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 . . .
My girlfriend and I have a pact to come visit Martha’s Vineyard together sometime soon. You’ve inspired us! Thank you for all you do. <3
Is this the Nena whose beautiful grandson, I am praying for every morning? Got his lungs wrapped in prayers!!
Susan,
Since being distanced from family and friends I have gone back to your archived postings and have been reading several every day. So neat to reread all about your comings and going and enjoying all your art and pictures. Makes my isolation tolerable! Stay healthy! Blessings, Janet❤️
Happy to hear that Janet. xoxo Take care!❤️
I recently discovered that our library gives us free access to Acorn TV! Hurray for public libraries 🙂
I’ve watched all but four of the Brokenwood series, and now I’m looking forward to checking out ‘800.’ Thanks for the tip!
Happy Birthday! Thank you for the encouraging words. I constantly use my first edition of Heart of the Home, as well as so many other publications! Wonderful!
So happy to see your email this morning. Couldn’t wait to read it. In this strange new world the things you tell about seem so important now. Thank you for being there.
I have all of your books and I would love this one…
Wouldn’t it be fun, Susan, if you gave us a remedial lesson with watercolors during this at home time?? It’s on my bucket list to learn & your art is my all time favorite! Maybe some hints on how you do some of your lettering, too, so we can practice & feel all the happy thoughts!💕 Thanks for all you do for us here in the world🥰
Look to the top of my blog page, see where it says About Me? Scroll down, you’ll see two posts about what I do . . . see if it helps!
The JoYs of Home !
CoZy is key now.
I’m an OB nurse.
Savoring each moment.
Snow today.
I agree I must have 🌺🌼🌸
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
It’s always exciting to see you pop up in my email! I am social distancing and enjoying a beautiful sunny day in the south…in my yard. My daughter’s May wedding is now cancelled due to the venue being closed. So disappointing. We will press on, praying for better days ahead and thankful that we are healthy. I’ve been treating myself to a small floral bouquet when going out for groceries. It’s the little things!
Your blog is always a balm to my soul. Thank you for this bit of enchantment. When I need a pick-me-up, which is a lot lately, I just go to your book…Falling In Love With The English Countryside. So lovely. Happy Birthday. Take care.
love reading this. it cheers me right up! yellow everything, please!
Home is good and you teach me how to make it even better.
I covet your posts.
Thank you sweet girl.
I would love to send a copy of “Heart of the Home” to my best friend Kathy in Arroyo Grande CA where we often visited your quaint little shop💕. I sure miss it when I visit here every summer from Arizona.
Thank you for your cheery & positive messages today in this trying time.
Home is definitely where the heart is!
😍Judy peters
Yes, avoiding the news is a REALLY GOOD thing! The church family I belong to sent just what I needed to hear yesterday in their Daily@ home blog. I woke up really missing my volunteer work, which I enjoyed far more than any paid job from my pre-retirement days. The pastor who spoke said, MAYBE, just maybe, we need to just REST! Love how God speaks to us, telling us EXACTLY what we need to hear, EXACTLY when we need to hear it. Love your ENCOURAGING words, Susan
My cup of coffee turned into two cups during this cozy, happy visit with you. It was a particularly sweet time together this morning. When I was a little girl we lived thousands of miles from one set of grandparents and my mother wrote a long newsy letter home every single week. She would enclose a few photos and the next week a letter would arrive from Goldie Gramma (we called her that because, yes, they had a dog named Goldie). In Gramma’s letter she would answer my mom’s letter line-by-line; either answering a question, expressing her surprise, or commenting on the “doings” of our family so far away in California while she and Grampa Roy farmed the little farm in Minnesota. Gramma then would comment on every imaginable detail in the photos my mom had sent her. Nothing … not a single thing … missed her notice. “Mary’s hair is longer” – “You must have had toast, I see a jar of jam on the table” – “The new wallpaper looks so fresh and I agree, the blue DOES brighten the room!” …
I do the same thing as I read your blog, Susan, not a single detail escapes my notice as I pore over each photo and painting.
Thank you.
So comforting to read your blog this morning. It’s a little bit of sunshine and was just what I needed to start my day. 🙂 My sister’s birthday is on the 12th as well. Unfortunately we will not be able to celebrate together but instead we will be celebrating via facetime. Hope you have a lovely birthday and Easter. You have everything you need in that lovely home of yours.
Thanks for the uplifting blog post, Susan….and a Happy Easter Birthday on April 12 — also my husband’s birthday and we will celebrate the day despite the pandemic as I am sure you and Joe will, too.
Regarding Zoom, I love it, too, but please check out the NPR story yesterday about Zoombombing hackers getting into meetings and doing unpleasant things. Zoom execs are working to improve security and privacy settings. My husband says all you have to do is “lock” the meeting on the settings to avoid that. But please warn the girlfriends to make sure their computers are equipped with up to date security programs to keep hackers out…too bad this is happening, but not surprising.
Stay well and healthy and thanks for your positive encouragement.
Nancye T., Wells, Maine
Hi Nancye, I saw that NPR story….Scary, but predictable that trolls would attack us on Zoom. Everyone, please be careful what you post.
Debbie in Maine
Hi Susan
A California girl here..so Happy that your Welcome Home,letter arrived this morning. It was so uplifting!!! These are scary times for all of us..
.I am enjoying my beautiful azaleas and a cup of coffee while I send you this message..My garden is my passion. Nature is truely one of the most important things in our lives.
Happy Birthday,sweet lady.enjoy your special day!!!
Hugs always
Happy Easter, Happy Birthday and thank you for being a warm, sunny spot in a chaotic time. I needed this today.
Greetings from Whidbey Island, Washington, an island on the opposite side of the country from you. Love your blog and the calmness that it brings. I am doing OK sheltering in place. I love being in my home, always have. I love doing nothing! I was born for this.
Dear Susan,
I was so glad to see your blog waiting for me this morning. You are the breath of Spring we all need at this time. I wish more people realized, as you said, how much worse the people of England had it inWWII. We have all the comforts of home without bombs raining down on us. I appreciate the care my daughter and husband have given me since my spine surgery last month. Last fall, I planted plants, mostly flowering, so that they would bloom now when I can’t get out and work in the garden. They didn’t disappoint. My yard is in full bloom and my new Crepe Myrtle tree is leafing out with the promise of blooming in June. You are one my most treasured April friends. My birthday is the 18th. It is a new beginning and we will all bloom as never before as Spring turns into Summer. Happy Birthday and Easter, Susan and thank you for being there when we all need that spark of hope.
Happy Easter Birthday, Susan! You are so right – being home is the best! My fear is that, when this is all over, I will just want to remain home! HA!
Thank you for adding to the sanctuary of my home by sharing bits of yours!
Thanks so much for another uplifting blog!!! It lifted my spirits. I’m working remotely and my “office” has a window looking out on the front lawn. I have a flower bed in the front corner and my iris are blooming!!! Makes me smile every time I look out the window!!! You and Joe and Jack stay safe, and keep doing what you do….spreading a little sunshine!!!!
Dearest Susan in allllllll the land,
Thank you for sharing your most kind and creative heart. Your lovely art and wise words add much light to our troubled world. One of my favorite quotes comes from a letterpress broadside printed at our school in Seattle. “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”
Wishing you much joy and happiness on your continued journeys.
XOXO,
Linda
P.S. We knew each other in our previous lives in SLO.
Thank you Linda, your name is very familiar to me!
Good Afternoon, Susan!
You brightened my rainy day like a burst of sunshine! I’m happy to hear that you are all safe & healthy. Sending you all a cyber-hug and a hello-wave from across the way.
~Charl (Cape Cod)
Hi Susan! It’s good to hear that you and Joe are keeping safe and staying healthy during this challenging, crazy time. We are here working from home and it is raining but I can see the forsythia in bloom and the birds at the birdbath and all is good. I’m looking at the positives that have happened as I truly believe that every cloud has a silver lining – I don’t have such a long commute, we’re saving $$ on pet sitting and getting to spend quality time with our furbabies, I’m saving on gas for my car and I have time to take long walks. And I’m reading, relaxing and working on Christmas projects – which I know when the season arrives – I’ll never have time for doing. I am a homebody and love being cozy and comfy. Our hearts are in Maine and our new home is moving along, but we have to be patient and hunker down where we are for the time being. Which isn’t a bad thing. Banana walnut bread will go into the oven later on. Be well & be happy! Love, Karen 🙂
love all your books. I got my first from my mother in law. I always enjoy your blogs. praying for our country . god bless you and ur husband.
Happy Birthday! Your bunny cake brought back many memories for me. My son’s birthday is in April and made this cake for him when he was small. He is 52 now. Thank you for such an uplifting blog.
Thank you Susan for a lovely post during this scary time. You always put a smile on my face!!
Oh my, you always cheer me up! Thank you Susan, from the bottom of my little quarantined heart! 🙂
Thank you for your wonderful post, dear Susan. We are hunkered down at home and, I agree with you, it’s the best place to be. I am not the artist that you are, but I have a craft room and love to make things. I have been making cards to send to encourage friends as they isolate at home and to thank those helping us at this difficult time. I gave one to the lovely lady that brought groceries to our curb side delivery this morning. Trying our very best to stay safe and well. Praying for those who are on the “front lines”, those that have been stricken with this horrible disease, the scientists trying to find treatments and a vaccine, and that God grant wisdom to our leaders to do the right thing for our country. Stay safe and well, Susan and Joe! (and Jack, too!)
Happy Spring Susan! Yes, I too have thought of all that my parents lived thru in Belgium during the war. This is nothing compared to the hardships they faced. We will get through this. Thanks for brightening our days with your posts. Here’s to cozy homes, spring flowers, cooking, painting and reflecting on whats truly important in life!
As much as I miss my children & grandchildren, I simply can’t imagine any other place I’d rather be through this challenge than in my home. Many of us are gaining new perspectives on many aspects of our lives. Thank you for your advice & encouragement. Happy birthday …happy spring!
Hi Susan,
Thank you for always using your God gift talents for all to see and read.
I have your books…love reading about England, where I have visited a few
times. Such great memories.
Staying safe in Colorado. We had snow last night, but in a few days it will be
sunny and warm. Springtime in the Rockies !
Hugs and love,
Another Susan !!
This is so refreshing on a cool, drear and damp day in Duluth, MN. It leaves a bit of sunshine in my soul.
Thanks Susan, Was in need of blog today!
You sure know how to make a difficult situation a bit easier to take. Thank you for all the good that you bring into the world.
Thank you so very much for another beautiful post and a cozy place of refuge during the current storm. I absolutely love everything about YOU! Your artwork, home, books, quotes, positivity, courage, and kindness. You are such an inspiration to all. Thank you for sharing your beautiful life with us! We are Keeping Calm and Carrying On here in Utah!
Stay safe and healthy Susan!
Spring is trying in the high desert of central Oregon- I have a smattering of buttercups!
April is Birthday month in my Family with my older son starting on 4/2nd! Nice to add you to my virtual family for birthdays. Happy Birthday Susan! Your blog is a lifter Upper! I too enjoy many things at home, if I “HAD” to be “quarantined” I could not think of a better place than Home! Where all my best things are. Tea, candles, books stacked up to be read, Tulips in a Vase, macroon cookies in the oven, dancing to the music, two kittens Nector and HoneyBell watching birds from the window sill, Tony at my side. All the good stuff happens here anyway. Home is the only place we are in charge!
💖
What a welcome bright spot in a dreary, rainy day. Love that spring is blooming and flowers are popping. My daffodils, hyacinth, grape hyacinth, helabros and forsythia are up, out and open. Such a bright light with what is going on. Loved seeing what is coming along in your gardens. Like you I love being home, no expectations or needs to go anywhere. Cooking, baking, reading and snuggling with my kitty keep me busy and happy. God putting us on pause is certainly not the end of the world, though I worry for those out of work and businesses closed. I am eternally thankful for all the medical folks who go to work every day, for the postal workers workers who keep our mail coming, grocery store workers, garbage service and all who keep our infrastructure going. We do have blessings to count along with all the bad news. Finished lunch with the hubby, grilled cheese and tomato soup. What is more comforting then that. Gone on long enough. Stay safe and lots of good wishes for your birthday and Easter.
Your blog always cheers me up a bit. Thank you!
I love being home at this time. I heard someone say recently that they as an extrovert now have a better understanding of how introverts live in an extroverted world. During this time at home is really hard for some people. I love being with my people. It really is fun to zoom or skype with friends across the seas and see faces. So grateful we have those options because it would feel much more isolating if we didn’t.
My heart aches for the children who are stuck at home dealing with abuse. For many of them school was the only safe place for them. For some it was the only meal they receive all day. Please say a prayer for the helpless, vulnerable and suffering.
Absolutely. I hope a light shines deep into that world as a result of this pandemic. 🙏🙏🙏
Susan,
You always manage to touch my ❤️ With your words. I too don’t listen to numbers, doom and gloom reports. At 81 I love the silence and the beauty all around us 🌷I put on worship music to praise our Creator for all his blessings.and for people like you who see it and remind us of them!
Keep on writing and painting and cooking and sharing it all with us.🤗
It’s always been only one day at a time, one of the things the world has forgotten.💞
Happy Birthday Susan! 🎈🎉🎂🎁🎈
Happy Easter to you, Joe and Jack!
Stay safe and stay safe to all your commenters too!
Thank you. I look so forward to your blogs. You always spread light, wonder and joy. Thank you for being such a blessing. I hope you got the note I sent about how I would love for you to do a book about everyday life thru the seasons sort of like Gladys Taber!
Happy Birthday! I have enjoyed all of your books, calendars, etc…..for many years. I also bought your cake mold and put the sticks in as suggested so it stands up and it worked. It looked so stinkin cute. Thanks for making days a little brighter.
Yay! It’s time for spring! We almost have our snow gone, I can see iris and daffodil shoots popping out. So ready to open these windows. Keep safe and we’ll get through this together! Thanks Susan!
A breath of spring air, reading your blog. Thank you for taking the time to do this. It boosts, heals and comforts us.
Yes, I’m learning to relax a bit by being at home. Everything has always been scheduled, so it’s like suddenly be forced into retirement with no end date in sight, and being able to make our own decisions about how to fill our 24 hour days without work or school being dominate. Thank you for your uplifting words and music!
We’ve been running so fast we forgot that just a few short years ago we more or less just lived at home. It takes everyone a little while to deal with the change, but it will come, and one day you’ll take a big deep breath of air and realize what a gift it is.💖😘
This month I was truly really waiting for your blog. Ok, it’s happy and positive but it’s real and honest and we love that about you. Thank you and my best to you, Joe and Jack. Keep loving the life you’ve been given. And keep sharing.
I was happy to see your blog this morning. Thank you for brightening my day as you always do . I love your thoughts and ideas about how safe and enjoyable our homes can be. It’s nice to have time to catch up on projects, cook and just enjoy being home! . Blessings to you and Joe.
Thanks Susan, always look forward to your missives. Kind of like a fireside chat in these panicked times. I am playing ALL of my CD’s one by one, but hoping I won’t have time to listen to all of them. Spring is here in SW Indiana, daffodils, redbuds and tulips now with dogwoods and lilacs soon. YAY!
Stay home, stay safe…
Thank you for recipes and flower-y cheerfulness! I love your Ancestry.com idea. My mother and I have been doing this for years and we have our tree back to the 1300’s in Hitcham, England. It’s lots of fun! Between that, crocheting, kitties and Bible study I’m staying quite busy!
Dear Susan, a positively uplifting blog for us at a time when most needed! The kindness and selflessness people are showing these days amazing. I do believe that it has always been out there, even before this crisis, but the news media always focuses on the bad. Who decided that the “nightly news” always had to be “bad” news? Your posts are a breath of fresh air. Stay well.
Hello Sue,
I love the photo of Joe with his mask on!😂 I love all your posts, but this one in particular, was wonderful to read. You have inspired me to start collecting Beatrix Potter’s figurines. They are so cute. Having tea this morning in my Spring cup I received yesterday from your San Luis Obispo store. I felt so lucky to get it on sale!
Thank you for bringing so much joy to the day!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Lucy
Nice to hear from you Lucia!
Just learned about Acorn TV! Thanks.
Dear Susan,
I guess we need all of your good old fashioned charm now more than
ever.I am in my nineties and I never thought my life would be ending
in a period of such despair and sadness. You’re right that we should
turn off the news, people dying, becoming statistics, and ending life
alone, it is such a tragedy.
So thanks for your cheer and optimism, it helps a lot.
Lillian
You take care Lillian. You obviously have a lot more living to do. Age is just a number (sometimes a rude one) but health is the thing. Stay strong. ❤️
Hi Susan,
Love hearing from you and you are so right. Things could be so much worse. At least we can quarantine in our own homes without the threat of bombs, food shortages etc. I am very blessed as I have a job that I can work from home. I have my family with me and my kitties. I walk around our 5 acres daily (weather permitting) and my kitties come too. 🙂
Thank you for all the great ideas and reminders.
You and Joe stay safe. Mwah!
Thank you Susan! Your blog brightened my day! Loved seeing how Joe dresses to go to the market for groceries! My hubby does our shopping as well. Our markets here have a Tuesday & Thursday 7 to 8 a.m. Senior Shopping & Pharmacy hour for which we are grateful. Spring is slowly “springing ” here —the trees are budding, my roses have leaves & the days are longer! Hope & faith are with us! Take good care everyone! Hugs to you Susan, Joe & Jack! (Sandi from Utah)
While reading your uplifting blog…I’m sitting here listening to the birds singing to each other…& me! What would we do without birds?
The forsythia is blooming…hellebores are lifting their heads, daffodils are a ray of sunshine…spring brings us so many cheerful gifts.
Yes, God bless the doctors, nurses, health care personnel, grocery shoppers, custodians…incredibly brave individuals that keep us going.
Funny, I have thought of the English, & other brave European citizens, that survived horrendous years during WWII.
Hi Susan 😁I love your blogs and books and you of course. Your writings put sunshine in my day. I have plans to visit family on Martha’s Vineyard in July. I hope and pray that all is well by then . I would love to win a copy of your book. Keep up the good work 💞📘
Always such a joy to read your blog and see your beautiful art. It’s so homey & comforting. Thank you, thank you. ❤️
Thank you for sharing your island and cheery yellow with us. Like they say in High School Musical, “We’re all in this together!”. You’re doing your part giving us all something to smile about 🙂
I was just starting to feel a bit panicked and then your lovely words and beautiful images arrived. Thank you, Susan.
Thanks for the happy words…
Hi Susan
I posted a comment but I don’t see it😩. I just wanted you to know how much I enjoy your posts and photos. I love the photo of Joe with his mask on🤣.
Have a wonderful weekend
This post was forwarded to me and I found myself reading every word. And enjoyed your words and your upbeat attitude. Thank you.
So enjoy your e-mails-always make me smile!
Thank you, Susan, for your uplifting thoughts.
(Ahh…the dentist chair…about the last place
I was before the “Stay at home.” Yes, way better
At home!
Thanks so much Susan!! I was feeling overwhelmed this morning until I read your blog. I’m going out for a walk and then come back and work in the garden. I’m a care giver for my husband so it’s pretty hard right now but I think you’re right about not listening to the news too much. Take care.
Thank you for all of your positive words, it’s an inspiration for me. I am coming out of my own pandemic of 2 years after a divorce. Staying home and loving my family and friends who have been so wonderful.
Spring is coming very soon and blue skies too!
Thank you again
Have a wonderful birthday!! I have my yellow out too and the same fringy kitchen towel right now!! It was so good to hear from you. It gets too eerie and quiet and your mind starts wondering…we sort of have a game going here. My husband goes to the grocery store and comes back with what he can find which is mostly less than half of my list. Then we get out all old cookbooks and recipes and we see what we can create out of what he got. We have been pleasantly surprised. Blessings and all good wishes in passing the time. May your creative juices spring forth as each new blossom!!
Get to try new things that way, another blessing!✔️
I so enjoy everything you do. I feel peaceful reading everything you write and love all your drawings. This is a crazy world we live in but somehow I can escape it when I read the Susan Branch blog. Thank you.
Lovely to hear that Lisa. xoxo💓
Hi Susan,
Of course I have a little extra time now… So, the other day I logged on and read your blog which I don’t do nearly as often as I’d like. When I read your greeting of ‘darlings’ I burst out crying and got up to make my tea. You made me feel so much better. Thank you. I hope this ends soon and with a cure.
With a cure. Praying for a cure. I think every scientist in the world is working on that right now.💕
Dearest Susan, I have been an ardent fan for many years. I buy your calendar yearly, own your original cookbook and now have your 3 autobiographical books. I look forward to your blog posts – they always brighten my day. I’m also a ‘Valley Girl’ like you were. I presently live 4 miles west of Chatsworth. The other day, as I teach voice & piano remotely from home, I was drawn to read “Isle of Dreams” sitting in my bookcase. Perfect timing! I’m LOVING every detail how you began again. Isn’t this what we’re all having to do now? My handsome Irishman and hubby of 47 years has cancer. We have lived with ‘life’s adjustments’ since 2014. Thank you for allowing me a place of escape. You are truly a renaissance woman – and – a healer. Blessings & Love, Teddi
Agapanthus! I had them all around my house on a hill in California.
Graceful mounds with lacy purple fireworks tucked in nooks and corners and dotting the hillside of iceplant. I remember picking snails off by the zillions in the cool mornings, wondering if I even made a dent in their population. I remember the oasis I inhabited–where a hummingbird kissed my bright red lips, shocking and delighting me. I never wear lipstick, but put it on for a lark one day. California does that to you!
Hummingbirds, snails, iceplant, and agapanthus, you must come from the part of California I’m from!
Thank you, Susan. Thank you for all of the loveliness – that you create, that you share, that you remind us of. YOU are essential to our well-being. Hugs for you and Joe, and chin scratches for Jack! 😻
This email hit the spot! Thank you Susan. God Bless!
Dear Susan, THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE FOR US ALL. What wonderful advice re: turning off the news and strident voices, (I so agree). We are happily on an island in Florida and it has been sunny and wonderful every day, but our hometown in NJ is overrun with the virus and I pray for all daily. I just love to see your new blog posted and can settle down with another kindred spirit. Thank you for all you do and the best to both of you. Does sort of make one feel like a Brit, Mrs. Miniver perhaps? Wishing the best of this horrid situation to one and all! To silver linings…and miracles. Believe!
🎵 Pack up your troubles in an old kit bag and smile, smile smile . . . 🎶
Susan,
Thanks for your uplifting message to all your peeps today. It’s so important to keep ourselves focused on positive things. Our daily walkabouts in our neighborhood come at early morning hours with our golden retriever when not many if any folks are up and out. It’s easy to keep good social distancing due to that fact.
Hopefully we’ll all be able to push through this ugly disease as well as possible. My prayers keep rising for that.
3 31 2020
Dear one
And other
We have not been here before
Together
But
Each of us
Has
Had
A
Solitude
And found in it
The companions
To present
To
Ones
Self
What moments
Will arrive
Not to waste
In the tool
And hour
Of its presence
Beautiful Sue, thank you SO much.💞
Dear Susan,
I knew a post would come from you in the nick of time, and it did! Thank you for such a lovely hopeful one.
I grew up after the War in England when there was still rationing. When I tell my grandchildren that we were allowed 1/4 lb of meat a week, they can’t believe it. My father was a great fisherman and had a big vegetable garden too, however, so we didn’t suffer. I can still remember the ration books where everything was marked so people couldn’t cheat. Powdered eggs, milk and orange juice. I had a recipe book for how to make things when you don’t have the right ingredients, written during those years, have given it to my daughter (who grew up in this land of plenty)!
Later on, I spent 11 years sailing the oceans in my sailboat ~ 48’X12′ of Home! We had to ration and portion control everything to make it last, the longest passage being 25 days at sea. I grew sprouts on board so we’d have something fresh once everything else was eaten, and we had to resort to cans. I remember reaching French Polynesia and being so thrilled at the mountains of lettuce and crusty bread (subsidized by the French govt). The French can’t live without salad and bread, even in Tahiti! I loved being creative with what we had, and making sure nothing spoiled or was wasted. I even learned to make decent pretzels, easier than I’d thought.
Now, before any irritation with my 26th day of self-isolation, I think of the frontline workers in the hospitals who would dearly LOVE to be at home, thinking of creative ways to spend the day. They are the heroes and heroines, though I am sure they would rather not be!! I know someone’s sister who is a nurse and hasn’t had a day off in over a month, just keeps on trying to save people.
Take care, Susan and Joe, and all you lovely people out there who love you as I do! xoxo
That was a BEAUTIFUL blessings-counting extraordinaire dear Sally. Thank you!💞
Thank you so much for your words today they were much needed. You are a calm in the storm. I am going to read your books again they make me feel much better and stop watching so much news.
Just what we needed! A new Blog Post! Thank you! Thank you! So glad to know that you all are well….and being creative and loving. Hugs to all! Stay safe and well!
We have had so much fun with FaceTime in our family! My brother lives in VA, one sister in MD, Other sister outside Philly, Mom outside Philly and us in the Poconos. We had our Happy Hour last Friday from our respective houses with all the kids and families. We are actually keeping in touch more now than we normally do when you are caught up in the craziness of life! Trying to embrace this time that has forced us to slow down and remember what we are thankful for. Stay safe everyone!!
You always cheer me up with your talk about ordinary things!! Saying a BIG Thank you for all you do! Jan.
You always bring a smile to my face and encourage me to enjoy what we have, cherish each day, and keep going! Thank you! I’m a longtime fan of all you do, love your calendars and books, and love what you write.
Thank you! Your last two posts/emails have been a joy and a bright spot to this virus world. I am grateful you keep creating! Jean Ellen H
I have a copy of all your books and would love this one…❤️
Greetings from our home. I was putting away some books a friend had borrowed and returned last fall. 3 Gladys Tabors. So dear.
I’m happy as a bug in a rug….how happy are those bugs, anyway? Lots of cooking, fires every day, cozy even in this stormy week. I see it’s centered just south of the Vineyard.
Glad you have a breather, now that the calendar is finished. I’m taking a breather from this n’ that to snuggle down for afternoon reading..AKA nap.
Only 4 more days of quarantine, then I can go scavenge the grocery aisles. Our dear neighbor has done our shopping, and I’ve discovered some new brands, store being out of my usual. Nice little changes.
Adding my thanks to the 1,487 others. Will look forward to reading all comments to see how others are coping.
Big virtual hugs and kisses, Dear lady,
Debbie, snug in Maine
Stay that way Debbie. xoxoxo
I’m reading The Fairy Tale Girl as we speak! Page 137-139 are my favorite. Only because I’m getting all my plants and seeds ready for the new garden this year. You’re books are getting me by these last couple weeks. I hope everyone is staying happy and healthy in the comfort of their homes with the hopes of warmer weather on its way! 🐣💕🌷🌷
-Alyssa
Thank you Alyssa. xoxo
Hi Susan,
Happy almost birthday. I wanted to tell you in my area Cypress, CA there is
no flour either.
I keep seeing posts asking……does anyone know where there is flour?
Thanks for a morning of good cheer. We sure need it.
A fan for over 30 years.
LOL, people are baking!
I’m like you ~ Home Sweet Home and my hubby is all I really need right now. I just know we’ll get through this and the first thing I will do is run to my hug my sweet sister in person instead of virtual hugging on FB. I just baked a very lemony pound cake. The scent is wafting throughout the house and our kitty, Pooh, is snug napping on his favorite blanket. We’re fine….Stay Safe, Stay Healthy. Hugs
My very first kitty was Pooh!👏💞She was orange.
Hi Susan! With all this time on my hands I’ve been loving rereading your books! Just getting to England in A Little Romance. I don’t want to finish my book as then it will be over! It’s been like reading them for the first time! They are magical and they give me something to look forward to in my day. Thank you! Thank you!
😘😘😘💖
On the “island” of our home we gaze out at the endless sea of waiting to go out into the world. We are about to set sail on the ship called Imagination. Thanks Susan, for being the wind that pushes us along.
Happy birthday, Susan!
Stay well.
You made my day with your sweet words!!! Thank you for making a lovely moment in a difficult day! Stay safe!
Your blog always makes me happy, now more than ever. Thanks for your encouragement and for giving me lots to smile about! I made your hot milk cake yesterday but tried to save calories in the sauce by using half & half instead of cream, so it didn’t thicken. That’s okay though. It tastes great, and I will chop the cake, pour on the sauce, microwave it and call it bread pudding! Also I’m baking homemade bread often. After the pandemic, I may have to continue wearing PJs all day! And no makeup. Nah…that’s way too scary!
I am thoroughly enjoying being home. I, like you, am a home body but I rarely get to stay home. I can be a good girl and enjoy it too. I do save time to send out prayers to those who are suffering.
I was so happy to see a new post- it’s like you came to visit and we have been lonely but comfortable here on our hill in rural New Hampshire. Ventured out for groceries at BJs and now are back home. Shopped during senior hour and we were all older, polite, and gloved and masked. Now set for two or three months. Back now to reading, water-coloring, daily readings, and my manual elliptical. Thank you for being there for us Susan.