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!🧡
🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡
Thankful for your blog every month. It’s full of inspiration and joyful thoughts. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving !!
Love everything about your posts!
I loved this beautiful blog today. I’m fighting off a sinus infection and needed the cheering up!! Thank you!
I would love to know where you got your chair cusions on the chairs at the kitchen table. My tuxedo Jack, your Jack’s namesake, had sibling rescues that love to scratch at my caned chair seats. Right now I am using towels because I haven’t found anything as cute as yours. Someday I’ll send you a photo of my Jack. I do love my tuxedo kitties. They are so special.
Thanks again for a beautiful read today.
I got them years ago … from a shop in Europe, I think it was Sweden! I even sold them in my webstore for a while until they stopped shipping here. I don’t remember the name … but I do love them too. When I could no longer offer them, I made a pattern of them, it’s in my webstore under “Love to Sew” … if you love to sew, you can make your own!
Hello Susan! The pilgrim candlesticks are lovely! Would love for them to come back to Ohio! I love seeing Willard pop into my inbox. Enjoy the fall and Happy Thanksgiving!
My husband and I are halfway through GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW—-loving it!! Also just started THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY by the same fabulous author!!! Oh what tales he weaves!!! And LOVE ACTUALLY is brilliant!! Reminded me of it this week as we watched the borders open and the airports filled with love!!!
God bless all—Susan, you’ve been an inspiration for years!!! Never stop!!!
I love your photos of Jack the very best!
Barbara
I love your books and graphics. Thank you for the inspiration and good message.
Loved “Gentleman i Moscow”… may have to read it again. Reading “Eleanor” right now… very thick, don’t count the pages. Wonderful woman. Thanks for this blog which is so peaceful and another blessing!
Susan,
I just loved reading this. I think we are kindred spirits, hopping from topic to topic but at least with one theme! Love that tablecloth too! Definitely going to try that pumpkin cheesecake with my daughter (an enthusiastic baker). Happy Thanksgiving and Merry, Merry Christmas!
I love your list of blessings and the accompanying photographs! Your blog is always a blessing to me!💕. So funny that you mentioned A Gentleman in Moscow because I just finished reading it yesterday! Probably my favorite book of the year (and I have read almost 80 books!). Always a treat to find you in my inbox! Happy Thanksgiving!
You never disappoint – your pictures and words are blessings to us! There is no way after reading your blog/books – all of it – that any one could not be lifted up and find ourselves smiling. For this I thank you and wish continued blessings on you and your ‘blessing extraordinaire’!
I love our kindred spirit-hood!💞
Thank you for the beauty you bring to every day.
So good to get your Willard today. Always a welcome read!
Thank you for your Autumn Willard and as always, sharing the positives and beauty in life. With all the negativity bombarding us from all angles, it’s a good reminder to look around us and count our blessings. Love the Pilgrim candlesticks and a big thank you to Bunny for being so generous.
Oh, I love the candlesticks and every other
goodie that you posted. Wonderful nature always finds it way to your front door. I have all your books…guess it’s time to start re reading 🥰
Happy Thanksgiving 🍁
Susan
Happy Thanksgiving to Susan and Bunny! Just love those beautiful candlesticks!
I recently read A gentleman In Moscow also. Love the book so told my husband to read it. He also loved it. Thank you for sharing your reads.
P.S. Our book club also read your book and loved it. Of course, I had to read all of them!
This very afternoon I am going to make the cranberry marmalade. Sounds delish!!
Autumn is my favorite time of year. Your writing brought me back to the source of this joy. Counting all my blessings. Thank you so much!
Dear Susan,
You are a blessing to me. Thank you for opening the front door to your life, something that has given us all so much pleasure fo so long. For me, that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 years!
Happy Thanksgiving,
Jann in Virginia
Loved being by with you through this Willard
I loved the red quilt on your Autumn decorated table.
Stay well, enjoy your holidays.
Bless you, dear Susan and Joe and Jack, for all the happiness you bring to us. You spread so much sunshine throughout our world.
Seeing that pumpkin cheesecake just made my mouth water! That will be our dessert this year, I feel! I was just remarking today that the leaves on the trees in Southern California are such beautiful colors right now – red and gold and orange with some green mixed in. And today I saw flurries of leaves falling from the trees. So beautiful. Wishing everyone a beautiful Thanksgiving.
So happy to see a post from you today! I love Autumn and always think of you during this time of year. Blessings to you, Joe and Jack. XO
I am consumed with envy – these women get to live on the same island as you. Sigh, wishing you the happiest healthiest most loving holidays ever!
Marcia In Sewell, NJ
Hi Susan,
My girlfriend and I were on Martha’s Vineyard right after that horrible storm. You live in a beautiful place and I feel so lucky to have been able to go experience it after hearing about it for so long. We went on to Iceland after we left you island. That too is beautiful. It is heaven to be able to travel again. Take care.
Happy thanksgiving to you!
It has been a lovely, long autumn here in the Appalachian mountains too. Have loved every minute of its golden glow.
I love those Pilgrim candle holders! Love reading about your life and seeing the beautiful pictures.
Happy Fall to everyone!!!!
Thanks, Susan, for today’s Willard! You might want to look up the words to another old hymn: “Count Your Blessings.”
Marie from SoCalif.
Susan—On your recommendation, I checked out of the library A Gentleman in Moscow…. Oh my stars, I loved it! The author blew my mind…so many twists and turns! Every time I thought “what else could happen?”…, something did! It was a great read! Thanks! And
I made the pumpkin cheesecake 2 years ago for dessert at a Christmas tea! It was so yummy!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving! We really do have so much to be thankful for!
Love the pilgram candlesticks
.so great your friend moved closer to you and ripper and Jack are adorable.
This is one of my favorite blogs in a while. I love the pictures and the commentary. I received my Rabbit, rabbit cup a week ago. I really love it. I say “rabbit, rabbit” on the first day of every month, so this was a must-have for me. I have read A Gentleman in Moscow and really loved it.Thank you for the pick-me-up. Have a great Thanksgiving.
I hope Jack and Ripper have become friends by now.
Not sure it’s in the cards for terriers and cats who didn’t grow up together. 🤣
Wonderful post. Season of FAMILY! It’s always nice to have them gather this time of year. What especially warms my heart, is to have someone from a troubled family, filled with happiness to join us for the holiday season again.
I so enjoyed your November Willard. It was a nice surprise and wonderful to read.
Autumn has lingered here in Greece, NY, and I’ve been counting my many, many blessings and enjoying long walks. My neighborhood buddy and I were out for an hour on Monday and probably about 10 min. of that was just standing still glorying in the beauty of the sunshine on leaves and trees and homes. How wonderful it is to acknowledge our blessings and have wonders in which to rejoice!!
When I count my blessings, Susan, I count you twice! Alice
Thank you Alice!!! Joe and I have to do that too, stop sometimes in awe of the beauty! What a gift!❤️
A blog full of blessings! Thank you for making our day lighter and brighter.
I loved reading your willard about all of your Blessings. I also love your Pilgrim candlesticks! What a lovely gift Bunny from Ohio is giving to one very lucky commenter!
The candle sticks are so fun. What a find.
Hi Susan! I think this was my favorite post ever! All of the photos are just wonderful, but I particularly love the one of Jack checking out the mantle. Adorable! I received my Blessings mug. Just beautiful! Thank you!
I look forward to your blog every time🥰
I’m from Ohio. Those candlesticks would make me so happy!!
SO LOVE GETTING YOUR LETTERS TO ALL OF US. THE CANDLESTICKS ARE LOVELY. MY HUSBAND’S ROOTS GO WAY BACK TO ENGLAND AND SO APPRECIATE THE HISTORY THAT HIS FAMILY HAS COLLECTED THROUGH THE YEARS…EVEN LETTERS FROM HIS GREAT GREAT(FEW MORE GREATS!!!….) GRANDFATHER WRITTEN IN THE YEARS 1824 ON…FULL OF SO MUCH HISTORY. WE LIVED IN SOUTHBURY CT. FOR MANY YEARS AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE HOMES OF GLADYS TABER. MY MOM AND I WENT TO SEE THE HOME FROM THE OUTSIDE AND HER DAUGHTER WAS THERE AND GAVE US AN INSIDE TOUR! HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING !
Love history too! We also got to visit Gladys Taber’s little 17th century house… such a treat! xoxo
So happy to read this. It always comes at the perfect time. I just received my Rabbit Rabbit mug and so enjoy it. Also just ordered the Winter mug. Hope it comes before Christmas. Love these mugs. I use my 4th of July mug a lot not only because it is my birthday but it says God Bless America. Thanks so much for giving such inspiration.
So beautiful and full of Blessings from New England all the way to
My Montana home ! We are having the most beautiful fall here too
The book club ladies were just adorable I am going to suggest reading
This book to my book club one of my favorites and my Autumn book is
Sitting in my kitchen windowsill as part of my fall decor , some of our favorite
recipes are in that daring little book .
What a wonderfully rich newsletter. Your photos are breathtaking. My heart is full….
I look forward to your monthly letters, as soon as I receive them I read them for inspiration. Fall is my favorite time of the year. I have an Oct. birthday and since we just moved from Southern Ca to Arkansas to be near family we are loving the change of seasons(summer a little sticky). I too am so looking forward to Christmas, hung a couple of wreaths in my craft room, as last Christmas a lot of the decorations were still in unpacked boxes. I will start early decorating and am looking forward to my 4 new Susan Branch mugs, they are on there way. Would love to win the those adorable candle holders.
What a lovely post – just what I needed.
Wow! A rabbit-rabbit mug AND a gift from Bunny….serendipity all in one newsletter!
Always a delight! So nice to slip away go a happier place.
Your letters bring comfort and joy !
So good to see Willard again! I love all your decorations, especially the Pilgrim candlesticks. Your home is so inviting. Thank you, Susan.
Have always loved those candlesticks.
Oh my gosh! The candlesticks are adorable! Would love them! I have been a fan for over 30 years & still making your recipes!
Oh Susan, as always, this was JUST what I needed! I’m so grateful to hear of your blessings and that the storm left you safe and intact!
Last year I sent “Home for Christmas” to each of my siblings. It was so hard to NOT be home for Christmas, but your book reminded us of our own family holidays.
Bunny from Ohio, thank you for sharing your discovery for the giveaway! I’m from Ohio too (I’ve lived all over this state in my 57 years) and it will always be my home, sweet home.
Made my busy day receiving your latest ray of sunshine and positivity!
Wow, I love the pictures of the beach and the sea,
Those candle holders would be a special birthday present (Nov 26. ). The year I was born it was Thanksgiving day and I was born between dinner at home and dinner at the hospital. So mom got me lol
Thank you for your lovely stories of the island
Pat
Love it all!!!! Storm here was windy too. 🎄❤️
Susan. I love you and your talents. Pls consider drawing my name for the candleholders.
Thanks. Cindy Wagner
Thank you again for brightening my Inbox with your newest blog. After I am done reading and imagining, I always feel like I have just taken a little trip while sipping my tea and quietly reading about and seeing all of wonderful things you take photos of for us. I have been there just for a moment, smelling the fragrances, feeling the warmth of the fire and reading by candlelight when the power went out! Happy Thanksgiving dear girlfriend of my heart!
Reading your new blog added to my Fall spirit. Both my husband and I loved the Gentleman in Moscow. For a real treat go to his website,www.amortowles.com and click on the book cover of Gentleman in Moscow. Such a cleaver animation about the book. We just finished reading his new book, The Lincoln Highway, wonderful. Prepare yourself for an adventure and a cast of memorable characters. Happy Fall and Thanksgiving to all.
How to celebrate Thanksgiving . Love those candlesticks!
Happy Thanksgiving Susan. What a lovely post to get us in the mood for the holidays 💕
Susan,
Thank you for the wonderful Willard today! Fall on the island looks amazing.
I think we are still isolating for Thanksgiving as we both work in Healthcare and are still exposed to those who have COVID. We are vaccinated but don’t want to risk taking anything to MOM who lives in Assisted Living.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Thank you so much for what you do for all of us. Never think we are not grateful! Blessings on you and yours for a heartfelt Thanksgiving.🍁
We’re so blessed by your sweet Willard….the loveliest of treats this windy fall day. Dealing with the pitiful loss of my oven last week and right before Thanksgiving wouldn’t you know. The new one will be here whenever the supply chain releases it so plan B taking shape for Turkey Day. I never think of my ability to bake things until I can’t….but I will be thankful nonetheless in someone else’s kitchen. Blessing to you and your lovely family
You made me curious, I had to google it . . . take a look HERE!🧡 You can bake on your stove top!
Ever since Hurricane and we lost power for six week (before we installed a generator) I’ve found our outdoor grill cooks everything you would normally cook in the oven. I’ve cooked turkey, steamed veggies and made casseroles on that grill back then and they all came out delicious….
Lowely, my girlfriend down the block, does the same thing! Where there’s a will there’s a way!💖
Your blog is always a touch of homespun goodness. I love seeing photos of your dear old house, the woods, the shore, and handsome Jack! Thank you!
Happy Thanksgiving !
I love this time of year and the colors of Fall 😉
I anxiously await getting your letters. Whenever I see I have an email from you I can’t wait to open it ! Thank you for sharing your talents 😉
God bless you,
Christy
It is always such a delightful time when I find you in my emails ♥️
You are such a positive influence to my day.
Thanks for the wonderful surprise in my inbox!
Trying to enjoy Thanksgiving, despite Christmas trying to budge in early: )
I’m ordering part of our Thanksgiving feast this year. Just can’t give up my dining room filled with all the family. What a blessing. But, your pumpkin cheesecake sounds like the perfect dessert, accompanied by the pilgrim candlesticks! Thanks for a wonderful newsletter.
PS: My book club read “A Gentleman in Moscow” last year and loved it!
I just love these “letters” you write to us! They just make me feel all warm and squishy and happy. Thank you dear Susan!
What a blessing to see an email from Susan Branch in my inbox, I just skimmed it for now, but will read it in detail over the next couple of days, I like to make it last, like a letter from an old friend! AND a giveaway as well, wow, that’s a bonus! Blessings to you and your family over this holiday season!
What a wonderful blog!! As usual! I will probably never get to Martha’s Vineyard (at age 77) in real life. But, I can visit via your books and blog. Happy Thanksgiving!
Lovely, lovely, lovely, thank you dear Susan! What a joy…
I cried to see the families greeting each other at the airports, at long last! I can’t wait to see my brother.
The only other place I’ve ever seen books shelved according to colour was at the Pedro Miguel Boat Club in the middle of the Panama Canal when we were transiting. You have to memorize the colour of the book if you want to find it again!
Finally, let’s remember all those wonderful men and women tomorrow. PBS had a really nice hour devoted to veterans last night. “For those who leave never to return. For those who return but are never the same. We remember.”
Autumn is my absolute favorite season and this Indian Summer we’re having right now is the best. You’ve inspired me so much to get cracking and dress my house for the upcoming holidays. I’ve crossed all my fingers and toes for luck because I just adore those antique candle sticks.
What a wonderful surprise to have a Willard from you today! Made my day!
All good things!
Peggy
Thank you!! This was so warm and lovely! It’s a beautiful time of the year and a wonderful time to be thankful for many blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!!
Your sense of hope, renewed, springs from the monitor into the room, enveloping me in that sense of peaceful appreciation and anticipation. We are, I so hope, emerging from a time of such darkness, and to see the joy you exuded lifts my spirits and feeds my soul. Thank you!
Susan….you have risen from the Covid ashes like a Phoenix! Lovely, lovely blog post! Creative, full of your old fun self, full of beautiful photos and renderings and delicious recipes! And I used to sell those little footed mugs at a catalogue company called the Horchow Collection…!
Thank you for this treat in my mailbox!
XO
Suzette
Love, love, love all the Autumn colors! Thank you for sharing! Love from Mary S. in Fresno, CA
Susan,
Loved the post as I always do! Want you to know that you are a household word here. You bring joy to me every morning as the first thing I look at is the date on your calendar. I have a stack of your books in my kitchen too. Thanks for the richness you bring into all of our lives. Happy Thanksgiving.
Ha ha ha! A household word! ANOTHER blessing!👏🧡🧡🧡
Wonderful Willard! Thanksgiving blessings to you & Joe, sweet Susan!
These posts always brighten my day.
Thank You!
Thank you for the wonderful letter and reminders of all we have to be thankful
about! I opened my email, this morning, saw your letter and let myself sit and
read it completely with my second cup of coffee. Happy Fall and Happy
Thanksgiving!
from Sue in Boulder, CO
What a delight to read your wonderful blog full of blessings!
I’m hoping and hoping that we all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a merry Christmas with our dear families around us once again.
Love your newsletter every time it comes into my inbox!
You sound so wonderfully busy Susan. Yet another blessing! In the words of Edna St. Vincent Millay, “My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends–It gives a lovely light!”
I am also so grateful, especially this year… all of those little things are big things!!!
You made my day! Thanks for this lovely post and Happy Fall to you and your loved ones.
Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Great to see you again. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Amazing—another Ripper! Growing up, we had a Sealyham Terrier (surely a cousin of a Westie) named Ripper.
Glad to hear you survived the storm without too much damage.
Happy American Thanksgiving 🦃. We have already consumed our turkey and pumpkin pie. We are thankful all year but celebrate in October. I’m thankful for the work you do…your beautiful art and uplifting posts. Thx!!!
Those Pilgrims are darling! 🤞🏻
Always love to get your email. It is so colorful and thoughtful and inspiring. Thanks always for the talent you share with us.
I have been counting my blessings right along as well. Enjoyed this newsy letter and found quotes to write down in my book. I am always inspired by you.
Hi Susan
Always enjoy your blogs, but Since Autumn is my favorite time of year, I look forward to this one. Many blessings for a lovely Thanksgiving 🦃
Greetings Susan, many Autumn blessings to you and to all the girlfriends. it has been blustery, rainy and cold and damp here, and we love it. we need the rain and it is so good to have it here finally. we are back in the egg business, the hens are laying and the roosters are busy like always and yes its roosters, Chance who is the senior rooster and Cole who is the youngster and learning his craft. from the looks of him he is going to be a big and beautiful rooster. Thanksgiving preps are in full swing here, house cleaning, shopping for ingredients and pouring over tons of recipes for the feast. definitely the pumpkin cheesecake will on the menu. i was looking for an easy dessert and that popped up just in time. and i love those pilgrim candle holders, lovely, just lovely. they would look just right on my Thanksgiving table. in addition to the rain we have been getting, it has been cold so of course the wood stove is working to keep our house warm and comfy. must be doing fine, the cats are curled up in the basket by the stove and napping away and snoring ( or is it purring) . i’m busy more often these days with keeping the birds warm and fed, checking their food containers and water containers and keeping them full. we are doing fine here, and my FIL took off to visit family in Texas and will be spending the holidays with his daughter and her family. so we are having friends in for turkey dinner. well got to get busy again, soup in the crockpot for dinner and maybe meatloaf sandwiches to go along with it. i love this time of year. stay well, stay safe and stay happy and many hugs and blessings. hugs…. 😀
It is always a blessing to open your posts.
Hi Susan!
Many thanks for your constant inspiration, and special thanks to Bunny for sharing the candlesticks!
We get to be in Wisconsin with family this year! Hurray! Missed it last year of course.
Our Fall has stretched waaaaaay out too, and it has been gorgeous and wonderful!
Lots of love and joy to all!
Kaila