Well, for the first time, I finally sort of have everyone where I want them! Home! MUSICA
There’s my hero off to rob the grocery store! We are doing fine here, so far so good. On our third week of staying home, doing our part to protect ourselves and the brave health workers at our little hospital. Joe doesn’t LOVE going out dressed like this, but he does it for me.💞
Still dark and quiet this morning . 
. . I finished the new calendars yesterday! DONE💃! Yay! Now I get to write my Christmas Story! So excited! I put everything away and cleaned the studio to get ready ~ and now the house is smooth and quiet. Behind a chair on the floor of this room is a little machine I got many years ago … a recording of birdsong on a constant loop. Because it’s still too cold, we can’t open our windows yet, but it’s April and I, personally, am ready, READY, READY for spring. Recorded birdsong works for me till the real thing comes along. Makes me happy!
It’s getting a little lighter, a little warmer every day . . . Which is perfect because for some reason our supermarket decided the one thing they could live without during this pandemic was, wait for it, yes . . . F L O W E R S. Totally nutty. So good for the soul. They’ve been #1 on my shopping list the two times Joe has gone. But, no.
So here we are, in the NICK of time! Spring, the season of hope and rebirth.
And it’s purr-fect here! Just ask Jack!
So out comes the yellow . . . Easter is on my birthday this year! I love it when Easter’s on my birthday! And by the 12th, we’ll already be almost halfway through April. This time with pandemic feels like forever, but it will pass much faster than we think. I’ve been thinking about what I’ll have to show for it. (Besides, of course, a hundred thousand prayers.🙏)
I’m such a homebody, as you all know, that if I “HAD” to be “quarantined” ~ “stuck” on a desert island so to speak, I could not think of a better place than Home! Where all my best things are. Tea, candles, dishes in soap suds, clean dishtowels on the stove, jars with red lids, peanut butter cookies in the oven, Beatrix Potter people on the window sill, Jack in my drawer, Joe at my side. All the good stuff happens here anyway. It’s trouble out there. Home is the only place we are in charge! 
Was “Zooming” with my English Girlfriend Rachel the other day (*see Zooming below) . . . we were comparing what we’re going through to what the Brits went through during WWII, when their “pandemic” fell out of the sky and blew up houses while people were sleeping ~ which they lived through every day for SIX years. How DID they sleep? No sugar, butter, eggs, coffee. No gas. Everyone like sitting ducks. Sons and husbands in danger, far from home, not heard from in months. Ray gave me a book called Nella’s War, an actual diary of an everyday English woman during the war and what I learned: we are so lucky, even now. Staying home? Lucky us. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out. If they could, so can we.
What if, the way this went, we were all quarantined in a 
dentist’s chair? Right? Way worse! Or a highly air-conditioned department-store bathroom, locked in with a bunch of strangers and only two plastic chairs? There is no nicer place than home especially when bombs aren’t falling. We LOVE our own beds, we LOVE the musica that plays here! No strange dentist-chair music in THIS house. I’m stealing daffodils from the garden, and forced a tiny stem of cherry tree. If I didn’t have a garden, I might dress like Joe and take a walk on our deserted street with my scissors.
We are like this. We go out to stare at the garden before we go for our walk and holler to each other. “Joe, over here!”
SO exciting! (Norman Rockwell was clearly one of us!)
SEE? Happening all over. New life. Isn’t it thrilling?
I’m so proud of everyone. The whole world is on a mission. We’re in it together. “If you can’t do what you do,” said Bon Jovi, “do what you can.” And so we do.
If we want to have breakfast for dinner, we can and we do! There is something so cozy and comforting about pancakes for dinner. Then we watch two series on Acorn, Brokenwood Mysteries, and 800 Words. We are loving the creative art of cooking more than ever. Dinner is like an event, what are we making? Let’s have PANCAKES, let’s put bacon in them … yaaaay!
I wasn’t always a good cook ~ no one is BORN that way, not even Julia Child, who said, “Before I was 32 all I did was eat.” And as you know if you’ve read my books Fairy Tale Girl and Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams, I didn’t just burn up one stove, I burnt up two.😱 But cooking was right smack in the middle of the road I took searching to find my passions and the things that would make me happy in life. Cooking was like a secret way of giving. I could make people happy when I did it.❤️
It was my own little pandemic that brought me to this cottage in the woods on Martha’s Vineyard. When my life was 
suddenly thrown into reverse, I went inside, in more ways than one. And it was in that quiet where I learned most everything else that’s brought me to now. Sometimes we need a little pandemic in our lives to help us see the road. It’s awful when it’s happening, you fight it in the beginning, but later, if you survive, if you aren’t allowed out too soon, you think, Oh, thank God.💖
What helps the fear? Little things. Naps with kitties, tomato soup, scrambled eggs, a good book, bubble baths, MEDITATION, finding new recipes, cleaning out a closet, 
maybe writing that book you’ve promised yourself you would do. Are you homeschooling? You could teach history the fun way. Watch with them: Darkest Hour, Schindler’s List, Amistad, Lincoln, Amadeus, or Chaplin. Show them where on the map these heroes were born, or where the story took place. Make it all real for them. Google “Best Silent Movies” and show them the world of their great grandparents. Check out my Movie List ~ maybe you have a budding vintage-movie buff in the family. Have a Family Book Club: read out loud every night: The Diary of Anne Frank or To Kill a Mockingbird. Take questions. I have a Book List too, tried and true, guaranteed to bring a laugh
or a tear. Get online and fill out the Census. Teach good citizenship and explain how doing this makes your community strong. Teach them how the stock market works (😳I’m still trying to figure it out!). Paint a bedroom. Check out TED TALKS, so much genius free for the taking (watch Isabel Allende speak passionately, brilliantly, about Passion). Create a photo wall in your bathroom. Make a homemade pie crust. Teach kids how to iron, knit, watercolor, embroider. There are lots of embroidery kits and fill-in family cookbooks in our web store (make Christmas presents). Get out that hammer and nails and Google How To Make a Bird House. Every lesson for everything you’ve ever wanted to learn is on Youtube. Things you never thought of, things you hardly ever have time for, you do now. Who knows? You might stir up some passions!
My own personal divorce-pandemic took me here. From California to a small island and this little house . . .
Where I cried myself to sleep and healed with kittens and Potato Pancakes.
A recipe I then put in a cookbook I wrote at my dining room table . . . 
. . . that changed my life and gave me a future and made my pandemic worthwhile, all six years of it.
I never imagined this book would turn 30! But it did. And it got a makeover, not just the cover, but there are lots of new recipes. I’m thinking you or a friend or a relative may 
be needing a little extra TLC right now, a little bit of vintage charm in a topsy-turvy world ~ so I’m putting this watercolored, hand-written book full of homey recipes, 176 pages of how-to’s, and family stories, on sale ~ each with a signed bookplate inside.❤️ For the whole month. And don’t worry, I am living proof . . .
None of us know what the future will bring, we have lots of these books in stock right now, it would be better not to have them lounging in a warehouse somewhere, they should be out there, spreading their homey goodness, doing what they do best, inspiring family togetherness with potato pancake, carrot cupcakes, linguine in clam sauce, Gazpacho, my dad’s garlic bread, stuffed pork chops, enchiladas, rainbow jell-O, onion pudding, German pancake ⬇️ . . .
. . . the way to fry an egg so the yolk is
still soft, bubbled up with crispy edges . . . bean soup, cranberry tea cake, caesar salad, twice-baked potatoes, lemon chicken, bread and butter pudding, chocolate eclairs . . . and so much more…
As my parents did and taught us, if you want something bad enough, you just make it. 
I just checked my cupboard, I have three Heart of the Home’s here on the Island, which I’m going to give away to YOU. All you 
have to do to win one of these books is scroll to the bottom of this post where you’ll see a bunch of tiny little words, including the word “comments” … click there, leave a comment (anything, so the blog registers you there), and you’ll be automatically entered in the drawing which we’ll do next week. ❤️ I’ll email the winners and personalize each book before it goes out. Little something to look forward to.
Here’s another small treat you can make yourself ~ extra simple made with boxed mix, but outstanding for kids ~ and you’ll feel pretty proud too.
One of our Girlfriends sent us her version!
What else . . . Oh yes . . 
No doubt you have figured this out, but just in cases, our Mother’s Day Tea Parties in Duxbury have both been canceled, until, we think (and hope), September. I’ve been saving my old paintbrushes and pencil stubs and making bookmarks to hand out at the signing . . . which means there will be more by the time this happens! See? It’s all good. I’ll announce the new dates when I get them.
Another 2021 Calendar preview, it’s April! Just a reminder, we will be placing our calendar order with the manufacturer on Monday. Hopefully you have yours on order . . . but if not, if you are going to want either the 2021 Photo Wall-Calendar or the regular Heart of the Home wall-calendar, now is the time to get them. Nobody knows WHAT is going to happen to the stores that usually sell them, our manufacturer may make HALF as many this year as last, we just want to make sure our Girlfriends get one if they want one.💞
I’m sure you’ve heard of ZOOM, but if you haven’t let me tell you . . . it’s like an on-line conference call . . . I 
have used it twice now . . . once with seven girlfriends here on the island, (we had our TGIF, with cocktails, via Zoom) … and the other with Rachel and Paul with us here and them in England (and more cocktails). It’s free! It’s easy! If I can do it, anyone can. And it’s highly satisfying. A safe way to reach out and say I’m still here and I love you, you can see the love-light in their eyes. You can even kiss the screen. You’ll see. Excellent invention.💞 
Another especially fun family project is Ancestry.com … get your DNA done and start working on your family tree . . . my sister and I do it over the phone together . . . it’s wonderful to feel your family connected to the world, puts a new sort of foundation under you, deeper roots in a world of curiosity and investigation! Shelly finds a name from 1736, and I’m practically screaming the WOW-ness of it into the phone! We get totally tangled sometimes saying such lunatic things as this, “No that’s Irene’s DAD’S father’s brother’s OTHER son!”
Well, look! It’s light out. Blustery and cold, leafless ~ once again, have to say, right now real world is isn’t quite as wonderful as it is in this cozy house . . . look, my agapanthus are blooming in my studio window! Birds and squirrels are feeding outside the kitchen window ~
It’s as good as it can get. One last thing before I go . . . one thing you must do. Turn off the news. Do not listen to daily numbers. Don’t hear strident voices all day. If you’re at home, following the rules, and staying inside, you’re already doing EXACTLY what you’re supposed to do to protect your medical centers and your amazing healthcare workers (under so much stress it’s unfathomable), from YOU. Blessings and prayers for them, and also, for our first responders, grocery-store people, volunteers and delivery people, who put themselves on the line for us every day. Social distancing is working! Too much negativity will make us as sick as the virus does. Just keep praying, and go World-War-Twoing through to the other side. Think of magical words like delphinium (say them out loud, pure poetry), hollyhock and foxglove. Lily. Pansy. Because it won’t be long.
💞
Don’t forget to leave a comment for the book! Would love to hear how you’re doing!💞 Oh yes, I have a new bookmark for you! You can see it below. Just click HERE and print it out either on card stock, or do it double thickness. From me to you . . .
Thank you Susan!
I look so forward to getting this newsletter. It always brings a smile to my face. I love my home too. No better place to be with all the things I love surrounding me. We have planted seeds, planted our lettuce outside and the smiling faces of my pansies have been planted. They bring so much joy. We can stay in our jammies as long as we want curled up with Cloe our kitty, reading a good book, rug hooking. This pandemic has slowed everyone down and reminded me of the stories mom and dad told of the depression and WW11. My prayer is that when this is over people will appreciate life more, families, friends and neighbors.❤️
Thank you for your ray-of-Sunshine post. I’m going out to snip some forsythia branches to bring inside when I finish this. Our Hellebores are blooming too, as are the little Scillas- such a heartening sight!
One quote keeps coming to mind these days, Julian of Norwich: “All shall be well, and All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” It is soothing to repeat, and hope. I loved reading about your ways to cope and all the projects everyone is doing. Very inspiring.
Thank you for reminding us to stay home and stay safe.
Hi Susan, Thank you for this loving and positive post. I have loved you for years and wish I could get a positive quote from you every day we are in this Pandemic. I have my crafts to keep me going so have been knitting a shawl and sewing some masks and looking to do some needle work too. Thank you for always being there for us! You are a ray of spring sunshine and love in this crazy world we live in.
Take care of yourself and sweet Joe and give Jack a pet.
Thank you for brightening my day, Susan. <3
How perfect is this post ..
Just what my heart needed.
I’m crocheting a blanket for new grand baby on the way, some scarves for the homeless at Christmas and thinning seedlings for my garden. In between kidding season on our little farm.
Keeping my hands and mind busy.
Blessings to You and Joe
Trace IG Turtle Tree Farm
You are such a sweetheart, Susan. The other day I was beginning to get a bit stir crazy and thought, I can’t wait until the next blog from Susan. And I was right! Your words were just what I needed, thank you so very much. I’ve been busy sewing masks every day as it helps to know I can do a bit during this horrible time to help and I can see evidence I didn’t waste my time. Take care, I’m looking forward to your next blog.
I welcome the calmness and beauty you bring to my life with each blog post. Thank you!
Having a lovely cup of coffee from my sailboat mug. My husband’s fav is the moon mug. We make quite a pair. Sailing by the light of the moon.
Love your recipes and fingers crossed 🤞 I’ll be lucky. Thank you for the fun read. 💕
I studied your photos of the kitchen stove and wondered what kind it is. We have just sent off our 1952 Wedgewood range to Clayton, Georgia, to a fantastic restorer of vintage appliances. Your words are always a comfort and blessing to those who read them. How fortunate we are to have you!
Loving coffee from the sailboat mug. My husband loves the moon one. We are sailing by the light of the moon every morning. Thanks for the fun read today. Fingers crossed 🤞 I’m lucky ❤️
It’s 6:48a.m. And I just finished reading your blog…such a breath of fresh air….and you couldn’t be more right about not dwelling on what’s going on in the world and around us right now. As I write this, it’s getting light outside and I hear the birds just chirping and singing away. It’s so sweet and uplifting. My daffodils are up and my tiny irises have bloomed by the flagpole…so much good to be thankful for. Thank you for the uplifting words and pictures. I laughed when I saw the bakery on the table and Jack’s ears were sticking up over the table. That’s all you could see were his ears!! Have a beautiful day Susan.
Hello Susan! I’ve been awake since 4 a.m. and now reading your post…started feeling achy and sick Wednesday night…nooooo! In spite of taking extraordinary precautions. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious. Anyway, daffodils and tulips are over but the iris and amaryllis are about to bloom. By far, my favorite time of year! Thank you for reminding us of happier times. ❤️
Whack yourself with some Vitamin C … it’s probably just stress! 🙏
Happy Spring🌷
I’ve been alternating between reading your books and Gladys Taber’s. Can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am for you two extraordinary women. The world is a better place because of you❤️❤️Hugs
My 10 year old finished reading A Fine Romance a few weeks ago. It certainly inspired her! Thank you!!! She watercolors everyday after distance learning until dinner. She is making 90 small watercolor fairies that say “You are loved” to drop at our local senior housing community which has been on lockdown.
Ten! Thank you for sharing with her. Such an open-minded creative time of life, a time to fill her heart with all the possibilities there are. And look at her, giving giving, doing what comes naturally, what we are born to do. Sending love, please tell her I think she is wonderful! 💖
Thank you for this, Susan. It’s been especially hard for my family to not be able to attend church, and my children are too young to understand why. But we’ve been making bread and cookies and reading books. Luckily I was already a stay at home, homeschooling mom so not much changed 🙂 Your post has inspired me to, once again, put on a brave face for my children, turn off the news, and appreciate this day that the Lord has made! God bless you, and much love from me and my (7!) children 🙂
Children seeing you adapt, will find it inside themselves to adapt and thrive when it’s their turn. It’s a gift! xoxo
Good Morning Susan..Your letters always seem to come at the time my spirit needs some uplifting. This thing is really starting to take a toll on me and you are right. I need to skip watching the news for a day or two. I did go out for a little walk yesterday morning and it was so lovely! Never ran into one person out at all! There is very little traffic right now (as so many people are working from home) and I could hear the birds singing so clearly, and the sky was blue! Robins are everywhere and the grass is getting so green, we will likely be cutting it here soon. I have been keeping myself busy crocheting a sweater for my daughter and the other day I started making some masks to wear (for my quick grocery runs.) I think “something” is better than nothing. So, that has occupied my time and was surprised I could still work my sewing machine. I am also trying to master making a sourdough starter and am determined that I will succeed. My hubby told me yesterday I looked like a mad scientist at the kitchen counter. Haha! You and Joe stay safe and I am always looking forward to your next letter! 😘
Happy Spring!
I still have the original “Heart of the Home” on my cookbook shelf, signed by my sister-in-law and her husband, “As long as you’re standing around the kitchen…Christmas, 1986.” Yikes! Can it be that long ago?! We’re three weeks strong in our lovely home and like you, there is lots of cooking being done. We could surely use your “revised and expanded” version of “Heart of the Home” right about now!
xoxo,
Marty
Wow, it only came out October 29, 1986 . . . Your sister-in-law was one of the very first to find it. xoxo
Your blogs, books, anything you share is always uplifting and positive. Thank you for sharing your talents with us. I am not a cook, but I have rediscovered my art and have been trying to create a simple new pen and ink piece every day. Then I color it in with colored pencil or Tombow markers and feel I’ve accomplished something each day. Stay well! Spring is really coming!
Thank you Susan for another uplifting blog. May God Bless you and Joe and your family.
Beautifully tender post Susan. Thank you
Husband and I both work in healthcare, come home, strip in the garage and run upstairs naked to the shower. afterward, Clorox every door handle and railing we touch. Hoping with all hope we are not bringing this home to each other or our children. What memories our children will have of this time…..It has been very stressful. So thank you for your post, your words are like a balm for the stress I try to shed in the garage with my scrubs. Stay well! Stay home!
We are doing our part, which is SO much easier than what you are doing, and the very LEAST we can do . . . staying away from being a burden! So, thank you, dearly, from the bottom of my heart, for everything, both of you. Tell everyone at work, we bow down with humble gratitude. xoxoxo
I always look forward to your blog and your beautiful drawings. Thank you for spreading some sunshine during this dark time.
What a treat to wake up to your newsletter this morning Susan! Such happiness in my inbox. Nella Last’s war was made into a TV movie starring Victoria Wood. Do a search for it as I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Stay safe and stay home!💕
Thank you for your encouraging words, Susan. Always good to hear how you’re doing.
Susan,
I started my day by reading your most recent post. Today I will not read the news. Here in southern Indiana it will be in the high 60s today and I am going to spend it outside with my garden!
I always look forward to reading your blog! Thank you for all the inspiration!
Happy April, Susan
Thank you for reminding us to be mindful & thankful for the MANY blessings we have always! May God continue to bless you & Joe.
Thank you so much for all your positive words. I needed them right now. Have a blessed day.
Lovely! My mom made that same rabbit cake for us every Easter when we were growing up. My niece requested it for her birthday one year! We are business as usual here in Casa Silies – I work from home doing financial transcription and hubs delivers propane – gotta keep people warm! I have actually done the pickup option at the grocery store twice and outside of not having half the things I ordered, it’s worked quite well. I try to keep the numbers out of my head, but I sure hear about the stock market and the panic it’s caused all day long. I try to concentrate on the numbers of people recovered instead and tell myself it’s okay.
Susan, what a treat to read your blog this morning! Remembering what the Brits (and others) had to go through during WWII, reminds me that we have so much to be grateful for. Please stay safe!
Thank you! Your books have brought me so much comfort!
That bunny cake looks like one that my mom made for one of my sister’s birthdays when we were little! Thank you for sharing a recipe, I think that would be fun to make for her or for a family get together when it’s safe to go back out and mingle ❤️
I , like you, am a home body and am enjoying spending time in my home….nesting, cooking meals, working on neglected projects. I have been blessed that all of my families and friends are safe and healthy. In a lot of ways I am enjoying the “forced” slow down of life. I have cooked and eaten more dinners with my husband and taken more walks in the last 2 weeks then I have in the last 2 years….since our evening commitments are all cancelled. I am grateful that I have many passions and interests that I can spend my days with. Thank you SUsan.
As always such an uplifting read. Way back when I used to own a gift shop. At the first gift show that I attended I purchased a few copies of Heart of the Home to sell in the shop. Of course, I kept a copy for me. Well, fast forward these 30 years or so and I can’t find my copy. I fear in the moves I’ve made over the years it’s disappeared. My great hope is one of these days I’ll open a box and it will be there, safely waiting for me. Silly I know, but since I rediscovered you I’ve wanted to find that book. Of course, I could order another, but it’s not the same. Well, maybe I’ll win another…that would be closest to finding my first edition.
Thanks for the pep talk about turning off the news.
Thank you for this very uplifting post, Susan. We can all do this- we are doing this for each other!
I survived my first Vineyard winter thanks to your reassurances that home is where the heart is. Dreariness and loneliness made me dig deeper, reflect and re-prioritize what is important: what makes me soul sing. And I learned it is the simple pleasures of making, learning, doing and watching. Now I don’t hope as much as wait. The circle is unbroken. Spring is coming in small increments so as to savor the changes each day. Thank you for sustaining me and staving off the drear!
Oh Pam, I remember my first winter. Someday, I know it’s true, you will wish they were longer. Such a time of respite. Most importantly as Margot taught me, getting through requires sunlight and vitamin D3 … if you aren’t getting enough, it can change all perspective. Watch for the day you open all your doors and windows. It’s worth the entire winter for the thrill of that moment. XOXOXOX
Thank you!!! I am vitamin D3 savvy and have faith Mother Nature is Common’ round again! 😘😘😘
👏👏👏
Hi Susan, Joe and Jack,
This morning I cut three beautiful orange Ranunculus blooms and put them in my little toothpick holder. Such simple joy yet so deeply felt.
The last few days here in Middle TN have been just lovely, so many trees and shrubs and bulbs are blooming! I’m watching my Lily of Valley’s grow up taller and taller by day, they are from my Grandmother’s garden up in the western suburbs of Chicago; they have to be 25+ yrs old. Really, and they still bloom!
It’s these simple but profound gifts that are helping me keep a smile on my face and in my heart. My love and prayers for health and safety to you and my “Willard” family.
You are so lovely, Susan Branch. The words you share here are exactly what I needed to read today! Sending much love to you, Joe, and all the creatures on your homestead on the island! Hugs and prayers from Raleigh, NC!
Stay safe. Enjoy Spring. Spring! Hooray it is unfurling now and will bring us warmth and flowers and healing🌸
Dear Susan,
You and your family make the worlds seem right and good again thank you for bringing your perspective of goodness and grace, prayer and peace, beauty and flowers into these times we live in.
Hi Susan!
When I woke up this morning I thought how lucky I was to be safe and healthy at home! Thank you for the cheerful newsletter!
Love your post ~ Happy Birthday month fellow homebody, yellow is the color of spring, sweet bunnies galore, Willa Cather fan, love Zoom, and your German pancake recipe from years ago is one of my all time favorites!! Thank you 🙂
Good morning from Georgia,. Enjoyed your blog. Thank you , Harriet
Dear Susan I have followed you for years
My inspirations come from you and your wonderful blogs
In this bizarre tune we are living in I read your work and feel good inside again … a reason to carry on and build strength for our family and friends
I would love to win one if your books
What a lovely day it would be reading your little quotes to my family over the telephone …
I miss them so much but self isolating is important to stop this nasty virus
Stay safe everyone and God be with you all xxxxx❤️
Thank you, Susan, for this lovely blog post. Yes, we will come out on the other side,having weathered this storm. It’s a little scary here in NYC, but we are holding it together with FaceTime, prayer and putting out all the spring decorations!
Happy birthday, happy Easter. My birthday is the 13th, and I was actually born on Easter! You are a fellow ♈️ Aries! Stay safe to you, Joe and Jack.
Love, Joanne
Scary watching it Joanne. All my prayers flying over the water and blanketing your beautiful city filled with amazing people. Happy Birthday! xoxoxo
Oh, my heavens- thank you for these words!
Thanks again for such a sweet, refreshing post from you – what a joyful blessing you are to all of us! Love that you don’t encourage watching the news – about the only thing I watch on TV are the St. Louis Cardinals and can’t do that right now! I am reading a lot, working jigsaw puzzles, cleaning out drawers and playing some golf when the sun is shining and the wind is not blowing so hard. The big “Q” is tough but there are so many things to be grateful for in this pandemic. We all need to be thankful for all those working so hard to keep food in the stores, heal those that have this terrible virus, the doctors and nurses helping those infected and the truckers getting all the things we need. What the world needs now is love and lots of prayers! We are all in God’s hands and what a great place to be!!
So glad to see your email filled with beautiful art and kind words to warm my heart. My family is doing well, but my husband is considered essential personnel and must go in everyday to work still. I have to admit it scares me at times. I wish as people continue to praise all the people out there working that they would remember those who provide the essentials for people at home. Those who keep your water safe to drink , to use, to do the ever needed hand washing right now!!! Those who keep us going with electric and gas and other taken for granted resources that we only think about when we don’t have them available to us! Thank you for letting me vent and thanks for the chance to win one of your books and hand signed at that! Stay safe and healthy.
My family says the same thing about me as you mentioned in the beginning of this post. “You’ve been practicing social distancing your whole life, mom.” Which I’m choosing to take as a compliment and reinterpreting to mean that I’m a born and bred homebody too! I’ve actually loved being home since I retired from teaching so this hasn’t been much of an adjustment for me. Sewing, baking, knitting, fire tending…..love it all. Today my next door neighbour daughter and I are making raised donuts from my mother in law’s recipe. Good times!
P.S. This is the second time this week that Nella’s War has come across my radar. Always a sign that I need to read it. Thanks for the nudge. 😊
Making a home. What we are born to do. xoxo
I love reading your blogs. Always brightens the day
Good morning Susan,
Thank you for your uplifting words this morning. Home is our sanctuary. Stay healthy and strong!
Always 💕 love hearing from you! ☺️ Thank you!
Susan ,
I love your blog and have always loved your books and calendars. I live in South Carolina and we have had warm days already. The azaleas and dogwoods are blooming! Thank you for your messages of encouragement. We can do this!!
Gretchen
Thank you for keeping us all in good spirits. Best to you and Joe.
What a blessing you are to all of us! You have brought light to my day and hope to my heart. I too am a homebody and perfectly content to ‘shelter in place”. Made Hot Milk Cake yesterday and it was a huge hit!!! Pruning my roses today as it will be 65 and sunny in Indianapolis today. Welcome Spring!!💐 Thank you again for being you and if it took your own personal pandemic to create you it was well worth it.
Blessings
65! Jealous! 👏💞
I think I need to make German pancakes today. Thanks for all the reminders.
Such uplifting blog as usual, but especially needed now! I fell in love with your books as soon as I saw the first one. I am spending my quarantine in the garden, my woods and painting. Always love your quotes too!
I worry about my children in NY and NJ. Love to hear about your work and was wondering what t status was on your Ireland and Scotland book. I loved reading about your England trip.
Happy early Easter b’day Susan!
“goodness glows” on our soul sisters & brothers
created somewhere in the cosmos
where stars are really souls
and collisions are not mishaps
but everlasting love
riding comets to earth
and etching hearts
forever
mms 1/15/18
BEAUTIFUL! I would put that in letters 4 feet high if I could. Thank you Mary!❤️
Thank you for bringing light and joy!
Doing well in Empire,MI with Sleeping Bear Dunes closeby. Leaning forward…
Just read your blog, and it made me smile. No stress, just sit back and enjoy. I am so blessed. Thank you.
Thank you, dear Susan, for this “ray of sunshine “ today! Very much appreciated. Have followed you for years. And one of my joys is my desktop blotter calendar..each month a delight! Stay well!
Janice
Thank you for your comforting words. There is another side of this when we can gather together again and hug grandchildren.
Happy Birthday 🎂 on the 12th in your cozy nest. Your post arrived in just the right time for some comfort. 🎁. Looks like Spring is starting to show on Martha’s Vineyard. Your pictures make me want to bake. Had to laugh at the oven fires. I once had a gas stove that exploded every time I lit it in Maine! Thanks again for your blog and have a sweet birthday.🌹
Thank you for always brightening my day!
What a comfort it is to read your blog, Susan! You are so inspirational and kind. Thank you for providing a cozy spot of calmness and hopefulness!
I just finished reading your Martha’s Vineyard book <3 There was a line in there you said about "being someone's echo." I just wanted to let you know that you are my echo. You make me appreciate alllll the small things in life and I can think of no better gift to give someone. Thank you.
What a lovely way to start this day! My mum lived through WWll in England, having the roof blown off of her families home twice and the death of her best friend. Many thanks for the strength and kindness shown by so many as we move through these times.
Oh Susan, your post was, as always, such a bright spot brought into my home from your home on Martha’s Vineyard, but it even shone brighter today as we are all in this together and in need of some joy! I always try and look for the blessings in each day, like you are so good at doing too! I think it is so good to compare this to what other generations have gone through. I can’t imagine the terror the Brits went through during WWII – for six years! (I am reading a story of an American that was imprisoned in Russia for 23 years! It puts what we are going through in perspective!) We will make it through this, just one day at a time! I too have been Zooming, both for work, but also with my book club, my Bible Study, and we have started Happy Hour with the Wilsons which is bringing groups of friends into our living room virtually! Thank you Susan for the joy you always bring into our homes!
We are so lucky to live in these times. They talk about us being isolated in our culture, but this is proving to us all how healthy and important our connections really are.
What a wonderful wake-up to find your blog here in my box! Lovely words for all of us! Home is quite the place, and blooms are everywhere here in Tennessee. We live on a mountain so we’re a week or so behind the valley, but my jonquils and daffodils have been amazing, the plum tree enchanting, and my wild azaleas beginning to bloom. It surely helps the attitude! Thank you for your beautiful art and fine words! Stay safe and healthy!
Ginny G.
Thank you for another beautiful and inspiring message, Susan.
Aloha Kyra,
Are you from Maui and currently studying at WSU? This is Bills Mom. If so, glad to see you here. I think I told your Mom about Susan Branch many years ago when we still lived on Maui. Great to see you here and GO COUGS!🐾
Just saying hollyhock makes me feel better. Thank you again for your wisdom 😘
It’s surprising how very little of a thing can make a difference when we feed ourselves from the well of sweetness. xoxo
Been spending my days catching up on needlework, cross stitch samplers are my favorite. I’m working on my entries for the Mountain State Fair here in Asheville NC, if they even still have it in September! Last year I won 2nd Place, so I’m going for that blue ribbon this year 🙂
Oh boy, be sure to tell us! xoxo
❌⭕️
Thank you for yet another uplifting post! Right from the get-go, I thought of all of the sacrifices everyone made for YEARS during WWII and how our situation is a piece of cake in comparison. Stay at home? Yes, please! Such an easy thing to do. Piece of cake! (From scratch Angel Food Cake sitting on the counter, by the way!) Wishing you many birthday and Easter blessings this year! Stay well.
Love reading your inspirational posts: we are fine; doing our part as well. The world has changed and we must change with it. Love and peace to all…
It is such a joy to read your blog, always.
Hello Susan,
Thank you for your positive , heart warming words. They lift my spirits ❤️ I know everything you say is true about home sweet home. I am grateful.🙏🏻 Sending love to you , Joe and Jack. Shelter in place/ Stay Safe. Love your friend , Wendy
Your blog reads like a sunny day with a warm breeze filled with flowering trees and birds singing. Thank you for reminding us all that the sun will come out again.
I can sing the rest of that song …. only one word … Tomorrow!💖
I really like your blog! My sister Glenna first introduced me to it. She has been a fan for years.
I would consider her one of your biggest fans ever! Today is her birthday and if you could just say happy birthday to her she would be over the moon! Stay safe!
Happy Birthday to Glenna, from me, via you, to her! xoxoxo
Reading through all the comments I see an underlying thread of hope which is usually prominent in the springtime but especially needed this spring and the fact that we are ALL in this together. Worldwide. How very small the world seems right now. Thanks so much for your breath of fresh air. 🌻
Lovely words Nancy . . . I’m reading the comments too, aren’t we just the bomb! xoxo
Good morning! Always enjoy your posts ❤️
Susan,
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Every month you fill my heart with joy and thanksgiving, but this month’s post is the best one yet! There is no better time than “down” time to reflect and appreciate the wonders of life. Down time is in many ways, a gift- tie to think away from the hustle and bustle of “regular” life. Thank you sooooooo much!
Hi Susan. I have all your cookbooks including a first edition “Heart of the Home “. The cover is a bit faded and the pages show the wear of being well thumbed and heavily used. I also have a small music box from Beekman with birdsong and play it every morning while I dress. A lovely way to start the day !
Stay safe .
You talk about what I love, and what I need to hear. Thank you so much. When I go outside in my little garden today, and see what has popped out of the ground overnight, I will think of you.
I love your blog. Such wise words. I took on a quilting project, mind you the sewing machine and I are not friends. It’s going ok, had a few ups and downs, but in the home stretch now. It won’t be perfect, but it will be mine. Thank you for your uplifting words. Stay safe!
Perfect is not as important as original. And originality, you’ll be perfect at!
What a wonderful, comforting post. Thank you! We are so very fortunate to own a beautiful home on a lake; so my husband and our two black and white cats are very comfortable with the stay-at-home. We can get out and breathe in the fresh spring air; and my husband is looking forward to putting his small boat out in the water for some good fishing. So glad you and Joe and Jack are all snug , safe and happy on the Vineyard. Oh, I am very curious about the Zoom and plan on checking that out. Great idea!!
I wonder how many people who live through this will choose their homes based on “where I would like to be during a pandemic!” What a funny thought! Happy fishing to your husband, makes me happy to think about him there!
Susan,
Thanks for the uplifting thoughts. I have made both the bunny cake and the lamb cake with my grand daughters. Such fun!
Hugs to you and Joe
Thank you susan
I am spending so much time in my studio painting and creating. It seems the pandemic has pushed me into a wonderful space. I worry about friends and loved ones; sometimes I worry about the whole world. The painting quiets my mind and focuses me on the act of creation and erases some of the worry so it never erupt a into panic. Thanks for the blog and this chance to express myself here.
I know it feels like we are doing nothing to help, but actually we are doing EVERYTHING, just by following the rules. xoxo
I love you Susan Branch! I have everyone of your books, since the beginning!♥️ Praying for all of us. Be well and keep the home fires burning! God Bless you.
I just wanted to say how comforting your blogs are any time of the year but especially in this stressful time
I ordered 2 of your books Isles of Dreams & A Fine Romance I had already read them from the library but wanted my own copy. When I open those beautifully written books and read the stories & see your artwork it transports me to a wonderful peaceful place I feel like I’m in Martha’s Vineyard or England and for those moments the world is ok
Thank u for sharing your talent and wonderful insight with me & others
I was disappointed when your reading in Duxbury was canceled looking forward to seeing them in September hopefully
Please stay safe & healthy the world needs your comforting wisdom
Thank you Bonnie, we’ll get another chance. xoxoxo 💞
Thank you for your words and art and positivity!! It made my Friday!
Today is going to be a wonderful, Spring day. Trying to pace myself with all these projects I have in mind. After reading your blog today I’m adding learn to watercolor.
Lovely blog as usual! Trying times in front of us for sure–but what better time to be living them than April with all the new life bursting out around us! I feel guilty that I have been spending some sweet time with my granddaughter when everyone else is pining for theirs due to the separation order. Her momma is a nurse and her daddy is a police officer so here she is while they man the front lines. Thankful everyday for the work they do.
April is such a beautiful time to be born! My youngest son and my oldest grandson are both April babies. April come she will! Many birthday blessings, take care dear.
So nice to hear all you are doing and thank you for some of the suggestions you posted for things to due during this time. We are currently on a stay at home order from the governor. I am going to try and make the bunny cake with my daughter for Easter.
You and my lovely, bright daughter share a birthday! I am so sad we cannot spend it together as she is in her home in Nashville. I love all of your posts, amazing how language and description can affect appreciation and perspective. You are a master 🙂
I’m a letter-writer!😘