Hello? Are you still there? I’m singing my song: “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again!” Despite it all, I’m back, ready to free those pie plates, tell a story about my diaries, and announce our lucky winners!♥️👏♥️
You’ll need a cup of tea while I catch you up! I’ll wait . . . Here we go! I sent out a post last Sunday and about 3 seconds later, everything about my website disappeared. Instead of sweetness and light and all good news, this ⬆️ was the message you received in the mail… “Forbidden” ~ rudest message in the world! I’m so sorry! Then I started hearing from you, then Twitter, then Facebook and 
Instagram chimed in, and I found out I was NOT alone! I called my IT guy, crying, “HELP!”
I hope this did not hurt your feelings, I would never say Forbidden! We, my darlings, were attacked by some sort of hacking machine. I thought for a moment this meant we made the big time.😂 I asked my IT guy and his response was, and I quote: “In the overall scheme of things your site is insignificant!” 🤣 So, it looks like we were just roped into this with scads of other victims, which makes me feel SO much better than thinking someone intentionally did this to a purveyor of good news and the sweetest kindred spirits ever! Luckily, we have the BEST IT guy who had to practically reconstruct the whole thing, so here we are, intact, healthier than ever, ready to go, and grateful. Thank you for holding in there! Here is the post I TRIED send you last week:
How’re you all getting through summer? Hasn’t the weather been crazy? One day it’s unbearably hot, air warm and thick as sea water, the next day unbearably beautiful ~ and the day after that, it’s freezing! Horrible floods in Europe! Canada rivaling Death Valley for high temps! Crazy! We made it through our yard sale despite the relatively benign early-morning on-and-off rain ~ I thought you might like to see a bit of it . . . while listening to best MUSICA in the world… the soft melodic voice of young Frank! Take a deep breath, relax, and here we go! 💞
We rented a bunch of tables, spread them out, putting them as close as we could to the garden so no one could go around the back of them!
We brought out the old picnic benches to surround the bird bath because our number-one consideration was to protect the flower beds from the pitter-patter of thundering feet!
Looks kind of organized don’t you think? Well it didn’t stay that way! Which helped me to understand why churches call these things jumble sales! Blue skies . . . but changing . . .
We parked the van in a tricky place ~ gave us privacy from the road as we brought the boxes from the well-seasoned barn, a mish-mash of homey things to unpack, sort through, and organize.
I was thinking “department store” while arranging things, a born store-keeper-decorator ~ there was a linen department, a garden department, a kitchen department; there were sections for dishes, baskets, furniture, and applicances ~ like a pop-up store! I had a little store in California at one time and my favorite part was making it look cute! So I was having a good time! 
This organizing kind of worked until we began to run out of time and gave up on it, and started just getting things OUT of the boxes ONTO the tables!
Birds, boxes, bowls, and baskets, . . . all good. Throw in some cups, vases and a thermos … variety, the spice of life, here at my favorite and most-spontaneous kind of recycling center! Everything going to new homes, spicing THEIR lives just like these things did for us! (At the top of this blog you will see “Home Sweet Home” … click there for talk of 100% originality about making a wonderfully original home from recycled things!)
We opened at 9 am ~ the line to get in was down the block ~ neighbors, islanders, and tourists, all together ~ my girlfriend Lowely had a yard sale that day too, and also Martha, and a few others in our neighborhood, so it was a lot like Halloween, people going door to door! Fun for all! And unfortunately I forgot to take pictures when the people were there!!! Too busy! And they were the best part! Everyone was in SUCH a good mood, toting cups of coffee, stopping to chat, they even brought their kids and dogs, I had to get a big bowl of dog water! ~ Summer Saturday morning ~ who doesn’t love . . .
It really wasn’t a beach day ~ it stayed overcast so what better thing to do than go to a yard sale!? You can see the line still going on the other 
side of the hedge ⬆️! They pretty much cleaned us out and I have to say, there is lightness of heart that comes with watching the pie plates run free! Everyone spoke of their incredible gratitude for the vaccine, that we were able to come together to do this! It really was sort of a mini celebration of the normal things in life! And I decided, if I ever really miss something, if I wish I hadn’t let it go, I won’t mind because I can put it on my list and start hunting for it all over again. A win-win! A great yard sale, all cleaned up now and put away for the next time!
So, I have to share with you what we did on our cold rainy days . . . we had about three of them in a row, I had to FORCE myself not to turn on the heater! (Almost feels like a dream now!) I just kept adding clothes, then blankets! And we made it cozy with this delicious tummy-warming lunch:
Maybe today it’s 115º where you live, in that case, this would probably NOT be the right thing (try my icy GAZPACHO!), but this Mexican White Bean and Chicken Stew is SO good, I had to give you the recipe. Joe and I tasted something like this on our travels, I wrote down what we thought was in it, but never tried to make it until now … oh what we’ve been missing! If you can’t make it now, save it for later! Because look!⬇️
It’s actually even better than it looks! Great if you have leftover chicken, but worth it to quickly sauté enough to make this! Gluten free, chock full of vitamins, and relatively low calorie! Easy to make! Pop, pop, pop, it’s done! Serves 6 . .
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 minced garlic cloves
1 c. chopped yellow onion- 2 c. chicken stock
- 2 c. jarred salsa verde (we used Stonewall Kitchen)
- 2 c. cooked, shredded chicken (we always use thighs!)
- 2 15-oz. cans of white beans, drained and rinsed well
- ½ tsp. ground cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
1 c. chopped yellow onionIn a large saucepan, sauté garlic and chopped onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil until onion is soft. Stir in rest of the ingredients, heat through and serve with all, or your choice, of toppings: chopped avocados, squeeze of lime juice, minced cilantro, sour cream, minced green onion, grated cheddar cheese, and/or taco chips.🥑
Hope you love it! So, what else do I have to tell you? Oh, yes, this: (I hope you are sitting down.)
Look what I did. Can you tell? Actually I’ve been debating whether or not I should tell you because everyone I HAVE told has gone, Oh nooooo! It’s okay ~ I always knew I would do it ~ to me it’s just like “Fly little pie plate, fly…” Freedom. Yes, you may have guessed . . . those are the shredded remains of my diaries! Don’t be upset! Let me explain! I am the mommy of these books, I brought them into the world, and it was time to take them out.💝
They gave back more than they were ever given, they lived a good and useful life but it was time for them to go. So this is how I spent my early mornings during most of the pandemic, reading, laughing, blushing, crying, tearing out a few pages to keep forever, and shredding the rest.
All gone! Blowing on fingernails, polishing on shirt, so proud of myself! I’m glad I have pictures of them. Before and . . .
. . . after. I kept the covers. And that’s not all . . .
I started by trying to burn them in the fireplace . . . and found out it was a very slow and cumbersome way to do it and guess what, they don’t burn! It was a romantic idea: dark winter day, world in turmoil, snow blowing, a cup of tea, crackling fire, reliving memories, burning old diaries, but, no…it wasn’t working.
So I moved the shredder into the wood room in front of the big flat box that holds the true pandemic treasure of Turner Classic Movies, put Jack next to me in the chair, and shredded a few pages every morning 
… listening to Shirley Temple sing, watching Fred and Ginger dance, realizing, as I read them how smart I was not to leave them lurking around! I stayed young and ignorant forever, searching for life, love, and purpose. I kept those diaries for me, not for posterity. I wrote “Your service is undeniable” in the back of each one when I finished it. They did their job, were a HUGE help in the beginning years of being a grown up. So there they are in that big bag behind Jack! And I didn’t throw the bag away, or put it in the yard sale.
Most of you know I’ve been keeping diaries for almost as long as I could hold a pencil. I’ve always loved 
writing, my diaries have been SO helpful for growth, and helpful for writing books later on! But I didn’t have what it took to begin trying to save them until I was in my twenties! (My mom kept a few of my things in my baby book!💝) I lost all my teenage diaries, all my little girl ones. Probably a good thing! But today, when I talk to children who say they want to be a writer when they grow up, I tell them all I know, “Read everything, keep a diary, and don’t lose it!”
You’ll be glad to hear I didn’t shred them ALL. I kept this one. It goes from from January 1996, to June 2007! Lots of good things in here. It’s at a bookbinder now, being rebound, it was a pretty book with a cloth binding that wore out with too much train travel!
To this diary, as you see in the lower right, I was was “your obedient servant.” Actually to all of them.💞
So I kept it.♥️ And as you can see, I never stopped trying to figure things out.
The diaries I shredded were filled with little bits and pieces . . . old letters, cards, ticket stubs, photos, tucked between the pages. Sometimes I would be somewhere I didn’t have my diary with me, so I would do addendums. I kept all this stuff and much much more!
I saved lots of whole pages, the happy times . . . and wasn’t about to shred this! Buying my first little house here on the island, Holly Oak! The doorway to my new life. But then I wrote all about it in Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams, used the good handwriting, and added pictures too, so I no longer needed the diaries!♥️
And this, trying to learn how to “Think Like Leonardo DaVinci”… 🤣 ~ I was reading the book, and put it down to try to do what he did one early morning, curled up all alone on a big overstuffed sofa in front of a huge crackling woodfire in the very quiet lobby of the Mt. Washington Hotel in New Hampshire, I drew my first “Mind Map.” Finding out who you are is a process.
And this, a wonderful Mary Engelbreit card Joe gave me in 1987, exactly 3 weeks after our first date. Read the top. I tried not to melt.👏
And then . . . the topper, My boat had come in!🙃 I wasn’t ABOUT to throw this away!💘 He already loved me. At the time, I thought, NO WAY . . . but then he set about convincing me ~ the fun part. My mother wasted no time, she was thrilled immediately.♥️ I transferred that whole story of our first date (that lasted a lifetime) from my diary to A Fine Romance, so I didn’t need to save it. Just all the cards and sweetness tucked between the pages. See? It’s not as bad as you thought!
And there are lots of other diaries I will never get rid of! My dinner-party diary is going nowhere . . .
My first English Garden diary . . . where, among other things, I figured out how to make cute fences like the one I saw at Great Dixter!
I kept all my English Diaries of course . . .
Not to mention those journal BOOKS so many of you have read, where ALL my memories are saved .. . so I just feel good about the whole thing!
And Joe had a brilliant idea. He thinks I should send Cliff one of the new cups when they come in (for all of you who’ve ordered, they’ll be here to help us celebrate fall, 🍂 hopefully by the end of September) and use my shredded diaries to pack it in! Isn’t that perfect? Cliff’s a big fan of the cups! Perfect closure. I’m sure he’ll love it! A big relief, he won’t have to hear his most dreaded words anymore, “But I have the diaries!” 🤣 The torture has ended!
Speaking of which, I’ve started keeping a NEW diary! I kind of stopped writing during the pandemic when I couldn’t focus! But I’m back! And that’s not all!
The other day I came into the kitchen and grabbed Joe’s hand and said, “Come with me… I want to show you something!” I was so excited. I pulled him through the living room into my studio to show him what I’ve been doing ~ working on my new book of quotes again! All laid out on my counter. My Creativity is back! Here are a couple of the pages . . .Joe was so happy ~ gave me a big hug! After the pandemic, I needed to get a new “foundation for the creation” and it took a while for it to form! Sometimes I wondered if it ever would, the waiting is always the hard part…but every day feels better and I say to myself, life is soooo good. 
Makes me happy. I am still my own science project! Trying to figure things out, forever and ever! My dad called me “Grasshopper” (he got it from the 70s TV show Kung Fu) ~ I was his inexperienced idiot student and he was all-knowing master! True then, true now. Learning something new every day! 
And for the learning part and the beauty part . . . we finished listening to Hamnet while out on our walk (Joe gets one ear plug, I get the other, book is on the phone!). My review? Excellent. Beautiful writing. Lovely lovely lovely. They’re going to make a movie out of it! My favorite books are the ones that send me to Google, wanting to know more, about the characters, the subject, the time period, or the author. This was perfect for that.(It starts slow, don’t give up.)
Blessings on all the geniuses the world has produced who have charted a path, and left their brilliant discoveries behind for us… you will love my quote book, I’ve collected them from the beginning of time, it’s going to be all the secrets of the world.♥️
More of the beauty part . . . good old tablecloth, of course did NOT go into the yard sale despite small hole from over-love! The pillows, made with my fabric from Spoonflower, were our Christmas gift from Kellee and everyone at the Studio last year!
We lit up the twinkle lights and had dinner under the arbor (Tea House of the Vineyard Moon”) with friends for the first time this summer. Everyone beautifully and inspiringly vaccinated and safe. Gratitude galore! Mutual admiration society! Tons of fireflies blinking in the lawn . . . corn on the cob, salmon, my mom’s potato salad, and root-beer floats! Do you butter your corn with hot bread? I’m so far behind, one of our guests just told me about this, I tried it for the first time! More genius! It’s everywhere!🤣
And roses . . . Joe brought them home, not from our garden, but very pink and very beautiful!
I love summer nights on the island when it’s all quiet in our neighborhood of old houses, and I hear dishes clattering, and music playing from other people’s screen doors, and then the boat whistle blows . . .like a dream.
So here we go my dear girlfriends. You’ve been so patient! Time for our drawing! I so hope YOU win!!! And if you don’t, don’t worry we will try again and again and again! ❌⭕️ So here we go . . . for the 4th of July cup . . . our lucky winner is . . .ta daaaa!🎵
KAREN BLANKENSHIP! 👏👏👏
And for the two Springtime cups, we have two winners:
MARY from Forest Grove and ALLYSON BILLINGSLEY..
How exciting!👏👏👏
I’ll send an email soon so you can send me your address and your new cups will be winging their way to you before you know it.💞 Thank you ALL for entering and trying, you never know, you still have a better chance here on this “insignificant” blog 😂 than you do with the lottery! Keep that happy thought in mind! ❌⭕️
Last but not least, for all our fellow travelers to the English Countryside next May 🥳 . . . Kelsey at Discover Europe ([email protected]) and I worked out a new tour to add to the list … this one goes from the ship by train to the Lake District ⬆️, then across the Yorkshire Dales, to York! This tour will NOT come back to join us for the picnic at 
Stourhead with our English girlfriends because travel time is a little longer than the others, but it’s still so very wonderful and you can read all about it and sign up HERE. And FYI, The Cotswolds tour is sold out, but they’ve made a waiting list because they are trying to put together another one💞, so be sure to contact Kelsey if you’re interested in that. There is still room on my favorite tour (they’re all my favorites as you know!), that’s taking everyone to Sissinghurst Garden!
XXX
And although Sissinghurst Garden is a little bit of heaven on earth, this tour also includes Anne Boleyn’s Hever, Winston Churchhill’s Chartwell, Vanessa Bell’s Charleston, places we LOVED, plus so much more! All in the gorgeous “Garden of England!” History, gardens, cottages, pubs, and charm, oh my!😘
And BTW, P.S, Here’s another surprise! Guess who’s flying from England to New York to board the Queen Mary 2 along with the rest of us? Guess!! Yes!!! Rachel!!👏 Bringing her darling husband Paul! It just gets better every day! There are more fun things to come, but I have to make sure they are 100% definite! So hard to keep my mouth shut . . . stay tuned!♥️
And, there is still a little space on the Salisbury tour that takes you to Lacock ⬆️, and to everything Jane Austen.♥️ Read about the four tours HERE.
And yes, if you don’t have time to take the ship, you can fly over and join any of the tours, and all but the one to the Lake District will bring you back to our picnic on the lawn in front of the grass bridge ⬆️ in Stourhead. Or fly over and just come to the picnic (May 15th, 2022, BYO picnic!) before you head out on your own. SO many choices! For a red letter year!
So off I go. In all my memories today I was reminded of something my darling brother Jim said to me once, “All I need to know about love I learned from the song Hey Jude . . .” ♥️ As usual, I’m thinking what an idiot. So of 
course I ran to read the words (insight into a brother’s thinking is not something one takes lightly) . . . And realized how right he was when I read . . . 🎶🎵 “Remember to let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better . . .”🎵🎶 One more reason to fall in love with the Beatles (and my brother Jim💞 ~ John Lennon’s OTHER song works for him too, Beautiful beautiful beautiful boy….💝) That’s him with his son Ben in ↖️ that picture.
Sending love, cooling breezes, dry days, soft rains, and starry nights . . . . ❌⭕️❌⭕️ Your Pal, Anna Susana Branchburger the third.♥️
P.S. 🎶🎵 “For well you know that it’s a fool who plays it cool, By making his world a little colder . . .”🎶🎵
Welcome Back Susan and Thank You ! : )
Linda C of So Cal
Yikes!
It’s not real until it affects you… sorry to hear of the ‘hacking’ issue. We’ve all recovered, I am sure… so, back to seeing your beautiful blog!
I loved seeing all of the finds and treasures in the jumble sale photos… I collect old dishes and hat boxes, so I was glued to the screen admiring everything.
Keep all of the quotes, quips, clips and memories coming… your blog has been a sort of refuge in past months (and years) and I love connecting with everyone here. Thanks, Susan!
Love having you here Viffy! xoxo
This is one of your best blogs ever! I was on the ‘forbidden’ list and was really missing your kindred spirit! So many thoughts from the tasty recipe to your tag sale that I was so wishing to be at! I kept shopping from the photos. 🙂 …the linens, blanket, birdhouses, baskets, dishes, etc. and oh, that wren mug….:)
The diaries….I am so relieved to now that you chose to some chapters. I am going to do the same. Really, no one needs to see my journeys but me anyhow. Most of all, thank you for sharing soo very much about living your best life. I carry so many of your thoughts and poems with me. blessings to you and Joe, that wonderful card sender!!
That’s what I thought … I just saved a bit of the interesting parts! Thank you dear Wendy… I will tell Joe you said that!🌻
I think you should plant at least a small bit of your shredded memories as mulch in your gardens, since they led you there. <3
I love that idea! xoxo
Hello Susan, and hello to all the girlfriends. whew it has been hot and miserable here, we have had over 25 days straight of 95 degrees or more up to 113 degrees, it cooled down for a day or so and now its going up and down….. 91 degrees to triple digits and back down to below 90. we have the baby chicks out in the brooder, they are now a month old and feathering up nicely. poor babies it got so hot we had to shut off the brooder and it was warm enough for the chicks to do without it. that was a learning experience, never raised peeps without a heat lamp. but if we had left it on the peeps would broiled to death. so for now it is keep them comfy, and keep them hydrated and that is one chore that is never ending… they are literally guzzling that water down and i have refresh their water containers 3-4 times during the day. the ducklings are also feathering up nicely and come next month, (Aug 14th) they go out to the yard and into the pools for their swim. we will be letting the peeps out by Labor day into the yard and then they can all run around and explore and enjoy. and i can finally take a bit of a rest from the watering …. i hope, i hope, i hope. the ducklings are really getting pretty and so big, and they are showing the blue that gives them their name.. Swedish blues. their feet are blue and their bills. these are 2 little females and i am trying to give them adorable names, i have Daphne, and the 2 males.. Dewey and Daniel. want to give the girls a name with a “D” so any ideas are welcome. the 4th of July here was a blast we had some fireworks and a sort of tailgate party and cookout. lots of chicken and and loads of salads and tons of fresh homemade ice cream… blackberry!!!! well i have to get hopping again, laundry out on the line and water containers to refill for the babies. you all stay cool and happy, and send some rain and cool breezes this way we could use it. i’m already thinking about Autumn and the cool winds and days to come, keeps me going. keep cool, stay healthy and stay happy. hugs……. 😀
Susan i loved how organized your yard sale looked, sort of gives me ideas for when we have a huge yard sale for the in-laws junk. were you able to get rid of it all??? they have a ton of junk to get rid of and i am not looking forward to that event.
Oh, Susan, it is wonderful to have you back! Thanks for making me smile today.
Hello again Susan, girlfriends. i just had to comment on the yard sale, i love how you had it all set up Susan, it looked so organized. at least this gave me a plan for the yard sale we plan to have to get rid of the in-laws’ collection of items. they wanted to pass it all on to me but i refused, i have no space for it and mos to f things she uses i would not. so it is all up for sale. and before i forget congratulations to the winners of those beautiful cups. any plans to raffle off an Autumn cup real soon????? it has been hot here, hot and dry as we have very little humidity in the air…. we are talking under 20% humidity and as low as 9%. it just makes the heat even worse even if it is only in the mid eighties to low 90’s . i would dearly love a good long soaking rain to come around, and right now i would even settle for a cloud dumping a bucket of water on top of me…. guess we will have to hang on and hope for good soaking rains to come this Autumn… keep your fingers crossed!!! well off to get an apple for a snack, and finish hanging the laundry out to dry. maybe i will get lucky and it will sprinkle out there….. hope, i hope, i hope. keep cool, stay healthy and stay happy . hugs…… 😀
My fingers are crossed for you Pat! Sending my very best rain vibes!☔️
keep them crossed please and send some good thoughts for a good soaking rain for the fields, and the trees and some cool breezes would help also. its hot here, too hot and too dry!!!
thank you Susan for the rain vibes, we got a bit of rain on Tuesday along with cooler temps… 88 degrees. but unfortunately it shot right back up on Wednesday and hit the triple digits here. we now have a few chances for thunderstorms and a small chance for some more showers. keeping fingers crossed that the lightning brings rain and does not start any more fires.
Pouring here… and cold! Makes zero sense! ❌⭕️
Oh Joy! A new blog post from Susan! Thank you!
My twin Alice and I were 18 days old when you wrote your first diary! My birthday is December 8, 1957!
Candice
Sweet as pie! You’re the same age as one of my sisters!
Oh joy, you’re back 😀. Another fun and happy read. Love when I see your name pop up in my email. The crossing cannot get here fast enough 🚢. I’m booked for the Cotswolds tour but, the Lake District and Beatrix Potter are calling. What’s a girl to do 🤷♀️.
You have nothing to lose, that’s the problem. It’s ALL beautiful!💝
Dear Susan,
It’s so funny that I was thinking of starting a diary at the tender age of 65!
It was a brave thing to do what you did! Looking forward to toasting on the Queen Mary. Love, Rosemary
I think you can do it at any time! And if you wait until you’re 65, you will embarrass yourself a whole lot less! Queen Mary! 🚢 🥂
LOLOL!!! I never thought of it that way! ~ Susan, you really crack me up sometimes! 😀 ~ Less embarrassment after 65 is solid encouragement to start a journal now! I was going to wait until April 30 to start the QM2/England Travel Journal, but all the dreaming and prepping and planning and dreaming would make a great, fun start to it! And since I’m older and wiser now, I’ll keep any embarrassing stories off the journal page ~ if I feel I just HAVE to share any blushable Senior moments, why, there will be a whole ship full of kindred spirits to confide in. As they say, what happens on the high seas stays on the high seas! hahahaha
LOL, yes, seeing my “youth” in my own handwriting (no denying it!) was excellent encouragement for shredding the diaries! You’re a wonderful writer, your Travel journal will be all stories and fun! XOXOXO
Oh, Susan, that is the nicest compliment and so extra extra special coming from you! Thank you! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Well, it’s true!!!
Hi Susan,
Everyone else has already expressed the reaction to the shredding, ditto. I wish I could have come to the yard sale, but I live on the other side of the country. I enjoyed this post, and have to slowly digest parts of it. Where can I find your mother’s potato salad recipe? In closing, I am sorry to hear your brother passed in 2016. I remember reading about your parents. I hope you will soon be able to have a family reunion with your siblings. Happy Summer time to you and Joe.
My mom’s potato salad is in the Summer book ~ but it’s HERE too if you don’t have it!💘
Lovely, just lovely and I thank you so much.
Thanks to your IT guru, too, as that “forbidden” message was a shock! I promptly emailed Lauren at your shop (I had the email address from a pre-order) to express my puzzlement. She was most reassuring!
Hugs!
Good!!! I’m glad she got back to you! 💝
I am convinced that this is my all time favorite of your blogs. Have no time right now to read all the comments, but it’ll bet others may agree with my opinion. Or…..maybe it’s a bit of Absence makes the heart grow fonder!?
Tom and the family have gone off for the day to “the Island”, Acadia Nat. Pk. and Bar Harbor. It’s the busiest July ever…so far. I hate crowds and have loads of wash to do, with 4 very athletic kin-folks in the house. Lots of sweet tears, lots of laughter. Son Steve came over from Rockland to meet his “new” little sister, niece and 2 nephews.
As Tom and I fall into bed at night, exhausted, we agree that it seems our hearts are bursting with Pure-D Joy!!!
Thank you Dear Lady, for sharing your hard won wisdom.
Mucho Love,
Debbie in Maine
Can’t wish for more than that!!! 👏👏👏
So glad to read this blog! I received the scammed one and was so upset to think that somehow I had done something to be forbidden to read any more of your posts. Very relieved to know that it was a hoax though sorry for all the trouble it must have caused you. And I am very happy to read that you are beginning to make your way out of the darkness brought on by the pandemic and the state of the world. It is incredibly hard to stay positive but terribly important. We all need each other in these times, especially those who are able to bring beauty and peace to others simply by being themselves and sharing their light with the world. If you can’t tell, I am talking about you! I look forward to your new book of quotes. I have always loved reading the ones you choose for your calendars and books. Sending love and good wishes that you continue to feel Joy and Peace.
Beautiful Sydney, thank you so much! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Hi Susan! Thanks for the photos of your yard sale, I would have LOVED to come to it but getting all the treasures back to CA would have been a challenge. I have a very rudimentary blog and recently shared my thoughts on the experience of holding a “virtual” rummage sale for our church (online through Facebook Marketplace). The best part was finding new homes for the items and all the STORIES we heard. If you’re interested, it’s here. lamarshahbazian.wixsite.com/mysite/post/musings-of-a-rummage-sale-proprietress
Thanks for always brightening our days. Love your artwork and your photos and your personality just shines through.
The stories are always the best! It’s why I love reading the comments here, just like yours!♥️
I am another lifelong journaler and I also… shred my journals. It seems to split journal writers into two passionate camps, to keep or to destroy. But for me they are working documents, therapy in convenient and portable binding. Do you feel lighter?
Love seeing the photos of the yard sale and wishing I was there!
Yes, much much lighter. It was the right thing for me to do! Keep what is important and let the rest go. If the important pile got too high, I had to analyze and then, let it GOOOOOO!
This has taken days for me to grab some uninterrupted time to read this through—definitely worth waiting for! O
Something I saved for years was letters I had received from friends and relatives. I had literally hundreds which I read through during the pandemic. I sorted through and returned those to friends I was still connected to—almost all of them! And I received such nice replies from those you loved reading their former selves of 30, 40 and even 50 years ago. So sad that handwritten letters on paper are such a thing of the past!
A wonderful idea … I’ve sent some, but others are still too precious to me, and some are unsinkable! I kept all the best ones from my grandma, mom and dad…I pat myself on the back for that!
I can’t imagine if we had been forever denied access to this blog. Seeing your diary pages, the newsprint for the buying of Holly Oak, the old Halloween photos; everything is a treasure. How monumental to review and relive it all. I think I want 10 copies of the book of quotes for me and girlfriends and I know that won’t be enough. Thanking you for sharing so very much of yourself. You are a Blessed blessing. 💕
Love you Pam!
Hi, Susan, I’m so glad you’re up and running again. I love these Blogs. I print them out so I can sit comfortably and enjoy reading them at my leisure. I have a question. How can I sign up to receive the Willard newsletter via email? And is your newsletter the same as your blog?
Go HERE to sign up….Yes, at this point Willard and the Blog are the same… for a long time, in order to make Willard extra special, I had to do it separately, but these days I can do everything on the Blog I used to only be able to do on Willard! Hope that makes sense!
Always a pleasure to read your lovely and most welcome newsletter! Too many good things to comment on though! OMG, but that yard sale! Yes! You are a dear and you have made today most cheerful. Thank you, dear Susan. Love you to pieces.
Hello. When I seen “forbidden” I figured it was my computer that had the problem! I know nothing about computers!!
I had visited your little store in Arroyo Grande, obviously many years ago. We were in San Francisco, my husband had a conference there then we spent a few days vacationing. I had him drive me all the way to your store, which he gladly did. I was so excited to be there and looking at all the beautiful items and how cute it was set up, that I didn’t realize it was you who I bumped into in the window area, as you were making things look cute, until you walked out!!! I was so heartbroken that I was so oblivious, although I looked at you and said excuse me, but I really didn’t expect you to be there, and you looked different in person, that I didn’t recognize you. All these years later I still think about my missed opportunity to meet you in person!!!
Hope you continue to have a wonderful summer and I look forward to your book of quotes! Thanks for all you do!
Well, it was close!! I’m glad you enjoyed the store, it was my baby for a while!
I give up…you are going to get a snail mail…
Hugs,
MargotB
Never give up!🤣
Big Woop! My 76th birthday. I’ve been working my way through the comments, and I, too, wanted to add my thanks to Kay’s comment about “clutching her pearls”. That saying is soooo rich in memories! Thank you for the chuckle.
Debbie in Maine
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DEBBIE! I didn’t know! 🎉🥳🎈🎉🥳🎈 I hope you had a wonderful day!!!
Susan, I was startled that you were shredding your old diaries, and then I thought about it and realized it was a good thing for you to do. As we get older, some things need to be put aside, after all. Then I saw the mug with packing of the shreddings for Cliff, and I laughed and laughed! I have read your memoirs I bought from you at least four times, maybe five, and given the sets as gifts to three wonderful women. Thank you SO much for keeping your diaries for long enough to write those terrific books. And thanks for sharing your journeys in life with all of us who appreciate you. Take a bow, dear Susan ! Hygge, Suzette
Hygge right back to you Suzette!♥️
Hi Susan – I didn’t know you were once a Valley Girl! So am I! I worked my way across he Valley, starting in Pacoima/Arleta, then to Sepulveda (now called North Hills) and to Woodland Hills! Lots of fun memories! Love your illustrations! Love your stories! Love your blog!
Oh yes, a proud Valley Girl, although before they got the accent!🥰
Susan,
I knew you would never tell us your site was forbidden. I’m glad someone knew how to contact you about it. What a fun post. Wish I was going to England with you all. I know it will be a wonderful trip.
xo,
Karen
Welcome back Karen! xoxo
Your childhood letters/essays are so priceless! How I wish I would have kept my diaries for I was always writing. I wrote quotes I fell in love with all over my mattress in pen, why you ask? Young teen angst? Who knows, but words were magic to me. Looking forward to your book of quotes and super happy you were able to move through your low period — we need your light. Thankful.
💡💡💡🔆 I wonder if you took a picture of that mattress? I love that! A dream bed!
What a great idea, Juls. I believe I’ll do the mattress writing now, at my
good ripe age. A few quotes, and I’ll add more when Susan’s quote book comes out.
“You are forbidden” REALLY what internet genius thought up this phrase to inform us users? Shame on him/her. Another softer phrase would do methinks. My blood curdled to use another phrase from one of the girlfriends a while back :-). Thankfully, all is well and you are back. I’m in awe of your sacrifice at shredding those old diaries. I agree with others that something could be done with the shreds. Some version of fortune cookies perhaps. I’m really looking forward to your book of quotes. I want to make that chicken and bean soup soon. Looks so good. Thanks for everything Susan.
Yes, instead of FORBIDDEN, how about “WE GOOFED UP!” So clarifying. 💘
So very glad your good and better newsy need is back on track! You keep the song in my heart and encourage my own creativity! Bless you! I’ve ordered my FIRST cup – the winter one, which is my favorite! We have done our own cleaning of house with 2 big truckloads of recycling and yard refuse. Now we are ready to finish our own BBQ pit with seating for glorious picnics/cook-outs. Fun times! Our wonderful England and Highclere Castle trip have had to be rescheduled for August 28, 2022. We are so looking forward to being out of London into the English/Scottish/Wales countryside. We count our blessings to be able to take this lovely trip. We will be on your trip in
spirit as well. Take care, keep well and safe!
Pray we get to go on all our adventures! Crazy world out there!😘
It sounds like your IT guy was a blessing to us all! ❤️
I’ll tell him you said that! 💝
Ahhhhh, finally, a clear beautiful day here on Hog Bay, Franklin, Maine. Our family are getting out and seeing things…or trying to, through the clouds and rain
They are going out in our neighbors’ kayaks now, as the tide is right. Same neighbors are doing a cookout Saturday so the other neighbors can meet them.
It really is wonderful how everyone up here is so welcoming and happy for us.
Life can give precious gifts if you expect it. I do know it can give you a kick in the teeth, but it seems that Tom Terrific is right. If you expect the best, it can show up more easily.
Thank you, Dear Lady, four leading the way on Positive Thinking. And if the worst happens, picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and starting all over again!! 🙂
❌⭕️ Another beautiful day today!
Lovely, lovely, “luv-lee” post – and so worth the wait! Glad you’re back safe & sound in the cyber world! Absolutely LOVE all the diary quotes here, and I completely understand why you shredded those old journals. I’ve done the same myself several times over the years. Some things are better kept close to one’s own heart! Excited for the quote book to come out – love the preview!! XO to you and Joe from a beret-wearing Girlfriend.
Always think of Maya Angelou quote “I did then what I knew how to do, now that I know better, I do better!” 😂
Amen!😄
Thank goodness you are back and even the internet bandits couldn’t keep your sunshine Blog from your faithful girlfriends. I am so happy to see that you are sounding more like your old self too. I have really had a rough year with back surgery on top of all the worldly events that had tried everyone’s sanity. I want to thank you for helping me to solve one of my greatest worries. I have about 30 diaries I have written over the last ten years, the most difficult of my life. I have decided to destroy most of them but to save the positive pages. This blog has made my heart lighter. Sometimes we just need to see the way with a little permission from a good friend.
I understand. I had to debate myself for quite a while, realizing finally it’s possible to have cake and eat it too! Save anything that makes the world a better place! xoxo
Susan, you are such an inspiration in everything you do! Thank you. You are so appreciated. And BTW, I too grew up buttering my corn with a piece of bread. I lived about 35 miles south of Cleveland, OHIO, in Akron. I’ve been trying to figure out if doing the bread/butter thing is from the Pennsylvania Dutch part of my family or the Austrian/German side. I’m gonna go with the Pennsylvania Dutch side.
Thanks for your blog today. They always bring me great happiness!
Elaine Woodford
Seems SO much more civilized than rolling your corn in the stick of butter!🤣 xoxo
Growing up my family always had a “dedicated” stick of butter for rolling the corn on the cob. Very uncivilized. That wonderful, sweet, tender white corn is available now, so we’ll try the bread and butter method!!!
Debbie in Gawjus (for today) Maine
Sharon in Arkansas
I am in the middle of six. I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Thank you for sharing the picture of you and your brother when you were so young. That picture brought back a flood of memories! I very much enjoy reading your blog. It sends me backwards and forward. Thank you Susan.
I want to comment more but for now I just Have to say….OMG that card from JOE! To hear a good man say that he loves you Desperately??? Swoon to the max!! 🙂 I have been re-re-reading Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams this weekend. So glad your blog is up and running again! Love you, Susan!
p.s. Any possibility of bringing back the Jack In The Books cups? 🙂
Congratulations to Mary and Allyson! How exciting to have Rachel and Paul aboard the ship! My mother kept a diary of a trip she made on the train from Knoxville to Fort Worth, Texas to visit her uncle and his wife. I loved having a chance to read it after her passing. Shared it with my sister; now its whereabouts are unknown, sadly. It would have been lovely to be at your yard sale! There’s always room for one more thing here. LOL You have the perfect outdoor spot! Lovely to be able to share it with dear friends! Thank you for allowing us to be part of your story!
Hello, Dear Friend. (Said like Tom Hanks in Sleepless In Seattle:)) How much magic can u fit into one life? I loved loved loved this blog. You are a brightener of my Soul and I cannot thank you enough for being you. I can’t say that my heart didn’t mourn a little when i heard the words burn and shred, but i know it was the right thing to do!!! And poor cliff will feel safe. Joe is so sweet to think of sending him a mug that way. Today I decided I don’t want to be down anymore. I have struggled too. However, I started today with a dance party of 1 and my friend is coming Tuesday for a dance party of 2 and i am just going to go on like that until i am happy and have completed projects while dancing and hopefully will hv lost the weight i gained by choosing health and happiness. I also bought new White jammies and a new white nightgown and I am going to where all my white linen tops and sleep in white sheets and white duvet. Somehow being in white seems appealing right now. Clean crisp a sense of lightness and renewal. Choosing health physically and emotionally. I so wish I could come on the ship, but i know you will pack us all in your suitcase and i am just as excited. I hv been cooking up a storm and thought i would send u a recipe i modified. It is a Vietnamese sauce and i paired it w summer rolls with julienned veggies and basil mint and cilantro with rotisserie chicken rolled in rice paper wrapper. juice of 6 limes, 3 large garlic cloves, 1 serrano splash of fish sauce, 2-3 tbs sugar, and salt to taste. Put everything in blender or food processor. That’s it! I actually drank it it was sooo good. It traditionally goes on an egg and scallion crepe. Anyway, I thought you would like it. Sending a million hugs!
Hello Susan, girlfriends… still hot and dry here, its up into the triple digits here….100 degrees and tomorrow we cool off… 97 degrees, and go down a bit more by Wednesday, then we got back to the triple digits by the weekend and into next week… if you care to throw a bucket or 2 of water in our direction, PLEASE DO, we can use it. have a fun recipe for a yummy cocktail snack. no cooking involved so your house will stay cool. make up some deviled eggs, you won’t need the whites so save them for something else. now get an English hot house cucumber, you can find them in the produce dept in the store, the fancy cucumbers that are wrapped up in plastic. get one or two and slice them into rounds of about 1/2 inch each or a little thicker if you wish. get some salmon sliced very thin, paper thin at the deli and a bunch of fresh dill. mix up your deviled eggs as you always do, and put aside. now take the cucumber slices and put a little salmon on them, top with a dab of deviled egg and top with a piece of fresh dill. very cooling and tasty for cocktails or waiting for the BBQ to cook dinner. enjoy. got to get out and water the chicks and ducklings again… thirsty little critters. stay well, stay safe and stay happy. hugs…. 😀
So good to hear from you. Love your garden spot with the fancy tablecloth, flowers, fairy lights, and good company. Here in NC, it is quite warm and humid (sultry as my southern grandmother used to say). Wish I could have perused your yard sale. I have always enjoyed antique shops, Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity stores to find lovely things to make a homey house. Right now I am housebound. Not sick, just protecting my body while the doctors and neurologists figure out exactly what is happening to my spine. Reading, cooking, baking, watching lovely movies, keeping house, and maintaining my composure. I enjoy the vicarious glimpse of your summer days. Thank you so much!
Late to the party but how wonderful to see your blog up and running again ♥ Thank goodness for Goodreads author updates! My heart is soooo happy you and your glorious creativity are back and inspiring us. I moved (again!) to another small NC coastal town, so happy, and I’m currently going through my things in storage. Your diary post was so inspiring to me that it affirmed for me my decision to go through 4 big moving boxes of writings, semi-diaries (lol I never was disciplined enough to keep them up although I love writing), greeting cards for all over, etc. I feel lighter already about the decision! Thank you for inspiration where I never expected it!
I’ll not be on the voyage with you and the girlfriends, but I wish for you all much travel happiness – Happy Trails!!! And welcome back!!!! You were missed ♥
Happy new house Mari!!! ❌⭕️
Always love your newsletter chock full of beautiful pictures and wonderful quotes and the recipe was a special bonus…just made it and so easy and simply delicious.
Your upcoming trip to Europe sounds fantastic…wish I could attend…maybe another time soon.
Susan from Carmel, Ca….
Oh how I wish I could go to England with you! I’ll have to go through your words and photos which will be delightful too. I read about your dahlias and thought of this fun little thing to do on the stakes so you don’t poke your eye out when you bend down to fluff them, turn clay terra cotta pots over the end of them! I saw this done by another gardener and so so cute. Enjoy each summer day for fall will be here sooner than you can say Johnny Appleseed!
Wow! This month had so much to absorb. I love reading your posts. They are both uplifting and real-life which is great. I wish I lived near you – would have loved to come to your yard sale! Lol. I, too, have definitely missed those during the pandemic. Great job on shredding the diaries; it takes a lot to do that. 🤗
For the 3 years before I married in 1962 my girlfriend and I would go to the Saturday night dance. I would keep the entrance ticket and write on it who I danced with and who took us to supper and kissed us goodnight. All in tiny writing. It was the highlight of our week. Before I married I burnt them all. I feel better about it now. My husband of 58 years died 13 months ago. How I miss him. But what wonderful memories I have. I looked after him for 8 years when he had Alzheimer’s. He died a peaceful death. Thank you Susan for a beautiful blog
Thank you. You’re never insignificant in my book. Today you feel like a life saver. This past year has been so hard for many reasons but you always manage to bring me back to beauty and hope.
Thank you 🌸
Lots of Happy Tears in our dooryard this morning. Sending our “new” daughter and her 3 off to their home in Minnesota….her Subaru Outback crammed to the top with stuff. Tom gave each of his grandkids something meaningful, a real Navy leather jacket he wore on his ships, a cadet blanket with his name on it, a nice hoodie with US Coast Guard Academy, and I gave the youngest a book on techniques of drawing. He’s quite good, and interested.
But these two old folks are ready to settle back into our Quiet Life again. I am going to start looking for a doc who is willing to give Tom a “booster” shot for Covid. We are starting to see breakthrough cases here in Maine….even though we have the 2nd highest vaccination %, behind Vermont. It’s back to masks for us when we go shopping. We are swarming with tourists from unvaccinated States, as you may be out on your Island. Highest no. visitors in Acadia National Park ever!!! So….Please Stay Well everyone. Keep your guard up. We’ve come so far, don’t lose it now!
Mucho Big Love to you, Dear Susan, and to all the Girlfriends.
Debbie in warm, sultry, smokey Maine
Oh I was so thrilled to finally see a blog post!!! YAY!!!! We miss you!!!! LOL. Glad the computer issues are over. LOVE these long posts. I am mortified about the journals…I understand, but still mortified. I will not be able to do this with mine. Happy for you about the yard sale, it’s so liberating to clean out and purge items out of our homes. Take Care and PLEASE come back sooner rather than later. I sometimes have to read past years posts to get my happy fix!! LOL
OH, can hardly wait until you finish your Book of Quotes! It will be so chalk-full of wonderful words and drawings! I LOVE your bookmarks…could you make an “America” one, something like your stationery one? These are so fun to give as gifts. And, I know I’ve mentioned it before, and not to be redundant, BUT…oh how I miss your stickers. I still have some in my boxes that I use for special friends and special occasions (I bought up all I could find on-line and in stores years ago when I learned you were not making any more – well just a few in you “Shop” section). I’ve even taken some your your rub-ons and put around my kitchen windows this summer – so delightful! And yes, they still stick! I once did an entire old white chair with them and put in my bathroom. How I would have loved to me at your yard sale – what wonderful treasurers people were able to take home with them, but, alas, I live at the other end of the USA – Washington State, so never shall I get to your beautiful spot. That is why I enjoy your Blog so much and all your photos – you just live in the most enchanting place ever. So glad you are feeling creative again…can’t live without your artristy!
Just a quick follow-up! Oh, my! I made the Mexican White Bean and Chicken Stew tonight and it was amazing! My husband loved it and scraped his soup bowl clean! The avocado on top along with a few other toppings made it even tastier but it was really lovely by itself. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
My pleasure! So happy you liked it… makes me want to make it again! xoxo
Oh.my.goodness Susan!! This one war filled with so much delight!!!i salivated thru the yard sake pics, what tummies you had!!! Wahhhh!! Then the shock of your shredding!! Oh my goodness!!! I must add i grew out two of my yearbooks as I got tired of moving them around but your dear diaries!!! Such profound courage!!! And of course that adorable card your hubby gave you….so adorable and walks to Hamlet, really??? I won’t even go into to those absolute yummy gazpacho pics! A must must try!!! I am turning 60 this Friday and have made a point that every 10 years I have to do something fabulous! I wish it would be England but not yet. I get giddy just thinking about it!! You’ve stirred my creative pot so I have a year to decide! Thank you for blessing me while I sit in the a/c in Kansas City wishing I was near the water of my youth! God knows what I need so we will see!! Blessings blessings on that wonderful trip you are planning!!!!!
Susan, I have just thought of a use for your old diary covers – cut them up and repurpose them into things like: picture frames, headboards, lap desks, cutting boards, trays, seat/bench covers, room dividers, mosaics, storage boxes. The uses could be endless and what good memories and vibes would make each item personal, one of a kind, and beautifully repurposed into preserving memories into new life.
LOVE that idea! I also love them whole, like they have a wisp of aura between the covers. Happy aura, lots of laughing and tears. 💝
Susan, Just thought of a wonderful use for your Dear Diary covers. They are so beautifully patterned and would be excellent re-purposed with tender loving care as: bookends, trays, frames, lap desks, mosaic tiles, boxes, cutting boards, mouse pads, clipboards, artwork, tissue box covers, tote bags, document trays, etc, etc! Endless uses giving new life to the breathings of your heart. New life for countless memories!
Dear Susan,
Congratulations on a successful sale and on shredding your journals. Purging is essential on many levels. I’m still using mine for writing purposes, but once done, I like you, will have a shredding party. Although, I’m hoping for a “burn bin” to send all those words and memories into the universe.
I’ve finely moved to my dream location, Maine. It’s a wonky old house, not as well cared for like yours, but soon that will change! Big plans are in the making! Sometimes I’ve had a hard time reading your blog; my own emptiness seems a contrast to your life. I’m sorry you’ve struggled emotionally/mentally of late. No matter how many times I get myself out of that pit of despair, it’s still a shock to find myself in again. It’s important to share our stories for “a problem shared is a problem solved.”
Your soup looks yummy! For the plant-based eaters out there, it could easily be made with vegetable stock and no chicken. The white beans will be more than enough for a yummy, hearty soup!
Thank you again and again for continuing to share and inspire.
💖 Lynn
Congratulations on your move Lynn! I love Maine! I agree, sharing our problems, that’s what we are for. Blessings to you, take care and remember to breathe! xoxoxo♥️
Welcome to Maine, Lynn! You’ll find you are in good company here, where writers and artists gather. Just on our little road there are 5 artists. In my teens my best friend and I would dream of moving to Maine. I believe that holding fast to a dream helps realize it. Et Voila, je sui ici! (Practicing for a much delayed trip back to Quebec City…delayed until we’ve put Covid to rest.) Just a word of advice. When you need professional help on your old house, hire local folks. They really appreciate it when those of us “From Away” respect them.
Debbie in Maine
Hi Susan! I’m rather late to comment, but I’m here! My 41 year old daughter had her baby (her first, dream come true baby!) and I’ve been BUSY ever since! But today, I finally had time to catch up and read your wonderful, ALL GOOD NEWS blog! Always a joy. This time, I couldn’t believe it, you talked about something I have been really thinking about a lot lately. Like you, I have written many “family story” books. We call them “The Craig and Ginny Evans Family Series, Book 1, 2, 3” etc. Well the thing is, I’ve written all the family history ones now and the coming of age one and the first 10 years of our lives together one and I’m not done yet. I LOVE writing and like you, I have saved letters, journals, notebooks, full of material to keep writing forever. The thing is, I keep wondering why on earth I’m doing this? Who will ever read most of it? Family history, sure people might read those, but what about all the rest? What if I write so much, someone will just be overwhelmed and not read ANY of it, or throw it all away? I’ve been second-guessing my book creating and writing–but then I read your little quotes and your thoughts and I just KNOW that this is how God made me and this is what I am suppose to be doing. And if some of it just tossed, I will have had the complete joy of doing it, writing about our lives and all the ways God blessed us. I will have had so much fun combining photos, paintings and narratives, even if no one ever sees them! Once again, I thank you for sharing who you are and what you love with all of us! Your distance friendship enriches my life more than you can know! Take care, gain your creative strength again dear girl! Enjoy each day! Love, Ginny Evans (the California to Canada to Texas one).
I think you have made the PERFECT decision!!!♥️
Hahaha well, Anna Susannah Branchburger the third: I’m glad yall’s yard sale was a success. I haven’t been to a good one in way too long. When it heats up in the south, we go into hiding. It drives us indoors much like the extreme cold of the north must do for you at times. Which is also why I won’t be making the mexican white bean and chicken stew until late October (wahh) but I wrote it down and I’m ready!
I know you must get asked all the time, so please forgive me and I’ll understand if you don’t have time to answer. My husband and I are planning a trip to New England in October to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We’ve always wanted to come see the fall colors and take in the road-less-traveled type scenery. We hope to be out there for 5- 10 days, will do our best to stay off the big highways, visit some farmstands and antique shops, eat at local family owned type places. I’ve combed through your old posts and found some ideas, but I was wondering if you could make some further suggestions.
Hi Jack!
Everything you’ve suggested is perfect! I would go to Plymouth, darling town, beautiful graveyard with Mayflower passengers, Plymouth Plantation for history. And Salem MA. Wonderful little town, and graveyard memorial to the “Salem Witches.” More history. Walk the Freedom Trail in Boston, and visit Concord and Lexington (and see Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House). You’ll love driving the backroads!🍁🍂🍁
Finally had time to read your latest post. Thank you for sharing so much news! It is hot here and I thank you for wishing us breezes!
From Sunny Southern California,
Dear Susan, I’m not much of a writer, myself (sadly, but at 64, I’m okay with it!) however, just wanted to say how happy, how grateful, I am that YOU are a writer. An extraordinary writer, who brings such light and loveliness, joy and fun to everyday things and experiences. Who reminds us of the importance of remembering to see the light in the sweet, simple things around us. Reading what you write always reminds me to stop and be grateful. Thank you for that.
Looking forward to the QM2 crossing – and everyday before and after!
Oh Robbie, that was so sweet of you… and me too, just thinking about it gives me chills! SO excited! xoxo See you there!
This is the first moment I’ve taken time to really read this marvelous blog. Our company arrived July 18, the day after you posted. Once again, it is my all time Fav. Love your thought process, which I will borrow when I do the winnowing down of all my “log” books. They actually look just like yours do on the outside. I’ll never get rid of the ones of the long trips Tom and I took. He enjoys reading them while looking at the pictures in the big scrap books.
You are a writer who will live on long after your body has Shuffled off to Buffalo. You have done the work of gathering up the wonderful things in life, and then you do the work of sharing them with us.
Lunch time, and hoping I’ll redeem myself on the cribbage board. Enjoying the nice cool day….the muggy heat is returning soon!! Ahh well, that’s Summer, and I’ll take it any way it comes….except Hurricanes.
Debbie in gawjus Maine
And a cold rainy day here! No complaints, but it does feel very fall-ish! 🍁 xoxo
Susan,
I’ve been a Branchaholic for 26 years, always enjoying everything you write and draw….I’m looking forward to the next 26! Cheers Girlfriend – Maria in New Jersey
Cheers Maria! Thank you!
Hello,
The hiccups of life! This morning I went back and reread some of your blogs and I was so pleasantly surprised with joy of the cruise in May 2022. I found myself calling to find if I was too late to book. I was. However, you brought a ray of changing my outlook and excitement to my future with moving forward after my husband’s passing two years ago. Your blogs are always a breath of fresh air but today it hit me as like the first little crocus breaking frozen ground.
Thank you for sharing your life with us. Happy Sailing all you who jumped on board and have your calendars marked.
I’m so happy to hear that Julie . . . you can get on a waiting list for our cruise if you like! People are allowed to cancel with full refund up until Dec 31 ~ there might be cancellations! Give it a try! I love the positivity in your voice. xoxo
Oh the lifeline of hope… a waiting list! When I had called the cruise line and they told me that it was booked I had asked if there was a waiting list and they said no. Where would I find the waiting list?
Did you speak with Susan Gannon? She told me there was a waiting list. I hope it’s true, try her at 800-468-7752 ext. 41663 Say “Group TNM, Voyage M211) and tell her Susan Branch Girlfriend Group. Try that!
Rereading your post listening to Frank…lovely thing to do this evening after a day of chores…
I thought about how I’ve dealt with my journals over the years. At some point I just know it’s time to let them go and I’ve burned pages, shredded pages and sometimes torn them into little bits and tossed them in the air…LOL.
No book material there but wow how I’ve grown over the years and the things I’ve survived. I thank God and move on, writing about my experiences in my new journal.
A friend told me this when I told her I was destroying my journals…”but they will need them to declare you a saint!” Did you think about that? We had a good laugh over that.
peace and love,
Judy
No, like you, that thought did not cross my mind.🤣 What a nice friend you have!
Question: Have any of your dahlias bloomed? I keep checking your Twitter to see if you’ve put up any pics. Whiplash weather this summer, Fallish and then tropicalish. But OH, the trees are happy.
Debbie in Maine
They are still just beginning. I think we might have 4 now!!
I have not been looking at blog for a bit now. I am sorry that you had issues.
I was away because my mother passed. It was at the end of June. It has been a not so easy process and different from the loss of my father 3 yrs ago.
My mother and I went to your two last book signings that were held in Northern Illinois. She and I enjoyed ourselves and it was nice to spend time with her at those events. I have a picture or two that she took at one of the signings. It was special as like you I am one of a large family (I am the oldest of 7). So there were always others.
She always liked the items I made from your cookbooks.
Thank you
I’m so sorry Maureen. My mom passed last year and it really takes some getting used to, if that happens. Maybe not. We were so very lucky to have them, I’m filled with gratitude for what my mom meant to my life. Blessings on you . . . xoxoxo
Last night I made the Mexican White Bean and Chicken Stew and it was delicious. The toppings I used were fresh avocado, cilantro and sour cream. This will definitely become a family favorite so thanks for giving us the recipe.
You’re welcome! Isn’t it delicious? I’m making it again here today!
Ooooo, dahlias, Dahlin’s!
Debbie in Maine
Yes ma’am … now I wait for more to see if my color scheme will really happen!
Holy cow Susan-you’ll probably never get my comment-there’s 446 of them responding now. But I wanted to say I burned a stack of my journals too, so you aren’t alone. I skipped most of your blog. Didn’t have time to read it. Life, you know.
Oh I do know. I need to make them shorter!
Dear Susan, WOW!!! What a wonderfully enjoyable long blog. In a picture just under “Blessing on all geniuses the world has produced who have a charted path….” there are drinking glasses on your lovely tablecloth that I would like to ask you if you remember where you got them? When we were visiting a friend in Florida she gave my husband four because he liked them so much but now we are down to one and I would love to get some more from him. Thanks Susan. All the best to you, Joe and Jack.
If I’m seeing the right ones, these are French jelly jars and you can get them HERE.
Thanks Susan. I didn’t know what they were called and now that I do I’ll be able to order them. He’ll be surprised.
Alway fun to be able to surprise someone! xoxo
I just read your twitter comment “twitter from the twain.” As a speech/language pathologist I am asking you to be careful with the comments that you make that are insulting to people with speech production difficulties. There are many children and young adults who have difficulty producing the /r/ sound and substitute the /w/ sound. This is not something they do to be “cute” and their situation is not something for people to “use” for amusement. Please be careful not to try to be funny or cute at others’ expense. Thank you.
Because Twitter is a Tw, I made Train a Tw too. Only alliteration.
We’re under Heat Emergency and Air Quality warnings for the next few days.
Big chef salad planned for supper, with left over pork tenderloin. I love foolin’ around and coming up with new seasonings. Used fresh ginger, grated, pressed garlic and Hosin sauce on the meat. Sooo good with our just out of the neighbors’ garden summer squash and beans.
Now to find more reasons to be “down cellar” other than doing wash! I’ll bet those dahlias are loving the heat and sunshine, although it’s very hazy with smoke here today.
Thank you for the info on the Farm series. I’m about halfway through with Broadchurch. Not too hot inside, as we keep sunny side shades down until sun goes behind the western trees, bamboo, so you can still see out, all fans going ninety to nothing. For years we’ve been blowing the cool, dehumidified air up to the main floor. If you have a forced air furnace, you can do the same. It helps to have a large dehumidifier down there near where the air gets blown upstairs through the return to the floor grates. Portable AC up in our loft bedroom….Aaaahhh!
Please, everyone, take care. Stay cool, and maybe wear your masks again for awhile???
Mucho Love and Gratitude,
Debbie in beautiful Maine
I always threatened to put a chaise lounge or a BED in the basement … coolest place in the house! xoxo
Susan-I didn’t finish my comment! I should have said, I didn’t read it all bcz I was short on time-but will go back to read later. Always enjoy your blog!
The BEST BLOG yet! Wish I could have been at that yard sale the BEST treasure there would have not have been for sale as it would have been YOU! My birthday is August 19th and I’m still using my Birthday Cup (because everyday is a birthday). The only thing I’m missing is your shreddings lol. Enjoy the rest of August my friend.
You too Sharon!
Great letter to all us Susan Branch fans! 🙂
Hello Susan,
I don’t know if you will see this comment, but I hope you do. Because I haven’t been following your wonderful blog for too long, I would go back into the archives and start reading some of the older ones. What a blessing! I’m only into 2014 right now, but what a different life we had then. It’s like putting on my comfy slippers and wrapping myself in my quilt with a cup of hot chocolate. I don’t want to move too quickly through these gems of yours as who knows when we will ever feel like that again. May you continue to be richly blessed.
Yes, I do see your comment Linda… makes me so happy to read your words. I’m glad you’re enjoying them! Read some of the comments here, you’ll see we have an amazing group of kindred spirits on this blog! xoxo💝
Hi, Susan! This is an inquiry, not a criticism/complaint, but I’ve noticed that over the past few years, you’re doing fewer blog posts than you were, say, three or six or eight years ago and I imagine it’s maybe because you’re featured on other social-media/media platforms of which I’m unaware, since I don’t do Facebook and that other stuff (and maybe it’s high time I get up to speed!); so, where should I be looking to find you these days; like, are you mostly more frequently on Twitter, so should I be regularly dialed in there, or maybe a youtube channel? I’m afraid my resistance to ‘too much internet’ (I’m not much of a navigator) has left me in the ancient age. I just don’t want to miss any of your writings/musings (or new art)! Thanks for guidance, just hold me by the hand and point me in the right direction, and I hope you and Joe and Jack are doing really well!
Well, these last few months it’s really been a problem with my website. But yes, while all that was going on, I’ve been on Twitter the whole time. You might like Twitter, you might not, because I do the normal daily things of life on Twitter, flowers, and Jack, the moon, and things like that, but I also do politics, which is not everyone’s cup of tea. But also, there are lots of our Girlfriends there, the nicest people in the world, so we don’t get meanness or anything like that. But it definitely exists on Twitter and you’re bound to run into some of it if you wander around enough. I want to try and do MORE blog posts, that are shorter … because the long ones take me a whole day if I’m lucky. The goal is not to be too interrupted so I can get projects like calendars and books done, and it’s hard. I haven’t been able to really figure out how. So I’ve done less of them. But I LOVE the connection on the blog! ♥️ So that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Love you Vicki! xoxo
Woo, woo, it’s very Fallish up here in Maine, and I am excited. I think I get more energized in Fall than I do in Spring. Have loved seeing your pictures of the dahlias. They really are lovely in the garden as well in your vases.
We have been keeping the road to Bangor hot these last couple of weeks….doctors’ appointments. Down East Maine is becoming a medical care desert, as are many more rural areas in the US. So, to find the kind of docs you need, you have to drive. Of course there is the fact that most of our hospitals have been gobbled up by ahuge For Profit organization….Northern Lights. I lost 3 doctors in that first year, and many nurses went. They said they could not practice medicine like that. Some actually were fired for speaking out about their harsh treatment. Yesterday, just as I was being put to sleep for an endoscopy/colonoscopy (Daddy died of colon cancer), I blurted out, “I’m so happy to have found you guys at St. Joseph’s, and don’t have to have a rent-a-doc at Northern Effing Lights. The last thing I heard was a big whoop of laughter. When I woke up, several nurses came into my cubicle and said how much they enjoyed it, as some were also Northern Lights refugees…..Funny, but really, not so funny. As Joe Biden says…”This is the United States of America, for God’s sake!”.
I love your Twitter pictures, Miss Susan. So very sorry about cancelling the Train trip to be with your family. It hurts, as it did when I cancelled our big family reunion down in Florida. Oldest are in mid 80’s, but everyone was in agreement. We’re all Old, and the risk is just too high to be on airplanes and in airports. We had the Moderna vaccine, which isn’t approved for a booster yet, which makes it even more risky. Staying here until Insantis Land, AKA Florida, has much, much lower case levels. I’m OK with that, as I love my house, my lovely neighbors and friends, who are all back in Mask Mode, or distancing. And Tom can still play golf…until the snow flies. Too hot and stormy down there.
When I had to cancel our England trip, which was for a month beginning next week, I had to rebook on Aer Lingus in order to keep the two tickets with no rebooking fees. So I picked May 1, 2022. I’ll go back through the blogs and look for the info for the SB Picnic. That is my Bright Hope, to get back to there one last time. And, of course, to meet You and Joe, and all of you I’ve so enjoyed “knowing” by your comments right here.
Time to shower and go out to yet another appointment…pelvic floor rehab. Ladies, if you, like many of Of a Certain Age, have “leaks” when you laugh, laugh or sneeze, This is the Ticket. It is working for me. Highly recommend it.
Tom is making his famous chili for supper. It really is wonderful.
If you haven’t watched Hampstead through Netflix, do. It’s a contemporary, romantic comedy with Diane Keeton and a big Scotsman, set in London. Tom is now watching Clarkson’s Farm and enjoying it. Thank you for recommending it. He wants that Lamborghini tractor!!!!! Well, of course he does!!
Be Safe and Well. Mucho Love,
Debbie in Maine
Susan, Just wanted to check you are alright since its been two months since you last blogged, I check about once a week as Im trying to be computer free and not spend too much time on things like IG, they swallow your time away!!!!!
Anyway just wanted to say my thoughts are with you and Joe and hope everythings OK and you are enjoying this change to Autumn that is quickly happening.
Yes, I know what you mean about swallowing time! My website had a meltdown a couple of months ago and ever since, my IT guy has been working on it. I’m still not sure when he will be done, and to be perfectly honest, it’s driving me crazy! Everything is great here, we’re actually up in Camden Maine and I hope I will get to post some pictures soon! Thank you so much for asking… I miss everyone in this most wonderful season!