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 . . .
Your posts always soothe my soul ❤️ Thank you for all your light and positivity. I just moved into my post-divorce home in the middle of a pandemic (!) and I’ve got my health, my kitty and my new-to-me (1922 Sears kit house) to pour all my love and creativity into. I am blessed. Love to you and Joe and Jack 😘 Stay healthy 🙏
We have acrobatic squirrels like you do there. 🙂 They will do anything to get at that food.
I’ve been reading about how little places like yours are struggling to keep summer people from fleeing to these islands to ride out the virus. With small hospitals, it is not a good idea for those people to possibly bring the virus with them to a place that would struggle to provide care for large numbers of patients.
What a crazy time. Glad you and Joe and Jack are safe and sound!
Too late, they already did it. Joe said the supermarket parking lot was filled with license plates from NY and NJ. I don’t blame them, if I had a house here, I’d probably do it too. We are just praying when they come they isolate for 2 weeks . . . there are huge signs on the freeway and at the boat asking them to do it!! Stay safe Sarah!
Loved finding your blog post today . We enjoyed both those programs on Acorn. We also have Britbox which is another treasure trove of quality tv. I may need to find a bucket hat like Vera wears on a series on Britbox. My pixie haircut is looking more like a lion’s mane as we shelter in place here in St Louis county.
Yeah, we’re all going to come out of this looking like hibernating bears!
Today’s post is a blast of yellow happiness and is just what the doctor ordered. Thank you for bringing us some joy and Happy Birthday a bit early!
Thanks for the reminder that I should try harder to savor this quiet time with my cats, flowers, fabrics and tea.
OH, how need the comfort of your Heart of the Home book! I’ve been caring for my 88 year old Mom during this time of crisis and I could dearly use the pick-me-up! Thanks for sharing your caring thoughts and beautiful blog!
I hope your name is chosen Gayle! Take care, stay safe. xoxoxo
Hi Susan, I am missing spring in the northeast, I live in NY state, because I am in Florida, unable to return home yet. So I am in limbo, but I am staying with my best friends, who are family. We are taking it one day at a time, and I am able to do some of my work remotely. I am the office manager for a small hot sauce company. I gave my neighbor at home, permission to cut my daffodils to put on her kitchen table. This small act of kindness made her so happy. Sunshine in a vase. Glad you and Joe are staying safe. We are doing the same. Thanks for the happy!
That was so sweet of you . . . I’m sure they are much appreciated! Stay safe down there Susan!
Susan,
I so know what you mean about the flowers! Our main store also stopped carrying them, but our Trader Joe’s continues to know that flowers are food for the soul. I just bought a gorgeous little grower’s bunch today when I was out during “senior hour.” Of, interest…. Our local year-round farmer’s market here in Prescott, AZ, is now doing food boxes which you order online and then pick up. They have flowers too! Lastly, are you doing a book from your last trip? Please stay safe. We are so lucky that it is spring and we can be out of doors, in our gardens, and take our solitary walks! Mary Ellen
Feels like only yesterday that I picked up my first Susan Branch book and then couldn’t wait for more. As I look at my collection I want to thank you so much for the creativity, joy and comfort that all of your products give me. – now more than ever. Thank you and I look forward to much more from your heart to our home.
What a comforting thing it is in these rough and uncertain times to read your lovely Welcome Home chat. It reminds me that we are not alone. Stay well.
Well, we missed our trip to Martha’s Vineyard this year due to the pandemic. 😥We will reschedule. Will just give us more time to study up on the history – I love history! 🤓Thank you for the uplifting words in the blog… I’ve been down in the dumps – can’t see my grands- but you have put things in perspective!! I am going to order the cookbook but I would love to have the one from YOUR shelf…. would be amazing!!!🌸🦋😊💖
O Susan ,Thank you for the lightness and brightness you share with us! I’m officially furloughed from my job ,God will get us thru this!! Stay well and keep the blog posts coming!!
Thank you so much for your sweet blog. Love visiting with you, Joe, Jack, your beautiful home and garden. We do love our homes don’t we? They make us feel “wombed”.
P.S. I hope I win your book!
Susan, thank you so much for all the Joy, Wisdom, Beauty & Knowledge that you share! You Never Disappoint! Well wishes to you, Joe & Jack and all of your followers (“Friends”).
Can’t wait for spring!
Susan,
Thanks again for your ray of sunshine. Still hanging in as a healthcare provider in an acute hospital in Northern California. We are fairly calm and hoping it stays that way and not the calm before the storm, we all are on edge. I have masks at work but none at home and don’t sew, will have to figure something out. Beautiful weather today and went for a walk. A couple of yards with big Easter eggs, one with a sign with our towns name saying we can do it and stay strong and one with a teddy bear in the window holding a U.S. Flag. I just want to see my friends outside of work(all of my coworkers are my second family) and be able to hug freely, I know I need that most of all, just me and my sister at home. Just changed your photo calender and will pre-order the new one. Please take care of yourselves and all who cross your path, literally or figuratively.😊
I know people in every town are sewing masks like mad now . . . if you’re on Facebook, tell them of your need, or let your girlfriends know . . . call a quilt shop … I’m sure there is a whole thing going on where you are. We love you so much, unbelievable what you are doing. Your governor got on it fast, I’ve read that California is flattening the curve, doing things right. My prayer is that your hospital will glide through this . . . 🙏
I so love your Blog. It always makes me happy. Your positive attitude always means so much but especially in these times. I always go to my “quiet spot” to read your post so I will not be disturbed. Thank you for being our sunshine!
As always, Susan, thanks for being here for all of us! I saw an online chat with an Australian woman who was taught by Aboriginal elders, and her primary message was, “Have Courage.” So I ordered your “Courage, Dear Heart” charm bead. Can’t wait for it to arrive. Always loved the CS Lewis series, now I will have something tangible to hold. Not a “worry” bead, but a “hope” bead. Cheers.
Love that, a Hope bead… I think I better put mine on!
💐🌷Thank you, Susan, for the sunshine, comfort, peace and love always! 🌸🌺
Hello,
Thank you for the respite as we go through our version of WW Two. Your kind and cheerful words are good for the soul!
Thanks for brightening my day Susan!
Thanks for all of the wonderful things you put out into the world!
Thank you, Susan, for your fun and hopeful message and pictures! I also just did a ZOOM with 11 camp friends spread all over this country. So nice.
Thanks as usual for your uplifting blog! When I think of the hardships the English endured during WW2, this doesn’t seem too hard! Our generation is so spoiled and entitled. We have never had to sacrifice for the good of others and ourselves.
We are enjoying beautiful weather! That helps! Planted our gardens a month ago, we enjoy watching them grow! Our golden and cocker love playing ball with my husband out back.
We have someone who mows our yard every two weeks, but had to cancel our maids because. we don’t want to let anyone in the house. Fifth week staying home! Doing a lot of baking! I recommend King Arthur’s scone mixes!!:-) Please stay safe. We need YOU!!!🌷
As always, a lovely blog post. Your posts are so warm and comforting, I want to magic myself to your cozy kitchen and have a cup of tea with you. I’ll bring some homemade banana bread.
Spring has sprung here in SoCal and I’m admiring all of the neighbor’s roses. One of these days, I’ll get out to garden. We’re in our fixer-upper, working on it from the inside out.
I’m keeping myself busy. Switching gears from my quilt to making masks. I’ve found some really cute fabrics in my stash—kitties and doggies and teacups and paperdolls—even some Beatrice Potter!
Susan, thank you for being there and being a good friend. I decided to just check on you today and was much cheered by your letter and pictures. Katy
What a wonderful positive attitude. Thank you so much!
Kat F
Susan, you are our 21st century Gladys Taber. As someone who became a Gladys fan in the 1950’s, I know what I’m talking about. You give me that same lift and ability to refocus on the “best things in life” that Gladys did whenever I read her books. FOGT
Thank you for the visit to your home! My home is in Wichita, Kansas and we have blooming daffs and tulips, forsythia and pear trees here. The blossoms give me hope for the future! XO
Enjoyed this blog. I am in Iowa, into our third week here at home. Home is the very best place to be. I remember years ago checking out of a hotel and was asked what rating I would give their hotel. I said good; not the top tier of excellent. He asked what place was excellent. I simply said home.
I appreciate your blog as we go through this pandemic together, and at home.
Perfect answer.💞
Susan , thank you for your cheery post today. As we all feel the stress of the world my family reflects on the past triumph of surviving the original flu, polio, a stock crash, and world wars. Our ancestors were hardy stock which gives me hope to go forward… in these times. As our family spends many hours together I’m thankful for this precious time as our daughter will be a nurse all to soon and out on her own. Your book would be an add delight to our already home cooking. We’ve enjoyed pulling out old favorites to cook up. Be well everyone as we are kindred spirits thru you. Make some ones day and call your families elders and shut in. Remember we are all truly blessed. many prayers going out to all of you.
Your sweet words make me happy….Thank you
Dear Susan.,
Thank you for all you do to make life more beautiful for all of us. I love your appreciation for all that is special in daily life. Your are a wonderful inspiration!
Take good care
❤️Patricia
Love the picture of Jack behind the baked goods!
As 80 yr. old stay at homes in a small kitchen, small cupboards, keeping enough food is not easy. Baking is out for me. Trying to conjure up menu’s I fall really short, but we are eating. Ordering groceries online there are limits just as if you are in the store. But we are safe and hubby watching old TV programs while I am here or at the table coloring. Once and awhile we get a phone call or I make one.
You be safe.
You too Bonnie, stay safe. Try a big sweet potato for dinner. Full of good things for you, easy to make, sit it on a pile of lettuce…. Also, fry some onions, open a can of beans, mix them together, add cumin if you have it, pour over rice. Simple but REALLY healthy. Toast and peanut butter. Peaceful Kingdom. xoxoxo 💖
Your analogy about living through WWII is so true, my mom did that until we emigrated to Canada in 1941. I am very blessed that she is alive and well, living on her own at 99 years, and feeling as mind boggled by all of this as the rest of us.
We need positive and beautiful like art, now, more than ever. Hugs from the beautiful west coast.
Hugs to you and your mom Val, virtual, from a long way away!💖
I was one of the first to buy your original “Heart of the Home” and then, of course, all your other books and calendars. I even sold your cards in my little antique boutique. People adored them. I am retired now and don’t cook that much, but would love the new “Hear of the Home.” My daughter, two (now grown) granddaughters loved the bunny cake and we used to make it every year. Happy Easter and stay safe!
You too my old friend! xoxo
I love your blog. I find it comforting and cheering in a stressful time. Thank you!
Thanks again for another wonderful post. I ordered your Little House mug from the sale to add to my collection. I love the bottom of the mug with the Ruby Slippers, and the saying “There’s No Place Like Home”. It’s so pertinent now more than ever, but it’s always how I felt! Even going to the grocery store is scary now. Stay well to you and the fam!
I watched the movie “Peter Rabbit” last night and it took me away to my thoughts of my son and now my grandson. Oh, how I miss seeing them! But the movie is so sweet and brings out the child in us all.
Susan thank you for being you, I always look forward to your new blog posts! Always upbeat and makes us appreciate the love of home. Thanks, take care and take time!
Denise
Happy birthday and Happy Easter!
Susan, you are such a ray of sunshine in this uncertain time. Thank you for being here!
☀️Thank you Susan☀️for these rays of sunshine that arrive in our inboxes! I always feel so inspired and uplifted after reading them. I loved the photo of your agapanthus blooming! I’m going to try growing it in a window too! It’s one of the plants I truly miss after moving from sunny SoCal to snowy WA. Take care & happy Easter birthday! 🌿🐣🌿🐰🌿🌷🌿🎂🌿
Ahh, sometimes the peace & quiet is welcome….for awhile 😉 Would love a copy of the ‘new’ book, I have the original one and remember, I was ‘there’ before the divorce-pandemic delivering your art supplies when you were high above SLO. Love hearing about life on MV and how you guys are staying sane. Just do more of what you love, right?! Looking forward to your mini-calendar for next year, it is my constant companion right next to my computer on my rolltop desk. April! Spring! Pansies! My heart is at ease….♥
You did? How wonderful Tisa! A long time ago!
Susan, you are pablum for a weary soul right now. I am recovering from what Teledoc is calling “probable Covid” since tests are reserved in NYC for the neediest, and now I’m nursing a quite ill husband. I’m sharing your latest with my friends because you are so very needed right now. Be well – and thank you! 🙂
Take good care Joyce. One day at a time. Get well soon. 🙏🎉
It is how you handle an uncomfortable experience that matters. We are blessed to be in a warm, safe home with clean water and food. We are so much more blessed than many that are enduring this. Thanks for your uplifting message. Enjoy the unfolding of Spring. Stay safe with your dear husband and Jack!
I could not love you more! I love everything about you – especially your absolutely amazing attitude and encouragement. We all SO need you right now! You have made me very happy today!
I love you back. I love ALL of you… love reading the comments, many many tears, a very touched heart! XOXOXO
Hi, it’s Linda again, after reading this blog I grabbed my water color paper and started my Easter Cards! So relaxing!
You are a woman after my own heart ♥️ that photo of the fried egg 🍳 is EXACTLY how my Mom made them and my favorite way still to this day.
Love Home Home Home!! A common bond the Susan Branch family shares!
Thank you for blogging and shining your light!
What a beautiful message today Susan !! Great encouragement for all your followers. We have a wonderful daughter and granddaughter who make grocery runs for us retired grandparents. Love them so much. Also our chickens are really earning their keep and appreciation right now with their wonderful eggs which I share with my daughter too. Thanks for all the uplifting ideas. I think we will really need some walks after being in the kitchen and baking. Ha Ha. Prayers for you and your hubby as you stay at home too. God already knows what the end of this trial is for us because HE has already seen it. God bless you !!
I’m loving this at home time, finding many projects around the house and doing more cooking than usual. So many recipes to try!
Wish I had some little ones to make the bunny cake; they would love it. So cute. Here in northern California the grass is green and the flowers are starting to bloom but it’s still COLD! The snow on the mountains makes a beautiful backdrop for the greening going on.
Stay strong and we’ll all get through this together.
Love Joe’s outdoor gear :>)
Love reading your blogs. Your attitude is so uplifting and contagious. I wish I could remember when I first started following you but it’s been a long, long time. I gave both my daughter and daughter-in-law your Christmas cookbook as showers gifts oh so long ago. I still love to read mine. So full of yummy recipes and family traditions.
oh, baking! how could we get through the pandemic without it???
Finding this letter from you was the ban my soul needed. I have pneumonia. Likely from Covid19. My doctor is monitoring me over the phone. So, I read, and write, snuggle with kitties and mugs of tea, while my husband works from home.
Thank you, for providing all the loveliness that you do.
Prayers for you right now Patti. My girlfriend just had pneumonia, it wasn’t connected to the virus and she’s well now. I would like for you to do that exact same thing. xoxoxo
As always, I so enjoyed your recent blog, Susan. How great of you to suggest so many things for folks to do while quarantined. I lived through WW11 as a kid in N.J. – so this isn’t that bad. Another good thing to do while home bound is (what I just finished – FINALLY!) go through old photo albums and purge ones you don’t want. DO NOT toss them – let your grown children go through them – they’ll have a ball. God bless you, dear Susan.
“Girfriend, Fran”
Greetings from Orange County, CA!
One blessing of being home all day, day after day, is having time to sort out years of old files and then shred all that useless paper. Another blessing is having time to sit and read in the backyard.
Dearest Susan,
I could not agree more… we are so blessed to be safe at home. All the comforts one could ask for. There truly is no place like home!
Thank you for your cheery blog today. I love your perspective on life. You really do have a “happy” gene.
Love you!
Debby
Greetings from Wisconsin where the sun seldom shines lately. I enjoy your musings.
I love Acorn TV, haven’t heard of 800 Words, will have to watch it, I think I can find the time!!!
Hello Susan,
What a lovely post. Thank you for the positive energy.
Happy Birthday!
Love, Carla
Just finished a few hours in the Garden. We’re a few weeks ahead of you here in NC. It was good for the soul and a very pretty day. What a blessing it is. There was not a weed that could make me frustrated today!
I’m a “Becky Homecky” as my husband likes to say, so this whole being home thing has suited me. I know there are many who can’t be home, like my son who is considered “essential personnel”, and some parents,friends and relatives who are working on our behalf in the hospitals and other needed areas. I hope they are recognized in a special way when this is all over. AND it will be over one day.
Thank you for the lift. As always it arrives right on time.
Hunkering down in the Blue Ridge Mountains 😉
Yes, I’m thinking ticker tape parade in New York. 🎉
Happy Springtime! Happy Easter Greetings and Happy Birthday month!!!
Stay Well, Susan, Joe, friends at SB, and fellow Branchers!
I love your blog. Been a fan since my first cookbook purchase over 15 years ago. The bunny cake brought back memories of making it as a child. Thanks for keeping us happy in these strange times!
Love your books …. I have several. Pick me!!! Lol
This post was just what I needed today – esp the end notes about not watching too much news, numbers. There’s no place like home (Dorothy) and that’s where we should be. Thanks,
Cheryl K
My favorite blog!! I love your stories, art work, your delicious recipes (banana cream pie, amazing!!!) and you warm and cozy home, where I feel I have an open invitation to come and visit . Thank you Susan, stay safe
Love having you here. Thank you! You too, stay safe. xoxo
Another just-in-time blog to cheer us up and warm our hearts — thank you!
Oh my I hope I win an edition of Heart of the Home! The bookmark really says so much about what makes us happy. Thank you for your encouragement and reminders of what is important–and for bringing some “normal” into our lives. Take care both of you and Jack!
What a lovely post in the middle of this craziness. Thank you. And a very generous heart with the giveaway too! If I were to win, it would go to a very good friend who suffers from severe depression and is having a rough time right now…I think that even though she does not consider herself a cook, she would love your book because they are all uplifting and fun and who doesn’t love that! Bless you and yours and be safe and take care of one another.
I’ve been watching everyday, hoping you would write! You are the delphiniums and hollyhocks of the internet! Thanks for keeping us grounded Susan! Be well! Cindy
Hi Susan
We went into the mountains to cut pussy willows yesterday for my birthday! Just my hubby of 47 years and me:) I needed (wanted) to get outside and feel Spring (not like Tigger:) Well it snowed on us (at 8000′) but my brave he-man weathered the storm and gathered me a huge bouquet of pussy willows. Its tradition!!! May you have springy adventures on your walk.
So very thankful for SO very much and that includes your Blog that keeps us sane.
Mary
Thank you so much for reminding me to slow down, look around at all the positives – thank goodness this all happened in Springtime. These last few weeks I’ve been able to watch the daffodils, hyacinth, and pansies start to bloom in our gardens. Most years I see them poke through the snow and then, next thing I know, they’re blooming. Grateful for the moments of quiet contemplation. 🌷. Take time to breathe.
I’m a homebody at heart and an introvert to boot, so I’m loving this season of life. Thanks for the book giveaway. Be well~
Hello friend from southern California. Thank you for your encouraging and uplifting words. Some for me are patience, love, kindness, endurance, peace (for me that which comes only from God) and hope. Having to decide about going out to my rheumatologist’s for a shot or risk a flare…hard decision! Missing my kids and grandson and more worried for them than us, since they have to be out there more than us. You are right about thousands of prayers…good to know we have a power higher than ourselves to go to! Each day is a blessing and I thank you for being one helping to keep our spirits up! Be well Susan and Joe!
I look forward to your posts, you remind us all of what is truly important! Thank you!
And Thankyou to all the brave nurses and health care workers as well as first responders, grocery store personnel and everyone who is making it possible for the rest of us to stay well.
Susan,
Thank you for your cheerful and uplifting post. What a lovely reminder about what is truly important in life. And so needed during these surreal times we are all experiencing. I am fortunate that I’m home everyday as I’ve retired early. My husband works from home so we’re quite used to this full time togetherness already. And we love it, no place we’d rather be.
Blessing to you and Joe for continued good health and to remain covid19 free!
Mary Jo
P.S. This is my second attempt of leaving a reply, it always seems that my first one never is posted for some reason.
Lots of comments coming in right now . . . they don’t automatically go . . . I like to read them, so they can’t go until I get to them. I’m pretty sure it’s here somewhere! 💖
Government worker teleworking from home at this time.. Spending time with my two kitties and drinking lots of tea to stay warm and cozy.
Your blog is very up lifting in the strange place we all find our self. I have been working on a quilt to keep my mine on the good things, And there is know place like home.
Grateful I live a block from the ocean and we are able to walk it daily while practicing social distancing. Grateful for the yellows in the blog. One of my favorite colors. Grateful that I can hook up with family on line and conference and laugh together 🌻
When I had surgery on March 3, I had already self-isolated for ten days because the news just kept getting worse and worse and it seemed prudent. Now four weeks later, I am thankful that I have been safely tucked into my home with my cat Dickens for company and groceries left outside on my doorstep by my daughter. How lucky I am. But to be perfectly honest I am beginning to fray at the edges. Your posts have been so enjoyable and inspiring. Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing your life and home with us. I’ve also enjoyed seeing your friend Margot Datz’s photos of her home on Facebook. So magical. Thanks for introducing her to us.
My pleasure!💞
I really liked your lamb cake. It was so cute finally got to try Pear Cider at my friend Karen’s home on. St Pats Day! We really enjoyed it. Stay safe and enjoy your birthday!!!
It is so difficult to find the new normal at this difficult time but some aspects of the old normal provide some comfort-one of which is seeing ur stories in my e-mail. I always read thru ur post, then reread them. You provide friendship, empathy & laughter. Thank you!
Hello Susan!! What a great way to escape from what is going on right now!! PICK ME!! PICK ME!! It would be so cool to get your book with something written in it from the one and only YOU!! I was almost in tears of laughter when you were talking about the air-conditioned department store bathroom!!! LOL!!!!
I also found myself in a little cabin a long time ago only mine was on a lake.. It was my little slice of heaven on earth. I can totally relate to your little cabin on the island! What a gift they were for us!! Made us who we are today!!
Stay safe and give Jack a kiss for me!! PICK ME!! 🙂
They did, those little houses, safe from the batterings of life. When I read over the post, I laughed myself silly at the two plastic chairs in that bathroom!😂 Seemed normal till I read it back!❤️
I once came up to Tenent’s Harbor, Maine, and spent a couple of weeks alone. No real reason, but my spirit was crying for solitude. It was foggy most of the time, a real challenge to sketch the spruce as they faded in and out as the fog curled. I left one of the drawings for the cottage, and we found it still there a year later. During one night, the waves smashing on the huge bolder that the front of the little cabin made the entire place shudder!! My introduction to the Coast O’Maine.
Wildness. Don’t we love it!? You are in your very best place Debbie.❤️
Your email popped up yesterday and what a bit of sunshine on a rainy, gloomy day here in K.C., MO! Thank You!
I am rereading your Enchanted Isle book for the third time in several years. I needed to remember how you hunkered down and found your life. Especially in these uncertain days. My husband and I are part of that ‘older group’ of folks who are especially vulnerable to the Corona Virus and it can be scary for us.
I have been cooking a lot and it reminds me of how much you and Joe love to cook.
Thanks for these emails. I do so enjoy them.
Such a blessing to see a post from you. I hope you know how much joy you continue to bring to our lives . . . .
Our 7 year old grand daughter has been with us for three weeks as her parents work (one from home and one at the local hospital). We are well, so our grand daughter is well. Her folks can know that she is safe. I have been thinking about the children in England that were sent to the country to be safe and their parents didn’t know how they were faring! At least we have face time and phone calls. Kate, my grand daughter, is painting right now. We tried “Dot Painting” for the first time today, too. She is also helping me to weave my free-style wall hanging that I have named “Weaving in the Time of COVID-!9”. …my meditation time each day. Stay well everyone!
I know, every awful thing happened for them. We are so lucky with this awful thing ~ human-race wise!
Barbara, what a good idea…Weaving in the Time of Covid 19. Your grand daughter Kate will love having that to remember being with you during this time. Are you using a loom, or doing it with fingers?
Thank you for the email. I always love to hear from you. I particularly love to see pictures of Jack. Such a unique look. I always get your calendars but this year I want the photo calendar, too. Guess I’ll just have to get it too. Thanks and stay safe.
Hello Susan, and happy birthday coming up on April 12th. It’s my birthday, too! We have never met, but a mutual friend, Barbara, who lives in Reno, forwards me your lovely newsletters. My husband and I are enjoying the coziness of our home in Western Massachusetts this gloomy spring day listening to MVY radio in the back ground! All afternoon boats are cancelled due to wind and waves. Let’s all Stay hunkered down and ride out the storm(s)! Stay safe and happy Easter birthday to us!
Susan
This is the day for that old saying, when it rains it pours!💞 Stay safe Susan!
Susan, so good to see a post from you. I check almost every day hoping for news from you. What you have to offer all of us is so uplifting that YOU are what we need during such trying times right now. I’m keeping busy around the house catching up on things I usually can’t find time for. I’m looking as this as a gift of time that has been given to us, although I know a lot of people are hurting right now. Prayers and our faith will keep us strong.
I think your posts are like a breath of fresh air in these crazy times! So sweet and calming… I just love your heart and how you write 🙂
Following the “don’t watch the news” thing last few days and already feel sooooo much better. Thanks for the reminder about your wonderful book which, somehow, I never bought before now.
I’ve not been watching either, and I can’t believe how much better I feel! Surprising. Stress is a sneaky devil!💖
Love your thoughts… home IS where the heart is! 💕Love the photo of Jack peeking over the cornbread! And that Wiley squirrel! The highlight of my day…long walks in the neighborhood where the air is fresh, the trees are pink and I feel free. Im enjoying ancestry.com also, tracing ancestors around the globe! I pray for all our hero caregivers worldwide and my sweet family whom I haven’t touched beyond Duo (I’m looking into Zoom.) Thank you for the encouragement and inspiration (once again.)
Love your blogs! Your bunny cake is a family favorite. Thank you for brightening my day. Be well & stay safe.
Susan, Love the bunny cake! Have made it since my kids were small and now for my grandkids! Want to wish you a Happy Birthday and a blessed Easter! Love your blogs they are definitely a mood booster!😀
We are well!! Hope that you are too!
LOVE FROM THE HEART OF MY HOME TO YOU AND JOE!
Hello Susan,
I have really been enjoying going back into your archives right from the start, it’s my special treat of the day! Thank-you from the bottom (and top) of my heart, for your wise words, and your joie de vivre, so very necessary especially at this time. You are a true blessing to all of us. Please stay well and stay safe.
From Joyce in Canada
ps. A big hello to Joe and Jack as well.