It’s the creative month of September.🍂 Perfect for us, the most wonderful time of year to be wrapped up in the Art of the Home every day. It would be that way for me no matter where I lived! I’m a home girl from way back! But this year it’s mandatory! Yay! MUSICA! (My mom used to sing this around the house!)
It’s my same old song, a song of home, being sung in a brand new place!💘
Home, where everything is different except our attitudes! It is another world out here! Guess what we plant here in California in September? Did you say Dahlias? Yes! Can you believe that? Me, either. Guess if you have to dig them up to winter-over! Yes, you’re right! You don’t! What fun. I ordered them for Joe for last Christmas, before we knew we were coming to California … and here we are at the perfect planting place. Google actually says we’ll see blooms this Christmas!
Willard-Time and I hardly know where to begin. The world is filled with ups and downs, worrisome chaotic things that keep us awake at night, but after moving across country, dealing with months of that kind stress, 
I’m lucky now to be unpacked!!!, and constantly busy with all the ordinary little details of home.💖 My Studio is finally set up, so I’ve been working on the covers for the 2026 calendars (one-down, 3-to-go!)! I’ve been organizing my books, hanging sheets on the line, putting flowers in my little vases, figuring out which lampshades to use on the lamps in the guest room, Getting the house ready for my sister’s visit. For me, making a home has always been the most creative job there is, part of my dream of what life is all about, goodness and safety, trust, and wholesomeness and being happy. As I’ve said many times, we can’t control what goes on in the outside world, but as long as there are yard sales, most of us do have the power to make our own little part of it exactly how we want it to be.🌺
And home is definitely the garden metaphorically speaking! Planting seeds and watching them grow. So let’s talk about all the good stuff! We had a spectacular August here where we live, 5 miles up the road from the Pacific Ocean. Early fog disappears by around 10 am, leaving us with breezy, cool mornings, cool 
nights in the 50ºs ~ lovely sleeping weather under the cozy covers with all the windows open ~ and soft sun the rest of the day, the kind of sunshine I remember, growing up here as a child, when I would wake from my nap and go out and lay on the warm sidewalk in front of our house, enjoying the caress of the sun with the intermittant sound of roller skates hitting the cracks in the pavement. There’s local Mexican food galore, new bakeries to explore, watching the sun fall into the blue Pacific, free concerts under the trees in the local park every Sunday ~ and Farmer’s Market on Saturday. We even have a mystery… we were in Morro Bay for dinner the other night, and look at the photo I took, above, and now this below and tell me what you think.😱
What is that? All I did is enlarge the first photo because I saw this thing sticking up in the middle and wondered what it was. Joe didn’t know, I sure don’t know. Has the Loch Ness Monster come to Morro Bay?😳
I’d rather sit on shore and drink our newest Trader Joe’s discovery ~ grapefruit wine (mix of grapefruit juice and white wine) … tastes like carbonated grapefruit with only half the alcohol content of wine. Only $6 a bottle! You drink it just like wine. Gorgeous color and delicious ice cold. Beautiful in champagne glasses! And it’s PINK! I’ll wait while you write that down! Twist-off cap, Girlfriends!
Moving is so inspiring! Never boring, because if you get sick of unpacking boxes and trying to decide what to do with everything (for weeks, EVERY SINGLE DANG DAY), there’s all new places to go to procrastinate in a still-getting-things-done kind of way!! And you don’t have to take a ferry boat to get there!!! Very spur-of-the-moment-procrastination is possible! (Sitting in the sun at a concert, although very good for you, really doesn’t count as getting things done!) We’re still in the “All the flowers…” mode of our move! ‘Cause if we plant the dahlia bulbs today, tomorrow will be filled with flowers! Get it? The seeds of today!
Yeah! We have lots of projects! We practically live at the hardware store, mostly because they also have a nursery, not to mention the free, fresh-popped, help-yourself, popcorn on Saturdays and Sundays. Not quite the tea rooms they have at garden centers in England, but pretty good! And they have paint! We’ve been choosing new colors for a couple of rooms . . .(those little apples stacked the background ⬆️ come from trees we planted years ago … Christmas apple trees … the apples never grow up, just stay small and cute like that.)🍎
And look! I found four vintage needlepointed seat covers for our bar stools on Etsy!! Exactly what I was looking for. Almost new, like they were waiting for me! Green! Perfect for this house. They go with everything! 
We have antiqued all the way from Los Alamos to Cayucos so far . . . (stress-free, the perfect get-away-with-purpose because we 
needed dressers or hutches ~ storage ~ for all the stuff we still have to find places for!) and there are still many more shops to see! Haven’t even made it to Cambria yet! Look at that little goat ~ It’s not like me to fall in love with a little rusty goat ~ it was $89 which, in my view, for a goat, is not cheap. So I didn’t buy it! It was at an antique store up in Morro Bay and now I can’t quit thinking how cute it would look on top of our goat barn! I think I have to go back. I’m going to be able to give you Central Coast tour from soup to nuts by the time we’re done here. Get a map of California! You should start a file in case you ever decide to go on a road trip! Because there’s some good stuff and sweet small towns in this neck of the world, although PLEASE DON’T TELL ANYONE how wonderful it is!! Just between us.💞
Here’s what I take pictures of when we’re out and about ~ roses! The thing that’s constantly on my mind these days! Gardens. I came right home and ordered this white rose we saw in Los Alamos ~ it’s called Sally Holmes! I already have the picket fence! I also got two other “five-star” roses: Just Joey AND April Love. Peach colored, and another climber much like the one above only deep rose. 💃🏼
Look how cute the packaging is they came in! I ordered them from Heirloom Roses, my first time to order roses through the mail. Now they might be my new best friend, they have a huge selection … they arrived pots in good condition …
So happy! Don’t get me wrong. It’s still hard to be away from our old neighborhood on Martha’s Vineyard. We loved our beautiful 
ferry rides. And I miss my girlfriends beyond words. But it is what it is, and we’re lucky, we do have friends and family here. And with change staring us in the face from the moment we wake up, my natural inclination is to sweep the porch, feed Jack, fold clothes, hear the birds, and think, “Oh what a beautiful day!” Go crazy with happiness that there is no humidity. Walk out to the garden, feed and love the barn kitties, breathe in the fresh air. Make Joe tea with lemons and oranges from our trees, and not climb stairs to take it to him . . . and then, get busy with the day. Plant roses! See what I mean?
XXX
We came from one garden on Martha’s Vineyard, took a ten-day, cross-country, road trip through the looking glass, and out the other side, arriving in California, and another garden! Another world. I have a story for you…
Let’s go get tea. I’ll meet you back here in a minute! Okay, here we go… Once upon a time, way back in 2004, Joe and I did our first garden tours of England and of course, having never seen anything like those gardens before, we fell madly in love. If you’ve been there, you know what I mean. We’ve gone back for revisits to some of our favorites, like the one in the video at Barnsley House, designed by the famous English garden designer, Rosemary Verey.💝
We learned the wonderfulness of hedges, and the magic and mystery of small paths that disappear around a bend.
Note the long view … and paths made from all kinds of materials, paths that whisper “follow me.” I thought at the time, “A few bricks and some bushes? How hard could it be? Couldn’t we do that?”
Some paths were made just by mowing the grass . . . and that opening between the hedges called my name. This is the garden of the famous turn-of-the-century British stage actress, Ellen Terry . . .
This was her house . . . you can go there and tour both house and garden! I always loved the very personal small houses best, better than the castles, and this one is so charming, with crooked floors, where we learned all about Ellen Terry, someone I’d never heard of, and stood in her wonderful bedroom and got to know her. Living history.👏
At Hidcote and at many other English gardens, we discovered “the long walk.” A swath of green, lined in hedges . . . they said “for after-dinner strolls and winter carriage rides.”🤩
Likely I’m never happier than I am in a garden . . this one is Sissinghurst where I looked up and there was Joe on the other side of the hedge! Sissinghurst is famous for the white garden, herb garden, pleached trees, and garden rooms.
Ellen Terry’s garden again ~ can you smell the green? Feel the breeze? Hear the birds? .. It’s in the small village of Smallhythe outside of Tenderden. Her garden runs naturally into the garden of the churchyard next door . . . One of my favorite gardens, it felt natural and wild, unconstructed, as if it just happened ~ even in the “nuttery,” her orchard of nut trees!
Smallhythe again, probably the most structured part of the garden. Paths surrounded in forget-me-nots.💘
Rosemary Verey’s Barnsley House again. Best small garden EVER! Four acres of perfection!
Look at that, almost no flowers, and it’s gorgeous! Who knew?
On that 2004 trip, besides my regular diary (above, that’s me and Rachel, Joe took the picture at our very first picnic in Stourhead gardens), which was a watercolored, hand-written diary, and the inspiration for the 3rd book of my autobiographical trilogy, A Fine Romance, Falling in LOVE with the English Countryside ~ so besides this “big” diary where each evening I wrote about and painted our day ~ I kept this narrow little “garden diary” in my purse . . .
So when we were walking around and discovered something new, I could write it down. Sometimes I added pictures I cut out when reading British garden magazines …
In the actual gardens, I would take notes . . . write down ideas, plants that look good together, and their names, and names of hedges, trees, bushes, wildflowers, and roses . . .
. . . we learned about wild gardens, topiaries, garden rooms, herb gardens, white gardens, knot gardens, potager gardens, hedges, textures, lime walks, walls, allies, statuary, dovecotes, every imaginable thing, and every one of those gorgeous gardens had a gift shop that sold books ~ inspiration to feed our growing passion ~ somewhere along the way a seed was planted, and we decided that when we got home, we would try to build our own English Garden.🪴
We’re so lucky NOW, all these years later, because, surprisingly, we decided to put that garden in California, at what was my “California Studio,” this house, where Kellee used to work, where we live now. It didn’t really make sense at the time because we lived on Martha’s Vineyard, but, then again, it made perfect sense because, as we discovered, our California property is in an ANCIENT river bed, and the soil is what is called “alluvial” ~ very fertile. In addition, there is always water from a creek out back that runs year-round, and then of course, the coastal weather, sunny but cool, which was way closer to English weather than the weather in New England.👏 Which is why now we can even TALK about gardens this time of year!💃🏼
This is our California house when I first saw it in 2001! Doesn’t LOOK that fertile … it was an old doublewide plopped down in the dirt; it had a metal garage with no garage door, and an open-sided barn ~ the previous owners raised goats, so they 
called that open structure “the goat barn.” (This was actually the goat next door. I loved him!) Obviously, it wasn’t about the house which was nothing special, no romantic whaling captains were involved, no history, no old fireplaces, no fancy counter-tops, or old wood floors … but it was okay, fine, big enough, lots of windows, in the country, but not too far away. For me, it was all about the 8 flat acres, the quick-running creek out back, a little orchard of fruit trees ~ all surrounded with acres and acres of farm land. It was like a blank canvas. I bought it 23 years ago while Joe was back east and when he got out here and saw it, he thought I’d lost my mind . . I had been driving 
around with a realtor, saw the “for sale” sign, drove down the driveway to the back, walked down to the creek, heard the gurgling water, the singing birds, the wind through the cottonwood trees … marveled over the openness of it all, the quiet, and said, with hairs on my arms standing up, “this is for me!” A teeny little piece of California (relatively speaking), all mine. It’s probably the Irish in me. You know how Scarlett felt about the land!💘
And, in time, Joe came to love it too. It had so many possibilities, but like everything, it was one day at a time . . . Joe began to contemplate the placement of our new picket-fence garden. . . and we bought a tractor.
Which he still LOVES!
I’ve loved gardens forever, a gift from my dad. Joe and I had always been garden minded; we already had a picket-fence garden on Martha’s Vineyard. I think I’ve written about every garden of my life in my books, I’ve always loved picking flowers for my little vases, fresh veggies and herbs for salads. Makes me feel self-sufficient, part of nature, even part of history.
Because of our 8 acres filled with voracious gophers (which don’t exist on Martha’s Vineyard), Joe lined the entire California picket-fence garden in hardware cloth … wire with small holes, not big enough for gophers to get through.
Me, so happy . . .
So we planted a lawn, painted the house, Alfredo painted the outside, and me, Joe, my sister Shelly, and Diane painted the inside … I wrote my Autumn book in this house, and then, in ’04, we went to England …
When we got home, all excited from what we’d seen and learned, I drew this plan, only one garden room, NOT Rosemary Verey’s garden! (Yet) . . . you can see the picket-fence garden on the right of the house, with the goat barn behind it, and the garage to the left. None of the rest of it was there, this was just an idea. We weren’t even sure it would work.
The first thing we did was put in a hedge down the driveway, on the right side of the house, all the way to the back of the property, almost to the creek. It had never dawned on me to make a hedge before we went to England. Buy 60 plants of the same thing? Why? Alfredo, who helped out at the Studio, also had a fledgling gardening business (we’re grateful to be his guinea pigs!). He planted one gallon pots 4′ apart all the way down, and he and Joe brought a watering system from the creek. And look at it now! And all the years we were on Martha’s Vineyard, Alfredo lived in our CA house and took care of everything . . .
So, before we left to go back to the Vineyard, we started planting the lawn . . . 
. . . We laid out the plan, with tiny bushes (hedges) enclosing the lawns and pathways as shown in our drawing, and a garden room (on the right, not in the picture), we planted a jacaranda tree, a Baileys acacia tree, and Christmas apples . . . My brother Chuck came and put walls with windows on the goat barn so we could use it as a warehouse for our Studio (see it above?), a place to store and ship my books and cups and all our other goodies . . .
Basically, my literary heroes (like Beryl Markham) knew what had to be done!💝
and behind it all, next to the fence, we started our mini version of the long walk . . . lined on both sides with a mixed hedge of California lilac (ceanothus), arborvitae, and boxwood, things to attract bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies, with openings left for paths surrounded in new hedges (we call the the hedges “bird motels”) … Then we went back to the island, Kellee moved the business from a space in town into the house and worked there from 8 – 5, M-F, Alfredo moved in, lived there, and made sure our garden grew … he’d take pictures and send them to us…and each time we visited, we added a bit more, and all the while it was growing-growing, years of growing, and now, all this time later…
We’re back!
And look how pretty it is! It all grew up! And if that’s not magic, I don’t know what is! The best time to plant a garden is 20 years ago.💞 The next best time is NOW!!😘 And for the most part, just by following our hearts, we now have this happy accident in our lives. We hadn’t been planning to move back to California . . . but during a visit last January . . .
. . . knowing (for waaaay too long) we really needed to downsize, we took a long look at the California weather and our garden, the one-floor-living of the double-wide, and found it all made sense. We HAD to sell 
something, and we decided instead of selling the California House where it’s like 3 seasons of fall weather (in the 60s today!😄), and one season of rain, we would choose the garden, we would sell our much bigger (and feeling bigger all the time) dreamhouse in Martha’s Vineyard and do everything in our power to get rid of two-thirds of our stuff. Not an easy decision, but, like so many in our generation, it’s what you do. Personally I’ve always been for cloning so I could live everywhere at once. But no. Not yet. See that corner closest to us above, in the picket fence garden? That inside corner is where the Sally Holmes will be planted, that fluffy white rose will look gorgeous over the fence. And here’s a quick little video of the garden room.
XXX
Still lots to do! I’m glad it’s not finished! Over the years, when I wasn’t here to attend to it, our picket fence garden has filled itself with whatever it liked best, and those things reseeded over and over, so mostly it’s wildflowers, but it needs to be replanted with veggies and a new rose tree and sweet peas around the fence. (See why I really do need that goat? Put him on top of the goat barn, and voila!)💝
Alfredo has been doing a beautiful job trimming the bushes . . . he’s good at it! On one of our trips, we planted a long border of spurge (yellow flowers), and Agapantha (large purple/blue flowers).
I aways thought this was a Mimosa tree in our backyard, but now I think it’s an Albizia. They look so much alike, I could be wrong! We had an Albizia at our house on the Vineyard. Mrs Bowditch, the previous owner, planted it, and described it for us with this warning, “Looks dead until late June, but do not be deceived.” I always laughed at that … as if I might run out and chop it down!
I’m going to save the decorating for our next visit. This house has nowhere near the elegance of our old house, I don’t want to 
disappoint you, that old house of ours, all that New England charm, maybe it spoiled us . . . it’s much more casual out here. But it’s cozy ~ kind of like those New York lofts in Soho we read about in the 70s. I never saw one in person, so I just imagined a big open space with a bedroom in one corner, workspace in another, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, an office … all visible at once. That’s this, only smaller! See my Basket of Geraniums painting? Up there?… I still have that basket, it’s up on top of the kitchen shelves! See it? This house is full of memories! We brought them all with us! And we’re ready to make more! We already started!💞
My youngest sister Shelly and her twin men (that doesn’t sound right at all!) and their dachshund came up to celebrate her birthday with us this weekend!💞 Good reason to clean the house … not just any sister, a Virgo sister! I used to love doing things to Shelly’s hair when she was little and I was giving her a bath! This was her “fish tail” look.❌⭕️
We had our first lunch of their visit next to the water in Pismo Beach. The kids turned 21 in April, so they really are twin-men now!💞
But actually, they are the three amigos and have been since the beginning! They were in it together! Shelly has been in AWE of her creations forever, and the BEST mom to her boys.💝💝 They ARE great. I not only LOVE them, I LIKE them!!!😍
AND her dogs!
Uncle Joe had a great time too!😘
We all drove to Cayucos for Shelly’s birthday breakfast in the garden at Lunala . . . her friend Jill was playing music! It was heavenly. If they had beds we’d probably still be there. It was so relaxing and delicious.🥰
And yup, on the way up, we stopped and got my goat!👏👏👏 Worth every dime! Wait till you see him on the roof! (Loving him so much on the deck, may not even make it to the roof!)
Shelly has tried on every hat in every antique store we’ve visited, and has looked great in all of them. This lampshade is one of her birthday gifts, and she even looked good in it! What better hat than a lampshade on your birthday?! I like the way she holds the cord!💖
Last night was her ACTUAL birthday dinner! Another wonderful evening. Our first time seeing each other since we got back. We’d been saving it all for this weekend! 💃🏼 Joe made her boys a delicious steak dinner, Shelly made us an amazing salad with farm-stand strawberries and spinach in it, Paden tore the stems off the spinach leaves, I buttered and salted the skin of baked potatoes and put them in the oven . . . while Mason got all our streaming services onto our TV!
Shelly is showing off her new ring. I’m not sure what the rest of these people are doing!😆 We sang happy birthday and made wishes on her candle 🥳… had many hugs and kisses. And we’ll be meeting for MORE FOOD today!
Then it will be back to work on the new calendar covers … hard to believe I’m working on 2026 when we haven’t even had 2025! But no matter, I don’t need to see into the future to do them, my calendars are always about the little things at home, where nothing has to change unless we want it to! (Except that babies do grow up.🥲) Makes perfect sense that his month, the September page, is all about Creativity and the Homearts!
Okay y’all . . . Have a wonderful day and a happy, creative, grapefruit-wine-sipping September week! This glorious month!💞
SO happy to see these glimpses of the California gardens and home! Secretly, though it is no business of mine, I have been quietly mourning your beautiful Martha’s Vineyard home. But seeing this Willard, introducing more of the gardens, and the vision behind them, and the 20 years of preparation for this (albeit unexpected) move, has made me SO EXCITED for you, and eager to see more. The home is darling, and comfortable, and LIVEABLE! I love its light and airy vibe. I love one level. I love vistas, and peace, and GREEN. The low humidity is a bonus I can really get on board with (muggy Ohio here). All is well in your world, and I am happy to see proof of that. Hugs to you, Joe, ALL the kitties (Jack has barn cousins), and that adorable GOAT.
❌⭕️❌⭕️
It’s great to hear from you – in California! I hope you’ll post about your 10-day trip cross country eventually. I think that odd thing in your photo is a teeny tiny slug of some kind on your camera lens. Thank you for sharing your new life in “old diggings”! Best Wishes!
HA! I’ll need to go look for that!!!😄
What a lovely post. I’m so envious of your downsizing move. Such a lovely WARM spot to live, so sunny. What’s not to like? Less is more and change is so good for us. Hooray for you, Susan. Wishing you many happy days.
Thank you Kathie, same wishes back to YOU!🌺
I love relaxing and reading your stories. It feels like I’m participating in a secret adventure and I know lots of my kindred spirits are with me. You had to get the goat!
It was a must-do!💖
Susan,
It is so wonderful to see what you and Joe have done with your new digs! Love the gardens. Can’t wait to see all the new progress. “ Home sweet home”. Home is where your heart is. Love how you have decorated your home. It looks so cozy.
I was so thrilled that you mentioned Cambria. I Envy you that y’all are so close. Definitely something to look foreward too. That is my husband and my most favorite place when we lived in California. So beautiful and a wonderful place to just Be. We miss it so much. Can’t wait to get back there to visit. There are two of my favorite shops that are worth checking out if you get a chance. Home Arts and Sea-n-Green. Their stories are fascinating, not to mention their shops carry extraordinary artistic treasures.
Anyway, Happy Fall 🍁
Debbie
Can’t wait! xoxoxo Thank you Debbie!
So glad you got the goat!!!! He/she is wonderful!!!!! 🙂
Hello Susan,
Just wanted to say a hearty thanks, congratulations, and a so thankful you’re where you want to be = all mixed into one!! Thank you for sharing the beauty of a place your heart has deep roots within, and the renewed delight in making it all yours!!
Dear Susan, I’m reading your newest Willard waaaay too late at night b/c of a full moon 🙂 I’m in Seattle now where we’ve lived for 30+ years but spent the first 40 years of my life in California…your new home on the coast and all the shenanigans and adventures remind me of how lovely it is.
Moving is hard but I’m so happy for you and your adventurous partner in crime, Mr. Joe 😉
Thank you for all the beauty and joy you bring to the world.
PS I bought The Heart of the Home new/updated cookbook and have tried some of the recipes–I feel so fancy making Caesar dressing from scratch!
Ha ha! Those secret little salty fish in that dressing make it SOOOOO worth it!!! xoxoxoxo
Hi Susan,
You certainly are doing a great job in making your house a home for you and Joe to enjoy! Thank you for sharing so much of your lives with so many of us!
Hi Susan
I am so happy to see you are settling in. What a beautiful property you have.
You are inspiring me to move on and make changes. I want to retire and downsize, both me and my husband. We live in So Cal but absolutley love the area where you live. We vacation at Pismo Beach every summer and we always say we should move there so, we will see. It’s not an easy decision but I think the right one.
I am hoping to get back to England next summer to see my family there, I really want to see Sissinghurst, my cousin lives in the Cotswolds, what a magical place it is and I cant wait to see it again. Always love your posts!!
We’re on the same track … Central Coast then England!! I can only say it’s heaven up here! But again, shhhh. It’s getting discovered.
Thank you so much for the tip on where to buy old garden roses.
I had to leave my beloved California and my fabulous garden behind. I had only known CA and the weather, hence fabulous year round gardening all of my entire life. Who knew other places are so different. Leaving my garden has been painful. It took me 20 plus years to create it.
My antique garden roses were the hardest to leave. I had not known any where to buy others, until I read your blog.
So quite happily I will be buying: Louise Odier, Variegata di Bologna and Golden Celebration along with the Iris Easy To Love.
My thank you to you Susan is beyond words… and to Heirloom Roses. My heart is happy.
You are so very lucky to be living in SLO. How I love it there! I know it so well. If- I could return back to my beloved CA , that is where I would go.
Signed- forever a native daughter of the golden west. 🧡🤎🩷 …🙋♀️
PS … my kitty, Fairyn (yes, I am a kitty mom too) was born in Morro Bay. 🐚
I had to go to Heirloom roses to check out what you’re getting! This is why I don’t get through my comments very quickly!😆 I think I need one of those Golden Celebrations!
P.S. spot on, on buying the little garden goat! Treasures … to be found make our hearts happy. Who can put a price on that?
I know so well how things spotted can reasonate in our hearts. The little goat is home. Home is where the heart is, indeed. 💕 🐐 🏡
Your California home and yard both look amazing. I would have made the same wise choice you both did. It is lovely that your family is close by and over the years you have made such a lovely place for yourselves. I am so happy for both of you. Everything worked out so well. Yes it has been a lot of hard work, but now you can enjoy the fruits of your labors. So wonderful that you had such great helpers to work on and keep your place for you in your absence. All the best to you both. Thanks for the lovely blog and tour. Take care and enjoy.
Love love love this long, home-y, happy post! What a pleasurable read and inspiration. You sound content. 🙂
Yes! I feel blessed, lucky, and grateful.
Hi Susan! I’m been working on garden rooms too. It was fun to give them names like the Butterfly Garden, the Secret Garden, and so on. Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos, quotes, ideas, and inspiration. The goat is so cute!
What a wonderful update. I loved strolling through your garden 🩷
Oh, I am so envious of your beautiful garden, and gorgeous weather. We’ve had a few days so far of “fallish” weather but then the heat and humidity return. I went to Ohio last week and spent a whole week with my sister. She had the attic of her home turned into a magical studio; added a big dormer, etc many years ago. Now, it’s a guest room. I slept up there all week. The first morning, I took a tumble down the very steep, very narrow attic stairs. It could have been terrible, but I was only sore for a few days. I continued to sleep up there all week, because it’s like sleeping in a huge treehouse. I love it. But, I was very careful after that to hold securely to the handrails when going down. I am so glad you and Joe aren’t regretting your decision, and are enjoying your dream land. I can’t wait to watch it all unfold.
Oh dear Mary Ann, be careful! Those treacherous stairs can be unexpectedly life-changing! I’m so happy to be away from them! No regrets. There are things I know I’ll miss . . . But we get to go back for visits … and right now, I’m so ridiculously PASSIONATE about being outside in the garden, it feels like spring FEVER!
So happy that you’re settling in and get to see more of your family. I think the goat would be happier on land rather than on the rooftop. So cute. Jack looks to be settling in, too. Beautiful place to live. Enjoy the mild weather, gardening and all the memories yet to come.
So far the goat is on the back deck … right outside the glass doors. I love him so much, the roof is just too far away!
I always look forward to your long rambling posts, a BIG treat!
Your blog brings peace to an upside-down world! Thank you!
Thank you for all the lovely garden inspiration! I’m going to see what we can do with our little quarter acre. Love the idea of a little path that disappears around the shrubbery. And I’m glad you went back for the goat!
Rachel added a strategically-put mirror at the back of her small garden and doubled its size! In a short length of space, you can make the path narrower and narrower to the back, fooling the eye that it’s longer than it is!
How is Joe getting used to California? Does He miss the Vineyard? Are you guys going to go back and visit friends? I have to be honest l really miss your Willard from the Vineyard but at 72 l totally understand the reason of downsizing and as long as you are both together and happy that is all that matters. looking forward to more exciting Willard’s.
Well, we left less than 2 months ago, and often we go to England longer than that, so the missing is more of a feeling ~ but definitely there. We’re both looking forward to a trip “home” … we have “home” at each end of the trail! But it’s hard to believe the wonderfulness of this California weather. The weather on the Vineyard changed so much I’ve hardly spent any time in the garden for years, too hot too buggy. And then there’s winter. I was starting to feel a little trapped. But I’ve been in the garden for a couple of hours most days since we got here. It’s dreamy. Like being a child again. Watering, talking to the flowers, planting roses . . . I’m MAD about it! There’s a good old quote I use a lot, by Hans Christian Anderson: “‘Just living is not enough,’ said the butterfly, ‘One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”💖
A mighty big “thank you” for taking the time to build a Willard for the girlfriends! What I love most about this story is how it all began long ago … and has now come full circle. THAT is grand! Remember to rest. Blessings to you, Joe, and Jack all the friends, all the family, and the new roses going into Mother Earth. Take care of you!
It’s great when you get to a place when you can look back and put all the inspirational pieces together that got you where you are NOW!!! It’s like maybe you always knew … unconsciously! Makes me look around and see what I might want to do NOW!!!
Ya’ll have done such a fantastic job moving yourselves to that California dream spot!!! Love the gardens! Well done and so much more to come!!!!
Cheers!!!!!!
Dear Sue (and Joe and Jack!),
It is always a treat to find a Willard in my virtual mailbox! 💕 Can it be that I am the first to reply?! I have taken my slow sweet time reading and re-reading your California updates, and I was sure there would already be a mountain of comments already posted…but I see none! 😳 How can that be?! I don’t think I’ve ever been the “first” comment to a post!
It is such fun to hear how you’re settling in and creating your new cozy! Love your goat – what a special treasure! Inspires me to block out some “FUN” time on my calendar to go antiquing soon!! Here in Indiana, the Covered Bridge Festival is coming up in October, which should be a great time to search for some special treasures of my own!! I hope Jack enjoyed the cross-country trip and is adjusting to his new abode! Wishing you and Joe the very best!! 🍁 🍂 Happy Fall!! 🍂🍁
As you’re redecorating, thought you might like the vintage flooring of Hudson & Vine (hudsonandvine.com, then search vintage floor). I have zero affiliation with this company. Just passing along something I found on the internet.
Love it! If we ever get that far, I will certainly love to have some of that!!
Susan!
I discovered your blog last week as I was searching the internet for information on Gladys Taber… I am reading Stillmeadow Road and just love her so! I found your page about her, and then found the page on your favorite movies. So then my husband began watching Hobson’s Choice (we love it!). Then, being impressed with your taste in movies and books, I started to just read through your blog when I could find a free moment. Suddenly I discovered that you are not on the East Coast, as I had assumed, but here in my very own county! I grew up on the Central Coast, and live here still with my husband and four little children. I love antiquing and am so happy you are here to enjoy all this beautiful place has to offer! I have to tell you, the best antiquing in the county is in Cambria and Paso Robles. The best thrifting is in Atascadero and Grover Beach. I am so happy you are here! 🙂
–Kelly Jean
Loving it Kelly Jean . . . Lived on the east coast for the last 35 years and just moved back to California! Both are wonderful … it was a hard decision, but this WEATHER is making me cry of joy!!!
Thanks for the Willard. Always makes my day.
Here in Door County Wisconsin at Al Johnson’s restaurant in Sister Bay,
There are actual live goats on their grass roof. Everytime I see them I have to smile 🐐😘
They have goats grazing their property across the street right now. Yesterday there was a big, pure-white one standing on his back legs getting all the tasty things in a tree. They do make you smile!
It all look wonderful, Susan! The hedges look great. You were planting for your future life. Isn’t that grand?
Mimosa and Albizia are the same thing. The Latin name for Mimosa is Albizia julibrissin. So you are right no matter which way you slice it!
Thanks for sharing an update!
AHA! A win-win! It’s so VERY grand. xoxo
What a lovely post! Thank you so much for continuing to enthrall us with your love of gardens, home, community, family, and all while the world continues to do everything in its power to tear us down. Your posts always lift me up. I hope Alfredo has found a beautiful home now that you are back full time. He did such a phenomenal job caring for your gardens and home.
Ok, so much to comment on here. I’m SO glad you’re so close to me now. I’m up in Aromas near Salinas and Watsonville, and I love road-tripping to the Central Coast towns. (I agree…shhhhh!)
We would bring our wool fleece to Shari at Morro Fleece Works for processing right on the coast. Sadly for us but good for her, she is retiring so no more wool-specific road trips. She is selling a lot of the equipment to a woman in Watsonville so it’s right next door.
I loved going to the Bay Cafe in Morro, and then we would head north to Cayucos to eat in the garden at Lunada. I love seeing what is growing there year round. The massive antique stores there? Amazing!
When you get to Cambria, you have to check out the The Garden Shed right on the main road. It’s got a maze of other shops once you head through, and a lovely assortment of garden tools and rare and unusual succulents. I love stopping in there. And there is a ginormous antique store there. You’ll get lost.
Also, have you and Joe been to Filoli Gardens? It’s up on the SF Peninsula near the reservoir off of Hwy 280. It’s so wonderful and as close to an English garden estate as we can find here in CA. The gardens are beautiful year round and at Christmas, the house is fully decorated. I think you would both love it and the history behind the family.
As to your beautiful inspirational trip to the English Countryside in 2004, I attribute my garden obsession with your 2012 trip! The concept of a garden with the majority of the flowers being the same color never occurred to me until I read your book and learned of the White Garden at Sissinghurst. So, I planted my purple Sally Garden. Sally was our 19 year old cat we sent over the rainbow bridge and buried in the garden. Nasturtiums grew there wild, so I decided to plant only purple flowering plants to contrast with the vivid oranges, yellows, and reds of the nasturtiums that grow in the spring/summer. I never would have thought of a purple garden had it not been for you. You payed it forward!
I want to formally invite you to an event the first weekend in October if you’re available. It’s Lambtown Festival in Dixon up near Davis. It’s the largest fiber/wool/sheep festival in CA, and I vend there as Mosshollow Hill and Friends. We will be demonstrating fiber prep, spinning, weaving, and felting in the space next to our booth. There is a sheep to shawl event on Sunday, sheep dog demonstrations, sheep shearing, judged shows, live music, good food, so many wonderful vendors, and live, wooly sheep! I hope you can make it.
I look forward to when you get settled and are able to host some kind of event so all of us West Coast girlfriends can see you and celebrate you.
Sending you, Joe, and Jack all my love.
-Susan
We are having lots of company lately … probably won’t make it this year, but I’d love it if you remind me next year … it looks fun! I wrote down all your wonderful suggestions! Thank you so much Susan!!
I’m so happy for you both that you are beginning to relax and enjoy yourselves now that the move and unpacking are behind you. I too love to garden and I’m looking forward to cooler weather here in North Texas. I would have gone back for that goat too. Some things you just have to have!! I love that you have lots of exciting places to visit and things to do there in California. The antiquing in Cambria sounds dreamy. So does that sheep shearing festival! Are you planning another trip to England in the future? I’m looking forward to hearing about it all. You are such an inspiration to us Susan, reading your blog and cooking some of your recipes takes our minds away from the chaos of the world right now!
It does the same for me too! Yes, probably next year … to England, that is! We haven’t made any reservations yet. Lots to do to make sure we can go!
What a wonderful post!! Loved reading and walking through the garden (the most walking I’ve done in weeks, lol!) So happy to hear everything is so wonderful in the fresh air and sunshine of California! So many projects and dreams to look forward to!!
I took the suggestion you made some time back and took the time to read the posts by other girlfriends on this blog and boy, you’re right! They are such a treat to go through and see what wonderful ideas and things others all around the country have to share!! SO inspiring!!
I’m happy to hear little Jack is adjusting, he’ll be fine because he has you and Joe, his little family. Such a sweet little guy, we have to just be patient that he’ll be showing up in pictures and creating cute little stories to share with us all, once he’s settled in his mind that things are getting familiar and some things will always be the same, like you and Joe.
Isn’t that true? Home is where you and your heart are! (you’ve taught me that along with so many other kindred spirits). So lucky indeed!
P.S. Can’t wait till you give us a more in-depth peek into the house!! (I’m squealing as I write this.) XOXOXOXO (I threw in an extra kiss and hug for the metal goat!)
Love that you did that Ginette! Kindness and creativity abound! Yes, I’m being so patient with Jack. It’s just a waiting game, he’ll feel more and more comfortable as time goes on. Even right now, sometimes he doesn’t respond at all when he sees the other cats. Sometimes. And sometimes I see him laughing. So everything is going to be alright! xoxo
Always a comfort to read your Willard. Happy to hear about your gardening adventures. Also the tip about the heirloom roses. Sounds lovely. Looking forward to cooking from your Autumn Cookbook this year.
Always so exciting this time of year . . . love all the fall foods!!!
We were in Cayucos a few years ago and stopped in at one of those antique stores. I saw a large metal pelican and was tempted but did not buy it. Finally just before we left for home we went back to the store and arrived about 5 minutes before closing. The staff did not want to let us in but I told them they should not turn down a sale! That pelican is now on my deck and I see real pelicans flying overhead or cruising on the water almost daily as we live on the San Francisco bay shoreline. Such fun to have both a metal critter and to be able to see the real thing in the neighborhood, just like your goat.
It’s definitely a memory Jane! I’m so glad you went back!!!
Love the goat! So happy he waited for you. I think he will be happier off the roof. He looks more like a wandering kind of goat that will pop up anywhere he pleases. Nestled in a hedge, peeking round a corner, waiting near the door, nibbling in the gated garden. Let him roam, he has got a little gypsy in him, quite Bohemian. No “kidding”.
Love the goat! So happy he waited for you. I think he will be happier off the roof. He looks more like a wandering kind of goat that will pop up anywhere he pleases. Nestled in a hedge, peeking round a corner, waiting near the door, nibbling in the gated garden. Let him roam, he has got a little gypsy in him, quite Bohemian. No “kidding”.
I think you are 100% right. 👏
Love this Blog. So fun to hear how the place in California came about. It is looking a lot like a lovely english garden. You will make is cozy and cute! You can already see your wonderful touches everywhere. What a great piece of land. So lucky with the creek right there. Thank you for sharing your adventure on your home now. Looks like it will bring you great joy! The garden is my happy place too! 🌸🌺🌻🍂🍁
It will keep me outside and busy! Right now I get wanderlust, go outside in my jammie bottoms and just go from plant to plant, bending to pet following kitties . . . it’s the best!
THE GOAT!!! ❤️❤️❤️. It takes a strong person to walk away from that level of cuteness, but I guess it was meant to be since it was still there when you returned. It’s so stinkin’ adorable! Great find!
I just never thought I was the metal goat type, but I just found out I AM!!! Growth. Gotta love it!
Your love for home and the creative spirit of September truly shines through. It’s inspiring to see how you embrace change and find joy in setting up your new life in California. Your enthusiasm for gardening and the simple pleasures of life, like the sound of roller skates or the beauty of roses, brings such warmth to your story. I can almost taste that grapefruit wine! Thank you for sharing your journey and reminding us all of the magic in creating a home filled with love and creativity. Can’t wait to hear more about your garden adventures! 🌼💖
Re your odd photo: I think it is a matter of scale…possibly its a kite surfer 🙂
You and Shelley could be twins! Love this post. Welcome home, sister. You’re living the dream. Savor each moment. 😉
It looks like you’re settling in beautifully, starting over with a new garden must be fun. I imagine you’re able to have plants there that you wouldn’t have in Massachusetts. Enjoy your new home and gardens. Look forward to seeing your progress.
How wonderful to read of your beautiful new and mature garden with its so fertile soil and the forethought and people that brought it to reality! Am glad you’re not too far from the ocean, too, tho it’s distance may be a bit much for a morning walk.
Remember, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Hugs!
There is nothing like working in a garden to help clear the mind and create a connection to a place. Thank you for all the lovely garden inspiration.
Loved this! I love roses also! Are you familiar with David Austin English roses? My very favorite! They are old fashioned roses with many petals. Perfect for an English garden!
I love the gardens of Rosemary Verey. My side garden is inspired by one of her designs. I have taken a small, rectangle portion of one her very large designs, made a focal point, and I look at every day when I look out my french doors. It looks very dry today though!
I plant drought-tolerant plants and do not water very much. But there are roses and they are getting ready to show off their fall blooms! I order from the Antique Rose Emporium here in Texas and other rose places too. Heirloom Roses are selling rambler roses now! That’s exciting. They were all the rage in the 20s and 30s and many were hybridized by American growers but went out of fashion. I think they are beautiful. And you’re in such a wonderful climate for roses. How wonderful! I look forward to seeing more of your gardening adventures.
So glad I stopped by (even if it was the last day of September) to read your wonderful blog post!
Thank you for the great stories and garden pics!
Never written before but have followed you for years. I’m one of those that believe in fairies in the garden. Where I live in Pa. They live under the Mayapples. I just love the way you express beauty and joy and the wonderful things of the heart. Also, so glad you got the goat. Say hi Ti Joe and Jack. I have a darling 4paw Jake at my cottage.
You made in long to live in California a gardening dreamland! My husband is from California but we’ve spent our whole married lives in Oregon. You’re as always an inspiration 😍
Love this blog! It’s really giving me the itch to get outside and explore. We’ve just been so busy lately with home renovations! We had our garage repaired , which was a big thing on our to-do list, so I already feel some stress taken off. Beautiful blog post!! Thank you!