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,
I always look forward to Willard and since my birthday is March 20, the first day of Spring, this is a wonderful birthday gift!! So Springy!
Heading to England mid-May and have begun re-reading A Fine Romance..for at least the third time 🥰🥰🥰! Memories to be made I’m sure and all because of your wonderful book. This will be my third trip🥰. Thank You Susan for opening a magical door!
Happy Birthday Karen, and Bon Voyage!!! Have a wonderful time!!
Geraniums! They come into the house at the end of a chilly fall to have summer linger on through those cold days ahead. I love the smell of geraniums! They simply smell like soil.
I just loved this post with all the refreshing shades of green. Even had yummy artichokes this week with garlic, lemon, herb butta! Your friends’ darling green shelf with all the goodies! Oh my. Happy Spring!
You must know you Post brightens so many lives. Always coming at the perfect time. You inspire me to feel and take in the little moments of each day. Riding your ferry is on my bucket list. Who know maybe I’ll get glimpse of you and Joe out on your walk. I will definitely read the book you listened to. Have a blessed Day!
Dear Susan, your posts lift my spirits every time! Happy Spring 💗
Enjoyed your blog as always! I was born in 1948 and can identify with your reminiscences! Happy spring to all!
Hello from snowy northern Michigan where it is 8*…brr! Thank you for all the green! The trim on our house is green, we have green, yellow and red on our furniture and drapes and we are rooting for our green & white Michigan State University in the NCAA basketball tournament…also waiting for the first day of spring this Monday…I have a heart rock collection too! When we built our winterized house next to our 1906 un-winterized outage I had the builder put 14 heart rocks from my collection-one for each member of our family-in our fireplace along with other rocks the builder found on our property while he was preparing the lot to build…thank you for the promise of spring💚Rae Ann R.
HOW PERFECT!!!👏👏👏
Green from the 70’s and still green in 2023. I will read this again and again and thank you for your words and art. I am drinking from my Bluebird cup right now!
Green is my favorite color. It’s fresh and inviting and makes me happy. If I won your geranium picture, I would have you personalize it to my very best friend Sheryl. She has seen me through so much over the past 44 years. Your work is a wonderful gift and is your precious legacy.
Sweetly generous, girlfriends forever!💞
Your beautiful writing always evoke a treasured memory of something beloved! My favorite pair of ballet flats in the 80’s were kelly green & every time I wore them, I felt so happy when I glanced down at my feet. They gave me a spring in my step & no one else in my school had that color! I love your subject matter this blog (like I love all of your blogs!) Living in a very cold part of the country (GREEN Bay, WI) this time of year, your pics got me excited for warmer days! Green is the color of hope & newness. I look forward to all that spring will bring. God Bless you for always sharing your gifts with the rest of us. You certainly bring color to an often drab world, Susan Branch. Thank you!💚💚💚
Love those shoes!!!💚💚💚
I love to read Willard 💕 it’s like we are old friends. This was a great way to start spring 🌷
Wore my greens yesterday for my special day…St. Pats Day…and love greens of ALL kinds…even when it sprouts out of Vidalia onions in my pantry! I am IRISH through and through…both sides of my family. Trying to use up some yarns while recovering from a Colostomy…I decided just to knit both sides in garter stitch across 70 stitches on size 10 1/2 bamboo needles! I now have a large shawl that looks like a Dr. Who length scarf! And it is forest green wool! Love it! It will be what it will be, tra la! Hi to Jack too. Just returned my daughter’s 2 kitties after caring for them for 3 1/2 years when she couldn’t. She is overjoyed to have them back but I had a hard time giving them back. Sully is a tuxedo with a “got milk” white stripe on his upper lip…always reminded me of Jack. Love your blogs! Blessings.
Your turn to get a kitty!!! 👏 That shawl sounds wonderful! Love that color!
Love the charming green photos! And you expanded my vocabulary today. I had to look up “giclee” as I couldn’t remember what it meant. 🙂
Loving the green!
As always, seeing a new Willard in my in box makes me so happy.
Thanks for a little spring during my winter while waiting for my broken ankle to heal. Be very careful going down a flight of stairs! 😊
Lovely post. Your sketch reminds me of a BEGINNERS watercolor class I took. Oh, such a disaster. Draw the sketch and paint it in one class, new one every week! Make a mistake, I’m behind already. Can’t hear the next instruction? I’m behind again. Haven’t painted since. I sometimes wish you would give us watercolor instructions…one step at a time (per week). Really simple stuff. It could be added to your list of to-do possibilities??? I’ll be hoping :). In the mean time, I buy little watercolors when I can… Love them. Thanks, J.
Read my How to Draw in my Summer Book . . . it’s only one page, but it’s the basic! Once you draw, it is just like coloring!
Loved all your green things! Your cooking badge reminded me of the one thing from my past I’m sad not to have is my Girl Scout sash (Mom, how could you?). I do remember her being reluctant to initial in my handbook that I had demonstrated that I knew how to “clean up as you go” in the kitchen! 😉
I am happy that Springtime returns every year. It gives me a chance to renew myself in nature.
Aren’t geraniums exquisite? Even the leaves are aromatic. The lemon scented ones are my favorite.
Thank you for your posts – I really enjoy them! Two days until Spring – Enjoy! 🌷 Andrea
I’m immersed in daffodils right now. I’m studying towards being a daffodil judge and it’s a big challenge. I’ve also been dabbling in watercolors even though I don’t have good drawing skills but I study technique on fb and utube. I practice the art of Ikebana. I find it so peaceful and it slows time down a bit. I love to read and garden. But for years, I’ve always taken the time to stop, sit down and savor your letters and stories and pictures and art work that both settle and inspire me. Thank you. T
Thank you for your posts – I really enjoy them! Two days until Spring – Enjoy! 🌷
Your posts are such a breath of fresh air, thank you Susan! I loved what you said about the question of how a writer begins, one I’ve asked a million times in ALL my journals and life stories. Made me laugh.
“Now great winds roar down the canyons of the sky”GT❤️ Sweet, sweet serendipity! I’d just finished reading my latest Gladys Taber journal and was delighted by the references to you…by the way, I don’t think she was the inspiration for Elizabeth Lane either😉…and when I picked up my iPad I saw that you’d posted a new blog. Thank you, dear heart. It was a blessing for me. Crazy times. Seems that your uplifting, hopeful, lovely posts always come just when we need them most. Love you.
lovely painting, hard to believe it was your first one!
Surprised me too! Changed my life!
Still winter in Ottawa, Canada, so I loved seeing some green. I purchased the Fairytale Girl last year through my local independent book store.
Ancestry says I am one part Irish. I relish that part of me and embrace all things green. Thanks for all the wonderful green pictures starring so many diverse things.
I LOVE all the green! Also–just want to say that you are truly lucky that you do not have arthritis.
❤️ Your foxy 🦊, warm slippers. Susan! I hope to find something similar. 😊
Thank you for renewing my faith that spring really is right around the corner! It’s a balmy 26 degrees here in Kansas City today! We so enjoyed seeing you at Unity Temple on your book tour stop in KC last August!
Enjoyed this post (like all of them) I love green 🙂
Hi Susan, Spring is here! What to do first? I have been spraying my shrubs and newly popped out plants with a nutrient. Last year my peonies just flourished beautifully and lasted longer that ever. I am trying to get hydrangea bushes to get going because my husband “chopped” them way back. I will know soon is they can force their way out again. Also, I was a girl scout in the 50’s and it clashed with my piano lessons, so I gave up piano and went on to earn ONE badge. I still have that green badge of art with a pallet board and 2 paint brushes. So now I still can’t play piano or paint pictures. But I read really well!
I look at my horseback riding badge with SUCH a quizzical eye. I am not a horseback rider! But vague memory tells me we all took horseback riding lessons, and voila. It’s on there with Cooking, penpal, childcare, storytelling ….🤣🐴
Thank you for all the green. Brightened my day!
Southern Oregon Sharon
As always I enjoy Willard. I’ve been enjoying you from way back in the beginning! I used to look forward to getting them in the mail. Thank you for the spurt of much needed green. I love geraniums especially herbal ones. ❤️
Thank you, Susan, for adding brightness to this very cold Indiana day.
Dear Susan, I am not a winter person. The cold and long winter days and nights in Ohio are tough to get through. This winter I have spent many evenings drinking tea, listening to your music, and reading your Willard collection. I look forward to every issue and all your photos. I have even tackled a few of your recipes. Thank you for bringing such joy to my life.
Could the book be The Last Bookshop in London? That is what came up when I searched…not bookstore. Hoping it comes to me soon. Thank you for this wonderful green post!🍀
Yes, you got it Nancy!
A delight from start to finish, as always!
The green…such a lovely respite while the landscape is still bleak and the -5 windchill and snow of this morning!
Bless you!
Jeanette
I *loved* The Last Bookshop! And I love your foxy slippers 🙂
I love your artistry with paintbrush and words, your openness and charming personality, and I love ted geraniums!
Red geraniums!
Lovely greens! Happy Spring🌷🌷🌷
The bluebonnets are in bloom here in Central Texas. The best time of year here. Before the hellish heat takes over.
I know how much you love all things British, I stumbled on this site (in light of the upcoming coronation) It is coronation.gov.uk
It lists a toolkit for parties and you can print out bunting. There are recipes and coloring pages and a playlist on Spotify. Very interesting!
Thanks for being you💖
Happy St Patrick’s Day a day late, Susan! I was cooking and baking most of the day. Being half Irish it is a day to celebrate, Green is one of my favorite colors–I have green eyes, and wearing green accentuates them.
You have so many wonderful comments on this Willard! We all want to win the pretty geranium print! I grow geraniums every summer as our local deer leave them alone most of the time–they do not like strong-smelling plants so geraniums and marigolds are always in my gardens along with lavender and herbs. Although we.ve had some warm days on the Colorado Front Range we will still get snow, so Spring is a suggestion here and not a reality. The weather does not stay above freezing until late May or early June, but I have all my little tomato, pepper, eggplants, etc., seeds growing in front of a sunny window in my kitchen so I’ll be ready then to transplant them outside. Last summer I had a nice bounty of vegetables. I have to surround them all with chicken wire fences as the deer would have a feast, but I love fresh home-grown vegetables too much not to grow them, I hope your treasured diary will be returned to “good as new”! What fun to be able to reminisce that way. I feel a bit about my blog that way–I’ve been pecking away at writing on it for many years– it’s not a big fancy blog, but I love it as a journal of my last 15 years. Have a wonderful rest of March!
Have you tried coyote urine for the deer?
Hurry up Sun, it’s been a long and lonely winter!
The smallest of things can make you feel like something is special about today! – the many green things posted are so simple, but a lovely memory!
Thank you for the green! It is such an alive color. Here in the Pacific NW, it shines even in the rain.
I love the thought that Spring is just days away! I so enjoyed all your photos of green! My tulips and daffodils are popping up from the green with their ever-growing sprouts of green. More daylight hours, warmer weather, birds returning from their warm weather vacations, and trees and flowers budding. Welcome to Spring!
Loved all your green as we still have all white in Minnesota. Happy Spring. It is coming!
Love reading your posts and especially love the geranium painting. My grandmother, who lived to be 95, loved geraniums so every year I go to my local florist to purchase one as soon as they are available as this is my tradition of keeping her memory dear to me. Thank you for your beautiful memories!
Thank you for the green. Our color in South Carolina is yellow due to pollen. Spring has sprung early.
I so love your posts, Susan. You make my heart happy!
Thank you. Loved it as always. Makes me so happy when I see there’s one to read.
Oh, I needed this today! Thank you for the sweetness and beauty you send into the world. I think my blood pressure dropped ten points just reading this. The world needs more Willard.
Dear Susan,
Happy Spring to YOU & YOURS
Thank You for sharing your stories with all of us !
Hanging out here in So Cal watching for Rainbows and that Pot Of Gold,
Linda C of So Cal : )
I’m not on Instagram so I check frequently to see if I have a new Willard online. I am so eager for Spring, too where I live in eastern Washington state. However, I need to report I saw a Robin on our deck announcing his return so Spring can’t be far away. I am so glad to hear the timing of the mug mailings…I ordered the birthday mug for a gift to me, from me. I will cherish it always. Thank you so much for your cheery positive posts.
Good! Now every day can be your birthday! xoxo
Love, love, love, your writings, art and photos! Such a pick me up! For so many years I can’t remember when I started following you. But I do remember WHY I started. …. One of my daughters-in-law gave me one of your calendars for Christmas! And I was forever hooked! Amazing! Thank you thank you for all you do!
And I would love to have that print! It could be the granddaughter to the one I bought many years ago at a thrift shop. It is quite large, and signed and numbered. – “Geranium and Shells” . But it is pale colors. (the only thing I didn’t like about it) –
Your bright colors would be like the little girl beside it!
Thanks again for all you do to brighten my life!
P.S. Two comments above mine the girls last name is Burton. My maiden name is Burton and I have a granddaughter whose birthday is March 20th!
Really amusing coincidences I thought. ……
It’s the land of kindred spirits around here, we’re all related one way or another!
My heart always longs for Spring but it seems more than ever this year! I’ve always wondered how you went from Holly Oak to the charming home you have now. Is there a story there?
I’ve wanted to do a book called HOME … to tell that story… just haven’t had time yet!
Oh that would be wonderful!! I’m sure we would all love to read it!!
Green! My favorite color! It soothes my soul in all it’s hues. I’m down south in Virginia and we already have trees blooming and daffodils popping up. I never take spring for granted, it’s a miracle every year! Thank you for this bit of March whimsy 💚☘️
Such a lovely, refreshing Willard, and timely, too, as the rains begin once again. But the golden, California poppies are just about to pop around the neighborhood, reminding us that spring can only be days ahead. I love that shadow photo of the two of you. Happy Beach Trails to you!
Hi Susan! I love all of your artwork! Would love to have a copy of those geranium print!♥️
“kindred spirits” is always my favourite thing to hear you say….
❤️❤️❤️
I have been following you ever since my children were very young. They are now 36 and 34. I would always ask for one of your books for special occasions and I would get your new calendar every year for Christmas from them. When we were on vacation in the summer in Michigan, we would stop at different book shops and the kids (my husband) would buy one of your books for me for my birthday/Christmas (which both were in December, haha) I had them either stamp the book with their shop stamp or put a sticker in it so I would know where they had gotten it from. Then of course they would sign the book for whatever holiday I was getting it for. I LOVE your books and everything about you and your stories. Thank you for being such a wonderful, kind person and bringing so much love to my world. I look forward to every Willard. <3
How wonderful, you made them into an art collection! That’s lovely Kathryn . . . thank you for telling me!💖
Did you know finding a dime, is a message from someone who has passed? I saw a dime drop out of nowhere onto my floor. It was dated the year my hubby and I first met. My brother had recently passed, I know he was reaching out to us with some comfort. This was a fine and fun Willard to read. Thanks again.
I felt like it was a message from my dad …
A missing earring fell out of the air shortly after my son passed away. Definitely a sign, connection, LOVE tap!
It is always a joy to receive your “letters”.
Thank you for the inspiring words and all the green!
Bless you.
Happy Spring.
L xxx
I have so missed you and your “Willard”! Thank you for lifting my spirits this dark and dreary morning (sun has not been brave enough to peek out as yet!)! It is the Lord’s Day here in Deep East Texas and it will be cold but sunny, I do pray! Yes, the wildflowers, especially the bluebonnets , are in all their glory here right now! Have a glorious day!
Love all the schades of green in your pictures.
It makes me thinking of Ireland when flying to that country — seeing all the meadows and woods below with all that shades of green.
Didn’t recieve yet in my mailbox, so read it through your link on fb.
A lovely picture of Jack link on the table with the patchwork hanging over the chair.
Have a lovely Sunday and Springtime
Happy Spring to you!
The geranium painting is so beautiful!
Dear Susan,
I always look forward to your posts.
It’s like receiving a letter in the mail.💌
With love from Oregon.
Jacqueline🌷
Susan, so happy that your books are being reprinted…..I went to my independent book store in my town to pick up Distilled Genius and the gal who checked me out said “I’ve never heard of Susan Branch”……I looked at her and said “What?”……then said, well, you need to check into her books and put them on your shelves! I said if you think this book is wonderful, get the others and see for yourself! She looked online as we chatted all about them . I reread them once a year right along with Gladys……my winter reading, they make me very happy. Thank you!
See what I mean about word of mouth??? Thank you soooo much Leslie!! You just made my day!💖
Thank you for your green & spring inspiration! You inspire me daily, as I keep your quote book next to my bed and read from your books every night. You are a true kindred spirit!
Xo, Laura B.
Oh how I needed to read your letter today! Here in northern Texas, the weather is all over the place. Hit 88 last weekend and this morning the low was 29. Can’t quite plant my veggie gardens so all my young plants are in the kitchen getting love. But I’m not complaining because I am never ready for 100+ degree days. And by the way, green is my very favorite color…if I had to pick only one.
Happy Spring to everyone! Here in Georgia our daffodils have come and gone already. That’s okay because now our beautiful dogwoods are starting to bloom. The only bad thing is our awful pine pollen! Can’t have everything perfect! God Bless.
Green is the color of hope!
Happy Sunday! Your posts are always uplifting. Sometimes I just want to jump in and get lost in your blog or books…lol. It brings me back to watching the Magic Garden show from the early 70s. As a child I wanted to hop in before the doors closed at the end. Thank you for sharing! 💚
I always smile when I see you have composed another letter to us. I save it for a time I can just relax and read a letter from a special friend. One I wish lived next door to, where we could drop by, loan a cup of sugar, give hugs as needed, whatever. I’ve ever-so-often written letters on stationary you graciously share, and now you offer yet another sweet gift, thank you for more smiles.
Our Dads, 1923 celebrating a 100 year old birthday. Wish my dad was here for hugs and kisses.
Love all the green! We are all white, brown and grey here in Indiana.
The cups are simply marvelous.
I love reading your posts. I love the words, the thoughtfulness behind them and the print style! I, of course as an artist myself, love your art work, especially the little touches of it here and there. But most of all I love your cheer. The bright happy attitude in all you do even chores! I too love each and every day, just looking out my windows is inspiration for a wonderful day. You have this attitude in spades and it warms my heart. Thank you.
Thank you for brightening our day with green!
Oh Sue I would luv another giclee. I have the flowers next to my bed and I absolutely Lurve them! Geraniums are a favorite if mine and they have survived these terrible California storms, although my fence did not. We are waiting on the fencing company to slot us in their inundated schedule. Everyone has lost beautiful trees and various amounts of damage. Thank you for thinking of us. Much ❤️, Barbara in Lodi, CA
I love geraniums, and I can’t believe that was your first watercolor! It is so good!!!
Susan, what a lovely way to start my Sunday! I’m delighted you’re reprinting The Fairy Tale Girl, Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams, & A Fine Romance–they deserve it! I read all three books to my cousin (who has eye problems) over the phone during the first pandemic winter. She followed along looking at the photos and artwork in the copies I’d sent her. We had so many happy afternoons thanks to you. And also thanks for all the lovely thoughts and images in this Willard! And I’m still laughing, by the way, about Joe and the wearable tea bag of blessed memory!
What a SWEET thing to do!!!💖💖💖
Thanks for the Willard and the chance to win a sweet surprise! Heading off to meet our new grandson today. All the way from MN to Argentina! That’s an adventure. Thanks again for always making me smile!
Green and geraniums and a new Willard from Susan. Just doesn’t get better!!
Dear Susan,
I have been a fan of your since I spotted your first book! Thank you for your cheerful, happy and colorful posts.
Lorraine in Mississippi
Loved your lovely letter today, just in time to usher in spring, I hope. Here in Iowa it takes a while to arrive and seems to have several false starts, just to get our hopes up! But it will come soon and with it the GREEN, can’t wait! I would love to have your geranium print to hang on my wall, geraniums always make me think of my mom. We couldn’t afford much extra when I was growing up, but along with her tomato plants in the spring, she always bought a small geranium and helped it grow into a large one by the end of summer! Happy Spring to you and Joe, I love how you love each other!
What a wonderful Willard! I usually save it a few days in my inbox waiting for the perfect time that I can sit down and savor every perfect quote, picture and piece of art! I’m in the windy West Texas part of the world where thinks aren’t very green yet. Mostly blowing dirt so your post was a breath of fresh air! Thank you for sharing all the beautiful things with us!
Spring Blessings to you, Joe and Jack!!
What a lovely piece of art. It is perfect.
Hello from California! I’m so looking forward to Spring! 🌸
Thank you for the chance Susan! This CA girl is dreaming of some sunshine…although, the lettuces, kale and beets have been loving this rainy-ness. I’m in North Hollywood, not too far from your childhood town. 💚
Ah Spring! The reawakening and renewing of nature after our winter slumber. To watch the budding of our tenderly tendered gardens…it’s good to be alive!
My favorite time of the year when Spring brings us so much green & so many surprises. Thank you Susan, as always, for your inspiring thoughts & words.
Your first watercolor is charming.
I absolutely love the (first ever painting) geranium painting you did. I have studied it and tried to figure out, how YOU figured out, how to do that.
From one little island to another… have a wonderful spring Sue.
Erin
Awwww, Girl Kitty. Miss her ,and I never even met her. Xo
Good morning and Happy Summer Susan, I so enjoyed reading your blog and will pursue getting
The Last Bookstore in London. Want the Fairy Girl and The Romance ones also. It was just so nice
sitting here reading. Thank you for sharing. June Nelson
Your dear Willard, featuring wonderful GREEN and promises of Spring–how very refreshing. I have always enjoyed what you share–the wonderful quotes!! The photos and the sharing of your artistic gift! Thanks for the pure Heavenly Spring-Time Willard, Susan; you are a tip-top tamale (so to speak!!)
Thank you for this new Blog post and love all of the green, my favorite. 🙂
Your Willards always make me smile. The words, the musica,the colors, all of it!
Green is my faaaavorite color! Multiple rooms in my house are various shades of green. ❤️🍀 It’s a very happy color to me so I particularly enjoyed your pictures today…I always do but the green theme was the icing-on-the cake. 😊
We’ve had a warmer than usual winter winter here in Maryland so our crocus are already lined up by our front walk welcoming any guests. 🪻 The daffodils are dancing in the breeze and the cherry blossoms 🌸 are saying “cherrio” to everyone that passes by.
Thank you for your shot of sunshine 🌞 and another book selection. We’re still listening to “Still Life” and very wrapped up in life between Italy and England. Lovely!
Happy Spring!!! 🌱💐🌿
Loved this, love you Susan. For being so positive & uplifting. For trying to see the good in everyone and everything. You are a kind soul. I love what you’re doing with the dime. My dad was also born in 1923. I miss him still. He left us in 1993. Way too soon! I have a story also about a visit to his grave. Maybe I’ll share it some other time. Oh, and green is my favorite color. I wore my dads leprechaun pin on St. Patrick’s Day. Ta-ta.
Loved this, love you Susan. For being so positive & uplifting. For trying to see the good in everyone and everything. You are a kind soul. I love what you’re doing with the dime. My dad was also born in 1923. I miss him still. He left us in 1993. Way too soon! I have a story also about a visit to his grave. Maybe I’ll share it some other time. Oh, and green is my favorite color. I wore my dads leprechaun pin on St. Patrick’s Day. Ta-ta.
Thanks for the wonderful post full of hope for the Spring. Our buttercups have already come and gone. After being spoiled with wonderful weather in Tennessee, we had 21 degrees last night with the same expected tonight. There were a few tiny ❄️ floating around this morning! So I will wait a bit on visiting a garden center! Take care. Love from Tennessee.
Thank you for always reminding me how beautiful every ordinary day can be! Love your art, books, well…just everything!
Thank You for reminding us that there is beauty in every ordinary day! Love your art, writings, well…everything you do!