Rabbit Rabbit!!! Happy First day of October! Can it really be? What a year so far. And we’re still a work in progress! In January we took the train to California to get our house on the Central 
Coast ready to sell . . . but the day before we were supposed to put it on the market, we had second thoughts… wanted to wait until we got back to Martha’s Vineyard, where we’d lived for the last 35 years, to decide what to do. When we got back, we realized, doing the pros and cons, a very difficult decision to make, it would be better for us if we sold our Island house and moved to our house in California (no ice and snow, no steep stairs, no ferry boats, plus the gift of year-round gardening). A complete 180º. Four months 
later, we were packed, Jack was packed, the Martha’s Vineyard house was on the market, and we were on the road. Ten days later, August 1st, just two months ago, we arrived and began UNPACKING. Yes, as lots of you know, very stressful. I had us taking so many deep breaths I wondered why we didn’t float away. Always questioning, was this the right thing, but forging on as that is what you do.💖
IT’S
We turn the page, and the season changes! Fall! Everyone’s favorite.
So we’re settling in more and more . . . and now that I’m paying attention, I remembered that morning light changes in California too!
On my way out to feed the barn kitties, I noticed I wasn’t alone, my shadow was there!
Long shadows were coming from new goat (Girlfriend Carrie says we should call him “Kevin Bacon”😂)… and my new birdhouse that will take the place of the old one that was on that pole in the picket fence garden!
And look! It’s the Fall Corner of my garden! Pretty soon all the leaves will fall off that tree, they’re starting to go now, wind blows them across the garden . . . Most people think there is NO Autumn in California, but it’s here, you just have to look closer! There are still falling leaves to be caught and wishes to be made . . . 
. . . but I’m reminded what the wise butterfly flitting around the garden would say . . . .
Feeling the freedom every time I pull a weed or plant a flower. No one is putting on storm windows. I’m spreading compost on the garden. Joe’s riding his tractor … Loving the sunshine, cool and crisp . . . so why not have a picnic!
XXXX
Doing the same thing I was doing in California all those years ago!
And with the same people . . . old friends, Diane, Terrie, and Tom. Terrie made the Margaritas this time! Delicious! But I don’t have her recipe! I DO have Diana’s recipe . . . which is also amazing!
A little dangerous . . . You see what I’m saying . . .
Late September, soft afternoon sun, which we ended up following across the garden . . . dragging the table and chairs once when we found ourselves in the shade . . .
Worth every moment . . . grabbing all the sunshine we could . . .
Joe opened icy cold oysters . . .
Terrie is showing what I was feeling!!! The day was heaven. Outside with the birds, the breeze in the trees, and look at that sun!
The same sun Van Gogh was painting right here . . .
Finally, as the fog ate the sun, one bite at a time, when we’d squeezed out every ounce of enjoyment from it, we gathered everything up and went inside for dinner. 
Being of a certain age I think I’ve found the secret of having your party-cake and eating it too: Invite your friends to come at 3, hang out, rock and roll all you want, include music requests to inspire dancing, clean up, and still get to bed by 9! Which is exactly what we did! It was perfect!
Yes, it’s the same Touchdown Chili recipe that’s on the October page of your calendar right NOW (if you got it from me!).
But if you don’t have the calendar (we sold out last year so it’s possible you don’t) both the Chili and the Corn Pudding recipes are from my Autumn Book! I served the Corn Pudding for dessert! Warm from the oven pudding sitting in a puddle of hot maple syrup. Interesting! Delicious! Compelling! Must eat a lot of it!
It’s also in my Autumn book along with lots of other recipes and ideas for the season!
I’ve been having cups of our Cinnamon Apple Crisp Tea . . . with half and half . . .💖
My afternoon tea is now officially taking place in the garden, out with the trees and the hummingbirds!
Still reorganizing Studio, putting things away, and discovering treasures I haven’t seen in years! Lots of them were tucked into old diaries.
Look at this story about my dad I found and kept . . . I was writing my friend Elizabeth (she bought Holly Oak from me way back when, but of course she doesn’t have it anymore either!) telling her about a call I had with my dad . . . That’s says so much about what kind of guy he was. So supportive, always positive!
So many tiny bits I’ve saved over the years . . . cards that came with flowers, postcards, newspaper clippings, postage stamps, art inspiration, fortunes and astrology, special things from my family, Joe’s tooth!!!… I’m using the little sketch book a lot of you have too ~ with such nice paper, so I can write captions … and maybe watercolor a heart or two! Easy creativity!
My stickers are perfect for it! I’ll show it to you when it’s done! I love little scrapbooks, no question that they’re ART! How could something so personal NOT be!
Joe’s feeding his creative heart too! Last night, I had to go out and get him to put his toy away and come in for dinner! It was 7:30 and the sun was going down! He loves it so much!👏
He’s getting the soil ready for us to plant an orchard next year . . .
An orchard with fruits and nuts and grapes . . . we’ll plant next spring, but soon we’ll seed the whole thing with wild flowers, and next year we’ll make paths🌺🌺 🌺🌺 by mowing through the flowers!
We want Monet’s Orchard in Bloom . . . someday . . .
Inspired as always by England . . . this one is William Morris’s garden. Sissinghurst has a wonderful orchard full of wildflowers and mowed paths too!
Okay Girls, I have to go! Going to the dentist! I’ll have to finish this tomorrow morning, but I’m sending it today because it’s ALMOST done! I started it yesterday, but then somehow, lost a lot of it, several times . . . in celebration of getting this far, I’m sending it now, so I can’t lose it again! Wish me dental success, and have a WONDERFUL DAY. Come back later for the rest of the story! We’re a work in progress in more ways than one! Love you! xoxoxo
Hi!!! I’m Baaaaack!
I just wanted to show you our barn kitties . . . the big one on the left is Simon, and the little one on the right is Sammy. Adorable, wonderful, sweetest kitties. I want them to come live with us inside, but so far, King Jack is not having it, hence, the “barn kitties.” It’s only been 2 months. It takes a while for cats to adapt to a move. Remember how much Jack loved Girl Kitty when we first adopted him, and how she would have nothing to do with him? I’m hoping soon he will remember the love!
We give them old cozy sweatshirts and big old chairs to sleep on, and this is their view from the barn. They join me when I’m working in the garden ~ they roll over, rub against my legs, I pet them, and then rub Jack with the same hand, slowly but surely, bringing them together. I hope. 💞
Jack is getting so much better. He’s mostly slept for two months. Self-care for the stress of moving. But lately he’s doing more, racing around a bit, waiting at the screen door for one of the other cats to dare to show his face, climbing his cat-scratch pole, chasing a bunch of feathers on a string, and following me everywhere. Not as interested, yet, in chasing rubber bands.🤷♀️ I can see his ears over the top of the computer right now! He’s being so good, I decided to immortalize him on the cover of my 2026 mini calendar!
Kellee sent the perfect card for us the other day!💞
It’s all about Gratitude these days! Because it’s true, so lucky, we really do have “sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”☀️😎🌺
I am excited to see where your ghost will end up this year.
The only thing is, unlike our New England House where we had an upstairs window facing the street, and oncoming cars ~ the perfect spot for our ghost, this house is in a little valley, and is surrounded by trees. It can’t be seen by anyone outside the house!🤣 So he is decorating a shelf where I get to see him every day!! And when someone buys our house on the island, I hope I like them, because I would like to send the ghost back to them as a housewarming gift so he could go right back upstairs where he belongs!!!👻
Too much about fall seems to be about eating.
Too much about everything seems to be about eating!! But what would the days be without it! I had taco bell today and loved every second of it. Artichokes are boiling for tonight’s dinner right now! YUM!
Autumn is a different kind of food. Food for comfort in cooler weather.
I 😍your Autumnal cookbook. 🍎🌻🍂🍁
Margot
It is! It’s one of the things that distinctly marks the change of seasons!🍂
Jim and I just enjoyed a trip to the central coast. We drove past your home three times ( truly I am NOT a stalker 😳😬😭). I told Jim if I bumped into you in an antique shop I would be sure to give you a hug….one from me and one from dear Oma!!!! so glad you are settling in and creating joy. Then again, I didn’t expect anything less. ❤️
Thank you Annelies! Give our love to Oma! Is she better?
Yes….but sadly now in a wheelchair. So many adjustments. We moved mom into the most wonderful assisted living. Her apt looks like a Dutch cottage. Of course she misses home, but her personality and sweet smile are in tact. I will share that you asked about her ❤️
Please do. I would like a Dutch Cottage!! xoxo
I miss MV updates so much. I know you love where you are, but I miss that old house and changes of seasons and holidays.
Wendy
Hope to go there for Christmas! We will get bites of New England magic instead of the whole enchilada …. or should I say “lobster roll?”😘
My good friend is on vacation all around the New England area to see wonderful places, maybe some leaves, and she was in Martha’s Vineyard yesterday ~ and rode the ferry of course. Her story made me think of you, and also made me so jealous!
It was the right move. Sunshine and happiness. Those new england winters are too brutal. No more power outages and relying on fireplace for heat. It may seem romantic, but the reality is that it isn’t. You freeze, and then wake up miserable stiff from sleeping on the floor next morning. Frankly, I was wondering when you’d finally head back to Cali.
It did occur to me over the years when I was trying to figure out what we should do. Joe has no concept of time. He has all the time in the world. I run out of time the minute my feet hit the floor in the morning!😂 I need to see visible progress every day, he can read a newspaper, do the crossword, he leaves the crossword around, I sneak in a word or two, but that’s IT! Gotta GO! (He’s perfect for me!) Figuring out what to do about those steep narrow stairs and slippery porches got put on the back burner and neither of us could fathom trying to clean out that big house and barn so we just sat there, until, what felt like “suddenly,” it seemed to boil over and a decision needed to be made! Buying something new on MV was out of the question as prices are just not what they were back in the 80s. Staying there wasn’t going to work, so by process of elimination, we have this happy, unexpected surprise that makes so much sense! There are things we miss, but I don’t think, in a situation like this, that there is a PERFECT answer. But there are good ones, and we are blessed to have this.💖 And the fun feeling of freedom, not trapped indoors, the feeling of “anything goes.”
Seems pretty perfect from here. (I’m charmed and smitten!)
It’s pretty perfect … just a boat load of people I would love to move out here too!
Your corn pudding sounds scrumptious! Rushing to my bookshelf to retrieve your Autum book!
Wait till you see how easy it is!!! xoxo
Hello Susan and Joe!
A lot sure has happened!!! But it’s all good things. I have posted before on here but somehow it never seems to reach you. I am trying again!! Congrats on your new/old digs. Sounds like you’re loving it. Big change but really… home is where the heart is….
I know what you mean about partying at a “ certain age”. We live in Florida in The Villages, a 55+ retirement (?) golf/pickleball community. It’s the only place I know of that you can go out for cocktails, have dinner, do a little dancing at one of four live music venues, have a nightcap or a bite of ice cream and be home in time for Monday Night Football and BED!! LOL!!! Happy Hour starts around 11:00 AM here… fits our schedule just fine!!
All the best to you both… hope this reaches you❤️
Reaching me now Cindy!!! Sorry, been a very busy year . . . but things are finally settling down a bit! Thank you! LOL, I love that! I’ve heard of The Villages! It’s famous! Now I know why! Livin’ the life! xoxo Have fun!
We finally made it! We are in California now. Hiked through a redwood forest today. I have been waiting for 60+ years to do it. Very tired 😴. Cousin Lisa is next, then the Central Coast.
I am so glad October is here! 🌻🍂🍁🍂🎃 My birthday is in 5 days…🍎🍁🥞
Love the orchard idea. In Door County one farmer lets the dandelions and wildflowers grow until the blossoms are done on the trees, then he mows paths. That way the bees come around to pollinate the 🍎&🍒trees.
OXOX ox
Margot B
Ooooo, redwood forests are amazing, aren’t they? so dark and quiet, covered in pine needles.
I hope your dental appointment went well! I love Terrie’s shirt commemorating her mother. Today is the third anniversary of my mother’s passing. I have a beautiful picture of her posted near my reading corner.
We loved it too … only she and her sister’s have them. Now I want one with MY mom!!! 👏 Our moms. Words can’t even say. ❌⭕️❌
Wow! You’re doing so well with the move, settling in and dreams of an orchard! The only thing I missed hearing about was Jack; drinking tea from his Life is Good mug right now! I hope he is settling as well as you and Joe! Cheers to October, Fall and living the good life!
I just updated that post with kitty news!💖
What a ray of Sunshine you are, just when most needed. How on Earth did you Know?
Ahem!! Here comes my Public Service Announcement… Or a Girlfriends Announcement!
I have recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. But…”Don’t cry for me Argentina”. We have fabulous insurance and will be getting the best and newest treatment. As of now, it’s “mild dementia”. I have known something was very wrong for several years, but the screening test didn’t agree. I’d had a base line, several hour test done by a neuropsychologist in 2019. Some things were obvious to me, but it did not trigger more testing. We got busy living our wonderful life, and set it aside…”I’ll think about that tomorrow!”, she said.
Then tomorrow arrived.
I had the neuropsychological test, even more extensive. Yep. Big drop in the acuity of the Parietal part of my brain. That totally explained the specific areas that were giving me the most trouble.
My wonderful psychiatrist of many years, is head of the Mood and Memory Clinic and administered a DNA test to learn if I had any of the 3 protein markers that cause AD. I have the 2 most serious E3 and E4.
Debbie’s Advice:::: If you have any Alzheimer’s in your family, or you are a “Woman of a certain age”, and feel you are losing some of the faculties you depend upon. GET TESTED. Do Not wait, because folks try to gloss it over, saying, “Oh, I do the same thing, it’s just Old Age.” The sooner you can begin treatment the longer and fuller your life will be.
Ladies and Miss Susan!! There are absolutely Marvelous new, and I mean Brand New! meds available through a physician. I’m on one now. It’s a neurotransmitter. On the smallest dose, and will slowly go up.
Whoa!! While I’ve never been good with math, Now I’m doing Advanced Differential Equations, and Theoretical Physics!! 🙂
Seriously, though, my memory is much, much better, my focus has returned, and my ability to retain and process info is better now. And this is just the first few weeks.
In addition, I’ve become quite the comedian! Going to do a utube of funny things about having AD. On the drive home from Bangor and getting the news, I came up with This!!….
Remember in Star Wars when Luke had just had his hand light sabered off by Darth Vader? Luke is hanging on by his remaining arm over an abyss. Darth leans in and says in that Deep James Earl Jones voice…”Luke, I am your father.”
When my sweet doctor who has a very kind voice sat and looked at me, he said,
“Debbie, you Do have Alzheimer’s Disease”. I think my brain heard Jame Earl Jones’s Vader! Ok, I have at least a dozen of these, but I’ll spare you having to groan to yourselves. 😉
The Lovely Tom is almost 85 and is having many of the same symptoms. His father died of AD, so he is getting tested.
We have the tremendous advantage of having as a close friend a woman who retired early from Tufts teaching hospital in Boston. She was a Neurologist and retired to move here with her lovely husband. She opened a lab and was doing research. She and hubby rented our Maine place for 18 months while they were building their home. We were out on the last of our 3 very long trips camping all over N. America for part of that time. We remained friends.
Her husband died 2 years ago from Alzheimer’s with cancer complications. He was diagnosed 6 years ago, and she has gifted us with masses of new data. Being a doctor/scientist, she says you can mitigate the damage by What You Eat, and by doing exercise every day. Hey! It’s not too late. Some of the plaque can be eliminated. There is infusion therapy that can flush all or most of the plaque out, but that could have serious side effects. I’ll save that for later!! There is a new oral med that is right now finishing Phase 3 extensive study and trials and shows positive results. I’m told that a doctor who specializes in AD can request a patient be started on it before it hits the market.
Our friend has sent us masses of info, and with her help, we’re slowly working our way through it. We trust her completely, plus she’s another Southern girl, from Texas. And she loves eating and have a good cocktail as we mull the info. We are going to meet her at a new place tonight and do some Laugh Therapy.
I pray all of you that have been hurt by Hurricane Helene can recover. I actually felt as though I was watching some disaster in a 3rd World country.
All those dear places in the Appalachians that I’ve loved all my life, just gone.
Our place in Tampa very narrowly escaped having water in it. It was the worst flooding in over 100 years, and we have friends who have lost everything.
As one lady in N. Carolina said in TV, “We have got to deal with this Climate Change now!!”
So, The Lovely and I will be finding a new place to live in the Tampa area, hopefully an assisted living place in a high rise. We both need to have access to advanced medical care that isn’t available here in Maine. Tom with prostate cancer and my AD. Will be a Busy Winter. I’ll be doing what you and Joe did, divesting. Not nearly as much, as our place is very small. Hope we’ll find a place we can keep our favorite things. For now, we’ll keep this wonderful Maine property. Also, The Lovely will be getting treatment at the Cancer center.
Aren’t we the most Fortunate Folks??
Love, love, love you, Dear Sue. Can’t wait to watch your Garden Grow!!
Debbie in Maine for 9 more days.
You ARE the most fortunate folks, because you were BORN THIS WAY.👏👏👏 You amaze me Debbie! You’re just a few years ahead of me, but that information could be needed for any of us . . . it’s so detailed, so helpful, told in the MOST uplifting way! Because as you know and show all the time, life is what it is, we are so LUCKY to be able to make the very best of it for as long as we possibly can!🌺🌺🌺 The beauty is always there if you can see it! And no one sees it better than YOU!!! ❌⭕️ Choices these days are amazing. I love you dearly for telling us this, LOVE LOVE LOVE! I bless the day you started writing on my blog. I copied and pasted this so I can show it to Joe later and I encourage everyone to read it. Now I will go exercise!!! No more procrastination! 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘 Show us how it’s done darling Debbie and send my love to The Lovely One.💖
Hello Susan! Thank you for writing. So happy for you and Joe that you are settling in and that all is well! I am on the West Coast, just south of Seattle WA, so we are finally in the same time zone. LOL And, I am optimistic that I will finally be able to meet you in person all these years. Please say you will be hosting book signing parties up and down the West Coast?! Lots of love, Karen
I hope to do that very thing!❌⭕️
So fun to watch everything happening with your move back to California. That Daou rose’ is so good – they owe you for the pic…LOL! Love the candles in old pressed glass. I have so many of those same little sugar bowls – totally stealing that from you.
Would be so fun if we run into each other some time in December. My Christmas Carolers (The Jingle Belles and The Uncommonne Carolers) are booked all over the place, with several nights at the SLO Botanical Gardens in late December. Another great location is the Santa Ynez Botanic Garden – both places are lovely and fun in December.
Enjoy a beautiful fall season in AG – can’t wait for it to cool down in Paso for good – so ready for that!
Daou can pay me in wine!🤣 Here’s another thing you can steal 🤣 ~ I have an old pressed glass one-cup measuring cup… the perfect kitchen votive holder! So fun to find things to repurpose and not the same old same old! Another thing about this neck of the world, antique stores everywhere. We only had a couple on the island. I learn so much about what goes on around here from you guys! Thank you, I hope I’ll see you there, Christmas carols in a garden sounds perfect!
Hi Susan and Joe,
It sounds like you are settling into life at your new home! I have my Autumn book out on my cook-book stand and love reading it and making different recipes every year. My twin sister pasted photos (from our Autumns) into some of the pages, and that makes it even more special. I cannot wait to try the corn pudding! YAY! Sending love to you both from Pennsylvania! ❤️Sharon
Love the idea of having wild flowers in amongest the orchard with mowed down paths! Loving the looks of your California home and all the acreage that you have! Cleaning house so that I can decorate for Autumn and Halloween.
Dear Susan & Joe. Georgia here formally from The Valley, then Hawaii (yes I was one who gave you a lei way back in Pasadena ) and now Texas.
I’m so happy you got to move back to California. Yes I’d miss island life, which I sometimes do, but you’re closer to family. The best.
And The Central Coast. Soooo nice there. Downsizing is so hard & I seem to still be doing it. I so look forward to your gardens & such as you plant & watch grow.
Blessings dear friends
G
Dear Sue
You and Joe truly are the embodiment of “Bloom where you are planted” an inspiration to all of us.
Happy October,
Lillian O.
🌺🌺🌺🌺🍂
I have enjoyed your artwork in calendars and books ever since I can remember, but when I read “The Fairy Tale Girl” you became a kindred spirit to me. So much of your early days are mirrored in my own. I have lived in the Bay Area and San Diego my whole life and have traveled everywhere in between. I am happy for you to have come full circle, back to this beautiful place. Enjoy!
I’ve been homesick for it for years, and when I’m here, I’m homesick for New England . . . and not to forget England. I’m used to it! So many wonderfulnesses in this lifetime and only the one minute in time. xoxoxo
It’s so fun to follow along on your new journey. And I’m so jealous…how glorious it would be to have your own little orchard! So I’ll just enjoy yours and your cozy little casa. What a lovely way to “break it in” with your sweet dinner party of old friends. You are home sweet home.
Blessings to you both! 💗
😘😘😘
I think you will be so happy to be in California as it is Autumn 🍂 and you are getting settled in and no ice and snow! You are home again!🏖️🍁🌻 🍎
It feels lovely. I need a book club!!!
Lovely post as always! You are making the most of your beautiful home just as you have done with the others.
I was hoping maybe your month stickers would come back. Each month had a sheet of such beautiful stickers! I used to use them for the calendars I sent home as a teacher.
We’re trying!!!
I am beyond excited to see your orchard next year! So glad you are enjoying being back in California!
Well it will be little stick trees for a long time, but the wildflowers should be wonderful!
Dear Susan,
I never am of the first to write, but I was taking this lovely Autumn California day in the 90s to write a bit and read your blog. It’s a guilty pleasure. No regular tea today, but I brewed some Butterfly Pea Tea. It’s blue, then you put some lemon in it and it turns purple. It has many benefits to drinking it, I have read. I am giving it a try. What’s good for Susan, is good for me. I am also in California, northern Cali. Always feels so good to sit down with you. Love, Sheryl from Magalia
Mmmmm, I love the name of that tea!!!
Hi there fellow California girlfriend 😎 I must admit that I, too, wondered if I would miss your House of Creativity-based blog vibes. Your wonderful, really truly wonderful, MV home provided so many lovely views/feelings and indescribable magic 💞 to your blog posts….but, guess what I just realized today? Blogs written from your California home have those exact same magical vibes!✨ I should have known cause it’s the same with your blogs from the train, from QM2, from England, from holiday trips up and down the East Coast – I know that those hearts that were always floating up from your Spring Street chimney, or following along behind you and Joe in the AFR van driving cross-country and popping out the windows of your Amtrak cocoon are now pouring out the open doors and windows of your California home, flocking around Joe and his tractor and spreading over your garden, fields and soon-to-be orchard. Speaking of orchards, did you ever read “The Story Girl” by LM Montgomery? The family farm’s orchard is the settings for many scenes in this book (and also in the sequel, “The Golden Road”). The King family emigrated from Scotland and settled on this farm a few generations before the start of the story, and one tradition they maintained was to plant a tree for every new member of the family (new babies, new spouses, even specially dear friends). The children would often gather in the orchard to feast on “Uncle Alec’s apples”, Aunt Julia’s cherries”, “Aunt Felicity’s pears”. I love one particular passage about the orchard and Grandfather King who started it. “He was in no hurry. He did not set his whole orchard out at once, for he wished it to grow with his life and history, and be bound up with all of good and joy that should come to his household.” You and Joe did that, too, when you planted your California English garden with flowers and hedges and trees way back in the early 2000s. And here you are, still planting and harvesting and sharing the journey with us. Thank you very much💖💚💙
Ohhh Christie, thank you so much. I still believe that there is something very special about New England . . . all the history, the four distinct seasons. It was SUCH a dream for me, I can’t believe I got to live it for so many years. But I’ve always said the magic is in you, in us . . . and the hope is that we can all have something like that right where we are, no matter where, since we are the ones that make it. What a wonderful quote. I felt your words “Aunt Felicity’s pears” wash over me with contentment! I think we all dream of making a world better than we found it. In the only ways we know how. I’m so glad to hear from you! xoxo
October = Joe’s vote pumpkin?
We live in the country, in a tiny valley surrounded with trees and hedges ~ no more 2nd floor at the end of a main street …. can’t even see the road, no one would see it but us!!! But I AM taking a non-voter friend (she doesn’t feel like it matters!) to vote!
Well. I didnt realize Autumn in Calif. I have friends in Carmel Highlands, in Big Sure and I know certain times of year they can actually run their fireplace. They collect fallen branches and such to burn. I am very happy you two moved to California. Plus .yes no stairs as yes constant stairs is brutal on knees.
Now will you plant an apple orchard or cherries or something that grows mostly in Calif? This is exciting.. Yes no more shoveling mountains of snow. for months . have fun with friends .THEY WAITED A LONG TIME WITH LOVE FOR YOU TO COME BACK. Enjoy every minute and sunset. Bless you for taking care of your beautiful barn kitties 😻
Oh it’s easy taking care of those kitties, they are precious. I promised them they’ll be in the house by Christmas. I hope it’s a promise I can keep. Depends on Jack. He’s getting better about accepting them in the garden!!! One step at a time!
Thank you so much for sharing your stories. I am especially excited about your wildflowers and orchard.
Me too, and as usual, Joe would like to prepare carefully for the next two or three years, and I want it tomorrow!!!🌺🌺🌺
Thank you for sharing your California dreamin’ home sweet home. Joe looks so happy astride his tractor moving the soil and mentally planning the spring plantings. In another era he’d be riding a horse?! (In another era I’d be riding a horse!)
Your outdoor parties can continue through the “winter”? Guess we all will find out what the climate is in your area. Will you “unpack” boxes as you go through the calendar of seasons and holidays? That may make the process easier – rewarding yourself by finding forgotten treasures. I liked the idea of using a pumpkin as an ice bucket. I am enamored of orange pumpkins as they seem so happy and use them for decorating wherever I can do so.
The anecdote of your phone call with your Dad was so very touching. He seems like a dear man.
Stay well and give Jack a cuddle!
Ha ha, in another era we’d ALL be riding a horse! xoxo
Susan, Thanks for the barn kitties photo! Love your mini calendar 2026 cover too.
WoW! Deb Boerger’s comment really struck home. I was the caregiver for my mom who had dementia in her later years and it’s scarey just thinking how the ending was. So grateful to Debbie for being so open and informative.
I couldn’t agree more, Carol! xoxo
All things in good time–looks like you all are settling in quite well!!
And thanks, Debbie, for the information!!
Hugs and Kisses!!!!!