Green is the emblem of optimism. Like a green traffic light, setting us free to GO! It’s also the color of Spring! This will put you in the mood even if spring is coming in on little duck feet where you live! MUSICA!
IT’S SO CLOSE!
Still a lot of attitude out there! (Dark cold short days do that to a person!)
But, as we know . . .
JUST SING!
This is our idea of OH MY GOD IT’S SPRING!!! SHOUT IT TO THE ROOFTOPS. Daffodils!
JOE! COME LOOK, TULIPS!
So we walk under leafless gray trees, through the woods to the gray sea . . . breathing clean ocean air, listening to the most 
wonderful English accents reading us the most wonderful books, still a little bleary-eyed from jet lag caused by daylight savings time, but too absorbed in The Last Bookstore in London to care. And THAT’S how you fight reality! Which I know you know. And P.S., that book was wonderful, you would love it! We get inside these stories and don’t want to come out. On the rare days we decide to just listen to the wind, the stories are now in the woods and wrap themselves around us as we walk. We fed the woods and the woods feed us back.🥰
We commune with the sun, when it comes out, we lap it up ~ and my watch says, “Good Girl, you walked 23 miles this week,” and I give myself a gold star, and my dad whispers, “Good work.”
And all the while, I know this dreamy thing is coming . . .
I’ve been getting lots done. Staying close to home, watching some fun TV, just BEING. I’ve so enjoyed this period of quiet, of rebirth I believe, just in time for spring, I’ve been deep in the throes of what I call the 
foundation for the creation. It’s working, I feel excited, my head is filled with ideas, I’m always grabbing note paper, writing in my diary, or typing out a quick paragraph of ideas … I can’t wait to see where they go. You might remember that during the Pandemic I shredded most of my diaries, freed them, is the way I like to think of it. (You can read about the philosophy of shredding HERE) . . . I kept a few pages, but let most of them go. I still have several diaries, my dinner-party diary of course, my England diary, a couple of others . . .
and this one (above) . . . it’s a long diary, it goes from 1992 to 2007! It comes from pre-internet days, before digital cameras ~ before phones, or blogs! When we still shopped in actual stores! So much good stuff in that book, almost the entire 90s! Little notes, bits of art, photos, plus, I didn’t say anything quite as moronic as I did in those first books.
Of course, I saved this page. So funny, asking that question while I’m writing! I just didn’t know yet. But I imagine that even Shakespeare asked himself this question when he was young. It’s got to be a question every dreamer asks themselves in some way or another. Which makes me think, for my own little world, that maybe I wasn’t a late bloomer like I thought, I was probably right on time.
Anyway, back to this diary, only one problem: Poor thing was dragged onto too many trains and is now coming apart. It had a cloth spine… what was I thinking!
It’s a very fat book . . . but the pages are still holding together,
. . . they’re stuffed with all kinds of bits and pieces, a newspaper clipping when Frank Sinatra died in 1998, my first national book tour schedule for Girlfriend’s Forever in 2000 (by train), a note from me to God thanking Him for not “letting me have arthritis,” lovely bits of fan mail, a recipe card from my mom for Green Bean Casserole, a ticket stub for Miss Potter ~ and so much more, making this diary even fatter . . .
This is how the happy gene manifests . . .Good old 1999!
I don’t want to lose this book . . . so, yesterday it went off to Mitzie Pratt, a bookbinder here on the Island… she will put it back together for me, and give it a brand new spine! There are a few blank pages left in the back . . . so maybe I will give it a 
little 2023 update.
And other things I’ve wanted to do have also been checked off my list ~ I finally got our wedding rings in to be engraved ~ I’ve always wanted to do that, and it’s finally happening.💞 Sending some of that love out into the world all alone someday. Also, I found a 1923 dime on my dad’s grave the first time I visited, I took that in too, to make a pendant out of it. He was born in 1923! And it’s 2023. So this is the perfect time. I’m having them put a gold ring around the outside, with a loop for the chain.💖 For forever. And, guess what just came in? ⬇️ Samples!
Our cups!!! They arrived from England for approval, which they definitely got! Color turned out great! They do such an amazing job!❤️ They’re being made now and, as promised, will ship at the end of April. I just wanted to show you. I can’t give an exact arrival date right now, because once anything is shipped these days, no one is ever quite sure when it will get to its destination. But never fear, we will stay on top of it, as I receive notices and more information, I will share it with you!!! I’m thinking May . . . but we will see.
Aren’t they wonderful? I’ve already had tea in all of them! Took ’em on a test run! ❤️ We haven’t sold out yet, they are all still available, but I should say if you want the Queen Elizabeth cup, you probably need to order soon.
My book, Fairy Tale Girl has been hard to find anywhere but on our website, and we’re down to just a few, saved just in cases, for Girlfriends. . . because we sold out everywhere else! So now, it’s being reprinted . . . the printer sent me the entire book so I could check the pages for color and layout, be sure the cover is right, and make sure it has that new book smell. I am still getting thank you letters for this book, warming the cockles of my heart.
And not just one book reprint this time . . . two!
Because A Fine Romance, Falling in Love with the English Countryside has also been missing in action! Thank you so much for liking them! You know it’s all you . . . your word of mouth that has made this possible. Mom’s to daughters, sisters to sisters, girlfriend to girlfriend ~ and so many of you took that word of mouth to Amazon.💖 Such a huge help! Word of mouth, my very favorite thing. Who do you trust more than your mom or BFFs? No one! I love it for my books, for movies, restaurants, exercise, for EVERYTHING actually, and feel just the same about it for the books I read … We are a sharing bunch aren’t we!?! Kindred spirits!
Oh yes, they sent the ribbons too! All approved and I bet we get them in the next month or so.
And yes, we also ran out of our fine art giclee prints . . . they are all being reprinted and will be coming to the Studio any day now! Beautiful reproductions on heavy watercolor paper ~ the color is so good it’s very hard to tell the difference between them and 
the originals! I left enough white paper on the sides and top so you can frame them if you like. I will sign and number them before sending them to the Studio for our webstore. And SURPRISE! See the geranium there on the right? That is a print of the very first painting I ever did, when I was 30, before I even knew I could paint. Painting this geranium with my brand new Birthday watercolors was a real awakening. I have one here in the house and I thought it would be fun as a giveaway ❤️❤️❤️ . . . I’ll personalize it to whoever turns out to be the winner of our drawing … so leave a comment (you’ll see where to do it directly under the end of this post… click on the word “comment.”) I just want to show how much …
And that’s the truth! You’re family! One of my favorite things about winter is how quiet and hushed it is here on the island. Tourists aren’t here yet, ferries sometimes stop running due to the weather, otherwise I can hear the boat horn echoing every time it leaves the dock. We have church bells clanging and ancient sad sound of foghorn too. All we need for perfection is a train whistle! Dark quiet mornings before sunrise, just me and Jack, a cup of tea, and my watercolors, are a pure gift to my life.
I’ve been painting . . . so fun to watch a piece of art come to fruition … the smell of the paper, the pencils, it’s back to school time for me. I start with a sketch, decide where her shoulders should be, what her hair might be, hat or no hat, what groceries should she have, what colors, everything . . .This is where the eraser comes in handy. I think of my eraser the same way as I do my seam ripper . . . tools I could not live without.
Once I like the basic idea, I redraw it on the “good” paper . . . Then comes the scariest part . . . putting on the first paint. Still scary after all these years!
Then I begin adding the layers of paint, trying not to hurry, enjoying every hair in my two-haired paint brush! Right here is where I sometimes want to stop! I love it right now! But then, I think, those lips, gotta do them! I’m trying to get ahead of next year’s calendars with some new art. And while I paint, thoughts and ideas pop into my head, so I write them down before I forget, sometimes it’s just a few lines, sometimes I have to stop because the idea takes pages . . . Everything seems so inspiring to me! Must be the longer light in the day, Spring! Or maybe the books we “read” while walking, I think about them, the magic the authors portray with their words, those wonderful wonderful words . . .
So in honor of St. Patricks Day AND the first day of Spring, I thought I’d give you some GREEN. I file my photos in lots of different ways, and one of them is by color! For all of you suffering from constant storms, and for everyone else living on the edge, ready for some green, I give you . . .
Almost time to mulch and dig my picket fence garden . . . and I can’t wait!
Green, most wonderful quilt, and Jack, one happy cat, make my kitchen a little bit of heaven.
Slippers warming next to the heating vents. So I can take off the cold ones and put on the warm ones. Foxy, don’t you think?🤠
The green rag-rug collection getting a little fresh air.
Luv-lee green glass, antique store find.
From my 2020 English Countryside photo Calendar…
. . . I should have included this miniature car covered in artificial grass in that calendar! Must totally disappear driving through the hedgerows! English people have the best sense of humor!
Green!
My happy cutie in the English Countryside, wearing his Scotland scarf.
In honor of Girl Scouts Week, my cooking badge. Didn’t quite make it to the sewing needle, still pinned on my sash where my mom put it.❤️
A window in a cottage in the Cotswolds. Kitty curtains framed in Green!👏
Driving through Vermont in the snow.
And the reason I LOVE clover and let it do anything it wants. But what I really need are sheep!🍀
Here we are at Carrie’s house in Oxford. As you can see, she has the charm decor gene in spades ~ loves green too!
Here’s how to make them: Cut stem flat against artichoke. Rinse it in water. Boil a pan of water, enough to cover artichoke. When it boils, add 
all ingredients except lemon juice … Check it after about 20 minutes to see if fork slips into stem easily. It’s done when it’s soft. Drain, and squeeze on lemon juice just before serving. It’s good hot or cold. Pull off a leaf, dip the wide end in mayonnaise, or mix mayo with lemon juice, or try melted butter ~ and pull “meat” off with your teeth. Keep going this with each leaf until the leaves are too flimsy. Then scoop out the center choke, dip and eat the “heart!” Yum. Fun to grow and they make the perfect dinner for losing that last 10 pounds, or the first 20. Here’s why they’re good for you!
Me, on a walk in the New Hampshire woods!
Needlepoint pillow. Goes with walls, lamp shade, green in chair, little Irish house roof on hutch. Goes good with Christmas too!
Me, way back when I lived at Hollyoak, when the cows escaped into my backyard from the farm next door, and I ran outside to see them, paintbrush in hand!
Beach booty. Heart shaped rock for the collection.
This is the color we get in spring . . . I call it “screaming New England green.” It’s like the day green was born! So green it even reflects on the gray roof of the house and turns it green!
Despite what this camera says, this is green . . . and it’s our dining room the way it was in 1989 a few days after we moved in ~ I’m playing house, setting the table for our first dinner party in our new home, which, I can tell by the bowls, nutcrackers, and lemons, was lobster! I’m pretty sure I bought the white paint for the trim and started tearing that wallpaper off the next day!🤪 That’s Girl Kitty. Jack isn’t born yet.
First thing I noticed about my first house on the island, when we drove into the driveway ~ it had a name. On a green sign nailed to a tree.
Black beret, but a green jacket and green pants . ..
And this, soon we will be drying our sheets and tablecloths in the salty wind and dappled light of the green-drenched island. It’s gonna happen!!!
ART, my dears, is what you THINK IT IS. Which is almost everything!
So book-time, walk-time for me and Joe . . . off I go. Wishing you a wonderful weekend! If you’re in California, you’ve had SUCH a 
tough winter, but I envy you your lupin and poppies that will be popping up any day. Hillsides and beach walks full of them, your reward, and you deserve every bit of it! Texas bluebonnets too . . . probably something to look forward to every where! Here’s to us Girlfriends! Don’t forget to leave a comment if you’d like a chance to win the Geranium giclee!
Your pal for life,
Thank you Susan for this lovely post. I enjoyed it as always.
Thank you for those little green reminders of Spring. It gladdened my heart.
23 miles in ONE week – that is impressive! You inspired me,I’m going for a walk right now! Thanks for starting my day in a positive way.
Get one of those tracker watches, doesn’t have to be apple, they have lots of inexpensive ones out there. It feels really GOOD when your watch applauds you!🤣🤣
Oh such a lovely post and the green theme! It’s always a delight reading a new Willard. Happy Spring, Susan!🍀
Happy St Patrick’s Day. Love all the cheerful green.
Thanks for the lift, all that green really did the trick! Have always loved your geranium painting and all it represents. Flurries are flying by my window in Ohio but the background has spots of spring green grass. Such a hopeful season! Have a blessed day!
So ready for spring here in Michigan. Our mild January and February have turned into a blustery, snowy, cold March. I wonder if the greenhouse has any geraniums? One of my favorite summer plants. I could put one on my table and think warm thoughts! I always do my front pots red, white and blue – red geraniums, blue lobelia, and white whatever looks good! Then I add some small flags around the edge. I never tire of the look.
Happy spring!
Green has always been my favorite color. And yes, the bluebonnets are blooming in Texas. Keep your Willard’s coming because they are so inspiring.
Top of the morning to ya! What a delightful March Willard. I had that Girl Scout cooking badge, too!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Love all the green in Willard!
Oh, Susan, this was such an inspiring Willard! At the ripe old age of 66 I’m getting started with sketching, watercolor and all things ART. It’s been so life giving.
I would truly treasure your geranium painting. How generous to gift it to one of your girlfriends. You are so sweet! Thank you for the INSPIRATION and Happy Spring to you. It’s 20 degrees of windy March 18th here in Michigan. Crocus are up too! Blessings to you, Susan.
PS I’m so glad you don’t have arthritis.
What a wonderful surprise! Sitting here waiting for the sun to come out so I can venture out and start planting more native ferns in our woods. It has been very cold and wet(which we are very happy about) here in the foothills of the Cascades in Oregon. Your green theme is so fun and inspiring. Now to get me out there and get too it. Happy days to you dear friend. Lani
Would love to win the geraniums! I have them on my front porch and all over my back porch every spring! Would love so much to enjoy them all year round! And if they were painted by you, that’s a bonus!!
Lovely post as always!! Refreshes my soul as we await beautiful spring renewal. Thank you for the reminder to love the life we have!❤️
What a lovely breath of spring to keep us going during the last days of winter! Thank you, I can smell the green grass and daffodils from here.
I would love to win the geraniums! I have red geraniums on my front porch every spring! I also have them all over my back porch, too! Did you know that they just love used tea leaves? Makes them flourish. I would love to be able to enjoy them all year round, and if they were painted by you, it would be so amazing!
Thank you!
Janyce
Love getting a Willard, each time they are posted it is like getting a letter in the mail.
Thank you.
Each time a Willard is posted, it is like getting a letter in the mail.
Thank you.
💖💖💖
Love this post, love the pictures, and I love geraniums! Thank God for Springs!
Susan, You are always so JOYFUL! Thank you for making me (and I’m sure all of “us”, feel so good when we read a Willard. What kind of watercolors do you use? I’m 72 and just starting to use them. They are so much fun!
Every kind, actually, I like them all! Just not TOOOO inexpensive, because those can smear. But otherwise, I don’t think you can lose.
Well, Doctor Sue, this Willard is the medicine I needed today!! I adore absolutely everything about it. I’ll go back and read every one of the comments, as I get Mucho strength for the Girlfriends.
Been laid up the last few days, bum knee.
Then there is the coming of The Blob, a huge mass of sea weed that is washing up on Florida’s shores. Shoot, (not a strong enough Expletive, but I’ll keep it clean.), Why Not? Massive wildfires burning the West, then they get hit by massive atmospheric rivers that cause mud slides and unheard of snow dumps, so we need our Share, right? What, you say!? You already have “Insantis” as governor. He can collect the Blob and ship it up to the Woke Folks in Massachusetts along with Migrants. If any of you have read Dave Barry’s hilarious books on Florida, you know that they are Way over the top funny. No more, Dave can write about the current stream of laws coming out of the Gov. and lawmakers without using Any fiction. He often says, “And I’m not making this up.”, in his newspaper columns. It’s all real. Latest, little girls are banned from saying, “period”, period. I have the entire list, but I don’t want to upset anyone. If you thought Giant Orange Head was bad, Insantis is worse, because he’s actually got a brain. Get out and vote, everyone.
Sending great buckets of love, Dear Lady, for giving so much beauty to the world.
Debbie in maybe the Outer Limits, or the Twilight Zone, AKA Florida
I SAW the blob on TV!!!😱 Oh my! Dave Barry is so funny . . . he’s made me cry laughing. I would be scared living in Florida. Aren’t they allowed to carry guns now like to the market and places like that? That would freak me out. Somebody crazy gets mad and boom. And I’m sassy! I could accidentally make him mad! You’re probably lucky to be inside with a knee, you’re bad too! 🤪❌⭕️❌⭕️ Feel better soon!
I love your hope filled “Willard” that spring will soon be on its way. Grabbing a pen and my book to write down the quotes so I can easily refer to them later and not have to go back to the screen . Love to share them in a quick text or email to my friends..always a sweet pick me up.
Thank you…..everyone enjoy your corn beef and cabbage…..Go Green!!!!
Your posting came at just the right time for me. I needed the boost of a kindred spirit 💗💗
Thank you friend!
*Sigh* How I love reading your posts, Susan! Like a breath of fresh air and that first sip of clear, refreshing water in the morning! Wow, it is wonderful to see the world through your sparkling eyes, Girlfriend. My Mom was born in 1923, too. A momentous year, indeed. She passed in 2002 and I would have loved to share your posts with her. She would have loved you, as I do. – Thanks for being Family!
🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
What a lovely and unexpected treat to wake up to a new Willard! I will reread it to savor all my favorite parts and, of course, will enjoy the photos once again. Thank you, Susan!
Love all the beautiful green. What a wonderful post.
Love your fox slippers!! 🍀🦊
Love your newsletter. Your new mugs turned out beautifully!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. May your home always be too small to hold all your friends. Thank you for this post.
I love your posts, your books, your art work, everything you do. Thank you❤
Thanks for putting something beautiful into my inbox to read on a relaxing Saturday morning!
Love your blog. it is a breath of fresh air. Yes, The poppies are out in so. California and beautiful!
As always, thank you for a beautiful Willard! It’s such a joy to see that link – all emails should be so welcome! Your geranium painting reminds me of my collecting all your Country Living magazine recipes – even tracking down the issues I had missed at the 1/2 off bookstore! Thank you, too, Susan, for helping to introduce many of us to The Enchanted Bookclub! It’s been such a pleasure to be part of that community over the past year. Happy Spring!
My pleasure! Love Hayley!
I love your book recommendations! I adored Still Life and waiting for The Last Bookshop in London from the library! Perhaps there needs to be a Girlfriends Book Club!!! 💗
There should be! Did you read A Gentleman in Moscow?👏👏👏
☘️It’s a VERY special day when I find your blog in my feed! Thank you for the happiness you bring, Susan! I’ve found I especially love when you share photos from your color coded/sorted files. The GREEN today was so uplifting and heartwarming!💚
Oh, my goodness – my Girl Scout sash has badges pinned to it too!
Our darling moms!💖
My family calls me “the queen of green”! 💚
Dear Sue!! Thank you for another wonderful Willard! Always a surprise and I can’t wait to read them. So glad you are reprinting your books. I know that several have been out of print for a while….Girlfriends comes to mind. So many new girlfriends are going to be thrilled to see Fairytale & Fine Romance available again soon! xoxo peg
❌⭕️❌⭕️❌⭕️
As a newly wed, my new mom in law introduced me to Geraniums. Your painting fills my heart with such priceless memories.
Linda in Wisconsin
What a fun post. I enjoyed every word. Never thought to sort my photos by color. Thanks, Susan!
Your geranium picture has always warmed my heart. Especially the back story; your first painting!
I hope I am chosen! Please …
Kind regards,
Ethel
What a lovely, uplifting blog . . . . as always! You never disappoint, dear Susan! I would be thrilled and honored beyond measure to win the giclee print of your watercolor geranium . . . I have already matted and framed it in my mind, and will hang it in a place of honor in my home, where everyone can see and admire it. I will always be reminded of how you discovered a hidden talent that shaped the entire course of your life and brought you (and us!) so much joy! I’m still waiting to discover my hidden talent – but your lovely print would certainly give me the inspiration I need to keep looking! xoxoxoxo
So much inspiration out there, so much beauty! xoxoxo
A beautiful post to bring us all into the sunshine…eventually! LOL. I can’t remember a winter like this all over our states like it has been this year. Thank you for always bringing us into your world for a quick glance, a peek at new things to come, the wonder of your work, and can’t wait to see how your “big diary” re-binding will turn out! What a treasure that book is! The “present of Spring” geranium print reminds me so much of my Mom, who always had them inside (during winter) and out (rest of year) and would never give up on them, even when they just wanted to become compost and help a new one grow!
Congratulations on getting things done! It’s so satisfying!
I especially like the green in this blog entry. Spring’s coming in just two days! Can the green be far behind? 💚
I’m so looking forward to spring! It’s still white and cold here in Saskatchewan!
I adore your posts , they are like golden sunshine to the dark days!
Thank you Susan for the lovely green themed photos, such a variety and gives me lots of ideas to play around with.🍀⛳️🧑🏼🎤
It’s a cold gloomy day in Texas but your green blog changed all that! Love the geranium! Hope I’m lucky! Thanks for brightening my day!
You had me with the poppies and lupins! I live for them, looking, looking every year starting in February. It’s such a thrill, reassuring me that spring is coming. Now the lupins are in full bloom, banks of them along the highway as I drive in to the office. I have to work on keeping my car in it’s lane as I stare dreamily at all the color. It’s the little things, and the yearly bloom. So grateful!
From California…looking forward to spring!
Thank you for your lovely “letters” you write to us in this blog. They buoy the spirit and inspire me to want to make things more beautiful, fun and joyful for my little corner of the world. I’d love if you decide to do another English Countryside calendar—one of my favorites of all time.
SoCal sun and love to you and Joe
Wonderful Willard. Spring is the most joyful time of the year. Here on the south end of Vancouver Island, many flowers are blooming: daffodils, rhododendrons, camellias, crocuses, and the sweet little snowdrops (almost finished). Thanks for all the green, it’s very refreshing.
Green … ah, my favorite color. Reading and looking at each picture you posted touched my soul with warmth and peace. To see the linens on the line blowing in the wind, the flowers peeking through the earth reaching for the sun … what joy and renewed excitement fills my soul. Thanks Susan!
The daffodils are coming up here in London. The hyacinths too. It’s been a long grey winter, very dry for the most part. I’m looking forward to it being warm enough to lay in under a tree.
I’m a journal shredder too!
The youthy ones have to go… 🤣
Always a treat to see your Willard in my mailbox! Like a virtual mini vacation filled with fun, inspiration, and I especially love that you often find a way to work in a fun Girl Scout reference in somehow. Enjoy the start of Spring on the Island and “hi” to Joe!
Girl Scout week!!💚
Happy St. Patricks Day to you & Joe! So happy to see so many signs of Spring!
you are right …
it was a surprise!
thank you!!!
the beauty shores me up while watching my dear husband fight with cancer…
God has been most gracious to give us so many lovely days and years together…
hug your honeys
I will do that, God give you strength. You already have courage. Blessings and love …❌⭕️❌⭕️
This is my first time reading your blog. I love it. I have one of your cookbooks but I shall have to explore your store. This bog gave me hope that spring will really come.
Welcome to the neighborhood!👏👏👏
Oh, Susan, thanks for sharing your photos, quotes, inspiration and love.
It warms my heart. ❤️
Thank you, Susan, for sharing your art in progress. I always learn something new from your blogs!
Green has been my favorite color since I was little. Now I’m eighty! and still love green. Thank you for showing all your green things. Such fun.
Lovely as always Susan. Green is my favorite color. My eyes are green and they went nicely with my strawberry blonde hair. My hair is white now and they still go nicely. P.S. I never win anything, fingers crossed
What a wonderfully refreshing green Willard. Wish Willards came around more often! I savor every new one. Happy Spring to everyone!!
I got so excited to see that you had a new blog post up! It was perfect timing for a good road trip read. We were heading to Kentucky from San Antonio for a spring break vacation. We are experiencing spring all ready in San Antonio with flowering trees but as we headed northeast the trees became more brown. We did enjoy seeing the wild daffodils while in Tennessee and Kentucky!
I’m hearing it’s very cold in the south today! I had friends go to Las Vegas and they were freezing! 😱 Snow blocked the road to the Grand Canyon!😱
Needed the green reminders…it’s all white here today. My crocuses are
poking out of the snow…full buds…ready to announce SPRING!
Thank you, Susan, for all your happy thoughts!
Your posts are always so much fun to read. You think the same way many of us do about everything!
The land of kindred spirits is what I call it!❤️
Happy Spring! Something new in the yard each day. Lots of robins in and around the neighborhood. Enjoy your day!
I have also collected heart shaped rocks at our cabin in Big Bear Lake, CA. Once we can get in, (10 feet of snow and a road that isn’t plowed) I’ll take a photo and send to you, we can be heart rock sisters! There are likely many of us!
“Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, wonder where the flowers is?!”
COMING SOON WE HOPE!!
I remember the road going up to Big Bear from Upland … straight UP!! Of course, for me, just talking about it now is making my hands clammy. I can’t imagine driving that in snow, or ice, or barely anything! How is it now?
Love it all!
My entire house is full of greenery this month; lime green depression glass collection, greenery on my mantel, etc.
To say I “enjoyed” your tribute to green is an understatement. Every issue your brain and ideas take me to a new height of enjoyment. The memories of our English trip last summer, your books, your cookbooks, all bring soul to my life. I am entirely grateful for finding you in the 1980’s….. Your creativity and grace astounds me. Hugs to Carrie and Paul.
I truly appreciated the “green theme” of this Willard since we are in the midst of day 2 of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Blizzard here in the way up north Upper Peninsula! So much snow! Thank you for the diversion.
Please consider me for your fabulous give away. I remember reading about how surprised you were at discovering your talent. It’s unbelievable how far it has brought you! I love everything Susan Branch!!
Hi Susan. The old saying “I am Green with envy “ over your beautiful, colorful fairytale life. Dreams do come true. Enjoy Monday First Day of Spring!
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Happy Spring! 🥳 Green is my favorite color and so it’s all through my home and closet. I think I was set on that course as a little child. I, having red hair, was always dressed in greens. (While my sister, having blonde hair, was always dressed in reds. Our mother knew just how it should be. My sisters home and closet is, as you may can guess, full of reds.)
I so enjoy seeing a Willard pop into my inbox. ❤️
Your mom had Christmas in her heart!❤️💚
How have I made it all of these years without your blog?? I’ve been
a fan and a collector of Susan Branch books for decades. Now that I
have the time to breathe (at 68 years old) and am enjoying my new to me, 1890 home in South Georgia, I want to say thank you for all you’ve done for me over
the years! I just had a clothesline installed and am preparing my garden due to
much inspiration from you. Blessings!
I love our clothesline . . . the wind can be mesmerizing! Happy new house!❤️
Loved the blog!
My cold weather vegetables are growing and it gives me hope for vine ripe tomatoes in the near future! Come on green!!!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and happy Spring, Susan! Our daffodils just bloomed. It brings joy to my heart every year. Must plant more and more joy. Love the green pictures. Thank you for the Willard. Your writing and art bring me joy as well.
I love-love-love this post Susan! We have had so much snow and now it’s mud, but Spring comes on Monday and I’m really looking forward to it!! Thanks for the book recommendation, I’m adding it to my To Be Read list!
Have a lovely Spring!
The red geraniums are so precious!
My heart skips a beat…or two…with the “green of Spring” …Thank you for allowing me to escape into your magic and charm for a wonderful few minutes! Joyful!
Thank you for the wonderful spring post. You always bring joy, sunshine and inspiration . Love Love Love your geranium giclee and all the rest of your art.
Susan,
Thank you for the lovely green post..
I look forward to you emails…
For Valentine’s we made some of your recipes for dinner.
We had so much fun and the meal was delicious and memorable💚
Thanks for your “oh so green in-put”..Most enjoyable and uplifting,
I have ALWAYS loved green…thanks Susan❣️
Love the green and would love love to win 🏅 the geranium print !!
I was looking for your book and couldn’t find it. That’s because it’s Bookshop not Bookstore. So don’t forget to fix that. I’m on the waiting list for the audio version. Loved all the green in this post!
We’ve had an early Spring this year in WNC, and a few spells of “Winter” to spoil things a bit, but we also have had multiple bouquets of Sunshine (daffodils) to enjoy inside. We had lived in MA and NH so know how tough the wait is til Spring arrives there! And as usual, Willard has arrived to cheer us up with your sweet and delightful musings, news, and many shades of green for Spring and St. Pat’s Day!
Thank you for sharing your creative impulses so lavishly and generously!
Love what you do, Girlfriend!
Thank you for beauty, inspiration and fun!
Thank you for the lovely blog. So looking forward to Spring too!! Sending God’s blessings to you, Joe and, of course, Jack. I love you. . .
Thank you, Susan!! I enjoyed your post very much!! ☘️
I appreciate your description of the way you build a painting – thanks!
P.S. I loved Fairytale girl. I read it just as I had moved to Kentucky after being divorced from 25 years of marriage.
You really are a kindred spirit.
Love,
Cathy
Good timing. And best of luck to you! Good things around the corner! xoxo
Happy Spring Susan! Thanks for this lovely green post. Green is my favorite color!
I would love to win your geranium print for my sister, Mary Beth, who has taken up water coloring and has a green kitchen that the flowers would look perfect in! We met you at a book signing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but I fell in love with your creative style over 30 years ago when I bought my first baby book of yours for our oldest son! Kindred spirits ever since!
Marsha
I feel like I’ve had a whole lifetime with you girls and it’s been so wonderful . . . families, children, grandchildren . . . and the beat goes on!
Such a lovely post. Thank you. We have had a time with the weather out here in California, but with all this rain, will come an abundance of wildflowers. I can hardly wait. The poppies are first, and they are just starting to show, but I love the lupin! Should be soon.
What a wonderful way to start Spring! My daffodils are up, and the forsythia’s buds just popped yesterday. Now we just need some warmer weather. Thank you for a lovely post.
I saved my Willard for Saturday afternoon so I could slowly read and enjoy every word and picture. And boy, did I have the right idea! I am sitting here watching it snow outside my window and drinking a much needed cup of hot tea. You have given me hope that spring will sprung one of these days – Monday would be nice! So much green, so much beauty. I just love the vintage linens on the line. Thank you!!
My pleasure Maryellen! Happy Spring!
Beautiful post. Happy Spring, Susan, and lots of love.
I am in Southern California. My husband and I went hiking today–I have never seen the hills here so green! Lots of wildflowers popping up, and all the creeks and reservoirs are full of water. So different from the last few years!
It’s been hard on everyone, but wow, instant drought-free and green and wildflowers, I wish I was there!
Lovely post- I can’t wait for my Queen Elizabeth cup. Happy Spring!
Green 🌿 + watercolors 🪴. Two of my favorite things.
Thank you, as always
Mary