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!
Happy Fall, and so nice to see you safely home again, and writing such a happy post! I can’t wait for your new book, and would love to have a first chapter! It would even be easy to post overseas!!😊😘 we have had our first snowfall here and all our leaves are down now.
Sitting, drinking coffee and reading your blog. Wonderful post. Thank you. I’m always so inspired.
So, so glad you and yours are safely home, and all is right with your world!!
~Darlene~
You, Joe, and Jack are the best!! I do so enjoy reading this blog!!
I love your blog – this latest one, and all the ones before too! You are so down-to-earth, and you have so much fun. Some day, I want to be re-incarnated as YOU! Can’t wait to read your new book “Enchanted” when it’s available. Thanks for all you do – the world needs more people like you.
Hi Susan!
Your Autumn book is my absolute favorite and goes on display in my living room every Fall. My sweet almost 96 year old mother did genealogy for many years, too. She found many wonderful stories of our ancestors including some that came over shortly after the Mayflower, others that fought in the American Revolution. I “get” your feelings about this even though I cannot express it as beautifully. Happy November and Happy Thanksgiving to you and Joe. Oh, yes, I voted.
I so love you SB 😘😘 you are my soul sister. I adore your new curtains! They are so beautiful and charming just like you. I desperately wanted to come to your California book signing but I had season tickets that included Carol King’s “Beautiful” on the same day so I had a very touch choice to make! You would love it if you haven’t seen it yet. Thank you for the recommendation to read Chernow’s George Washington bio. It was brilliant. I learned so much. Have you read the latest book by Kate M “a clock makers daughter”. It is another author you recommended and love. I will say it was good but not my favorite one. Thank you for all you do to make this world a better place. It would be a drearier world without you. I cannot wait for your new book!! My parents were born in Scotland and I love all things
British.
Missed you, but very understandable! I have roots in Scotland too! All so connected!
Love reading about your travels, your life at home with family and friends, and reading the special quotes you insert in your writings. Thank you!
Thank You right back! xoxo
Enjoying your lovely post again and so beautiful are your English curtains!
When I decided to move home I promished myself to have in the new living room the flower curtains from our elderlyhome where they hung in my room.
Have a great day
Greetings Trudy from the Netherlands
Such a beautiful, inviting home. Happy you are back enjoying the end of fall & especially Jack (the Wonder cat.)
Hello! Looking forward to your new book. Enjoy your blog and traveling along with you.
So much good stuff in that post; autumn, curtains, parties, Halloween, family history, and…
Thanks for sharing the sweets of your life!
Happy homecoming Susan and Joe! We are also enjoying Fall here in The Asheville mountains, especially after so many seasonless years living in the tropics. Loving what’s left of Fall ❤️🍷
Love to travel, but it’s always so good to be home.
I really like the new draperies and the pink paint color in the dining room.
Keep posting. Enjoy reading about every adventure.
Hello! Thank you, thank you for sharing your pictures of your beautiful home. I just love your new curtains. Do you have any recommendations of where I can get white slip covers made for my chairs and couch? I see them a lot in magazines and always wonder where ones goes for that. I always enjoy your posts and adventures. Best, Sheila
Delightful! Perfect read with my morning coffee. Thank you and welcome home!!
Hi Susan, Have you ever considered a book tour to the Midwest like Minnesota? We love you here too! Arlene
Hi Susan, Have you ever considered a book tour in Minnesota? We love you here too! Arlene
Just love your new curtains….but I think you’re right about the living room. Maybe just a tad too much floral going on. I think you’re on the right track though. Experiment! We too are just back from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. What an terrific adventure. I so look forward to your new book. Keep us posted about a potential movie!!
I loved each and every word and picture of this post. Thank-you for sharing all that you do, and for brightening up this gloomy and anxious day-before-the -elections. Joe’s VOTE pumpkin is wonderful!
Parts of this post made me teary; all the family history, your words about our country, and about”loving the road.” And then the decorating, ( I adore all curtains and paint colors) party ideas, Halloween pictures, and JACK made me very happy.
Thank-you for all!!! Xoxoxo!
Hello, Susan! Thank you for sharing your journey through Fall with us. The chili looked divine, the carved pumpkins “took the cake”, Jack loved your curtains and Halloween was a neighborhood gathering! And, it was waiting for you when you got home🍂🍁🎃
So excited to read this post! It just made my day.
Hi Susan,
This is one of the best posts I’ve read. I love autumn the most and to see what you wrote and the pictures was heavenly for me. Thanks to Joe for the Vote!
Welcome Home Susan and Joe……..What a wonderful feeling for you to know that you are back in your own snug corner of the world…..no matter what happens tomorrow! I am truly a bit anxious about the outcome…..Hoping our better selves prevail. Would love to be one of the lucky ones to have my very own first chapter of Enchanted…….
Happy Fall! Here in California we are still hovering in the 80’s during the day with no rain (so needed) in sight.
When I scrolled across the photo of your kitchen window with the black checked curtains and the charming swags, the cozy lighting, I sighed with such contentment and longing, it brought tears to my eyes. I took a break from our homeschool language arts with my grandson, just so that I could finish reading your blog post and savor each photo and word. Now, we must get back to work, but the visit with you was just the fall loving break I needed. Thanks so very much.
I have felt that longing too Patricia, there are untold bittersweet memories with no names, I will never understand, but I’ve felt it all my life. xoxo
There’s no place like home! How nice that you have a good long while to be home and watch the seasons change and change again. Your home looks so wonderfully snug, and I’ll bet the pictures don’t do it justice. You have a bit of England to surround you. Your house looked so wonderfully Halloweeny! That ghost! Your pictures bring to mind memories of trick or treating in Grandma’s neighborhood . We don’t get any here in the condos, so it’s fun to see all of the costumes. What a fun part of childhood!
Fingers crossed to get a first chapter – and so looking forward to the book!
I would love to win an excerpt from your new book!!! It would make me so happy! And welcome home to you and Joe!
Dear Sue…loved reading your latest “story” and seeing your curtains…that Jessica is so talented! Favorite is the guest room…they are lovely!! Thanks for sharing…looking forward to your next post! 💕
Kept looking and looking for a new posting on your blog and here it is. I’ll read it again and again until I absorb everything in it as I wait for the next post. Lovely to read about your life in the Vineyard and beyond. God bless.
Hi!
Travel is wonderful,~ home is best, especially when sweet Jack greets you joyfully!
Happy autumn to you and Joe, and Jack of course.
Yes, VOTE tomorrow!
Lynn
I can’t wait to read your new book! I was glad to see all of your trick or treaters. We only had ten and we live in a large development. I was glad to see that fall waited for you! Kim
I always enjoy your blog with all the warm, cozy feelings, the recipes, the pumpkins, and Jack, my go to kitty for a ‘kitty fix’ :).
Your home looks so beautiful and cozy Susan. Very Hygee indeed! I think in this time it’s even more important to make our homes a place of goodness and love. I always tell my girls to be extra kind to others because so many people are hurting in today’s world. Thanks for your upbeat posts and glimpses into your sweet life. Enjoy being home and hibernating for awhile.
It is good to have you back on the interweb! Fall is here–cooler temps that mean not feeling bad about lounging around in the house all day reading books and stitching. ☺ It was fun to see your curtain update. It always takes me awhile to get use to a change in my décor too–do I like it? do I not? Such creatures of habit we are.
Thank you for sharing your life with us. I look forward to every blog post just waiting to hear what’s next.
Hi Susan and Joe-welcome home! We missed you. Thank you for the lovely long update, with photos. I agree the less formal is the best for us too. Well, now you have time to play house. Have a wonderful holiday season. Yes, we voted. Great job getting the word out. I enjoy your blog so very much!
What a lovely blog! So many different, but interesting, things to read. BTW – your curtains look wonderful. Must go, its Guy Fawkes night here – off to see the bonfire and fireworks.
Love the drapes — marvelous how you made them fit more with the house. Isn’t it amazing how “mother nature” held off this year with the fall leaves. It is just becoming beautiful here in the Laurel Highlands. I just hope we are not raking leaves in the snow!
So happy to see you online again! Enchanted sounds like the perfect book to hug while taking a change-of-season nap. Count me in!
Hi Susan, Loved your post. The draperies look beautiful!!! Love your Halloween pics. It looks like everyone was having a grand time. Halloween is my favorite time to decorate and seeing all the children all dressed up. Wanted to say how much I love, love, love, my Pumpkin mug. Great job!!! The colors are so nice and bright. Thank you! I hope I’m one of the five winners. Good luck everyone!!!!
Love,
Gail from Calif.
First, welcome home to you and Joe – the photos of your trees and their leaves are awesome! Your new curtains look lovely and your house is so inviting – well done! It’s a bit early, wishing you and Joe a Happy Thanksgiving….we all have so much to be thankful for…………
Sadly, we no longer have a bookstore in our little town of Mt. Shasta, CA but if you are ever in the area, please visit. We have a vacation rental on our hobby farm and before we “totally” retire in a few years, I’d like to have one “famous” person visit! Glad you’re home and enjoy the rest of your Fall!
Thank you for such a nice invitation to a beautiful part of the country! xoxo
Hi Susan! Welcome Home! I waved at you as you sped through Illinois. Did you see me? Lol! Bet your really ready to settle back into your world. I love the new curtains, so charming! I’m glad the leaves held on for your return….lucky you! Have a great Thanksgiving and prepare to decorate! Love. Vote.
Oh, Laurie, was that you!!!??? xoxoxoxo
Hi Susan. Love your blog updates. CANNOT wait for the next book(s).
Welcome home!! We missed you so much 😍 I missed Martha’s Vineyard in the fall. But guess what??? Next year I will BE THERE!!! 😀 It’s been my dream since childhood. I don’t know how I can be patient until next fall. We plan on staying a couple of weeks. I want to soak it all in!!! Until then I will continue to dream through each of your posts!
You’ll love it!
Welcome home!
Love the blog, love the photos, LOVE the curtains, love the kitty cat, love the boyfriend – ooops, just kidding – I have my very own boyfriend for life.
I so enjoy everything you write.
Julie
Hi posting again because I don’t see mine but maybe I won’t see mine.
You’re so lucky to be able to just enjoy those leaves and not have to rake them up! It’s a must in the south. Cheers to change tomorrow night. Fingers crossed. XOXO
I am taking a break from grading to read your new post. What a wonderful break in a very long afternoon. Thank you Susan for sharing your stories. I love the curtains.
Welcome Home! Loved traveling with you and Joe,but enjoy your posts from home! It was a wonderful newsey one and answered the curtain questions, Halloween celebration, and how Jack is doing. Thank you!
Dear Susan,
Your post brought to mind the words to “Hello Dolly” – “It’s so nice to have you back where you belong,” even though I know you have attachments on both coasts.
But it’s nice to have you back!
Welcome home!
Tricia
Hello – such a lovely post – enjoyable reading as always!!
Welcome home Susan! I love the verbiage on the front of the booklet that says “What one loves in childhood stays in the heart forever.” I took note long ago that what my girls had a passion for by age four continued to be a passion as adults. It is so interesting! The curtains are beautiful.. I really like the fabrics that you chose. ….. It won’t be long until it’s time to dry the bread for your stuffing. 🙂
I love your flannel lined drapes…so very very English! 🙂 I especially loved seeing the family history from your mother’s box. Helps to see these bits of paper in family handwriting because I’ve recently started opening family boxes too. Sometimes it’s overwhelming trying to sort it all out, knowing if I don’t do it, my children aren’t going to know what’s what! So happy you can hunker down at home for awhile and enjoy being your creative self.
I don’t think everything is necessarily worth keeping. I don’t want to leave what is overwhelming to me, behind to overwhelm anyone else. But I think you’ll instinctively know what MUST be saved.
Hi Susan,
You are a wonder, to care so much about all of “us” and working to fill our lives with whimsy by sharing yours.
And your giveaway gifts are always such treasures, thank you!
So much goodnesses!
Enjoyed very much!
Your first chptr booklet…it would be a treasure win!
HaPpY tromping together through all the seasons!
Mmmm thanks for your warm hearted openness to let us peep about a heart warming home !
Love the tips on hosting parties!
Dear Susan, It is nice to see you back home. You two have such an interesting life. So much depth and variety to hear about. Enjoy the holidays! I’ll be here watching it develop.
Can’t wait to read the new book. I keep reading your other ones over and over and over and over. I practically have them memorized! 🙂
Dear Susan and Joe!
Welcome Home 🙂 so glad you made it safe and sound and the leaves waited for you.
Loved the post Susan! You always teach me something, I thank you for that! You’re more than just a gifted, creative and talented lady with a happy jean and a great love for life, you’re also very interesting.
Have a blessed day!
Debby
P.S. love the curtains 🙂
I love to read all about your adventures and life on the island! I am so excited about your new book, I am looking forward to reading it and adding it to my collection! Thanks for bringing so much joy to so many! Happy November!
Susan, you are the only blog I read. I work full time and have a family so I don’t usually have time to read stuff on the internet. But I love, love, love seeing everything you write and draw. Thanks for being such a positive influence in the world! 🙂
I’m honored. xoxoxo
I love to read about your travels, and all the happenings on the island! Fun times. I’m also thankful that you realized you could paint!
Welcome home! I love a good love story, even though I live with my cat!!!!! But hope springs eternal!
XOXOX
Ann
I love your curtains with matching pillows! So cozy. What a great idea to line with fleece for the colder months. What do you do when it gets warm outside?
Welcome home! Reading your words always makes my heart happy.
Ahhh. A good way to start a Monday, tea and SB. Just a few comments as you soldier thru hundreds of others….you, your mom, and your grandma all look so much alike! So beautiful. Thanks for photos of Halloween, which is my favorite holiday. Yours looks like a scene from a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post! And just one more voice in the curtain “drama”…have you thought about draping a solid color throw on the back of the floral chairs? Thanks for allowing us to throw in our 2 cents! ♥
Hi Susan, I love, love, love your blog. Thanks for being such a positive influence!
Hi Susan,
Reading about Halloween in your neighborhood makes me want to be a kid again, and/ or live there! So glad you made it home in time to celebrate and see the beautiful fall colors!
I sure hope I win! 🍁🍂
I hope I win!
BTW – very cool outfit in the picture with your Mom and grandparents. So cute!
Good Morning Susan and Girlfriends, welcome home Susan. we still have our beautiful colors, but the winds are blowing them down and soon they will be gone. had a busy Halloween, now we are planning for Thanksgiving as I get to host this year. wish I had my grandma’s kitchen about now, she had a nice big stove (gas not electric) and a small brick stove next to the fireplace where she could actually bake bread, roast a chicken or make pies is and I sure could use that about now, my oven is so small and the cooktop is only 2 burners. when I say we are planning, we are figuring out which things to cook first and warm up on Turkey day, the turkey will be cooked outdoors in the BBQ and since the BBQ has a burner, the basting liquids will be kept warm there . going to be interesting to see if I can pull this off. off to go check on the chickens, they had pumpkin for breakfast, a neighbor had pumpkin pudding in her pumpkin and instead of throwing the leftovers in the trash, I let her feed it to the chickens… such happy clucks!!! have a wonderful day everyone…. hugs….. 😀
Hi Sue! I responded earlier but I’m not sure if it went through. This is a test. and just in cases it didn’t go through, in a nutshell… Love ya, love yer kitty, yer curtains, yer house, yer pumpkins, yer spirit! Vote <3
Nice surprise when I opened up your website this morning. You are both HOME.
Enjoyed reading everything. One day I want to see the October leaves from a train window. Just wonderful and beautiful. Keep getting out the message about voting, soooo important. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, gobble, gobble…
Welcome home! I always check your blog for updates and look forward to them. We don’t get the kind of fall season here in Hawaii, so it’s a thrill to see the beautiful fall foliage in pictures, including the autumn decorations. Your dining and living rooms look very English. Love it.
You are the loveliest. Always.
I am not entering – I will buy your book when it comes – but I hope someone wins who may not be able to buy your book for awhile.
“There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” (from Wizard of Oz). Seeing your happy lil Jack is proof enough. Glad to see Fall waited for you two to return to show off it’s colors to you. Wow! This post was so chocked full of goodness. I am going to read it and re-read it and savor each word and picture and dream about the delightful recipes, etc. Your English drapes are 2-die-4. Love them. As always, thank you for all you do to bring happiness and joy into my life. Hugs.
Love your kitty, house, books and you!
I love reading about your daily life at home just as much as Twitter from the Twain and your trip to the Enchanted Land! You lift the day! Thank you so much!! Sure wish I could be one of the 5 winners, but I’m grateful just to have met you & Joe in England – what a thrill – I’m a winner already! Can’t WAIT for the book! Love to you!
Welcome back! Nothing like visiting family! Our leaves started changing the day before Halloween, we loved it. Pulled out the Autumn books, sitting by the fire, enjoying my tea and scones getting ready to watch my Outlander. Nothing like a little adventure with the Fraser’s! Have a great day, and thanks for all of the joy you bring.
Susan- I just love your blog so much. I love when you post and show us a glimpse into your world. We are kindred spirits!
For some reason I feel so unsettled when you’re away from home. What a spectacular sight you returned to. Keep the photos coming! Your rooms look gorgeous. Love the delicate color n the dining room. And also love the cabinet on the right. I have its first cousin sitting happily in my dining room…my favorite piece of furniture, found when we lived in Iowa! Your posts are the highlight of each month…many thanks for including all of us. And ❤️ to Joe and Jack too 🙂
Welcome home! Enjoy the cozy warmth of your beautiful home. Looking forward to your new book ❤️
Welcome Home Family history is sooo absorbing Marie
Welcome home! So glad Fall waited for you! 🍁🍂🧡
And have to add… love you so much for “using your powers for good” on Twitter. Each vote matters. What you’re (you and your-boyfriend-for-life 😉) doing matters.
Welcome home! Magical!! As your writing always feels to me!!
Fall is a beautiful time to come HOME. Our neck of the woods is bare and brown but to know that once again it will be green and lush for months. We are so impressed with your new curtains. Like you I am used to the “homemade” versions. Our Halloween is so much fun with all the little g-grands coming in with bags in hand looking for those treats. They are just precious. Enjoy your posts so much. You have given lots of ideas for our daily lives to ponder. Hi to Joe and the Purrrfect King of the house. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
Yeah! Welcome home, Susan! So glad the trees waited for you! My husband, Cliff, and I made our first fall trip to New England this year from California. We spent ten wonderful days in Vermont in mid-October. It was magical!
Missed you at The Apple Farm, though, as we were flying back across the country. Can’t wait for your new book!
Cindee
Los Osos, CA
Real English curtains and so pretty. The curtain metamorphosis was fun of you to share. The pink in the dining and green in the living rooms are perfect. You get your looks from grandma and mom. The resemblance is definitely there. I am so excited for your new book. I read your books over and over, even your cookbooks. Happy voting day. Ta.
Wonderful blogpost….thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
Susan, I can’t wait for your next book to come out!!! I have read all of your books and many cookbooks too! They always always bring me joy, calmness and feelings of peace. Especially in this world of turmoil and scary stuff!
Hello! Love your writings and Illustrations!
So glad you are home! I’ve been missing catching up with you!
Heavenly blog, leaves, Jack, lovely curtains a Halloween chili party!!!how fun.
Hello from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia!
I’m freshly laundered with a hope rinse again, thank you for such a beautiful in-depth & positive post. It reminds me that there is still so much that is good in the world. Most are goodness through & through in spite of politics. I keep trying to hold on to that fact but it’s hard. You mentioned your meditation practice. It was a good reminder for me to take a class and start my own. Thank you Susan for reminding me that family, friends, love & beauty is a balm for this horrific time we are in. And no matter how the vote ends (please let the democrats prevail), we will be ok. The birds will continue to sing, the full moons will arrive on time and the world will continue to spin.
Meditation helps to erase anxiety!! The birds will continue to sing, but they will sing prettier, if they have clean air and water.xoxo
Laughing. Love it.
Hello Susan!
While waiting for my husband to come in for lunch, I decided to check your blog to find out if you had a new post. Yikes, I was so happy to see you had written to your girlfriends. You did a wonderful job with your curtains. Your home looks so cozy and happy! Kudos to Joe with the Vote pumpkin – that was great! And your family history is fantastic. Thank you for sharing the wonderful pictures and documents. Looking forward to your new book. I know I will feel like I am traveling along right with you. Thank you for that and for sharing your life with all of us. You are a wonderful gift and blessing to all of us girlfriends. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Joe!
Loved this post!! All the history and beautiful fall pictures really speak my language. Glad you’re home for the winter season safe and sound. Please enter me in the give-a-way and I’ll be anxiously waiting to pre-order the new book!
Welcome Home! Thanks for the wonderful blog about your curtains and Halloween.
What a nice, cozy blog post today. Nice that you have some of your moms papers to go through. I’m trying to put down a very simple family tree myself that is a great reminder of all you who have gone on before us. Thank you for sharing.
My husband and I will be travelling to Ireland and Scotland next July to celebrate our 25th anniversary (this past August 28th!). I wish your new book was going to be ready by then, but you can’t have everything! It’ll be something wonderful to look forward to later. 🙂
All the variations of the curtains were lovely, but you are right. Without valence is best. I watched a short program on Blenheim Palace last night where they showed the living quarters. Your home is like a simple, farmhouse version of it with your beautiful new drapes.