to do this again!” Well, dear hearts, we are going to do it again . . . we’ll be taking the picture for Class of 2018 next year on May 11, and we hope you can come, wherever you are! But this time, we’re be having our picnic someplace else … so if you want to come . . .
You will have to drive through countryside like this . . . sorry, but you have to!
Where oh where are we going . . . ? ? ? It’s a mystery! MAS MUSICA ~ we loved playing Vera Lynn in our car while we drove through the English Countryside . . .
Past lakes with swans and and wildflowers, pulling over at a pub for an icy Peah Cid-ah . . . it’s a tough job but someone has to do it!
In May, hillsides of English Bluebells will be in bloom!
You’ll have to meander between narrow hedgerows speckled with cow parsley, watching for bunnies, rolling down your windows to hear the wood pigeons coo, “My toe huts Bet-tee … “
Past curving rock walls and gingerbread stone cottages . . . can you guess where we’re going yet? You probably can, but you probably can’t believe it! Me either!
Almost there ~ must go through bunting-decked villages where the buildings look as if they’re covered in frosting … oh darn.
The frosting makes them shine from the hill sides . . . you’ll be stopping to get your camera out.
Because you’ll be marveling over handmade chimney tops and slate roofs like these . . .
. . . as you drive past hillsides with cows and lambs and sparkling lakes, turn off your car to hear the wind through the trees . . .
. . . and through the hedges of wild roses and rhododendrons. But, a hint: Before you go, you’ll probably want to read this wonderful little book . . .
For inspiration. ❤️ Squealing yet?
Because, Yes! OMG, I’m not kidding! Where we’re going to have our picnic is totally impossible, it can’t happen, but it is and it can . . .
We’re having our BYO Picnic Basket Party right here, next May 11, at Castle Cottage, where Beatrix Potter (Mrs. Heelis) and her husband William lived for 30 years! Just in front of the house, across Post Office Meadow (which will be filled with frolicking lambikins in May), is the gate to Hill Top in Near Sawrey, heavenly Lake District, beloved home of Beatrix Potter!!! That’s where we’re going, Girlfriends!
And here’s a preview ~ this photo is actually from inside Castle Cottage, sent to me by my friend Mandy, showing the wonderful view over rooftops of Near Sawrey (with Mandy’s Ollie Dog in attendance) . . . From here, you can see the famous Tower Bank Arms and the entrance to Hill Top ~ the very same view that Beatrix had. For us. Us us us us us! We get to go go go!!!
Here’s how this miracle happened, . . . As you may remember, I was asked to speak at Beatrix’s 150th Birthday Party last year by Betsy Bray of the Beatrix Potter Society (are you 
a member? I love the wonderful newsletter I receive from England, and their luv-lee E-Newsletter called Pottering About) ~ that’s Betsy on the left . . . she and I have kept in touch, and a couple of weeks ago, she came to lunch and brought her friend Mandy Marshall, who just happens to LIVE in Castle Cottage (shaking head in disbelief) . . . and we started talking and our talking turned to plotting and then it turned to planning and I just heard from Mandy yesterday that she would love to have us for our picnic there (she opens the house only by special arrangement, which this is!), and Betsy wrote to say she’d be there too! So now, we’re inviting you! And if you CAN’T get over there in person, that’s okay, because we will take so many photos you will think you’ve been there! That’s a promise!
Happy Birthday Beatrix Potter!
Love you dears, leave a comment to win the books, and mark your calendars for May 11, 2018! Oh! I almost forgot, the cups! They are in LA, sort of stuck in a mire of Homeland Security (very dangerous cups) and Customs. We call, we holler, they ignore us, but it should be soon now. 💞 Bye for now! xoxo
Wonderful news..so exciting….thank you for the date..the wonderful setting ….links with others that turn into opportunities. Will put it in my diary straightaway…unbelievable Beatrix potter land..Whow !!!!!! X
I grew up reading Beatrix Potter books! Wonderful memories, and I love your enthusiasm about her. 🙂
Happy Birthday to Beatrix Potter! Love the journal!
Loved the movie and I love the books Beatrix wrote. So charming! Enjoyed your adventure in England looking for Beatrix Potter. The photos were wonderful!
Thank you for sharing!
Oh YES, Happy Birthday, Dear Beatrix!
Yes, yes, yes! Count me in, please! Lovely surprise post.
Oh Susan, how wonderful you are to share!!! Love Beatrice Potter, read most of the stories to the kids when they were young!! Mmmm to have a picnic where of all places…. Castle Cottage, so magical for sure!!! Thank you again!! xo Lorraine
Hi, Susan:
What a lovely surprise about the visit/picnic at Beatrix Potter’s home. You are so lucky to get to go to England again and revel in the flora and fauna and delightful people. I would love to win the books, but just seeing them in your blog is delightful. Your enthusiasm and excitement comes right through the internet to inspire us all to “pack our bags” and shrink down to suitcase size and come along with you. Happy dreams until next May.
Dear Susan, Have been to England and love that country and Beatrix Potter with all my heart, since I was a child. Please, oh please make my fairytale wish come true. May I win the books and treasure them forever. Thank you Susan for all you do and tell us. You make the world one person so much better. Love you, Suzanne
Oh, my! The MAGIC continues! And you, of course, are the Magic Mistress!!! Oh, my my!… :^)
Beatrix Potter to me exemplifies the notion that if you try hard enough dreams do come true! How I would love this book to share with my wonderful grandchildren so that they too can see a world much different from theirs today. I believe it is important to share with the generations coming after us not only our love of reading but also admiration for those to went forward with their dreams despite obstacles. Thank you Susan Branch – you are a “hero” in my mind and right along side Beatrix Potter.
Sweet! What wonderful friends Betsy and Mandy are for helping put it all together. Wouldn’t I love to be at that picnic, but never mind I’ll really look forward to your report and pictures. Let’s see, only 9 1/2 months of anticipation. Happy Birthday to the dear departed: Beatrix AND my own Mom (same birthday) who I remember reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit to me as a little girl. Lots to think about . . .
Hi, Susan! Can it be mine is the first comment again? I know it will get buried beneath the east coast comments due to the time difference, but, oh well! Anyway, what lovely pictures of the English countryside, thank you for sharing. I would like to win the BP books! I was sad to see the piece about her first fiance dying a month after they were engaged. In my husband’s family, a great uncle’s fiance passed before they could be wed as well, and his never-used wedding band was passed down to my husband when we were married 35 years ago. Small world, small bits of gold binding us together. Love to all.
I did not grow up knowing anything about Beatrice Potter but was familiar with the Peter Rabbit story. As an adult I bought a little set of Beatrice Potter books at an antique show, that slide into a paper case with a BP truck on the front. Apparently a promotional, advertising item. My twin granddaughters have enjoyed those books since they were tiny and now they are old enough to hear “the rest of the story” about Beatrice Potter. Thanks for all you do!
I always enjoy reading your blog – thank you!
THANK YOU, Susan, for being a joy-bringer. Beatrix would be proud!
What a lovely giveaway, dear Susan! Thank you for your generosity and for this happy post!
What a wonderful book it is! I would love to own them both!
Beth Wilson
HOP! HOP! HOP! DEAR SUSAN,
what a fabulous offering, thank you! I’m going to be lucky I can feel it ….. and if not, someone will be, I’m certain of it. I was born in 1949, it’s fun to see how people of ‘about’ my age have so many things in common, including the love of Ms. Potter and her charming cast of characters. I so love your weekly thoughts on just about anything.
You won’t believe what I found tucked away in the back of a thriftstore shelf…a Flopsy china wind-up music box…all greasy and dusty and crying to come home with me for $3. I didn’t care if it played! (which it does!).
I now have my first grand baby who at 10 months is MADLY inlove with her stuffed bunny (from the I love you book). I can’t wait to gift this little treasure to her some day. Also found a Peter Rabbit cookie tin which will be perfect for crayons and stickers some day soon!
Oh that is a picnic I would LOVE to be a part of!
Hi Susan:
Was wondering what you would be doing to celebrate our dear Beatrix
Potter’s birthday tomorrow (having checked your July calendar).
And what a wonderful surprise to find this new blog all about her.
Loved it. Wish I could join you at Castle Cottage next May–but out of reach
for me, so will live vicariously through your blog and twitter photos.
What a wonderful time you will have there–and in her home especially.
I will be there in spirit because after all, my last name is “Castle.”
Thank you for this blog and all your creativity! You are a very special lady!
Connie Castle from Michigan
How I wish I could head across the pond and picnic with you and the other girlfriends❤️❤️❤️❤️😊 I will think of you with love and a sigh!
I enjoy reading your blog so much, and I get so excited when I see there is a new post! My daughter goes to college in Massachusetts (we live in Southern California) and when you show the weather on your island it gives me an idea of what she is seeing. Thank you for sharing so much beauty with all of us. The Beatrix Potter Journal looks like so much fun!
You are inspiring me to turn on the movie Miss Potter while I sew this afternoon. What a strong and determined woman she was. How fun to have a picnic within sight of her home. I know you’ll all have a wonderful time. Wish I could be there, too. The book about her sounds charming.
While I have always loved Peter Rabbit, I just “found” Beatrix Potter herself in the last several years. I love her books and, of course, anything about her. Her home and the Lake District is on my vacation wish list!
Oh, it would be a dream come true to be able to go with you. I hope you have a wonderful time
Susan, I’m so very excited, that journal is beyond fabulous, and something to be cherished forever! Whoever wins is one lucky girl! I need to get going and select new luggage, time will close in on me like it always seems to in recent years. Plus, I don’t want you guys to be embarrassed to be seen traveling with me with my present set ~ yikes! Haha, well, it’ll be another wonderful trip filled with more moments that set the heart tingling ~ so happy for you and Joe!
Love the story of Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my girls when they were small, to the point that they could recite each page when I turned them. I also used to have some mini books for the girls that their grandmother bought for them. But they either were torn from use or lost in moves. My mother in law was the one who really loved Beatrix Potter, while I had not been exposed to her until my girls were born. ( Can you believe THAT? ) I swear, my own childhood wasn’t as blessed as my girls! I now wish I had held on to the books, to share with my only granddaughter.
So exciting that the picnic will be at Ms. Potter’s house! Lucky YOU!
Yes, please, pick me as my Hill Top visit last Fall is on my most memorable list.
Oh My! I must be the first to say pick me for the two books. How I would love them dearly. Ohhhhhhhhhhh! Now I want to go to England next May. How I am dreaming this very moment. Thanks for the dream.
Love, love, love! Thank you for your posts; they make me smile. How I love England!
Oh how I would love to attend the picnic. But I will only be there in spirit. Sounds like a lovely time.
Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to have these enchanting books! Blessings
Crossing my fingers and toes that I will be in England in May next year and able to attend the Lake District picnic. I was so sorry not to be at Stourhead for the picnic there – although I was able to visit it a few months later.
It would be a treat to win the fictionalized scrapbook!
Only you … Dear Susan .. would have such a sweet darling drawing!!
I would very much like to win … Xoxoxo and Alo-ha-ha, Evie in San Diego
PS: Still recharging … and thanking you for continual support and ((hugs))
You go girl! xoxoxo ❤️
Love your blog. Thank you.
Love her books and I love, love your books❣️ I have many of hers and I think I have ALL. OF. YOURS! … What fun!
So delightful to read and see the pics.
Susan, you just continue to amaze and surprise all of us! Well done.
Okay, Okay, I am squealing with delight! We were in England recently and I have fallen in love with this beautiful country. Because of you Susan, I have also renewed my interest in Beatrix Potter. I knew I just had to see the movie about Beatrix and I now see a Beatrix Potter collection of my own in the near future. Love your posts Susan. They are like reading letters from a good friend.
ahhhhhhhhhh! How exciting!!
Wow! Tears in my eyes. Happy.
What a treat to share. Thank you.
Yes, please! Count me in. My son might be studying abroad in Scotland at Saint Andrews next summer. I have saved my points and airline miles. My sister in law has a house in the Cotswolds. Sounds like I need to book my tickets asap! Thanks for helping me dream big dreams for 2018!
Perfect timing… and I have to say, you will LOVE St Andrews if you haven’t seen it, and Edinburgh. I am not a city person, but those are two places I would move to if I was 23 years old!
Oh dear Susan,
Castle Cottage! I must pinch myself! How exciting this news brings to Beatrix Potter lovers! Sadly, but not too sadly, we will be there this fall celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. I will look longingly at Castle Cottage and think of the fun you and all the girlfriends will enjoy in May! I can’t be sad, because my dream of returning to England will be happening.
I have the Beatrix Potter Journal, thanks to a drawing from one of the girlfriends, Cathy at Morning Musings. If my name is chosen please choose another lucky girlfriend. It’s a wonderful journal and of course AFR is the book that gave us the courage to go to the English Countryside a couple of years ago! Thank you for all the joy you spread. Lord knows, we need it! XOXO ♥
Lord knows. xoxo
What I love most about Beatrix is that she recovered from her heartache and in the process saved the beautiful English countryside for future generations. I read her biography a couple summers ago, what an inspiration and energizer!! I love her little books and her heart, she is definitely a kindred spirit.
Hello Susan,
Thank you for sharing all of this with us:) I was so excited because my In Love with Nature Mug, and the Heart of the Home Anniversary Edition got delivered today! I am at work, so I started using my mug right away, but will have to wait until later to read the book. The mug is even prettier in person, with each inch of it showing another treasure of nature. Thank you for everything, and please keep doing what you do!
Love,
Holly
Glad you like it Holly!!
Oh, I have such fun reliving your trips and now new adventures to look forward to! Thank you!
Both books look like true treasures!
PS: Tomorrow I am with Girlfriends (4 of us know you!) and by coincidence
I chose the book Beatrix Potter–A Life in Nature by Linda Lear to give to
the birthday girl … and it’s on BP birthday … more like magic don’t you think??
Perfect! Have a wonderful day! Say hello for me!
What a fantastic idea! I would love to go to your picnic. When my husband and I went to England 14 years ago we really enjoyed it, but we missed many things, Hill Top being one of those. Now that we are again free to travel (after several years of taking care of my mother-in-
law) we hope to return next year. Maybe we will see you there.
Would be wonderful Phyllis!
PSS: OMGoodness … and I am the first to comment!!
I am now obsessed in finding a copy of the book you mentioned:
Beatrix Potter A Journal (Penguin Books 2006) … any suggestions?
Look on Amazon, it’s out of print, but maybe they have one ~ maybe Google it!
…some currently on eBay, as of 5:58pm (in Washington).
What a lovely and special give away, thank you.
I do love the Lake District.
Treese Colorado Cowgirl.
Love Beatrice Potter. Happy 151st to a dear lady.
thANKS for the remembrance of Beatrix.
Swoon! They look lovely!
Thank you…
Dear Susan:
You have truly had an enchanted life. Thank you for sharing your enchantment with the rest of us.
I love, love, love the Beatrix Potter book! Thank you for sharing!
You ARE the dearest lady – you wave your magical wand – THE picnic
is going to take place at Castle Cottage! Ahhh!
Ah, sweet Susan…I would love to have the Beatrix Potter book (as well as yours). I have been a fan for many years of Peter Rabbit and his funny brothers and sisters. When my first grandchild, a boy, was born 29 years ago, I embroidered a large Peter Rabbit birth sampler, including Peter (of course) and Jemima Puddle-Duck, and several others of the cast of characters from her stories. He has two children of his own now and has shared our love of Peter Rabbit with them. Thank you for sharing this book. It looks wonderful, and just the kind of book with visual quirks that I so enjoy. I love hidden maps, notes, envelopes, and what not in a book. And the picnic in Castle Cottage sounds like a dream. Sherry
Would love to be on the trip to Hill Top!!! I Love Beatrix Potter!!!!
Susan, I actually “gasped”!! Reading along, hoping to get inspiration from you and Miss Potter, you surprised me! What a spectacular gift to receive, the chance you’ve been given to see, in person, Castle Cottage!😇 You just made my week with that announcement. Happy Days to you and all the Girlfriends!💞🐑
That would be a dream come true to go to that picnic next year. Beatrix holds a very special place in my heart. Judy from KY
oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
take me with you?????????
🙂
We are!
Yes, I do live vicariously through your wonderful posts….but
I still might stow away …….
💞
:;;The Beatrix Potter: A Journal sounds wonderful! A real book that you can read and touch and open things and pull ribbons! And I’m going to start talking to my sisters about attending the 2018 picnic. You couldn’t have picked a better place! We lived in England during the late 60’s and have dreamed for several years now of going back. But illness has stopped us–me with breast cancer and my youngest sister’s husband with brain cancer. Fortunately, I’m cancer free and he’s in remission, so now is the time to go!
Yes! And you deserve a reward! Such good news Susan!
So happy for you!!!
OH my word, your posts just get more and more exciting. I think I must get to doing some reading about Beatrix. Looking forward to the next adventure. You really should just have a Girlfriends Cruise…how fun that would be !
Beatrix shares a birthday with my precious grandson, Everett. ❤️😊
Your excitement of the for Beatrix Potter A Journal is making go see if my local library has a copy to check out.
Oooohhhh what a lovely post – what a delightful, charming book, what a lucky thing to win it would be!!!!!!! Fingers crossed!!!!!!!
Susan, thank you so much for mentioning Linda Lear. I immediately went to my local library’s website (Pierce County Library, Washington) and placed two of her books on hold. You’ve made a Beatrix Potter fan of me — I even named my Buick after her!
Cute!
Oh, my goodness! Dear Susan Branch, you’ve brought me to tears of joyfulness with this wonderful-everything-is-possible posting! Thank you for sharing your joy of Beatrix Potter with us, she is truly a modern woman and an inspiration! Hill Top is definitely on my list of must see places in my lifetime!
How fabulous, Susan! What wonderful news. I’ll be with you there in spirit and waiting to see the photos you post of the picnic next year.
And thank you for the opportunity to enter the generous give-away.
Happy Day to you on Beatrix Potter’s birthday!
Wonderful pictures, wonderful Beatrix what Bliss.
Looking forward to armchair traveling with you to England in the spring and the picnic at Castle Cottage! Hoping you’ll do another England book from that trip and the one you took last fall, too.
Oh I love books like that!!! With things to open an treasures to find! Thanks for sharing it with us 🙂
Hello dear Susan Branch,
I got to know you just a week back and am very much amazed about the beautiful world that’s inside your heart. How gloriously you illustrate the most sweet and cutest things. The Red and blue gingham and beautiful florals. Your kind and magical words that does a sweet dance inside the readers heads. The world is so fortunate to have you. Thank you so much for us readers bringing the gorgeous world of your darling words and doodles. They are sure a treasure. Your books are definitely great keepsakes. Wishing you good health and happiness always. Your biggest new fan 😊🎀
What sweet words, Rameswari! Thank you so much . . . 💞 Love having you here, it’s a joyful world of kindred spirits and you fit in perfectly!
Hello dear Susan Branch 😘😍 am so thrilled to receive your teply🌹💕 It’s like a fresh smell of England roses and a beautiful kind lady set to banter about life’s luscious things ☕️ You are a pure delight😍 My heart swells with love for you dear Ma’am🌹🌷💕🎀
Hi Susan,
If you haven’t read it already, you will LOVE the book “Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children’s Tales”!
Thanks for this exciting giveaway!
Lily
What a treasure!!!
The gifts you offer are divine. To own these books would be a Blessing…Please choose me Vanna 🙂 …your next Big Adventure is Magnificent. Following your dreams makes me feel happy.
Hi Susan, Thanks for the tour of the beautiful BP Journal. It looks wonderful — and your picnic next year sounds like lots of fun. My husband and I were there a couple of years ago…..no where prettier!
Oh Susan! I wish I could be there at your next picnic with all of you! I just got done with reading A Fine Romance, again, and so want to go back to England! I went there briefly in 2006 as part of a months trip to Ireland. I stayed in a bed and breakfast in Stow-on-the-Wold and loved it! there is just something about that beautiful country that nurtures the heart and I just didn’t get to see enough of it! Well, I look forward to enjoying it vicariously through all of you, but who knows what kind of magic can happen between now-and-then…with love, Bindu
What a wonderful place for a picnic. I was just at Hill Top on a tour with Betsy. The whole area has recently been declared a UNESCO world heritage site so you you know it will be beautiful wherever you go. I wish I could go again next year but have obligations elsewhere. I’ll raise a glass of pear cider in absentia on the day. Happy birthday to Beatrix ( Mrs Heelis) Potter.
Oh! I hope I get picked!!!! I love love love Beatrix. I visited her home 30 years ago and it was wonderful!
I would love to win the books! Like you, I saved pennies from my first job to buy Beatrix, however, the books were my goal back then. I collected the entire series. Still love to learn of her life.
Soooooo, are all the Girlfriends invited to the picnic if we can somehow find a way to make it happen!?! I want to go! Sigh, if only I could be in the English countryside in the spring with lambs and bunnies running around and have a wonderful lunch with you and a bunch of like minded Girlfriends having fun and good food and laughs! Sounds amazing.
Of course. Everyone is invited. I know everyone can’t make it, but we can all be there in spirit no matter what, and photos and videos will help that be true!
P.S., what did you have for dinner?
I had a big salad, and then wild salmon carpaccio … was a very healthy delicious dinner, to make up with the wide pasta and duck I’d had the night before!
Love this blog and am excited to have a chance to win the two wonderful books that will be given away. Here’s hoping!
I am hyperventilating over the BP book!! I always loved her and the little books. When my daughter was born I decorated her nursery in Peter, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. That was 42 years ago and there wasn’t much on the market except the stuffed animals ( I bought all of them), so I hand painted furniture, walls, and lamps. I came to be one with an overhead projector because all I had was s set of tiny books! 😊. It turned out just how I wanted, and I embroidered her little blankets to go with it. Her room was alive with images of Peter and his sisters!! Thank you for showing us the fabulous book! Patricia
Im going to see Beatrix Potters home in September, I am so excited! Thanks for sharing your love for all things BP and now I love them too!
How amazing! I am so excited for you and for us!
Yippee!! Would love to be there!!! One can dream. Thannks for making this possible!!
OH my! This news is so very exciting! Would very much like to picnic at Castle Cottage! And of course receive these wonderful books. I wonder if Betsy Bray is arranging a tour that will be there in May ’18?! Will have to check…. Fingers crossed!
Were you on her tour this year? She said it was a wonderful time . . . she loved all her fellow travelers!
I just said to my partner/husband/lover/man, “i think I have to go to England next May” and he says, “you gotta do what you gotta do!” A travel plan is born. Here’s hoping!
He sounds like the perfect man!
Love the picnic site! Send us lots of pictures.
ooooohow incredibly exciting!! i’d love to win. hope you have a lovely dinner!
hugs from the southern belle, susan
This so speaks to my heart. I have been a fan of Beatrix for many,many years. Back in the 70’s I too began to collect the Beswick figurines with my mother. Hers became mine when she passed and I have a wonderful collection. Everyone knew what to get me for birthdays and Christmas! Then they stopped making them before I could get Ginger, the kitty in the tale Pickles and Ginger. A few months ago, after pining for the Ginger for years, I bought him (yes, a boy cat) on ebay. He now sits proudly on the shelf with Pickles!
Beatrix was an amazing woman. I have several of the biographies, but not the one in the give away. It would be wonderful to have it.
As always, it was good to have a new post – your words cheer and delight!
I’ve never been to England, but your delightful photos make me feel as though I’ve been a stow away on your journey! Thank you, Susan!
Hi Susan!
Just entering to win the lovely books!
Happy Birthday Beatrix!