Hiiii! We’re home!! MUSICA? Yes! It’s great to be here, and we had a WONDERFUL time in California! It was soooo good to see everyone. And I did bring home that special giveaway I promised ~ you’ll find it at the bottom of this post . . . but W A I T, don’t go yet . . . because getting home was the BEST. Here we are racing toward New England in our train room with awesome view . . .
. . . Hoping the whole way that we might still have some leaves on our trees. It was the end of October and normally by then they’re gone. But the way things were looking, we were thinking m a y b e . . . 🍂 🍁🍂🍁
Speeding through upstate New York, I was heartened by the color! Nothing like leaf-peeping from a train window.
We got off the train on Sunday in Albany, rented a car (so we could make the last ferry to the Island that same night) and drove through the gorgeous Berkshires, feeling more and more positive there would still be leaves on our trees at home.
We made the last boat but didn’t get home until after 10, so we couldn’t SEE the trees! Sleeping that night, when we finally got in our very own bed for the first time in a month, was as exciting as the night before Christmas! Would there still be fall when we woke up?
Dawn, from our bedroom window, assurance, and every dream come true.
I raced from window to window upstairs . . .
And down . . .
Then out to the side garden . . .
And around the house to the back . . . soooo
Then all the way back for the long view! Fall waited for us! Leaves blowing down, chill in the air, smell of the sea, sound of the ferry horn, church spire to the sky, sturdy house that has seen it all, everything that says Home. Thank you God. Ommmmm.
My own kitchen, and no noise or rocking, just me and the benevolent ghosts of time gone by. And since I’d done a lot of decorating before we left, we were pretty much ready!
AHHHHHHHH…. Home ~ our bed is pure heaven, cold rooms at night, snuggled under covers, mooshing the comforters around my ears, dragging my cozy flanneled legs out in the morning, stuffing my feet into wool slippers, throwing on an old sweater, padding down the stairs, Jack leading the way, tail high in the air, filling the tea kettle, deciding which cup. We are sitting, and we are staying. So this was Monday, our first day home. On Tuesday the dining room curtains came. On Wednesday it was Halloween. So let’s start with the curtains! Ready?
And of course, I know what you’re waiting for, in the category of “everything that says Home,” Jack, furry soft petty-pet and perfect decor. He seemed really happy to see us. Presented himself upside-down, in wiggle formation, for belly rubs, and gave me a very Loooooong forehead butt, a meeting of the minds, the brain exchange. So here are the new curtains for the dining room. And where does Jack choose to sit?
On them. And why not. King of the World can do no wrong. Reunited and it feels so goooood! 🎶 He’s still my shadow, he still brings back the hair ties, he still cuddles next to me when I read. Now Joe and I aren’t going anywhere for the next year and a half, we are 
I peeled Jack off and we hung the new curtains . . . (Jessica, who made them, with Lowely, my darling friend and neighbor)
And so voila, here they are! What do you think? I’m thinking the flowers make up for the ones we lost when we took the wallpaper down.💞
I’ve wanted “real” English curtains for sooooo long! They make you feel like you live on the inside of a marshmallow! We are now padded head to toe. I couldn’t wait for dark so I could light the candles!
They’re extra cozy because they’re completely lined in heavy flannel (just like the ones in England). They keep your house warm too.
Okay. So here was the problem and the reason I waited so long to show you the living room. I know you won’t think of this as a “problem.” With problems like this who needs enemies? Or whatever that phrase is. These are the curtains we got before we left and I’ve been pondering ever since. They are also very beautiful, thick and cozy, but for me, for the House of Creativity, for US? They feel a little much.
A wee bit too Duchess of Devonshire. I adore the fabric and love the pillows Jessica made to match, and I love the curtains too, they are glorious, but I was afraid after a while I might start doing the circular queen’s wave when I leave the house.
So we tried to tone it down (ps, they look pink in this photo, but they are really a soft beige with pink hydrangeas) . . . the first thing we did was take the decorative trim off the hems of the valances. Which softened things a little and took away some of the formality. This old house is your basic farmhouse with a barn and uninsulated pantry, the bathroom used to be a “three-holer,” and there are rooms you have to walk through to get to other rooms (i.e., no hall). It’s not a fancy house. It has “good bones,” as a dear friend said a long time ago, and also that New England simplicity I love. You have to give a house what it wants. And I try. But I think my imagination was bigger than my stomach, or what ever that saying is.
So next we tried removing the valances all the way. And I liked it SO MUCH BETTER. Back and forth we went, throwing out ideas, me, Joe, Jessica, and Lowely, with the tape 
measure, up the ladder, down the ladder, measure and pin and hold it up, stand back to see what it looks like, what if we get rid of the floral chairs? What if we change the lampshades? No stone was left unturned . . . and what we sort of decided is to keep the valances but bring them down so they aren’t all the way up to the ceiling, and then shorten the valance skirt by about 6 inches so it just covers the wood trim at the top of the window, to the first panes of glass. Make the valances lower and shorter is basically what we decided. And the other end of the room?
Here they are, the same fabric, but these are simpler and quieter.
Maybe I’m just bad at change! But I have to say, we’ve now been living with them for six days, and they’re growing on me. Most of my life I’ve made my curtains, so I’m used to unlined, crooked, half finished, a bit wrinkled, mostly made out of tablecloths, which is probably the problem! These are too good!
Jessica also made me a curtain for the guest room . . . Which I LOVE. Just a simple little thing, and pillows to match with a tiny blue and white stripe piping.
Just sweet and simple.
So then it was time to get ready for our Halloween party!
It was a pot-luck Halloween neighborhood Open House we were having, after the trick-or-treaters had gone home. Lowely brought cold slaw, Martha made a big pan of Corn Pudding, Carol brought a bowl of Dry Bones, Jaime came with a big green salad, and Barbara brought Brownies. I made Touchdown Chili and
A Pumpkin Trifle
Broken up chocolate cake on the bottom, then pumpkin mousse, then crushed oreo cookies, whipped cream, more chocolate cake, and more pumpkin mousse with a Hershey’s Syrup spiderweb on top!
While I was doing that, my boyfriend for life was outside in the driveway on that perfect fall day, carving away!
Making my favorite star pumpkins for our front porch.
offering me pumpkin seeds . . .
I came back in and did the dishes . . .
. . . then watered plants to stuff into baskets for arrangements for the house, swept the leaves off the porches . . . made sure all the votives and candle holders were filled . . . put Jack’s food and toys upstairs and locked him in our bedroom where no Halloween Cat thieves could find him . . .
We lit the fire,
And lit our ghost in the upstairs window . . . Casper is our “neighborhood watch,” he has a great view all the way up the street.
Bowls were filled with candy ~ We had hot spiced-cider for the moms and dads. We were READY! Bring on those kids! And here they come!
I love this tradition. Parents bringing their kids, waiting behind them, most of them in costume too … Look at this pink princess . . . Adorable or what?
We have friends who live so far out in the country they don’t get any trick-or-treaters ~we invite them to our house to give out candy at our door ~ we share the wealth ~ because, we definitely get kids! From all over the island . . . we are one of the few neighborhoods where the houses are close enough together for kids to get to without walking a mile in the dark! Halloween is huge on our island.
Is it ever! Early in the evening, at dusk, they’re very young, some even babies, in the cutest costumes, cows, and trees and bunnies, oh my!
As the night gets darker, the kids get older . . .
We stop them to take their picture, and they put up with our 10,000 questions!
By 6:30 our neighborhood is in full Halloween mode. The police close down the streets to cars. It’s not just us, up and down our street and around the corner, its a mad house! 🍁
I got my camera and came around out front to take photos of the door … loved the tree shadows on our house from across the street, whoooo! To see the pumpkins Joe made, I had to wait until the everyone moved aside . . .
Which took a little while . . . everyone running in the dark, superheroes and angels, clowns and unicorns, with bags of loot, laughing, chewing tootsie rolls and eating M&Ms!
Other than the one partially finished pumpkin I saw when Joe was doing them, I hadn’t seen what he’d done. I looked at that one in the middle! Whaaat?
And I got closer, laughing all the time. Went inside and Joe got a big KISS for this good surprise! Doing his part to make a cuter neighborhood, and a better world!
We had about thirty people for Chili dinner, and I was so busy eating and talking (receiving compliments on my new curtains!!!) I forgot to take pictures, but it was wonderful seeing everyone (remember, we just got back!) and it ended in the living room, where a girlfriend with a ukulele played while the dregs of the party (which would be us and some neighbors), had a sing-along. 🎃 It was a wonderful ending. And since it’s party season, here are a few ideas to make giving a party a bit easier. No matter if it’s a small party or large, formal or casual, Thanksgiving, tea party, book club, or election night party.
And, speaking of election night parties . . . Here are some delicious recipes, all tried and true, perfect for a roller coaster ride which this night is bound to be. Won’t it be FUN when
it’s over? Then we’ll all live with the results and can stop thinking about it for a while. And then we’ll get to do it all over again in two years! Politics seems to be America’s newest sport! I remember when I was in high school, I didn’t even know what I was! Or anyone else. I think my mom was a Republican and my dad was a Democrat, but they never argued and they both LIKED IKE! ‘Course the two political parties were 100% different then, and we didn’t have as much to worry about as kids do now, we were safe at school. It was a simpler and I would say a rather happier time. One of the many, many things on which we are all in perfect agreement, we all LOVE to eat . . . so let’s start HERE:
Yummy, from my Autumn Book . . . in case you have it at home, otherwise you can print this out!
These recipes are from Heart of the Home . . .
Wonderful spiced nuts from my Autumn Book . . .
. . . which I just made! I use them all season long!
Deliciousness from Heart of the Home. We’re going to my girlfriend Lowely’s house on Tuesday night to watch the results come in, I’m bringing Cheese Bites!
Opened my eyes from meditation, and across from where I was sitting, Jack was asleep on the sofa. 
I got the evil eye when I put the camera close . . . I SEE YOU, it says in green technicolor.
When we were in California, I picked up a box of my mom’s papers to bring home ~ I went through some of it this morning ~ it was a treasure trove! Saved birthday cards, old letters my grandma wrote, yellowed birth certificates and fancy engraved marriage licenses, hand-written report cards, and certificates of baptism, priceless to my mom, and priceless to me. Above, is a 91-year-old brushed LEATHER ribbon-tied folder with gold lettering, four pages of names and this . . .
. . . my Grandma’s Sioux City, Central High School Diploma from 1927. That’s her, below, on the left. Her class graduated only three weeks after Lindbergh flew the Atlantic non-stop to France! Those 
kids must have felt like their generation was going to own the world! Just a few days after they graduated, Lindbergh’s ticker tape parade was held in New York, which they listened to as a family on a radio the size of a refrigerator. I’m sure my grandma and all her 18-year-old girlfriends shortened their skirts, bobbed their hair, and danced the “Lindy,” . . . they were teenagers during the Roaring Twenties, Calvin Coolidge was president, F. Scott Fitzgerald was the literary star, The Jazz Singer came out in 1927, the first movie with sound! Only two years later, when she was 20, the Great Depression started. She’d already had one World War to deal with as a child. The cards were being dealt. Life was unfolding. And before she fell asleep in her house with a music room on the 3rd floor and nine brothers & sisters, she listened to the most popular song of 1927. I love history, and picturing people in their times. My Grandma shared the planet with Mark Twain for two years. She shared it with Anne Frank, and then she shared Anne Frank with me.💞 Now I have her diploma.
And this! It’s my great grandmother’s 1925 application to join the Martha Washington 
Chapter of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution in Washington, DC. Four pages of family names, births, and deaths back to 1710, all in her lovely handwriting … with “Ancestor’s Services” that tells that her 5th great grandfather (and I guess my 7th), Captain Asa Foster of Andover, Massachusetts, was appointed in 1765 to “oppose the arbitrary measures of the British Government.” Eeeek. My grandma had given me a copy of this when I was in my 20s (part of my dreamscape for New England before I’d ever been here), but it was very different to hold the real thing in my hands. After recently reading a biography of George Washington (Ron Chernow), I 
realized just how dangerous it was to come out against your government back then. If they’d lost (and there was no reason on EARTH they should have believed they could win against the British Empire!), they would have all been hanged! But hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do and he believed in his cause. His son Abiel graduated from Harvard in 1756, was a minister who represented New Hampshire in the first Congress. I could write a book about these people! We found both of their graves, in Old North Parish Burying Ground in North Andover and in the Canterbury Cemetery in New Hampshire.
And this little slip of paper was in there too, written in my great grandfather’s hand, showing the 
dates of birth for his parents (my great, great grandparents), and their children. I met Merrill James 
Orr, born in 1871, the man who wrote this, the father of my grandma ~ that’s him holding me, my mom’s on the right, my grandma’s on the left. I feel the generations behind me, and I see younger members of my family going on into the future. Such a connection. And the threads of that connection go on and on, out in all directions. Pretty soon, as you research your family tree, you start thinking you’re related to EVERYONE. Then you get your DNA done and find out you absolutely are!
And now it’s my turn to save little old pieces of paper, tiny fragments of a lifetime of memories. I guess I got that from them! 💞 Like here, in the England diary I’m now illustrating and rewriting in my “good 
handwriting.” You can just imagine how much I revel in the magic I feel when I write, spellbound in the dream of it (hours and clocks mean nothing), about the history we found in Enchanted England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. My pages will be peopled by spirits of the past, Winston Churchill, Beatrix Potter, Jane Austen, hill forts, stone circles, and fairy winds . . . all that and Rachel too! I’ll do it as the leaves blow, as the snow flies, as the cat naps, and when the daffodils come again, I’ll still be here in my old house, fireplace glowing, shawl pulled tight, pen noises scratching, paint brush ringing on the side of the water dish I bought in Disneyland before I knew I could paint, Jack at my side, living the dream with my boyfriend for life, loving the road, because
I kept Joe’s pumpkin for our front window . . . like keeping a light on! Never forget our fathers and grandfathers fought for this right, so that today, no matter how we came to this country, we get a say in the kind of government 
we want. It was EVERYTHING to them, their lives were on the line, and there’s nothing quite like it in the world. The right to vote. Honor our ancestors. Go vote, and take someone with you. Don’t think you don’t know what you’re doing, because believe me, you probably know more than most! The world has fought for civility since time began, fought to overcome human nature prone to barbarism, it hasn’t been easy, but despite all, we keep bringing it forward, so families everywhere can live in peace and prosperity. They’ve told us that we have nothing to fear but fear itself, and proved it time and time again. Because we can solve all problems when we come together. I know they’ve made it hard to tell truth from 
lies, the water has been muddied, even on Facebook, where we put our family photos, and share recipes! But it’s not impossible. No source is perfect but we can find a balance. When I have specific questions, I go to websites like Politifact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-finding website. They can answer almost any question, “Did such and such REALLY happen, Did he REALLY say that, Does America have open borders, What is the Caravan made up of, Which members of Congress take money from the NRA, Who IS (fill in the blank)” ~ even old questions, like “Did Iraq have weapons of mass destruction, what was the Fairness Doctrine, what happened when the banks failed?” On and on, they have researched it all. Huge help for lovers of history like me.
“All shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of thing shall be well.” 💞Julian of Norwich, the first woman in recorded history to write a book. And aren’t they the perfect words!
SO, we’re going off for a walk to the water, but before we go, as promised, last but not least, NEXT Saturday, Joe and I hop on the ferry to the Mainland for the day, where I’ll be at the West Falmouth Library answering questions, signing books, and reading the first chapter of Enchanted, just like I did at the Apple Farm in California. If you’re coming, or even if you’re not, click here and please print out this name tag/bookmark. Write your name on the bottom so we’ll know each other! And yes, for everyone who’s going to be there, you each will be getting a copy of your own first chapter. I’m sorry tickets for this event are sold out, but I promise I’ll be out again in the future, and we can try again. And if you remember, waaaaaaay back when I started this post, I promised YOU a giveaway! So here she is! To win, just leave a comment at the bottom of this post (you’ll see tiny gray words that say, “comment” ~ click there and say hello, and you will automatically be entered. And if your name is chosen, you will receive your very own signed copy of the first chapter my new book!
In fact, Kellee made me FIVE 23-page booklets, all just for you💞 . . . so, this time, there will be five winners! Yay!!! I hope one of them is YOU!
I wanted to start at The Beginning with a love story, like I did with A Fine Romance, so I did! I hope you enjoy it!
That’s it for today darling girlfriends. I shall return! Have a luv-lee evening. Keep the home fires burning!
I love your new curtains! The dining and living rooms look awesome! Enjoy your “new” home.
Susan: Your blog is my favorite one! By Far!! Looking forward to your new book.
Donna Cox
Always good to be home 😃
Thank you for your joyous blog, so glad I am on the mailing list now. Looking forward to your new book too and another “love story.”
Hi Susan! Would. Love to win!!!
I did vote today. Fingers crossed it woks out better this time. Even though we had rain & wind, I think the trees looked especially beautiful this year. I love your new curtains and color schemes. I spied a black crow on your mantel. Love it. Welcome home!
A little book from Susan, I going to dream…..
Am so excited for the new book! I love these journal entries full of photos – we don’t have to wait years for a new book to know what’s going on with you 🙂
Dear Susan, so happy you and Joe are safely home. Home with your darling Jack! My hubby and my kitties are my favorites, and when we’re all together, life is GOOD! I love your house so much. I stare at every picture, mostly because I love that you, like me, have STUFF. Memories are the reason I love my stuff, and I suspect you feel the same way. It’s not stuff for stuff’s sake, but stuff to look at for the sake of the memory, the person, associated with that item. While I admire those homes on decorating shows that are calm, serene, and more sparsely decorated, I CAN’T LIVE LIKE THAT!
Happy November, the time to be cozy and dream of Christmas decorating, snowy days, and to savor a roaring fire in the fireplace. Dreams of far-off Spring and projects to be done are far enough away to be calming. Ahhhhh, I love this time of year (but then, I LOVE EVERY time of year).
Hello Friend~ Welcome home to you & Joe. Thank you for you. I think you are a beautiful person. I appreciate all your writings & pictures thru the months & years. Happy lovely November❤️
Glad you are back and looking forward to the quiet days of Winter to paint and write. Me too.
Hello. So glad you are home!
So glad you are home again! I just love your posts and I have your 3 latest books along with cookbook or two! You are the most amazing artist and I am always inspired by your work. Can’t wait until this new book comes out!
Living here in old England I love to read your thoughts on my country
I have a lot of good ones! xoxo
Hi Susan, So happy you made it home in time to see the colorful leaves.
This is my first fall living in New England. Peanut (my house bunny) and i love it here. When i read about you and Joe and Jack i feel so happy. I enjoy everything you do! Thank you for sharing your life with us. xo
Happy Autumn- glad you made it Home in time!
Truly, there’s no place like HOME! Welcome back. And thank you for inviting us to be a part of your homecoming. You’re so generous! My fingers are crossed today. May we all have much to celebrate this evening!! (Toes are crossed too!) The VOTE pumpkin is simply the best!!
Glad you didn’t miss your New England fall, my favorite time of year. We don’t get the variety of colors here in Colorado, but I love it just the same!
Hi, Susan. I am so happy autumn waited for you. I just want to thank you for sharing your wonderful life, thoughts, drawings AND Jack. You give me hope for the future, and we need it so desperately these days. (Hope and the future!) What a wonderful life you and your boyfriend-for-life AND Jack have. Can’t wait until your new book is published and for sale.
Hello Susan….welcome home! I can understand how thrilled you were to see that fall had not gone before you got home. This fall was simply gorgeous. I can’t remember more beautiful colors that stayed on the trees for so long. Sometimes fall just gets pretty and then it’s gone…not so this year. yea!
I’m going to get my make some of those yummy appetizers from your Autumn book. Sometimes we just have ‘Happy Hour’ for supper!
So glad you got home safely. I hope that someday we can travel across the country on a train. Bliss!
Voted!!!
What a beautiful welcome home. The trees here in sunny Southern Indiana have been just beautiful…..the sky has been so so blue! And your trick or treaters looked like fun. And yes I voted!!
Bless you and Joe and his clever “vote” pumpkin. An inspiring perfect post for today.
Thank you!
Hello from Portland, Maine. Does it get any better than Autumn in New England!
Nope! 🍂
Oh I love your new curtains. The flowery print is divine. Thank you for sharing our Halloween festivities. Looks like it was a grand evening. And thank you for the newsletter. I just smiled all the while I was reading it. Till next time, bless you, Joe and Jack.
So happy Fall was still waiting for you ! Jack is the sweetest kitty and I know he was happy to have you both back at home sweet home !
I love the tree shadows on your beautiful home on Halloween- so spooky for all of the trick or treaters !
Thank you for everything you do to make my life more fun and full of sweetness !
Welcome Home my friend! I loved the VOTE pumpkin. So clever. 🙂
I did my duty!
Enjoy November,
Carla
I so look forward to every one of your posts. You bring joy to me heart with your words and photos and art work. Thank you Susan Branch!
Hi Susan,
I love everything you write about and the photos are just perfect.
Would love to win one of your little chapter one books.
I could feel the excitement of being home. Never knew your house had been a Farm house. The curtains looked way better without the valances. Thanks Again fun reading!!
I think every house on the island in the 1800s was a farmhouse with vegetable gardens, chickens and eggs, horses and wagons, people doing for themselves.
LOVED the autumn pictures because our leaves have hardly started changing! And loved all the recipes! Thanks!
Used to live right by the west Falmouth library when my boyfriend for life was stationed at Otis Air Force base in 1969. Now we are back in Ohio. Oh how I miss west Falmouth, would love to see you there! Take care and safe travels. Sandy
How surprising to read this post – I’m also an ORR (maiden name, of course). We might be related, although now there are Orrs all over the U.S. My father’s family migrated from the east coast (wherever they landed way back when) to Missouri, then they left for California where I was born.
I’m sure we are!
Chiming in from sunny California where it’s a warm 77 today.
What a blessing to get your hearts desire…. a colorful welcome home.
At times when something like that happens to me, I just look up, smile and
say, “I know this is from you. Thanks!” It’s definitely a wonderful way to start
out this month of Thanksgiving.
Would you mind if I saved your autumn pics and put them in with the others
from our vacation east? For the 3 weeks we were there we kept hoping to see
color similar to what we’ve seen in the past, but it came after we returned
home.
Snuggle in and enjoy your extended time at HOME… such a warm and
cozy place to be.
What a wonderful post! Thank you Susan, and I’m so thankful that you and Joe returned home safe from your journey. I love your new curtain, and I just loved each and every picture that you posted of them. They looked beautiful at each stage of changes that you made. I just had my Ancestry DNA tested and I’m proud to say that I was 80% English, and the rest was Scottish, Irish and Welsh. Can’t wait to get to UK to visit my “home land” It answered lot of questions of why I was obsessed with all things English and my favorite obsession right now is watching Outlander. Can’t get enough!
Just you wait! xoxo
Welcome back to your lovely island. Got to spend a day there in August while visiting my nephew who was doing summer stock at the theater in Falmouth. The best part is our visit fell on Illumination Night. What a treat!!
So happy that Jack gets to keep you home for awhile, now. I know you have good cat sitters, but he is always so happy to get you back. 🙂 Thanks for the wonderful giveaway. Can’t wait to buy my own copy!
I am so excited to read your new book. Living vicariously through your eyes is a joy!
Hi Susan
Love your curtains. And all your pics. On my way to vote.
Haola (how la) chinese for “All is well” & getting better… Haola, Susan…keep on doing what you do so well…sharing LOVE, KINDNESS & JOY!!!
Hi Susan, you are right . The valances are too long and overpower the windows. Great idea to de-trim them and shorten. Enjoy your blog and twitter page
Every time I read a post I am back home in New England; my mother’s family (both sides) are New Englanders and I lived myself in New Hampshire (Gilmanton, NH and in Derry, NH). And to me there is nothing like autumn in N.E. I am an October baby and for me, autumn is my all time favorite season. I love it. Keeping my fingers crossed on your giftie give-away.
Happy Birthday Dawn! 🎁
Looking forward to reading your new book! I’ve so enjoyed all of the others.
Michele
Once again you have brightened up my day with your blog and musica!! I keep it going so now I’m listening to My Blue Heaven!! Glad you are home and enjoying Fall. I loved the pumpkin your boyfriend for life carved!! I voted this morning!
Welcome home! So glad to read your post!
I love coming to your blog, it’s my little spot of happy in this crazy chaotic world. 🙂 I look forward to your new book. I went to England for a week back in high school with my marching band. We marched in their New Years Day parade. We played the theme song to Austin Powers and the crowds loved it! Maybe not the best time to visit (cold and wet!) but it was so much fun seeing all the sights. I definitely want to go back and take my time to see everything. Maybe when our little ones are older we can all go for a long vacation. I’ll be trying to convince my husband to go by ship too, much more my speed. 😉
That sounds like a pure blast!🥁 What a memory!
So glad you are both home safely and enjoying the beauty of the season in New England! Having just left California you know that there isn’t too much leaf-color-changing because it is still just like summer out here. That’s why I so enjoyed seeing your love-lee (no pun intended) trees! Glad you were able to reconnect with friends and personally, I liked the frillier curtains, but it is your home to decorate as you prefer! And in that line of thinking, isn’t it good that we can all be civil (and perhaps even respectful) with one another even if we don’t agree on all things political. In earlier replies, Nancy talked about being respectful of one another, even if we aren’t in agreement. I think about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and how they were often ferociously opposed to one another’s politics, but how in the end, considered one another friends and in fact, both ended up dying on the same day (July 4th!) within hours of one another. I hope we all as “girlfriends” can treat each other with kindness and consideration despite our differences. Finally, there is no better place on earth than your own bed and I’m glad for you and Joe that you will be having the next year and a half to rest in it!
I’ve loved that here, on this blog, people have been sweet. I’ve seen no back and forth anger here, but exchange of ideas, history, that kind of thing, I think it can only help. Friendly persuasion might help us understand each other better. I got up this morning and googled tribalism. I’ve heard of it, like in Iraq, but lately they’ve been forecasting it for America… I hope some dear souls come along to bring us back together. I love us so much.
Glad you are home. Maybe now we will hear from you more often. You did not miss much since early August in Massachusetts because that’s when the monsoon season began, and it still seems to be in full gear. Will we ever see the sun again on a regular basis? Will I ever get a chance to cut back my perennials on a dry, sunny day, before winter arrives? The colors were muted this fall, and we had many windy, rainy days. I will never run out of kindling for the wood stove because there has been a regular pattern of sticks and branches on the lawn and in the woods around the house.
Loved your Halloween pictures and hearing about the pot luck, too. I dressed up as a pumpkin and was out my local library, where we had games for children and tons of candy as children trick or treated in the center of my tiny town, where they close the roads to traffic. What fun!
Can’t wait for the next book. Have fun settling into the holidays and the quieter times of the year in New England.
I don’t see my happy election day comment I wrote in today around 10:30am and I so would LOVE to be included in the drawing!! If I win, I will share with sisters, Mom, and friends: Mare, Claudia, and LJ!!! Thank you for your beautiful post and welcome home!
Home is the best place to be! I’m so excited for your new book and would love to win a copy of your first chapter.
I just got home from working the polls. One of the voters was leaving with tears in her eyes and she said she cries every time she votes because she is so moved by the process! She made me feel better about everything. Lovely, lovely democracy!
Lovely-lovely people in this country. xoxoxoxoxo
Beautiful fall pictures! I love reading your blog! I’m looking forward to your new book.
Your new curtains.are beautiful. They make the room look warm and cozy!
Jack is the best and so happy to have you both home I’m sure. Loved this whole post!
God bless America!
Hi Susan. Thank you for sharing the beautiful pictures of your new curtains! I love the colors and floral prints. So cozy, classy and charming. Also, glad you and Joe had a fun filled Halloween at home. It’s November 6 and along with millions of our fellow citizens I voted today! America is great! and thank you to our awesome founding fathers.
Welcome home!!
Dear Susan,
I’m thankful for your great visit to CA, for your safe return to the Vineyard, for your beautiful and delightful post and for the opportunity to attend your talk and book signing this coming Saturday at the W Falmouth library. My dear friend, Janet, and I are so excited about making this 5 hour road trip from VT to spend some time with you . Thank you so much!
Franny
I love your name! So cute, Franny! See you Saturday, we still have leaves today . . . hope you have a beautiful drive!
Oh my goodness! Lovely blog entry as always! I was so excited to see that it was up on Twitter. I am sure Jack is ecstatic that the two of you are home again! Your Halloween evening sounded WONDERFUl from the little ones, tweens and your adult night cap party!! FIVE books….how very generous of you! Both Christie and Sharon shared pictures of the lovely trip to the apple farm. So enjoyed going along with all of you! CONGRATS to all of the upcoming winners….YES!!! I do hope I am one of them! Home Sweet Home! Enjoy sweet Sue. We planned a tea party for tonight hoping that as we enjoyed ourselves our world would change around us!! Fingers crossed! Smile to a stranger and help build peace!
Clicking tea cups with you Belinda! xoxo
Susan, Such beautiful words, photos and as usual wonderful painting! It’s so nice that you were able to get home and see some gorgeous foliage. We’re so lucky to be in new England, aren’t we?
I was actually enjoying reading Autumn today and planning some of your yummy recipes. I never tire of that lovely book.
Love Joe’s carved pumpkins especially the VOTE one. I was surprised how many people were voting in my town at 7:00 A.M. today.
Hello Susan!
Thanks for your lovely post. Happy Election Day and welcome home!
Always such a treat to see a new post! Thank you for sharing so much of your life with us and such lovely photos, always happy to see that handsome boy Jack when you get back home!
Hello, Susan. Greetings from SE Michigan. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your delightful post. Thank you for sharing your home and your heart with us…it is fun to be part of your world each time I read your blog. Happy November to you!
I can hardly wait for the new book.
Me too, want to see it!
I especially love the curtains in your guest room. I am partial to blue and white. My son is now 7. He really enjoyed Halloween this year. Like he really understood what was going on. He was Superman this year. I think he would of loved Halloween on the island. I love when people go all out for Halloween. It is truly a magical night.
Little kids see it as a night of wild and crazy joy, it’s made for them … remember how strange it was to walk through the streets at NIGHT??? Yes, magical!
Forgot to say earlier how much I appreciate all your ideas…decor, food, etc. I loved the curtains with blue the most, of course!! What a great idea…lining with heavy flannel!! Thanks for that. And of course, looking so forward to the next book…if only we could make it to the British Isles someday…too old now probably…but we enjoy it via your eyes. Thank you!!
If you can walk, it’s not too late. You go girl!
Welcome home! So glad to hear all the news. Your lovely
curtains will bring a touch of spring even on the snowy days
coming this winter. The house looks like an enchanted
mansion with Jack the king of all the charming places.
Thanks for the recipes for autumn treats. I am coming to
the book signing on Saturday in West Yarmouth. I can
hardly wait!!!🐈
I hope the weather holds, it’s exquisitely clear as a bell today, a little windy, and orange leaves blowing outside my window! See you there! Not West Yarmouth, West Falmouth ~ but I think you probably know that! xoxo
Hi Susan! So enjoyed twitter from the twain (I always do), the autumn photos, Halloween trick or treat night (we had 122 here ), Joe’s Jack-o-lanterns, food photos made me hungry, Jack is adorable, and what a treasure trove of family documents/papers your Mom saved. So looking forward to your new book. Thank you for the sneak peeks that I saw first on Twitter. Smiles, Marianne
Welcome home you weary travelers. Love the curtains …. and the Halloween pictures with story. Looking forward to the new book …. fingers crossed on winning the first chapter🤓
A dear friend introduced me to your blog; thank you so much for sharing your adventures and at home experiences, Susan. (our tuxedo kitty was named Jax by our son) 🙂
Hi Susan,
I love your new dining room curtains and have enjoyed seeing your fall colors and decorating. I’m really looking forward to your new book as much as I enjoyed the blog of your journey!
Carol
Wonderful blog Susan, as always! Thank you !
So glad you’re home! There is no place like home, there is no place like home…
Did you never ever want to marry your boyfriend for life? You’ve never mentioned a wedding and I kinda think you would have…
If you ever do, please, can we all come, just like the way we go with you to England?
That said, Joe is a keeper, that’s for sure. And you both seem blissfully happy. As for me, the romance is in marriage and calling my darling man, Husband.
Oh yes, we are married! But Joe is still my boyfriend for life.
Hi Susan
It’s always a good day when your posts come, I so enjoy them! Thanks for sharing your life with us! What a treasure to have those special papers from your mother, so much great family history. I am really looking forward to your new book! Happy Fall!
Hello! Glad that you are back home safe and sound!
Thank you Susan for the lovely fall color and the encouraging words! Welcome Home!!
Thank you Susan for sharing your decorating ideas & lovely curtains. They are just beautiful. Looks like Halloween is a favorite holiday for you & Joe…having fun with all the ghosts & goblins coming to your door. I love the VOTE pumpkin & I know you both voted today, as I did – now to watch the outcome.
Hi, Susan!
Give Joe an extra hug foe carving such a timely pumpkin! And welcome home !
So glad that you and Joe are home to cozy in for the holidays. Sure hope I win. Thank you for what you do for us.
Each and every time one of your posts comes gliding gleefully into my inbox, I smile, wait until the kids are tucked cozily in their beds and listen for the sound of my husband snoring contentedly in our room. Then I crack a can of pop (I never could get into drinking tea) and exhale a long, grateful sigh. I truly savor every post you send. In this hectic season of my life, they are a brief respite where I can crawl back into my imagination and spend some time with a contented, simpler version of myself.
“No fruit, no flowers, no birds, no leaves…November.” So wonderful to sit and read a moment and enjoy your images of autumn before the flurry of the merry season begins! Thank You!
Thank you back Janeen! xoxo
I love to read your books!!!!
Thank you Susan for another wonderful blog. I really look forward to them. You inspire me every time I read any thing you have written . 🙏❤
I enjoyed this post – your curtains are so pretty – i couldn’t decide my fav, but you live there, so you have to have what makes you feel good!! I was peeking around again this past spring, but you were away again (I call it “friendly stalking”!!) The trick or treating on the island looks so exciting! And dinner sounds delish. I just pulled out my old Autumn book for some inspiration! Would love to be entered into your giveaway – Happy November!!
So glad you are home , loved the blog as usual.
Welcome home!
Loved seeing you here when I stopped by to see what is happening. I need to come back again and look at your curtains another time. So cozy!!! Love Joe’s VOTE pumpkin oh so much. Now I am off to find the Autumn books for the recipes.
Welcome home! I recently gave my 4 best friends copies of your Girlfriends book and they LOVE it! I can’t wait to read Enchanted. Fingers crossed for a copy of the 1st chapter!
I love the curtains but if you think “Less is more” you could just use the valances for the summer months, for example.
Enjoy your sometime with Jack and Joe…
xoxo,
Joan
The valances are turning out to be like wardrobe accessories! No valances in the hot summer, or JUST valances with long skirts of sheers…new personality changes for the room.
The valances are like little toddlers, too…presently demanding lots of attention…focus on me…me, me, me…it’s ALL ABOUT ME!
Well, let’s put some romance in those flowers! English curtains have been your long, passionate love affair…they’ve held you breathless. Now the honeymoon is over and you are settling in to a life together. You are living under the same roof and you are going through a bit of a reality check. Let your vibes find rhythm together and the passionate, floral love affair will simmer into a forever love with comfort, warmth, and a dream-come-true…ENGLISH CURTAINS IN MY HOME! Happily Ever After. The End! (Hope so.)
Pets for Jack and hugs to you, Superwoman!
❤️❤️❤️
Truly is happily ever after dear FayE!
Oh my, I would DIE to have this prize! I’d faint. I’d cry. I’d jump for joy. What a special special thing to do!
Your posts always bring a smile to my face. I shared your blog with a friend and helped her get her own. Thanks for bringing love and sunshine into the lives of your readers.
Ginny
~Susan~
Welcome Home!! so wonderful reading your words , its like sitting there listening to your stories keeping me glued to every word.!
I love the curtains so very pretty, and what a grand room you have!
Jack looks thrilled having you home, he sure is cute kitty , I have 4 myself !!
Halloween looked like so much fun on the island , maybe that is the time to visit? I hope to again someday!
My husband received from a cousin their grandfather enlisting and discharge papers from World War II. Having those is an honor, his grandfather was a dear man and lived until he was 93 years. I framed all the items we received from our families, and I feel I am displaying a history wall !
My husband and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary on Nov.5th, I think I will start calling him my “Forever Boyfriend” like you do Joe, that is toooo cute.
Have a lovely month of November!
Hugs xoxox
Paula
IN
Happy Anniversary to you and your boyfriend! xoxo Love your family history wall!
So glad you’re safely home and can’t wait to hear more about your new book!
Thank you for a wonderful post -so full of great ideas and great pictures!!
Looking forward to the new book!
So glad we can vote!
Welcome Home Susan! I’m so glad you’re enjoying a lovely fall. I really enjoyed reading your post especially all about your Halloween trick or treaters. We didn’t get any trick or treaters this year! I always seeing the youngsters all dressed up. Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful Susan! Beautiful Joe! Beautiful home! Beautiful kitty! Love the VOTE pumpkin! Love you all! ❤️
Hi Susan – I enjoyed reading your post. Your new curtains are beautiful. Would love to read the first chapter of your new book!
Hello! I loved this post and I love your new curtains. They look wonderful – short or long! I’m coming to Boston this Saturday from California. I won’t be at your reading because we arrive late in the day (plus, it’s sold out) but I’ll be there in spirit. I met you a few years ago in Mission Viejo – you’re a celebrity to me – and it was such an honor. Fingers crossed that the fall color will still be there when I get there!
Loved the leaf photos! In Oklahoma our fall color is about to go away. Your family history is fascinating and inspires me to gather mine and with my sister make our family story to pass on to our 5 sons. Eager for the new book that’s coming!
Hello, so happy you are home!!! I look forward to reading your newest book. l’ve read all your other books and loved them.
Oh, the first chapter???it just has to belong to me because i love you so much…thanks for letting us go with you when you travel. It is so affordable!😘
Just ran across your delightful blog. Oh boy, I am going to have fun reading from the beginning. Love it, just love it!