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 . . .
Spring is trying to come here in Virginia: the lovely pink weeping cherry blossoms are almost finished, as are the daffodils, but the peonies and irises are getting higher. I’ve got bluebirds nesting in the box by the flower bed. The male landed atop one of the cherry trees when it was in full blossom and the color combo was breathtaking. The earth is remembering to do its thing, which is calming and hopeful. We will get through this together apart!
Love 💕 hearing from you. I would love to win a copy of Heart ❤️ of the Home.
I’m loving being home and having time to live a simpler life. I’m cooking more, talking to dear far away friends, reading and watching my favorite Animal Planet shows 😍 Animals are my passion!
Thank you, Susan, for your words of encouragement….we will get thru this together!
Take good care…..❤️
Much love,
Suzanne
This was a good post to read in these days. Another visit back to my true home, Massachusetts. A lot of good can come from this tragedy, and I am praying it does. I hope people finally realize what is most important; their families and friends, fresh air, walks, sunshine, creativity, caring about others, putting others before yourself. We do not control anything, not even our own lives; God does. Wouldn’t it be great if parents and children really got to know each other ? Their siblings? Instead of their phones, computer games, texting, arguing; they could have board game night, baking competitions, sew masks for hospitals, take turns planning supper menus,, draw together, paint together, clean out the garage together, leave notes for neighbors who can’t get out. Go “Spring Caroling” instead of Christmas Caroling. He as creative as you can be . Journal this time, it’s History. May God have mercy on us and may we come out of this better, kinder, more appreciative, more loving, less selfish people, than when we started through it.
Eileen, thank you for your beautiful comment. I was giving many of these suggestions to my own sequestered daughter home with 2 middle schoolers. What an adjustment for everyone to make, but what tremendous opportunity to have a grand RESET button push!
And thanks for reminder to journal more details for history’s sake.
Thank you for the lovely and inspiring “visit” and for giving us something to look forward to in the days ahead. 🥰❤️🌷☀️🌱
Like a breath of Spring sweetness…..your posts always cheer my soul.
That was a pleasant post for my dreary, fear filled life, fraught with worry for my far flung family, a dwindling pocketbook, scanty pantry snd a spouse who can’t work. I’ve never minded being house bound and my stitching has been my savation. I can turn it all of snd concentrate on making something beautiful. Stay well and refuse to wilt!
Barbara in Lodi, CA
I love the bunny cake! We made a similar one when my boys were little. That was thirty years ago, and they still remember…. 🙂
Wise words of comfort and joy. Thank you, Susan! Love to you and Joe! ❤️
Happy April! We are enjoying our home in side and out during this pandemic too! I finished your three books about your life and I am so anxious for another couple of books on the leaving of Holly Oak to where you are now. (I forget what the name of your home is now) You have a wonderful talent for writing as well as drawing/painting and cooking and decorating. I keep thinking about the time you were invited to the nuns home at Christmas time I was wondering if you ever went back for a visit? We need it all in some more books. Wishing you a early Happy Birthday on the 12th too! I bet you’ll manage to make it a fun day even with the quarantine! Love!!!
What a beautiful message, full of comfort and excellent advice, as usual. Thank you so much for continuing to share with us…and congratulations on finishing the calendars!
Enjoyed your blog post
SUSAN,
I have loved everything you’ve written, cooked and drawn since you first appeared in the magazine, COUNTRY LIVING and now I am 73!!!!
And now excellent book reviews as in Nellie Last’s War which I have googled and there are plenty used books available. I love to read WWII stories so this feeds my appetite.
Merci beaucoup.
hello susan from central wisconsin. the blueberries and lilacs are budding, the peonies are pushing up red stalks and the robins are house hunting! lovely to see signs of spring. i brought out our silk daffodils for a splash of yellow.
since we have been given the gift of “TIME” i hope to get many good things accomplished….read, knit, stay in touch with family and friends and grow myself into the woman God has called me to be. Much love and joy to you and joe.
happy early birthday!!!
Bless you, Susan, you make us all feel better with your happy outlook on life and you comforting words. I’ve also just discovered Zoom! We live in Utah and couldn’t go to our grandson’s wedding in Boise, Idaho last Saturday because of the virus but we got to watch the whole wedding on Zoom! The miracles of technology are keeping us connected! Love you, Susan!
Hello from Bainbridge Island Washington!
I cherish my copy of Heart of the Home that I received from my dear friend Melody 29 years ago. It has been well loved. Thank you for all the lovely words today they helped me feel better. It’s a strange time. I never anticipated that grocery shopping could require so much planning! Wishing you all the best.
Tiffany
Hi Tiffany! I lived on Bainbridge for 73 years and now 2 years in Poulsbo. It is so nice to see you here. I hope you love the island like I still do..Ericksen Avenue is named after my family. xoxoxo
Hello! Happy that you’re both well.
I love home! Full blown Spring where we are. The dogwoods are blooming.
Stay safe and well!
You give so much joy and inspiration
Enjoyed your post so much. You, Joe and Jack stay safe and well. Blessings.
Thank you for your great ideas. Staying hone isn’t hard for me, since I’ve always been a homebody. But everything is so unsettling…that’s how I feel now…unsettled. I baked yesterday…a pineapple upside down cake…maybe a piece of that will cheer me up.
Here’s some flowers for you 🌸 🌹 🌷 Terri
Oh Happy Easter birthday to you dearest Susan!! and many more happy sweet times ahead!
We love you and are always just thrilled to hear from you🎉Keep the faith baby 👶💕
It’s good to hear from you, dear 🙂
Keep care!
I have been watching the news way too much…thanks for the advice. I have the first version of “Heart of the Home” would love the updated!
Good to hear you’re home safe & sound! Your baking comments reminds me that I ran out of flour! I’m trying to track some down.. I’ll wish you a happy early birthday and happy Easter!
Home is where the heart is! Thank you for the reminders and the gift of hope. Bless you and your followers. May there be better days ahead.❤️
Hi Susan,
I loved reading this post today! I’ll be sharing it with my girlfriends…we’ve been sending each other encouraging ideas, funny photos etc.
Today, my Joe (who grew up in Oak Bluffs!) and I decided to take our bikes out for a ride around our neighborhood and to take advantage of some much needed sunshine…not to mention for some much needed exercise!!!
I’m going to place my pre order for the Heart of the Home wall calendar…don’t want risk not being able to get one! I think I have every one since the beginning !
BTW, I would love it if you did another video driving around the streets of MV. We are going to miss our trip there this summah!
Karen
When it stops raining and the grass is all green, I’ll do it!
I’m a home body too. After the initial scariness of all this, I have settled into a nice routine of staying home and nesting. Looking forward to sitting on my porch when the weather warms up a bit. Thank you for your words, photos, and artwork… always so welcomed. Happy Spring!
Put myself on a daily schedule, helps structure the day! Have your original cookbooks…all of them! Thanks for sharing your story with us…
Hello Susan and readers! Yes, Spring is starting to wake up! We ARE so blessed even in this pandemic time… WWII was so much harder to live through… Per what I have read in Historical Fiction. (My favorite read) Stay Home, love your families and pray this ends soon!
Your post was a ray of sunshine in the middle of a scary time. Stay safe
Love,
Becky
I do enjoy your posts! Home is were the heart is and I can’t think of any place ever were I would rather be. Spring is in the air & bringing new life, hope and promise. Looking forward to warm, sunny days of sitting on my front porch with a good book while waiting for the perfect sunset. Wishing you a very blessed Easter and a very , very, happy birthday! 🎂
I always enjoy your blog, but never more so than now, when I’m sheltering in place, worried about family and friends. Thank you for the joy and inspiration!
You are such an inspiration! Tomorrow night … pancakes!
Mmmmmm!
This one of your blogs really hit “home” tonight. I hope I can get my daughter to read it. I’m safe at home too. But I’m not alone because I have my cats and dog and 8 laying hens who all have names. I used to paint wildlife animals when I was younger. I don’t know why I gave it up. Just life I guess. Maybe I’ll take this time to try again. And at 77, I think I should learn to make bread by hand! Stay safe.
Maybe start painting again! You have some good models there! Maybe not so wild, but definitely paintable!
Thank you so much for sharing your uplifting and positive thoughts. Writing from our farm in Northwest Iowa, your precious meow is a delight! Animals do warm the spirit, don’t they? We are blessed with our furry friends!
I look forward to your blog every month, it cheers me up. My family has been using Zoom once a week to connect and we love it. The hardest part of this social distancing has been unable to have my grandchildren around. However we do have Facetime and visit from a distance. I enjoy walking everyday and seeing new signs of Spring daily. Stay safe!
I love your art. Thank you for sharing your beautiful gift with us. Love looking at your beautiful home, Jack and that kitchen
Hello from northeast Iowa. We live on 53 acres out in the country, so any time I feel “quarantined”, I can go out and roam around without having to worry about anyone too close. My daffodils and hyacinth are peeking up at me in the flower beds, saying “Don’t worry, we’ll soon be blooming” and the buds on the lilac bushes are swelling. Spring is definitely on it’s way!!! Yayyy!!!!
Thank you for your blog and your posts on Instagram. They cheer me up. I’m glad you and Joe are doing well. I love Brokenwood. This too shall pass!
Please give Jack a hug for me,🐈
and thank you for using your happy gene to cheer us. 💕🌷🐞🐝🌳🌞
Susan,
My mouth is watering after reading the list of all your yummy foods. Potato pancakes….I forgot all about those and my mom used to make them! Glad you are safe at home. I am staying in too but my husband works in a hospital and has to go every day. I am a homebody and quilt most the day but I am terribly missing my grand babies. I know this pandemic will pass but it sure is worrisome. Stay safe and stay home one and all….
It seems everybody is doing a little extra baking while staying at home. I see people refer to it as “stress baking”. Some people can’t get flour or yeast, and I think that is a sign that people are returning to the basics in life. Would love to have a copy of the book. Stay home and stay safe.
Hi Susan,
You bring me such joy! I am from the Orcutt area on the central coast and use to frequent your shop in AG long ago. I love to hear about your adventures on Martha’s Vineyard as well since my husband and I visited for our 10th anniversary 15 years ago. Oh my goodness does time fly.
Best to you in this interesting time and keep well,
Sonya Morris
We love you so, dear Susan. Please take care of you, Joe and Jack. Hugs to you all from Wisconsin.
I had forgotten that Anne Frank spent 761 days in their “secret annex” and it was a very small area. I am grateful that I can be at home, walk in the yard, sit by the fire, watch a movie, play Scrabble with my husband (even though he wins 98% of the time), work on my journals, read your blog – too many blessings to list here. Thank you for beautiful, sunny photos and ideas for this time of staying at home. One request – prayers for our son, an ER doctor in Richmond, VA. Blessings to you, Joe and your “girlfriends” throughout the world~
Praying Ann, amazing people, our healthworkers! Please let him know how much the world is rallying around him. There should be a ticker-tape parade when this is over. xoxoxo
I have spent the last few weeks at home except paying a couple of local bills at their drive thru window. I have done a lot of cleaning and organizing and some yard work on nice days. We are all trying to stay home and just talk on the phone or FaceTime with family and friends.. stay safe and hopefully this will help to keep this from spreading more. I would love one of your lovely books.
Hello Susan! I loved your blog today! It had so much goodness in it!
I especially liked and will print out the great suggestions of things to read and things to do.
A great list for the “grands” at the lake in the summer!
And now a little gift for you! ( Sound in!😉).
facebook.com/ShelburneFarms/videos/207262687224607/?vh=e&d=n
I’m getting everything in it’s place too, and painting the unfinished wood items that have been sitting around just waiting for that brush to touch them with color. I read an article today that said all of the dry yeast has been sold in the supermarkets because people are baking their own bread. It seems that everything happens for a reason. Everyone – stay healthy and safe.
I want to relate a lovely gesture from a restaurant just down the street from where I live. It’s called La Foresta, the owner decided to make dinner for all the people living in my over 55 community as a way of tell us that we are going to be OK. Yesterday every house got a parcel with a dinner for two and a salad delivered to our doors with a HUGE smile. I watched as they ran from house to house delivering the goodies. It totally made my heart joyful.
As I tell my friend when she wonders what to wear…..no one is looking at us! Tell Joe that people are too busy looking at their iPhones to see him.
Thanks for the gifts you share, smiles, beauty, art……
Looking forward to things growing, have daffodils smiling at me, watching leaves break out on dead looking branches. God is so good!
Having fun trying new recipes to make supplies stretch
Thank you so much for your blog; lovely words and artwork. Always such a joy to see in my email box! Blessings!
We are “Sheltering in Grace”” .. time to be kind, think positive, be
Thankful and Fight On!
Thank you for your encouraging post, Susan. I’m spring cleaning, looking for a new quilting project, made some face masks, and my husband and I walk the dogs twice a day. As we walk we get to say hello to the few neighbors walking their dogs. Praying through out the day for our First Responders, including our daughter, who is 911 operator.
It’s always so fun to hear from you Susan especially from one Valley girl to another! So uplifting and positive and grateful. I feel the same and on top of that “Neat but not gaudy” was one of my dad’s favorite sayings! So perfect. Thank you for bringing all of us a little sunshine, humor and love!
Blessings to you,
Sally from the Valley
I have been waiting to hear from you! to hear how you are doing in this crazy, crazy time. I was doing just fine. The bi-weekly grocery trips were enough to keep me going social-wise. Just got what I needed, didn’t ponder in the aisles like I usually did. Didn’t stop to look at things just for fun, just got what I needed and got out, carefully using hand sanitizer before and after. But now, I am starting to get a little edgy and sad being home all the time. And even worse, as if this virus and quarantine wasn’t enough to depress you, our kitty got sick. We took her in (you call when you get there, they come out to get your pet, and then talk to you via your phone), they did some tests, and the next morning they called to tell us our sweet Misty has cancer. We spent all yesterday morning and afternoon, and part of the evening crying, sobbing! It’s horrible knowing your going to be without someone that gives you so much joy! I am heartbroken. Misty will be 16 on the 25th of this month, and she has never had a thing wrong with her all those years, now this.
Anyway, I am thankful your post came today. I really needed a pick-me-up!
As always, love seeing Jack, all your flowers, and happy words! Thank You!
I am so sorry, Cindy, to hear about your kitty. I empathize and know how devastating this news is. We have been through this too, with our two sisters who passed last year and the year before at 17 and 18 years old respectively. It is so upsetting and heartbreaking. Do you happen to have a Hospice Vet in your area? We have one and she was a true godsend – so kind and caring with both of our little loves. She treated them as if they were her own. You might consider asking your vet if he or she knows of a hospice vet near you. I know you will be there for Misty as she has always been there for you. … Stephanie
What a wonderful idea. 😢
Oh dear Cindy, I am sooooo sorry, our little pets mean the world, they see everything and still love us so much. 😥 Sending love to you. xoxoxo
Thank you for putting things in perspective. All so true!
Susan,
Always a bright moment when I see your blog arrive in my email. I so agree about being a homebody. I love everything about being in my home, safe and quiet in these troubling times. I hate to hear people are bored and not knowing what to do. So many things to do and experience during these quiet times,without the guilty feelings, such as you mentioned. Try a new recipe, yoga, look up an interesting topic that you read about but never had time to investigate. Or the best, sit by the fire with a cup of tea and Susan Branch blog.
Please stay healthy and safe.
Glad you are all well. Thank you for the lovely bookmark. I’ve been catching up on my reading
I’m very grateful to still have a job and working from home. Counting my blessings! Thank you for your post today.. always a ray of sunshine! ☀️ We will get through this! Hang in there everyone!
I’d love to get a copy of your book, glad you and Joe are well and cozy at home.
Always grateful to be home and healthy. Stay well everyone.
Thank you for the bright and cheerful blog! You have reminded me of all the positive things to be thankful for!
Thank you for the encouragement, Susan! Hope your extended family is safe and well.
Hi Susan, thank you for bringing sunshine to me & so many others each time I read your messages. I also love all the pics of Jack & him peeking over the cakes – quite the personality😊. You & Joe stay well 💌🤗
Thank you, dear Susan!
I have the original Heart of the Home cookbook, but would love to have a look at the new edition. Even though we’ve never met in person, I feel like we are good friends. I would love to be able to toss a rubber band for Jack… I love his little black mustache!
Instead of feeling “stuck at home,” we should be thinking we’re “safe at home.”
I’m so grateful to have a home in which to shelter! Thanks for all the positive thoughts. We need them right now!
I am going through my own personal pandemic in the middle of this worldwide one and it has been a tough week (an unexpected ending of a 15 year relationship). Thank you for bringing a smile to my broken heart.
Awful awful awful! As the world turns. and turns. Blessings on you Jenn. Wishing you peace in your heart and every good thing. 💞
Thank you for posting Susan, good to know that you and Joe are safe and healthy. My husband was taken to the hospital yesterday. He has mild pneumonia. Since I retired in December we have been homebodies. I’m a nester too and like nothing better than being home, planting new herbs, finding great new recipes, cleaning house and decorating for Easter, sunbathing or reading a good book. This too shall pass.
Saying a prayer for you and your husband Judy. This too shall pass…🙏💞💞💞💞💞💞💞
This must be my favorite post of all time. The virus situation seems like a walk in the park when we imagine what people have gone through during years of war. Loved all the positive thoughts in the April post. I really enjoyed it.
I keep recommending your blog to everyone. Stay safe
😘😘😘
So appreciate your uplifting words today! As Max Lucado says, we must Trust and Adjust!
Thank you for your cheerful note! The bunny cake brought back memories from my childhood – my mother made this cake more than once.
oh i always look fwd to your lovely newsletter! extra comforting for us in these scary times! thank you, Susan
Susan, just what I needed to see in my inbox! Thank you as always for sharing-using this time as a retreat!! Lots of purging going on, knitting, organizing and working from home!!! Stay healthy!!
Thank you for the calm, cheery, sanity check. 🙂 Your words are always sensible with a spinkling of fun on top. Loved your “magical words”, even said then outloud, as a smile slowly crept spread across my face. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
Cheers to you from inside, in Vancouver, WA.
Dear Susan
Thank you for the gift of your words.
I had just read Rosamunde Pilcher’s COMING HOME and the pandemic hit. I feel as though your WW11 references were spot on- I think I will read SHELL SEEKERS now for more inspiration! If they endured for six years, we can do this too!!!
Stay safe. Thank you again.
Lovely to hear from you today. We are staying home as well. Like you have just completed 3 weeks. Have been quite happy cooking and sewing and stitching. Also attacking some of those chores I just never found time for! Wishing all good health and happiness
Thank you for this!
Dear Susan! What a great blog today! Loved it!
Especially loved the suggestions of what to do and what to read ! Will print those paragraphs
to do with “the grands” at the lake in the summer!
And now a little gift for you——- ( Sound up ! ). 😉
facebook.com/ShelburneFarms/videos/207262687224607/?vh=e&d=n
ADORABLE!👏👏👏
I always look forward to your posts. They transport me to a simpler, easy going time of life. Your words wrap me up like a warm blanket.
So glad to hear you & Joe are well ! I have been thinking of you on my daily meditation walks as I watch our trees In the valley budding ….and bursting into beautiful pink blooms .
Still have cold mornings & snow expected on Saturday on Mt. Rose.
I think …we get to stay home ! Time to read -draw Zenembossing & create crochet caps for the Chemo Patients & donate to our infusion centers in our community. I too visit my art group on Zoom for 2 hours and we share our latest projects.
We’ll get through this ….stronger than ever ! Praying 🙏🏼 for Dr’s,RN’s, & researchers/scientists. And each other.
Thank you for your continued prolific inspiration. Penny from Mt.Rose
have been catching up on unfinished quilting and other needlework projects and LOVE feeling no guilt about spending hours on those projects all day. I was also given an internet activity by my sweet D-I-L called “StoryWorth”; one given to her Mom as well. Each week I get a question via email to which I write response (what were you favorite toys when you were a child; what are your favorite movies; do you still see old school friends, etc). I can write as much or as little as I like and can chose alternate questions if I prefer. The responses are sent to my D-I-L but at the end of the year, they will also be printed and bound into a book. She felt it would be a lovely way for grandchildren to learn more about their grandmothers. Such a lovely idea – wish I had something like that about my grandmothers (now that I’m in my 70’s).
Back to the basics that we had forgotten we loved so much….back to the basics where home is where the heart is….back to the basics that make families, families again…..back to the basics that give simple, lasting happiness….back to the basics where you see the pure goodness of people helping people…back to the basics that might just save this world of ours. Your sheer joy in valuing these basics has always been an inspiration.
Run to the rescue with Love, and Peace will follow. (River Phoenix, I believe.)
As usual your blog was a needed ray of sunshine. Missing so many things and people right now but grateful for so much. This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad! One of my favorite mantras. Stay safe, you and your love.
Always so nice to read your sweet blogs. Love seeing Jack….he’s Beautiful and seems to be so helpful! Praying the both of you stay safe and well🙏🙏
My husband and I have been working from home since March 16. We live in a small studio apartment. Never did get around to buying a dining table, because we moved into the building last year to be near my mother and I do all our cooking at her place. So, here we are sitting at a card table on folding chairs with our laptops and iPhones busy as bees working all day (and night and weekends, actually). Did I mention that it is a SMALL studio apartment? With no terrace? We do a shopping run once each week at 7 am and laundry at evening hours once each week when no one is around. If we can live like this, anyone can. It isn’t forever, it’s just a few weeks. (And as a post on Instagram read: Your grandparents lived through a war. You’re being asked to sit on your couch. You can do this!)
BEAUTIFULLY said, Sally! If we have to, we can do ANYTHING!
“There’s no place BUT ♥️home”
✨As Cinderella said…have courage and be kind✨
Love that you referred to your beginning life in MV as you pandemic time!
There are all kinds of pandemics in the world and most of us will have to face one sooner or later!💖
Thank you for something beautiful to look at. I have a tearoom and boutiques which are closed now for 3 weeks with beautiful clothing just sitting there. My husband is self employed. It’s a scary time, but God tells us not to fear. Our birds are singing so loud they wake me up. They do not fear!! I have cleaned like unreal because my tearoom is also my home. But the dark hole is next: my closet. I hope if my family doesn’t hear from me in 3 days they will find me there. Then your favorite. Washing and ironing beautiful linens. Prayers for our leaders too. I wouldn’t want the strain they all are incurring. May God bless all.
Sue, my younger neighbor introduced me to your wonderful books, and website. I love to see the artwork you do. Thank you for sanity and sweetness during this difficult time. I am happy at home too!
Sue
Yellow, my favorite color. Thank you!
Our first daffodil opened today and we’re decorating for Easter (Happy Birthday). The pastel lights are on our picket fence lit for the entire neighborhood! I have a paper Garland to make tomorrow.
55° today, Spring is here and all is mostly well.
I do so look forward to your epistles… breakfast tomorrow! Pancakes with bacon. I will try it. I often make waffles with bacon in them tho I prefer pecans in them and lots of bacon on the side… I’m open to new things! Glad you both are staying in and staying well… and taking your walks! We can’t do without a little fresh air and exercise now, can we! Love, and virtual hugs… Linda
PS I do believe you said that Pancakes with Bacon was your dinner plan but I know I’ll never convince Darrell to be as open to that Joe is! Stay well! Stay happy! Stay in love!
Susan,
Absolutely love your blog whether you or at home or on a trip! Of course I must say Your UK trips are my favorite!
Your friend via your blog,
Paula Hettler
Thank you for bringing joy and smiles to us!
Dear Susan,
I’ve got to tell you that when I turned the page to April on my little calendar and saw the pansies it made me so happy. Grandma Bell’s favorite. Spring is my favorite and all the lovely things about it came dancing into my head. So thank you once again for showing up when I need you.
There’s so no place BUT ♥️ home….
As Cinderella said….”Have courage and be kind”✨
Susan, It’s always so nice to read your blog and be taken away from all the troubles of the day! This is a difficult time for all of the world, but my hope and trust is in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross. I appreciate your love for the home and all that goes with being a homemaker, it’s very encouraging to me. Thank you for offering your cookbook as a giveaway!
Thank you for you ray of sunshine today! ☀️
Susan – Thank you for the encouraging words and beautiful paintings and photographs. Stay well.
Dear Susan, what a wonderful blog today! I loved it! Especially loved the suggestions of what to read and what to do! I will print those paragraphs as things to do at the lake this summer with “the grands!”
And now a little gift for you! ( Sound up!). 😉.
http://www.facebook.com/ShelburneFarms/videos/207262687224607/?vh=e&d=n
Stay well!