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 . . .
I am actually embracing this time as I am a homebody. It’s my husband and I, the kids are grown and safe, so we get to stay in our little world. The only time we go out is on the day’s my husband delivers Meals on Wheels for the elderly and I’m a lunch lady so we are handing out breakfasts and lunches to those that need them. Other than that, we are HOME -Sweet Home.
Stay safe
Thank you for this beautiful post. Your words always wrap me up in blanket of pure coziness. ❤️
Thank you so much Susan for all you do to inspire the good, and pure, and lovely things in Life that God Above has given us. Your posts keep our hearts lifted up in prayer and thanksgiving. I still have cutouts from your 1998 calendar taped in the inside of our spice cupboard door and on my bulletin boards! I have many of your books and have been reading your blogs for many many years. Thank you again for all you do…. and may God Bless you and Joe and keep you safe. 🙂
Thank you for sharing and your cherry pictures and words! It is good to see the photos and be inspired. Yes, home is a beautiful place. Thank you for the reminders that it could be worse. I’ve just shared your blog/books with a friend that didn’t know about you. So, yay!!!
Thank you for your inspiration in this awful time! I love your Beatrix Potter figurines! My Aunt Gertie collected them throughout her life and when she passed in 2014, I received them…all 58 of them! My treasures fir always!
Hi Susan, What a lovely, uplifting read your blog posts are ~ thank you for sharing your little corner of the world. Stay safe xo
Thank you for your beautiful blog, Susan! It is so upbeat and cheerful! I have your 2020 calendar currently and look for it each year.
Warms my heart to read your blog, listen to the musica, count my blessings and thinks all willbe well again before too long! Now back to clearing out my basement … Thank you
Before I close my eyes at night, I recall three people/things/whatever I am grateful for. You have been on that list many, many times. Tonight I’ll recall your wonderful newsletter, my husband working from home this last three weeks, and the brave robin that followed me around the flower beds while I was digging a nice crisp edge. She practically took worms out of my hands as I turned the soil over! It’s truly hard to stick with three when there is so much to be grateful for. I’ve been sewing face masks and leaving them for our mail carrier. She hands them out to her fellow carriers and I’ve seen them all around town! So thankful for them, too! Like I said, it’s hard to keep the number to three! Stay home and safe, keep sharing your happy thoughts with us.
Hi Susan, thank you so much for your uplifting blog. I get so excited every time I see your name pop up in my email. I stop whatever I’m doing to sit down and read it. As I know it will always make me feel so much better afterward. I try not to complain or get down too much. But being I live in west Michigan, where we just got out of a winter induced staying indoors and at home hibernation mode, due to cold snowy weather, I feel like it is extra hard to endure the quarantine sometimes. It just feels like more of the same only a lot worse of course. So thank you for your caring words of encouragement and the beautiful artwork. We WILL get through this! All of us….together! Blessings to you.
Thank you for a bright spot in my day.
Enjoyed our talk together – you expressed so many of my own sentiments! I’ve been a homemaker for 48 years (5 children&11 grands) and I’m still loving it!!
I waited for a peaceful moment to read your letter so I could take it all in, with no distractions. I can’t wait to print off the bookmark for my new mental health habit during quarantine…reading!
I have followed you for years. Your calendar is always on my wall. My daughter and daughter-in-Love adore your books and calendars too! Be blessed during this stay home time and stay well. Your blogs inspire!!!
Dear Susan, You are a breath of fresh air. I always look forward to your blogs. Happy birthday,keep safe, God Bless.
Thank you for your beautiful blog post. Always such calm in the midst of a storm. You put such joy and beauty out into the world. I am forever grateful. I wish you a Happy Birthday. Blessings to you, Joe and Jack.
The beauty & encouragement you share always perk my soul up, thank you!
Love Christmas Heart of the Home. Found a copy at a vintage sale in 1989. Didn’t know who you were at the time. I have enjoyed this book for as long as I can remember. I would love a chance at your new Heart of the Home giveaway!!
You are, as always, inspiring us to be more at home with ourselves. Always feel a notch better after reading your words, admiring your domestic skills and some humor too.
Early Happy Birthday wishes!🎉
Thanks Susan. Beautiful and touching all at once. Just reading this makes me feel better. We have been eating in the dining room every night with the beautiful silver that was passed on to us from my mother-in-law. Makes us feel like she is with us and since dinner is really the big event every day, why not make it special. I may definitely try the bunny cake this year. Thanks for all of the wonderful ideas. Stay well!
Reading your new blog was the lift I needed. Thanks
Hi Susan and far and near girlfriends…thinking of all of you with all good thoughts and wishes…bought a little container of pansies for a neighbor and one for our porch…sooo pretty…a little bit of beauty to brighten our little corner of the world…love all your blogs sooo much, Susan, and all the comments from GFs❤❤❤
We could learn a lot from the endurance of the British people during WWII. My mum couldn’t even stand the smell of peanut butter. The Americans sent it over to Britain as the Brits had very little real butter. Alas, they sent what was really needed, troops for which mum was really and truly thankful for. Your approach to life, Susan, is infectious. Thank you.
My best friend had an English mum who immigrated to America after the war . . . to her last day she refused to try peanut butter!
Such lovely thoughts, ideas and encouragement! Thank you for the great perspective! I hope you will continue to send us frequent updates on how things are going and what you are up to as spring unfolds. Take Care!
Thank you for sharing your positive outlook Susan, …happy positivity is contagious in a good way! Love from New Zealand.xx
All we have is each other. 😘💞
Oh Susan, you always make everything a little better, a little brighter, and a lot more hopeful! Thank you! Thank you! xoxo
Dear Susan, this is the first time that I’ve seen your blog. A friend posted about it on FB! I think that we are kindred souls. I cried as something you wrote stirred up a sad memory and has encouraged me to write about it (not a book though). I too love to cook and made a big pot of chicken soup last night with garlic, onions, celery, carrots, chicken, tomatoes and chicken broth (usually make my own). I still live in California and love to cook even though I’ve lived alone since the big D many years ago but do share with friends. Also love to do genealogy and gardening. Decided to learn to crochet while I’m in lockdown! Fortunately, I love the quiet. Cable TV was tossed a couple of years ago so just watch Acorn and BritBox! Love British murder mysteries and comedies. My ancestors mainly came here from England a few centuries back but I still carry their genes. Thank you for your wonderful posts.
So nice to meet you Ann ~ I know a kindred spirit when I see one!!💞
Thank you Susan. Always love to hear from you.
Thank you for posts Susan! My daughter and I make a cup of tea and read and reread them together. My daughter is 14 and my son is 12. I am looking at this time of togetherness as a rare gift of time that we would not otherwise have and we pray for all the helpers and health care workers, grocery store employees, delivery employees…everyone to stay safe and healthy! Wishing a very happy birthday!
A rare gift with children of a perfect age . . . enjoy, and stay safe. 😘
Thank you for sharing!
The chickadee I ordered came today. I put him in the window and I smile every time I see him. Thank you.
😘
“We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us, we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”
C.S. Lewis
ALWAYS love C.S. Lewis!👏
What a wonderful post! I always look forward to hearing from you but this time it was even more special. Thank you.
I knew you’d make us all feel better. I love your great ideas. Thank you from a long-time fan. God bless you, Joe and your lucky kitty.
Thank you, Susan! The pandemics in all our lives bring us closer to God, the truth, and we come out the other side somehow thankful for the pain.
Kelly
I love your work so much. I always request one of your wall calendars for Christmas every year and I can’t wait to sit down with a cup of tea/coffee and read through it cover to cover. The artwork, the recipes, the poems and quotes, and the tidbits of stories. It gives me the same cozy feeling as being home does. And now, I have found your blog so I get to enjoy short bursts of your work every week and don’t have to wait for once a year. I also love being at home and simply cannot understand these people who are saying they are bored! No where else I would rather be! Thank you, Susan Branch.
Susan,
Your blog posts are always a beacon of light, even in the best of times. And especially when they are not. Thank you for ushering spring in. It has finally been warm enough to open the windows and let some fresh air in. I live in Green Bay, WI and there’s not much outside to indicate spring is here…the snow has finally truly melted, so there is evidence of tulips breaking through the ground. The trees are bare and I finally noticed some leaf buds beginning to form and the willow trees are beginning to get that strange orangey/green color to their branches. The cardinals have started returning and are calling for their ladies and the squirrels are aerating the lawns searching for any undiscovered acorns from last fall. But the forsythia are not anywhere near ready to burst forth in glory. Thanks again for sharing yourself so lovingly to the world. It is a better place for you being in it. Stay safe and be well. God bless you. 💕🙏🕊🙏💕 Stacey
I discovered the book, “Nella Last’s War” in the early 1980s and over the years I have re-read it several times. So inspiring. If you are interested there are two other books by her, one covering the years just after the war and the other the 1950s. Can’t give you the titles because I am in a travel trailer in south Texas in isolation instead of at home in Virginia with all the lovely activities and comforts a home provides in these tough times. It’s been comforting to live vicariously and hear and see how others are keeping busy.
2001+ comments! I am never that lucky.
I have loved your cookbooks since the 1980s, and have enjoyed your memoirs and the England travel book. I follow your blog, and enjoy visiting your world! Thanks!
Thank you for sharing Susan, I love reading your words and seeing your pictures and art work! Best wishes for a happy birthday and stay well.
Love this post – lovely words and photos. Stay safe and well.
I come to your blog faithfully to reset my spirit and soothe the soul. Once again Ms. Branch, you do not disappoint. Thank you for creating a respite from the worries of our world, as they are many indeed.
Hope you have a wonderful birthday “in”! May the comforts of home wrap you in their arms and give you a giant happy birthday hug!
You are always so inspiring and cheerful!
Hi, Susan! Thank you for your cheery offering today! I love Spring and look forward to it every year. It’s quite brief in South Louisiana, though; and, true to form, is bringing with it hints of hot summer. Btw, Easter Sunday here is the 12th of April. Though we won’t be worshipping in our church building, we stay in touch via emails, calls, and choir check-ins via Zoom. One of the first things I did last week was put out my Easter bunnies, chicks, lambs, etc.; I am surrounded by reminders of Spring. My Martha Goose is still dressed for St. Patrick’s Day, however, since my younger granddaughter likes to dress her – and is unable to visit till this is over. All the best to you and Joe. Looking forward to being on the other side of this pandemic. Rebecca
Here’s to the other side!
Thanks for this common sense post; we all have what it takes to get through this Pandemic Pandemonium if we just CALM DOWN in body, mind, and spirit. Turning off the news is such good advice. We have to assume that the figures the media is giving us are correct but the figures they are PROJECTING are meant to keep the level of sensationalism high. I’m so glad we are finally hearing about the number of people who have recovered (Fox (!) is doing it and hopefully the other networks will follow). We need to focus on those numbers while we follow the rules to keep us all safe and we will get through this with grace and kindness and a minimum of unnecessary drama.
Happy to hear you all are ok. We haven’t gone out much as I am 66 and my husband is 69. Only to the recycle drop off and to pick up groceries from Walmart. I scored tp the last time I was in the market, almost 4 weeks ago, so I’m good for a little bit. The rest I’ll deal with. For my gf bread I might have to resort to ordering from the company or trying my hand at baking some. That might be tricky as I have never had luck with bread making. But the is always quick breads that I can load with butter, which I have in the freezer, and lots of jelly which I also make myself. Some even with canned fruit that are sooooo yummy! You are right, we will get through this and I also love to be in my home. There is always something something to do, or something to watch on tv! Ha!
I had a thought about your flowers blooming inside your house at the beginning of spring. I have to smile as I fit this mold myself. But in times past we would have been burned at the stake as witches! Thank goodness the world has moved on from that warped kind of thinking. The things you think of when you are self quarantining! On to happier thoughts! They are lovely by the way. *S*
Stay safe all girlfriends, cook yummy things for your families. Get out in the sunshine, safely, take your dog for a walk, work in your flower beds. At least I can do that in North Carolina. The beds need to get cleaned out but no mulch for now!!
Love to all.
LOL, oh definitely Cyndi, I’m right with you, would have been in big trouble during the “witch” years! Take care!🌸
Thank you Susan for your encouraging words. Your home sounds like a wonderful place to be in a pandemic or any other time. I have followed your blog for many years and I enjoy each and every post. I am in my 3rd week of social distancing from my friends and local activities. I live alone and my grown children live in other states so isolation has become more real than ever for me. I cancelled one visit to my family and can’t schedule another just yet. I am trying not to dwell on the unknown but it is an uneasy feeling. I am so thankful for technology so that I can work from home, I can Facetime my kids and see my grandchildren, and I too am using Zoom to have group talks and even a work virtual happy hour. Jimmy Fallon is bringing entertainment from his home, I am seeing cooking shows from homes shot with cell phones, and encouraging words from bloggers like you will get us through the days. Thanks so much. I have your first cookbook and would enjoy the 30th year new edition. Thanks for all you do.
It sounds like you are making lemonade from the lemons. It’s all we can do . . . this too shall pass!💞
Thank you Susan! Your blog always makes me smile and my heart happy. Stay healthy…until next time!
Your blog is just wanted I needed, Susan! Full of spring, Jack, food, and the assurance of better days ahead. Yes, I am a homebody, too. It doesn’t hurt to be at home. I may miss these days when they’re over, I’m sure.
Hello, Susan!
Thank you so very much for your positive words! I have enough yarn in my house to keep me busy for a long, long time! Stay safe and be well, my dear friend!
Best regards,
Janice
Loving your messages and reminders of how lucky we are in the scheme of things. Thankful to be home and sharing days with my kitties. Salem’s birthday is today! 20 years old and still loves being held. Blessings and safety to all.
Always great to read your blog posts but especially now!
I’m re-reading A Fine Romance…the best for these troubled times! Thank you Susan for the joy and beauty you bring. You and Joe stay well and a long distance hug and snuzzle for Jack.
Thank you for your perspective on these interesting times!
Thankyou for a happy diversion from the pandemic! Your optimism is also contagious! 🙂
Love being home when I can, but am a hospital nurse so haven’t experienced the quarantine
as much as most. Praying the virus ends soon and the flowers bloom in celebration. We can learn from the birds song and sing knowing God will see us through.
We shall overcome.
Thank you so much for your cheery message. Your messages are always a delight regardless of situation or season. I have been so inspired by many good folks helping out in this strange time…whether it be a teen doing shopping for an older neighbor, a lady sewing masks and handing them out (for free), children writing messages and drawing pictures with chalk…and on and on. So thankful for all the people going above the call of duty — doctors, nurses, firemen, first responders and the nation’s teachers preparing lessons for children. I also turn off the news because I choose to focus on positive things. Thank you so much, Susan, for your rays of sunshine…and an early “Happy Birthday!”
The beautiful art you create and share and the positivity you exude is so needed right now! We are all riding the same roller coaster so if we stick together, we can do it! Thank you for the ray of sunshine!
Thank you so much for this post Susan!!! Perfect timing as always!! Glad you and Joe are good! Stay safe everyone 💕
Saved your email until this afternoon when I would have time to savor it! So many great ideas in it! I’ve got multiple tabs open on my computer now so I’m off to explore!
Dear Susan,
First of all I want to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Those of us in the 60-70’s age range sure have experienced a lot – some good (the Beatles) some bad (this virus) – but have survived and hopefully thrived through all of it. I too am a homebody but wasn’t sure about spending ALL of the time in the house but I am doing just fine. I don’t know what Olivia and Bix are going to do once things get back to normal (whatever that is) and I’m gone more. They quite like having me home. I can foresee a few mishaps in the house when that happens.I wish I was emboldened to take on such much needed chores but for now am perfectly content to read, watch PBS Passport, Acorn, Hulu and binge watch Schitt’s Creek.
This virus is a mind numbing and soul crushing thing but I do agree with you that it is a God thing. I am not a church going kind of religious person but in my heart I am a believer and I do believe that this is God’s wake-up call and I hope that we are listening. We’ve been asleep at the wheel while our country has slowly been losing its way. We have now been given time to figure out who we are and what we believe in and I hope that we will become better people after this is done.
I want to leave you with a poem that was sent to me by a friend and I think that it says it all. It was written by John O’Donohue, an Irish poet.
This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.
Try as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise.
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.
I think this is truly something to fill our hearts with during troubling times.
Also, the eagles have laid their eggs and in one nest 3 have hatched and in the other they are starting to break out of their shell – new birth, a glory to celebrate.
All my love to you, Joe(in his debonair mask) and Jack
Be well,
Patricia, Olivia and Bixby
Lovely🌸😘 Sending love to you Patricia . . . and to the critters too!
Thanks for the musica,love listening to it while reading your blog!Have a lovely birthday at home which the best place to be at right now and always! Stay home,stay healthy!
Oh I would love to win! We are moving to our “forever home” next week. Bad timing for sure but excited for a new beginning after beating cancer last year (all while having 2 toddlers in tow!). The cookbook would be so great for our next chapter in life…a happy, cancer free one where we can make lots of cozy meals in our new home. ❤️
Congratulations on all of your good news.👏👏👏 Stay safe Johanna. . . love to you and yours, and to your new chapter.💖
I used to have your cookbook, and it was nicely finger-printed and grease-dotted. Somehow it vanished during our move last year and Id love be to replace it.
Thank you Susan for making everything just a bit better! The sun is shining, my beautiful kitty is snoozing next to me and tonight I will be “zooming” with my 2 sons, one of which is a Pediatrician at a hospital in Chicago.
Have a happy birthday!
Although I hate the circumstance, I am loving being home with my family ❤️ We are playing games, watching movies, cooking, cleaning, working out and enjoying each other. With 2 teenagers at home, it is sometimes hard to find the time. As a mother, I am enjoying our time together…….and your blog gave me more ideas of things to do. Stay safe, Ms. Branch.
I get so much happiness from getting these emails. With all that is going on , to be able to loose myself in your writing is a pure pleasure.Thank you for lifting our spirits. Stay safe and healthy !!!
Always enjoy reading your blog. Thank you and take care!
In my little town, as elsewhere, birdsong taps on our windows to wake us. Daffodils, hyacinths, forsythia and azaleas are wishing us bright sunny days. People take little walks respecting each other’s space, we turn the first page of that book we’ve been wanting to read because the family owned local bookstore has an online service now. The church bells mark the hours with snippets of old hymns, even though the doors are temporarily closed. It’s just for a while. This is a season, a beautiful season. We’re cooking more and sitting down together to enjoy a meal with loved ones and lively conversation. Your blog jogs our endorphins with It think I can’ bursts of creativity. Hmmmm…
And it’s Gladys Taber’s favorite – Spring! Happy birthday to you both!
How wonderful you make us all feel in such uncomfortable times. But I love being at home, enjoying my family and quiet time. I have done more cooking thanI usually do. I love the bookmark. You aresuch a blessing to us. God bless you!❤️❤️❤️
Oh Susan, I saved this for a day when I would need it and today was the day. Gray-white sky, anxious. We’re all anxious, worried for our friends and relatives near and far. Worried for us, too, even though we’re doing all the right things. I have been more creative cooking than ever because if you don’t have something and you’re midway, well, you have to come up with a new solution. I walk but maybe not so much anymore — it’s getting too crowded out there and not enough masks. But I have a yard that needs some love and it is clearly the time to do it. I read, I write, I paint. I try to sleep. Rick and I must keep six feet. I hate it — and I wonder if it’s enough. I’m so glad sweet Lizzie purrs and yaks at me. The only living thing I’ve touched in weeks. But it’s fora good reason. And your tip on news — spot on. Of course, I’m excited to enter the drawing! Thanks for such a positive, joyful post.
You’re smart to stop walking Jeanie, unless you can find a place that’s less crowded. We barely see anyone where we go, but we go prepared, with masks and scarves . . . they are finding more things about this virus daily, now we hear it lives in the air. It’s like sharks have suddenly grown feet and you never know when one of them is going to pop out of the bushes! Take care!💞
What a blessing to see this post! So cheering! Staying home has always been easy for this homebody though I could not imagine what they went through in England for 6 years. I remember hearing that many families in London and larger cities sent their children out to the villages to keep them safe. (As a mother, I think that would’ve driven me over the edge.) I must admit I feel guilty to confess all this seems surreal to me. I don’t personally know anyone who has tested positive or who has died from this COVID-19, and I feel helpless to somehow keep anyone else from going through it. Our family is practicing the social distancing, regularly cleaning the house, checking on our elderly neighbors, taking supplies to families who were having trouble getting them, calling our loved ones around the country to check on them, and praying. I sometimes turn on the tv in hopes that they will tell of the tide turning in our favor, but have basically given up! I found comfort in CBS’s Steve Hartman doing a Kindness 101 online school with his children and watching old episodes of the Great British Sewing Bee and the Great Pottery Throwdown (Emma Bridgewater made appearances on two of the seasons). Some friends and family hope that there will be much good that comes from this hard season and I join them in praying that will be the case! Sorry I rambled on and on, but thank you Susan for a place like this – another “home” in so many ways. Bless you!
Don’t give up. Try to stay home as much as you possibly can, protect yourself in every way. It’s only been a month, this will take a little while, but we will get there, together. It IS surreal. Every day I wake up and think, “What?” (I’m a simple thinker in the morning!) But then I just ground my heels in, and go for it. A day, the sun, the birds at the feeder. So thankful. Sending love. xoxo💞
Thankfully, this too shall pass! Thank you for the lovely post.♥️
Love your positive thoughts. Thank you for this post.
As always I love reading your blogs! You always make me feel uplifted. The world is kinda nuts out there right now, but this too shall pass as I have read.
God bless you and Joe.
Thanks very much for this wonderful post! You rise to the top in everything! There is so much to be thankful for and so many ways to be creative if we just take the time to do a little research. HOME is the best place to be if we do our part to make it as special as possible. Easter Blessings to you and Joe and Jack!
Thank you for this heart-warming and encouraging post! And I agree: ‘Home’ is the nicest place in the world to be! 🥰
Happy (early) Birthday! 🎂🥳🎈💐🎁
Stay safe and be blessed! 🙏🏻
Raining here….a cookbook would be nice!
I’m sending these positive thoughts to my three sisters who are working hard to be grateful. productive and conscientious. It’s hard work but less so for us than for so many. Thank you for always reminding me of all that I am grateful for. You always inspire me.
I enjoyed your post Susan. I remember that cake! We made one some thirty years ago. I can’t remember what cookbook it was in. Probably the coconut one. I agree about home being the best place to be. I took a wall and two closets down to make a large living room and I’ve been plastering, painting, doubling up all the molding and i just installed a hard wood floor. I don’t think my knees or back will eve forgive me for it. I stock piled up on tools, wood and nails in anticipation of the quarantine, but came up six boards short of finishing. So discouraging. When it warms up just a bit, I’ll be outside raking and pruning and admiring the hellebore which are amazing this year. Stay safe and well and avoid the nutters who think social distancing is a suggestion.
My grandmother used to say “There’s always a creep in the crowd.” 😂 Look at YOU… remodeling, what an accomplished person you are!
I’ve been outside enjoying a beautiful day in East TN. Wanted to seed my salad garden today but no compost in stores. Everyone had the same idea. It’s not just TP friends. Enjoyed meeting you in Hudson, OH at your book signing. Lover of God and all things family and home.
thank you so much for your love of home and sharing with us….have a wonderful Birthday Susan!!!
I so look forward to your Blogs and really enjoy the music while reading! Thank you for sharing your creativity and Art.
Carrie
Thank you for the pick me up and the promises of Spring!
So very comforting.
When is journey new book going to be published? We are anticipating it anxiously!
Love to you, Joe and Jack
I’ll have my new Christmas Book by August I think!
Oh I love your blog. So uplifting. We are domesticating just fine in Fairhope, with some inspiration from Heart of the Home. Although we skee-dattled out of Tuscaloosa to our home by the bay with my 86 year old angel Dad and left our copy behind I am making do just fine. I just made a palm branch decoration for the door. I found a blackberry (well actually dewberry) patch on my one mile walk today. I am trying all the recipes and freezing leftovers to minimize returns to grocery store. Dad is singing a hymn a day and I am posting to my FB and he has gathered quite a fan club. From Fairhope – I call it Mayberry meets Martha’s Vineyard. Stay well! Angeline (and thanks for a lifetime of inspiration)
Don’t you love it when your dad has a fan club? 👏👏👏👏
What a delight to read! Thank you for sharing not only your words but the wonderful photos, drawings and music. Just a little extra oomph that I needed! Thank you.
well I thought I left a comment but maybe it’ll turn up later!!
I’m getting them . . . WordPress changed it’s format I guess . . . they don’t tell you when your comment goes anymore, I do. not. know. why. 😮 But they’re coming Cyndi! xoxoxo💞
Oh no! Well had to tell you but there’s another message out there, sorry! I’ll be patient from now on. *S*
Don’t worry, it’s a mystery to many, including me!
Thank you!
Happy (almost) Easter! I love that Easter bunny cake, and the lamb cake! I’m planning on making a cake or cupcakes for easter (likely from a mix). Thank you for posting during this time, I’m always so glad to get an email that you have another blog post! 💕
Thank you for another beautiful post. Have a terrific birthday! I turns the TV off. When you mentioned watching Ted Talks it reminded me of a new streaming channel. curiositystream.com (a pay channel for the bargain $20 a year)
“Watch award-winning science, technology, history and nature documentaries, worldwide, on-demand and available on multiple devices.”
I’ve been bingeing on some wonderful topics. I must have been sleeping thru NASAs mission to Pluto. in the 1960s I lived near Cape Kennedy an loved watching each exciting launch. The mission to Pluto program on curiosity was just as exciting and amazing.
There is so must need to contribute to our communities right now. I’m a retired 80 yr old RN using my skills to make reusable face masks with pockets to hold changeable HEPA filters (vacuum cleaner) for our senior residences and first responders. We just lost our first sheriff deputy yesterday. Hope we get through this challenging time soon.
But today I found your post in my mailbox. You bring so much joy to us. Thank You!
Take care of yourself Marsha. 💞
Love your blogs. You are an indoor to us all!
Thank you Susan for your wise and encouraging words!
Happy Birthday, Susan!
April is a lovely month for a birthday! My month, too! 🙂
Happy Birthday Marie!🎈
What a delightful posting & so inspiring for how things are in our world right now.
Thank you for making my day so much brighter while being home bound. We have been finding many things to do here at home & actually enjoying ourselves. Warm wishes to you & your hubby.
My girlfriend Anita shares your birthday, and we have exchanged themed birthday gifts for 17 years. Some of our themes have been cherries, kitties, birds, fairies, grandma, bubbles, hearts, pink, scotty dogs etc. So much fun! Happy Birthday!
Tell her I said Happy Birthday! 👋
OH, Susan! I did it again, had a feeling it was time for your blog, checked, and I was only 2 days later than your April entry! Thank you for continuing to be a beacon of light in these trying times, you are so dear . I loved reading that you and Rachel could do ZOOM, and I have to say, I am halfway through the book by Erik Larson called ‘The Splendid and the Vile” about Churchill, London, and the Blitz. It is fascinating and consuming, reads like a novel, but is all fact. Things that were classified newly released, quotations from letters , like from Harold Nicholson to wife Vita… oh, my. And yes, I keep telling myself that we are NOT having bombs dropped on us night after night, year after year… we are just being asked to STAY home. And we all know , because of you, that sweet quote from Louisa May Alcott, ‘STAY is a charming word in a friend’s vocabulary.” Thanks for being there for so many of us, and keep on being as upbeat as you are now…. love from Bend, Oregon, where it started today snowing, but has settled into good old spring rain. Suzette
Perfect attitude Suzette. Love the sound of that book, will check it out!
My girlfriend and I went on a hike and picnic (with proper social distancing!!) through the beautiful blooming wildfowers here in Northern California. Poppies, Meadow Foam, Indian Paintbrush and so many we didn’t know. She said, wouldn’t Susan Branch just love this and have something nice to say about this beautiful spring day! Then voila, here’s herself in my inbox. Ordered my new copy of Heart of the Home (can’t resist a sale!!) We’ve been doing the Zoom cocktails with friends, my husband acts like he thinks it’s silly but I notice he never misses one and has plenty to say!! Soon this will be over
Reading your post while having afternoon tea in my favorite SB mug! I’m a total homebody too, so SIP is not difficult for me. You are so right – need to stop watching the news. The next couple of weeks sound dreadful and so scary.
I can relate to ancestry project! Been working on mine off and on for a few years – one thing keeps leading to another!
This year, we will be celebrating my daughter’s April 11 birthday via Zoom! Grateful for technology!
As always, you make us aware of how important it is to appreciate the simple things in life!
Thank you for this beautiful post.
It gives a lot of uplifting thoughts.
Oh, what beauty is found here! Lots of cozy and comfort. Just what the world needs right now! -xoxo
As I read your latest blog and then scrolled down to “comments@ I felt so happy seeing all the others your blog makes happy. You are a friend to so many. I feel your are my friend even though we may never meet! I’m 68 and recently reconnected with my best friend from high school. I live in Santa Cruz California and she lives in Portland Oregon. We had such fun reading your three books/the trilogies together. We both refer to you all the time as our friend Susan. Anyway I’m rambling but just want you to know how much you mean to me, and if I am lucky enough to win your cookbook I’d like to have it sent to my girlfriend in Oregon! I have your original one!
Love it Leslie . . . Tell her I said hello!