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, for your uplifting words, so needed these days. I also cherish spending time in my home and allowing all of the creative juices to flow. I have all of your books and have spent many hours over the years enjoying your journey with you. You are such an inspiration!
Denyse
Dear Susan: I enjoy your books and your monthly blog very much. During a very very blue part of my own life, I discovered your book Martha’s Vineyard, Isle of Dreams at the library and it melted my heart back into life. I started cooking myself happy!
Thank you so much sharing so much of yourself.
“Melted your heart back into life . . .” exactly what I prayed it would do.💖 Thank you Netta . . . xoxoxo
Thank you once again, Susan, for lifting are spirits ! I had not seen that Norman Rockwell illustration of the joy of the first Spring flowers. Guess I am not the only one that feels that way.
Whenever I find myself worried or not liking this isolation I remind myself, “At least I am not on a ventilator!”. Home, cooking, gardening and going within are more important now than ever for sure. I just ordered your picture calendar for 2021.
~Good Morning~
Thank you for the post today!~ So much good advice, especially turning off the 24/7 news~
We are watching the grandkids for my daughter who will be working on the frontlines again next week~ SO grateful for everyone who has to leave the safety of their homes to keep all of us safe, fed, healthy! ~ And people who don’t have to leave home that write wonderful blogs & podcasts~ like you!
I put a new message on my message board that reads}” Find all the gifts that come from not doing what had been the norm” does that make sense?
Stay safe & stay home if you can~❤️
Thanks for all of your beautiful watercolor drawings, thoughts, cheerful nature and now a new cookbook! I look forward to all of your posts! Stay safe and well during the pandemic!
So thankful to be HOME! This is the blessing in the midst of the pandemic. We are having more family time (!!!), cooking, baking, creating, noticing spring.
I love your blog I always look forward to getting it but especially now during this stressful time for everyone. It’s so calming to me ! So thank you for all your suggestions of things to do and lovely pictures you share with us.
Thank you for your positive suggestions about staying at home. I, too am making the best of social distancing and rediscovering a slower pace of life. “This too shall pass.” Stay healthy and safe!
Thanks for all the lovely art and the blogs. Now I have time to read ALL of your them. One by one. Through all the years. Every night before I go to bed. We came to the US from the UK when we were young. The rest of my family are in England. My father was in the RAF during WWII met my mother during that time. Everything you said is true. So many interesting stories. I have all of your books except the one you are giving away! Tomorrow is another day – more bettering my French, cooking, cleaning, colouring in adult colouring books, ( you should create one Susan) keeping up with friends and family, writing, gardening, walking (where no one is) and watching old movies, so many things to do at home. But my dog by my side now, it’s time to sleep.
Such a treat to read your words and see your illustrations and pictures. 🙂
Your words ministered to me this morning. Thank you so very much.
Good morning Susan!
The sun is finally shining in Jackson, MI! In fact the sun is shining in my face right now through my home office window! Ahhhh….. I have to admit I was waiting for your April blog. Needed the encouragement and sweet words you share with all of us. Tomorrow we are expecting rain so I will be out all day, or as much as I can, raking leaves off my garden beds and cutting back the evasive brush that has surrounded our yard. Cutting back the brush has been on my to do list for the last two years and now I have the time and the energy to get rid of it! Great way to use some of this pent up energy. We are looking forward to the warmer weather so we can pull out our patio furniture and enjoy the stay home orders from the outdoors! May God bless you and Joe with good health and continued love and laughter that is shared around the country!
Happy April and Happy Easter!
I have the new edition but would love the older one too! I’ll share with a girlfriend of course. We are fine here in MD.
Thank you for your uplifting blog, we dress like Joe when we go to the market here on Cape Cod. Would love a copy of your book.
Hmmm the Heart of the Home is truly YOU! 🙂
How happy I am to hear from you! I have a question about Zoom. Can you explain to me if it’s really safe since the FBI says it’s not? I’m so confused and I could really use help with this. I’d like to Zoom with my family.
On a happy note I was drinking a cup of tea in my dining room yesterday and a Eastern Blue Bird landed on one of my bird houses. It was just beautiful! I’ve seen them before but the blue on this particular bird was just incredible. Take care and be safe.
I read about that . . . they are working on bugs, but from what I can tell it’s okay for ordinary use . . . just not for sensitive conferences and things such as that. Things I don’t do. I don’t know. What a world! But I still use it. Blue Birds to me are like magic. We hardly ever see them. I saw one who preened for me so I took about a thousand photos of him, was in Williamsburg VA! xoxo
Thank you Susan for your words of encouragement!
Thank you Susan for a touch of joy during these crazy times. Stay well and be safe.
Carol from KY.
Spring is a beautiful time the blooming of everything gives us hope.
Thank you Susan for your uplifting words.
Thank you for this beautiful, calming post. Staying safe at home and grateful for all of the riches in my life and am heartbroken watching this pandemic tear across the world. 🙏🏻❤️
Dear Susan and readers..
We are living in a historical time. Like those who lived through World War II, we will learn to live under difficult times too. Your blog brightens our day, Susan. The pictures and thoughts of Spring remind us that this too will pass. We have a hope. If the plants die back they always emerge in springtime.
Thank you for your comforting words. I come to this blog often for encouragement and always find it…you are a treasure!
Thank you dear Susan for uplifting words. I as well as you don’t mind being at home. Usually I think life takes us away from it. Today I’m going to start making masks that we should all be wearing when out. I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday for April 12th. My youngest daughter was born this day as well. It was Palm Sunday when she came into the world and I was so excited that this year will be only the second time her birthday has fallen on Easter. The saddest part of this whole thing is I can’t spend the day with her. But we will face time and I’ve tried Zoom with great results. Sending you birthday, peace and good health wishes!
Thank goodness for that Sandi, tell her I wish her a Happy Birthday!
Thanks for the encouraging words! I was in need of something positive. You are so right about how wonderful Home is! I have been complaining because I’m ‘stuck’ at home but the reality is I would rather be here than anywhere else! So thank you for giving me a different perspective! I desperately needed it!!
Yay!👏
I’m in the middle of trying to buy a house right now. This pandemic has made it difficult, but I’m trying to have faith that all will work out exactly as it needs to… thank you, Susan, for sharing your lovely life with us!
On a rainy Friday in CT, your post puts everything in perspective so eloquently…thank you! Our cherry tree will soon have blooms, and fortunately I found purple tulips at the store the other day! Happiness! New Life all around us~ Spring!! Be well, stay safe and keep creating~ can’t wait to see what the Christmas story has in store! xo
Breakfast for dinner. I forgot about that. Mmmm, maybe tonight?
Well, here we are, all together……I wish everyone could read or experience the passion of your”At Home” article! Simplicity and every day living in a whole world of uncertainty. How uplifting! Thank you, as always❣️
Was that a Dutch baby? It’s been a long time. Maybe tomorrow.
As always, balm to the soul.❤️ Thank you, Susan!
I am a nurse who works in a nursing home here in Ohio. We’re doing our best with limited supplies just like everyone else. 😷 Trying to keep my perspective straight and remember God is still in control, none of this has taken Him by surprise. Just think—we are part of history! Every cloud has a silver lining. We are saving so much money on gas since we aren’t using any. We are saving money on eating out. We are slowed down from our usual hurried, frenetic pace. Stay healthy. God bless us everyone.
They say that from space they can see the air clearing. I love that.
Susan,
I feel like I just had a cup of tea with you when I read this blog. Wonderful birthday wishes to you! This year, instead of sending out Easter goodies to family, I am finding neighborhood kids who will enjoy them.
Blessings to you and Joe and your kitty~
I love your blog. Waiting for the flowers here in Illinois also. Your photo of quilts on the clothesline inspired me to get out my hoarded Susan Branch fabrics and make a quilt like the one I see in the photo. I have found you can get alot done by staying home! Thank you for all you do.
Thanks so much for brightening our day. We can get thru this and will. It’s been Spring here in Fl for awhile. We’re spending this time in our garden and cleaning it up. It’s nice to hear what other people are doing during this time.
We will survive.
I, too, don’t understand why our grocery stores don’t have a big display of mood-lifting, make-us-happy blooming spring bulbs in pots. All pretty colors and smelling like spring. Flowers are essential to our soul.
Take it one day at a time! And in that day, do a little something nice for yourself🌷
~ Hi again~
I looked at your favorite movies & I don’t think I saw one of mine ~“ A Little Princess” ~ Filmed in 1995 available on Prime Video.
What a beautiful movie that deals with love, loss. social issues, friendship… I watched with the grandkids. Have the tissues ready!
Yesterday the air outside was a kiss from heaven. Warmish. So I took my garden wagon down to the edge of the brick sidewalk and began to clean up the leaves and twigs and detritus of winter. When done I realized, “I feel so NORMAL doing this! Life isn’t all about doing things differently! ” And with that I was re-rooted into another pot but am the same plant!
You were a much needed breath of spring and “HOPE” today. Thank you so much for the uplifting post.
Dearest Susan…
You have a way of making me stop and appreciate the simple things. You make me cry a little, actually…but they are happy tears! I needed to stop…and take some deep breaths…and look around at the wonderful things around me that gives me comfort and joy. I feel different after reading your post. Thank you so much, Susan. I am going to look at my home and my quilts and my little bunny rabbit figurine and my teddy bears and all the things that make me smile. I forgot they were there, waiting for me all along. You reminded me…and for that I tank you, Susan.
We do have it all, don’t we Maureen? xoxoxo
You had me at ‘Welcome Home’. It is so inspiring to see your lovely home and read your words. After a ZOOM conference call each morning I do some work and then pause – pick up a quilt, admire a vase of pussy willows, exhale and breathe a prayer of thanks that we are making it through these times. Thank you.
I loved your picture of the man joyfully pointing at a sprouting bulb! Living through a cold, colorless, Midwest winter, it’s the best thing in the world to see those tiny, green shoots of promise. Thank you for your blog!
I look forward to your newsletters all of the time, but especially today! Love all of the bright yellows in your photos. It’s been two days of heavy rain and darkness in Maine (probably, you too), so this was lovely to wake up to. My mom used to make potato pancakes, but I never have so I’m going to give them a try. Stay safe, stay well.
Dearest Susan: Seeing your name in my inbox makes me SO happy! Praise the Lord for your encouraging words and beautiful art! I would love to be a WINNER! ♥️Jenny
Love your cookbooks. My 11 yr old granddaughter has recently decided she wants to learn to cook and bake. . . (unfortunately her mother – my daughter has no interest in either) and now we’re separated and I can’t have our cooking/baking time together. (I do hope to set up to Zoom with all of my grands soon) Would love to start her collection of cookbooks with your cookbook! Pick me pick me 🙂
Thank you for soothing me this morning with your lovely words, positive energy, and swat pictures of home. Just the ticket for my frayed nerves. Keep it up, please!
I love all of your newsletters, but this was much needed this morning. I love all of the bright yellow in your photos. It’s day 2 of heavy rain and darkness here in Maine (you too, probably) so this was especially heartening today. My mom used to make potato pancakes, but I never have. I might have to give them a try. Stay safe, stay well!
Yes, we have it ~ this heavy rain slashing at the windows, wind (complete with advisory), deep dark gray, shutters banging. I say to myself, “You are DEFINITELY getting a nap today!”
Thanks for the wonderful optimism. Have a wonderful day in your warm and cozy home.
Hi Susan,
Thanks for putting things in a positive perspective! I wonder if you’ve seen John Krasinki’s post on Facebook, Share Good News. It’s a great way to spend 15 minutes. It will put a smile on your face. Once again you have inspired me to be a better person. You are a true hero.
Be well. Cheers, Terri Major
Not really☺️, but thank you. I will check out Share Good News, sounds like my cup of tea . . . 💖
Thank you for brighting up a rainy morning in Maine. thank you also for reminding me about potato pancakes. I use a large grater and grate raw potatoes. I use an old dish towel and squeeze out the moisture. Then add eggs, a tablespoon of flour, salt and pepper. Use enough eggs to hold the potatoes together. Put in a greased fry pan. Use butter or oil and fry slowly until crisp and brown and the potatoes are cooked through. Serve with sour cream if you are lucky enough to have some around.
We call that hash browns!!!😂 YUM! Thank you for the recipe!
I LOVE YOU! I am sending your uplifting post to all daughters, sisters and friends with the caption…THIS WILL LIFT SAGGING SPIRITS!!! I just watched the Isabelle Allende ted talk! Thank you for that; I can’t wait to show it to my daughters. My beloved Abuelita Nena knew Isabelle when she was a girl growing up in Chile. I have always loved her and her books. I am handling breezes of fear that blow through me, by meditating outside after walking the dog. The spring birdsong seems to say what my heart is feeling and the dog curls up and sits with me:) A hundred thousand prayers and deep, healthy breaths for all of us in the World.
Ohhhhh, how wonderful, Care. I so adore her, you’re almost related!💞
Thank you, Susan, for another sunny spot in my day! You are so right about the news. It’s good to be informed but not overwhelmed. Better to spend that time praying for the world and all of those suffering the most. What a lovely place for you and all of us to stay–at HOME!
Hi Susan and Joe
I’m on day of corona virus 19 and today was first day I’m starting to feel like inspecting my back yard. I told my daughter and husband who are quarantined with me no matter what Easter will have a coconut cake the way my mother used to make. She would do the bunny cake and all the grandchildren would scream but now it’s just a beautiful round cake that has marshmallow icing and coconut that we can tint or remain white. This is my grandmothers recipe. Reading your blog is so fun for me and may you and Joe have a happy safe April and a Happy Easter!
You got it and are feeling better Patti!!! So wonderful. And looking forward to Easter Cake!🙏👏💞
Home is where the heart ❤ is. I hope you have a very Happy birthday 🎂 and a blessed Easter. 🐇Sending prayers 🙏 for everyone’s safety. 💕
I have been following you since your first cookbook was published, my friend worked at Apple Farm Inn in SLO gifted it to me, she said Susan Branch is your kind of person! . I have almost all of your books and yearly calendars I always wondered how you got from California to the east coast. You got me thru a divorce, death of a boyfriend and now inspirations for coping with the pandemic, oh- and a little thing called breast cancer. My heart is full when I read your recipes, quotes and kind words… and of course the illustrations ❤️ Thank you.
You are amazing Susan. Clearly, you can do anything! 💖
Susan using Zoom to keep our book club going. Baking, purging, praying and taking time to find joy in the simplest of nature. Stay safe & healthy!
I love your blog and your beautiful home. I am trying out new recipes too. Have always been a homebody, reading and knitting, but I am looking forward to Spring. It is still cold up here in Canada, but saw a crocus in bloom yesterday!
What a lovely surprise to find this morning! Thank you for the gentle reminder to “bloom where you’re planted”. We’ve been doing that, too, here in Maple Valley. Neighborhood children, bored with being indoors, keep their 6 ft. distance while they play Frisbee. Dogs are walked more often. It’s a thrill to get mail – even circulars. And it is so nice to have blogs like yours to read and be reminded of contentment.
You have the best timing….!! Everyone needed your lovely blog now. I wish you could be transported quickly to North Carolina this morning just for a garden tour. Our azaleas are in full bloom as is dogwood/redbud trees. Tulips too. It is all coming north very soon. I am forwarding your blog to my friend in Santa Maria that recently lost her husband and is isolating alone with her doggies. I know this will make her smile. Thank you oodles!
Life on your beautiful little island has always seemed magical, but even more so now in these times of uncertainty. Our homes must be our cozy refuge of comfort for each of us now…our own safe harbor. Thank you for sharing a bit of your world. It is always inspiring.
Thank you for this uplifting message. It is so needed right now. Please stay well and ever-hopeful.
Thank you a thousand times over for putting a smile on my face this morning while reading your blog. Just wanted to wish you a Happy Easter birthday! What joy to have your birthday on the best holiday of the year. God is always with. We have nothing to fear!
That was a very good pep talk. We are all blessed to have who and what we have.
So thankful for your sunny post on this gray, cool day in the middle of this pandemic. Your words and art are definitely a ray of sunshine!
I really enjoy your words, and pictures!
Oh my, what a lovely post Susan. Happy birthday month. This was such a comfort, soothing my weary soul. Thank you so much. Hubby and I are home for the most part, we woke to a beautiful blanket of snow, makes the world outside our home feel a little more peaceful. Wishing everyone many blessings, good health, and peace. Thank you for the giveaway and the bookmark. You are a treasure 🙂
Thank you, Susan. Nothing better than to start my day with sunshine both outside and inside with your written word. I have also been talking about WWII with my children. We too are part of a historic moment now and we too can be strong and brave like those individuals. We succeed by doing our part and helping one another whether we know them or not. While the cost is high, I hope we keep this loving, giving, caring and helpful spirit growing daily. God bless you and yours. Stay safe and healthy.
Working from home and loving it, but I miss my coworkers. So glad you are safely tucked in at home with those you love. Your blogs are always a cheerful moment in my day. That bunny cake, though! My mom taught all five of us girls to make this. We made it every Easter with coconut sprinkled on top for bunny fur. Brings back great memories. Thank you.
Jimmy Fallons YouTube posts have been delightful. The will put a smile on your face.
So funny, and deep-down kind!
Hi Susan, Loved this “love letter” to all of us. Happy Birthday on the 12th. Did you know Beverly Cleary, the beloved author of the Ramona books, will be 104 on the 12th. Happy Birthday to you both.
Thanks for the photos of the flowers. Flowers do breathe fresh, new life telling us that life in the garden world is going on as usual. Thank Goodness.
Praying blessing and good health on all of us–your readers, you, Joe, and Jack.
No I didn’t realize we shared the same birthday … I also share it with Gladys Taber!
Happy Spring Susan!
My birthday is usually around Easter too ( April 15 – another infamous day lol) so Grandma would always make a rainbow cake with fluffy white icing for me.The real treat was the green dyed coconut to look like grass on top and the bunnies she’d make out of marshmallows! She would have been 118 this year and I wonder what she’d make of what were going through now. Just think about all she saw in her lifetime!
Spring is coming and with it HOPE!
Big hugs,Christine
I always know how old my Grandma would have been ~ I put it on her birthday every year ~ she would have turned 111 last January. Makes them seem not so far away. 💞 xoxoxo
Our daughter works in healthcare as a CNA in a nursing home in Scranton, PA. Unfortunately they have been unable to get the proper protection they need so she has made 40 masks to use and give to her co workers. Yesterday they finally received test results and 15 people on her floor have the virus. As you can imagine we are all worried but trying to do our best to stay positive. Your post this morning was some calm in the storm. Thank you so much. God bless you and Joe and may God watch over all of us.
Oh m,y Sheree, it’s such a scary time. Please let your daughter know how profoundly grateful we are… I will never understand why our healthcare system wasn’t ready for this … not to blame, but to learn from. Pandemics will happen, but we deserve to be ready. Blessings on you and your family. Thankyou. xoxoxoxo💖
Wonderful blog as always. Joe looks good as a robber. Hope to win someday. Jealous of your agapanthus..
what a generous spirit you have susan
to gift three of us with one of your books.
what a treat to anticipate.
Dear Susan,
Thank-you so much for your blog – it’s nice to be reminded of normal things!
Wish I could send you a picture of me making ‘masks’ from things I had around the house (dishtowel & ribbons. I have one done, and one ready to sew today. I have to hand-sew them, since my sewing machine is broken! (wish I had gotten it fixed!).
And – here is a quote I’ve always loved, and taken to heart:”
There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew.”
Marshall McLuhan
Spring has sprung in central North Carolina. The cheerful yellow forsythia, and white Bradford pear tree blossoms are past bloom, and now colorful azaleas bushes are blooming in yards all over town. Several of the azaleas in our yard are taller than I am! Between the pretty dogwood blossoms and the azaleas it looks like candyland. And our ‘Lenten rose’ hellebores, which started to bloom in February, are getting plump seed pods on them. Mother Nature continues to bring smiles in the most difficult of times, if we only make the time to appreciate her handiwork. Sending smiles across the miles ~
Good morning from rainy upstate NY. Although I’m glad it’s rain and not snow. Thank you for this….I needed a distraction. I’m working from home but my hubby goes out each day since he works at our local homeless shelter. I do worry but we have a plan in place for when he comes home. Strips in the garage, clothes right into the washer and he comes upstairs and takes a shower.
I just treated myself and ordered the 30th anniversary of your book. I have wanted it for such a long time and now is as good a time as any. My best to you, Joe, and the kitties.
Stay healthy Cathy . . . and thank your husband for being the guardian angel that he is.
Good day to you and your lovely Husband,
Life…I truly think this is Mother natures way of having us all stop and remember what is important. Thank you for always writing and seeing life with a silver lining! Hope we all remember to be kind to one another and help each other. Have a lovely day!!
So enjoyed reading this, while sipping my coffee this morning. Much more nourishing to the soul than the news. My youngest daughter lives on the Vineyard and I do worry about your lovely small hospital. I hope everyone stays happily and safely at home in their own nests.
Thank you! You always inspire.
Hi Susan,
Praying that you and Joe and Sweet Jack stay safe and healthy.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful life with us.
Please take care.
Love, Dylan and Peanut (My house bunny) xo
I laughed seeing Jack peeking into your photos’ subject – he is so handsome!
I adore certain flowers with agapanthus being one. I never knew they could be grown in pots. I have bought them several times from a florist and tried to grow them in my south-facing garden but failed. Now I have a new project – how to grow indoor agapanthus. Our birds have been singing for a few weeks, even through a late snowfall. They must be impatient for spring.
I also thought of stories I had heard of the civilian experiences during WWII for the UK and for Europe. We have overall safety and quiet in the U.S. if we adhere to the public health guidelines.
You and my dear father share a birthday. Spring was his favorite season as green growing things began waving their leafy hands and arms at us. Digging in my wet, largely dormant garden is relaxing especially now. I don’t even mind scooping up thousands of mucky leaves to look for the bright red peony buds. I scolded a tree-trimming service last week to look at their feet and told them not to step on these buds. Each of the 23 bushes are interspersed with grassy space just right for kneeling while weeding and for tree-trimmers’ boots.
Thank you for your lovely newsletter. I look forward to each one!
OH, Anna, another peony lover. I’m still waiting for mine to peek up here in Eastern Maine.
Waiting for the signs of spring to feel the rebirth. I know, this will pass. You are right about shifting the focus to all the many tasks we can accomplish while at home. I can even watch a few of the wonderful old movies that I haven’t seen in years! Been meaning to put on the Sound of Music! I bet most people could think of at least 10 things that need to be done around their home- and now they have the time. Turn a negative into a positive! Thanks for your wonderful suggestions.
Enjoyed your latest post, as always. I used to make a lot of “cut up” cakes, including the rabbit. Most of them were coated with coconut. Son commented on Facebook recently what lovely memories he had of them.
Your blog is a very positive and uplifting statement in this otherwise negative world that we are all enduring as best as we can.
Grateful for your taking the time and sharing your stories and observations…and pictures of Jack. ( and Joe of course😁)
I loved your correlation with the WWII conditions that were sustained by the British.
Thank you. ❤️
It’s always perfect to find a new blog post from you…NOW, more than ever! When I finally ventured out to my local Trader Joe’s after a two week’s time holed up and found a wealth of fresh fruits and veggies, it felt like Christmas! Then, I realized it was a tiny little taste of what it must have been like after the war when rationing ended. We really don’t have it bad at all, as long as we all stay healthy.
From lockdown in Houston, stay safe and well!
My Mom made the bunny cake every year for my sister’s birthday. Thanks for the memory.
My sister got your Heart of the Home cookbook as a wedding present way back when I was in college. I loved it!
Thank you, Susan, for once again sending us comfort, warmth, and beauty. Best wishes from Pennsylvania.
Thank you, Susan, for this uplifting blog during this worldwide tenuous time. My husband and I just finished spring planting in our front yard… delphiniums, lobelia, dianthus, poppies, thyme, sage, and so much more. The bulbs we planted last fall of giant alliums are showing their buds. My favorite? Sweet peas. I have planted seeds in October every year since my grandmother died in 1974. They were her favorites, too. Have been able to pick some bouquets and bake cookies to take to neighbors… anything to bring some smiles. Praying for a healed world soon!🙏🙏
Thank you for brightening our days.
Thank you for this Ray of Sunshine. Yes, we have so many things to be Thankful for. I enjoy going out into our back garden and just wandering around looking for new life. My fig has tiny figs growing on it, such joy because it’s from a piece of the plant that belonged to my Grandmother. The birds are singing and are such a wonderful sight.
Have a Blessed day!
Diane M.
Thank you for being a bright shining light in these dark days. You always make me feel warm and ?fuzzy?😂😂 this sounds awful, but I’m enjoying this new lifestyle and will continue it when this is all done with. Xoxo Lynne.
P.s. my birthday is the 8th. I’m another crazy Aries❤️
Happy Birthday Lynne!💖
Your “letters” always delight me, give me a smile. Today – I have learned the art of contentment in just being at home. As your letter outlines, we are blessed to be where our heart is at rest – at home. Oh! How often I wanted a “day at home”, just to be “at home”; away from “everything” and sit still. Well, that is exactly what I am doing and your “letter” was an accent to the day over a cup of tea. Thank you.
Love your bookmarks. Thanks for the encouragement.
I went straight from surviving the newborn stage (first baby! A little bundle of pure boy joy!) to being quarantined. I haven’t left the house much in almost half a year now!! For this mama who is a go-go-goer, it’s been really tough mentally. I am a Pollyanna at my core, but have found myself acting more and more like a Negative Nancy. It almost feels as if I’ve been put under some sort of “glass half empty” curse. But uplifting readings (especially your blog posts) help me snap out of it! So thank you! And like you, I try to keep everything in perspective by thinking about all of those braves souls who endured WWII. It truly makes this whole ordeal feel a lot less spooky and manageable.
xoxoxo
A new baby, safe and sound in your perfect little house. A true blessing. 😘
Thank you for being a bright shining light in these days. This may sound awful, but I am enjoying my new lifestyle and intend to continue it after the madness is gone. I’m looking forward to another quiet birthday on the 8th! Hope you have a wonderful birthday and just know that you brighten so many lives with your blog. XOXO Lynne
So happy to see another post from you! Thank you for your cheerful outlook and beautiful pictures! Such an encouragement in these crazy times.
I am in the throes of spring fever myself! We’ve been getting a lot of rain here in north Texas but also have had some beautiful days, which I’ve spent in my garden. Also: pancakes with bacon in them? Yes please!