HELLO from Christmas Island!!! Look how HAPPY I am!!! That’s because (and not at all discounting my daily dose of delicious anti-anxiety medicine (Lexapro for inquiring minds)) I started after 
Covid and worry-about-the-world almost did me in 😃, but I digress) ~ I’m happy for many reasons as you will see below, but first, THIS: my girlfriend Martha’s brilliant husband WROTE a brand new CHRISTMAS SONG.💖 Who DOES that? He’s usually so normal! It’s a totally original song 🎹, and I do believe you are the first audience to hear it! In fact, this is the only place on earth where you can hear it! He let me because we are old friends who live across the street, and when he sang it for us, before he’d even had it professionally recorded, I immediately thought of you!💞 “They’ll love this” I said. He didn’t even try to resist my begging ~ and graciously said, “Of, course, I’ll send it to you! That’s why I wrote it!” 💖💖💖💖💖
Here we go, this is it . . . The Mistletoe Waltz!
Perfect for Jane Austen movies! Right? Can’t you see Mr. Darcy dancing with Elizabeth to this? Molly has a gorgeous voice! It could be in the next Love Actually! Or Mariah Carey could sing it! Kelly Clarkson! Or Taylor Swift, Times Magazine 2020 Person of the Year, who fills our world with happiness and light! This song is like that! Happiness and Light. Good job Ivan!👏
So here we go, from me to you. . . a Willard filled with happiness and light, giving love away, very like A Christmas Carol, doing season past AND season future! Freezing here this morning, had to warm my hands over the toaster! Which of course was a win-win! Toast and warm hands! MAS MUSICA . . .
Our fall here on the island was gorgeous . . . with flaming skies at sunset, church bells rang, wild geese flew over, the wind blew chimney smoke 
around, leaves curled and turned orange, garnet, and gold, mini murmurations of grackles flew in low black clouds over and around the trees, the Harvest moon shone down with golden light … the freshened Autumn air, as Gladys Taber wrote, was “cool as an old coin teaspoon” …and whipped the leaves up behind the tires of our car. Just as it has been since the beginning of time. Perfection.
I decorated inside to match the outside. . .
But Nature does it best, inside the house too: Sun and leaves made shadows on the walls that fell differently in the shortening days . . .
Church bells rang the hour across the street . . . Between that and the boat whistle and the early morning blast of lighthouse foghorns, I am reminded constantly of how lucky I am . . .
Joe brought in branches of bright leaves to hang over mirrors . . .
We hung our wreath of leaves on the front door and dried corn on the kitchen door . . .
It’s that time of year when it’s FUN to carry the basket of wet laundry across the crunchy leaves in the fresh air to hang things out to dry in the wind, where a slight fragrance of leaf mulch and woodsmoke spice the airy sea-smell of our sheets. Even a speck of time in nature is good for what ails you ~ it carries forever the hum of ommmmmm in it!🍁 I spent the end of October and the first of November nursing around the house, getting it ready for company. I washed and . . .
…hung things on the line while Jack watched and waited in the kitchen window . . .
My shadow!
He watched while I starched and ironed tablecloths . . .
. . . sprinkled dresser scarves and table runners, curtains and napkins. Sssssss, the smell of hot iron …👏
Joe polished my wand and all his little silver things for his bar.
Jack helped me fold the starry sheets in his own inimitable way of helping . . . that is, sitting on them, making them his own.
He watched me arrange flowers, make beds, and freshen and make the guest rooms cozy for my people . . .
I stopped off in our room, Jack’s favorite shooting grounds, to shoot rubber bands for him ~ I stand at the door, grab a handful of hairbands, aim, and shoot over the bed, he waits on the workout bench, HIS workout bench, not mine . . see that rubber band in the air over his head? I do this at least 3 times a day, which is how I know I will be going to heaven. God loves those who take care of his creations.
He also likes me to shoot down from the top of the stairs, in freezing bare feet, when I want to go to bed, while he runs up and down the bottom stairs catching them . . . he catches them, but doesn’t bring them back anymore. That’s my job. He has made that very clear . . .
As it was getting closer to Thanksgiving, and our guests were on their way, I set out bread on the ironing board in the pantry to dry for my grandma’s stuffing; Joe is there choosing bottles of wine… . . . we wanted to make it special . . .
Because we had family coming! And suddenly, hooray, they began to arrive ~ I found I just wanted to LOOK at them!👀 But I was trying very hard not to be scary Aunt Sue!😜 This happy guy is my nephew Matt Stewart . . . you might recognize him because…
. . . in the way-back machine, Matt flew over to join us on our trip to England and Paris with two of my other nieces Holly and Heidi the day after he graduated from high school in Durango, Colorado in 2001! We had these three for six weeks! Best trip ever!
The gang’s all here and out to dinner we went … that’s Becca on the left, Matt’s girlfriend who I had never met, then Joe, then my niece Jessica, my nephew Matt, Cory (Jessica’s husband), Maggie, and Eliza (Jessica and Cory’s daughters), and Eliza’s boyfriend Justin, who I hadn’t met either, but new people at the table are always fun! And I, as a strict Morning Scientist, like to study the younger generation to see what the future will be and talk about it with Joe later. (It’s okay, they never noticed.😁 They think they’re normal.)
We walked out to the water, through the woods, with the smell of decaying leaves … looking for shells and beach glass . . .
Then downtown to tiny La Choza on the corner of Main Street to get the fattest, yummiest, homemade (except in a restaurant), Burritos on earth!
Cory entertained us with hilarious pirate stories of his sailing days. I analyzed, of course, and found them very very good.😱😅😂🤣 Little bits of information, here and there, from every one of those kids make me know the future is in good hands. They are as passionate as we were, but much more motivated and powerful, and ready to take it on. And they have Taylor Swift on their side! (MAS MUSICA … my Grandma’s Favorite)
I’m STILL analyzing this move by the mother of children!😂 What EVER it means (it could be a kind of dancing), it IS cute! After all, MY mother said, “Boss!” when she liked something.🙄 Some of them stayed 4 days, some of them stayed 3 . . . and all of it was wonderful. Matt and Jessie, the children of two of my brothers, Chuck and Jim, both grew up in Durango, Colorado, but because they were five years apart in age, they had never really spent any time together before they all moved away, so this was extra special (for me) just for that reason. I like the cousins to know each other. 💖 And I like to know them! (Have you read the most wonderful “knowing people” book that’s just out, written by David Brooks and appropriately called “How to Know a Person?” SO GOOD, so smart! A great Christmas present! Order it HERE or HERE and make our small Independent Island bookstores crazy with happiness❤️). Oh the power!
Jack found a comfy perch where he could keep his eyes on everything!
Time to make the Stuffing! My grandma’s recipe and HER mom’s, which means that, for Eliza and Maggie, this stuffing I’ve been eating since I was little, came from their great-great-great-grandmother Sarah, born in 1870 in Adel, Iowa! I don’t know where she got the recipe! Probably HER mom!
The recipe is in my Autumn Book . . . we dipped the slices of bread we dried in the pantry in a sinkful of the hottest water we could stand, and squeezed the water out, as you can see above, so you have chunks of bread with finger marks in them.
You keep dipping, squeezing, and tearing into chunks, till you get a bowlful, then add chopped celery and onion that’s been sautéed and softened in lots of butter, salt and pepper, then a whole jar of sage. Mix it well with your ands and voila! That’s all I do to it, I love it simple, just the way my Grandma made it, smothered in turkey gravy ~ and from there I put it right into the turkey … but some people will make this basic recipe and add sausage or oysters, whatever means Thanksgiving to you is what you should do!
Matt knew how to make it and helped me! (BTW, see Matt’s long hair? Both he and Becca grow their hair and donate it to people stricken with cancer. If you have an abundance of hair, and need somewhere to put it . . . here’s how you do it!)
Matt and I have been good partners in the kitchen for a long time!
I made the cranberry sauce and popped it in the oven, and we are STILL eating Christmas Jam on the delicious scones Matt and Becca brought us from Shelley’s Tea Room in Plymouth, MA where they stopped on their way down to the island from Boston! Now I need to GO there! Jam’s so simple:
Maggie, who is 16, peeled the potatoes . . .
Maggie and Eliza have helped me in the kitchen before!💝
This was one of their creations! How did the world survive before cameras? This cookie is still fresh and beautiful! We always wish that time would stand still, and look at this blog full of standing-still moments that will never come again. Thank you camera inventor!
And suddenly it was TIME! Joe’s Beautiful Turkey 2023 was done!
Kids set the table, Joe sliced the turkey, I heated the rolls so the tops were crisp and the insides were soft, and we all carried the food to the table . . . I did not forget the most delicious French salted butter for the rolls.
Have you tried this yet? OMG it is beyond delicious… everyone LOVES it . . .
And Voila! We did it! Together, we made it happen! My mom would be SOOOOOO happy to see this!!! 💞
So fun, I got to be the Grandma and read the words to MY grandma’s favorite hymn of gratitude and celebration…
I wanted, with our togetherness, to honor these people, most of whom our kids have never met. (I’m the little face with the white barrette with Jessica’s dad on my right 😍, you can only see the very top of Matt’s Dad’s head, in his high chair toward the back.😂) That’s my Grandma on the left, and her dad (on her right), Merrill James Orr (he’s the fourth child of seven, father of ten, and my mom’s grandpa) ~ and he’s Maggie and Eliza’s great-great-great grandfather. He was born in 1871 in Stacyville, Iowa. This is the thing I love most about growing older, now I’m the connection between long long ago, and today, and even the future. Merrill’s g-g grandfather was born in 1745 in Plymouth MA, where Joe and I are going for a little Christmas get-away/shopping (and Shelley’s Tea Room) next week. 
I told the kids that our old house was built in 1849 and how I can hear echoes of stories of the families and their friends that lived here before us, their birthdays, the Christmas trees, tea parties, soups bubbling on the stove, their school days, changes of seasons, children, new babies, pets, and how this was our 34th Thanksgiving in the house, but it was the House’s 164th! The history! I thanked them for helping us add to the house DNA by being there for this one. Our house hugs back and I’m convinced this is the reason why. Doing our best to leave it ringing with memories, for the next people.
Of course, what do you do after Thanksgiving? You find out if you’re taller than your mother! I literally remember when I was finally taller than my mother, and I think it might even happened at Thanksgiving!😊💃🏼
Beautiful Girls ~ Jessica is the daughter of my brother Jim and his wife Kate; and her daughters, my great nieces Liza and Maggie.❤️
Jessica with her mom, Kate.💖
Yes, this photo was at least partially staged, that’s why all the smiles . . . because we are a modern people! After dinner we all snuggled into the wood room to watch the wonderful NY stage play production of Hamilton on Disney+! They knew ALL the words, made me so happy, they sang all the way through it.🎵🎶🎵
All too soon we were at the boat waving goodbye to Jessica and Cory on the ferry, time for the kids to go back to school and for them to go back to work . . .👋💗💗💗
Then it was time for Matt and Becca to go . . .
Matt told me I would love Becca, and I definitely did! We’re going out to California in January and hope to see them there! 👏 And then, deep breath . . . tick-tock, dastardly clock never stops … it was back to normal . . .🧡
No one took a picture of my cute outfit, so I did. That flannel skirt turns 40 next year! Tip for the day: Always buy skirts with elastic waists.👏 I’ll let you know when I get myself into that buttoned skirt I wore on my first date with Joe! A whole OTHER story!😊
Cruel children left us with this … seriously dangerous . . . after one relatively short fork-frenzy, I cut the rest of the Pumpkin Cheesecake in half, took half up the street to Lowely’s, and the other half over to Martha’s! (Wish I had it this moment!)
Then back to THIS, trying to get Thanksgiving OFF me . . . doing my planks. Which I started a few months ago by doing one plank and holding it for 3 seconds.🤪 Now I have worked up to doing three, 
holding each for 50 seconds. You know what that means… if I can do it, you can.💝 All of Google agrees that if you can only do one exercise, this is the one! And one of the secrets to happiness… and maybe not planks, but there is always something we can do to keep those joy levels going strong. Life has been more than complicated these last years, turns out it’s up to us to MAKE it the way we want it. Turn on the music YOU like, make the cookies YOU adore, have the tea YOU love, if you want green hair, HAVE it … because if mama ain’t happy, ain’t no one happy.🧑🎤 And you know, life is short.😘
With a little help from my friend. Then I turned the calendar to 
So first thing, because the holidays are upon us . . . I want to give you your Full Moons Bookmark for 2024 . . . so you can make your stocking stuffers! 💖 Just click, print it out, and then cut it out.
And then, I mentioned that Joe and I are taking the train to California in January? So excited!! 🚂 We’ll get there around January 15th and stay probably a month (or for as long as it takes), because we’re MOVING our California Studio a LOT closer to where Kellee lives ~ and we’ll be selling the house we’ve owned for 22 years, in Arroyo Grande, just below San Luis Obispo, on the Central Coast.💖 We actually spent most of our time there for the first 10 years of the 2000s … I loved it, despite the double-wide aspect of the house. I didn’t care, while I was there, it was the House of Creativity! It’s where I saw my first bluebird. One year we brought in a bunch of sand and made a beach next to the creek! We made a firepit down there, put a long table under the trees and had Thanksgiving dinner outdoors. My brother played the guitar and we all sang.🍁🍁🍁
THEREFORE… because we think about lightening our moving vans, we’re having a MOVING SALE …. starting now, all December long, until midnight December 31 ~ All my books, the calendars, recipe cards, post cards, art prints, and giclees, are all ON SALE for 20% off! We’ve never done this before, but I promised Kellee we’d make it as easy as possible! We might add more, so check back . . . she’s still figuring out what we have enough of! So we have a lot to do when we get out there!
Sale includes Christmas Memories, Gratitude, Enchanted, Grandma’s Story, ALL my books!
YUP, Home for Christmas too! AND if any of YOU need to make your own little farm in the country on the Central Coast of California on 8 flat acres, completely fitted with an overhead irrigation system that comes from a year-round creek running through the property that comes from Lopez Lake and passes through to the sea, let me know. Everything grows there because it is an ancient river bed. Arroyo Grande means Big Ditch, but now it’s a beautiful wine, artichoke, and avocado producing area in its own micro climate . . . where good weather is even better there. There’s a back road through the wine country to SLO, so I never had to get on the freeway to go there; and the house is about 3 miles from Pismo Beach. Trader Joe’s is about a 6 minute car ride away!
OUR CALIFORNIA PARADISE IS ACTUALLY FOR SALE! 😲 TELL EVERYONE! Because I’d like to sell it to someone who will love it as much as I did.💝
This is how the picket fence garden looked when I lived there all the time! It’s still pretty, but not as flowery without me around. I will love seeing it cared for again!
Photo by Christopher Gardner. Aug 2004
Susan Branch at her AG home and garden
This is the house from the road . . . The house itself isn’t great . . . it’s usable, two or three bedrooms, depends on how you look at it, and 2 bathrooms, with its own well. But you’d really want to build a house out back where you could hear the creek running at night ~ that’s what we would have done if I hadn’t gotten so homesick for New England. Very difficult to be in two places at once.
At the end of this hedge that we planted, turn left and you’re at the creek, it winds along that row of trees back there . . . and the property continues a bit on the other side of the creek.
This is the property from the back; the creek is about this same distance behind me . . . A tractor comes with the property!
When we came home from our first garden tour of England we went fairly crazy planning the garden. . .building hedges, a long walk, and garden rooms around the house . . .
I laid it out on paper, and it’s all there along with several out buildings.
Artichokes grow so well there, the best I ever tasted! We grew them behind the garage next to the back wall of it. It was toasty warm and they were ecstatic and prolific as you can see! There are citrus trees, avocado trees, a walnut tree, a plum, fig, apple, and I can’t remember what else.
We planted lots of roses . . . they love this little valley.
Oh yes, we planted tiny Christmas Apple (or Lady apple) trees there too. Because unlike Martha’s Vineyard, things bloom and grow in California year-round. And those that don’t grow well on our Island, like Sweet Peas? One year I had them blooming in California from March to August!!! Oh yeah.🥰
Joe planted corn and all sorts of veggies . . .
The plum tree in springtime ~ it’s a property with SO MUCH potential, everything between farm, winery, estate, wedding venue or garden nursery . . . Although zoning, I have no idea . . .there was a nursery on that road about ½ mile up from us . . . it’s gone now, but there are still wineries and a farmstand. I’m going to love being there for January! I like to walk, 9 times around the property equals 3 miles. It’s not on the market yet … I don’t even know what things are selling for out there, but if you have interest, email [email protected] and we’ll pass your note to our realtor, which we don’t have yet!😜
I received a sample of our new cup for approval! It looks beautiful! I’m so excited to send it to my people. They should be arriving to the new Studio toward the end of January . . . I love it, I know you will too. I drink my Fine Romance private blend Tea (Earl Grey with lavender), with honey and cream, out of it everyday and looking at this new cup, I celebrate how our country got started. And for a moment in the quiet morning, I treasure the peace we have always felt in this country and promise to do everything I can to make more of it.💖
Yes it is! So don’t forget to enjoy the deliciousness of this 
Holiday Egg Nog. I changed it a bit this year. Love milk so much, I reversed the measurements, and made a much lighter version, now it’s ⅔ c. milk over crushed ice, splash of eggnog (too taste), splash of bourbon, shake of nutmeg. I think it’s better! Just plain YUMMY, and easy! And there’s calcium in it! Now light the fire or the candles, make a toast to peace on earth, and let the daydreaming begin.
It snowed on our walk yesterday, blasted us actually . . . it didn’t stay on the ground, but it was the first one, and it came down pretty hard for a while, coming straight at us and sticking to our eyelashes. Of course we loved it. We were listening to 
Dickens Pickwick Papers . . . We decided December goes perfectly with Dickens. It’s a really funny book, written more like short stories (it was originally a magazine serial), but in some places it’s VERY hard to understand. The reader is excellent at accents and voices, but some of ye olde 19th century English accents might as well be Hungarian. We need subtitles which Audible does not provide. Because that would be “a book.” Still it’s fun to be in the wind, in 1829 England, and ALSO, at the same time, in the first snow of the season in 2023. When we get home from Plymouth we’re going to listen to A Christmas Carol. 
I’m decorating again!
Decorating with all the little things that have become our traditions . . . old books, old music, old friends . . . and with all our years together, you know some of them as well as I do!
Using all the things we have in common, like sparkly things . . .
. . . candles, bunting, and angel chimes . . . things found, and things made . . .
Homemade things and memories 💞
And this . . . 💖💖💖 Big Magic!
Yes, I’m getting ready for Christmas and my Girlfriends Gift Exchange. Probably one of my smallest parties, because as we get older, we have SO MANY beloveds, it would take something miraculous to do it with everyone! And my beloveds includes you! My first gift to you all, wasn’t even mine, it was Ivan’s new song! Want to hear it again?
I’ve also planned very tiny gift exchange with just one of you. Problem is, I don’t know WHICH one yet❓❓❓So far, it’s a mystery! Your part is to leave a comment, from which we’ll draw names and whichever name I get, I have a present for. Would you like to know what it is? Okay … It’s not this:
But you know how I always love to decorate with quilts? They are so festive and charming and add a bit of coziness, wherever they are,
with their old-fashioned, handmade, historical nature, . . . I put them in the kitchen (no matter that it doesn’t make sense, they make it cozy and I love the color!), hang them over the backs of chairs . . on quilt racks in the bedrooms, I stack them on the top of the hutch in the living room . . . drape them over sofas . . . . everywhere I can think of . . . because they’re so pretty!
And I’ve painted them into my books …
Since the very beginning . . .
Sharing this thing I love has been easy. I’ve collected vintage quilts pretty much all my life, since my Grandma gave me one my great-Grandma Sarah made and opened my eyes to this gorgeous homemade art of our foremothers, who by the way, could do ANYTHING and wasted nothing . . . and that is why . . . 
Jack and I thought it would be nice to give away one of my beauties to a good home.💝
YOURS! This beautiful quilt is my secret Santa gift to a very special universal YOU 💞 . . . Just leave a comment (at very bottom of this post there are a bunch of tiny words… at the end you’ll see “comments” ~ click there) to be entered in our drawing, and soon this 64″ x 77″ handmade 
quilt (there is nothing standard about the sizes of old quilts!) will be winging its way to the lucky winner. Always remember you have a LOT better chance of your name being drawn here than you do with the Lottery and, creme de la creme, we don’t charge for tickets.💞 Another win-win!😃 I’m sorry, but I already know I won’t be able to answer all your comments this time, as you can guess, but believe me, I will read them and make sure they all get entered.💝 Are you signed up to get my Willard Newsletters mailed to your box? This would be a very good time to make sure. Sign-up is at the top left of this page. I’ll announce the winner in the next Willard!
And so Tra La, another Willard, AND another year under our belts my dears . . Wishing you all, from my heart, the very Merriest of Christmases, Happy Hanukkah, Joyful Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel, Mele Kalikimaka🌴, Seasons Greetings, and any other thing I might have forgotten,😃 and God Bless us every one.💞
With love from me and Joe! Hoping you 
Your Willard’s make me warm inside. You help me remember to slow down and enjoy this beautiful life we’ve been blessed with. This time last year I was battling cancer, but miracles do happen and I’m now cancer free. Blessings! Merry Christmas to you and Joe from me and my love!
SO happy to hear that Mary Ann, brave girl!!! Modern medicine is AMAZING . . . XOXOXO
I have a quilt from my grandmother. I love it. I put it on top of a big basket in the dining room. Reminds me of my grandmother each time. She was a loving Christian women.So blessed by her. I enjoy the colors and memories we had together.
I have a quilt from my grandmother. I love it. I put it on top of a big basket in the dining room. Reminds me of my grandmother each time. She was a loving Christian women.So blessed by her. I enjoy the colors and memories we had together.
I have been blessed with my grandmother quilt. I love the colors and it warms my heart every time i see it.
I
HAHA funny…I am also on Lexapro! Thank goodness for our “happy pills.” Thank you for sharing your holiday festivities. Did you make the quilt or order it? It’s absolutely gorgeous!
I found it in an antique store. Always looking for them! When they are beautiful to me, priced right, and don’t cost an arm and a leg, that’s when they come home with me!
Hello Susan,
Your property in California is beautiful. Glad you are able to visit one last time in January so you can soak in all the memories you have shared there with loved ones. Best wishes to you this holiday season!
Love quilts! And all your books & art.
Merry Christmas!! I just love your home and surrounding area. And the quilt is beautiful!
To have a quilt blessed by your spirit would be the greatest Christmas gift ever! I do hope you draw my name.
I love everything about your posts. You remind me what’s important every single time – our families, our friends that are family, our pets, and our pasts. That’s the one I sometimes neglect. I’m always struck by the way you use old things and inherited things in new ways. Thank you. I hope your holidays are merry and bright.
Loved this blog entry
..I looked up the French butter and I will have to get a part time job to afford it, but the dinner looked delicious!
Looking forward to getting the new Rev War style mugs since I am a DAR member ..
Finally, the quilt..if I get it.. will be donated to a charity as I have a few now and no room for more….thanks so much and Merry Christmas to you and Joe.
So many gifts packed in this Willard! The music, the stories, the house, the quilt! Thank you and Happy Healthy Holidays 😊❤️
God bless and Merry Christmas! I loved this Willard edition. It’s wonderful how you spend time with the ‘children’ and it’s obvious the love you two oodles! Love t
A New England girl at heart, I grew up south of Boston. I spent many summers on Cape Cod and visited MV many times. After stays in NYC and NJ, I now reside on the eastern shore of NC where I have finally learned to slow down, relax and enjoy all this world has to offer….this beautiful world, special family and amazing friends.
Finding your blog and enjoying it every month has brought me great joy. It brings me the bits and pieces of MA I miss so much. Thank you!
Thank you Mary!
Hi Susan,
I Have a couple of Vintage Quilts also. They make me so happy when I decorate with them. Cozy, and homey. The work that went into making beautiful quilts makes me appreciate them so much. Thank You for all the sharing that you do!
Ah, Dear Susan ! Such a wonderful “letter from Home” ! Such a beautiful song from Ivan and the lovely singing and piano ! Jack, as always brings such sweet joy! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you ! I am doing planks as well, AND I just started an on line ballet for seniors ! Fabulous fun !! Love to you all !! Sara
Your story/post is so warm and cozy. Magical. I love the Christmas quilts, too. Happy Holidays
Hoping this year will be a merry Christmas for you and Joe. After all that has happened in the world the last few years, we have decided to just really enjoy this season and find all the joy we can. We went all out decorating the house and plan on having small dinner parties for friends & family.
Oh, to have a quilt from you would be pure magic!
That reindeer quilt on the sofa back, I’d love to see the entire quilt. Thanks for sending Willard out, love reading it. Thanks for doing what you do, Susan.
I know you often use scripture on your calendars. You commented that you will go to heaven because you care for animals. Jesus came to earth as a baby, whom we celebrate at Christmas time. He came to die for our sins, since we are all sinners. Getting to heaven comes only by Confessing we’re sinners, Believing that Jesus shed His blood to save us, and Accepting Him as our Savior; simple as A-B-C. Jesus is the only way to heaven.
I grew up sure in what my mom told me, that God loves me. I’ve felt that love all my life. I’m pretty strong with it . . . It might be a little variance in what you believe, but that’s okay, we are still kindred spirits, all people, we are one with love.💝💝💝💝
Love your latest Willard–thank you for sharing song, bookmark, recipes–where did you find the sparkly garland in 4th photo under caption Decking the Halls? thank. you! (We lived in SLO town during my husband’s masters in architecture! Lovely!)
I’ve had it a while, not sure where I found it, but I do keep my eyes open 💖 when I’m out and about!
Thank you so much for this wonderful wonderful Willard. I love reading them!! 🩷The song was so delightful. You’ve inspired me for the season. Thank you! I love quilts too and appreciate all your hard work in all you do! Blessings abundant to you and yours 🌲
Hi Susan, Happy Holidays to you and Joe and Jack! Winter has arrived early here in Midcoast Maine. We’re getting ready for Christmas and enjoying all this beautiful season as offer! And, we do have some snow! I’ve weaving dishtowels for gifts. If you and Joe get up this way, please stop in to Belfast Fiberarts and see what we’re up to. Merry Christmas!
What a wonderful Willard!! Your quilt would have a wonderful home with my old quilts. I treat them with tenderness and love them dearly and yours would be very happy in my family of quilts.
Merry Christmas
Bernadette
What a wonderful Willard!! Your quilt would have a wonderful home with my old quilts. I treat them with tenderness and love them dearly and yours would be very happy in my family of quilts.
Merry Christmas
I can’t remember if I already commented, uffda, so I’ll just do it now and be sure.😁
Merry Christmas from Alaska! Thank you for the wonderful holiday post ❤️
I always look forward to reading your blogs. Because they take me back to another time.
One way of escaping the world with all its troubles from time to time.
this warms my heart. How lovely!
Dear Susan, the holidays wouldn’t be complete without a blog from you. I look forward to it every year. Happy Holidays to you, Joe and Jack. Love, Shanna
Your Willard posts always inspire me. Thank you for sharing these snatches of life. I relate to so much of it! Like you, I lived in California for a while, got homesick for New England, and moved back!
Merry Christmas! For many years you have brightened my days with your warmth, creativity, and so much inspiration. Thank you for sharing your life with all of us❤️.
The love of old, antique quilts is the reason I’ve been quilting for the last 26 years! Your site is sooooooooooo inspiring! Thanks for sharing your love!
Oh, I just love the magic of old quilts. I come from a family of quilters and remember playing under the quilting frame while three generations of women made treasures for our family. When I went through a hard divorce, I remember wrapping myself in one of these quilts and feeling the love and strength of my mother and grandmothers. Beautiful handmade treasures imbued with love!
I love looking at your Christmas decorations. But the best is Jack. He manages to find the best places to sit. I have quilts that my great grand mother made. I remember it on my mothers bed in the late 70’s. I wish I could buy your California house as I would love to be able to grown yummy fruits and veggies and beautiful flowers. The roses are beyond beautiful. I love the picket fence too. I’m not so worried about the house, it’s the land around it that’s so special. But I love my house and the land around it and all the memories, good and bad, that are here. To all the girlfriends may your holidays be especially happy and bright!
💝💝💝💝
Hello!
What a wonderfully long Willard! Thank you! I’m 19, and have been enjoying your books for several years. Your art, humor, and originality are so inspiring! Thank you for continuing to enchant us:) Hope you have a wonderful December, and Merry Christmas!
I do love me some 19 year olds.😂 xoxo
Quilts just give me warm and cozy feeling. I have a few and appreciate the time and effort put into them. Merry Christmas.
Have loved your books for years! I would love to have one of your beautiful quilts!
Hi Susan!
I would love to win a quilt from you, I lost a very dear one in a move!
Chele
Always look forward to another Willard to brighten up the day! Positivity and adventure all wrapped up with a heart ❤. Thank you for sharing your life story with all of us! Please enter me in the lottery for the beautiful quilt, much appreciated 🙏
Dear Susan, you give so much with your quotes and general philosophy, introducing us to interesting people. And movies. And books! When I was in grade school I loved Anne Shirley and her “kindred spirit” found a place in my heart. You’re part of that circle. And now I write because you mentioned Quilt giveaway and I wanted to tell you about my one quilt, not made by a family member with love but rescued from a box in a local thrift/antique shop. It had individual large stars with a large cream cross pattern in the middle of each. What took me was in the horizontal bar of each cross – large center space – women embroidered their name in script, some of them adding, Hiawatha, Kan. or Ks. I initially walked away but then the story grabbed me, the sadness of this loving quilt, probably made by friends upon someone’s marriage, left in a box of blankets and no one caring. I went back weeks later and bought it. A beautiful quilt for $25. Can you imagine? The back side of it had a soft white material with little clusters of little blue parasols with a little red flower on the handle. Not quilted. Material. Which is good for my 14-year old cat who could be Jack’s older brother! 😊
For all the inspiration you’ve given me, I wanted to give you this story!
Quilts do tell a story. 🍃♥️🍃
❌⭕️❌⭕️
Thank you for letting us into your cozy, hygee life. I always enjoy reading your posts. Such a lovely treat.
Hello, Susan…your “ letters to friends “ should be required reading for everyone in this “ hurry, crazy world “, which seems to be going faster every day. Thank you, thank you for sharing your world. Your words are a breath of fresh air. If I’m down they lift me up. Sad, they cheer me. And like old, cherished letters I can read them over and over and they still seem fresh. Please, don’t ever stop.
Oh my! So much loveliness to catch up on, I went back through and read it all twice. Thank you for sharing these wonderful times and new memories with us! I have all your Christmas books out and my Santa mug I was so happy to get!😘🎅🏻☕️I’d love to own your home in San Luis… sigh… such a dreamy place too….Merry Christmas to you, Joe and Jack 😘❤️✨🎄🎅🏻🐈⬛ Oh! And please enter me in your beautiful giveaway! Sending love xo Julie Marie
this was such a wonderful Willard!! i love seeing pictures of your family and hearing some of your family history…there’s nothing better!! thank you for the gift of Willard!!! and what a beautiful quilt that is!!!!
Beautiful post. Always makes me smile. Loved the family photos. Can’t wait to try the lightened eggnog. Wishing you and Joe a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.
AHA! If one follows the directions, then one (myself) is able to happily locate the comment box! I’ve left comments on your IG feed about the glorious song by friend Ivan; now to leave a comment here to state my intention of going full tilt gaga for the quilt giveaway. Such a lovely, cozy warm way to gift your readers a holiday present.
What beautiful music! Some people are so gifted. Since we are currently in the dark time of the year, I thought I would pass on a poem I found in an old book of my great grandmas. I do not know the author, but the words speak to me in dark times. I hope you all enjoy it: All sunny skies would be too bright, All morning hours mean too much light. All laughing days too gay a strain; there must be clouds and night and rain. And shut in days, to make us see, the beauty of life’s tapestry.
I LOVE THIS … isn’t it beautiful? Thank you Jill!
Lovely Willard. Thank You and Happy Holidays!
Linda Z.
Love, love this Willard! Who am I kidding? I love them all!!!❤️
. I love to piece quilts. My Mom and I belonged to a quilt guild and we often quilted together. For her eightieth birthday we booked the church hall and displayed all the quilts she had made for her children, grandchildren and great grandchild. It was a surprise party and even she was amazed by all of the quilts she had made. All in one place, they looked amazing. I would LOVE to win your beautiful offering!
Aloha Susan and Joe,
So happy to hear that you spend such a special Thanksgiving with your nieces and nephews ❤️. A wonderful blog to brighten my day.🥰
It’s been a sad year for us as we lost some dear friends and our old home in Lahaina Maui this past August. We love living on San Juan Island for the past 15 years but so devastating that our home town of over 30 years was destroyed. They are recovering but it will be a long journey a head.
Merry Christmas 🎄 to you both and hope you find the perfect buyer for your beloved California home and farm. Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou with aloha, Mary
Remembering beautiful Lahaina at Christmas and always. ❌⭕️❌⭕️🙏
How lovely to read the latest Willard. I loved the song!
Great song and beautiful voice! Christmas is my favorite time of year. I just had my first of the season party for my bible study girlfriends. Good food and laughs. I just printed out the bookmark. I always give one to my friend in Georgia. She looks forward to it every year! Merry Christmas! Safe travels
My Tidewater Virginia experiences are quite different from the cozy New England scenes you paint with your words but I share your love for vintage times and memories. Reading Willard fills me with warm images of yesterday years. Thank you.
Thank you, Susan, for sharing your life. You are truly a gift!
Visiting Martha’s Vineyard this past September for four days will always provide
roses for me in December! Wishing you and yours a happy holiday, and a healthy and safe 2024.
Pat
Happy holidays ! Your Willards warm me up like a quilt for my soul .
Thank you darling girl- forever a girl at heart . Hope I win, love to you and Joe!
So good to see you and Joe in that great photo at the end of your latest Willard!
Be well and happy this holiday season!
When my mother passed I found a box containing hand embroidered quilt blocks. My cousin took them and made me a precious quilt!
I love to read your Willards. I’m a quilter and love to see your quilts in your home and art. I love the one you’re giving away!
Thank you for another nice long delightful Willard! And for the new Moon bookmark. My daughter gifted me with the new pocket calendar for my birthday last week. It is lovely as ever! Any chance you could post a link to the printable pockets again?
Your writing and art always brings a smile to my face and a dazzling light to the day. With much gratitude for what you share with all of us, thank you and cheers to a delightful holiday season.
An antique quilt that you curated would be a sublime Christmas gift. We had your family dressing for Thanksgiving and it was scrumptious. I am so happy there were leftovers!
Merry Christmas 🤶 🧑🎄 Susan and Joe.
Hello Susan!
What a joy & honor it would be to receive one of your beautiful handmade quilts made with your talented hands! Especially since Jack is shown sitting on it! Did he help you choose this quilt?! He is adorable! I LOVE cats! And, blankets today from the store made in factories just really don’t have the same comfort or warmth that homemade delivers in spades!
I have been a fan since 1996 when my stepmother gave me your book, “Christmas Joy.” I was living in TX at the time, with my husband & two children, but grew up in Bedford, MA. (Yes, right next to Concord, MA where I still visit!I know you love Louisa May Alcott too!) Making your simmering potpourri on the stove made it feel & smell like Christmas should in Corpus Christi!! Many thanks! We live in NH now & are happy to have our 4 seasons back! Your quilt would be so welcome in our home! Merry Christmas! ❤️Christa Leonard ps. My birthday is 8/16! Yes, I’m a Leo like your dad and Joe! And, one of the Christmas gifts my future daughter-in-law is receiving this year is your book,”Christmas From The Heart Of The
Home!” The perfect gift! I have shared your other books that I have with Alicia and now she
will have her own book by you! 😍 The start of a great collection! Keep up the wonderful work you do! You & your books have brought joy and comfort to me during difficult times in my life! You are a life saver!🥰
💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝
I LOVE quilts too. All family pieces. I’ve followed you for years. Think you and I are the same age! Your stories are fascination as well as all the WILLARDS. You’ve inspired me to try planks. I hope I can get back off the floor! Hope you and Joe have a dandy Christmas and wonderful trip to California afterwards. Keep going, girl. You always inspire me!
Marilyn
At this time of year when it is dark so early, how delightful it is to enjoy a cup of tea while reading the latest Willard. Thank you for these delightful posts. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
I really like your newsletter and I especially enjoyed this Christmas-y one. Thank you and Merry Christmas.
Oh how I love the blog posts you do around the seasons — you are such an inspiration. I just pulled out of the oven your Christmas Coffee Cake that is in your Christmas book. I will let it cool, cross my fingers it comes out of the pan all pretty, wrap it up tight, and freeze until the day before the happiest breakfast of year year. Thank you for that recipe.
Wishing you a blessed and cozy Christmas,
Tara
Love, love, love your blog! A breath of fresh air, definitely needed and appreciated! Thank You! Wishing you and Joe the happiest holiday season and blessings in the New Year. XO
Yippee!! I’m already a winner. The “Zinnias and Baby’s Breath” Giclee has been calling my name for months now and I just ordered it on sale!! It will join a Giclee that a friend painted showing a tea pot and the tower at Provincetown looking tiny in the background. I have acres of wildflowers that I leave outside and let make more seeds to spread when I mow. I mow once in the fall when the seeds are set and the ground nesting birds are done. My fields keep getting better and better.
Since I’m already a winner, if I were to be picked, I’d have the quilt sent to the friend who introduced me to Susan a few years ago. She has a special affinity for her blue bird mug and a special tea cozy. I know she doesn’t have a quilt.
As to quilts, I do have 383 hand appliquéd Dresden Plate squares, in 47 different pattern/color combinations, that my grandmother made up to 1984, when I inherited them. I think it’s time to tackle them. It will be an adventure as I’ve never made a quilt.
You just don’t know how much I needed this Willard, Susan. Thank you for showing me your beautiful family, your traditions, the love you have for each other. This year has been one of the worst for me ; too much sickness (my husband); too much drama (some family); too much death (my nephew). It’s hard to maintain some serenity and definitely some happiness, but I am trying and your lovely words and pictures surely helped. Hoping you and Joe and Jack have a wonderful holiday, a pleasant trip to CA and a very Happy New Year. Thank you for all you do.
I find that I always have a smile on my face as I read your ‘Willard’ newsletters.
You include so much good news, wonderful photos, Jack (!), music, and great quotes – thank you, Susan!
Quilts are not only beautiful, they are history. It’s so nice to know that you value them, as I do.
You and Joe have a wonderful Christmas and a Blessed New Year!
I hope you and Joe have a wonderful holiday season! I know you will miss your California paradise, but our hearts are drawn to places that slip under our skin and nestle next to our hearts, as Martha’s Vineyard did for you. For me that place was Lancaster, PA.
Thank you for the lovely visit with you and so many friends. It was fun to be at your home in thought with everyone and everyone at mine.
Germaine
I love quilts! I have two very old and worn quilts made by my (twin) great aunts Maude and Mabel. Thanks for your generosity in offering a quilt to one reader.
Lucky you! Going to California again. We lived there for 30 years and are now in NC because our daughter settled here. We followed your trend and took a train trip from Cary NC to Chicago and back… it was good! Have a Merry Christmas and a safe journey through the new year!
Greetings Susan, and Girlfriends. whew what a hectic last few months it has been. to keep it short and sweet, the yard sales and garage sales have ended, they ended late November and the rest of the junk has been donated to the rescue mission and picked up and the house is up for sale. hopefully someone will want to buy the house but with the holidays fast approaching it is slow. we are still untangling the mess left behind financially and some of the strangest things have been showing up at the house. the good news is we adopted a little black and white tuxedo cat someone dumped off at the property. got his mama and siblings homes and this little guy is so sweet and shy we took him. he is just a about 3-4 months old, and a real lovebug. his name is Felix and he is a bit of a gremlin and it seems Socks our gray and white tuxedo took to him right away. he rough houses with him, plays with him and they snuggle up together at night for sleep and cuddle each other each day. Socks now has a baby brother to look after, which is good as Socks has been missing his brother for 2 years now since he died. now Socks is full of fun, life and mischief. i guess he wants to see how much mischief he can get Felix into which is easy as Felix follows him all around the house. they have quite a time playing around and wrestling each other. Thanksgiving was wonderful, even Felix loved it. he got a nice long sniff of turkey cooking and was waiting for a piece of it to try. he has discovered birds and chatters at them, and has discovered squirrels and loves watching them romp all about the yard. originally my sister-in-law wanted to take Felix with her to Texas when she left, but her husband said no more cats!! so that is how we got Felix. we also got 2 bunnies from our neighbors who have moved out and could not take any of their pets with them so we agreed to take the bunnies and find them a good home. hopefully we can get that done soon. well have to go find the extension cord for the front lights and my holiday decorating is done. i hope you and Joe and Jack have a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. take care and stay well. hugs ….. 🙂
I so enjoy your Willard newsletters and seeing pictures of your home. It feels like a home should feel. I’ve got my eye on your stove every time you show pictures of your kitchen. We collect some of the same dishes.
Would love to have one of your quilts. Our home is very cold in the winter but my house is not as old as yours. A quilt would add a touch of warmth.
Thank you for the newsletter. I look.forward to it . your Christmas book is displayed on my coffee table as I write this.
Have a great holiday!
I found how to comment. Yay! Different on my computer.
Thank you, Susan, for another wonderful blog.
I love the old and new pictures of your family. Looked like you had a lot of fun.
Thanks for the pictures of inside your Christmasy , cozy home.
Happy Holidays! Quilts are something my grandmother made with feed sacks from a feed packing company in the 40’s. She made little skirts in the 50’s for me when I started school. She made a beautiful fabric quilt for a tall back rocker out of her scraps. Years later my mother gave it to me and I cut it down to triangles and made a miniature quilt for the table her food sat on. She called it a placemat. I have it now and enjoy it everyday in our tv room on the rocker. I could never throw it away.
Hi Susan! What a lovely thing to give away!
My family also owns property on the central coast….my favorite place to be.
Thanks for taking the time to write us a Christmas love letter, and give such a generous gift.
Thank you for warm words and beautiful visuals, as well as sentiments, on a cold,crisp December day! I have 2 quilt squares framed from my great, great grandmothers quilt. She made the quilt for my grandparents when they got married and then it was passed to my parents. As children, we’d sdit on it in the backyard under a tree to read scriptures as a family, have a picnic, or lay under when we were ill. We all LOVED it! So my mama cut out the remaining, non tattered squares, and framed them for us for Christmas with the story on the back–a TREASURE! Thank you for the opportunity toshare a treasured quilt from your story!
Merry Christmas and as always thank you so much for your post. It’s always a bright spot in my month that I always look forward to.
Thank you for warm words and beautiful visuals, as well as sentiments, on a cold,crisp December day! I have 2 quilt squares framed from my great, great grandmothers quilt. She made the quilt for my grandparents when they got married and then it was passed to my parents. As children, we’d sdit on it in the backyard under a tree to read scriptures as a family, have a picnic, or lay under when we were ill. We all LOVED it! So my mama cut out the remaining, non tattered squares, and framed them for us for Christmas with the story on the back–a TREASURE! Thank you for the opportunity toshare a treasured quilt from your story!
Dearest Susan! such joy to read about your life and your home. I can’t fully articulate how much I appreciate the light you bring into my life!
Susan, your blog brings me hope for the world! Thank you for the reminders that family is everything and also that it’s the simple things in life that truly last and mean the most. Merry Christmas!!!
Oh Susan – you are such a breath of fresh air. I just finished decorating and so many of my Christmas are your Christmas decorations. A mug filled with candy kisses, a homemade banner with your stickers … I could go on and on. My besties and I go to Pismo every fall and have taken up the tradition of going to the Ventana Grill!! My besties and I are 60ish and we have been meeting some another set of 3 besties in their 90’s. They come down from the Sacramento area and spend a week in the area PLAYING golf!! We drive up from the Huntington Beach area and have a blast with them. We miss your store in AG, but have found plenty of others to fill the void. Blessing to YOU and JOE!!
Merry Christmas, Susan, and Joe! Happy and Healthy 2024!
I always love your Willards, Sue, and this one was especially lovely as it included so many wonderful visitors from your family, and Ivan’s wonderful song sung so beautifully!
I saw you doing planks of Instagram and both my husband and I began doing them too. It is a challenge but we are increasing our time every day by a bit.
My husband and I visited Durango for the first time in early autumn and rode the Durango to Silverton scenic train, both ways through the San Juan Mountains. We have lived in Colorado for 10 years and have now seen all four corners of the state and most everything in between. What a beautiful country we live in!
Good luck with your home sale in California. It looks like it is in a fabulous location with nice property. I know someone will love it as much as you did!
Enjoy the rest of December!
Warm Regards,
Pat
Loveliness is always expressed, in so many different ways, in each of your Willard’s! Your posts make me excited to invite family and friends, for coffee and dessert, to celebrate the holidays! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU, Susan, for sharing your incredible life and talent with us! Much love and Merry, Merry Christmas to you and Joe!( Jack, as well!) ❤️💚🎄🎄
I have followed you for decades and I still love hearing about your days. I too use that magical Lexapro to help me from anxious overthinking How wonderful that you could share your little slice of heaven with those you love. My children surprised my husband, who turned 60 and my mother in law, who turned 80 last March, with a family Thanksgiving trip to Palm Beach, Florida. While it was wonderful to be with everyone Thanksgiving didn’t feel the same with 80 degree weather and bathing suits. We all agreed that Thanksgiving needs to be home in New Jersey with our traditional parade and bonfire the night before and the old school rivalries thanksgiving morning. I wish you and Joe a most blessed holiday and safe travel to California.
Happy Christmas to you and Joe! Just pulled out my SB Christmas Book (my first, that was a gift in 1991- ) and felt inspired! Looking forward, as we do every year, to your Christmas Coffee Cake, a tradition in our house for over 30 years! Thank you for the gift of you! Wishing you and yours all the joy and magic of the season~ Laura (CT!)
I always save “The Willard” for a day I need up lifting. Your newsletter embraces all the little joys in life and instantly makes me feel thankful for my simple life. Your stories, photos, and drawings are like a quilt of happy thoughts. Your newsletter is a quilt! Thank you Susan for brightening up so many lives. Merry Christmas!
A walk in the snow sounds perfect 🤍 What a beautiful quilt!
Your newsletters take me through all the emotions, Susan, but most of all they warm my soul. I especially love all the beautiful quotes accompanied by your lovely artwork and I can’t wait to try a glass of that yummy eggnog! I, too, am drawn to textiles of every kind (especially ones with cute kitty cats nesting on them). Blessings to you and yours during these wonder-filled days of winter. Cheers.
Lovely Christmas time with family. We had our first carolers ever this weekend and I’m still buzzing with excitement.
I look forward to these Willards so much! Just the happy feeling I get when I read them is perfect contentment! I love all of the family pictures from your Thanksgiving. It is actually my favorite holiday because it’s all about just being together and being grateful. The pictures of Jack were adorable – as were the pictures of you and Joe. I’m going to check out the sale items next. Here’s hoping you have a wonderful Christmas and a lovely trip on the train. Love, Sherrie xoxo
Another wonderful Willard! Thank you so much