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
Oh my how exciting. The first book my first daughter received as a present was Peter Rabbit with a windup musical stuffed Peter Rabbit! They are safely stored to be passed down when she has children. Love your blog. It is a breath of positive air in a negative atmosphere. But as all us Girlfriends know, good always triumphs over evil eventually. It is written in the Good Book! Hugs.
Lovely! I’m hoping some of the magic may rub off onto me as I am in my late 30’s still looking to bloom. Please send any magic my way! XOXO
I wrote down where the magic is in Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams. You’re the perfect age! Hardly anyone blooms until they are out of their 30s, and many many, much later. You’re right on time!
Have read your recent trilogy of books and have your cookbooks. Would LOVE to have a copy of your favorite Beatrix Potter book:-)
Oh my! Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail will be only half excited as me at the thought of tea at Castle Cottage! What a magical idea! I’ll dream about it…
Oh, pick me!!!!!
It’s hard to believe that a year has passed, since I was in Brewster celebrating Beatrix Potter’s birthday with you, Betsy Bray, Joe, and all of your girlfriends. What a wonderful day!! I treasure the Beatrix Potter notecard we received as a gift. I looked closely once again at the photos of your British picnic to see if my expat American girlfriend was there. Oh how I’d love to attend this year’s picnic with Jen and her twin girls. I’d better start saving. My mother was British, so I grew up with the Tales of Beatrix Potter. When my niece was young, I took her to see the movie of the Royal Ballet performing “the tales” in the Lake District. We still watch my copy of the movie occasionally and now share it with her daughter who will begin college next year. Beatrix Potter is timeless. Thank you for sharing a glimpse of her journal with us. Although I’m keeping my fingers crossed, I agree with Wendy Z that I must begin searching for a copy of my own. I really enjoyed you quote about “the little things”. Please continue to spread your ray of sunshine, reminding us of the joy and beauty to be found in the little things that surround us on a daily basis. (I celebrated my birthday counting my blessings while sipping tea from my “little things” mug. It is so beautiful, and I will treasure it.
Susan – what a joy it is reading your posts! This is my first chance to set in peace and enjoy it and wow what a surprise! Beatrix Potter birthday tribute. I adore everything about BP and wish I could be with you next May for the picnic but that is not possible so I will look forward to your wonderful pictures and narrative of the picnic. Enjoy this last month of summertime fun 🙂
Hot here, so thanks for the drive through the wonderful English countryside, with Vera singing beautifully! “We” get to join you for another picnic, this time with the spirit of Beatrix, can hardly wait! It’s remarkable that Beatrix Potter shared herself with us so many years ago, and she is still a treasured soul. Thank you for your generous gift to a lucky one….! Love the “Thank God” note, really truly lovely! Another blog that lifts my soul….thank you dear sweet Sue, God bless!
Thank you for introducing us to this wonderful and creative little book about Beatrix Potter!
Ah goodness, I do love your posts & even though I know I am late to enter & there are so many other charming comments, I thought I’d leave one as well because you can never have too many nice words going around the world, can you? Enjoyed your little write up about Beatrix, in honour of her birthday. ♥
I do read all your posts, I just never comment. This is a flaw of mine. To read something & not let the author know I actually enjoyed it! 😉
Hope you are having a lovely day!
♥ Miss Mouse Middleton ♥
Hello Little Mousie! So happy to see you here. I love scrolling back through to read all the lovely comments. It’s like reading letters from friends! Continued thoughts keep flying your way.
Love, Ever Kat on Rose Creek Farm
I too have A Fine Romance! The Beatrix Potter Journal looks lovely, as you said just like she made it herself. Her life story is so inspiring, she was one gutsy lady to press on to get her books published, considering the times in which she lived. Leaving her property to be preserved to, was it a trust?, so all the world could visit and enjoy it was also very innovative and forward thinking. I do not have any Beatrix Potter books, don’t know how I missed getting them when reading to my daughter when she was young, but I had not been familiar with them except I’d heard of them, of course. That picnic next spring in Castle Cottage will be wonderful, and it will be the lucky ones that get to attend, but we will be there in spirit. Another trip to jolly old England, something to look forward to!
Marking my calendar for May 11th, 2018. We are planning a trip to the Cotswolds and will definitely have to go early to visit the Lake District. What a wonderful surprise, Susan!
Oh Susan–such a delight to see the photos of Stourhead. I was fortunate to tour there 20 years ago and would love to return….someday. Thanks for sharing these books. It inspires me to attempt something similar about my own travels.
Thank you for sharing your world and ways with us via computer screen.Our local Lions Club not only donates children’s books to the needy students in grades K,1 and 2 but we also read to these same little ones monthly! Hopefully the books go home and are read aloud again! Peter Rabbit was new to them!
Always excited to receive a new Blog from you – you are inspiring!
Thanks for this lovely give a way !
Ah, dear Sue! Back to England you go! Wishing I could make that trip once in my lifetime. This is a wonderful giveaway, as all your giveaways are. Some lucky person will be very happy! Beatrix Potter – truly a treasure! Sending you the very best for the coming week!
xo Nellie
I, too, love all things Beatrix Potter! I have been decorating our guest bedroom…a little at a time…and found myself gravitating toward nursery rhymes, fairy tales and Peter Rabbit!! Lots of tiny furniture, little ironstone tea sets, quilts and samplers that were done by my grandmother!! It just makes me happy to look at it!!
I look forward to being an armchair traveler with you next year, I have so enjoyed all the photos of England. Thanks, Patty
I knew there was a reason I craved cake on Friday! Happy happy to Beatrix’s memory. Thank you for the book reminder…love my journal with the book within a book. Need to get the “walking with” book, too. Your blogs are always fun and inspiring.
After reading about your British travels I researched Beatrix Potter books and read the Linda Lear biography last summer and loved it! Definitely one of my favorite biographies. Thank you.
Wow! How I wish I could be there for your picnic!! Looking at your lovely photos, I think it’s time for me to reread all your books again! Much love from Mary S. In Fresno, California
Another wonderful post. No matter how low I go Susan you always pick me up. Thanks for your positive outlook on every little thing. You are a treasure.
Wow, your blog is amazing. Thank you – the words & pictures are so wonderful. Beatrix sounds like an amazing woman.
My dream is to get to England and be as excited as you Susan. Love your blog and always get a cup of tea to sit and immerse myself in seeing and reading every word. xoxo
What a absolutely wonderful event to look forward to and anticipate with all of your fans. I wish I could be there also, but will look forward to all the photos you so lovingly share. I, too, am a huge fan of Beatrix Potter and all that she did in her wonderful life. She has blessed us all!
Oh how I would love to win these books. Beatrix Potter is one of my heroes also.
I would treasure them! Since there are so many of us trying to win, are these
books available to buy and where? You remind me of miss Potter, Susan.
I love everything you do. God bless your day, Patty
Gee Whiz! A Grand Birthday Celebration. Thank you.
Absolutely amazing you were able to arrange the 2018 picnic at the lovely place Beatrix & her husband called home! Thank you for inviting all of your girlfriends.
One of my indulgences in life is pop up books and books with 3d details and things to explore that I share with my son, who is now a teenager, but never gets tired of sharing them with me. This would be a treasure for us to share.
I too have loved Beatrix Potter for a long time. We were blessed to get to visit Hilltop years ago and see the original paintings while also being enchanted by the Lake District. When my children were babes, nothing made me happier than to give them stuffed animals of the B. Potter animals….now I’m saving them for future grandchildren!
Happy Birthday to Beatrix! Thank you, Susan, for writing about her and visiting The Lake District so we could see her home and Hill Top Farm with you. 28 years ago, my son’s nursery was all Beatrix Potter inspired!
This is such a post filled with love, love, love ♥♥♥ You continue to inspire with your writings, creativity, generosity…all the heartfelt blessings of an artist and writer in love with life and the good. What a joyous post! Oh, how I would love to meet you in England and picnic at Castle Cottage…but cant wait to be there in spirit with you and all the fortunate friends who can attend. My mom celebrated her 90th birthday on July 28! And while she likes Beatrix Potter, her first love is the Bronte sisters. She never had the opportunity to visit England (we are almost 100% English in heritage), but she instilled in us a love of all things English and beautiful 🙂 You have inspired me to open up A Fine Romance again! I now follow shepherds, knitters, farmers…wonderful slices of life all over the world and particularly in the Lake District which is now a World Heritage site! Thanks for everything…this is a magical wonderful site to visit and dream. ♥ p.s. Oh, I keep looking at the sticker on the rubber stamp surprise box and thinking “hmmm…if that was in Spoonflower, what a wonderful tea towel that would make!” (Another wonderful English site – The Virtual Tea Towel Museum!) 😉 🙂 xoxo ♥
Love this blog! Thank You so much!
Have had a grand time reading your 2nd book and thrilled to have a chance to win these two books.
Only YOU could arrange the impossible English picnic! So very exciting for those of us who will stuffed into the suitcase. Holding teacups on saucers on our knees while hearing the stories of life ‘on the hill,’ will be a challenge with so many of us packed in there😉 Your generous heart warms my soul.
I think I might need to plan a “genealogy” trip next spring! Love the parallels you made between Beatrice’s life and yours.
May 11 is my birthday. And we will be in England! I’m scheming and dreaming to find a way to be with you at the picnic. Of course, a stop at Miss Potter’s house has been in the plans. Now I’ve just got to work out the timing.
I always save your posts until I have some spare moments to sit and and savor them. We just found out our daughter is pregnant with twins (one a girl for sure), and what a joy it would be to read Beatrix Potter’s journal to the grandbabies.
Thank you for brightening up our days, dear Susan!
Oh how I wish I could go to England! Love your blog and you!!
Susan–I’ve always loved your books, recipes, and blogs! Such an escape from our crazy world!
Dear Susan,
Thank you for the lovely post and for the chance to win such great books. Oh, how I wish I could attend that picnic! It is a dream of mine to visit England. I have long collected Beatrix related books and things.
Blessings to you,
Rebecca in Arkansas
I love Beatrix Potter so much! Thanks for sharing about her life.
What a lovely surprise!
When my four year old grandson and I take a walk in his neighborhood, we pass a vegetable garden surrounded by tall boxwood and an old wooden door arched with vines. He always peeks through the cracks in the door to see if “Mr. McGregor” is in the garden. (He really thinks that’s the neighbor’s name.)
I will be tagging along in your suitcase with Petey as well. I love your stories of Good ole England and would love for my hubby and I to make our own wonderful set of memories there someday. Until then, I live vicariously thru you!
Love your lovely stories. I read all your posts. I have always been curious what you think of the book Miss Potter and the movie that followed.
It is my dream to visit Hill Top!! I love Beatrix Potter! One of my boys’ nurseries was Beatrix Potter themed and now I have my very own “Peter Rabbit” guest room. I have both the books already but love to share them with a friend. I spent Beatrix’s birthday watching Miss Potter. She was an amazing woman! Thank you for this wonderful tribute to her and chance to win!
Oh my goodness, Susan! Your posts are always fabulous but extra special when it contains Beatrix Potter tidbits. And a picnic in her very backyard! Would love to have that book! Fingers & toes crossed!
It’s wonderful how life works out sometimes. The stars align and the next thing you know you invited to a picnic in England! Something so special to look forward to.
We, my daughter’s and I, had a tea party under the canopy on our backyard deck for Beatrix Potter’s Birthday. We made a hunting and hung it accessed the front and had lots of germanium and lavender. Peter and the gang sat in the center of the tea table! It was a lovely morning. Thanks for having this special day on your calendar!! Wonderful news from you!!
Hello- will this giveaway set the record for the most replies?
Close I think!
Oh, magic, magic, this is all magic! Thank you for the opportunity to win, and 1300 comments so far! Would love to be able to attend your get-together next May. Hmmm, how could I finagle it?
Will = Way! ❤️
What a wonderful idea and in such a beautiful setting. I would so love to join you but will have to wait for the photos instead. Will be thinking of you and all your dear friends on picnic day. Enjoy!!!
Oh, I love Beatrix Potter! Thank you for the chance to win!
So delightful! I wished for, and received, “A Fine Romance” for my birthday this year. I’ve finished reading it, and loved every page. The Beatrix Potter book you wrote about sounds heavenly, and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Would absolutely love to picnic with you next May. One never knows what the future holds!
Isn’t it just grand how many of us still love to sit quietly and read or listen to Beatrix Potter inspire our hearts!!
I liked your picnic. And the gingerbread trim on the eaves…. and your Beatrice Potter words.
What a magical book. I should so love to make the picnic next year. To be in the company of so many kindred spirits would indeed be glorious.
I’ve loved Beatrix Potter from a very young age. I still have my copy of “The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse”, given to me when I was about five or six, my very first Beatrix Potter book. Almost forty years later it’s rather battered and tattered – well-loved you see! Oh how I adored that book and how I pored over the pictures. My favourite picture was Timmy Willie asleep in the hamper of peas – so sweet! Now I have the delight of introducing my daughter to the little books.
What a wonderful surprise as I just checked if you might have a new post and not only you do but a marvelous giveaway. The book on Beatrice Potter reminds me of the English magazine, Daffney’s Diary (name misspelled) as each issue has pull outs, etc and are always a pleasant surprise.
Please add my name to the draw and am so pleased you are going to realize the dream of a lifetime and look forward to another of our travel books in the future.
Dear Susan…How I love to read your Blog….I now have even more desire to visit Hill Top…its on my list but I haven’t quite made it yet!
I received you beautiful Martha’s Vineyard mug almost the day after I ordered it from Nursery Thyme…amazing service and free delivery too. I am building my collection and cant wait for the next ones you design.
I’m off to walk Hadrian’s wall in Northumberland tomorrow…..could be wet but hayho its England!!!!
Love Jacqui
East Sussex. England
PS my fingers are crossed for the wonderful prize!!!!!
But “hayho” is right! Lucky you … and SO happy you got your cup!
Ahhh, such sweet delight just to imagine being at the tea. These days I am tending to our dear old dog, who depends on me, so can’t roam too far away. How lucky I am to be able to count on you to take pictures and share them with the homebodies amongst us girlfriends. xoxox
Just watched the Miss Potter movie today, and then read your delightful post my day is complete!
Susan, I look forward to your letters and all the generous life-sharing you give. It’s always a gift! I discover books, movies, addictive Australian tv series, recipes, seasonal inspirational…I can go on & on! I’ve said it before but, along with a GF hug, say it again to you! No need to reply to my previous comment-you can delete these. I found the a Penguin Young Readers book, sold by third-parties for around $100!
I think I may have earned just enough airline miles to make the trip next May! That would be amazing! And another trip to Bridgewater Potteries, too! A dream itinerary!
Yes, dear Susan, you are this generation’s Beatrix Potter. Your artwork and books delight young and old. You and Beatrix are indeed my inspiration as I, too, “started over” in my “late middle age” by going back to work after many years as a stay-at-home mom and work-from-home monogramming/embroidery business owner. At the age of 45, I decided to take the bar exam in my home state (over 20 years since I took the exam of my former home state!), I PASSED IT, and I am now in my third year of helping people with their estate plans. We old gals can learn new tricks and can succeed!
YOU GO GIRL! That is wonderful!!! Wanting it is half the battle! xoxo
Oh Dear Susan!
I’m so excited for you to be having another wonderful picnic next year! I will be with you in spirit as we have a wedding next year and I’m afraid that’s all I can handle in one year! Please take us all with you as you always do!
P.S. I could see myself in the picture from last years Beatrix’s birthday celebration! So much fun!
The best Sandi!
Thank you for sharing and inspiring LOVELINESS…
Hi Susan,
Great blog as always really enjoyed it sat here on my lunch hour.
How excited am I!
I knew that one day I would hopefully meet you and say hi. its going to happen…. Argghhh I can make the picnic its only 1 hour and 55 minutes away from me. I’m beside myself and cant wait until May 2018. Its special date for my diary…. how happy am I now.. 🙂 x
Yay Andi!
Thank you for sharing and inspiring LOVELINESS.
Would love to win two beautiful books to read in oz, love following you on your blog !
Susan,
You have renewed my love for Beatrix Potter with your posts and through your books. My kids are grown now, but at Christmas I’ve been gifting them her books we read throughout their childhood.
Looking forward to your picnic through the beautiful pictures you will send us through your blog.
Cindy
Isn’t it miraculous how you are meeting the right people at the right time in your life? That is what it is — you are living a life that miracles keep popping up. I believe that is the best life possible. Congratulations Susan! I look forward to hearing about the picnic and what happens next!
I recall my visit to Miss Potter’s home with great fondness. What a treasure it would be to have the Beatrix Potter journal. I have read your book A Fine Romance more than once and gifted it to some special girlfriends. I know of several more who would love to have a copy 🙂
Thank you for another wonderful blog post. The Beatrix Potter Journal looks amazing.
Love it. I would love the books, but I am content to just read the notes on the computer and share in my imagination. How awesome to be there.
What a fun post! Loved all the beautiful photos – almost like being there.
Your joy and enthusiasm makes a great start to the day. : )
Happy Birthday, Beatrix! Your family of bunnies was the inspiration for the very first quilt I ever made! I still have my son’s quilt – much loved (and dragged around). The journal is right up your alley, isn’t it, Susan? Mine, too. That’s how I have done mine for years. Still writing after fifty years (I started VERY young, you know).
How I and my daughters enjoyed Beatrice Potter! The book you described sounds enchanting! I would love to attend the picnic!
Oh, Your lovely blog transports me from the hot summer here in Texas to beautiful
England! I would love to win the books and would consider them a treasure to pass
on to granddaughters. I am looking forward to upcoming blogs from England with
much excitement!
Just received my 2018 Susan Branch wall calendar, so the picnic on May 11, 2018 is my first entry in it! I think that means I ought to finally get a passport, “just in cases” as you say, Susan. Now if I receive my bluebird mug by my birthday on August 8, that would add to the festivity! Well, and the drawing too? Maybe not so lucky, but I’m happy knowing one of our girlfriends will be elated. Thank you so much for all your uplifting posts, but this one is “the top”!
Nan in Kansas
I think you will have it for your Happy Birthday!!!!
Amazing to be able to picnic there! The Beatrix “scrapbook journal” is lovely.
I love the books with pull-outs and hidden goodies! I have one about the life of Charles Darwin and I think your book about Miss Potter would love to join it on my shelf! I would love to have another copy of A Fine Romance to pass to a friend since I have my own copy and have now read it three times and will read it many more I am sure.
I love seeing your blog in my inbox! You have such a magical way of depicting your adventures and I love tagging along!
Your blog posts get me through until your next book… listening to the musica and feeling your presence. I hope you LOVE the apron from my dear friend Colleen Peck (given to you last May). She makes the best aprons and I hope it has found a lovely place in your MV home. It spoke to me and I hope to you as well. Keep on keepin’ on, Susan. Love you so!
Adorable! Reversible! xoxo
Wish I could fly off to England for this wonderful trip, but will have to simply enjoy your beautiful pictures! You blog posts always put a smile on my face!
Susan, We visited the lake district fifteen years ago with our young children, hiking through the glorious countryside and exploring the grounds of Hill Top, but we couldn’t go in the house, so it is still on my list!! If we can’t come to your picnic on the grounds of beautiful Castle Cottage we must hold one here and celebrate with you in spirit! Linda
Oh thank you Susan for recommending the Linda Lear Biography. It is amazing! It truly does record what a woman she was , ahead of her time! I am so thankful that she met William Heelis and their time together. It is making me reread all the “little Books” so I can truly appreciate them. THANK YOU Susan for the sunshine that you bring us all!
You’re a magical explorer who takes us all along on your journeys, thank you, Susan. xo
Wow! What a beautiful post & such fun stuff! Thank you for a chance to win these keepsakes! Much love❣️Amy
Thank you for sharing…Happy Birthday, Beatrix!
Thank you for sharing this beautiful book! What a treasure and a treat to see this post! You whisk me away every time and make me yearn for another trip to England. Thanks for sharing your gifts and dreams-I’m a dreamer too!
Thanks for this lovely blog. Happy Day, Happy August!
Love Beatrix Potter. I love all your books too, Susan.
Hi Susan,
I have loved your blog for years and your books as well! I am a huge fan of Beatrix Potter and that book is just precious! Oh my goodness I was smiling all the way through this post! Thank you for all the sunshine you bring to everyone’s lives! Enjoy your summer day! ❤️
Susan, you are better than Calgon!!! The mental trips you’ve taken me on never disappoint!!! I hope and pray that I can be at the May picnic next year. I am going to see what can be done about that asap!!! Thanks for the opportunity to win these precious BP books!!! You are a sweetie!
Susan, I have another book about Beatrix Potter that you would love. It’s called “Beatrix Potter’s Art” by Anne Stevenson Hobbs, curator of the National Art Library’s Beatrix Potter collection at the Victoria an Albert Museum. I would adore to have the little Journal.
Candice
What a wonderful post! Through your eyes & pens, I have discovered Beatrix, thank you!
What a sweet, sweet book! It looks like a delight to read and look through! As for your Fine Romance book, I’m reading it right now, and it is such a pleasure! I loved your Isle of Dreams book, and I’m equally enjoying Fine Romance! I was just showing it to friends of mine who were visiting and who, like you, are lovers of the English country side (they totally get the Beatrix Potter and Jane Austen thing!)… They loved looking at it! If I were the lucky one to win this prize, I’d send your book to them (and keep Beatrix Potter’s!). I told them about you, your art, your life, and I think they are now new fans! 🙂
Oh how I would love to go to your next picnic!! And that Beatrix Potter scrapbook is so charming!!