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 
Merry Christmas, Susan! How refreshing to see your comment about needing a little extra help for your anxiety… normalizing that we are living in wildly hard & historical times, but that there is help and hope out there – and if any season can remind us of that, it is this one! 🙂 Much love to you.
💖💖💖💖💖💖💘
This was such a lovely read with my tea. Merry Christmas
Dear Susan,
I do so enjoy your writing, your enthusiasm, the way you make and share memories. and your generosity. That quilt is absolutely wonderful in its “vintageness”!
My goodness, I have never owned a quilt and have just turned 68 years old.
It’s time Diana!💘
I will have to make a special trip to Plymouth for the scones. Waving to you from Falmouth. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas Susan and Joe! Thank you for the many years of delight you have given each of your girlfriends. Your art and your zest for life have inspired me for decades. Your books and blog are the one place we can slow down and cherish the really good things in our everyday lives in this ever crazy world. Spread joy to the world everyone, it’s soooo needed!
Thanks for that heartwarming post. It was just what I needed this evening. It’s a slow go getting the house decorated this year but you have motivated me!! Enjoy your up coming journeys and Merry Christmas!!
Dear Susan, what a wonderful gift you are to all of us. Will you know where to send the quilt? (Asking for a friend.)
Enjoy your trip to Plymouth. Hope to get back there one day to explore more the area my ancestors first set foot on when they came to America on the Mayflower. So much history I’d love to uncover. Can’t wait to see your home all decorated for Christmas. Brings a special smile to me every year. Happy travels!
Hello dear Susan, I love your Willard’s, I know I’m going to be transported back in time, borne on heavy, warm memories. Just like snuggling under one of my Granny’s quilts on a cold wintery night. It’s a good thing I can’t step back in time, if only to refresh my memories, smell Christmas drifting thru the house, Christmas smells like sage and candied yams by the way. Hear the laughter one more time, look into the warm twinkling eyes of my dear family. Feel warm and loved. Yes it’s a good thing I can’t step back in time, It would be hard to leave. Thank you for always always always giving me that feeling. Thank you for the chance to win such a beautiful quilt. I’m so thankful for the way you have curated our beautiful past. Kept the good, the true, the hope, wrapped it in love and laughter. You are truly one of a kind. thank you Susan,
I need to remind myself, that tomorrow, today will be the past. irissavedbygrace
Susan, this was such a wonderful Willard! They are always a delight but the reunion with your family for Thanksgiving is really special. I enjoyed every bit of it! I have to go back and reread to be sure I didn’t miss anything 🥰 Merry Christmas to you, Joe and Jack🎄
PS: thank you for sharing all of this happiness:)
“The Mistletoe Waltz” is so lovely. Thank you for sharing it with us! And also thank you for this wonderful Willard, reminding me of the simple things that I love most and can always lift my spirit. Seeing your sweet family and telling them their story made my heart swell!! I’m sure that beautiful quilt will find a happy home no matter who receives it. But I have to ask and I know you can’t answer here, the drawing of Mrs. Claus near where you show the quilt, is she new? I think I may have missed reading a Willard, I’ll have to go back and check if she was there…Will she be a new cup maybe, to be a partner of Mr. Claus? He was the first cup of yours I bought and have been hoping for a Mrs. Claus ever since 🤶🏻🤶🏻🤶🏻. A blessed Christmas to you, Joe and Jack, your families, and all the Girlfriends! Safe travels in January too.
She’s new! Good eye Debbie!💞
Dear Susan, Thanks for another heartfelt letter to all of us. You have inspired me for years!!
I just got my new wall calendar for 2024, and I absolutely love it- it’s one of your best works!!
Merry Christmas and best wishes for a wonderful new year!
Sherry from Tennessee
What a joy to see a Willard in my in box!! Loved seeing your family, I remember when you decorated those cookies with the girls – you shared it in a post. So happy to know you will travel to CA in January!! Good luck with the sale of your home there. Have a blessed Christmas, enjoy the season!!
Thank you for another Willard to raise my spirits! Ivan’s song is very enjoyable. The quilt you are gifting to one of us looks lovely. Quilting and gardening are my two favourite pastimes. As far as I know there were no quilters in my family so I don’t have any quilts from past generations. I do have some of your fabric in my stash. Some was used and the rest is waiting for the next perfect project for it. Merry Christmas to you and Joe! Have a great trip to California.
Christmas Blessings to you Susan and Joe! Love always….Dawnie & Hollis❤️
Thank you, Susan. I’m sitting here enjoying my tea, your blog and and listening to all the music. What a great way to end the week. Wishing you and all your readers happy holidays and a great new year.
What can I say that hasn’t already been said. Ditto to all that the others have said. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and have a safe trip to California.
Merry Christmas, Sue and Joe. Haven’t left a comment for quite a while, but it was nice to catch up with your news. You wear your happiness well my dear! Happiness reigns!❤️
I too have been making my great grandmother’s bread stuffing the way that you do but I dip the bread in chicken broth & add poultry seasoning, cumin, allspice, cloves & vinegar. Makes such a good sandwich too with sweet pickles, cranberry sauce & mayo (turkey optional).
That is such a great picture of you & Joe at the end of your post❤. Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a wonderful time back here in California. Thank you for sharing, Gail
I just squeal when I see a new Willard in my inbox! Your posts are the “pretty” my heart craves. I get my eyes full on your website, that’s for sure. I give the wonderful bone-china mugs as gifts, and I love to watch a girlfriend’s face as she picks it up and it’s not a heavy ceramic mug, but this delicate, light china. People are so often amazed! I’m adding some “musica” because – well, because I feel like it and I think at age 74, I can just do things because I feel like it!
youtube.com/watch?v=sE3uRRFVsmc This is one of my favorite holiday songs. I’m ready for Christmas and happy and healthy, time to sit by the fire and enjoy life.
Thank you for your lovely artwork and wonderful, optimistic view of life. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
The song is beautiful, as is the quilt. Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas Susan! My kids and I are excited to make some cookies from your “Christmas” book this weekend!
“Life has been more than complicated these last years, turns out it’s up to us to MAKE it the way we want it“ I love that SO MUCH!
Happy Holidays!
Your posts make me so happy. They seem to arrive when I need some positive thoughts. I wish you a lovely holiday season and much happiness. Merry Christmas!
Loved seeing your loved ones who made the holiday so special for you. I am also getting into the spirit of the season🎄❄️🎁🎅🤶 Peace,Joy, Hope and ❤️ Linda
You can’t possibly know how much your posts touch my heart and soul. It is like talking to an old friend. And the peek into your life and home, eeekkk! I squeal with delight to see what is happening in your part of the world. You bring such joy to so many people. Love from Wisconsin!
It’s always a good day when a new Willard hits the inbox! My mom introduced me to your corner of the world a few years ago and it’s brought comfort and smiles ever since. Happy holidays to you, Joe and Jack!
Hello, Susan! Happy Christmas to you this December, all month long! How lovely to get your “Willard” today, the day after an uncomfortable medical procedure for me! I would be happy to be the lucky person to win that interesting quilt. I would call it a “Changeable Star” because depending on the contrast of the star pieces, the stars can look very different, one from another! Fun pattern. I have been a quilter and piecer for 48 years now! Hmm, somebody must be getting older! Love to you and Joe and dear sweet Jack, Suzette in Bend, Oregon
Loved this Willard. Always excited to see one in my email.
Merry Christmas to you and Joe! 🤶 🎄 🎅
Such a beautiful Willard, anchored in all things bright and beautiful! Such a great reminder to pause and count our blessings, for there is much for which we have to be grateful. You have such a gift that calms the “noise” of the world and brings cherished moments of peace. Thank you for inspiring us to continue to shine our light as bright as we can in this all-too-often dark world. Blessings of peace and hope, gladness and good tidings to you and yours and all the Girlfriends near and far.
Thank you for a wonderful Willard! Enjoyed it very much. In this bizarre world we live in, it’s so wonderful to read about a normal family gathering at Thanksgiving & seeing pictures! Warmed my heart. Loved the song too! Thank you for sharing.
And how exciting to see your quilts. They are beautiful & unique.. Both my grandmothers quilted and I have one from each. They are treasures. ❤️
Merry Christmas 🎄
Susan, thank you for giving me joy for many years. Cozy is my word for this winter and that quilt would sure add to my coziness❤️
Merry Christmas!
Was overjoyed to see a Willard in my mail.
Would love to have one of your antique quilts…thanks for you generosity.
Merry Christmas & a Happy Healthy New Year to you and Joe! So glad you’re posting more often in Instagram. Love your posts & of course Willard.
Luanne
You two (3 counting Jack) are adorable and fun, funny, and full to the brim with love.
Merry Christmas, Susan and Joe! I’m happy to hear you are feeling happy again as you are such a sweet soul and inspire us all to be better.
Your Willard is my favorite Christmas gift! Loved Mistletoe Kisses😚 I love lovely, and you and your art are LOVELY. Thank you for brightening our day💚🎄❤️Merry Christmas
My worried heart was eased by your uplifting words. Time to re-read my original copy of “Christmas” and bask in the glow of Christmas lights. Thank you for the sweet goodness.
Thank you for this wonderful newsletter. Enjoyed “meeting” your family and wish you and your family best wishes for a wonderful Christmas season.
I just love reading Wilarx and seeing all you have been up to. What fun! Such beautiful decorations. Thank you for sharing the lovely new music! What a great and giving friend to let you share with us.
Your quilts are beautiful too.
I never learned to dance, and I think I’ve had a wonderful life without doing so. However, when I heard The Mistletoe Waltz, in my heart I could feel myself waltzing to the lilting music. And, I was wrapped in a beautiful quilt, which didn’t make me clumsy at all! Thank you for making your Willard today, full of family love, a gift for all of girlfriends.
You are a very good little dreamer. Magical!💖
Dear Susan, what a lovely newsletter, as always.
I love reading about your adventures and seeing your lovely
house.
Willards are my favorite 😍!! It’s like an old-fashioned snail mail letter like I used to write to my Grandma 🥰.
Susan, you are such a ray of light in this world. I am a mother to four young children, and have been suffering with debilitating anxiety for the last 6 months. I have been so scared to start medication, but reading your post has given me hope. I have been very open with people about my newfound anxiety- it has been shocking to learn how many other women are silently suffering with it. Thank you for sharing your world with us, you are SO adored by SO many!
I think the last few years hit us where we live. I was scared too, I’m not a big pill person. But I am SO HAPPY I DID IT. Bite the bullet, talk to your Doctor and realize you don’t have to LIVE like that anymore. You can always stop if you feel like it . . . (but stop these meds slowly, if you do . . . another talk-to-the-doctor moment is stopping.) xoxoxoxox Wishing you joy, stress free, sleeping like a baby. xoxoxo
Susan,
It’s been too long since we’ve heard from you! I’m the kind of person that needs a Willard once a month 🙂 Beautiful family, home(s), island, neighbors, cooking…who could ask for more? Happy Christmas to you, Joe, and Jack!
A children’s picture book “The Keeping Quilt” by Patricia Polacco is a tender, heart-warming story about a family quilt passed down through the women of Patricia’s family. I would love to have my own “keeping quilt.” Thank you for the opportunity to submit my name.
Susan, what a lovely, long newsy Willard. I read it out loud to my husband. You have such a warm, loving family. I’m giving your calendar to three friends as part of their Christmas gift. My mom was a beautiful quilt maker and I’m lucky to have several of her quilts. It would be wonderful to win your quilt and I would take good care of it. Merry Christmas to you and Joe and Jack and safe travels in January. Hugs, Elainr
Merry Merry Christmas to the whole family. And wishes for a safe and healthy, happy 2024, which hopefully sees our world becoming more peaceful, more unified and kind. May we all endure what is unendurable, and promote peace and kindness wherever we can. With love and a hopeful heart, Bengi
Such a delightful and peaceful story. I enjoyed every word.
Tried a plank! I’m pretty sure it was a little warped! I made it for 15 seconds! Thanks for the inspiration. Now to keep it up!
That’s good for the first one. 👏👏👏You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can progress and I do think it’s making me stronger.💝
Hello Susan and Joe. First of all, it is so great to hear from you. It’s just like you to worry about the whole world around you. You have the best heart. Always looking out for others like all of us in this world. I have been with you since 1970’s first getting your letters by mail and have been taking advice and learning gardening tips and loving all the books you have written for years, I still have everything from bookmarks to free paper from letters, most of all the tiny books and much, much more. You have been my inspiration my whole life and have helped guide me through good times and have taught me much. You have the biggest heart in the whole world. I know there will be a day that you will retire, and I hear that in your voice as you talk. We will all miss you when that day comes. When a person like me has had you as a mentor my whole life, you will be missed dearly. Gray haired or not you are as young as you feel. I want to Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the best life’s mentor there ever is. I learn to Live, Love, and Laugh from you. You taught me to love all the little things in life and to also go collect all the coolest, fun things like dishes, books, doilies, Beatrix Potter figurines., Peter rabbit things, poem books, old things like the old, ragged quilt I had to buy and give it some love and a new home to be loved. So just so you know you have made a difference in this world just wanted you know. If only you knew how much. Merry Christmas to You and Joe and kitty. Thanks for coming into my Life. Linda from Maine. P.S. I would love to meet you in person someday if you ever come to the coast of Maine again. I just missed you when you came through Bath, Maine that summer. I’ll be waiting for the next Willard, Thanks.
💝💝💝💝💝
Very fun to see your family. Wanted to ask you if you have read The Echo of Old Books?Barbara Davis. I think you would like itAlso have you talked with Carrieinwales lately? And. Are you following Ann Louise Avery’s advent calendar? And are you watching The Guilded Age. So many questions! ❤️ Debby
LOL is this a trick? 😂🤣🤣🤣🤣 xoxo Debby
Happy Holidays to you and Joe and Jack from up North (close to Montreal)! Here there is already about a foot of snow and our little town is twinkling with Christmas lights. It’s so pretty and a great way to forget about the gloomy grey skies!
Your post was lovely, as always. It was a joy to see your Thanksgiving, then your Christmas decorations! I’m shocked to see your are selling your lovely California house (such an amazing piece of land), but I understand how it makes sense. I love the fenced garden and see how it inspired some of your art. It must feel strange to turn this page of your life book.
The quilt is beautiful. Quilts are amazing. They are so meaningful in so many ways… I hope it is a tradition that will go on!
Happy travel to California! Enjoy the sun!
I always love a new Willard. It is so much fun to get a glimpse into your life. Have a great holiday season.
I would LOVE to win your quilt! Thank you so much for the full moon bookmark . I print one out every year. Have a Merry Christmas.
Thank you for a beautiful post. I’ve missed you and I’ve enjoyed your lovely family and all the lovely things you have shared with us. Merry Christmas
Thank you for another enjoyable Willard, and for sharing your family with us. You set a beautiful and inviting table! It’s always nice to see Jack and hear what antics he’s up to.
I, too, love the coziness of quilts. Wishing you and Joe a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year! ❤️🎄😺🥳
Your Willard always makes my day! Thank you and merry Christmas!
Sue
Such a joyous Willard. Yes! It’s so important for the cousins to stay connected! I’m hosting a brunch for just this purpose!
Loved the end quote!
Such a beautiful song. Brings tears to my eyes. Thank you for the opportunity to be in your Secret Santa quilt drawing! Merry Christmas to all !
I LOVE old quilts or any age quilts. I have only 2 – one my great great grandmother made before she married in the 1800’s and one given to me when I graduated from high school in the 1950’s. I love the colors on yours and I would cherish it. But not to be greedy but may the best person for the quilt get it. Cheers, Eleanor
Oh that is such a lovely quilt! 😍 And I’m so impressed with the planks!👏
Was hoping for a Christmas-inspired Willard soon… and here it was! Always love reading these (esp. when Gladys Taber quotes are included) AND the chance to win a beautiful quilt? Double win tonight. Thank you, Susan! Merry Christmas!🎄
Such a lovely, interesting and nice long Willard! Reading your blog always puts me in a great mood. Family time is so special. I love how you are making memories for them. Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
What a lovely, bittersweet, beautiful post. I enjoy your Willards so much, like a big cosy hug from a friend. Wishing you luck in finding just the right buyer for your California property. It’s beautiful and I’m hopeful the right person will come along to love it the way you and Joe have done. Life is all about change, is it not? The quilt is perfection and that’s very kind of you to do this giveaway for your fans! Good luck to everyone.
Oh, Susan, this Willard was amazing! My husband and I moved from northern California to Nevada last year. Our children are in Caliornia and most of my big family (I’m #12 of 13 children) are there as well. I must admit that I am missing everyone, especially at this time of year. Your Willard helped so much, and it even prompted me to make a few calls. It was lovely. Thank you for putting a bit of joy and peace in my day.
Merry Christmas Susan! Thank you for the beautiful Willard!
Thank you for an endearing Willard about the love and caring of families. Thank you so much. It is what matters most. Blessings to you and Joe this holiday season. Sheila
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to you and Joe! Thank you for being such a lovely part of my life for all these years, and hopefully many more. I love that quilt, I got a quilt from my MIL’s estate after she passed and the dogs loved it, too (alas, a little too well!) but it serves to protect the couch from muddy puppy feet and cuddles our 3 dogs, so it’s still so very loved. Many blessings, and hope to see you again soon!! <3
Wishing you, Joe, and Jack blessed holidays. Your newsletter brings so much peace into my home, and I am grateful for your sharing.
Susan, you always know exactly how to make the most simple but beautiful things feel special to me and your girlfriends. Keep at it my friend. We all love you and look forward to your blogs, music, posts, books and sale items.
I have been reading your Willards for years and years and they never disappoint! I am always carried away in time and place. 💜 Merry Christmas, dear Susan and Joe!
What a delight! I can’t wait to try out the eggnog recipe!
Merry Christmas Susan, Joe and Jack! I so enjoyed reading your Thanksgiving Willard with the lovely photos of your family. And please tell Ivan the Mistletoe Waltz is just beautiful. Your posts are always heartwarming and inspiring. Also, thanks for making such great wall calendars- I have been using them for more than 20 years! Blessings to you and yours this Christmas and in the New Year!
Enjoyed your blog and loved the picture of your family and your relatives when you were a little girl. The song is lovely and good luck to your talented friend who wrote it.
Peggy
Thank you for the newsletter, always fun and inspiring, nice to see your gorgeous property in California, and photos of family
Merry Christmas and safe travels on your trip
Merry Christmas and thank you for Willard. It’s filled with joy and pretty things and family and friends. Perfect!!!🫶
I love reading your family stories. Thank you. I didn’t write this before but I purchased the Elizabeth II mug from you. I love it. Have a great holiday!
Sending wishes for a Merry Christmas to you and Joe! Enjoy (safe) travels to CA, and good luck with the house sale! Would have loved to be its new owner❤️
Oh how I love to read what you write and share! You are VERY talented! Thanks for your encouraging and uplifting words that bring a smile to my face and the creative juice’s flowing! And Jack equally adds to the joy you share!
You make me feel like everything is going to somehow be okay❤️
Read the lovely comments from everyone and you will learn that it will be okay💖.
Dear Susan, I was pondering how many years I have been savouring your Willards, and can’t remember when I first signed up. I treasure those that came in the snail mail, in the years that seen so kind ago, and yet a blink of the eye away. I hope you, Joe, Jack and asked your family enjoy this holiday season. Sending much love, Patti Moran
I just finished my great-grandmother’s Sunbonnet Sue squares into a big quilt. It will go to my cousin’s 3-year-old daughter, in there same lineage. I have some of her other ones.
Thank you for sharing your lovely family with us. Heartwarming to see happy youth! Also, I must thank you for your recommendation of the book Still Life. Absolutely loved it. I listed to the audio and hearing all the Italian landmarks pronounced in lovely lyrical Italian—bonus! Wonderful, so wonderful, and with sentences so beautiful I occasionally had to stop to write them down. Your gift quilt is lovely. The pattern looks like it may be Lemoyne Star (yes, I’m a quilter)—a pattern still very much in use today! Good ideas last. Happy, peaceful holidays to you and yours.
A very sweet Willard, and such a lovely quilt! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas! Thank you for your posts. I always look so forward to reading them! Happy New year and blessings on your travels!
Merry Christmas! Your home is so lovely and welcoming! I especially love seeing Jack here, there and everywhere! There’s nothing like a cat to make a home special. I have been traveling to the Lancaster, PA area for years and find the work of the Amish quilters just incredible. The work and care that goes into a quilt is what makes them so special. Can you imagine the woman sitting by the fire stitching those antique quilts? Just mind boggling! Thank you for your joy and optimism. I always feel so uplifted after reading you Willards!
Have a blessed Christmas and Happy, Healthy New Year!
Dear Susan,
This Willard came to me as I am recovering from unexpected surgeries and reminded me again of all the joy your books, cards, stickers, blog, website and talks have brought to my life. Thank you for all it.
Love from the retired teacher you met at the last Salt Lake City show, Linda.
Merry Christmas! Your home is so lovely and welcoming! I especially love seeing Jack here, there and everywhere! There’s nothing like a cat to make a home special. I have been traveling to the Lancaster, PA area for years and find the work of the Amish quilters just incredible. The work and care that goes into a quilt is what makes them so special. Can you imagine the woman sitting by the fire stitching those antique quilts? Just mind boggling! Thank you for your joy and optimism. I always feel so uplifted after reading you Willards!
Have a blessed Christmas and Happy, Healthy New Year!
Loved the Willard! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
When I was 9, my family moved to CA from NY. The highlight of that summer was seeing the movie “Pollyanna,” and I afterwards told my mother I wanted a patchwork quilt and brass bed just like in that movie! My dream finally came true as a grownup, and I am still in love with quilts! I love seeing yours, and love that you love them too! Your newsletters are so cheerful, colorful and full of fun stories! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the time, effort and joy you put into them! A very Merry Christmas to you, Joe and Jack! May all your New Year’s dreams come true!
LOL, sounds familiar, I think everything I love came from some movie or other!
A month ago, our children talked us into renting a dumpster. The purpose was to clean out our attic and basement and get rid of stuff we have accumulated over 62 years of marriage. We had a lot of help filling a 20 yard dumpster. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see everything that came down from the attic and I recently found out all of my quilts (about 8 or 9) were thrown out. They all needed a good washing but they were in excellent condition.
Reading that you are willing to gift one of your quilts touched my heart. A quilt has personality, history and creativity.
I wish you and your handsome husband a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And safe travels to the west coast. A longtime fan from Connecticut.
So happy you and Joe had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Nothing like being with family. ❤️ The quilt is lovely and will be a special gift for a blessed person. Thank you Susan for your generosity. Merry Christmas and a happy peaceful New Year! I
Susan, such a lovely Willard. Filled with so many delightful things the photos and sharing of your families gathering, nesting, cooking, nature – honesty and care it all sure brightened this day for me. I so appreciate the way you convey simple pleasures and joy. Wishing you and Joe the Merriest of Christmas, and happy travels to California in January. Your home there and the grounds are so wonderful. That basket of roses is so beautiful. Enjoy!
Beautiful Willard! My favorite is the family photos and wonderful Thanksgiving memories you all made! Merry Christmas Susan, Joe, and Jack!
Hi Susan,
I look forward to Willard and enjoy everything about it. So inspiring and delightful.
Your home is so quaint and inviting. I love it.
I have all of your books and will someday reread each one.
Thank you for sharing parts of your life with us.
Carmen
I would love to have my name in your Christmas quilt drawing. Sharon from Montana
It’s just not Christmastime (or any other season) until I read Susan’s sweet blog! Thank you for getting me in the mood.
After a very hectic week of running around I checked my email and there was the new Willard! I immediately sat down and read every bit of it. I felt like I had Thanksgiving with all of you. How relaxing to read all about your Thanksgiving and now Christmas prep. You inspire me to love everything around me.
I wish you and Joe a blessed Christmas and New Year.
I live in a house built in 1870 so a quilt would look beautiful in it!
Xxoo