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 . . .
Loved this whole post, Susan! What a happy, happy birthday/Easter for you! So many cute presents and a joyful ZOOM party! A perfect, red-letter day for sure!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! What a wonderful day you had!
After your original article about the Holy Nativity Convent, I have ordered from them several times. Usually candles and several beautiful glass candle holders with the Magi carved into them. They are just stunning. Thank you for telling us about them. Such a happy group of kind women.
Stay safe, everyone during these strange times. Spring is coming.
Happy Belated (yet sincere and affectionate )Birthday to you, my friend whom I have never met yet feel close to!
Here’s to another year of appreciating the wonder of each day!
Love, of course, and virtual hugs!
Thank you so much for this beautiful, optimistic post! Today was my gloomiest day yet, filled with tears and general unease. I thought to myself at one point this afternoon, “a new blog post from Susan Branch would cheer me up more than just about anything.” About an hour later, what should I find in my inbox? It felt like a gift from the Universe. But really it was a gift from you and I am grateful for the beauty and joy you spread out into the world. xo
Thank you sweetheart.♥️ I hope you’re trying hard to keep the news off. I discovered it took me 3 days to completely calm down after I turned it off. I’m happy you’re here!
I am brushing away the tears of joy! You write so creatively, just what we’re all feeling. So glad you had such a wonderful Easter birthday! You so deserve it. I love the plea that we continue this loving behavior without a virus. May God continue to bless our hero workers, and make us ever mindful of Him.
❤️Bonnie
Dear Susan ..Glad you had a lovely birthday !
Happy Birthday! A little late; it looks like you had a great day. The icebox cake Joe made you looks delicious. My Aunt used to make those for family potlucks and when you went to dinner at her house. It brought back some great memories of days gone by. I know what you mean about not being able to tell who the nuns are anymore. I miss those days as I always found it nice to see them out and about in my younger days. I am glad you had the link to the convent as I had read it before and at the time thought to buy some of their beeswax candles and then of course forgot. This time I have it bookmarked so that will prompt me. How special to be able to visit and see how they live.
I watched 800 Words last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Another show you might like is McLeod’s daughters which is an Australian show. It takes place on a cattle station run by women. There is lots of drama involved with many interesting characters.
Yes, seeing them out was like maybe the way your mom’s hand felt on your forehead when you had a fever. Very stabilizing. When I saw them in line at my book signing, after so many years of never seeing nuns at all, it was quite a surprise, and then to meet them and see their beautiful smiles and the way they live their lives, was a true joy. Thanks for the series suggestions, it’s on my list!! xoxo
Susan,
Blessed Easter and Happy Birthday!
It was my cousin’s birthday too – the most unforgettable birthday of many people!
Prayers to you and all!
Many thanks, salve
First of all, Happy Belated Birthday Susan! You did have beautiful weather on Sunday! And we are both Aries! (March 30th)… Your Easter/B’day celebration sounds lovely. I am going to try the potatoes, definitely. I suppose this would also be great with a yam/sweet potato too – may have to bake a bit longer.
I work in a school and have been home since March 11th. Not a teacher, but Principal’s Secretary. It was nice the first few weeks staying home and having not much to do, but now, I’m looking forward to getting back to work and seeing everyone. Not sure, at this point, whether students will be back – but we work through the summer, and I believe it’s going to be a very busy one, what with ending this past year, and gearing up for next. We are way behind on a lot of things, even though I am trying to do some things from home now.
This entire episode or dam-panic, as you call it, has had it curses and blessings. I cannot listen to the news anymore – I try to get the latest NY news (which in the city is awful – glad I’m not there) and then I turn it off. Then you see someone like Andrea Bocelli in Milan – just himself and the church, people helping people, our nurses, doctors, and health professionals at work, our grocery store personnel, UPS, mail carriers – all there making sure that we have the necessities and care we need, and you begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel… and we are grateful… and we realize how much we took for granted. I said to my girlfriend the other day – imagine being able to browse in a store again – have lunch with a girlfriend, go to a movie! It will come back – but I believe we will have a new appreciation for those small things that make up our life. Be well girlfriends…
It’s going to be interesting to see what creation has in store for us … when she reveals her secrets . . . by and by. As poet Jackson Browne wrote in his heartbreaking song After the Deluge. We are all going to learn things. Some of them beautiful, but not all of them. Sending love Gina. xoxo
Thank you Susan, for sharing your Happy Birthday with us! We also are amazed at how clear the air has gotten. Our trees are just beginning to leaf out and today is a fine sunny day! mind how you go, Yvonne
Love it, Susan, thank you. I want to know how you always seem to know the right things to say to make us feel better.
Susan
Kind of you to say that . . . 💞
Happy Belated Birthday. We did not have our usual 25 for dinner and an egg hunt.
So we too zoomed not quite the same but it still did my heart good. I do not mind being home. We have worked so many years to make it a cozy comfortable home.
and we are in the country so long walks, gardening and yard work fill out time outside in the sun shine. But my arms ache for my young grand daughter how I miss her and her mom and dad. That is my great sorrow from all of this. Of course the people who have lost loved ones makes me cry while watching the news every night. How do you get past that great sorrow I do not know? I hope we are continue to stay healthy and get past this this soon.
I don’t think we do. Do our part, stay inside, and pray.♥️ xoxoxoxo
Happy Belated Birthday Ms Susan! What a lovely celebration of the anniversary of your birth! So nice of Joe to make the cake too! Aren’t we blessed to have the technology to see each other on Zoom, when we can’t visit in person? I haven’t had to quarantine per see as much as others as I am a hospital nurse. But I too try to see the good in hard times. Like the Mr Rogers quote “when u see scary news, look for the helpers”. And you Ms Susan are one of them. Thankyou for the cheerful respite!
Aww thank you, and thank YOU, because I’m a little helper, but you’re a BIG HERO helper, and we could never thank you and all our wonderful front-line medical workers for what they are doing. 💞👏👏👏👏👏
Oh Susan, thank you as always for your little ray of sunshine in an email! Needed now more than ever! Bless you for all that you do. It is wonderful to see all the good that is coming from this mess. I hope we come out on the other side changed forever with more love and compassion than ever before. The human spirit is a wonderful thing!
Oh yes Susan! There IS a sense of good, rich, simple things showing up everywhere … seen in the kindness and thoughtfulness amongst us humans, like the little buds starting to bloom everywhere in our gardens!
Thank you for sharing the delightful joy and gladness in your heart with us!!!
Warm, healthy hugs to you and Joe and Jack😀
Cheers!
A wonderful Easter! A very different one, church on TV, just my daughter her husband & I. Granddaughter LAURA stopped by to visit, but did not want to eat. She was off to Sunday night church where she sings w the Praise Band. We were able to watch on our IPads, and as usual she did a great job.
Got to check Andrew Bocelli’s concert and how great that was!
The end of another of my 84 Easters!
So glad you had such a lovely Easter birthday . Thank you for the words at the end of this post.Such a good reminder that there is so much good in the world if we choose to see it! ❤️
Perfect everything: post, birthday, Easter, recipes, images, quotations … a flowing stream of happiness from the S. B. tributary of LOVE!
What a wonderful birthday. You have inspired me, as next week we need to somehow create a memorable 21st birthday for a treasured son, and it was seeming that every idea led to a dead-end. Now, with your permission, I will take some of your birthday fun and copy it in Australia.
And you mention 800 Words again, one of my favourite shows. Last post I commented that Packed to the Rafters is another good one, and later I thought “oh, I should have mentioned Seachange as well”. Seachange (starring the exceptional Sigrid Thornton) stands as one of the best comedy dramas made here. Just be careful to get the original seasons, and not the remake made in 2019.
I wrote them both down . . . we’re still on 800 Words, our nightly event, just love the sweetness of the characters. How they make such sweet something out of actually nothing … it’s so good. The editor-gal character (can’t remember her name) in Australia, best friend of George’s passed-away wife, just showed us she’s (you know what!) … oMg!…
I get where you are up to.. that is a moment!
The character, Jan, is played by Bridie Carter who burst onto Australian screens in a show called McLeod’s Daughters. That was a drama series where a succession of women (starting with the original daughters) run an outback station. It was also a popular series here.
I’ll probably run into it someday!
Oh, what a lovely visit this afternoon, with the sun shining in warming up my bare feet (I go barefoot as soon as I can). Your birthday celebration was full of love and laughter, and will be one you will always remember. In these strange days, it’s good to laugh and enjoy the sunshine, and eat cake. (There’s been too much of that going on here!)
Happy happy birthday week to you. Stretch out the celebration for as long as you can!
So glad to hear that your Easter b’day was such a joyous celebration. I just checked and that won’t happen again until 2093 and 2099. That’s quite a while to wait, I’m afraid. My b’day is Feb. 2nd, so I always celebrate on Groundhog Day!!
Hope the year ahead is full of MANY blessings!
Happy Birthday! Holiday birthdays are the best! I was wondering how you grow your Agapanthus indoors. Is it an indoor plant or do you plant it outside in the summer? By the way did you ever see the movie Hampstead? Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleason are in it and it shows the little neighborhoods of Hampstead. It’s my kind of movie…no violence or guns..haha.
I haven’t seen it … me too, no violence or guns and I am a happy girl! I wrote it down for my next Amazon adventure! Thank you!
Happy, happy birthday Susan!! So glad to hear you had such a good day.
Here’s to you with wishes for many wonderful birthdays to come.
As always, a beautiful, magical experience reading your wonderful musings (it’s too pretty to call a BLOG! And, I’m going to go on the Holy Nativity website and shop 🙂 I can’t tell you what a gift you are Susan! Thank you! xoxoxox
That makes me so happy. The sisters support themselves from the things they make in their amazing House of Creativity … it’s lovely of you to help support their good efforts. xoxoxo And thank you again, for me.💞
So glad that you included your visit with the nuns. I tried to find it in my “saves” but wasn’t successful.
Thanks for ALL of your lovely blogs-I needed this just now.
Wishing you a very wonderful belated birthday! It sounds like it was a fabulous celebration!
Lovely and cheery. Just what we need to hear! Thank you…again and again. And a belated Happy Birthday!
Hi Susan! You had a wonderful birthday! I too had a birthday on April 8th and I was able to see my daughter and grandchildren. I was probably 12 feet away as they remained in the house peeking through the front door and I was in the driveway. Yes, things are definitely different because of the Dam-Panic but some things never change………the love we share with family and friends and of course, Mother Nature. I wish you and Joe and Jack continued blessings on your beautiful island. I hope, in the future ,I can visit your wonderful island. Enjoy! Take care, Donna Fleishman
I love it, love it. Thank you Susan and I’m happy you had such a glorious day on your birthday.
I’m grateful for everything, except the suffering of those ill in hospital, those trying to save them and all the families. We ARE rediscovering ourselves and our recovering planet!
I’ve just finished editing my book AND today I cleaned the baseboards – easy to ignore but not today, ha!
Be well, both and keep on inspiring us xoxo
There comes a time when the dust begins to speak out loud to you …
~Susan~
Wishing you Birthday Blessings !! what a wonderful day you had indeed !!
I would love to take a morning walk on the path you take, how beautiful .
I hope to visit Martha’s Vineyard again one day !
Yes we are all in this together, and I pray kindness to others will be everlasting! Congrats to the lucky winners !!
Prayers for everyone to stay healthy , take care of you and yours!
hugs
Paula
INdiana
Happy Birthday, Susan ! Sounds like you had a fabulous day despite the virus…wishing you many more days filled with your favorite things and lots of birthday blessings the whole year through!
Thanks Susan for reminding us of all the good things that are happening in the world, our communities and even inside our homes during this “dam panic”. Focusing on the positive is what will get us through this stressful time. As always I appreciate your thoughtful words and pictures. (I’m a little jealous of your pictures of the flowering trees and hedges as we are still dealing with snow on the ground up here in Canada but it makes me anticipate the arrival of spring all the more. 😀🌷) Happy belated birthday wishes!!
Well, today we are only at 42º cold and rainy degrees. We still haven’t tipped totally over into spring, we verge … won’t be long and you’ll be there too! So ready!🌸
Happy Belated Birthday Dear Suse!
That was an uplifting message that
you Blessed us with today!
Thank you! And, yes, we need to work
on keeping this world a happier place
even after the dad- blame virus is
gone. (that was my Grandpa’s favorite
word when he got angry) Isn’t it cute?
Hugs&Squeezles Dear One!
♥️
Just BEAUTIFUL!! AS ALWAYS… full of home and every thing that is important.. we are better together than by ourselves! Thank you for inspiration, for joy amongst the uncertainty and for letting us into your life and home. ♥️ Happy Belated Easter Birthday!
Happy Belated Birthday, Susan! Sounds like you had a perfect day even with the world situation! Hurray for your friends and Zoom!
Dear Susan,
I am sorry I missed sending you birthday greetings on Easter. What an incredible day to have a birthday.
I read, with a little lump in my throat, your last paragraph. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could have all those positive things in life without having a horrible/tragic situation? I am showing my age when I tell you that growing up in no. California, we never had these miseries. The most scary time was when we had to practice for disasters at school in the (very) early 60’s. I still remember “duck and cover”. We were color coded for our various neighborhoods. My color was SALMON. Salmon? It was a hideous color then, it is a hideous color now.
LOLOLOLOL, Carol! Reading through your comment, and getting to “salmon”!!! was hilarious. Thank you for the laughter at dawn! 🤣 xoxoxo
Susan,This post is oh sooooo lovely with Rachel Portman’s musica, blooming forsythia which I miss so much, and all your lovely loving thoughts & pictures. Thank you and Happy Birthday Susan!!!! Warm wishes, Judi
Now you’ve got me crying under my blanket. Thank you for your beautiful words.
😢 It’s those kinds of days . . . xoxoxo
So love to see spring through your eyes. Flowers, colors, LOVE! North Idaho is about the same temp right now……cold. Starting seeds for our gardens. Happy belated birthday. another 1947 baby.
Happy birthday, Susan! I am glad that you had such a beautiful day!
And thank you so much for your uplifting message about the positive parts of this Dam-Panic. I especially liked your Jack dish towel makeover, Henry David Thoreaus’s friends quote (I just sent it to a dear friend), and the William Morris creativity quote, but every part of your blog helped to make this day special!
Sounds like you had a terrific Easter birthday. Loved this blog.
Hi Susan,
My Son and Girlfriend called us after receiving the 30th Anniversary Heart of the Home Cookbook. They spent 3 hours looking at it and decided to make a dish every week. They sounded very excited about the book. Then Shannon said she read the name, Susan Branch, and thought, “Where do I know that name from?” She then realized my bookshelf in our guest room is full of all your books. I am also so happy that it was signed by you…they mentioned that too. What a great gift and you planted the seed in your blog. Thanks so much.
Oh boy Sheryl, that just makes my day! Thank you!
Love this ALL So much. Thank you❤️❤️
I’m so excited to have been picked to win your cookbook. I can’t wait to tell the story to my granddaughter as me pick a receipt to make together . . .as soon as we can be together again, Your birthday sounded wonderful and you surely brightened my day. Thank you thank you thank you! We will get through this and hopefully be better for it!
Patti! I haven’t written those emails yet, but I will today! Congratulations! Love to you and your granddaughter, have fun together!♥️
Happy belated birthday!! So thankful for your wonderful blogs that spread so much sunshine and love.
Thank you Susan for such a heart felt message of love! Makes me smile so!!!!
“Dam-Panic”? There is nothing “pretty cute” about what you or Joe are calling it. As of today, the coronavirus has killed at least 25,402 in the United States alone. Every day, I watch my doctor husband go off to the hospital where numerous healthcare workers are dealing with a serious pandemic. No one is panicking.
I’m so sososososo sorry Tracy.😢 I did not mean to be flip. My every prayer is for our doctors and nurses on the frontline of this hideous disease. I can’t thank you or your husband enough for what you are going through. Never think I have anything but greatest respect for the amazing job he is doing, or the worry being felt by the families of these heroes. It’s just that there are millions of people holed up in their houses suffering greatly from anxiety and stress. You and yours are not allowed a break, and as you know stress can be just as deadly as this virus. We all do the best we can in the circumstances we find ourselves in. I am proud of the job everyone is doing, because we do not want to be the ones who put MORE stress on our healthcare workers. This post was about honoring the beauty that comes from pain. I apologize from the bottom of my heart if I have hurt you in any way.
Thank you. I accept your apology and I understand where you’re coming from. I have followed your wonderful blog for quite some time and I have no doubt about your heartfelt sincerity.
Thank you back Tracy, for that and for so much more. I will try to do a better job of making my words match what I feel. We do all know each other’s hearts are in the very best place, just words are so DANGEROUS. 🙏😘💞
HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY
Love your post- the hawk!!! Little tidbit- Rick and I always say :” Look a red-tailed hawk!!!” and point to the sky, when we want to snatch a french fry off the other’s plate. Haha!
Wishing you a late Hoppity Easter and a Happity Birthday too!
I loved the Queen’s message to the British people. As I watched it, I was grateful for her steadfast feelings for her people. I loved that she counted on everyone to have a good fellowship feeling for one another.
I’ve also loved the homey videos Rachel has been sending out on Instagram.
I think the best thing out of this grey cloud pandemic is the realization that we aren’t separate on this big blue marble. We are the world….
Governor Cuomo of New York has been an inspiration too.
Stay well and happy and be grateful for the small things- they are denied to many.
xxooxx
Gabi
LOL, I will have to remember your hawk trick. Like it! In fact I loved all your hippity-happity words of hope!🌷
Oh my! So very wonderful. Happy Birthday. Your post made me feel so good. You are right, this horrible thing that has happened has made people care again. When driving to my children’s home people were yelling Happy Easter to us! Perfect strangers. I love it. You take care. Kit
Ah, such sweetness and optimism. Happy Birthday Susan! Wishing you many, many more.
We looks at this time as not only the Dam-Panic but the Great Awakening.
Stay well, stay you!
Yup. I think you said it exactly right. I really hope so.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You always bring a smile and sunshine. I am so glad you enjoyed your special day…… so well deserved. I am dying to make that potato……pure comfort food. Thank you again for always boosting my mood. You are The Best.
Smiles,
Liz
And the canals in Italy are clear. Amazing. Thanks for your letters – so much joy in reading them.
Happy Belated Birthday Susan. Enjoyed your post. Have a wonderful spring. Enjoy the flowers and the birdsong. God be with you.
You make me smile. Thank you.
So here’s my scenario for you today: Me…you…we’re neighbors…on the balcony…singing “What a Beautiful World” at the top of our lungs…you harmonize…I grin…we throw kisses…we move inside…we pray for our world, for our leaders, for our country, for those we’ve lost and for the victories that have been won…we gather with family and thank God for watching over us…we long for the company of others…but we are content. We are home and home is where we belong! A better tomorrow is ahead of us. Thank you for your sweet post.
XO, Willa
And why NOT??? Love it … exactly perfect.💞
Oh Susan, I did the same planting of apple tree seeds of an old antique apple on our old farm property. It is a Peewaukee Apple and it’s delicious. One year, many ago, I saved seeds from that apple, planted them and I grew two trees and planted them out in the old orchard.They are growing yet and I am trying to understand how to prune a young tree. I’ve learned over the last few years that my little trees will not end up to be true Peewaukees. Even old old apples had a common stock that the apple variety was grafted to. Like right now-if you buy an apple tree from a nursery the variety you’ve chosen might be a Macoun but that Macoun variety was grafted onto a stock chosen for your planting zone/your area. I was disappointed but I hope my apples, when produced, are at least good tasting. I didn’t want to be the bearer of disappointing news but I thought you may want the news. I love experimenting with seeds and love growing the unusual plants from seeds. Love your blogs and recipes and I think I have all your cookbooks. Every recipe I’ve tried is just wonderful ! Thank you so much for your thoughts.. Stay safe and well. Jenni
My expectations are SO low, that the two leaves on them now is almost miracle enough. Not even supposed to produce apples for at least 10 years! I’m not even a hundred percent sure what that apple was, but we get so many Honey Crisps that we think that might be it. I will be happy if it just gets flowers! Everything else will be frosting on the cake! Loved all your information ~ thank you!💞
Hi Jennifer, You have no idea how pleased I was to see a Susan Branch follower who lives near me. I am a health care worker and rent a house in Mount Marion. I love to walk and I understand that there are some new trails up in your area. If you ever need a “walking buddy”, please reach out. My e-mail is [email protected]. The same is true if you just want to chat over a cup of tea. I am an avid reader, a knitter, and a novice gardner. I will be retiring soon and should have lots of spare time. When this is all over, that is. Stay safe and stay well
I can not find the quote to print on the crown.It does not appear in the link you posted.
Humpf. I’m so sorry … I’ll change that link later today, after Kellee comes to work (at 8 am in CA) and figures out what is wrong. Thank you for letting me know!
Your blog coming more often makes this “ almost “ worth it, except for the bad parts and there are many. But, yes, you are right in thinking there are a lot of good things happening in the world too so we shall choose to focus on them . Thank you and thank your husband for his clever renaming of this unspeakable disease. Blessings belatedly on you on your birthday!
I know. None of us overlooks or negates the “bad parts” of this terrible disease in any way. I think we all do the best we can. Some of us have no escape, and those are our heroes and the ones we pray for. The rest of us are under unbelievable stress, made worse by the constant need and worry about hearing the news, and we need to help each other through that too. xoxo Thank you Carla!
This was beautiful! Thanks much for making us more happy and appreciative of all we have and have in each other! Happy belated birthday!
This has indeed brightened my day. Thank you.
You are like a breath of fresh air. I remember hearing Tasha Tudor day she had never had a headache. She loved her life, simple, and what she did, paint. I bet you are the same. I’m talented but I can paint and hate to sew. Happy Birthday. I love Joe’s Dam Panic. Yes. Perfect. Unfortunately I am self employed with a tearoom and 2 boutiques. I have no employees just intermittent help so I can’t take advantage of the government help. My husband is also self employed after shutting down a family business of 60 years two years ago. It’s very scary right now but your bright spirit lifts me up. Thank you.
Huh. You’re right, I hardly ever get headaches. But I do suffer from anxiety, not to the point of medicine, although sometimes it feels like I should have it. I worry. I worry about everything, my mom, my family, little kids in war-torn countries, and moms who are being crushed down who worry for them, and people without homes and food. I can’t help it. So meditation is the thing that saves me. And giving myself a break from news and knowing. As for the government help, I think (and of course KNOW nothing) that YOU are an employee … and so you might be able to get help to pay your employee. It makes sense to me. But me and sense and the government are often at odds. Stay strong Debbie, sending love.
Susan, thank you so much for sharing your birthday with us. God is so good to us. The joys almost always come after seasons that are dark. I love your Zoom party! My birthday is next week. Maybe we can arrange that for our family. It can happen! It is such a joy that the worms did not come to mess with your cherry tree! Wow! My flowers in our garden have been a delight each day now. Even gorgeous Easter lilies!
Happy Spring. Storms arent anything like when my kids were young. I lived in Maine 40 years and i I heated only with firewood and use to burn 7 cords of wood a year. By middle 90s it was only 4 or 5 cords. Mother earth is alive and surpose to change. We dont burn coal anymore as all households burned coal. So we pollute way way less.
So right, Debra. Lots more cars, lots more plastic, lots more trash, lots less open space, trees coming down … lots more people. Us too, our weather has changed in these 30 years I’ve lived here. One person at a time, we can make changes if our leaders see it as real and important. Look how beautifully the world has come together to fight this Pandemic. If we want to, we can do ANYTHING!🙏😘
Your blog makes me so happy each and every time just like your calendar each and every year. You capture the delight of each season with your pictures and thoughts. thank you and Happy Belated Birthday! I have been a fan for so many years. These tough times need beauty. Thank you.
And it’s there, all around us, in the most unexpected places. Mostly hearts. Thank you Mary!
Happy belated birthday Susan and thanks for the reminder of the good that is all around us. On a more superficial note — just binge watched The English Game on Netflix — in case anyone is looking for an uplifting Downton Abbey-esque escape. Take care and be well 🌷
We’ve just seen the first episode, LOVE it!
Happy Birthday dear beautiful Susan! Your cheery “newspost” was just what our weary hearts needed! And yes, so much beauty in these ashes..
Even ‘tho I didn’t win (again!) You gave ME a gift for your birthday, and that is a happy heart! Such a cheery post to lift my spirits, and I wouldn’t worry about the hawk…..he/she will most likely find better goodies in the woods, away from people. Keep safe and keep cheering! Happy Birthday!
We have lots of woods, yay!👏
So love this! You’re right, so many blessings have come out of the devastation. I am so happy I am with my family, watching my grandbabies (the oldest is 12, the twins are 9, all girls) love being homeschooled. They are little homebodies like us, we’ve cooked up a storm, and I’m learning to make homemade bread!!! The slower pace, the quiet of no cars or hectic schedules, all so healing. God knew he had to do something drastic to get our attention and bring us back to our senses. The whole world is going through the same thing, making us realize that we’re all alike, really. Praying this will make us better, more thoughtful members of humanity! ❤️❤️❤️
I agree, I told Joe, “God looked down on his creation, saw how we were treating it, and each other, and was not pleased, and said, ‘Get to your rooms and don’t come out until you’ve had time to think about this.'” And BOY, are we thinking about it. Your cozy household sounds exactly the kind of place that God would sincerely approve of. ♥️ Stay safe Patricia!
Happy belated birthday, Susan! Your date is on the anniversary of my own mother’s passing. Days to remember past and present with love. Glad your day was special. 😊
Yep, got a T-shirt printed…..PanDemic-orDamPanic🤔
Happy Birthday Susan!! You are the best and share it so wonderfully!!!
Blessings!
Thank you for sharing Easter 🐣 and your birthday 🎂 with us.
Happy Birthday Sweet Susan,
You bring joy, inspiration , and love to me and everyone you touch with your words and pictures. Thank you for giving me a reason to smile and to be a better person everyday! You are unique and a treasure to me 🙂 Have a fantastic birthday, the best is yet to be ! Love to you and Joe……..
😘 😘 😘 xoxoxo
Love the term Dam-Panic but double-love the hopefulness that pours from your message. May we all remember that home is a very good place and simple pleasures should be just enough to feed our souls. Blessings for a perfect spring!
(It’s cold in northern Ohio too!)
We’re all contributing by doing our very best in the circumstances we find ourselves in… my heart goes out to our friends in the thick of dealing with this horrible disease.😘💞
I liked the picture of Jack checking out the NEW ADDITION to your kitchen window sill (forsythia branch). My friend Barb’s cat, Obadiah, always checks out ANY new addition to her house. Cats are so curious and fun to watch! Thank-you, too, for putting on sale your 30th edition of Heart of the Home cookbook! I was able to buy one for myself AND my sister. Much appreciated!
You are so welcome, it was my pleasure … love to see them going out to where they belong.💞 Yes, cats!!! They notice everything!
Happy happy birthday!!! It sounds like a perfect day. Wishing you many many more. Thanks for your uplifting messages of hope and love! And your cat..
So many good things are and will come from this, I believe. I’m going to try those potatoes. Thanks for sharing the recipe. It sounds like you had an excellent Birthday, which is perfect, as you share so much light and love with the world. I did watch Bocelli, but had not read about the school shootings, which surely is a hopeful thing. Thank you for the Jack puppet. My GD will love it!
Thank you dear Susan, for another day-brightener. As a therapist, I “prescribe” your blog for people who need something bright and encouraging. You never disappoint. Happy belated birthday to you, and continued good health and peace.
I’m worried for so many under so much stress. It’s as dangerous as any virus. Thank you for what you do Diane, you are so needed right now.💞
Happy Birthday, Susan! I’m so glad you had a lovely day and that you shared it with all of us! This is a strange time and I love your outlook and Joe’s Dam-panic! Thank you for your uplifting post! I needed it today! As Emily Dickinson wrote, “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all.” Hope keeps us going and you provide a lot of it! Thank you!
So glad you had a beautiful Easter Birthday! Easter was very different this year but still bestowed it’s many blessings. I cooked Easter dinner for six people but only set the table for 2, the others were delivered to special loved ones. The Sun was shining, the air was warmer, the forsythia was extra spectacular, all our church bells rang at noon and yes I loved Andrea Boceli. I watched A. Bocelli on my tv, on YouTube and when the live performance was done many other videos of his followed. Since it was such a beautiful day I could see my grandchildren playing outside from my front porch, they live a few doors down. My favorite thing that I love about Spring is the color of the grass, it’s such a vibrant green shade and it really pops even in your pictures above. 💚 So many things to be grateful for. 🙏💕
Thanks so much for the upbeat letter, Happy Birthday to you and many more good wishes. Kiss the hubby and especially one for dear Jack! Stay safe and strong!
Happy Birthday Susan! Sounds like you had the perfect day. Isn’t Zoom great! We’ve been using it for Tuesday night Crochet Club. It’s so fun! Take care.
Thankyou Susan for this bit of sunshine❣️ I don’t even know you and I feel I love you💕
In these dark days we all need and heed your inspirational message , I will be able to breathe in your loveliness until you post again.
Your unknown friend , Jill
Now you’re my “known” friend! Thank you so much Jill. xoxo
Thank you for this post. Just what I needed. Stay safe! 👍💕
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you Susan. You bring us joy!
I don’t get here to read your posts often enough, but when I do I just stand amazed!!! Your blog is beyond beautiful and your talent is astounding. Thank you for all the time and effort (and love) you put into it.
Happy Birthday. Be well!
Happy belated birthday, Susan!! My birthday is the day before yours!! While the day of my b-day was sunny and wonderful, on Easter we got a snowstorm. Ugh. We had tulips and daffodils poking up and spring peepers singing their songs of love to us from our little “pond” – alas. I hope all survive as it has now turned colder and we’ve gotten even more snow (the ground was bare last Saturday!) I love forsythia and can’t wait for our little one to bloom again. Giving you are great big virtual happy birthday hug, girlfriend! Love to you and Joe and Jack <3
I would agree, I do not care for snow in April!!! When we get it I have to take two steps back into winter, make soup, light fire and candles, and pretend it isn’t spring! Thank you Kelly, happy belated birthday to you too!
Happy Easter-Birthday, Susan!! YOU are the embodiment of all that wonderful unselfishness you mentioned. YOU took (and always take) time to capture your special day and share it with all of us! I recently read a quote by Henry Thoreau: “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” And YOU see so much and share it, so we can all see. Thanks for your gift to us. May you have a great year. I know we all look forward to spending much of it “together.” It occurs to me that this little friend group is very good at social distance relationships!
We understand each other’s hearts, is what I think. xoxo
Definitely! xoxo
Happy Birthday Susan! Zoom is fun, glad you could have your party with loved ones. My 92 year old mom is having fun with it too. Hoping we won’t have to use it for Mother’s Day, but if we do, we’ll have a Zoom tea party and make the best of it. Looking forward to seeing more blooms appear. Hyacinths are up, more daffodils coming, the cherry tree is forming buds, and I’m raking and edging like never before. Also steering clear of the poison ivy or oak or whatever that vine is that is so prevalent and instills fear of a repeat of a bad break out several years ago. It’s wonderful to have so much time to work outside and make it look pretty and clean especially because it’s just me doing the work. It’s sometimes overwhelming under normal circumstances and I can’t do all I’d like, but now I’ll accept this time as gift and use it wisely.
Hope your year is filled with love and good health. Stay well and safe!
Happy belated Birthday Susan….sounds like your day was excellent! My Mom’s b’day was the 9th…she would have been 91….. glad yours was so full of love !!
I was so delighted to hear about your birthday celebration. Mine now is just around the corner. We are almost birthday twins. The isolation is getting to me just a bit, but I have made lots of masks for family annd friends and doing some quilting. Thank heavens I have a fabric stash!
Now for spring to arrive. My forsythia is in full bloom. So are the daffidils, in this cold and snowy weather.
Enjoy springtime on the isLand!
Karen Carpenter in MI
Happy Birthday Karen!
Happy belated birthday! It sounds like a wonderful day! Our Alaska ex-pat group did a Zoom chat on the tenth for a friend’s birthday and guess what one of her gifts was? Your champagne hearts teacup! The person who bought it (she met you many years ago in San Luis Obispo 🥰) chose that particular cup because of the ‘Courage Dear Heart’ on the bottom!
Thank you so much for your wonderful blogs. I so look forward to them! 💕
👏👏👏
Dear Susan, happy birthday! To be so blessed is a wonderful thing!
I was shocked to see how much Andrea Bocelli has aged….but his voice is still as sublime as it’s always been. I have a cd of his Christmas music…from 2009 with a picture of him on the ‘cover’. Not the same man in appearance.
Lost a lot of weight. But I haven’t seen him in way too long. Just heard him! Isn’t he wonderful? How he blessed our Easter.♥️
I guess if we post something as sad as having lost my brother 2 weeks ago in the saddest possible way, our posts won’t show up because it is just too real. Losing a loved one during a pandemic means that you are not able to visit, not able to hold their hand or to see them one last time……..you can only say goodbye on the phone, whilst they are all utterly alone, and staring at a sea of strangers wearing masks. This is going to be a very sad time for so many. I have experienced this tragedy and so this lockdown period is very, very sad. I cannot even join other family members so we are all struggling with immense sadness and pain. Tea and flowers are of no comfort now.
It’s the saddest thing in the world.😢 I’m so sorry Jan. Immense sadness and grief. I’m glad you came here.🙏 Never think that anyone forgets this plight we are all living in fear of, or takes it lightly. Blessings for healing hearts for you and your family. Oh dear. xoxoxoxo
So very very sorry for your loss Jan – it’s terribly cruel that one can’t be with their loved ones at the end and I can’t imagine how dreadful that must be. A friend of mine recently lost her father in similar circumstances and I certainly hope I never have to go through that. So dreadful that so many have and will. Sending much love to you from England xoxo
Oh thank you Rachel, I wrote to Jan’s personal email, too. So sad.
Jan, I am so sorry for your loss. As a health care provider (I work in an ICU), I know how important it is for “no one to die alone”. Prior to everything going on now, I would always ensure families that I would be with their loved one, holding their hand and stroking their forehead, if they were unable to be there themselves. My coworkers have also allowed me the opportunity to keep my promise even if only for a few minutes at the end. Now that is not possible. To me, that is the saddest part of this pandemic. Although social isolation is allowing many to reconnect, many- far too many- are dying alone, isolated from their families and loved ones. Seeing patients die alone and isolated is a major cause of stress to health care providers. My prayers are with you.
I wrote to Jan and she shared that she’d been able to speak with her brother over the phone near the end. A blessing but just SO sad. And thank you Dianne, for what you do,😥 my prayers are with you both. 🙏
I did hospice care years ago and I wanted to people what Dianne said about being there for others loved ones. I didn’t realize that they aren’t letting the nurses do this. It is not fair to the patient or the family. So sad 😞. I keep praying 🙏.
My sympathy to you Jan.
🤗
Margot
Oh I think the nurses are trying very hard to be especially attentive with the dying … you hear them telling their sad stories on TV… it’s just much harder, completely covered, and sadder, and just awful. xoxoxo
🎉Happy🎂Belated Birthday, Susan! By the sound of your blog your birthday was fabulous!
Today is my grandson James’ 12th birthday…take out Chinese food for dinner per his request and his sisters Maggie and Anna are making fruity pebbles marshmallow squares instead of a cake per his request-to each his own🤷♀️ We are getting snow in northern Michigan today! I’m enjoying your forsythia because nothing is blooming here…the sun was shining and the sky had touches of blue-a good thing…stay hom, wash your hands, don’t touch your face😉
Oh so sweet to end my day this way – saved the best for last. Hugs all around and the potato sounds delish!
Happy Easter Birthday!!!!
Your blog tonight was a welcome beacon….I love the potato recipe!!! I can’t wait to try it!
Thank you❤️