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 . . .
Happy Friday Susan . . .
I was trying to see if I could share a photo on here that I took earlier this week but I am not having any luck with that : (
Anyways my sisters and some of my girlfriends and I have been participating in a “7 Day Stay Home Photo Challenge” this week .
Day 1 = “Something that brings you Joy”
I gathered up almost ALL of the “Susan Branch” items I have collected this past 28 years (except for pulling Christmas back out) and assembled them beautifully out on a kitchen counter and shared my Day 1 Photo with my sisters and girlfriends ! : )
I would love to share the photo with you if it is some how possible !!!
Thank You for this weeks Blog and brightening everyone’s day. . .
Stay Well Susan & Joe,
Love & Prayers from Linda C. of So Cal : )
You could put it on Facebook? If you’re on Facebook . . . or maybe Instagram, or Twitter? You can send it to Sheri at [email protected]/~susanbs3/susanbranch/? There must be a way, would love to see it. Thank you Linda!!
I sent the photo off by email to Sheri this afternoon ! 🙂
I love your attitude about the pandemic! It is good to be home and with my family. We are sure doing a lot of art, reading, puzzles, games, comfort cooking, and school. We have even fit in a house renovation project 🙂
Susan,
Thanks for the positive outlook that you shared and for the chance to win your book.
Rebecca
Sitting by the fire watching the hail pile up on the porch. This will pass and Spring will come. Stay well Susan, the world needs voices like yours. Love from Canada
I agree with you, Susan. If the worst we have to do thru this is stay at home with lovies and be healthy, we’re blessed. Least we can do is live each day well for those who really are battling this virus. Pancakes for breakfast! We just made a meal plan for the week and the kids (10 & 6) suggested “breakfast for dinner”! as one of our meal rotations 🙂 Would also love to try some of the recipes in your book so, fingers crossed for Vana’s pick next week! Stay well and God bless!
10 and 6, such fun ages. ❤️ God bless your little family, stay healthy!
Your emails are a burst of sunshine and happy in my day! And Happy Birthday to you a little early! May it be filled with all things that bring you joy. 😊🥳
This was just the thing I needed to take my mind away from this wacky world today. Spring is the rebirth of Mother Earth and all will be right once again with the world if we are patient and kind….and we stay home! No place I’d rather be, but it would be a bit more cozy if I had a few grandkids to keep me company. Alas, I’ll settle for zoom nights….we play games, tell stories, read books and make shadow puppets on the wall. Thank you, Susan, for this post!
I loved reading your post today. We are SIP and quite content. I have been sewing and cross stitching and reading and baking…no end of things to do. It is good to have hobbies to do at this time. My husband did some pruning and work in the yard. Not much coming up here (capitol region of New York) but the lilies have come up….and the chipmunks are making mounds where we don’t want them!! The bunnies are around and I am sure are looking at the tender leaves coming on our knock out roses…they love eating them! Thanks for the upbeat post and thoughts on good things!!
Oh how sweet!!! Your blog brings me beauty and sweet peace in this crazy time!
Love you!!!!
thank you, thank you Susan. I love every word and photo and drawing! This made my morning so much brighter!
Your blogs always bring sunshine into my life even when it is cloudy and overcast outside. Since I am a natural “homebody” and retired, the quarantine hasn’t affected me that much. Except that I can’t hug my grandchildren. We have visited from afar, though. Well, back to spring cleaning……
Susan, you are always a breath of fresh air, a shining light amid the darkness, a friend in print and online for so many of us. Thank you for sharing from your heart to ours!
I am taking a little time each day to reread your story, Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams and also sew up some masks for our hospital. Stay safe and healthy!
I miss you when you don’t post! Thank you for all the positive thoughts.
This post really hits the spot! Also wanted to ask if you’ve read anything by Elin Hildebrand, I think you’d like her! Books like Nantucket Nights.
I’ll check it out Denise, thank you!
You are absolutely correct about turning off the news. Enjoy being home, cooking, reading, sleeping, cleaning closets, painting bedrooms and furniture, enjoying slowing down and hugging and kissing your family. Thank you for this amazing post and music accompaniment. You are the best, Susan! Stay safe and healthy.
Hello from the San Francisco Bay Area in California! Thanks for your comment on Gov. Newsome he certainly got right on it. I live in the county with the highest number of cases and you are so right not to keep lookin at the numbers…it is scary. We have been at Home for 4 weeks now and we are finding all kinds of things to keep us busy. I have definitely become a creative cook looking up all kinds of substitutions. We couldn’t get eggs so used apple sauce
Instead and it worked well. Really having to do meal planning with the concept of last bought first to be used. In the past I wasn’t careful about that and at the end of the week tossed out too many things. Good lessons on Home keeping are being learned everyday! Thank-you for all the reminders of what Home means and all the blessings we have right where we live!
Love to You and Joe
That’s so true, still one more gift! 👏
Happy upcoming birthday, Susan! Your birthday is also my anniversary…34 years this year! The only thing I’m not happy about sharing my anniversary with is COVID-19!
Then don’t! Just pour yourselves something colorful and delicious, toast your lucky selves, put on the music and dance.👏💞
This hit the spot!
Great uplifting blog.
I made the bunny cake many times. It brings back happy memories.
I love your blog. Happy Easter everyone!
Yours is my favorite blog!! I love reading your stories, art work, your delicious recipes (like your cranberry sauce at xmas, it was wonderful and everyone said it was amazing!!!) Your little lamb looks so cute for Easter too. I love the old flowers like you mentioned. I planted some hollyhocks last year and looking forward to seeing them bloom this year (reminding me of my late Aunt when I was a child who loved growing them).
Thank you Susan, stay safe
I enjoy all the pictures of your home and flowers!
Today April 3rd is quarantineeee Friday. My hubby and I celebrate martini Friday every week when we can. Outside with our golden Cooper. Unless we are watching our granddaughter. Cheers. Thanks for the blog. I Always check for a new one.
Wonderful. We need this even more than ever. Thank you for every detail. And you and Joe and Jack stay WELL. ❤️🌷❤️
Thank you for your inspiration. Spring weather came to northern Illinois today! Beautiful! My walk this morning was very loud, with frogs singing and geese complaining! I am enjoying being home for the most part, however I may weigh a ton before this is over! Stay home and stay safe.
I love your blog; with your great stories and viewpoints on what’s outside your window, your sweet drawings and exquisite photos! When I clean out my email inbox, I always keep my 162.240.10.175/~susanbs3/susanbranch/ emails for future reading. They bring me back to my New England roots and all the things I held dear as a child (and still do). Thank you for sharing!
As always.. such a pleasure to see and read. Thank you!
Love blog as always!!! Thanks so much! Happy Birthday ahead of time & have a lovely day. Flowers are coming up & sorry but our grocery had pansies. Love them & always think of my Mother when I see them. I bought a mixture of deep purple, an odd shade of light blue, & one yellow so far! Think of you often as I have two of your books on my coffee table. They help me get through these difficult times. Consider yourself hugged!!!
Susan, you are so right about finding pleasure in planning and preparing dinner. Our talent in the kitchen is extending to baking and working with YEAST! Yesterday I made dog treats for our dog and finished off batter that had relaxed for many hours and made it into English muffins. What a taste treat toasted with butter. Tomorrow I will add orange marmalade and butter to the toasted muffin. We have more plans but flour is scarce. Please continue taking time to give us your uplifting words, sayings and pictures. I look forward to seeing your blog appear in my in-box.
I sit here reading, with a smile on my face . . .👏💞
Hi Susan
Are you going to start designing puzzles? Say yes!!! I’d buy them.
Best to you and Joe
I’ve been asked, just waiting for the manufacturer to get things arranged. I hope it’s soon!
Thank you for the encouraging blog!! Your are the best!
Pauline from Wisconsin
Thank you for this lovely visit…it took me outside of my own life and into yours!
Happy birthday Susan!
Thank you for a much needed inspiring reminder of how lucky we are to be HOME.💕💕💕
I loved the blog! So uplifting, which we all need right now.
I think you’re completely right about not reading and listening for hours about the pandemic. It’s just makes us more anxious. Follow the guidelines, stay reasonably informed, and make someone happy today.
I suggested a couple of weeks ago to my teenage grandchildren that they should each cook one dinner a week to help their mom out and have some fun while they’re at it. Well, they took me up on it and are making some yummy-sounding dishes! They are obviously proud of their efforts, so I think they’ll keep it up.
I keep busy rereading my favorite books from home (now that libraries are close) and loving it. At my age, the stories are all brand new!
Stay well, Susan. I love your blog, your books, your artwork, and you!
Lisa
Look at that. Without this pandemic, the kids might have never done such a wonderful thing. There are small blessings, even now. xoxoxo
I never win anything but love the pictures of Jack! Thanks for the cheery newsletters during this depressing time!
I love it when you show us pictures of Jack, my tuxedo cat’s name is Mittens and he is always between me and the PC, no space for the keyboard. Hugs from WI.
Susan Loved the mind picture of being held captive in a dentist’s chair.
Pray, Pray,Prayfor our world!!! We can certainly survive, we are strong and loving and giving, with God all is possible! There are brilliant minds, already working on finding help. All togetherness! Thank you and bless all who are blessing all of us, caring for us, protecting us, serving us, and most of all….holding a hand, whispering you are loved and we got you! I hear the precious little birds, the busy squirrels, puppies barking, my little Smokey purring and loving me, music, sunshine, windows open, spring cleaning and all the new recipes while Imstill have butter and eggs, flour and sugar, and my honey to hug. Bless us all! Be thankful! Be giving to someone in some way!
New life, new growth, and a new Susan Branch to add to the beauty.
Well, it is a good time to be a homebody when you have to shelter in place. I wish I could do home puttering, but I am working from home and glad to be able to do it. So lucky to have a job and one that I can do from home when so many have lost theirs. So much to be grateful for – room to move around, a house full of things I love, a yard to work in and garden (when it warms up this weekend!) Am enjoying being at home and no rush hour traffic! I try to avoid most of the news. Watching TCM right now while I am working. Just wish I still had my “Joe” to hunker down with. My mother’s birthday was April 16 and it is on Easter sometimes which makes it more special. Thanks for bringing rays of sunshine into our time of need! Take care and stay safe.
Oh, DEAREST SUSAN…
WHAT? NO FLOWERS??? Thankfully, spring is coming and your home will
be filled with all the ones you planted and loved. Their turn to love YOU!
Yes, we are doing all we can do – I’m quilting – making masks for our hospital-
Zooming with grandkids (9 of them, so that’s fun!) and thanking God for you and our family and dear friends and girlfriends everywhere and arrow prayers all day long as people and situations come to mind. You lift us, encourage us, spur us on and bring yellow SUNSHINE into our hearts and minds and souls….
THANK YOU DEAREST SUSAN – from the bottom of my heart,
xoxoxo Evie
How I love you all. 💞 Amazing people everywhere. Doing what they do best, spreading love. Touches my heart. xoxoxo
Hi Susan,
As always, I appreciated the uplifting post and ideas to brighten these quarantined days. I have decided to embroider a pillowcase for my sister’s birthday to help pass the time- to heck with cleaning the house! As to a good read, I found this true story listed in a book club reading in a church bulletin. It is titled, “An Invisible Thread”, about a busy sales exec and an 11-year-old panhandler. As the author of Pay It Forward stated, this book is truly capable of restoring our faith in each other. Thank you for your uplifting post!
Thanks so much for the positive and uplifting blog. It made my day!
Hello Susan,
I am a teacher of gifted students grades 3 & 4. For the last three weeks I have been holding online classes and trying to inspire creativity and passion for the world around us. I have posted youtube videos of making rosemary Irish Soda Bread, exploring idioms (with my rooster George Washington crowing in), starting sweet potato slips, and the history of the Gregorian calendar and April Fool’s Day just to name a few.
Thank you for re-filling MY creativity tank. This is the first time I have ever commented on your blog. I needed some home medicine to keep me going.
May God richly bless you and keep you well.
Sincerely,
Hilarie Day
Look at YOU! What a wonderful teacher you are! The world is your oyster, and so you show them, the world is also theirs. Blessings on you for your inspiring work. 💖
As always, your optimism is a breath of fresh air and full of sunshine. I enjoyso many things about your blog but a recurring favorite is your update on the changes in nature around Martha’s Vineyard. In my neighborhood in Georgia, the cherry trees, azaleas, and tulips are in their glory and the dogwood trees are not far behind. I’m lucky enough to have 5 eggs in my bluebird house and numerous iris in bloom. Nothing like the beauty of nature to lift your spirits. Happy to know you, Joe, and Jack are well.
Five eggs and Iris, too!!!!
So glad you and Joe are doing well. It’s a perfect time to reflect on all the blessings we have. Like you, when this first started it reminded me of the stories of England during WW 11. They stood firm and endured a lot. Our acts of kindness will see us through this. Enjoy your Spring!
Susie Wiley
Hi There Susan! What a cute picture of Joe. Glad you are staying safe. I, like you, don’t have much problem staying home. Though I will admit I did get a little panicky the other day when our Governor in Virginia said we would be in lockdown until June 10th. Such a jump from April 30th threw me for a loop, but then I thought, I can still take walks around the neighborhood with my husband Bob and our English Springer Spaniel Tasha, and I’m not much of a mall shopper anyway. I will miss eating out occasionally, but I guess it will make it that more special when the isolation ends. Being retired we are used to being home together 24/7 anyway, so that’s not a problem. And now it’s gardening season here, so we have plenty to keep us busy.
We are lucky that our daughter lives close by and is working from home, so she got after us about doing our own shopping since we are in our 70’s and my husband has bad lungs from being a miner, so she is now doing it for us, and wiping everything down and putting in new bags before she brings it over. I raised a very good woman.
Your mention of writing your Christmas story reminded me that some people in our neighborhood have put their Christmas lights back up, just to cheer up the neighborhood. They are also putting teddy bears in their windows so families can go on walks and have count the bears contests.
I’ve used Zoom several times now for our writer’s group and women’s group, and a few other things, and though it’s not quite like meeting in person, it really is the next best thing. So I’m thinking I need to get an account and connect with my kids and grandkids back in Colorado. Also good friends.
Oh I’m loving this music! Thanks for reminding me about what people went through in WWII in England and other places, and I saw something on Facebook reminding us what Anne Frank’s family went through in such tight quarters, so we can’t really complain. We’ll look back on this time and say “remember when?” Wishing you and Joe and all your family and friends good health and good weather to start getting outside to garden. Love you! (Saying that more and more because it’s important just in case.)
You are lucky to have a governor who is telling you the truth ~ some just hating to do it are making this thing last longer! Sooner we get it over, sooner we can get back to “normal!” Your daughter is pure heaven. I’m so happy you have her looking after you! Sending love xoxoxo 💞
I own eight of your books and would love to have a copy of this cookbook.
I love all of your reassuring posts! Your sweet bookmarks are also a favorite. Could you tell me what newsletter you posted the darling one that said “God Save The Queen’ and had a Corgi? I have searched through past newsletters and can’t seem to find it. I would love to reprint it and give one to my Mother.
Go into my web store, scroll to the bottom of the list on the left, click on “free things” . . . I think you’ll find it there!
Oh Susan, it’s a blessing to hear from you anytime but so much more during times like these! Hearing of the many things you get up to is both calming and inspiring. Here in New Zealand, we’re just one week into our national lockdown, and my flatmates and I in our 20s are spending it together in a bach at a rural beach pretending we’re on a little getaway. When you mentioned you’ve been watching 800 Words I immediately beamed a smile—we love smalltown NZ over here! You are so far away but it sure doesn’t seem that way. Take care and thank you for your words and the light they bring xox
It doesn’t seem that way, so close now! You’re about to go into winter, am I right? But you did put yourself in a wonderful location to be locked down! Good luck, have fun, stay home! xoxo
Dear Susan…
Your beautiful blog post arrived today (the 3rd) and it was just in time. My son was laid off from his job today because of Covid-19 and I just happened to be watching the news al afternoon. To say I was “down” was an understatement. Then, there you were, with the wonderful reminder that we are at “home” with all our wonderful things surrounding us. I can enjoy my books, and sew, and write, and do all sorts of special things. And be thankful that those I love are healthy and passing the time in their homes, doing all sorts of things they wouldn’t have time to do otherwise. Thank you, dear friend, for reminding me when I needed it most.
😘
new life …. you bet
I’ve just come back from hanging out with my twin 2 year old grandsons and their newborn twin sisters. New life – and now quarantined together in their home in Ontario, Canada. Here in BC we’re re-discovering togetherness at home. Abit of puzzling, a bit of decluttering, time to paint, sew, scrapbook, knit, walk, garden…. I’m inspired by your bustling ways Susan – Pinterest and youtube leave us without excuses to try new things. This afternoon my bookclub (high school friends) are having a Zoom bday party for one of the girls. Finding blessings among this world-war-twoing. the playing field has been levelled and we’re all on the same page. prayers that God continues to keeps us all in His care.
My birthday was this week, and I too have had the pleasure and joy of celebrating it on Easter in years past! Thank you for a delightful, encouraging, and calming blog post in the midst of this uncertainty.
When I read this issue, I thought of my sister whose husband just died. I thought this is very uplifting, so I’m going to forward it to her. Thanks for all your hard work!
What a lovely, heart-lifting post…we all need a bit of Heart-lifting right about now. Thanks! And after cooking up a storm these last 3 weeks, we could definitely use a cookbook…Your cookbook! 🙂
Hi, Susan!
Thanks for the positive and uplifting message!
Just what we need at this time.
Stay safe,
Donna
Even though, like you, I work at home, somehow being quarantined at home seems like a bit of a holiday. Especially when out the window the forsythia is blooming. Yes, we are far better off in our comfortable homes and no bombs dropping all around us. We must all pray that the virus is killed off soon.
I’d like to see an out and out CURE … never to trouble us again! And then, let’s look to the future and be ready for whatever comes next! Hi Wendy! Take care!💞
Hi Susan! Happy almost Birthday to you! Sheltering in place, painting in my studio and weeding my garden and cleaning out rooms and boxes and closets…all of it good for my soul. Hope your soul stays well and everyone stays safe and healthy. Thank you for making my day with your blog! Again!
Thank you for this Sue! I feel so much better after reading this from you, I knew I would! You are the bestest ever! Xoxox.
Thank you for such a feast of Comfort food.
Gloriosity ❣️
Linda in Wisconsin
Thank you for such a feast of Comfort food!
Thank you for such cheer! Merci.
Susan, thank you. Thank you for continuing to help us to create a bit of sunshine in our own neck of the woods. Thank you for sharing such wonderful reminders of the important things in life. We wish you all the very best from Cedar Rapids, Iowa on your upcoming birthday. May it be blissful!
My mom and grandma were born in Sioux City . . . mom grew up there! Love Iowa, nicest people in the world live there, thank you Theresa!
Love Nella Last’s War she wrote a couple more you know….xo
Hi Susan:
I can smell those recipes cooking in my kitchen already. I’d love a copy of Heart of the Home. You probably know me better by my Twitter name, “The Right Side of History.” Twitter is my mental health therapy and helps me keep my finger on the pulse of this crazy world. Your blog, your books, your recipes, and your amazing attitude of gratitude on life inspires and lifts me Every. Single. Day. Thank you!
Doll. 😘😘😘
Thank you for the breath of fresh air your blog always brings! Happy Easter! Happy Spring!
This would be a lovely gift for my Lily, who is turning 18 tomorrow. Her soccer season has been cancelled, her employer had to close up his coffee shop, her out of state siblings can’t fly home for her graduation ceremony due to quarantine guidelines; But, she still gets to go on her first “official “ date tomorrow: a picnic in the park, six-feet apart!! Rain in the forecast.
In light of what those who’ve gone before us have suffered, we truly have so much to be thankful for!
Awwww, wish Lily, with the beautiful name, a very Happy Birthday from me and Jack. xoxoxo
Thank you so much for brightening my day!! You always have wonderful ideas for all of us to get through this together. United we stand; divided we fall!! Blessings to everyone!
Hi Susan hope you and Joe and Jack are all doing well.
Thank you for the chance to win a book.
And Thank You for a great post in these times it was good.
Take care be well.
Darlene
Yes I love your Williards! They are the perfect pick me up at times like this. You make us all smile Susan. You are a joy❤️
Yes, HOME SWEET HOME 🙂 the best!
Happy spring! 🌱🐣🌷
Great post as usual. Some of us ladies from our church quilting group are busy at home sewing masks to donate and I made some Seahawk ones for our granddaughter Sarrah to share at the clinic she works at.
So inspiring! Love to you and to Sarrah … and thanking you both for what you’re doing.❤️
Your blog brings me joy😊
So glad to have cheerleaders like you to remind us of all the blessings we have in our lives-even at a time such as this. We may be able to look back and see that we learned more about being truly happy than we feared for the future. Glad you and yours are safe and happy.
Thank you for all the positive words!
Hi Susan! So lovely to read your blog – as usual :)! I’m hunkered down at my mom’s house here in Santa Ana, CA. My angels – my mom and my older brother – help me take care of my beloved husband who has Lewy Body dementia. He entered hospice just before the pandemic isolation began. I’m celebrating my 60th birthday on Sunday! Yes, CELEBRATING! I’m going to go on a long bike ride by my childhood home and my elementary, junior and high schools. Let’s see how many childhood friends’ homes I can remember AND name! I’m taking my camera to later share all the wonderful surprises and treats I find! Wish me luck!!!
I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. Tears-in-my-eyes proud. I wish you all the luck in the world. 😘💞 Happy Birthday!!!
I loved this posting! All your good ideas for folks who are probably going through brain fatigue! Your idea of news constantly all day long is great. My rule for myself is 30 minutes a day. My choice…… 6:30 PM news at night. The rest of the day do for others, a friend and I call each other and pray together for all that’s going on. And I have in place joyful things to spend my mind in! There will be an end to this pandemic. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for offering one of your joyful books for people to have. How kind of you!♥️🙏
Your words of home, Spring, and this current world we’re living in, bring such encouragement. It has been a challenging last few weeks and though, we must do our part to stay up-to-date with current events, I have had to choose to limit my viewing of the news. So when you say, “Turn off the news. Do not listen to daily numbers”, this is confirmation for me. Thank you for sharing your heart, sweet thoughts, yummy recipes and especially for keeping us looking to the BRIGHT SIDE. I remain hopeful and prayerful for all of us. God bless.
Stress is as bad as the virus, it kills too, and boy, those VOICES on the news, using extreme words of hysteria, telling the most heartbreaking stories, can NOT be good for us! Ommmmmm. What will be, will be, and worry isn’t going to change that. Action is what is needed, stay home, stay save, protect your community.💞
I would so love to try out your receipes in this book. Your willards bring me such happiness!
Hello Susan,
I returned from a trip all through Cornwall two weeks ago and just made it home before it was prohibited to return. So scary. My trip was wonderful. I visited filming locations for Poldark and Doc Martin. I love the sea and Cornwall with so much beauty. Daffodils everywhere! A week after I returned I had emergency back surgery and that was really scary. Abandoned hospital. What a time for surgery. I would love your cookbook. So you and Joe and kitty stay safe.
I hope you are feeling better Rose! ❤️
Hello Susan,
Your blog came at a timely moment. I have been “Stay Safe, Stay In” for almost a month now and the skies have been gray and heavy. Today came filled with sunshine and then your blog came to put it into words! So thankful!
Thank you for keeping in touch. I count myself as one of your girlfriends. Bob and I are feeling fortunate to be recently retired and snug as a bug in our Taos adobe. One upside is we are not spending extra money so we are putting the extra in savings. Hope to get a new slate patio and hot tub when life gets back to a new normal. Stay safe and well!
What I’m loving from these comments is hearing where everyone is from!!! Isn’t it fun? Stay safe Marianne!💞
Dearest Susan, you are indeed sunshine in this time. Thank you! I look forward to every post & you bring a smile to my face! I totally relate! I am a homebody too!😊 DK Reed, Bellville, Texas
Happy Spring, Susan!!!
Pleasant, perfect, peaceful. 🙂 Thank you!
I love that Spring is in the air and yet for us, like you, it’s a little slower coming out than other places. We live in AZ at 5,300 ft. so it’s completely different with the newness of each season. I also have to bake differently than when I was what I call a flat lander. I love to bake, so each recipe the first time around can be a challenge. We’ve been here a year now so I’m getting them down pretty well. I have both your big and small wall calendars. Last month I made your German Pancake recipe off the small calendar. It turned out beautiful and delicious!! We had never had one before, but now it’s on my list of “things I bake”.
I love your squirrel picture in the blog! He or She is one very determined little critter 🙂
I made that bunny cake for my son’s 1st birthday, 38 years ago! What a fun memory. We are experiencing spring here in OK and I am so grateful to be outside. A true blessing in this scary time. Thank you for the uplifting blogs, they are so fun to read and I look forward to them. Reading them is like taking a little trip.
Teaching middle schoolers from home with a high school senior of my own that is missing out. But, we are home with each other, baking new recipes, playing games, watching TV, and being thankful for our blessings!
Hard for those kids. I think of my Grandma who graduated from High School in 1928… Lindbergh made his historic crossing just two months earlier … and then, 2 years later, the world fell apart. We never know what life will serve us and how much stronger we will be in consequence. Thank you for what you are doing for your middle schoolers . . . holding on to normalcy, you have such an important job!👏👏👏
I agree with the way you think. I love being home and can always find things to do. You and Joe stay well. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who are suffering through this.
I always enjoy reading your chats. It’s just my husband and myself here (we’re in our 80’s) and we miss weekly visits with our great-grandkids, but we are doing fine. I totally agree with you about turning off the news. Just enjoy each other and be thankful for every blessing — God is good!
Thank you, every time I visit your blog it takes me away for a little time.
I would love to have one of these books… I’m trying to collect them all, as funds permit! So thank you for offering! And thanks for your cheery words and pictures, they are a day-brightener. You are much appreciated.
Yesterday a big snow storm dumped another 12 inches of snow on our city here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Spring seems so much further away as we hunker down for the duration! So grateful for those who are practising physical distancing to keep my high risk daughter safer. Loved your spring promised pictures! Keep safe!
There are 82 million people in America with “pre-existing” conditions . . . by staying home, we make their lives so much easier. So true. 💖 Love to you Heidi!
Happy Easter, Susan!
What a lovely respite to step into your
little world for this delightful read! I’m
excited that you are watching “800 Words!”
Erik Thomson (who plays the dad) is the
brother of one of my best friends in the
entire world. If you enjoy “800 Words,” you
will also enjoy “Packed To The Rafters,” a show
that he starred in from 2008-2013. We are
streaming it on Hulu, because Amazon Studios
is producing a re-boot, called “Back to the Rafters,”
coming soon to Prime Video!
I have your original Heart of The Home, but would
LOVE to own an updated one with your sweet signature.
Thank you for the chance to win, but more importantly,
thank you for being YOU and shining your light, especially
in these scary days! xoxo
Thank you, for the kind words, and for the suggestion. So nice to watch something so nice before bed!❤️
As usual, your blog is a tonic for my soul. I look forward to every one!
I so agree with you that we are lucky people to be able to “shelter” in our own homes, our own beds, our own kitchens with our families.
Stay well and enjoy Spring.
Thanks once again dear heart for all the love and joy! I’ve begun my seeds for my veggie garden and a few flowers…just because ♥️