The month for
And guess what? YES! They’re here!
Blessing #1: The new cups started shipping out to you guys last week! If you haven’t gotten yours yet, they are on the way!!! They crossed the pond using every form of transport, plane, ship, train, truck, and slow boat to China … we don’t know how because no one would tell us, but the miracle is, all the way from the luv-lee potteries in Staffordshire, England, to Arroyo Grande, California, they have arrived! And for the most part, in one piece! Thank you for your never-ending patience! Reward? MUSICA!
The color turned out great! Here’s what the backs look like. As you can probably guess by the slow pace of the all-of-a-sudden infamous “supply chain” … unfortunately we will not be getting more of them before Christmas!! I THOUGHT we’d get these by September!!! If you were waiting until you saw the whites of their eyes, your time has come. They are here! And if this is the first time you’re seeing them, you can read more about them and see other designs we still have in stock HERE.
Blessing #2: Fall has come on very slowly this year.👏 A long fall is what I hoped for, and a long fall is what we’re getting! Usually, by this time, the leaves have turned and fallen and we’re raking them up . . . but right now the colors are at their best, and when you look out the window you see them, orange and yellow sparks twirling past in the wind. This was our walk in the middle of October! Green as green can be. Note the smooth and leafless road…
Then came a wild nor’easter! Worst winds I’ve experienced since I moved here! Wind gust was clocked at 96 MPH in Edgartown on the other side of the Island! This was our walk the day after … lot’s of visible wildness!
Tattered and torn leaves, branches, and pine needles carpet the dirt road to the sea ….
And a lot of missing sand, carved out and taken away . . .
I noticed this leaf on the ground, stepped right over it, but after a few more steps I felt I HAD to turn back and get a better look. WHAT was that? And take this picture. Right? The perfect cut-out “eyes” in the leaf were enough, but it wasn’t until I enlarged it that I saw the eyes had EYEBALLS!!! I’ve been saving it to show you. A wee note from nature!🍁
Storm was raging when I woke up and came downstairs in the dark, flashlight flickering around the kitchen like a lighthouse beam … the wildest of winds knocked out electricity for a lot of the island, including us … but our good old gas stove saved the day! The kitchen was warm and smelled like last night’s pot roast.
I lit myself a path through the wood room, flickering flames into the living room to my studio beyond … time to paint. It was a storm, but it was cozy and like a step back in time. No TV, no computer, a moment to just BE. Just like Gladys Taber said it should be!
Threw on a jacket and went outside to check on things the next day … at first I thought the wind had chipped the paint off the arbor! But those marks are tattered leaves plastered to almost everything, the arbor, the house, the car. The storm prematurely blew lots of leaves right off the trees! But our house stayed strong, as she has done since 1849. Knock on wood. These new type of storms we’re getting pack a wallop!
Lost one big tree behind the arbor … which was kind of good ~ it didn’t hurt anything, not even the picket fence, and it had shaded-out the roses on the arbor for years, so now, I get to grow roses again! A win-win! Blessing #4.
This is over our back fence behind the barn to the neighbor’s yard. They lost a tree too. This one is actually schmooshed right up against the windows of the house, but still no damage. Lots of huge old trees down all over the island…but we were lucky, no injuries that I’ve heard of, and all is back to normal. Blessing #5. Blessings galore.
And now? Thank goodness the storm didn’t take ALL the leaves! And they’ve finally turned color . . .
I took this picture of the back garden from an upstairs window… when the sun comes up and goes through the trees, we get warm gold light inside the house… Blessings just too many to number…but I think you can see them!
And here we are out walking in the woods …
Which are now ablaze . . .
Even the beach grass is on fire!
Lots of wild bittersweet . . . Mother Nature decorating earth. Just for us! How blessed are we?! I’m losing track!
This was today . . . the crows are having a field day!
Leaves coat the bottom of this puddle on the road, and trees reflect in the water. Isn’t it gorgeous?
This is the reward at the end of our walk . . . this little sandy salty windy beach…
We are listening to the book The Overstory right now, one ear-pod in Joe’s ear, one in mine, so we can listen together … it’s a Pulitzer-Prize winning novel and love story to Nature. Could NOT be in a better place to hear it . . . had to stop and smell a tree at one point, put my nose right ON it . . . so inspiring! Did anyone read A Gentleman in Moscow? That was our last read. I’m still not over it! My sister is reading it now; she calls me and we become the tiniest bookclub in the world hashing everything over!
When we got back to the car this was waiting. I PROMISE with all my heart we did not put that leaf there. It came on it’s own, just like you see it. Another blessing. 
Madly in love with nature . . .
Today it’s only about 48 degrees! Cold. Joe (Blessing extraordinaire) made us a fire, and now he’s outside putting on the storm windows . . .
While Jack investigates the mantle. All is well!
For those of you who read Fairy Tale Girl or Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams, you might remember Elaine? She had the dog called Boxcar, was my boss at the record store, and fired me too? (Not her fault, she had to, I had become useless which you know was NOT MY FAULT!) She’s been my dear darling friend since 1971. She lived here on the island for 10 years, moved back to California 20 years ago but kept her house here ~ and now she has retired from working at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and moved back here two weeks ago!!! I couldn’t be happier. She was born in Boston, so New England is really her happy place.
Elaine drove across country with her darling Westie, Ripper! He’s standing on his back legs in order to get a better look at Jack. Isn’t he adorable?
So, we now have Jack and the Ripper. But I have to say Jack is not that fond of the Ripper. Ripper would just like to lick Jack all over. But Jack is saying,
“Don’t even think about it.”
I’m just happy to have a cat that goes so well with the decor! Would hate it if he clashed!
But how could you go wrong. This is the secret to decorating. It’s like a movie set. Plain and unadorned. That way when the season changes . . .
I take the summer decorations upstairs and put then away until next year. . .
Then all I have to do is stick in different pillows, some fall flowers, quilts, and voila! It’s fall! Same thing and suddenly it’s Christmas!
Joe, Elaine, Ripper and I went off-island a few days ago. The first time any of us had seriously gone into stores for three years. We went to Pottery Barn. OMG. 
Every Christmas thing was out, sparkly, red and white, candles, and fluffy throws, perfect pillows, glass chandeliers … everything to set your heart on fire. The whole thing went to the happy zippy part of the brain. I was as excited as Ripper when he goes after Jack! We threw money at the cash register, bought tiny end tables, white felt and red sequin Christmas trees, napkins, candles, and star shaped pillows came home with us.
And this appliqué tablecloth! Needs to be ironed, but I wanted to see it on the table the minute I got home. I am going to LOVE Christmas this year, and I think I’ll just start now and have Thanksgiving and Christmas be a dynamic duo! Lights Camera Action!
We got our greeting cards back in!!
William Morris would be proud, recipes make them useful!
All about love . . .
Feeling the blessings! Especially when you think that this year we are going to be together. Fingers crossed it stays this way!
What else? I’ve been painting! Heading for my studio with Jack and my tea in the morning. . . listening to old movies while I do my watercolors …
Practicing people ~ I love painting people, but I’m still so nervous, I do the drawing, but putting on the first bit of paint is scary! The cup, you ask? I have that cup in real life only the shoes are blue. Isn’t it funny? Had to paint it.
This is my newest one… I love her … she hasn’t been scanned yet which is why the picture is so dark, it’s only a photograph. The book? My 8-year-old niece was reading it; she was OVER THE MOON about this series of books ~ so I thought, in her honor, I should include it in the new calendar.🧡 Normally I don’t have to turn in calendars until the first of March, but due to “supply chain” issues, the fact that everything is taking so much longer, they need them this year by January 1. So that’s what I’ve been doing. 2023! Eeek.
Something lovely happened. Erin, bottom left, called me out of the blue … she said her book club was reading my book Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams and said they loved it so much would I would come to one of their meetings so they could talk about it … I’d never met any of these girls, and yet they all live here on the island! So of course I said yes… And here we are!
Look at Erin’s table! Isn’t it gorgeous? I wanted you to see it for possible Thanksgiving inspiration! That blue and orange together was spectacular! I didn’t even know it was going to be dinner! They all brought recipes from my cookbooks! I was so honored I was almost (stressing on that word) speechless! I got to hear about how they met! You know I have this closeness too with my girlfriends, but it was wonderful to be in the bosom of that same thing with a whole different group!
I love seeing other people’s houses! Erin’s house was wonderful. I loved how they put their library of great books all in colors!! Cute! And yes, Joe was there too, along with Erin’s husband, they ate in the kitchen and only came out to pour wine and wait on us! Men can be so adorable!💞
Yes! Second printing of Home for Christmas has arrived!!! In the Saint-Nick of time … considering the “supply chain” ~ we got lucky! Big help that we had it printed in the good old US of A!
If you need to be taken back in time to a 1956 Christmas, this true story will do it for you … in detail!
I had a wonderful time writing this book. It was especially good during the time I was losing my mother, my first and forever best girlfriend, to be immersed in the warmth of her love every day as I wrote and painted this memory. Definitely a blessing. Like a dream. ♥️
And speaking of home and the generosity of girlfriends . . . I got the best thing in the mail the other day… and it wasn’t even for me, it’s for you!!! Yes!
You’ve seen my autumn decorating for years now . . . and something almost everyone comments on that you can see in this picture is…
my Pilgrim candlesticks! They come out every year . . . I found them in an antique store about a thousand years ago and have never seen another set.
They are just perfect this time of year!
Aren’t they wonderful? The black is the best! But guess what? These aren’t mine! These are going to one of you!!! Yes, our girlfriend Bunny Perkins from 
Ohio spotted them on Ebay and sent them to me to give to you! Wasn’t that just the sweetest thing?! You know Joe hates having to stand in line to pick up packages at the Post Office, but this one, he forgave me for! Leave a comment at the bottom of this post (you’ll see a whole bunch of tiny words and near the end, click on “comments.” Just a word or two is all you need to leave in order to be entered for this giveaway!) Thank you Bunny! You’re a blessing, so very kind and thoughtful of you!
Have you guys seen the pictures of families reuniting at the 
airport now that they can come into America from other countries again?😥 It’s just like Love Actually (best movie ever made). After all these months, people are throwing themselves into each others arms and sobbing with joy. Sisters hugging sisters, couples hugging grandchildren. Makes you cry … makes your heart soar.
We get to have Thanksgiving at our house this year! I’m so excited! I was just reminded by one of our girlfriends that it’s the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving!!!!🍁 The chicken stuffed with my grandma’s dressing was delicious last year because of course it was just us. But this year we get to have the real thing, with good old friends, light the candles, bake a pumpkin cheesecake. I already ordered the turkey! Yay yay yay yay!💃🏼
Here’s the guaranteed-to-please recipe from my Autumn Book . . .if you need it to be gluten free, all you have to change is the gingersnaps … get the gluten-free ones and voila! If you haven’t made this recipe I highly recommend it. Easier to make and more delicious than pumpkin pie, in keeping with the season!🍁
Well, the clock keeps ticking and the hands move closer all the time to when we’ll be heading off on our trip to England on board the Queen Mary 2. I think about it all the time! May 1. Here we come! I got my booster, yesterday we got our flu shots! Staying healthy! First requirement for getting on that ship! Where are we now … oh yes, must be around blessing #757. ♥️
Bye for now girlfriends. Going out on our walk with our book! I hope you are doing well and feeling festive. Both the quote above, and this one below, are very nice to read at our 400th Thanksgiving dinner! With all my love . . . .🎃 And don’t forget to sign up for the giveaway!🧡
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Blessings dear Susan! Your post has been a reminder to see peace and joy in all things. Thank you!
Dearest Susan and all the girlfriends,
I’m wishing you all a very blessed Thanksgiving.
I have enjoyed this extended fall season immensely. Looking forward to a crisp cozy winter and more blessings in 2022
~v~
God bless Bunny for her kindness and generosity. God bless Susan Branch, too, for being a brilliant light in the world! Happy Thanksgiving.
What a happy, uplifting gift from you to all of us. I can certainly tell that spirits have been made much lighter for you and your loved ones! Thanksgiving and Christmas will once again be filled with hugs, kisses and laughter <3
You have filled my heart with peace and joy once more. You are a blessing. Thank you.
My family had a Westie for 18 years and he was adorable and very terrier-ish. Ripper and Jack are cuties ❤️
Hi Susan, loved this newsletter. Thank you! I’ve gotten into the holiday spirit real early this year & already have a mini Christmas tree up in our dining room along with the Thanksgiving decos. I love the way the sunlight coming into the windows make it sparkle. Happy Fall to you!
Reading this brightens my day. Thanksgiving will actually be a reality this year with the family. Now that is something to be grateful for.
The candle holders are beautiful!
Fall is over in northern Minnesota today. We’ve got snow, wind and cold. Winter white!
There is nothing like seasons and holidays in New England!
Willard is always a welcome read around here.
Thank you Susan and have a lovely Holiday season
Cant wait to try the pumpkin cheesecake recipe!
Good morning Sweet Susan!
What a gorgeous post, as ever! I would be over the moon with the pilgrim candle holders. I’d put them with the felt acorn garland I bought at Rainy Day when I visited your magic island 3 years ago!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Joe and Jack and all of those you love. I am very grateful for your influence in my life and for your recipes that are ever present at our Thanksgiving table!
❌⭕️❌⭕️,
Tawni Urrutia
Oh I am soo thrilled to receive your updated in my email..a blessing
I would soo love to receive the amazing candle holders. Would be a gift ..a joy to my heart..uplifting after a yr of being diagnosed with breast cancer…
Blessings 🍁🍂
I have always wanted those candlesticks, I scour for them every site I peruse or shop I enter!!!! Love this giveaway the MOST!!! pick me, pick me! Happy Thanksgiing!!!
I love,love,love those pilgrim candlesticks! I have always admired yours. Now that would be a true blessing to win this set. Wishing you and Joe a very happy Thanksgiving!!!
What a delightful surprise in my mail box today, thank you! 😊 I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of Willard. What a blessing Bunny is ❤️ thank you.
So glad you were able to enjoy a long and beautiful Autumn 🍁
What a blessing to read your November Willard this morning! Your words and watercolors always brighten my day! 🙂
Loved this whole newsletter from you!
Just got my fresh brined turkey from Trader Joe’s so I am ready for Thanksgiving and my house is all Fall pillows and my turkey collection.
I loved A Gentlemen in Moscow and just read Amor Towles new book, The Lincoln Highway and recommend it.
I’m commenting for the candlesticks but also to say, “Happy Thanksgiving” and “Merry Christmas” and Happy Just Being Alive!!!
I love all your Willards and blogs but the holiday decor and warmness just gives me goosies all over! Can’t wait to start decorating!
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday and it seems to be even more wonderful this year as we gather to celebrate and count our blessings.
I live in Arizona so seeing your fall pictures gives me a but of autumn, too! (We have to travel north in AZ to see fall colors). I love seeing all your blessings, they remind me to count my own!
Hello,
Any chance you may be a nurse that I went ro nursing school with in Kansas?
It is always such a joy to read your blog. It always brings me back to the important things in life! Home and Love of Family Friends and Food…your blog is wonderful and always a breath of fresh air… I read A Gentleman in Moscow and anyone that has knows we never wanted it to end. I think it is time for me to reread it again as it has been a few years. I just heard Amor Towles has a new book out titled The Lincoln Highway. I will be reading that one first. Thank you for all the love you share and Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas.
Greetings from the Ohio Country Register! Love your Willards! Always brightens my day…
Hi Barb!❤️
I always love your blogs!
Just finished reading the new blog – loved it as usual! You have another blessing – your writing ability! Great style. Love walking with you and Joe and seeing your neighborhood and the beautiful homes. I read the Gentleman from Moscow and loved loved loved it! Waiting to read the Lincoln Highway. Continued Blessings from the Lord above for you, Joe, friends and family for Thanksgiving!
You too Carolyn!❌⭕️
Hello!
Love your blog and especially love that you said Joe was your blessing extraordinaire!💕
He knows it too… my miracle man!👏❤️
Thank you, Susan, for this “Blessings” celebration! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
You never cease to amaze me with the love and blessing that flow from you. Thank-you so much.
I just adore hearing from you! And I would absolutely LOVE to win those candlesticks. Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday.
Hi Susan!
Your candlesticks remind me of my pilgrim salt and pepper shakers that were my Nana’s! They come out every year and make me smile each and every time.
Infinite blessings!
Thanks for this beautiful autumnal post!! Recently my two daughters and I had a wonderful weekend at Little Switzerland in the mountains of western N.C. The colors were magnificent… can’t remember the last time I saw autumn colors like that!!
Let the Thanksgiving decorating begin! Those candlesticks are so unique and perfect for the holiday. Your letters are always so up-lifting. I don’t how you manage to bring sunshine and smiles every time! Thank you for the chance to win such a special gift.
Candles, candles , come to me. Chase the sadnesss from my door
Hold bright light for my autumn heart
Candles, candles, how I need thee.
😘😘😘
Happy Fall!!
How sweet of Bunny! Thanksgiving Blessings to all!
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, for sure.
Finding any Thanksgiving decoration is a win for me.
Greetings from California! I just poured myself a delicious cup of coffee and sat down with Williard – best way to start the day! I hope you and yours enjoy a blessed holiday season ~*
Dear Susan, your perspective and outlook on life are infectious! That’s why I love your blog so much! Thank you for sharing your blessings with us! I count you as a big one in my life! <3 Happy Fall and Holiday Season!
Isn’t Autumn spectacular! Thanks for this beautiful newsletter! Those candleholders are precious! Pottery Barn is the SH👆🏻T, is it not?!?!? I just ordered new living room furniture from there, and guess what, my couches are creamy oatmeal colored! Am I on the same page, or what?! May Blessings abound to you and yours!!
Susan, Thanks for all the comfiness of your posts!
Happy Fall and Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for your delightful post. I am happy you are safe after the wild weather. Anne
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I love the candlesticks and wish they could be mine. 🙂
So enjoy every newsletter that comes from you dear Susan~! You make life sweet. Blessings to you and yours this holiday season.
Those Pilgrim candle holders are indeed adorable!! I so enjoy lighting candles all year long.
Thanks for another inspiring thoughtful Willard!!
I love the connection you bring to us each season and that is another blessing!
You are all so wonderful, such kindred spirits, I love that we can gather here in this virtual place! Kind of a miracle!💞
I always love your blogs. And as a fellow descendant of William Bradford, I understand how you love those Pilgrim candlesticks!
Hi Susan, I could not get your Willard to come up for a few days, but today it did- yay! Anyways, loved your blessing count and beautiful pictures. Also, noted that it almost looked like you had casserole lids displayed on your wall. Am I seeing correctly? I would not have thought of that- so cute. Thank you for the lovely day brightener! XO Linda
Love the Thanksgiving blessings and hoping your is as good a blessing as you give to others.
Loved the blog this month! I especially love that you think Love Actually is the best movie ever! It’s y favorite Christmas movie.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your friends!
Happiest of Holidays to you Susan. We are thankful and grateful for family, friends and the vaccine!!! You bring us joy and the importance of gratitude. Thank you,
Love, Lani
Susan, your pumpkin cheesecake recipe sounds delicious!
Can’t wait to make it for Thanksgiving. It’s going to be the best holiday season ever!! Being able to be with family and friends again is truly a blessing!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
Thanks for the fantastic Willard. Have a wonderful, cozy holiday season. 🍁🦃
Wow, loved your Willard. The pictures are beautiful and it has been a longer then usual Autumn, which is a blessing as it never gets old.
I also will open up my house this season for Thanksgiving after a long year of isolation. We have Italian zepps in the morning, made by my husband, and invite everyone we know. Then in the afternoon, we have a traditional Thanksgiving with a barbeque turkey and an oven baked one. What a blessing to be together this year. Happy Thanksgiving!
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow” ~ Thomas Ken
Love you guys!! Happy Fall!! <3
~ Cassandra N.
Susan, I’m so glad you did not have damage from the storm. I was thinking about you and sending prayers your way when I saw you were being hammered. And I’m so glad you have leaves left for color. Fall has been glorious here this year. Every afternoon I sit on my front porch and feel like I am sitting in a golden snow globe. It will soon be gone, but the glow will last in my heart.
Blessings to you and Joe for Thanksgiving this year.
Warm hugs – Beth
Your writing has been a blessing to myself and my friends who have suffered great loss and still recieved many blessings these past two years. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing your talents with all of us.
Thank you for sharing the Blessings <3
So happy to get a November Willard! Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving..
I absolutely love these candlesticks and would love to own them❣️😍
I’m so inspired by your “blessings” and looking out my window to see mine! I can see a leaf flutter down to join the others on the ground making a fall collage of colors! Beautiful! Thinking also of needing new pillows for my sofa , which I think I will shop for today! I have been in the same frame of mind to roll Thanksgiving and Christmas together as last year I was sick with covid over the holidays and really feel I missed them altogether. This year totally vaccinated and healthy and already shopping and wrapping so I sorta have already started the one big giant holiday happenings!
Thank you for the inspiration!!!!
I love getting the notice that Susan has something to share! Thank you for being wonderful you!
Thank you for that Pumpkin Cheese cake recipe!!
I lost mine-this will be on my Thanksgiving menu!
Love the pilgrim candleholders. I taught US history for years. My family would get a kick out of these, amused by my continued obsession.
Love your blog – it’s always so positive 😁
I love you and your cookbooks!
Oh dear Susan you are a treasure!!!! I needed your post today! We are having the more GORGEOUS fall ever here in the Utah. Colors so intense it takes your breath away! First wave was up in the high mountains in September then moving down into the foot hills in October and rounding down into our neighborhoods for November. Every day has been a treasure of blue skies and fall leaves! With lots of rain to help pull us closer to removing our drought. We pray for a snowy Christmas not only for its moisture but for the incredible beauty it will bring! I’m grateful for the beauty YOU bring into all our lives!!!! Keep well and safe my dear because you are one of our NATIONAL TREASURES!!!!
Love you much, Diane
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Loved you Fall Willard. Got to have that tablecloth from Pottery Barn. Going to make the Pumpkin Cheesecake and the Cranberry Marmalade! Looked so yummy forThanksgiving! Glad you survived you all survived the storm. Thankful for sweet Bunny for sending the Pilgrim candlesticks! I would be so thankful to win!! Happy Hollidays to all girfriends❤️💕🥰🙏
I like it that you went back and took a photo of that leaf with the eyes. I have done that same thing—-quickly walking past something eye-catching while on a walk, then deciding to turn around for a closer look. Thanks for the wonderful photos.
Marilyn
Loved you Fall Willard. Got to have that tablecloth from Pottery Barn. Going to make the Pumpkin Cheesecake and the Cranberry Marmalade! Looked so yummy forThanksgiving! Glad you survived you all survived the storm. Thankful for sweet Bunny for sending the Pilgrim candlesticks! I would be so thankful to win!! Happy Hollidays to all girfriends❤️💕🥰🙏
I always look forward to a new edition of your inspiring blog. It reminds me of “Christmas in Connecticut ” only I am sure you are the real deal unlike the writer in the movie!
The pictures of your lovely decorating in your home make my heart sing. Love your color palette.
I love Ripper the Dog!
I’m hoping one day you’ll invite me to your Thanksgiving feast! You brighten my day when I see your Willard is posted and I worry when too much time goes by without. Bless you and your family, Susan.
Heartwarming! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks for being a bright spot in all of our days. I enjoy the newsletter soooooo much. Happy Thanksgiving. We are flying out to Oregon next week to spend Thanksgiving and our 50th wedding anniversary with out kids and grandkids. Thank you science for the vaccine.
What a thrill for that lucky book group! You can see the joy of your presence on each face. It makes me want to move to Martha’s Vineyard. Love the idea of a fresh start. Thank you for another post, and happy fall!
My Mom was my first & forever girlfriend too, Susan. We are truly blessed.
Hi Susan – such a joy reading your post on this very wet, windy day. Thank you!
Being reunited with a loved one has been a long time coming, but we managed to get together last week. Slowly, the world is opening up again to international travel. Let’s hope that we all manage to stay safe and well. Lovely post – glad you survived the storm and came through it with minimal damage and lots of blessings x
I am crying at the book club you were invited to visit! What a lovely experience! It reminds me of a show I saw where JK Rowling was asked to accompany a reporter back to her original apartment where she lived as a single mom, writing the early Potter books, and living in poverty. She went in and saw the new furniture of someone else and how they were living there. And then she went to the bookshelves . . . and found some of her books within. The new resident reads Harry Potter. It was incredible to think of Rowling’s journey.
A Gentleman in Moscow is one of my favorite books. I go back, open it to any page, and read it from time to time. It is always transcendent and perfect.
I’m hosting Thanksgiving as well this year. Too many people coming for a small, cozy home. It will be ideal.
👏👏👏
Thank you for this blessings post! In this time of turmoil, I’m trying to find small blessings each day. Happy Thanksgiving!!
Thank you Susan for once again a wonderful blog, so fun to read & see all the pics what you are up to. FYI, I am sending out my Thanksgiving/Fall card which you created. . .”A little season of Love & Laughter”. I stuck a few leaves in, red maple & red blueberry from our garden. Very festive & fun to do!
Happy Thanksgiving to you & Joe. Hugs. . . .
Thanks for sharing all your blessings! Good to count them.
Your art cheers me so!
Hello Susan! I am so happy when I see a new letter from you. I would certainly love those candle sticks. I am going to try the pumpkin cheesecake this year. Happy Thanksgiving to you…
It was good to hear from you again.. I feel like I just got mail from an old friend when I read Willard. I shared with the hubs how the leaves hadn’t changed until late up there and I was telling him “who” Susan Branch was.. he said “ I know who she is and that you have her calendars every year in the kitchen and pantry” WHAT???? I am so impressed after 39 years he does know me!! Haha. I also was telling him how I used to get Willard in the mail ( which made me so happy, I would walk back up our lane reading every word with such joy) Thanks for bringing a smile for so many years! I got my winter cup last week… beautiful! I must admit it was the first cup I have purchased and am so very very upset with myself for not doing this sooner.. so needless to say I am on the hunt for older cups!!! The candle sticks are a treasure and I wish everyone that has left a comment could get a set but I’m sure whoever does will treasure them for all! God Bless.. Jamie from Kentucky
I wish the same thing. The hardest part is choosing the winner, because up until that moment, opportunity abounds!
Love the candle holders! Noticed them right away.
Blessings and Gratitude for all! A lovely Willard indeed, Thank You!
Happy Thanksgiving Susan! I love reading everything you write!
1479 comments!!! Wow! We missed you a LOT since the last blog. I almost missed it because we are busy, busy…
We are moving on Nov. 29. Yikess! Thanksgiving will be topsy turvy ,but i WILL be making that pumpkin cheesecake to take to my daughters. She is hosting for the first time! That’s a blessing all by it’s self.
I have a plan on the first night we are at our new home, which is in the forest, to take my husband out on the deck(weather permitting) and read him the poem from the end of the blog. Says it all. We are looking forward to a little more quiet, and little more nature, good medicine every day!
What a beautiful loooooong fall we have had. Looks like MV is dressed in her autumn finery still.
Hugs to you and Joe.
Happy Move! Beautiful blessing for your new house, under the trees and stars. I can picture it!❌⭕️
Susan, I always love reading your Willard’s and imagine my surprise when I spotted my co-worker, Sally, sitting at the table with you for book club. We work for the same company but I am in NJ and she is on the island with you. She said you were delightful. I heartily agree.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful life with us. The changing seasons and the coastline waters is so pleasant for someone in the desert. Thanks again, Patty
Hi Susan,
Sent you my thanks when I first read this bountiful, beautiful, blessings post the other day. I don’t see my comment posted, which is fine, but if a “technical difficulty” prevented it from reaching you, that is not, because I must thank you, and I must be in the running for Bunny’s incredibly sweet candle holders.
I forgot to ask the other day whether the Enchanted Book Club on December 4th (long filled to capacity) might be made available afterward to watch later? Since it is a free event, that seems like a possibility. You were able to do this last year for one of your holiday Zoom events, and I was so grateful!
Your “Leaves coating bottom of puddle, trees reflected” picture is gorgeous!
Hope your day is as blessed as you always make ours! xoxox Coco :@)
I hope you see this! I’ll check on the Book Club zoom and if they make it available, which I suspect they will, I’ll put a link to it on the blog! ❌⭕️
Thank you so much! Blessing # 759….
Hello Susan,
Here in Vermont it is a miserable, chilly and rainy day but your new Willard newsletter has really brightened my day. Thank you so much!
My husband passed away suddenly at the end of September and it has been a challenge organizing everything. I was not going to decorate for Fall but have done so with many handblown glass pumpkins and those pilgrim candlesticks would be a perfect accompaniment.
Stay dry and warm today and an early Happy Thanksgiving to you and Joe, and Jack!
I’m so sorry Michele… I understand the challenge as we were caretakers for my mom, dad, and uncle… how did they ever think of so much paperwork? Insane. Sending love and blessings your way. I’m glad you decorated . . . you did it for your future, and that’s a very good sign. ❌⭕️
Thank you so much for your note Susan – I really appreciated you taking the time to share your experiences with me. My husband had Alzheimer’s for over two years and I was his full-time caregiver which was certainly challenging at times. At least he is at peace now.
Many thanks Susan. Hugs!
And you can think with confidence how you were there for him.🧡🧡🧡 xoxoxo Hugs right back to you Michele!
Raking leaves, basking in the sunshine of Ohio. Just finished a cross country trip with my husband on Route 66. We got “our kicks.” Happy Thanksgiving!
I always get such a cozy feeling after I read your posts! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Your newsletter reminds me to take the time to see what is in front of me and to enjoy all the wonders that fill my life.
Would love to have those beautiful candle holder. Thank you for offering this.