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 . . .
This is the year I make the bunny cake. I’ve been looking at this for years. This year I make it happen. I love reading about your life and home.
Grateful like you to see the glorious signs of spring and just send your book sale offer to a friend who, like you loves to cook!
I actually held this book in my hands when last visiting my daughter in the summer and asked her to take me to the quaint bookstore on Cape Cod where I met you when you were signing book books that lovely octonrt day. However on this second trip my budget didnot allow me to purchase it.
I especially love all your handwritten ones as your sweet soul comes forth more in them and the joy of your family life.
May you continue to bless us with your joy.
I enjoy reading your blog. So down to earth and homey. I enjoy seeing the pictures you post and the beautiful drawings. Bless you and your family. Good health to you and yours until your next writing.
Happy Birthday, Susan. One of my very dearest friends will also be celebrating her birthday this coming Sunday! No wonder you are a fan of everything to do with Gladys Taber (one of my favorite authors, too) since you share the same birthday! Thank you for your words and illustrations! While we are staying at home in the Canaan Valley of West Virginia, my dear husband and I are enjoying hours of reading on our Kindles, and I’m working on piecing a quilt top. We are so very lucky because so far there have only been three cases of COVID19 in our entire county. Stay safe and sound.
Hi Susan! Before I forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sunday! And Happy Easter. I hope you have a lovely day!
Dear Susan,
I’m so glad you’re reading Nella Last’s diary. It’s wonderful isn’t it? Nella continued her Mass Observation diaries into the 1950s and they are in a book form too.
I can also highlyrecommend Mrs Milburn’s Diary by Clara Milburn, She lived just outside Coventry.
Millions Like Us by Virginia Nicholson, which has the WW2 diary entries of several women of different ages and backgrounds is great too.
I became fascinated with women living and working on the Home Front a few years ago. They are so inspiring and can still teach us a lot! I’ve also managed to collect some magazines from the time too – mainly ‘Housewife’.
Sending love and prayers,
Jane x
I am BLESSED to be in my home environment rather than traveling. I am enjoying waking up early to blue sky and sunshine, in my own bed. And then to just be able to talk with the Lord and thank Him for all He has done for me. Just God and me. Gratitude surrounds me as I hear and see what so many people and families are going through right now. Tears of sorrow for the losses, smiles from the good I see as people are trying to help people through this difficult time and the wonderful memories of the good smells from baking in the kitchen. I’m blessed to still be here enjoying my surrounding and in small ways celebrating every breath I am STILL able to take! A Glorious Happy Birthday To YOU❤️
I retired last year and feel very lucky to be able to stay home. Like everyone else finding things to keep busy. I very much enjoy your posts. Happy Birthday and Happy Easter’
Your blog has such lovely pictures in it. They transport me to a happier place. Thank you for all your artwork and recipes. I greatly appreciate all of it, and YOU! Stay safe, Susan.
Your words and your art always make me smile. Thank you!
Great post, Susan. I’ve read Nella Last’s War at least 3 times and have given it as gifts. She made the most of whatever she had and didn’t grumble! What a worker! Your words bring comfort to so many. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner tonight. We’ll get through this!
Zoom? YES!
News? NO!
❤️🇺🇸
How did I not know there was a new blog until today??? Glad I discovered it because it warmed my heart. I wanted you to know Susan that I bought two Red Letter Day cups. One for me and one for my BFF!!! They are beautiful! We love, love, love them. Makes us feel closer drinking our coffee in matching cups. 💕💕💕 HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow!! Stay safe and healthy at home. Going to go back and read all the comments now. Love 💘💘💘 you Susan!!!
Comments are the best part! Thank you Carolyn ~ and hello to your BFF too ~ kindred spirits!
Dear Susan, it’s been a long time since I’ve commented here, but it’s nice to see that your blog is still the safe haven that it always has been. Wishing you and Jo happy and healthy Eastern! Your Hungarian fan girl.
Nice to see you here Eszter!
I remember making the bunny cake many years ago. Thank you for reminding me.
Love reading your kind and gentle words these days.
Happy Easter and Springtime to you and Joe! You have certainly brightened the past few weeks with your posts of Spring. I, too, have collected Beatrix Potter items. Peter Rabbit and his friends were the theme of my oldest son’s nursery when he was born 40 years ago. I have since pasted down my love of these classic characters to my grandchildren, Magnolia and River. They love the stories and movies. I would like to share with you an inspiration from Peter and the many people making protective cloth masks….I decided to make one special for the season and went into an old craft box and found some fabric with the Beatrix Potter characters. Then, I decided to sew it on my great-grandmother’s treadle sewing machine (1906). My grandmother taught me how to sew on the machine when I was 8 years old (60 years ago). I have not used it for over 20 years. After setting it up again, it took me less than a minute to coordinate the pedal treading (just like riding a bike!). It was definitely a source of good exercise for my legs, but the result was wonderful. Now I have a special face cloth mask to wear that will remind me to stay safe for my sweeties and has a special Spring touch. Wish I could send you pictures but I’m not familiar with Twitter, Instagram, etc….only emails. Thank you, again, Susan for sharing your wonderful ideas and kindness!
This “dam-panic” as Joe calls it, is going to be filled with family memories! Stay safe Deb!
As my BDay is March 31, I have had quite a few bunny cakes for my bday cake. One year my aunt and I were together, and we had two bunny cakes (the flat kind, not 3D) because her Bday is also March 31. Much fun to me as a child. Happy, blessed BDay to you.
Happy Birthday and many Blessings. I love being home so this is easy for me, but my heart hurts for those we have lost. Thank You does not seem strong enough to say to those in and on the front lines. I am a World War II buff, read all I can, just finished Churchills ” Gathering Storm” my father was a prisoner of war, I lived in California and remember the black outs ( eighty years young) now we once again shelter in place. Memories fill the hours. I appreciate your time and talent you lovingly share with us. Happy Easter, all will be well. Brook
Love to hear a wee book list from you Brook! Five of your favorites would be wonderful!
Ah Susan, you are so dear to be a friend to each of us. That is really the amazing thing about you. You could sit and have tea with each of us, and enjoy our chat. Thank you for your steady stream of encouragement. I’m having birthday number 79 this month, and am bothered by it. However, life is very good here in my home with my husband . We cook rarely, cooking much more now. Smelling food cooking really settles us, plus the taste is good. I made homemade biscuits the other day. Wish I had a photo of how surprised my husband looked when I was kneading the dough a little. It has been years and years since I had done that!
Much love to you and Joe, who looks quite handsome in his shopping clothes. Spring is surely in Katy Texas. My Easter lilies are blooming beautifully. Joy!!!
I bet the picture of you making bread soothed your husband’s soul! xoxo
Susan,
I can’t tell you how much I cherish your comforting words, during this
trying time. I get a big smile on my face when I see your blog in my email
box. I tried your pancakes this morning and I too, am grateful for the little
things in life.
Happy birthday and have a blessed Easter.
I LOVE Susan Branch! I have all her books and have followed her “history”. What a girl! And as far as cooking goes, there is no better! I want to win!
Hi Susan, Happy “Birthday-eve” (to you and Gladys T.!) and Happy Easter to you and Joe. Forsythia is popping out here, too. Best wishes–
Stay safe all.
Your blog stories always cheer me up. Being from the UK and living in the States I really enjoy when you mention my home country. Really must look up the book about life in WW11.
Happy Birthday Susan . . . and many more!
I hope your boys (Joe & Jack) shower you with Easter Blessings and Birthday Surprises! Thank you for another uplifting post.
Love,
Franny
Whew!! After I stocked up on over 300 smackaroos worth of provisions, we here in Maine got slammed by a very wet, heavy snowfall. Tom, ever the boy scout, got the generator out and set up well in advance. I could not keep my head inside the house, as snow is still so exotic to me. In the loft bathroom I can walk right up to the roof window, wind it open and enjoy watching the huge, fat snow flakes come down. After only a couple of hours, the spruce and balsam looked like they had been “flocked” for Christmas. Just lovely. I reached out and scooped some fresh snow, and ate it. Doesn’t take much to entertain me.
Power went out about 3 AM Friday, as we had extreme winds to boot. We were on generator power until about 5 PM today, Saturday. A dead tree had fallen across the lines on our road, so not too many homes involved. However, about 250,000 were without across the state. At bedtime, we stuffed the fridge with ice packs so nothing was spoiled while the power was off.
This morning at 6, it was 48 inside and 28 outside. But Tom Terrific stumped out and cranked up the generator, took a long walk, and Debbie snuggled down and slept til 10:00. Something to be said for not having any place to go, or anything to do. Just peace. I know that’s not the case for most in this country.
From reading the comments, you have done more than anyone I can think of to calm and settle troubled spirits. All of us are grateful we live on the same Little Blue Marble as you, Dear Lady, especially in these times.
So….Please have the Happiest of Birthdays tomorrow! Can’t wait to hear how you celebrated. May the Easter Bunny bring you even more love, if that’s possible!!
Debbie in Maine
I didn’t think I would say this when I started reading, but by the time Tom was up warming the house and you were snuggling back down all I could think was WHAT a cozy storm! I’m like you … after growing up in California, snow is also still “exotic” to me . . . pure magic. Thank you dear, you are so kind. You guys stay safe, thank goodness for the generator, hope you wake up to sunshine and furnace! xoxo
A lovely update message. Be well🌷🌎🙏
Birthday Wishes and sweet blessings Susan on your Special Day tomorrow; I’m visualizing the possibilities of Bunny-Cake ‘n Candles! :o)
God Bless you and Joe and thank you for such a beautiful piece of encouragement from your words above…..perhaps I should say ‘beautiful peace’ for that is how you have left me after this ‘read’ Susan.
Make a Wish! :o)
Barb.
PS — Easter Joy along side of BDay Joy! :o)
I love this post so much! HOME really is a wonderful place to be for so many of us, and this is a lovely reminder of that. Thank you.
Happy Birthday Susan🎂
We love you so much🥰
Blessings,
Rita
So sweet Rita, thank you!
Happy Easter morning, dearest lady…
Don’t know IF/when you will see
this…but…HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY!!!
And many, many more!!
And THANK YOU!!!
() ()
> ‘ t ‘ <
<3
Early Easter morning, having my first cup of tea in my birthday cup! Thank you so much Judy! xoxo
Thanks so much for your art and humor. Much better than watching the news….Glad you are encouraging everyone to stay home! Me too…arden
Hi Susan, again!!!!
I just got my first cup in the mail this week and I am thrilled! I bought the Red Letter Day cup….it has my cat Dinah on it (ha ha) and maybe girl kitty!!! so cute and what I love is the flip side with all the things that make you feel good! it is so perfect for my morning tea, my afternoon tea and the last cup of the day!!!! I adore it! Thank you from the bottom of my tea loving heart!
You are so very welcome! I’m thrilled that you like it! xoxoxo
Home was never Sweeter than now. I’m do proud of everyone. The whole world is on a mission. We’re in it together. Staying at Home, Lucky us. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out. If they could, so can we.
SB. With God’s Help. Happy Birthday Susan! May God Bless You Always!💜 Thank You for this Beautiful blog You’ve Shared with all of us! Love You🍃🌷🍃
Happy Easter dear Susan! I will be zooming with my family this Easter. Be well and stay safe.
Happy at home, and very glad after a separation, that I rented a 2 bedroom apartment, as my university age daughter unexpectedly moved in with me last month. I work at a grocery store and there are lots of flowers. I shopped at my local grocery store the Thursday before Easter and was given a free bunch of tulips. Made my day.
Better late than never! Thank you for the reassurance you give. Happy birthday!
Dear Susan, I found out about you from our love of Gladys Taber and have been here ever since. Today I found out we share a birthday month (mine was the 6th) and I love watercolor, flowes, etc As a 74 year old working girl still, the quarantine has been a gift for me to be home with my animals and to finally clean house! We all must find the good with the bad. Love to you. Sandy in Virginia
Happy Birthday Sandy! xoxo
We are staying in and always enjoy your post full of cozy and home!
Happy Birthday, Happy Easter, Happy Spring, Happy Life!
Joy and wisdom and “enchanting” spring from your pen and paintbrush.
Raising a glass to you and friendship, cats, corgis, Beatrix Potter figurines, and the beauty in the natural world!
Musica would be Beattles “All you Need is Love”
And I would be in heaven, AM in heaven. Thank you Heather!
Dear Heart Susan: Wishing you a very Happy Happy Birthday 🌸🎂🌸to remember….
and a most Blessed Easter🌸🐰🌸….. sending ((HUGS))..Alo-Ha-Ha, Evie in San Diego
Thank you, kind lady. We did have power this morning, But….no baking powder for the buttermilk, blueberry and toasted pecan pancakes!!! Our only neighbor is not home, so Tom is on the hunt. Seems everyone is baking, or so I’ve read, and all those ingredients are scarce. We can have them for supper. We usually go in and our of each other’s houses and borrow what we need, but I’m not comfortable doing that at this time! Bev is being very, very careful, as her husband is a heart patient as well.
The entire World is celebrating!!!
Probably too late, but there are replacements when you are out of things, Google is our friend! 👏 http://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-baking-powder-substitutes 😘
Happy Easter and Happy Easter🐣🐣🐇🌹🌷🌺🥀🌸🌼🌻
Happy birthday, dear, dear Susan! And Happy Easter too. I too feel that the best place that we could have been quarantined is at home. We’ve found our old carrom board – I seldom sink even a single coin – but it’s all fun and frolic! Today we all ganged up on a raw jackfruit, hashed it open and separated the pods. Today we had mashed jackfruit for dinner. I have put away two more batches of pods for two different curries and the seeds for a stir-fry. It all went so quickly because all four of us were on it.
Adding my prayers to yours for this pandemic to end soon and hoping that we will all learn to lead better lives in the aftermath.
I have been enjoying your wonderful blog for years. Love it with the excellent choices of music you pick out each time. Thank you.
Happy Birthday Susan! May you have have blessed Birthday and Easter! Double the joy today! He is Risen!
Thanks for your cheery post! And thanks for the bookmark! Whenever you give away bookmarks, I always print them out for 3 special friends and my 2 daughters. And 1 for myself of course! With Love, Carol
Happy Birthday Susan🤗💖🌼…love and very best wishes for a beautiful day, a beautiful year and a beautiful forever💞
Happy birthday and happy Easter! Thank you for another comforting and inspiring blog (and the bookmark: a perfect sentiment for these times).
Happy Birthday! I am reading your book and falling in love with your island!!
Well first of all Happy Birthday Susan ! You have no idea how much your blog post has cheered me up. I realized there are worse things than staying at home.
Well first off Happy Birthday Susan! Really enjoyed this blog post. There is nothing better than staying home is there.
Many thanks!
“Happy” to everyone…
One book, two calendars purchased (1 calendar for girlfriend gift), woo-hoo! Thank you for the heads up and book sale price- all is appreciated! When I posted on the 12th it was a “numb” day from several health testing(s) results in our family. Today I HAVE bought some “hope” for all of next year, and feel that finally, Spring has sprung!
Many thanks!
Keeping your sunny side up! I’m happy to hear the lilt in your voice, Blessings on you and your family!
My husband wanted to know if Joe came up with dam-panic on his own? Told him I felt sure he did. We like that description.
He did!
Happy Easter, and Happy Birthday, Susan! And Happy Gladys Tabor’s Birthday to all! So much to celebrate on a chilly day. Well, here we are at the start of Week___ (fill in for whenever you started hunkering in place). I wonder if people who live in big, metropolises will sniff the air when this is all over and say “Oh, so this is what all the ‘tree huggers’ have been talking about! Maybe we should do something about the pollution after all!” We can only hope. Alas, no big, family get together today, but some of us took out the good lace tablecloths and made a nice sit down supper for those we are staying home with. Some of us were lucky enough to have flowers blooming in the yard and put some on the table before the neighborhood bunnies got to them. Some of us even went as far as to scramble out of our flannel jammies and put on our Easter Bonnets, light the candles in the crystal candlesticks and eat off the best china. Some of us put another log on the fire, another video on the TV and ate ham sandwiches and peanut butter cups. However you celebrated, I hope it was with those you love, with a prayer for peace and better days ahead. How wonderful to be able to have so many kindred spirits to share these extraordinary times with!
Dear Friend,
On this beautiful day of joy for so many, it seems perfectly fitting that your birthday should arrive just in time for celebrating all of the beauty, love and miracles of Spring! Please know you are loved and admired and that for every candle lit tonight, a wish for a wonderful year ahead will be yours.
Happy Birthday Susan! Your life is such a blessing!
Love to all,
Deborah
Happy Birthday!
Hope you had a great Birthday and Easter. It is special when those two dates coincide.
Happy Birthday, Susan!! 🎉🎈🎶🍰💐🐥🛀🐾💝😘 Thank you for your beautiful, cheerful blogs and books. Love the watercolors, quotes, recipes, photos, stories, inspiration, practicalities, fancies and the charming way in which you put it all together to make us all so happy! Thank you for being wonderful you! Kudos to wonderful Joe and Jack, too! Wishing you all blessings and a bountiful Spring garden with love from Deep in the Heart of Texas!
Thank you for your beautiful and uplifting words that you share that brighten our days and make our lives a little richer. When I read your blog I always forget about whatever is going on around us. I appreciate you so much and want to wish you a very Happy Birthday and Happy Easter to you and Joe.
Happy Birthday, Susan!
As usual your blog was wonderful and that there are many more to come. Both blogs and birthdays! 😊
Happy Birthday Susan! I enjoyed reading your entry tonight……it gave me the warm fuzzies. I purposefully stayed off of all social media today to give my mind a much needed rest. I’m so glad I checked in on a few blogs before bed tonight, as I knew they would be uplifting. Have a beautiful week!
Happy Birthday to you( hartelijk gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag)dear Susan! We’re having a very quiet Easter. But also cosy with husband and kids staying at home, and eating together. Singing Easter Hymns. Sending lots of Love from The Netherlands, stay safe.
xxx Willemien
Happy Easter Willemien . . . always so nice to hear from you! xoxoxo
Happy Birthday Susan! I had no idea that you shared your birthday with Gladys Taber! You need to add YOUR birthday onto your calendar because we want to celebrate you! I have been combing through your lovely books while at home. I am inspired to build a garden just like yours. My son said he would help make the raised beds, because he is handy like that! The picket fence and the plantings of the flowers on the outside are an absolute necessity. I have been daydreaming, going through garden catalogs trying to decide to decide what variety of tulips to order….decisions…decisions. I also ready your older post about your art studio supplies, and am giddy with excitement as I ordered a KOH radiograph pen. It’s 0.25mm. I normally use a 0.5mm, and wasn’t sure what size you used, but know I will love it! I love working on Ancestry too. I even went on vacation to were some of my relatives lives and saw where there farmsteads were back in the day. I did research at the local library and there were some regulars there in the research room who were just angels helping my find things. When this quarantine is over, you should go on a field trip with your sister! Thank you for reminding us all how very blessed we are. Like you, being home is my heaven. So very grateful for all of our blessings! Love to you! Nancy
See that balloon on the 12th? That’s me! And yes, love having the same birthday as Gladys. You will love the garden if you do it. Every year, it’s like painting with flowers. A field trip with my sister sounds like heaven! Good idea Nancy. Happy day, thank you so much!
Pick Me!! xoxoxo
Hi Susan! And oh my, I’m behind with reading your blog, but will try to stay caught up! I just noticed your Easter Bunny cake photo and it’s the one I sent many years ago :). Thank you for posting it!! My daughter, Autumn, is 17 years old now but it brings back great memories of when we made and decorated it together using your instructions as a guide. We both met you four years ago in St. Charles, MO when you were on your book tour. That was also a fun memory! Happy Easter! ~Michelle
Ha ha ha, still love your cake, Michelle! So nice to hear from you! Be sure and give Autumn a hug for me! Happy Easter!
Thank you, Susan! Autumn was as thrilled as I was to see the photo on your blog :). And Happy Birthday!
Dear Susan,
First of all, I hope that you had a wonderful birthday and a very Happy Easter. I know that you were surrounded by love- both at home and in the hearts of your many followers. You bring so much joy and sunshine to our lives, especially in these troubling times. But aren’t we lucky to be confined to our homes, a safe haven, in the current “storm”? While watching World on Fire last night, I was reminded, once again, of the safety of home. Unfortunately, that is not the case for everyone. I was reminded of that by a Facebook post of a dear friend in England. If you (I am including your many followers in this request) know of anyone who might be in an abusive situation, please reach out to them and check to be sure they are okay. Give them a code word to use if they feel they are in danger. Stress in a confined situation can build to a breaking point.
My copy of Nella’s War just arrived in the mail, and I am looking forward to reading it (as well as the other books mentioned in the comment section). My Mother was British and lived through the Blitz. She wouldn’t really talk about the experience, so I gain my understanding of what she went through from other sources.
I am looking forward to a day of breaking, since the rain is falling quite heavily outside. Hopefully it will clear later in the day , so I can go for a walk. The forsythia is absolutely beautiful this year, and the cherry and Japanese tulip trees are blooming. Happy Spring!
Wonderful advice Dianne. Thank you for that reminder.
You brighten my day😀😀😀
Dear Susan, your blog has been the perfect balm during these strange times. Thank you, thank you for all that you do! <3
I was outside in my garden listening to birds singing – all on your birthday, in your honor! Hope you had a lovely day! I’ve read your books dozens of times … how did I miss the 2nd oven-burning up ordeal?
Sending you all my love and cozy thoughts on this stormy day.
Love,
Valerie
The second one didn’t make it into the book. During pandemic-marriage, I turned on the teapot, the phone rang, girlfriend said come over right now … out the door I walked. Came home to find house smelling horrible, tea pot dry and burnt … I didn’t really burn down the stove that time, but came REALLY close to burning down the house!
Happy Birthday dear Susan. Love your blog and can do attitude.
Dear Susan
Thank you for always inspiring me in so many ways! I always look forward to your posts. I hope you had a very happy birthday! May God bless you and keep you and Joe healthy and thriving!
What a wonderful, positive message. Be safe and be well. This too shall pass…
Hi Susan, Belated Happy Birthday. And thank you for your upbeat, motivating, recent post. I am down here in Connecticut — a state with some very concerning COVID-19 activity. And in the latter part of a crazed storm of high gusts and heavy rain. An hour ago my dining room ceiling started leaking and I was thinking “how much more can one take?!!” To try and distract myself from all the worries, I sat down and read your post. What an amazing calmness ensured. Am feeling so much better! Thank you for these posts — from all the comments I see and for me, they make such a difference in our lives! Hope you and Joe continue to stay safe. –Jennie
I’m so glad. It’s unbearable, and yet, truly bearable, we are so very lucky … xoxoxo
Oh yes, I would love to gift ♥️ of the 🏠 to my lovely sister enduring a similar “pandemic” to yours which inspired this book. Full circle.
Mmmmm. That’s a nasty pandemic. Can keep you home for years! Give her my very best! xoxoxo
Hello Susan – I just want to let you know what a blessing your sweet thoughts, paintings and calendar are to me. I am cheered each time I get to switch to a new month and read each gentle thought and enjoy each delightful image. You definitely have a way of cheering a weary, working-from-home soul. Thank you for the encouragement every day. And now, I have found your blog, so more happiness for me! Yay!
Happy to welcome you here Gina! xoxo
Hi Susan! It’s pouring rain here in the Hudson Valley in NY. But I keep telling myself “April showers bring may flowers”. I pre-ordered my 2021 wall calendar as you suggested, but will you also have a desk blotter calendar next year?
Yes, we will, I didn’t put that one on presale because it’s printed in a different place from the others and could be reprinted if needed, there will be enough of them. Stay dry!! xoxo
Happy Birthday and Easter too, Susan. We had a nice quiet Easter with some (maybe not all) the fixings. It was nice, hubby and I took a really long walk in the sunshine, I made a nice pork roast for dinner and lemon blueberry cheesecake for desert. I am glad we took that walk, because that cheesecake is really tasty. Thank you for the reminder to pre order your calendar I don’t want to miss out. Stay safe and well, from our house to yours.
I love your home and I love you Ms.Susan! You inspire us with your writings and beautifully captured photos. I am always looking forward for your new posts. Been a fan since I stumbled upon your blog. My kind of happy place in the internet world. Happiest Birthday! Sending love from us here in Asia.
One of my favorite things is our comment section, all so wonderful to read . . . and love hearing from kindred spirits in other parts of the world! Thank you!
Susan, You always cheer me up. Thank you for your calm and loving outlook on life!
Many happy birthday hugs coming your way🥳
I have a pair of Robins building their love nest that I can view for my kitchen window.
Praying you will have this blessing coming your way.
Happy Happy Birthday Susan ! You will never forget this one to tell everyone in the future. It will begin. Do you remember ……………..
Hope you had a great day with tea with Joe, freshly baked cookies or cakes.
Happy Easter! He is Rise!
He is Risen Indeed!
May you have connection who shares a belief of our Risen Savior!
Love your books and most everything Susan Branch!!!
Oddly, probably my favorite Easter (and Birthday) ever! I’m about to write a blog about it. XOXOXO
4/14/2020
I know this has been out there a while since you sent it on 4/2…saving your blog to read at a quiet time when I can open it quietly by myself and savor all your pretty pictures, recipes, and wonderful thoughts. Sitting here drinking the last of my cold coffee with the sun shining in and the dog loudly snoring! Your emails that come are like a warm blanket that brings hominess to me on this cold day and trying time. Love your idea to not listen to everything we hear on the news as it can bring us down and envelope us in negativity.
Soon I will have to get ready to go out into the hinterlands to my job at a dental office. We are only open to receive emergency patients at this time.
Keep on keeping on Susan and we will keep on reading. Ann
Doing well and keeping busy with two boys at home, reading my way through the stack of books by my bed, and my fingers are flying on my needlework.
Oh, the bunny cake! A family tradition for over 30 years…each year decorated a little different than the previous….however, no cake this Easter. But, all is not lost…a Dutch Apple Pie to take it’s place…for this year only!
I was just reading your blog post from May 27, 2019, where you were complaining about the squirrels eating all the bird food, to the point where the birds “don’t even try anymore.” I can so relate. A few weeks ago, a squirrel was eating out of one of the bird feeders by our deck. She stopped, faced the window and just stood there. I could tell by her underside that she was a new, nursing mama. I just couldn’t begrudge her eating the seed so I didn’t try to stop her. But, it’s so hard right now, with us “sheltering in place” to be able to get out to buy bird food. Today, I found out that I can call the Orscheln’s here in town, tell them what I need, they tell me what it will cost and I can pick it up curbside. I never even have to leave my car. Oh, joy!!! Problem solved. We do have one squirrel proof feeder that I make sure I keep full for the birds, and let the squirrels have the other one. But, I digress. I figured out the mama and her babies live in a big maple tree in the front yard, right by my porch. There are 4 little ones, and they are the cutest, funniest things. I sit on my porch swing every evening and watch them play. They run and climb all over the tree, but haven’t yet come to the ground. Maybe it’s because I’m stuck at home that I am truly enjoying them this year. I’m pretty sure we have a nest of them there every year, but I’m usually too busy to notice. There, something to be thankful for. I have a new appreciation for the little things in life. On the other hand, there are the awful black birds and morning doves that have come in flocks the past two weeks that I really don’t like. They keep scaring off all the cardinals, finches and robins. Frustrating! Hope you are continuing to stay safe and healthy, Susan.
I loved reading this blog! You are such an encourager, and a very good one! We all need that, especially now! I was thinking the other day how blessed we all are that we are not in a war and having bombs over our heads. How all we have to do is stay tucked away for a while in our homes, which we love to be in anyway, and we can do almost all the things we love. Zoom has been wonderful. My Sunday school class of all women have been using zoom for our class before our live on Facebook service. It has been such a blessing. What a sweetheart you are Susan. Thank you for such a terrific heart warming blog!
Love your blogs!!!!!!!!!!….so adorable, positive and loving the simple things ..so much beauty around us!!! Take a walk outside and enjoy nature!!! (6 feet away from anyone that is….birding out here in California is fabulous now with the migration underway!!
Happy Birthday Susan 🙂 Such a lovely way to start the day. I love waking up to a post first thing in the morning at dusk. Run to the tea kettle to sit back down with my 2 dogs and read away. So nice. Have a great birthday. Sending lots of love.
Thank you. I just finished reading your blog. It was just wonderful to lose myself in it – just a warm, cozy feeling; and calm. We need you now more than ever. God bless.
Hi Susan, I love your blog and I love MV. We go there every summer. I am a nurse by profession, but in retirement I work at a library cataloging children’s books. I was in a MV store last summer and bought one of your Isle of Dreams mugs. The lady there was so nice. She knows you and told me how hard you work. I told her I just loved everything about you and your books and art. She asked if I wanted to leave you a note. I did not, because I didn’t want to bother you. Next time I will. Happy Spring, and Birthday. Stay Safe and well.
Carol Herzig in Durham, Ct.
😘 xoxo
It’s now April 15th and I see a new blog has already arrived! I too am a homebody. I am trying to cherish the quiet and the solitude. Our little ski resort in the mountains of Idaho has been hit very hard. For a couple of weeks we became infamous for having the highest virus numbers per capita, even higher than NYC! At one point our little hospital had to be shuttered because a third of our nurses and 3 of our ER docs were on quarantine. God Bless us all!
Oh yes, I hope it’s settling down there Jodi. 🙏💞
Susan,
You will never know how your Fabulous blog helped me today….
Being a new Widow who desperately missed her beloveded Easter
Sunday (besides) every other day of the week how much I needed
Your encouraging, engaging, kind words.
Your simply the Best Medicine for Life.
Oh Carol, I’m so glad you are here. Sending hugs and love xoxo 😘
Happy Birthday from a fellow Aries! It was an unusual celebration this year, but I made the best of it surrounded by family … in isolation … and best of all, there was CAKE!
It’s the little things!😂
Enjoyed the sunshine you sent
I LOVE READING YOUR BLOG. I HAVE MOST OF YOUR BOOKS AND TREASURE THEM. WHEN YOU AND JOE CAME TO THE BOOKSTORE IN PASADENA I CAME. I MADE A TRIAL RUN TO PASADENA TO MAKE SURE I COULD FIND THE BOOKSTORE AND GOT THERE 3 hours early to get a seat. I CAN HARDLY WAIT UNTIL YOUR NEW BOOK ON ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND COMES OUT. I WILL BUY ONE FOR MY BEST FRIEND IN OREGON. HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY. SANDY DACUS
Hi Sandy, thank you so much, that was such a fun event! Thanks for coming! xoxo💞
Happy Birthday! Thanks for the wonderful uplifting message. I needed this to brighten things. My sweet wonderful big brother died April 3rd at 739 am from the covid19 virus. I never expected this virus to touch my life, and yet it did. He was four years older than me and was my hero. I always said Im a tomboy because of my brother. The world will just not be the same without him in it. Our celebration of life will be sometime in the future when the virus leaves. Again, thanks for your wonderful blog, it just brought some sunshine into my day!!
Oh noooo Sandy, breaks my heart to hear that. I’m glad the sun shone for you here for a few minutes. Sending virtual hugs and so much love. xoxoxo
Hi Susan, I loved the latest blog! I love having you come into my home and visit! I’m keeping busy with hand piecing quilt blocks and making sourdough bread starter. Eagerly awaiting the new book. Maybe I will re-read the others!
So creative! Homey things take my mind off the situation and lifts my heart. xoxo
Your word, drawings, paintings, and photos make my heart sing and fill me with inspiration:)
Since I found your books only 3 years ago, I have read and enjoyed each one continually. Thank you, Susan, for your creativity, talent and that you share it with us.
Very sweet of you to say Ginger, lovely to see you here. xoxoxo