Hello all, Welcome! I hope you all got your WILLARD (if you didn’t, don’t worry, you will, it’s going out today but it takes three days for them all to go). I wanted to have everything ready for you when you got here, so yes, in the vernacular of the day, I’ve been “tidying up!” I have lots to show you, but let’s start with the little things that make life sweet with background MUSICA perfect to energize us for the job ahead . . . 
I love this time of year! Time has slowed down, a lovely long January is gone . . . our Island outside my window is cold blue sky, leafless trees, old houses, quiet and colorless (except for the cardinals, our flying Valentines), and in complete healing-mode from the Summer onslaught. No cars going by, no one on our walk in the morning but us. 😁
If you read my last post, you’ll see my sideboard looks very different than it did over Christmas! I’ve been putting my house back together. It was fun decorating with all the holiday stuff 🎄, I was a little sad to see it go, but then felt huge relief to have it all gone! It’s usually around the 5th of 
January, when suddenly all the sparkly, pine-needly things I LOVED in December, begin to drive me crazy. The wreaths on the kitchen doors block the light and drop needles every time we go in or out, then leave a Hansel and Gretel pine-needle trail from the kitchen to the studio. Time to say goodbye to the old year, and hello to the new. The tree came down (we don’t drag it through the house because then vacuuming takes forever ~ Joe takes the branches off to keep the mess confined, and tosses everything out the window!), ornaments were boxed up, bows and ribbons are back in the attic, dusty mistletoe is gone from the doorways, my house is peaceful and quiet with only the sound of wood falling to ash in the fireplace, joy is sparked to the nth degree! 
So, in case you can’t tell, we’ve been watching Tidying Up with Marie Condo. Have you seen it? It’s about a woman who loves to organize, she wrote a book about it, I think more than one, and now has a show on Netflix where she comes to people’s homes and teaches them how to de-clutter their things. Watching someone else clean is inspiring ~ and it’s catching! It makes you want to jump up and get organized ! My eyes suddenly see the chaos around us. How can we live this way!!! If you need help getting going I highly recommend it. Even Joe’s gotten into it and that’s saying something!
She has all sorts of tips ~ she teaches people how to fold things into tiny packages (something I will never do because I choose speed over neatness), and file them on their sides in boxes in drawers to make them more visible. Which was thrilling to see, because it meant I was doing something right!! I’ve always done Joe’s shirts that way (except for the tiny-package folding!) . . .
. . . filed them in a row so he can see the logos and know what he’s getting into without unfolding. It’s not perfect or tiny, but Joe loves it!
I don’t know if it was Marie, or if it was because it was January, but as I was cleaning up the Christmas things, suddenly I couldn’t stand to see boxes or bags parked conveniently next to a wall, did not care for piles of books anywhere but in the bookcases, didn’t want to see folded market bags piled on my little red kitchen chair, or any little bits and pieces dropped here and there that added up to clutter. 🚫 I needed clean walls I could walk up to like a starving man needs a ham sandwich. I couldn’t even work until I got this house under control!
I did it! Everything’s in its place (well, not everything!) with sunshiny face . . . now it’s February (rabbit-rabbit💛) and I’m back to work! Of course, now my studio is a complete mess because as you know creating is not neat, but the rest of the house is heaven. All my best intentions fulfilled, lightheartedness returned!
Most of my table tops have barely anything on them! It won’t last long, but right now I see this and go “Ommmmmm.”
Candlesticks & votives, glass, wood and brass, are sorted and put away, Christmas 
books are back in the hutch, tablecloth and napkins are starched and ironed, on hangers, in the front closet, floors are swept and vacuumed, we’re dusted and ready for the next event. I think of my house sort of like a movie set . . . once Christmas is put away, everything is organized, I leave it smooth and plainly cozy until the next season or event, then I change the throw pillows, add flowers, bunnies, bunting, garden books, and voila! It’s spring!
There’s a big difference between clutter, and decorated. I do not see these shelves as cluttered! I think it’s because everything up there gets used on a fairly regular basis. I could never be a minimalist and hide everything away. Serious minimalism looks heartless to me. Life is too short not 
to set out my Beatrix Potter figurines, hang my teacups on hooks, fold cute dishtowels over the handles of my stove, or put a paper calendar on the wall in my kitchen. Real life is not going to allow me to hide away our family photos, or baskets of rosy apples, or old quilts just for some crazy fashion that will change in an hour anyway!
I wrote about it in my Girlfriends Book. How when I was 11 or 12 I would try and get my girlfriends to play, “Let’s go home and decorate our bedrooms.” A game I mostly ended up playing all by myself! I still redecorate the way I wrote about here . . . and put back one “joy bringer” at a time.
Marie suggested that as we sort, we shouldn’t be looking for things we want to throw out, instead we should look for things we want to keep! It does make it easier! Gather everything into a pile, keep just the things you love and get rid of the rest! She sees organizing as a spiritual endeavor … believing there’s a divine spirit in everything. It feels like that to me. A sort of gratitude for all we’ve been given. It reminds me of a quote I put in my Autumn book by Joe Friday (respected elder of the Alaskan Yup’ik Eskimos) . . . who’s gone now but should should be remembered for this lovely thing:
So glad to the wood. Everything is related. Touch one thing, you touch it all. I say thank you as I oil my wooden cutting board, imagining the people who made it, remembering all that chopping for all those dinner parties, as I oil the wooden handles on my old pots and pans,
and my wooden cooking spoons (my dad made the one with my name on it 💞 ). I want them to last forever. I starch and iron my curtains, shine my windows, make my stove sparkle with plain hot water, refold my old quilts, and dust my bookcases. Because things we use every day have character. Makes me happy.
These things aren’t just merchandise, part of a throw-away world. They’re gifts. When my Grandma died, the only thing I asked for, since I had always gotten her very best when she was alive, was the old wooden spoon she used to scramble her eggs and mix her cookie dough. Because that spoon had her in it. That spoon and my grandma had cross-pollinated their DNA, while alone in the kitchen, beating brown sugar, butter, and walnuts, a long time ago.
It’s why I love old things and that includes this old house of creativity filled with kindly ghosts of the past. As I was tidying up, it was easy to know which of our things “sparked joy” as Marie says, and which ones made me sing out, 🎵 Yaaaard Saaaale 🎶 as I packed up boxes to go. Our busy lives and this modern world do not naturally provide us with the peace and sustenance we need to grow, space for creating, a gentleness for our families. But we can make it for ourselves. We have all the power. As the Chinese proverb says, “Outside noisy, inside empty.”
One more thing, in case you find yourself in a cleaning-emergency on a day when deep tidying and tiny folding is not going to be possible, with possibly just ten minutes to clean your house for guests, here’s what you do:
So, in-between the tidying up, what have I been doing in my studio? Lots. I guess I should say, “we.” We’ve been busy!
Here’s the other half of “we,” my partner-in-crime who plunks his righteous self down in the middle of my art table any time he wants and gives me this look. Like, “What?” Requires belly rub, many kisses. Petty pet of my dreams.
I made a soft little embroidered doll of Jack. Put his heart on the outside. Gave him a little quilt all his own. He’s only 6″ tall (extremely gentle, for children) ~ he and his quilt will come in a sewing/embroidery kit. We’ll have the kit in the web store soon, so some little child out there, maybe yours, can put Jack to bed someday. ♥️
And a quick update, for all of you who pre-ordered and are waiting patiently for your little vases, butter dishes, tea bag holders, and all the others, we are being told to expect them soon. I keep asking, when, when, when, they keep saying soon, soon, soon 😜 . . . so have faith and know the SECOND they arrive, yours will be first to go!! We won’t forget! Soothing MUSICA to make you forget. 🎵 And this:
And, despite kitty distraction in the Studio, new cups are on the way! At the end of the last post I asked everyone what cups they’d like to see and did the best I could to make you happy! So here we go: Four new cups, Fine Bone China, made in England, coming late March! This one, the large 16 oz, is “Bella Luna!” For all you moon-watchers like me! 💛
Every time you use it you can wish on a shooting star! I never painted a shooting star before!
The moon and constellations in a sea of stars . . .
And here is brand new Cup #Two, “Home Sweet Home” . . . this is for you who love the smaller, 11 oz. size, a bunting-draped celebration of . . .
Here’s the side, says it all.
Here is the other side…. a little house of my own . . .
And here is the cute handle! These are only paper mockups, I promise the real things will look much better!
And #3, You all asked, so Yes! A great big 16 oz. Birthday Cup! Because everyone has a birthday and what would be a better celebration than “Having your cake and eating it too?”
There is singing . . .
. . . balloons, a hat, and suggestions for fun!
And another perky handle! Happy Birthday Girlfriends! 🎈
And one more large, 16 oz. cup, due to popular demand, it’s the “English Corgi” cup . . .
With the perfect T.S. Eliot quote surrounded by blue forget-me-nots:
An empire of imagination!
And the side . . . complete with Union Jacks, lamb and castle.
And would not be complete without an English rose on the handle.🌹
And, extra exciting news, guess what? For the first time, the actual BBC website is going to carry one of my cups, this one! For their print catalog and web store! And also my book, A Fine Romance, Falling in Love with the English Countryside! So honored! Secretly extra-thrilled as it is one step closer in my diabolical plan to get to the National Trust. Would love for them to carry my book someday. At least now we’re in the same neighborhood! 🇬🇧 👍
They’re already in production in England, and up for Pre-sale now… as you know, I try to make sure there’s enough for everyone, it helps so much when you pre-order, that way, when I give the factory final numbers, I’m fairly sure everyone who wants one will get one! I usually add on some extra for those who forget, but sooner or later they’re gone. So if you have a special birthday coming in September, be sure to think about it now!
Movie News: I keep promising you an update on the “movie” ~ the project in the works to get my book Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams onto the big (or even little) screen … and every time I think I will just blab what I know, the person working to make it happen sweetly warns me not to!!! 🎬 Grrrr. So all I can say is that it’s still a possibility. Which is better than saying it isn’t! Seems so easy! Movie about starting over, woman and three cats in darling cottage in woods? What could be better? Just say Yes!
Okay, back to the drawing board, 🎨 but before I go . . . I was thinking, what would be a really special giveaway for today? I thought of the perfect thing, then another idea popped up, then another, I didn’t know which to do! I finally gave up and decided to do all three! It’s almost Valentine’s Day! 💖 All you have to do to enter is leave a comment at the bottom of this post (click at the tiny word “comment”), and you’ll be automatically entered for all three gifts! In a few days, Vanna, our resident “Random Number Generator” will draw the names of three lucky winners and I’ll announce them here. So, here’s giveaway number one, very rare . . .
A brand new copy of Girlfriends Forever! When I find out the winner’s name, I’ll personalize it before I send it. They’ve been out of print for a long time, but during my “Tidying Up” phase, I found a small pile of these books in the back of a closet! Buried treasure! And timely, because what could be better for a Girlfriend’s Valentine than a book about best friends! You may have one, but perhaps a special Valentine girlfriend of yours doesn’t! So anyway, this one’s for YOU, and Sheri put the others in our web store for however long they last!
And then I was walking by my newly decorated stove shelf, and was suddenly reminded of this timeless Valentine . . . charming old words I found carved on a stone on a dovecote in England.
Here’s a closer view! Giveaway #2, Love Stays!
And, last but not least, this luv-lee 16 oz, fine bone china cup that asks, “Have I told you lately that I love you?” Is there a better Valentine Message? This one will be going out to some lucky winner in honor of our Girlfriend Dee Lamphear and her husband Brad 💞, to celebrate their forever love and happy marriage.💖
This is the back . . . it says it all, cup-wise, winter-wise and love-wise.
So don’t forget to leave a comment! Remember, you have much better chance of winning here than if you played the lottery!💖
Last but not least, here’s a delicious recipe to help keep your house warm . . . I wish I could send out smells from my computer, so when you opened my page on a freezing cold morning you’d find the cozy smell of baking biscuits. That’s how you would know it’s me. I wish someone would invent that. Unfortunately, under the circumstances, you’ll have to make them for yourself!
Make them in heart-shaped pans and they’re the perfect Valentine gift.
Cut them in half, toast them, add orange marmalade or yummy Christmas Jam and bring them to a lucky Valentine near you. For more Valentine’s ideas, plus a link to get a Valentine Bookmark, go HERE.
If you haven’t signed up to receive my Blog in your mailbox, and you’d like that, or you’d like to surprise your mom, sister, grandma, or best friend, please go HERE.
Winter is king of intimate delights, Enjoy the quiet, light the candles, make a fire, pull on toasty socks, feed the birds, eat hot biscuits. Life is good. Have a wonderful day Girlfriends, kindred spirits. Bake and stay warm! More surprises in the next blog!
Posting again because I don’t see the lengthy post I just posted…
Hi Susan..It is so gloomy outside…and you brightened my day totally.Thank you for all that you share with us.Love,JudithAnderson
Always look forward to your lovely blog! Plus, “the movie” is still in the works! Happy Valentines Day Susan and Joe:)
Thank you Susan for the recent blog. I always love your ideas and cleaning, rather, having my house clean and tidy make me very happy.
Hi Susan,
Thank you for your lovely blog. I just love reading them all. I get all happy inside! Yes, I think you have inspired me to get started and get rid of some of my stuff. It just makes room for new stuff! Hee he hee!! Happy Valentine’s Day to you Joe and of course, your sweet Jack.
Love,
Gail
Reading this post brightened this gloomy day in Michigan! I absolutely love all of your art work, it brings me joy ♥️ Happy February!
Home keeping is highly under rated! What can be more satisfying than making a cozy comfortable place for those you love? It’s so nice to know there are others who understand that.
Oh so many do, land of kindred spirits… most creative job in the world, nice work, if you can get it, it’s a blessing.
Aww, Susan, what a great post. I am reminded today of what you have done for me my whole life!!! I have tears in my eyes and so badly want to express my sincere and unending gratitude and appreciation for you. In times of struggle and depression you have always pulled me out and reminded me of who I am and given me joy from a true friend. As you know things have been difficult for me for the last 18 months and I am trying to work my way out of it. Yesterday, depression came to visit again and I know I needed self care today. And your post has done it again. I love that I get to see a kindred spirit and recognize similarities and get my cup filled by you and the Girlfriends. (I am really into Marie Kondo too and have been tidying up as well. The relief from clutter has been helpful.) It made me think, “Yes, someone I love and respect thinks like me. (I think your way of redecorating is the original tidying up and I love your spin on it. I am going to incorporate that also.) It is nice to have that recognition and understanding and sense of belonging. I just cannot ever tell you enough… thank you for being you and sharing and giving of yourself. It has meant the world to me!!! XOXOXOXOXO
I am so very excited that the BBC has recognized you and is going to be carrying your book and mug !! OHMYGOODNESS!!! that is making me do the happy dance for you. So exciting and a true accomplishment. Hey NATIONAL TRUST ARE YOU LISTENING?!?!?! Your mugs are darling and have preordered. Fingers and toes crossed for the MOVIE!!!!! I know it will come through. How could it not with all your darlingness? You, the Fairy Tale Girl, have all the ingredients for the perfect movie. Sending out positive thoughts into the universe about it.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart and sending hugs across the miles xoxo
Oh Charissa! I’m so proud of you, nothing stops you. And that comes out in every one of your comments. Thank you for being here and for all your amazing words that make tears in my eyes! Hugs across the miles! xoxo
hey there Charissa, great to see you in here, been missing you lately. wishing you a Happy year of the pig… may it be a happy, healthy and prosperous new year for you. sending love and hugs your way…. hugs girlfriend… 😀
HI Famous Pat.😉 miss u too. Rhanks for ur message. Will email soon xoxo
Thank you, Susan. That means a lot. xoxo
Had to get my self set with tea, comfy chair and my glasses!! Thank you for the blog post! Love the new cups!!! Thank you! Please stay healthy and joy-filled!
Thank you Susan…how busy you have been…the house looks amazing..and yes it’s good to get those decorations away and have a sort out too
Just love those kitchen shelves with the gorgeous china…I have lots on my dresser too and use them regularly…but the pink is perfect
The mugs are gorgeous…hope we will be able to get them from Nursery thyme again..
So it will soon be Valentine’s Day. And so thank you for all the love you share with us for the little things..that really are the big things..
God bless you both and all you do…exciting times ahead
Love Sandrax
Love hearing from you and the Mother Country, Sandra!
The new cups are lovely!
I always enjoy reading your posts and basking in your joyful and positive attitude! Thank you!
Love, Sheron
Good morning, Susan.
Oh my hearts, I love the British Corgi mug. I waited too long on the English countryside one. Do you think you’ll ever do a Lake District one for us Beatrix Potter lovers too?
Signed, an English expat living in America.
It’s VERY possible!
Thanks for all the organizing tid bits of advice. When we’d take our cabin cruiser 🛥 away for a few weeks I learned about rolling our clothes for minimum space/ maximum shirts. I still pack suitcases that way.
Today is a 70° winter reprieve here in No Carolina. 🌞 Sitting on my deck reading your blog in the sun. Heaven! Makes me itch to weed, trim bushes, plant. 🌷Too soon. 🌷Too soon. 🌷 So I opened the windows and let fresh air in. ahhh. Our house breathes the fresh air too.
Thanks for a great blog. See you on Twitter! Love you.
💕 Happy Valentine’s Day to you and Joe.💕
That open door, on a not so cold day in winter, is heaven! xoxo Thank you Peggy!
Wonderful post, it brightened my day!
Your energy is so inspiring, Susan Branch!
What a ray of sunshine on this gray, dreary day!! Love your thoughts about clutter vs decorating…..I could never get rid of my old treasures…..too many memories of loved ones gone ahead.♥️
A Corgi Mug…yayyy! Can’t wait. We are proud owners of the cutest Corgi (Bingley). Thanks, Susan.
It’s always a special day when I receive your blog! Edie
Writing from snow white eastern Washington State. Loved finding your blog and was ready to read and have some tea and toast. Love the musica, my husband knows who I am reading when he hears the music. Your take on preparing the house for the new year was inspiring. I have done the same and I still love my things about me just now neater, cleaner and makes one feel so fresh. Thank you for your blog and a few minutes of shear enjoyment.
What a ray of sunshine on this gray, dreary day! I so agree with your comments on clutter vs decorating…..I could never get rid of my treasures….too many memories of loved ones gone ahead.♥️
Your blog was like opening a Valentine today. I always make my own rather than buy ready made ones – much more fun to give and receive.
Susan,
Thank you for your beautiful and fun art; your thought-filled and hopeful words. You lift many spirits, including mine!
…SUSAN BRANCH…THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS TAKING ME BACK TO THAT “BEAUTIFUL PLACE” IN MY HEART AND IN MY SOUL! YOU AND I ARE KINDRED SPIRITS! GOD HAS GIVEN YOU SUCH A PRECIOUS GIFT TO BE ABLE TO EXPRESS WHAT LIVES IN SO MANY OF US! THANK YOU FOR SO GENEROUSLY SHARING THAT!
Thank you for the bright spot in my Tuesday!
Thanks for the giveaway! I appreciated your thoughts on decluttering!! ❤️❤️❤️
Shirley
Reading your blog is always a wonderful way to start the day. Thank you.
Looking forward to making the lemon pepper scones – sounds delicious (of course my stomach is growling now just thinking about them). Can’t wait to preorder the birthday mug – it should arrive just in time for my birthday (fingers crossed). Make it a great day.
Cheers,
Mari
Happy Valentine’s Day! I have been busy decluttering too. I always take a big sigh of relief after the holidays and enjoy the neatness of the house….although it doesn’t last long : ) This past weekend out came all the valentines décor, which makes my heart sing, sing, sing! I guess it’s a balancing act! LOL I adore your bella luna mug and can’t wait to get one! Hope you are staying cozy this month! Spring is on its way!
Danielle xo
I love the Birthday cups. I just had a birthday a few weeks ago and would have loved to have had my tea in one of them. I just love your pictures of Jack! Your blog always makes me happy!
You inspire me daily beginning with my morning cuppa in one of your mugs! Thank you so much for the many years of joy.
I’m just trying patiently to wait til we buy a house . . . then I will tidy it up (and label EVERYTHING!). And, I will also but some of your beautiful cups!
What a lovely read on a cold and snowy morning here in Prior Lake, Minnesota, after surviving the Polar Vortex last week. I always get a sense of calm when reading your posts and seeing your beautiful artwork. Thank you.
Enjoy your blog Susan. I pre-ordered the adorable Home Sweet Home mug too. I can’t wait to get it. 🙂 I have not watched Marie Kondo but have heard about it in numerous conversations. I must order it on Netflix. Thanks for some of her suggestions. I have been trying to organize and de-clutter my house as well. I really hope they make the movie! Have a great day and I hope I am a winner. 🙂
I love reading your posts, and always find inspiration–perhaps even I will have to get decluttering! A Happy Valentine’s to you and Joe!
Love this blog! Hope I win this drawing.
Just what I needed on this gloomy day! A ray of Susan sunshine! Thank you my dear for saying the perfect thing at just the right time!
Thanks for such an inspiring post and special valentine bookmark. Just what we need to a Feb day when anxious for winter to leave and spring to arrive.
I’m living in the south and not freezing cold unlike my northern friends. However, I remember it well from many years living in the far north. Spring will come soon! Loved reading the blog today.
Always a joy to read a new post on your blog. I’d love to see your book turned into a movie. I can’t count the number of times I’ve read it. It encourages, inspires and makes you smile! Thanks, Susan!
Dear Susan….Thank you, Thank you, Thank you ! What a great post – I loved seeing your grandmother’s wooden spoon…yes, the DNA for cooking and cozy is in that spoon. I have my grandmother’s bread bowl and sifter. I never met her…she died before my mother met my father, but my mom moved into my father’s family home and used the items for years. Now I have them…the bread bowl has a crack on the inside so it is mostly decoration, but I use the sifter all the time and say a prayer to/for the woman who used it and whose DNA I carry! Thanks for the giveaways, too – and the book mark. Like I said…THANK YOU for everything and for being YOU!
I like looking at the results of Marie Condo’s tidying up, but since I can’t see an empty space and not fill it, looking is all I will be doing!
Hi Susan! This blog couldn’t have come at a better time! My husband and I are slowly but surely decluttering and paring down. I have Marie Kondo’s book and tidying up is the order of the day! It’s nice to have open, clear space in our homes and I’m with you; I could never truly be a minimalist. I like my stuff! But things had gotten out of control and I had to ask myself just how much stuff do I need. This weekend I will venture forth into the stacks of plastic totes marked “Christmas”. I absolutely LOVE Christmas but I no longer feel as if I have to look like the inside of a Christmas shop in order to have a wonderful holiday season. And so, I will have to make some decisions what to keep and what to put aside for a yard sale. A very Happy Valentine’s Day to you, Joe and Jack. Stay warm and cozy! Love, Karen xoxo
AMEN! Karen…I feel the same way and was able to cut out about 5 totes of Christmas decor after the holidays. My husband’s poor back is very appreciative! Lee
I love your blog and I get your desk blotter every year to brighten up my desk at work.
Jeanne
Lovely, declutttered, tea and biscuits.
Thank you for the post!! Can’t wait to see the new Willard. Anything you post just makes my day!!! Your happiness gene is contagious.
I would love to win anything from you. I would put it straight into my own white hutch! And use it regularly. ❤️
HI Susan and Girlfriends- i hope you are all having a wonderful day. Here in Kentucky it is warm- 60ish with rain….but that is better than the below zero weather we had last week. Susan- thank you for your new blog, you have no idea how i stalk your blog waiting for each new blog post….and the Willard was a very nice surprise too. Happy February wishes to everyone- and happy Valentines Day to you all too. Lets see- i need to shop for my valentines gift to me- maybe i need to look for a gift for myself on the Susan Branch shop page…..oh yes- off to do that now. thank you Susan- we all love you dearly.
A lovely blog to take the winter doldrums away. I adore Christmas but like you come January I am ready to get my house back in order. I was especially glad to see the preorder for the new mugs, I placed mine and can’t wait to get them. Thanks for brightening my day!
Susan, your blog is like a visit with you sitting with a cup of tea. I love your books and they too feel like a visit to your home.
May your creativity, love of all things and peacefulness continue on.
Susan
I look forward to, and enjoy all of your posts. They help to chase away the blues!
Thank you for your delightful blog post today. As always it brought joy. It’s also good to be inspired to de-clutter.
Have I told you lately that “I Love Your Cups?”. I do, I do! The Spring one is due to arrive today. Hooray!
Thanks for the loving post about cleaning! Its wonderful to put Christmas out but just as wonderful to put it away! Thanks for give away too. Will you let me know You get my post. i think it does not work on my iPad!
Karen Carpenter
I would Really love all of those gorgeous goodies!
Love Love Love “Tidying UP”.
It’s the perfect time for inside improvements while the weather is still a bit uncomfortable. Glad you are done and back to work and Girlfriend fun.
Hope your Valentine Day is filled with fun surprises.
Thanks for you post today.
Karen
I savor how you fall in love with the world around you each and
Every day!
Dear Sue and Joe,
I would love to win one of your fabulous prizes. You have inspired me to watch the “tidying up show” and hopefully purge my house of extra clutter. I’m glad you have started selling the Falling in love mug again, it would make a perfect souvenir for anyone traveling to England. Lucky were the people that went to your yard sale. Have a great day. Love Sue
I’m just not ready to get to that decluttering stage yet, but when I do, I’ll remember your great hints! I just love my “stuff” too much right now! That’s a great giveaway!
You came to the right place, because as you know there are no rules around here! xoxo
Wow…we girlfriends all think alike. Spring is on the horizon and every homemaker thinks of sorting and cleaning. It is a springtime rite of passage. I have been doing this for some weeks now and feel that sense of satisfaction for a job well done. Your home sparkles with an air of sunshine now. That’s what ushers in spring. Love the little kitty pillow and quilt! I quilt and embroider and adore it. The cups are awesome…and so is your talent. I too am a member of the National Trust. They will take notice soon I am convinced. Keep on keeping on dear girl! Your light shines a beam of domesticity for us all.
I was so excited to see this new blog today! In a perfect world, there would be a new one EVERY day. But alas that would be too much to hope for. So I look forward to each new one that comes along. Thank you for all your kind words and positive outlook that brightens our days. The world would be a better place if there were more people like you.
Today is the first time that I have looked at your website. I just finished reading your three novels – I enjoyed them all and was amazed at our connections. From a collection of Beatrix Potter and quotations to a love of old movies and Frank, Bing, and Vera. I was surprised to see your reference to Beryl Markham as recently read her book West With the Night. Your stories are inspiring to read and each page a beautiful work of art. I am happy to have found you.
Susan, you are so entertaining and skilled at “taking us away” from the real world into your world of whimsy.
Thank you so much for the giveaways!
Yes, Marie Kondo’s books are helping a lot of people go through their stuff and save only those things that bring you joy. So helpful to ditch “gifts” you have been given over the years, that aren’t your style. Plus ditching those clothes that don’t fit. I love her goodbye rituals, thanking that object for its beauty and so long.
I too, or I should say, “we two” at our house have also been inspired by Marie Kondo. We pulled everything out of our kitchen island, purged, and then replaced everything left over is a way that really makes sense, (like all the things we use when entertaining in one spot). I rolled my dish towels and lined all our drawers and cabinets. Now, all makes me happy and content when spending time in the kitchen. We didn’t tackle all at once, just a bit each weekend. Come spring, it will be finished and we’ll pledge to keep it that way moving forward. Thanks for sharing, Susan
Susan,
Your Willard/blog is the best – always lifts me up with both words and pictures and drawings. Stay warm and dry in MA!
Ann
Kept checking back to see if the new blog was up. And here it is! Will pre-order cups, I seem to have a fine collection now. Looking forward!
Dear Susan – I love your description.. of putting Christmas away, and cleaning, readying for a new season….and the description of the quiet in your neighborhood….we have had 2 snow days in Seattle, where, at the top of a hill, I have stayed home, doing some work and filling bags for the Goodwill. Today is icey, and sunny and Maggie Mae, the dog, needs to go visit our friend and neighbor across the street (Maggie has cabin fever)….so sweet….congratulations on the BBC recognition….I am rather drawn to that Corgi mug….hmmmmmm….
So, don’t watch the State of the Union (you can catch up on details later)….have your own State of Susan’s Union, with candles, friends, critters and art…..sending you love,
Regina
Susan, I love and admire your energy and your willingness to share your special brand of joy. You don’t seem to set limits on happiness. This inspires me. Thank you.
I just had to thank you for your words today. You always seem to brighten a gloomy day and to make all feel well in the world. Thank you.
Your darling blog post comes at the perfect time as we are all thawing out from the Polar Vortex and getting back to every day life (even though, I have to admit, as awful as it was outside, I treasured the cozy, hunker down, batten the hatches, hide under blankets, time with my family who never seems to sit still anymore). Thank you for always knowing how to brighten our days!
I so enjoy your blog. It’s always so fun to open it up, turn on the music and read such happy thoughts! Thank you for the Valentine bookmark – it will definitely be put to good use!
I so loved this post. I always find that taking down all of Christmas is bittersweet, but then I enjoy the “clean” look that follows. May your February be blessed.
Great blog post! Love the new mugs!
Hi, Check out Pottery Barn…not sure if someone else posted about these but they have Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit stuff) dishes. Cool for the kiddies but kiddies can be any age! I alternate between my two mugs and Hans Christian Anderson quote plate most every morning. I love the combo…thank you for creating them. :)PS Love give-a-ways….hugs
Susan….my grandparents lived with us and my grandma AND my mother were clean freaks!!! (My grandma vacuumed our garage😝). I think living in a ‘perfectly appointed house’ gives off a sense of well being and contentment. Mess is chaotic!!🤷🏻♀️ I am doing the same….my son built us a new closet….(to blend in with our old house of course) so I cleaned my bedroom and am on to my studio!!! That, unfortunately seems to be my dumping ground when company comes!!! I am being very cutthroat and cleaning it out!! I love my house and all my ‘pretties’……so even tho it involves much dusting I don’t care.
Valentine’s Day is very special to me…..it’s when my husband and I went on our first date (seniors in high school). We went to see Flught of the Phoenix and he asked me if I wanted anything to eat or drink…..of course I said no because I didn’t want him to SEE me eat or drink what a dunce I was….) but little did I know Jimmy Stewart crashed in the desert and I was SOOO thirsty he had to go down from the balcony and get me a drink!!!! I was parched!!! I will be married for 48 years but 53 since we started going out!!!❤️❤️❤️
I love that Karen, nothing, nothing is better than a love story!!!
Why is it we’re so eager to put our Christmas treasures out and then by Jan 2 we’re giving them the stink eye? It’s equally wonderful to put them up as it is to take them down. Every year! I bought Marie Kondo’s book but have yet tofinish it. I tried folding the clothes as she suggested (Jammie drawer) and it worked so well until I didn’t keep up with it on the first laundry day afterwards! Oh well, I haven’t watched her show yet, but I will. My problem is that I love too many things! I’ve got to get moving though because after having had some new windows put in I have so much painting to do. Time to clean, organize, paint, and start fresh. Trying to motivate myself……..oh I love the Moon mug! 🌝 ✨ I’m sure I can make room for it! 😬
Dear Susan, it is a beautiful day here after week’s of rain and I so needed to get inspired to start purging my home. Happy Valentines day to you and Joe.
Debbie Ferguson
Thank you so much for the post day and a chance for the giveaways. I read Marie Kondo when she first came out and gave away four driveways full of stuff. I don’t have lots of money to donate but it sure felt great donating our usable clothes, books, toys, electronics, etc.
What a lovely blog to shoo away the winter doldrums. I adore Christmas but like you come January I am ready to get my house back in order. I was especially happy to see the preorder for the new mugs, I ordered mine and can’t wait till they get here!
I too am working up to cleaning out around here!
Loving the neutral color Farmhouse decor-but all my stuff would not fit and I love my stuff ! Too many years of antique collecting-I rotate the holiday decor in and out all year.
Valentines reign supreme right now-cheerful with the light snow fall as a backdrop!
Stay warm and be thankful for a cozy home!!
Hi to Susan and Joe—have enjoyed all your recent posts and the Holiday festivities you shared with us from your beautiful home. A few posts ago, you mentioned Ginny dolls and a couple of the GFs wrote to say how they enjoyed their Ginny dolls, too, growing up. I loved playing with my Ginny in those carefree days and after I became a Mom, I would often tell my daughter Allison how I grew up to have my very own Ginny doll in real life–her! Now she is a Mom to her very own daughter—too young for a Ginny doll yet, but it is a sweet story. I do not know if Ginny dolls are made anymore; was Vogue doll company in those “way-back days.”
I have been sorting through accumulations and paring down, too. When I worked at the Tea Room we wore lovely skirts or dresses and frilly aprons and jewelry ( we dressed like girls! ) and have donated most of those pretty items.
Reminds me of a time when a sweet group of older ladies came into the Tea Room for lunch and they were admiring my outfit. One of them said to me “Has anyone told you how beautiful you are?” I replied “Well, not for about twenty years!” Oh, how those dear ladies laughed! Ha, ha good memories of a fun job!
Sweeeeeeet! And my mom too, we were her dolls! Isn’t it fun?!
Oh this blog is the- best 🎨🏡😘 I ordered 3 of the brand new cups yesterday, however after seeing the bigger pictures here today, I should have ordered all 4! ☕️😘💚 Now this is quite serious, I am in need of a brand new hutch/cabinet … just for my SB mugs! I have spotted the wall shelf in your kitchen holding some of your mugs; & now that my husband is retired-perhaps he can build me a nice wall shelf.😊 Might we see a Valentine’s Day mug someday? This newest collection of mugs is one of my favorites- just when you think they cannot possibly get any better🙌🧡🥰 Oh Susan, could there possibly be an artist’s mug sometime? 🎨 Last but not least, the movie …. Who would portray you … and who could cast as Joe? 🤔
It probably depends on which century this movie is made in!!! xoxo
I have so many of your books and love all of them. Now I am in love with the Corgi Cup. I was depressed today and reading your blog cheered me up. It doesn’t get any better than that.
For me either!
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and Joe❣️ Your Willard/blog always brightens my day. 😀
My wonderful corgi Zoe passed away of old age a couple of weeks ago and my heart is broken 💕. So you can imagine I definitely need the corgi cup. This installment was very healing for me and I’m off to oil my wooden spoons. Thank you Susan, you’re the best.
The new mugs look wonderful. Hope that they will be available at ‘Nursery Thyme’ in the UK so that I can buy them! We actually visited ‘Nursery Thyme’ last September and came out with quite a few of your beautiful mugs! Somehow our tea tastes better in your mugs and they look lovely in our kitchen.
Hi Janette, so nice to hear from you! Thank you for your kind words! xoxoxo Wondering what creative things you’ve been cooking up lately?
I’ve been keeping busy! Done some knitting (made an Aran coat for myself) and also got to finish some new bunting for our campervan, for when we start out on our adventures this year. I have a new quilt planned, but not cut out yet, so that’s something else I need to sew soon. Thanks for your lovely Blog!
What a lovely surprise today!
Hi Sue,
Loved the blog but can’t write now got to go straighten up.
Lillian O. XOXOXO
HA!!
You are such an incredible artist……all of your work…..the corgi on the new mug, perfection!!! Love, love, love all the new mugs……(the moon, the stars!!!!!)….and this wonderful post! Cheers to you!
What a wonderful Valentines gift from you Susan!! I know how much I would enjoy it and how much those around me who are kindred spirits would love your books. Actually, anything Susan Branch will do the trick ♥️
Love your posts so very much!
I know I have so much tidying up to do, but I just can’t get up the energy to do it.
I will have to watch that Netflix show! I just know when I sit dow and read your blog,
I automatically feel better….all warm and fuzzy! My dream is to one day see the English
Countryside. Keep on hoping!💕
Put it on your calendar for 2 years from now, and then start arranging your life so you can go. You will bless yourself every day of the rest of your life! xoxo
Count me in for the fun!
Thank you, Susan! You brighten my day!
It was fun reading about all your tidying up your house for the new year! I love, love, love your new mugs! Much love from Mary S. in Fresno, California
So good to “hear” from you! Happy almost Valentine’s Day!! <3
Always lovely to hear from you…you make everything you do so magical! Thanks for sharing and happy VD to you and yours!!
Hello Susan – love your beautiful entry today. I also have tried to adopt some of Marie Kondo’s ideas. They really work! Lovely pictures of tabletops, cupboards, quilts, and kitties. Hope to get the Little House cup. Thanks for the lovely thoughts!
This time of year reminds me of the kind of love that only us “seasoned” folks enjoy after so many years of working at it. “Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and more disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable.” Henry Ward Beecher
Hope you and Joe enjoy a very happy Valentine’s Day. Oh! And eat chocolate!
Marie Kondo ,,, plastic bag triangles … who knew? She’s just fun to watch and hear … a calming presence. And tiny! So cute. Thanks for another opportunity to win one of your treasures. Happy Valentine’s Day to you and Joe and Jack!
Sharon in Alabama
Hello Susan,
Love your blog and the new cups. What a great start to the new year with cleaning out the clutter. You are such an inspiration to all the girls. Hugs and kisses to Jack. 🙂
Enjoyed your post, Susan.