MUSICA! So interesting to write about love in the time of Dam-Panic ~ that’s our new word, Dam-Panic ~ Joe thought of it! As a form of lemonade from hideous lemons.🍋 But let us speak of Love . . .
We had the MOST wonderful Easter! Did you? Maybe our very best ever . . . so many things went right. First off, it was also my birthday💫, an Easter birthday is a wonderful thing ~ so right away, it was something good ~ and the sun was shining. And it was Sunday!🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 
The morning sunshine through the windows lit up the kitchen. I put my jacket on and went outside with my trusty scissors to gather a few flowers!
Our trees still don’t have leaves on them, but the morning light on the forsythia hedge was perfect. Look at that oak tree in the middle, probably planted around 1900 . . . look how big it is compared to the house behind it! What stories it could tell!
I walked to the end of our driveway for a better look at the hedge . . . isn’t yellow a happy color?
Remembering again with this quiet tick-tock (so perfect for a spring day, and my birthday, on Easter, the time of rebirth and hope, a time-for-new beginnings kind-of-day) that 
Is the sky getting bluer? It is! Are the stars sparkling brighter? Is the sun more yellow? Yes! Or is it only here, on the street where we live?🎵 Or is it just my imagination? Pop in some electric cars and voila, we’d be well on our way to solving the climate problem and softening these crazy storms and making a better world.💖 Silver-linings!
So, I brought some of that sunshine in to put in my little vases💛
Because I thought I might bake myself a birthday cake! So, 
since Joe hadn’t come downstairs yet, I filled the vases, washed my Beatrix Potter people till they sparkled, wiped down the countertops, cleaned the sink, emptied the dishwasher, and shined up my stove, so it would all be pretty on my birthday for while I was making the cake!🌷
Just then, Joe came down, said, “What are you doing?” I said, “Getting ready to bake a cake.” He said, “No, I’m going to make you a cake. Get your coat . . . let’s go for a walk first.” I said, “K💖. Wait a minute I want to take a picture of me and my cute outfit.” Loving how the elastic on my mask makes elf-ears. Did I tell you it’s still freezing here?
Yes, only 50º but out we went to big fresh air and more blue skies. It’s always quiet this time of year. We take our masks, but rarely have to pull them up. Out here, the choir is all bird song…
. . . and wind, lapping water, and seagulls . . . it’s my favorite church. Perfect place to say a prayer for the world. I go here everyday. And no need for social distancing! Want to find a walk near you? Go to this brilliant website and put in the name of your town: alltrails.com.
I put Fritter Batter in the fridge Saturday night, so when we got home, while Joe was working on the cake, I made us Easter-Birthday Breakfast, hot Banana Fritters! It was sooooo yummy . . . I thought you would love the recipe too.
I got the sweetest Easter-Birthday phone calls, I heard from all my family, and there were gifts too! Look at these bunnies!
I’ve written about my lovely nun friends, the sisters at the Holy Nativity Convent, and how we found each other (if you didn’t see that post, you can read about it HERE). They surprised me with this Easter basket, with the bunnies, and a lamb, and a chocolate bunny with chocolate kisses, and the most delicious loaf of sweet bread they make themselves. Mother Seraphima has not been well lately (not the virus!), she is getting better, and I think a little prayer from us would be a great help!🙏💞
From my Girlfriends . . . and a gift certificate to our nursery!👏👏😘 And at 5pm? A Zoom-Birthday-Call with cake and wine! Oh yeah, it was a total Red-Letter Day.
From another friend I received two dishtowels . . . they both looked like the one on the left, which Jack and I would call a clean palette crying out for details!
And so we added them!💞 We socially isolate our mail inside the barn for 3 days after we bring it home ~ so I know there are other cards and things waiting for me there.
But now it’s my turn to give gifts! Time for our drawing for the Heart of the Home cookbooks I offered in the last post. I have to say, you left SO MANY DEAR COMMENTS, you lovely people.💞 Truly kindred spirits. The hardest thing of all is choosing only three names. But it’s my job, and bittersweet as it is, it must be done! Ready?
Here we go! Unfortunately, Vanna, our virtual number generator, is home socially distancing in her chateau in the south of France as befits a person of the Eurotrash persuasion, as you probably guessed. Therefore, I, wearing mask and rubber gloves, have done the deed myself, and very well, if I do say so myself. Not, I’m sorry to tell you, as exciting as Vanna, no toes curling over the desk ledge for me, no high-diving lime-green body suit. A straight-forward grab and take as befits a dignified person who just had a birthday like moi.
First one up ~ OH! We have a winner from England! How exciting! It’s “Caroline across the pond in sunny Hampshire!”
And #2, our next winner is Patti H., the Patti H. with the “11-year-old granddaughter who wants to learn to cook!”
And last but not least, our third winner is . . . “Judy from Maine!” the Judy from Maine who used to have her own gift shop!
. . . for all of you! I will soon be writing you emails to request your addresses and ask how you would like me to sign your books! Congratulations! I hope you love them! ♥️ 
And for the rest of you . . . a more transportable gift from me to you . . . Jack the finger puppet!
You can print him on card stock, cut him out, and voila! Dancing Jack! Perfect to send in letters to a grandchild, or to your sister, or whoever you want to surprise with some kitty whimsy! Just click HERE! You know we have other free little bits and bobs, bookmarks and stationery in my web store you can print out? There’s even a . . .
perfect Mother’s Day crown pattern with a lovely Abraham Lincoln quote on it about how much he loves his Mother. Just click “bits and bobs above!”
And one more luv-lee gift . . . it’s for the memories . . . a Courage Dream Charm . . .
To remind us all how good we’ve been and that this too shall pass . . . and perhaps we will make from this terrible dam-panic a better world because, as we all know, if we dream it we can make it so.💞
A dream charm, with gold foil and a slash of pink (the color of universal love), which we will ship to you for free. 💝
And so, back to my Red Letter Day! While Joe was putting together his cake . . . I went outside to take a picture of the weeping cherry tree . . .
We’ve had a dastardly crap-job of a worm coming here for maybe the last five years, it’s a moth actually, that arrives in November and flitters around charmingly and then begins to lie in wait for spring where it turns to a very nasty web-spinning green worm that eats ALL the flowers off our trees, takes bites out of the new leaves so they all have holes in them! It’s been a blight! But LOOK.⬆️ They did not come this year! Isn’t that wonderful?
The tiny flowers are just beginning to unfold! And there’s a robin singing in the tree! A Red Letter Day✔️. Then the robin flew away and I heard a rustle in the tree on the left behind this one and looked up to see what it was . . .
Hello. I could barely see him, he was in so much shade, but when he finally came into focus I could see he was a HUGE hawk, lurking. I ran to get Joe!
Very exciting! Out came the bird book. He is a young red hawk and not a bit afraid of us. And he’s watching our feeders and our garden to see what looks delicious for lunch,
which I would rather not think about. I hope he doesn’t live in that tree!
So I went in to check on my apple trees lapping up the sunshine in our kitchen windows. Yes, I planted them from SEEDS I found inside an apple I was eating. Just wanted to see if they would grow!
And guess what! They did! And they still are! A third poked his head up this morning! HA!(Aside:) Watching EMMA (Gwyneth and Jeremy) right now as I’m writing you, at the end, crying my eyes out (not under my blanket, but I love it so much!) . . . Marry Me?
Then what, oh yes, then I did some Birthday writing on my new book, 😊 then I took a short Birthday nap 😴💤 . . . and then it was time for my Birthday Party!
And everyone started popping in . . . some of us live next door to each other, some of us are in different states, and see there? Rachel and Paul who came to the party from England! I love Zoom. Have you tried it? You should. It’s free and much more gratifying than you might think!
As the little squares filled in I wanted to sing, 🎵 There’s a story, about a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls . . . 🎶
It was like a real party ~ and with dearest friends . . . Ray and Paul brought Alice, their dog . . .💞
There was wine, and martinis, and talking, and laughing. Margot had her granddaughter Georgia, who wished me Happy Birthday in her little 5-year-old voice (Red Letter✔️).
It was like a real party, especially when Joe surprised me 
by bringing the cake in with lit candles and everyone sang Happy Birthday🎶 and then they pulled up cupcakes with candles of their own! And we all made wishes! And blew! Of course that part was way too exciting for me to remember to take pictures! I’m lucky I got these! It was a PERFECT day. Maybe my most memorable day … Love in the time of Dam-Panic.💞
So off to the kitchen to stuff ourselves on Joe’s old-fashioned icebox cake!✔️
Jack was rolling around on the table happy to have the attention back on him again where it belongs, and enjoying the light of the setting sun!
After dessert we made a delicious little dinner . . . asparagus and a great big baked potato ~ And I thought you’d like the recipe for this delicious thing, so here goes: Preheat the oven to 425º ~ then wash, dry, and cut off a slice of potato at the bottom to make it lie flat. Rub soft butter all over and salt it. Lay chopsticks on each side of potato, and cut-down in thin slices, (not all the way through). Put the potatoes on a baking sheet, brush between slices with a mixture of 2 TB melted butter, 2 TB olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic, and zest from half a lemon ~ and put them in the oven. After 25 min, brush them with butter mixture again ~ then back in the oven for another 25 min, brush again, salt all over, and back in the oven for the last 25 min, till crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. After that, we were off to watch our favorite 800 Words on TV (on Acorn). We all know the dark side of this Dam Panic . . . it is very dark, and very sad and so much harder on some than others, which we all know and feel to our deepest roots. But I am going to leave that to the never-ending news causing us no end of anxiety and talk about something else. Because . . . 
Something amazing is happening: Ask people stay home to protect one another and here’s what happens: they unselfishly do it! And suddenly, everything changes.💝 No school shootings this March for the first time since 2002 🙏, our air has 
gotten cleaner, our National Parks and all the critters are breathing easier, families are having dinner together, people are nice to each other and reach out to help, the earth gets a rest, we’re becoming more spiritual, angels are popping up everywhere, people are singing and clapping for each other from balconies, and kindness abounds: healthcare workers at a Boston hospital are gifted with lifetime Red Sox tickets as a thank you, a patriotic 99-year-old army veteran in England spends the lead-up to his hundredth birthday walking to raise money for the National Healthcare Service, my single-mom sister gets to stay home with her twins because 
she works for Starbucks who continues to send paychecks to their employees just as if they were working, and Andrea Bocelli sings Ave Maria to the entire world. And we all cried at the same time. It’s beautiful to see that we are part of a larger plan, a world cause, we are in it together. Turns out the gift is proof-positive and something we’ve always known: that the true heroes are the regular people, the unsung heroes of the world.
With quiet, good-natured, resolve. ♥️ Queen Elizabeth II
I love us so much, I’m so proud! Aren’t you? Can’t we figure out how to do this without a virus? Stay strong dear ones, it’s not over till it’s over. Sending so much LOVE, you’ll never know! XOXO Until next time . . .
Happy Birthday Susan; your blog was so nice :)! Best wishes for a year that has more love, more laughter and happiness than you ever thought possible!
Hello Susan, Hello Girlfriends. Belated birthday wishes to you Susan. we have been busy here, deep cleaning the house for spring cleaning, cleaning out the henhouse.. thoroughly and replacing their ceiling in there with new plywood. cleaning out the barn and sheds and we have finally run out of things to clean….. WHEW!!! we are getting the garden rototilled and the rototiller broke down so until its fixed only one garden is ready to plant. but we are planning victory gardens, all the essential veggies to sustain us for the summer and through the fall and winter. going to be lots of pickling and canning this summer. the hens are in their happy mode now, getting ready to do some egg sitterin’ and we have the incubator and brooder up and ready. we do plan on a busy barnyard this summer. our tractor parade has started, we see them chug by every morning to get fuel for their tractors and its on to the fields to plow and get ready for spring planting, then we see them come home every night. we holler and wave to them and give them a big thumbs up, they are part of the unsung heroes here. I’m still baking bread for neighbors, every time I bake bread for us I double the recipe and some loaves go the neighbors. my neighbors have discovered my egg selling business and everyone wants to buy fresh eggs… no problem as the hens are laying 12 to 15 eggs a day. seems we have an egg shortage at the stores or really poor quality eggs being sold and people like fresh eggs for eating and for baking. my grandma would love this, I’m using her recipe book for family dinners and we are having meals I haven’t had since I was a kid… yay for grandma and her recipe book. we don’t know yet if the annual Boatnik celebration for Memorial day will still go on or be cancelled ( 3 days of boat races on and down the river in Grants Pass) I hope it can still go on but with this Dam-panic going on its hard to say. the cats are full of mischief these days and busy bird watching. we had a hawk in our tree, he was busy watching the chickens and he got a bit of a surprise when I fired off the shotgun to scare him out here. that is the last thing I need around here is a hawk, especially a chicken hawk. the deer come up every afternoon and stay around enjoying the nice green grass, they lay down and have a good munch or 2 and a relaxing time just enjoying being in a quiet place. well off to get something out for supper and then sweep off the porch and settle in to watch for the tractor parade, may shell some fresh peas I got for swapping fresh eggs. we just may bring back the barter system… LOL! have a great day today and everyday. stay well, stay safe and stay healthy everyone. sending lots of love and hugs….. hugs…… 😀
Busy as always dear Pat! Keep well! xoxo
Hello again Susan. keeping busy around here keeps us sane. and with the spring its the busy season until mid to late fall. between the chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys we have a full and busy barnyard come spring and summer. stay well and healthy. hugs… 😀
Doesn’t it. Sanity is a good thing to strive for! You too Pat, stay healthy! 🦆🐥🦃🐔
we try… between 2 gremlins in the house going bonkers and the chickens and ducks carrying on and fighting on occasion, it gets interesting. the reason why they fight is easy… our older rooster, Jake, occasionally tries to pester the female ducks and the male ducks will tolerate this so they go after him with a vengeance. they chase Jake round and round the yard and bite at his tail feathers and pluck them out until he bald back there so every summer we have what we call a bare butt rooster… LOL!!!!
oops forgot…. congrats to the 3 winners. got to get busy with the broom and sweep off the porches. hugs…. 🙂
Just what we needed today. Thank you. XOXO
Oh Susan,
I’m so glad you had all your friends with you ( zoomed in) on your birthday.
Sounds like it was a triumph despite current circumstances (dam-panic;). I know! Such wonder is happening. Even though I miss our wonderful restaurant customers and have the worries that all small business owners are pondering, i feel my heart recharging,I feel more connected to humans, I appreciate my neighbors so much more, i feel rested, and yes, yes, yes the sky is crystal clear! visibility is unbelievable!!! Sunny Sun and Starry starry nights.
As I write this, I’ve been sitting on hold for 2:55 with the unemployment security commission of our state to make sure all or our employees have dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s. They are devoted and I need to make sure they can get the assistance offered, and you just made it so much easier to sit here!
Now, I need to print my crown for my Mothers Day zoom call with my boys!.
Hugs.
I hope you finally got through Kimberly!!! xoxo
I did! All employees taken care of. The person on the other end was a bit terse, but then I asked her how she was holding up and that i can’t imagine what it’s like to have to answer these questions all day. Just told her that i appreciated her help and I hope she would be off work soon. The whole tone changed, we got through it easily. It helps if while your on hold to think about what that call center person has gone through all day,not how inconvenient it is. What a difficult job it must be at the moment!
I’m sure everyone takes it out on them. So nice of you to show concern … a little compassion goes a very long way.
Happy belated birthday, Suszn! Your posts are a bright light in this serious time. Love ❤ you!
Happy belated birthday, Susan! Your posts are a bright light in this serious time. Love ❤ you!
You are a light in the darkness, my dear. Keep on shining! Thank you (and Rachel Portman) for the moments of calm and hope and beauty.
Happy birthday sweet Susan! Sounds like you really did have a red letter day! Joe did a great job on your cake. Bravo Joe! Thank you for your lovely feel good blog post to keep our spirits up. We can do it! xoxo
Congrats to the winners! I can’t bring any flowers inside because Salter Cat eats them…he even chewed some silk ones, silly boy. But I have daffodils and hyacinths and my mom’s favorite, grape hyacinths, outdoors to enjoy, and one of my rose bushes has buds. Happy Spring and your birthday sounds marvelous!
Hello from Sacramento!
I cannot be the first comment but maybe I am. I don’t see any others.
Not sure how I would be getting thru all this without Susan B!! Such positivity is needed. I am re reading A Fine Romance that is just taking me away and will re read the others too. And looking forward to these blog posts…. well this one today put me in tears of sweet joy! Thank you so much for sharing all your talents with us. The ending words were just lovely. Hope we don’t forget this feeling for a long time. Take good care of yourselves. The sun is shining and my iris are blooming.
👏👏👏
So glad you had a happy happy Easter birthday!!! My Easter was non eventful but passed pleasantly enough with a dinner of pork chops, scalloped potatoes, peas, and dressed eggs. Today I’m on day 33 of isolation alone. I’ve been busy though by knitting, painting, reading and watching all kinds of TV. Also, been trying to exercise. On cold days I have a trail through my house I walk endlessly trying to get in those steps!!! The biggest challenge of Dam-Panic (love it) is not eating too much!!!! No you’re not hungry just bored. 😜 Take care!!
You’re doing so well Linda! I need to remind myself I’m not hungry either!!! 😲😂
Dearest Susan, first of all . . . happy, happy birthday!! I wish you many, many more to come! Second of all, thank you for focusing on Love during this most challenging time of crisis. We have turned our lives inward and have found Love and Simplicity in abundance. My prayer for us all is that we would not turn back to life as it was, but to embrace this new normal for the silver lining that it is. We are learning to slow down, take our time, be patient, notice the small details, be kind, live with less, appreciate more, pray more, hope more, enjoy each day for what it brings. Thank you for reminding us that simple joys are best, and home is our haven of love and comfort – – if we so choose it to be. I pray that you will be blessed with many more years of blessing us with your spirit of overflowing love and comfort and joy.. Happy Birthday and Happy Easter to you! xoxoxo
Happy birthday, Susan! I’m glad you got to spend it doing things you love.
Sweet potatoes are wonderful as Hasselbeck potatoes, as well, and you can add a bit of maple syrup to your butter before you bake to make them even better. 🙂
Yay for a new blog! Thank you, thank you and happy belated birthday! Our Easter was also special. The bunny cake was delicious and so fun to make with my children. Making the most of our time at home makes everything feel precious. I think all our hearts are more tender right now. And we also are quarantining our mail for 3 days – it’s driving the kids crazy because they want in the cards and boxes from grandma. Oh well. It’s worth the wait.
I loved every word of your post! Everything we do is so much more memorable these days. A belated Happy Birthday to you. I would love to be your neighbor and friend.
P.S. I am a collector of Beatrice Potter figurines too. They give me so much pleasure. I am wondering if you have ever read the Miss Read books. Simple little books of English life.
I read one of them, I need to get back into them!
Dear Susan ..so glad you had a wonderful birthday !
Thank you, Susan, for another beautiful post! You are such an inspiration for all of your girlfriends! Our grandson shares his birthday with you! It was a very special Easter this year!
Happy Birthday Susan! What a wonderful day you had…..I loved rereading the visit to the sisters….precious ladies full of such joy and generosity. ❤️
Oh, Susan, what a lovely, joyful post! Thank you for this, and for your enthousiasm for all the little things that makes life interesting! And for your lovely pictures… They make me long for real spring (no forsythia here yet, still some unmelted snow). And happy belated birthday!
For Easter, I wanted to make something special for our dinner (usually it is ham, but I made one last week…), and it is YOU who inspired me. I made this Julia Child roasted chicken that you talk about in your Fairy Tale Girl book… it was my first time ever cooking a whole chicken in my oven (we usually go just for the chicken breasts). DH was sceptical (his mom’s chicken and turkey was alway too dry), but I told him how inexperienced younger YOU made this recipe with total success… and it convinced him. And the chicken was great! 🙂 Thank you!
I ordered your cookbook right after you talked about it last week, but had no follow up so far. I’m looking forward to flipping through it!
Check with Sheri and Kellee if you’ve heard nothing … [email protected]/~susanbs3/susanbranch/ or [email protected]/~susanbs3/susanbranch/ ~ make sure it’s on it’s way to you!
How marvelous a post and I again wish you a Happy Birthday! Your Zoom party looked wonderful and so much fun! Ice box cake is my utter favorite. Isn’t it amazing that those chocolate cookies are still available – with the recipe on the package?
Yesterday would have been my parents’ 77th wedding anniversary (1943), today is DS2’a 36th birthday, the 20th will be DH’s birthday, the 22nd is our 48th wedding anniversary, and the 28th is my birthday! Yes, DH is 8 days older than I am. 🙂 Did I mention that April is a busy month here?
Thanks for your happy pictures and uplifting words. Just the tonic for these odd days.
Hugs!
Well, I must admit I am a tad disappointed at not winning one of your Heart of the Home cookbooks, but I am happy because I recently bought one and it came
just a couple of days ago. I also bought your tiny Courage Dear Heart vase and I love it. So meaningful at this time. I agree that it is amazing the good that comes out in everyone when we are faced with a common enemy. May we stay the course and defeat this enemy soundly. Thanks for your posts, Susan. They are
truly hyacinths for the soul.
Dear Sue,
Happy Birthday and thank you for sharing your joy. All this just confirms that good always triumphs .
Lillian XOXOXO
🎉Happy🎂Belated Birthday, Susan!🎉. It was wonderful according to your blog post! My grandson James turns 12 today…I called and sang “Happy Birthday” to him…he informed me he was getting Chinese takeout per his request and his sisters Maggie and Anna made him fruity pebbles marshmallow bars per his request🤷♀️…to each his own😉. We had snow this morning in northern Michigan so the few crocuses that are blooming are touched with snow! The sun is shining now and the sky is blue…we have to enjoy what we have when it comes, right?
Hi Susan – Years ago when I used to walk around this city for exercise (and fun) I noticed that the forsythia has a WONDERFUL SCENT. I have Googled to try to find if anyone has bottled it for a dab behind our ears – but so far, no luck.
I always look forward to hearing from you. I toasted you on your birthday with a cup of tea. I’m glad it was so special for you ❤️. Your cake looked delicious!
Nancy
Gosh I loved this blog post, It made me cry to see no matter what* dear Susan you are still so so happy and so positive. I love that so much. Happy Birthday and Happy Easter* your day sounds perfect. I don’t mind staying home. I actually love it. Thank you for making my day today
deezie
Dam-Panic is VERY New England!!!! Love it and will be using it!!
Was wonderful to read about Spring and see your pictures, Susan…and what a wonderful birthday! Northern Wisconsin saw 10” of snow on Easter Sunday….the Easter either used snowshoes or borrowed Santa’s sleigh!!!! Happy Spring!
Hi Susan! Really needs your post today! I just finished reading a post from a nurse at our local hospital begging people to stay home! She has been working hard, long hours and seen too many patients pass on. So very sad. And makes me want to understand why people can not follow the rules!! If we all stay home, we can beat this thing!! So I am appreciating your up beat tone – we need more Susan’s in this world!! And happy belated birthday!! It’s truly the little things that matter!! Everyone stay healthy and strong!!!!
😘. Lee
Your birthday blog was almost better than being able to win one of your prizes. Reading it, I felt joined in spirit with others who read it or will be reading it soon. There is much beauty in things we so often bypass to get to something that moves faster, sings louder, or creates cacophony. God is teaching us, through this time, that if we have love for Him and for others in our hearts, we can flourish, even in a dam-panic.
I believe that too …. thank you for the wonderful words.
Happy belated birthday!
Love the sunshine and friendship you send in these letters. Hoping the dam-panic ends soon!
What a wonderful Easter/birthday for you. This whole part of our lives has been a bit surreal, and we all wonder if we’ll ever get back to normal–many are saying they really don’t want to get back to what we were. Which is something to think about. I lost my husband of 60 years last month, and with that along with the current issues, it has been very hard. So your letter was a great boost for me — thank you, and thanks to Jack!
Sharon in Houston
Oh no Sharon, what a terrible time it must be for you. I hope you are seeing flowers bloom around you, nature has such healing softening qualities. Sending prayers and love … xoxo🙏💞
What a wonderful birthday, Susan! Belated happys from then until forever! We love getting that ray of sunshine in our inboxes that you always bring. Have a wonderful year, and just think of the memories you’ll be discussing on your next birthday about this one.
A birthday hug from Houston (which is probably a sufficiently socially correct distance away),
Yes, I think we’re safe! 👏🤗😂
Warms my heart. Thank you, Susan.
Thank you for another wonderful wonderful post. The recipes will be on my must try lust.
Dear,dear, Susan,
You always know how to brighten our day! God bless you.
I LOVE the music of Rachel Portman!! I was so excited to have it going in the background as I read your blog. Perfect Tuesday decompress time!💻💜
Isn’t it wonderful? I was watching, listening to, Emma while I was writing the blog … and this was the theme music that went with it … I loved it so much, I hoped you guys would too!
Happy late Birthday Susan! I’m glad you had such a wonderful day! Birthdays are wonderful! I thought of you the other night when the Peter Rabbit movie (the most recent release, with real people, and animated bunnies) came on tv. I have never laughed so hard! If you haven’t seen it you would love it. Stay safe and healthy, to you and Joe!
Thank you so very much, Susan, for cheerleading us onward through these days. Though it is all uncharted waters, I believe we are all seeing what is important, what is possible, and what the path is for hope for this world. Dwell in possibility ❤️
Happy Belated Birthday! Such a joy to find your blog in my mailbox this afternoon . . .
Yes the world has changed, we have changed. The fear could have taken hold of us and pulled us in our homes to shut our doors our windows. But no, home became a beacon of love to shelter us but also to shine our love out into the world.
Thank you for constant words, drawings and pictures of love and hope for yellow flowers peeking thru the cold earth.
Xoxoxo
Dolores
I think I recognize the artist for the handtowel, Lesley Holmes. She lives in Cornwall and has several books you would love. Look her up! I visited her studio a few years ago. She used to live in the Cotswolds and has wonderful watercolors.
That’s her!
Ah yes, to think that so very many of us were hunkered down in our homes listening to Andrea Bocelli… what a delightful memory!
Thank You Thank You!! I was hoping for a post from you and here it is! Happy Birthday Susan! Mine is on the 17th and I’m going to try the Zoom Thing with my book club girls. I’ve known them for about 46 years and they mean everything to me. Your attitude is just what we need in this crazy time. Thank You again!
Happy almost Birthday Lucia Ann! You’ll love your Zoom party!
Happy late Birthday Susan!! I love reading your blog to see what you are up to! I love and collect cookbooks and never had one of yours so I found 4 of your books as a set on ebay and ordered them. They came in yesterday and I love them so!!! Your talent blows me away!!! Thank you Susan, you always make me smile!!
👏👏👏👏🌷🌷🌷
Thanks for this beautiful update of Easter day and your very Happy Birthday. I also watched the Andrea Bocelli concert. Then I continued to watch and listen to him for seven more hours, via YouTube. What a peaceful day.
Dearest Susan….happy belated Easter and Birthday! As I read your letter, my heart swelled with love…love of nature, of Beatrix Potter animals (that I also collect!), the knowledge that Spring is for new beginnings, that the tomb is Empty!! Thank you for sharing your gifts with us. I pray we all change for the better when this is over. ❤️❤️
Oh my, what a delightfully packed with happiness newsletter!
I’ve played Andrea Bocelli’s Amazing Grace performance several times. I think of him as “my tenor” as I like his truly divine voice that much.
I actually squealed when I saw the Jack finger puppet pattern. Our grandchildren are 5, 3 and 2 years old and have their own kitties. Hand and finger puppets are favorite toys here and even used as napping companions.
Thank you for another dose of happiness! Take care and stay well!
Another wonderful blog. Thanks, Sue and Joe and of course, Mr Jack. Love you all. Stay safe and well.
So glad to hear you and Joe are staying safe and healthy. We are, too, except for a case of infected tick bites. I woke up in the morning a couple of weeks ago with the area behind my knee itching like crazy. I assumed I’d had a spider in bed with me, and thought little more of it. It continued to itch like mad, but who can really see behind their knee, so I just spread Cortisone cream on it and ignored it. Then, last Wednesday, I was actually able to put on shorts for the first time, and my granddaughter asked me what was wrong with my leg? I was able to bend backwards enough to see 2 large bullseye rings on my leg. I immediately tried to call the doctor, but they have shortened their hours due to the dam-panic and I got no answer. I called first thing the next morning and they asked me to come in immediately. Sure enough, I had 2 tick bites, and they were tiny seed ticks, still imbedded. Drat. I had to get a blood test done for Lyme disease, Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever, etc but still haven’t heard the results. I’m sure the labs are swamped with Coronavirus testing, so it could be a while. Meanwhile, I’m on antibiotics and a steroid cream. I doubt I have much to worry about, as I haven’t had any symptoms, but will feel better when I get the results. Other than that, we are staying hunkered down, and eating too much. I bake when I’m bored. I send lots home with my grandkids, but still eat too much. Happy Spring to you and Joe!
You’re on antibiotics, so good. We have a tick problem here too…if we get bitten we are automatically put on antibiotics before anything else. Write when you know! Happy Spring, stay safe. xoxo
I finally got blood test results and all is good! Now, I do a serious tick check anytime I’m working in the yard, or after my walks.
SO Happy!!! We don’t need any stinkin’ tick disease right now! xoxo
Love your blogs, Susan. Thank you for your positive and uplifting outlook.
While this Pandemic has brought out many positives, I worry about those who do not have steady paychecks coming in, and whose very jobs might not return. Will we realize we can do without so many industries and then those jobs will evaporate? My nails are two weeks overdue, my hair three weeks overdue, and I am seriously contemplating not going back. (well, maybe pedicures are an ESSENTIAL!) Stay warm and snuggly and writing such beautiful posts.
I worry too. I haven’t the slightest idea how this will all turn out. I pray for the best, and worry about the rest. Take good care Lynn!
Happy, Happy Belated Birthday, dear Susan! Your day sounds amazing! I’m so happy it was a special day, because you are truly a very special person!!!
Thank you for this lovely post, filled with spring blooms, birdies, and blue skies. Your thoughtful words fill my heart with joy and hope. Yes, I think there are many lessons to be learned from this time.
We had a hawk family nesting in our tree some years ago. I could see into the nest from an upstairs window. What a special gift. The babies grew up, but during the learning to fly time, the mom and babes would often sit on a branch above me while I worked below in the garden. I would look up and talk to them, telling them how much I appreciated them choosing our tree to raise their family. How pretty they were, and how much joy they brought to my garden. They didn’t fly away, but instead intensely watched and listened to what I was saying as if they truly understood. The following year, they moved on to better real estate, higher tree across the street. This was many years ago, before Sadie came to live with us. Now, I’d not welcome birds of prey nesting in our trees for fear they migh think of our precious Sadie as dinner. She is 12 lbs, so too big for one of these birds, but if they should try, their sharp tallons could easity injure her.
Now, lets talk about that cake! Wow! It looks amazing! How does Joe make this cake? Is it layers of cake covered in ice cream? I want to make one!
Thank you for
Thank you, sweet friend, for the printables. I love the crown! I just ordered a ream of card stock, so I’m ready!!! I always appreciate your bits and bobs of printables! A favorite photo of Sadie is one of her in her Mother’s Day Tiara you shared in 2017.
Birthday Hugs from Sarah and Sadie in Austin. Stay well!
Yesss, be careful of Sadie! 12 pounds, must be adorable!
Susan, I can’t find the link to the quote for the Mother’s Day crown. Am I miss something? I sent an email also, but I suppose you receive so many it’s impossible to read all. I don’t know how you keep up with all these comments.
Thanks again for the joy you bring to our world.
~ Sarah
Kellee says it’s there, I think there are 3 pdf’s with this … but if you still can’t see it … you could write her [email protected]/~susanbs3/susanbranch/ … xoxo Thank you Sarah!
Thank you, dear Susan for your lovely letters!
Happy Belated Birthday to you, too!
Continue good health to you and Joe and enjoy your spring.
There are indeed so many things to be thankful for.
much love from Vermont
natacha
Happy Birthday dear Susan!
Susan, I’m reading your Isle of Dreams for the 2nd time. It’s helped more than anything to keep me calm…so beautiful. Thank you. (I wish it were three times as long!)
Happy (late) birthday from a Virgo 72 year old. 🌷🌷🌷
Ahhh Virgos, I have so many bestfriend Virgos! Love them! Thank you Judy!
This time at home, in the Spring of the year, will end up being such a memorable time. While working from home, I have this amazing freedom to enjoy being in my happy place. It’s been truly a gift I’ll cherish always.
Stay safe, all. Sending love and light.
Thank you, dear Susan, for lightening our loads. 🎶Happy Birthday to Y💓U🎶
Love, Katha in MN
Best post ever! What a wonderful perspective you have on this dam panic!! So glad you had a great birthday. I have been enjoying virtual happy hour weekly with some girlfriends. This week we are all inviting our daughters. Cheers to you !!
Everyone talking at once is a bit unnerving in the beginning, but it’s worth it!!!
Joe is clever! I like his phraseology the Damn Panic. Especially the store shelves they look like they have been emptied by a damn panic! Stay safe!! Waiting for Enchanted!! My cups I ordered from you before and even more of them more recently as I can’t resist a good cup sale!! Thank you so much for the price cut!! My retirement budget thanks you too!! ❤️🌹🐣
MY pleasure, we need something extreme to fight dampanic anxiety disorder.💞
Delightful, as always! And so needed right now. In my corner of Colorado, we’ve had snow and cold for the last two days, with more forecast for Thursday. The pics of your beautiful home and all the green, growing things was absolute tonic. Thanks tooooo much!
Once again your email has brought a big smile and maybe a tear or two to my day. My prayer is that when this is over, and it will be over, we don’t forget the lessons we’ve learned: that we are all in this together, to continue to care for our neighbors, to remember those who unselfishly continued to put themselves on the “front lines” of healthcare and everyday services to their communities to keep food on our tables, mail in our mailboxes and all the other not so insignificant ways folks helped keep our lives somewhat normal. May we also continue to pray for those who are ill, who have lost loved ones and for those who are working day and night to find treatments, cures and prevention for this invisible enemy.
Thank you again, Susan!
The front lines … 🙏
A very Happy Easter Birthday to you!! we so enjoyed the day ! Listened to church via internet! Dinner for the 4 of us. A lovely time was had by all!!
Thanks for the words of encouragement! Kay Hunzinger
How timely that your most recent blog came out today. As a matter of fact, I was fixing supper from your cookbook when I noticed the new blog. Coincidence? I think not! What did I fix, you ask. It was yummy scalloped potatoes with sausages which has become a favorite of ours! The book I got it from is a limited edition book which combines the Heart of the Home with Vineyard Seasons. My daughter bought it for me a few years ago from a website that sells used books. It is gently worn (and loved!).
Dam Panic!! Wish I’d thought of it myself!
Ooooooo, I love that SO much. My mom made it when we were little and it just never gets old!!! Hardly any of those books were made, you have a very limited edition there!
Susan,
I am glad you had fun on your birthday and Easter. How exciting to have both on the same day. Thank you for sharing how to make the Mother’s Day crown. I printed it out just in case my Mom wants to make one. Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday night.
Another very uplifting and enjoyable post. Thanks for your great message and wonderfully happy pictures! And Happy Birthday!
Happy Belated Birthday, Susan. And sounds like you had a lovely Easter. We are still minding the lockdown and that has been difficult. Also mourning the death of my brother two weeks ago. Sad he had to pass alone without friends and family at bedside. I imagine that many are facing such difficult and sad days, but happy for you that you are enjoying it all. Yes, some good may come of this experience.
Be well and thank you for sharing a bit of sunshine with us.
Happy Birthday!
It sounds like you had a most wonderful birthday Susan! I just received an email that my order from your online shop is on the way- I’m so excited!
In the past week we’ve had 70 degree weather, rain, wind, a tornado and now in the 30s and snow in Ohio! The tornado toppled a huge pine tree behind my house but no one was hurt (thankfully)!
My daffodils, hyacinths and tulips are blooming which makes for some much needed color outside while I’m inside with my hot tea.
Everyone stay healthy- we’ll get through this together!
Thank you. Again. For the words. And the pictures. And the music. And I think I could smell the spring flowers too And for the directions for a birthday crown for my granddaughter because the size of newspapers are smaller and paper hats aren’t as easy to make as they used to be. A belated very happy birthday. Wishing you many more at home, many more with friends, many more with Joe, many more with Jack, many more healthy in peace and clean air.
Gratefully, Toni
Wonderful! A very happy belated birthday to you Susan! I’m glad you had such a very nice day. Now I want cake.
I love, love your name for this virus thing we’re all going through. So appropriate! Stay safe, stay happy.
So appreciate your “Something is happening………” comments of all the good that is taking place.
Lovely, calming blog post, Sue! Thank you so much for helping to keep us centered and focused on uplifting activities! xo peg
Lovely post Susan! Happy belated Birthday! My husband’s was yesterday! No cake though because we baked paska (Slovak Easter bread) on Saturday and tomorrow will bake yummy cinnamon rolls to share with our close family and neighbors…..socially distancing. Our forsythia looks beautiful this year, the best in the last 5 and the apple trees are budding. Happy Spring!
This was the best birthday party ever……..YOU are indeed blessed Miss Susan Branch by soooo many !! And Kudo’s to dear Joe for bringing you such JOY ! And that precious kitty kat of yours- Mister Jack !!!! Continue to stay well and safe dear ones. xoxo Joan
Dearest Susan, what a wonderfully uplifting, positive blog. I loved it! We all need each other…now more than ever. Like you, I hope that we will find a way to let the “regular hero,” inside each of us, remain long after the dam panic is gone. Stay safe, my friend, and continue to see the silver linings.
Love to you,
Cyndi
We kind of had to have something profound to draw it out of us. My joy is that it has.🌸
Susan: A Belated Birthday wish to you! What a fun day you had & thank you for sharing!! Spring is unfolding here slowly but our plum tree has bloomed & is beautiful and hooray!! It has bees again!! A wonder!! So grateful for your cheerful heart!! Hugs to you, & Joe & my Mr Sims & Miss Blanca sent greetings & kitty hugs to Mr Jack!! Sandi (from Utah)
Hugs to you all right back!
Happy belated birthday!
I love the idea of people carrying kindness past this crisis!!!!
Dear Susan, As usual, you have said exactly what needs to be said. The amazing side effects of this virus are what should be celebrated!! Perhaps the world was due to learn what you have always known, that it’s the little things that make life special!! Love you!!!💗
I saw how the depression and the war affected my parents and their friends. The pain they experienced changed them forever, and built character in what was later called The Greatest Generation.💝
Aaah. A pleasure to read your blog once again. Restful, cheery, personal, generous stuff inside … Thanks as always.
Cheryl
Three Cheers for the winners!!! It’s such a lovely, generous, act of kindness! Thank you, Dear Susan, for taking the time to brighten our days with kindness, beauty and laughter! We love you for it!!
Thanks for cheering me up!! And the potato recipe! Can’t wait for your book to be released. LUV, Barb
What a wonderful birthday you had during this covid-19 period? Love your home and garden. Stay safe you two.
Your blog is wonderful! I always feel like I’ve gone on vacation when I’ve finished reading your posts.
Blessings to you, Joe and Jack.
As always I enjoyed your pictorial diary so much.
It brings hope !
By chance, is the cup with the bluebird for sale ? I love it and would order 2!
Thanks so much for bringing joy into my life today!
It’s all gone, I’m sorry Pamela … It’s one of my favorites too. If the world ever gets going and we can afford it, we should have that one made again.♥️
Happy Belated Birthday Susan!
Wonderful post- so happy I found you ( your house!)
Take good care!
Love,
Kitty
It was lovely to read about your ‘Red-letter Birthday’, along with your gorgeous photos. Glad you had a day full of love and laughter. The purple and white pansies you received for your birthday are just delightful—I would like to know the name so I can search for them. Maybe I can find seeds. I live in a town of many artists, with a wonderful art museum. Thank you for the William Morris quote.
I love your mother’s day crown. I am thinking of a way to make one from fabric, since I sew a lot. We shall see. Thank you for the lovely words of happiness and hope today. The earth is certainly getting a rest from us. She needed it. Continue to take care of yourselves.
She did. Every year, here, when the tourists go home at the end of summer, I can almost hear our island, the roads and beaches, the trees too, take a deep breath and groan with relief. Maybe the whole earth is doing that now.
How lovely to get a new post from you today! We’ve had days of high winds and rain here in Western Pa, and today it’s chilly with flurries – my daffodils are so very droopy. But your post with birthday news, (and A Very Happy Belated Birthday to You!), and sunshine and flowering trees and cheer was just what I needed. You’ve actually been in my thoughts lately because while my littlest library students are home learning online, I’ve been recording read-alouds for them and posting the videos for them to my online classes as we can’t read together right now. But since I have no library books at home with me, I have been pulling books from my own collection. The first two stories were Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny, and I wish you could read the wonderful comments from moms whose little ones worried for Peter, giggled over the cat sitting on Peter and Benjamin’s basket in the garden, and have watched the videos multiple times. I thought it might make you happy to know Miss Potter is still charming little ones in these uncertain times!
It makes me SOOOOO Happy! 💞👏xoxo
Just so inspiring. Thank you and I love the last graphic. That bluebird is one of my favorite cups. Happy late Birthday.
Happy belated birthday! I have never cooked/baked/eaten so much in my life as now that I’m home with my husband and we aren’t doing much. I correct that – I’ve been sewing masks, giving them away, ordering online/curbside pickup from JoAnn Fabrics, and doing it all again. I have made/given away about 60 so far. None to hospitals, all to friends/family/co-workers/neighbors. People keep texting/emailing/FB messaging – what about mine? and I keep sewing/ordering/giving away! My husband, in his boredom, keeps wandering around the yard with a chainsaw and hedge clippers and “accidentally” (hmm, really?) mowed down my 2 Korean lilac bushes, the forsythia and a small redbud tree – “How should I know? they weren’t marked?” so rather than kill him, I have taken a bandana, tore into strips and wandered all around the yard putting ribbons on my “keepers” – that is, what’s left! As my girlfriend has confided to me regarding her husband – if the Corona doesn’t kill him, I might! LOL At least we have a sense of humor. I have been having mini private tea parties each night while watching Netflix – Hmmm, which teapot and mug to use tonight? Hope you are staying safe and luv-lee!
Oh you are so nice Barbara, I would have had to kill him. “Wandering around with a chainsaw?” Well. Now you know. There is the MOST FUNNY video making its way around… Oh good I found it, HERE IT IS …. 🤣
The Spoons!!! Happens all the time in this house. Or….after helping put the clean dishes and cooking things away, I find the whisk in the pantry, or the……..Oh, you know!!
Still funny, but in 3 or 4 more months, There Will Be Blood!!
I still laugh!
🤣🤣
I thought she was going to say that he used the spoons to pry things open. Name the #@! horse! 🐴🤣
Name the Horse!🤣 That’s how you know it wasn’t just him losing it! There she was, in the closet, with the flashlight!!! Ha ha ha! Now you got me laughing again … xoxo
yes, funny! reminds me of the time I took the sheets off the bed to wash and then never went back upstairs and forgot to re-make the bed. He went to bed before me and when I got into bed – no sheets on the bed, he was sleeping on a bare mattress. I woke him up and said why didn’t you make the bed??? his reply: I didn’t know where you kept the sheets. IN THE LINEN CLOSET! can you imagine, seriously, he couldn’t guess where I kept the sheets. I am not making this up.
I could not even SLEEP without sheets on the bed. But they can! It’s why they like us. We are not wild animals! 🤣
Thanks for more laughs! I have two sons, one would sleep w/o sheets. ARMY training? They both think top sheets are a waste. I told them to get duvet covers like their Swiss cousins and wash that cover! Men! 🙄🤣
Happy Belated Birthday! Thank you for the gift of this post, full of good news, Spring pictures and heartlifting joy-full-ness!!! It is much appreciated. Congratulations to those lucky winners too!
So grateful for your cheery blog today. I’ve been self-isolating for one month today and my husband goes out every so often for groceries. It is so weird. When I think of something I’d like to do, I remember, “Oh yes, can’t do that.” Am holding out hope that the dam-panic will be over soon, although here on the south end of Vancouver Island they say be prepared for another month at least. It is starting to warm up and lots of flowers and trees blooming. I planted lettuce 10 days ago and it is now showing it’s lovely green leaves. So soon, we may have fresh salads. Enjoy your walks to the sea but don’t get to close to anyone. Happy belated birthday. Sounds like it was everything you could ask for.
Congratulations to the winners of your lovely cookbook.
Your lettuce is up. How exciting!
Yes, it is. Yesterday I planted baby kale and some pac choi so hope to see both of these greens quite soon. We have a lot of rabbits around here, but all my lettuce is in raised planter boxes. Makes it easy to harvest since I can’t bend my knees very well, and there are many other plants and grasses for the rabbits to snack on.
Dear Susan,
Love, love, love your Birthday blog! I’ve never tried zoom, but I will now. Looks like fun. You had such a wonderful Birthday. It is fun when our April birthdays fall on Easter. Joe did a terrific job in baking you a cake. That’s very special. Also, thank him for the dam-panic, that is perfect. Enjoy the rest of the week with special birthday memories. Stay warm and safe❣️
I’m so glad you had such a marvelous birthday celebration! Beautiful post and so encouraging. Especially in these trying days – we all need to keep each other encouraged. I am so thankful to have our immediate & extended family well right now. Prayers for all to carryover some of the things you mentioned when we get back to our somewhat “normal” lives. God Bless us all!
Happy belated birthday! You are such an inspiration to me. Thank you for sharing your world. Always brightens my day. Stay safe!
We can’t wait to eat banana fritters! Thank you for this lovely “letter” from your home to ours!