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!🧡
🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡🍁🧡
Susan, I think we are kindred spirits when it comes to decorating our homes. I live in a teeny tiny apartment, but it is my “cottage” and I love it. I love old things and my favorite thing to do is antique and thrift store shopping. I love the items you have on your website.
Blessings galore and so thankful for each and every one. Thanks Susan for reminding me how truly blessed I am every single day!
Every post from you is a gift and a blessing! And then add in the blessing from Bunny–our cups runneth over. Thanks to Bunny and you!
Happy thanksgiving to you and yours! We are blessed and thank you Susan for sharing so much JOY with us! I better remind my hubby to start looking for your 2022 calendar NOW. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have one on my kitchen wall. XOXOX
“
Thanks for your kindness
Reading this was the best part of my day. I saved it until after the dishes were done and put away, my reward for doing that 🙂 I love seeing your kitchen, it’s always so warm and welcoming and your Jack centerpiece is the best!
Thanks for this inspirational blog. I’m going to read it all again, but first – I loved A Gentleman in Moscow! Besides being a great story, it helped me feel closer to the Russian people. I read Overstory last month. I won’t say a lot because I don’t want to spoil it for you and Joe. Just this – it is a very powerful story. I will be eager to hear what you think after you have finished it. Very powerful.
Susan,
I LOVE all the special leaves that you found on your walk! Good for you for being in the moment and noticing! What a special blessing to be able to walk that path to the ocean each day!
Thank you for this post Susan; really gets you into the right frame of mind for Thanksgiving. Sounds like you are back in your happy place! I appreciate the inspiration!
Though I am thankful for every day that God gives me, some more special than others, Thanksgiivng sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of Christmas preparations. But not at this house. To me it is the time to be oh so thankful for the day ahead. And once Halloween leaves I am busy decorating for all things rich with pilgrims and turkeys and Indians and and all,things that go with the fall along with them. Leaves andpunpkins and baskets of goods and such. It’s a time of harvest blessings and if COVID did not teach people anything else the isolation should have made us all more loving and appreciative of our blessings. Even you my dear dear Susan have joined the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday together the way I have since I became an adult out in the world. Our big blessing this year Susan is that we have been blessed to be alive. For that we are so so blessed. Warm holiday blessing and hugs sent your way. Love Gayle R.M.Hall
It seems you are feeling more like your old self! I am glad to see it/read it. I hope this autumn continues to bless you!
Makes me wish southern CA had fall!
Love your blessings!
Hi Sue,
OMG – I am one of many, I’m sure who has always looked for those candlesticks! I cannot believe someone found them! I have always been Sue from Simi to share our SoCal childhoods, but I moved to Seattle when my kids and grandkids are. I am definitely experiencing the cold Fall that you are here – definitely something to get used to. But the crisp weather is wonderful and as I have bought a few more practical clothes, I am enjoying it so much.
Can’t wait to hear more about your May trip!
Love,
Sue from Seattle
Getting out the cozy clothes is part of the celebration… when the seasons change, everything changes! 👏🧡
I love getting to read your posts. It’s always a bright spot in my day…week…month. Thank you from So. CA!
Thank you for the luv-lee blog today. One never tires of getting the new news!
Hi Susan,
What a lovely post. So inspiring and full of hope and gratitude.
Loved the book club meeting fun!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Joe
Happy Autumn and Happy Thanksgiving, Susan!
Once again, I am loving my home more and feeling more inspired to decorate for Fall after reading your letter. Thank you!
The pilgrim candlesticks have always intrigued me in your home photos.
Someone will be very lucky to be chosen ❤️
Dear Susan, As always, thanks for the gift of this Willard. I am sitting in the livingroom recliner with a small 15 year old Yorkie named Ashley sleeping on my lap in her comfy bed and my husband asleep in his recliner as I enjoyed reading this. It is after supper and dishes so it is a perfect time for a nap or to read your newsy letter to all of us. Bye for now, take care and have a lovely Thanksgiving. Love, Crystal from Cannon Falls
Happy Giving of Thanks day and everyday! Thanks for your message to all of us!
Thank you for sharing your blessings and the beauty of your life and art. It is inspiring and encouraging.
Susan, I got tears in my eyes when I read your mom was your best girlfriend.
My said that to me recently and I melted. She could nit have said more loving
words. Happy thanksgiving, blessings 🦃👩❤️👩Judy
So lovely always to get a post from you! I so love fall! Thank you for sharing your pretty cottage and the island with us. You are such a treasure. ❤️
Hi Susan. I love receiving your blogs. I live far away from my sisters and when I receive your lovely blog I feel like I am visiting my sisters and visiting a best friend. I have all of your books and I love looking at them and trying all the recipes and gleaning wonderful ideas for a beautiful home. Thank you for all you do!!
Deborah
Your fall photos make my heart sing! I was out walking late this afternoon near my home in southeastern Pennsylvania and I took quite a few photos of trees ablaze. Thank you for introducing me to Gladys Taber some time ago. So enjoyed her quote you included and I wrote it on the front of my journal so I can keep it top of mind: “We need time to dream, time to remember, time to reach for the infinite. Time to be.”
Happy Thanksgiving, Susan! I love your happy, grateful attitude!
What perfect timing to receive your Willard! Such a good reminder to slow down and cherish al that surrounds us as we count our many blessings. We have so much for which to be grateful. It can become so easy to get caught up in the hustling bustle of life to forget to take the time to pause and express the gratitude for the beauty and blessings that abound. Thank you for the reminder to breathe in, pause to reflect, and then just…go.be.
Happy Thanksgiving, Susan & Joe!
🍁🧡🍂♥️🍂🧡🍁
What a blessing to find this newsy missive waiting for me! Thank you for magnifying the little things, which really are where joy is found. Marsha
So hard to believe that less than a month from now, all will be decorated for Christmas. The weather would have us believing otherwise. I loved counting the blessings. They make a bad day better and a good day memorable.
Susan, I too find your blogs very comforting!
I grew up in the 1950s and love to see your family photos
and read your musings from that era. I would treasure that special
pair of candlesticks!❤️
Oh joy, so much goodness! I’m so glad all was safe during the storm and that you saw so many blessings…
The mugs are precious! A few years back a student of mine told me about the “rabbit, rabbit” tradition – I had never heard of it, but this is now the second time 🙂
Yes, Love Actually is the best! I watch it every December and it still makes me laugh and cry!
And that delicious cheesecake was already on my to-make list this week, so seeing it here confirms it was meant to be.
xoxo! Thank you!
Love getting it today, I read all of it. I needed a fresh view and your writing makes me so happy. Take care, be safe and know we love you & Joe.
Gre@t to see the new post from you Sus@n. I enjoy them @ll. Be@utiful t@ble displ@y. Would love to enter the give@w@y. (Sorry….the first letter of the @lph@bet on my computer is sticking. )
Well this works!
I love reading about all of your blessings! Have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Your home always looks so pretty. Have you thought about a decorating book?
Yes, I thought of a book called HOME. Would love to do it, so many books, so little time! ❌⭕️❌⭕️
Lovely fall blog! Thank you for sending just the blessings I needed. Just diagnosed with breast cancer. Resting in God’s hands for seeing me through all that’s ahead.
Have a wonderful holiday season, Susan&Joe. 💕
Bonnie, I am sending up some prayers for you right now. Hope treatment goes well and is a complete success. God bless you.
Susan,
Thank you for the wonderful Willard and the beautiful photos. It will be a quiet Thanksgiving here as we continue to isolate as we both work in healthcare and have lots of COVID in the building. Wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving
Mary Helen Z
Thank you for what you do Mary … never think you are not appreciated because I can tell you there are MILLIONS who give thanks for healthcare workers who continue to do their jobs in this crazy atmosphere. Thank you a thousand times, for all of us! Hear it echoing in your ears every day!👏👏👏👏👏
Dear Susan,
Thank you for your Willard letter of autumn and Thanksgiving. Reading your blog is like going home, in reading through all the wonderful and colorful things you share. You and Joe are wished a lovely Thanksgiving. Being at your Thanksgiving table would be truly special❣️
Always excited to read the latest Willard! Thank you for sharing your positive vibes! ❤️ Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
Always love”Willard”. Love the pilgrim candlesticks, such a great treasure! Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving!
A Gentleman In Moscow book is still with me too! It’s the best book I’ve read in ages. My Joe read it and feels the same. A great read. kathy
O happy day!
Thank you Bunny for generously sending the pilgrims!
Thanks for the fall photos–they are making my heart sing! Happy Thanksgiving–have loads of fun and tell us all about it.
Opening your post today was a wonderful surprise – spirits up knowing we can be with family and friends this year! I wondered how you and Joe fared during the storm – glad there was no major damage. Beautiful thoughts and photos – thank you for sharing!
Dear Susan,
If your ears were burning a couple of nights ago it was because my dear friend and I were talking you over, in all the best ways. She just read ‘A Fine Romance’ and I told her that she MUST read the other two books. I loved them all. We are both writers and lovers of sweet dishes, quilts, and cozy homes. I refer to us as nesters. I think that is what drew me to you and all your books.
Thanks for being an inspiration in my life, thank you for your courage, your positivity, your warmth. You have helped me through some hard times, bless you.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with those you love, and think on all the ones you have yet to meet who love you.
Oh Sherri, how sweet of you. I am blessed that through my books I’ve met so many kindred spirits …. and then through this blog, we’ve been able to come together. All a lovely miracle! Girlfriends forever! ❌⭕️❌
it’s so wonderful to read a new fall,leafy,thanksgiving blog post from you.I greatly enjoy reading everything you write to us and wish I had a little cabin in the woods on Martha’s VIneyard so I could enjoy it first hand. But having you to share it with us in such lovely detail is almost like being there ourselves. Thankyou so much!! Mary in Colorado
Yum! I need to make that pumpkin cheesecake!! Looks amazing!
Lovely, inspiring photos Susan! You have a way of getting us all excited about the seasons. Glad that the storm didn’t do any more damage…..seems as if you were very blessed.
The Florence Bone quote is just exactly right…I don’t know how else to say it!
Blessed Thanksgiving to all.
Your posts never cease to bring a smile. Thank you for bringing joy to many!
Thank you for the lovely and inspirational blessings, Susan❤️
Praying God’s blessings over you.
Your posts are a feast for the eyes, Susan. Wishing everyone a warm and love-filled Thanksgiving!
Love all the photos of the island, it’s just beautiful there !
I’m going to use your pumpkin cheesecake recipe for Thanksgiving, it looks so yummy.
I hope you and Joe have a wonderful Thanksgiving, blessings and love to you both.
I so enjoyed your “visit” and the positive focus. I felt like my best friend had stopped by for a chat and a cuppa.
so many blessings!!! I just LOVE that you find them and share with pictures, quotes and inspiration of all you see. Love Actually IS the best movie and the end where they show everyone hugging is beautiful. thank you for brightening our day once again! bless you and stay well
I am most grateful for you Susan Branch. You and your artwork and books have brought me joy since the early 90’s when I discovered you. I am a Vineyard kid at heart, a wash ashore whenever I can be there. I love to read these blogs… so fun! Thank you.
♥️❌⭕️
It was just wonderful to read your letter to us all! So happy that the storm did not damage your Home, Sweet Home!
Thank you for your positive presence! So uplifting! Always look forward to your postings. Happy Thanksgiving 🍁🍂🥧
Lovely picture and gathering of the book club. I’ve read your book “Isle of Dreams” every July for past 5 years after going to East Sandwich, MA, where my sister-in-law lives. Great read. Thank you for your blog and have a happy Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! This was one of my favorite Willards–so full of blessings and joy.
Love your newsletter!
Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
First time I have commented but, oh how I love all the beauty you share with us! Even a rip-roaring storm is beautiful!! I’m 86+ and keep on learning from so many wonderful people like you! Have a blessed holiday season! Shirley Kelly in the PNW
Lovely candle holders! They will make someone so happy thanks to you and Bunny.
Thank you so much for sharing your life with us! Love seeing photos of your house! I have your Autumn book and enjoy using it this time of year!
Thanks again for another opportunity to win,these pilgrims sorta funny it comes from a bunny, maybe it’s a holiday mix up! So funny glad for the opportunity!
I am always so blessed to receive your letters! God has truly blessed you &your family…thank you for sharing …you are so gifted!! & we are so happy to share your joy!! God bless you,Susan…have a lovely Thanksgiving & Christmas!!…I’ll be enjoying my Susan Branch Christmas book…it’s such a treat.
Autumn is my favorite time of year. Our leaves where late changing colors in Western PA also. Seems like the fall season went especially fast this year. Love reading your blog and Willard. Love the candle sticks!
Love Granny Chic, so excited to see this. Also, I never knew about oiling my wooden spoons. Can’t wait to try it.
Will be baking from your books for the holidays! Love, love, love!
Wonderful to hear from you! So much to be grateful for and look forward to. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with Joe and your friends!
There’s just something a little more special about this Fall and Christmas. Everything feels sweeter!
Love the Pilgrim Candlesticks! Would love to have them to go with my collection of Pilgrim pairs figures 24 in all. Thank you for teaching us to see the beauty around us. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Thank you Susan for always brightening my day with your words and artwork. Blessings to you, Joe and Jack this Thanksgiving season and always.
Thanks Susan for lifting my spirits w/each and every blog/Willard.We had a “cyclone bomb “rain here in CA. Took down our add on screened in backroom. Thankful I had just gotten out of the room min. before the roof cracked and came down or I wouldn’t be alive. Blessing also that the roof did not crash into sliding glass door to our living room. So nice of someone to donate adorable candlestick holders for your readers! Does the ocean beach lose sand to storms other times or was this the first or worst?? Thanks for everything you do Susan. Love, Gail
OH MY Gail!!! What a nightmare. I love that with all you had going on, you managed to find blessings. How is everything now? I hope it’s all back together!! These storms are really getting scary! Our beaches have been losing sand for years … Someday, I fear, this house, 60 feet above sea level, will be ocean front property! But today? Today is beautiful! And people are working to keep the climate from getting worse. Too bad they didn’t start 20 years ago! Reminds me of a quote “The best time to plant an oak tree is 20 years ago, the second-best time is now.” Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!🍁🍁🍁
Seasonal decorations (any season really) can be minimal or elaborate, but what better way to share the beauty of the outside than by surrounding yourself with pumpkins, gourds and the colors of fall inside. Add the scent of apples simmering on the stove with sticks of cinnamon and home becomes our warm, cozy happy place.
“A Gentleman in Moscow” is one of my top ten! . . .loved it.
Dear Susan, amidst my tears, I want to thank you for the Gladys Taber mention; my dear mother, gone 15 years now was such a fan of her Stillmeadow books. Also in same vein Tasha Tudor. Had not thought of them in years, now am reserving from library, although I have several of Tasha books of my own. My mother decorated for each season change, fondly remember our country road trips to find Bittersweet for her Fall motifs. Sadly I have not carried on her traits, but after reading several of your “letters” I resolve to do so in future, such beautiful simplicity honoring Gaia. (Although here in Hawaii it is not so definitive)!
Again thank you for such heartfelt musings, my days are brighter now.
Thank you for including the lovely dinner setting pictures with the book clyb. Blue and orange are wonderful together!!
Hi Susan,
What a delight to read your post. May sister and I hadn’t seen each other in nearly four years but in October I flew to Montreal where she joined my flight and we went to Paris together for ten days! I still can’t quite believe it happened.
Happy Fall!
HOW WONDERFUL!!!!
I was so happy to see another Willard! You are amazing!…love your pictures, stories, and everything else!…thank you for sharing….
Whenever I see old photographs of your family and siblings I just marvel at what it must’ve taken for your sweet Mama to corral everyone into place! And here everyone in their Jammies with smiles on their faces! I know you miss her all the time, especially going into the holidays. How blessed you were to have her Imprint into your spirit! Women of that era and time carried us all through!
Yes, Blessings and Gratitude Unending.
Thank you Beth!
Hi Susan,
Thank you for sharing your amazing newsletters.
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Ginger
The world is a better place with “Bunny’s” ❤️
Thank you for such a wonderful Williard! I have missed your blog posts! I love to hear what you and Joe have been up to and of course seeing what Jack is doing! He is just so adorable! Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Blessings to you, Joe, Jack….and Bunny!
Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends!
this truly restores my soul and spirit~~~Bless you!
Susan, I love how you delight in the small things, like a leaf with eyeballs! Thanks for sharing all the little details. ❤️
I just want to hug every section of this Willard. The pictures from your walks are gorgeous. I love that autumn has drawn out this year. It’s like we got two peak weekends instead of the usual one. Jack’s face is priceless. I hope he and Ripper become good friends. (Thank you, Erin, for letting us peek at your bookshelves, because, like any self-respecting bibliophile, I cocked my head to the side and read as many titles as I could! Always glad to “meet” another David McCullough fan. And you have a copy of Dale Carnegie’s “Lincoln the Unknown”.). And I love, love, love the new red and white tablecloth!
❌⭕️❌⭕️
Like you wrote, so many blessings! I always so look forward to your posts…another blessing:)
Tomorrow I am inspired to start decorating for Thanksgiving! I pulled the boxes out, but hadn’t opened them yet. Your post has galvanized me!! Hope you have a beautiful Thanksgiving with family and friends! ❤️
A wonderful surprize with your post on a blustery “Winnie the Pooh”
kind of day!!!! Thank you!!!
Your inspiration continues daily for me. I am so comforted beyond words reading your blog…I LOVE fall, nature, and all the great recipes of this season. The ONE thing I cannot find to complete “my look” is bittersweet! I grew up with it in Indiana and now in Atlanta, it is no where to be found! And there it was growing in the wild on MV! You are so lucky!!! I have a copper pitcher just waiting for it every year. I, too, am doing all the cooking for a big feast with my family. I think we all are so exciting for such a simple, warm holiday. Tomorrow I am off to collect leaves to make a little garland for my granddaughters to see strung up! thanks for that inspiration and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
Oh Susan, I was delighted to find the Willard waiting for me. How I love your posts!
You are right up there with dear Tasha T. in my book.
I’m going to have to indulge myself with buying a couple more of your books, or “Santa,
Are you listening?” I surely wish we could go to England with you, but not this trip. We will be in the warm Southwest in our 5th wheel home… Coddiwomple! (British slang for, “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.” ). Isn’t that the best name for our little house!? DH has graciously allowed me to bring all my quilting tools and fabrics, a wee bit of knitting and embroideries, watercolors and other crafting “necessities”!
I will live vicariously through your posts and those of your other fans!
Blessings, dear one,
Holly S.
Ps. Oh please give your dear Jack a scratch behind the ears for me! How I miss my kitties!
All save for one lived into their twenties!! So I tickle and cuddle any feline that crosses my path.
Sue, you are a blessing to all of us!
Always so happy when your blog pops up on-my IPad. Oh happy day! Takes away all the cares in the world. Love ❤️ those coffee or tea mugs! Daughter brought a book of yours with quotes. Loved reading it. Made my day. Happy Thanksgiving! Will be a great one with my daughters and husbands this year. We spent a year at home alone last year. We are in our eighties and had to stay home until we could get our covid shots before our kids would come to us. One daughter is a nurse and she enforced it. So glad we can be together now. Will be happy holidays this year. Wishing you the best. Mary Lou.
It was hard I’m sure, but three cheers for your daughter, in more ways than one! ❌⭕️❌⭕️
So happy to hear from you today!
Hello Sue, a quick note to thank you for making my day with your newest Willard. As always, loved your stories, art, photos, learning about your lives and how you celebrate the seasons. Am thrilled I was able to save pennies and pick up the Blessings cup to remind me when I need it of the many ones I’m given each day. So glad you loved Gentleman from Moscow, I’m waiting to read it again, so savor the story and the beautiful writing. Don’t know if they’re out in audio books, but I would recommend the “Irish Country Doctor” series (17 books so far!) by Patrick Taylor. You’ll become totally invested in all the characters, and fall in love with his lyrical prose. I took out your Christmas Book tonight and am reading it again, in between other books and loving it once more. I send you and yours my very best wishes for a happy and blessed Thanksgiving, and look forward to more of your wonderful posts. All the best to you and yours! Rosemary