I have a good little, very short, Christmas Story for you! (In a minute!) But first, sweet old MUSICA! I’m looking around and it seems like these days, finding and living a fairy tale of your own making gets put on the back-burner way too much. It’s hard! We hurt for the discombooberation of the world. But it’s Christmas time. Magic time, when we remember ANYTHING is possible. The perfect time of year to renew our vows! 
💝 Giving ourselves and our beloveds that happiness at home, reminding ourselves of the faith and beauty that lives in us all, and doing all we can to lift the spirts of those around us. Reminding myself how that is done . . . all the little things, delicious food and kitchen smells from childhood, anything that sparkles, cozy blankies, socks, old movies, flannel jammies toasty-warm from the dryer, singing, extra hugs, walks in nature, quiet mornings and cups of tea. Long night’s rest . . . under the Long Night’s Moon . . .
But first, speaking of Long Night’s Moon, which we 
JUST had, and signifies, yes, the end of these short dark days!👏👏👏 On the Solstice, coming SOON, December 21st, we’re having a dinner party to celebrate the sun setting on the shortest day of the year! GOODBYE! Every day after that will get a little LONGER!! More light! What a wonderful Christmas gift!💝 And so, we segue to my traditional stocking-stuffer to help you remember to dance to the light of the moon in 2026!🎶🎵🎶
It’s 
my full-moon Bookmark, Bellisma Lunisima 💞 (“a hole in the sky, a supernatural nightlight” … 🎵 Jason Mraz), with the dates and the great Native American names for each of the full moons next year. Just click on the link, print it out, have it laminated at a UPS Store (or not), and voila!
I also have a special personal gift for one lucky person🎁 . . . we’re having a drawing! Just leave a comment at the bottom and you’ll automatically be entered into a giveaway that includes all the goodies you see below: There’s a set of two holiday notepads, a box of brass-plated Angel Chimes with candles, a signed copy of my little Home For Christmas book, two designs of my Christmas Cards, and two sets of the cards I love to use for thank you cards… because they have recipes on them!♥️ There’s a Santa dishtowel, a “Home Cooking” tea-pot plate for cookies (or to hang on your wall), and some darling Santa stickers for your cards and gifts! From me to you with LOVE!💝
I’m going to announce the winning name next week! So you get this before Christmas! It’s a lot, but we have so many good things in stock right now, I couldn’t just choose one!! In ADDITION, four more of you, my girlfriends, will receive a copy of my Home For Christmas read-aloud book, and of course, I will sign it however you like! So you can keep it, OR you can give it to a friend! 💝
And one more surprise, just ONE lucky person . . .
will receive one of the very last of our wonderful SANTA CUPS!!! For a merry merry Christmas with love from me to you!♥️
Don’t forget to leave a comment! (At the bottom of this post, you’ll see a line of tiny words and right toward the end you’ll see “Comments” … they hide it for some reason!❌⭕️)
Also, another wonderful thing . . . I am SO honored to have been recently interviewed for the new Beatrix Potter Society Blog . . . where they ask artists how they 
were inspired by the art and life of Beatrix Potter … such a good question for me.💞 I loved answering it. Hope you enjoy it too, just click the link above . . . I’m always especially happy bringing people together, to perhaps help new people to get to know Beatrix better! If you haven’t joined the Society yet, you would love it. I follow them on Instagram too. Good influences, people who have done wonderful things in their lifetimes, need to be kept alive ~ and there are a LOT of good people giving their time to keep that happening ~ the legacy of Beatrix Potter is one of them!!♥️ There is so much more to learn about Beatrix, and everything is so much more accessible these days!💝
As you know, I’ve collected lots of books about Beatrix, and read them all, and am always looking, when out and about, in used bookstores or flea markets to find my out-of-print or hard-to-find favorites to share with you in my web store!
This year’s crop includes the charming Peter Rabbit Natural Foods Cookbook Illustrated by Beatrix Potter!
I have to show you my copy, a gift, inscribed to me by a very young Girlfriend, Anna Baker.
Adorable, and a pure keeper! And the perfect example of young magic-making in a new generation ~ and I have to say, Good job MOM!💝 Beatrix AND cooking.💞 A win-win for a lifetime of giving, and receiving.
Here’s the cover . . . we have just a few of these in our web store, including the one that this one replaced! Another sweet Christmas gift.♥️
And this! Have you seen this?
It was a complete surprise when I found this large scrapbook filled with copies of Beatrix Potter’s original letters, photos, and journal entries;
showing her watercolors, her family, her books, her story, her paint box, written in her handwriting, if she had made a scrapbook, this is exactly what it would have, should have, looked like!💗 Someone did a WONDERFUL job with this.
I particularly loved how real it felt with all the three-dimensional items, her first Christmas card designs that open, a basket that you can lift the lid, an envelope containing that famous illustrated letter, for you to open, touch, unfold, and read, even a small photo book with pages to turn ~ all set in the English Countryside. It must have cost a fortune to publish this book. I would LOVE to know who DOES things like this these days!!! It’s really so beautiful.
And the secret part, the coup de grace . . . the most amazing thing, on the inside back of the cover is a hidden door that opens, easy to miss and a complete surprise. Waiting inside is a copy of her first book! So in case you find this book in a store, look closely, before you buy it, be sure to see if the little book is still there. (All my copies in our web store DO have the little books, just in cases!) It is HERE!
We also have a few copies of this totally charming old book . . .
. . . the first, most wonderful biography I read about Beatrix, that led me to so much more, when I discovered she was truly
I’ve shown you this book before ~ it has several of Beatrix’s line drawings in it, printed from the illustrated letter she wrote for the child of a friend . . .
I turned the page to this and I heard my book say, “It’s okay, you can paint in me” . . . which of course I did . . . Like a little coloring book! How fun to paint that little blue jacket!!!
All three of these books are in our web store!💝 If you love them, be your own Santa, and put one under the tree for YOU. We also have some of her wonderful figurines . . . AND our jigsaw puzzle! Back in stock just for this Christmas!
This is my stack of her little bunny books, waiting to be packed up to be brought to their new home in California, where they have been very happy on my “Heroes” shelf, where they sit imparting inspirational DNA while I do my 2027 calendars and update my Christmas Book with new art and recipes!♥️
So here is my little Christmas Fairy Tale . . .
As you know last year we moved across the country into a very old 1970s double-wide. It isn’t nearly as large as our old house, but we’d been wanting to downsize, and it was perfect for that! It had an open plan with lots of windows, and oddly, one entire WALL of mirrors, which 
normally I might not have liked, but it brought in a TON of light from the wall of windows on the other side of the room, which in turn brought in the garden, so it didn’t take long before I learned to love it a lot. Below, you can see the mirrored wall, it’s in the dining room part of the open room . . . you can see me there, reflected, and across the room behind me, you can see two lamps and tall windows in the living area, but it’s dark outside, so they are black. Sort of get it? Part of the kitchen is also reflected in the mirror. There’s a doorway to the hall on the right.↘️
I have to admit, making magic in a very old, untouched and un-updated double-wide is more of a challenge than making magic in a 150-year-old Captain’s House (on Martha’s Vineyard, which put us way ahead on the scale of magic from the get-go). Things like plaster walls, thick decorative trim around heavy wooden doors with antique brass knobs and fittings, with a shelf over the front door for pumpkins in the fall. . . these things do 
not exist in a double-wide. If you want them, you have to figure out how to get them! But if ever a challenge is worth it, this is the one. Being that this double-wide lives in the middle of an English garden that we accidentally planted here in 2004 with no expectation of ever living here ourselves! So it’s a double-wide in tree, hedge, bird-bath, hummingbird, and blue-sky heaven. So on we go, building our world, just like we did the first time. But isn’t making a home just the most wonderful thing? Most creative job in the world!👏👏💗 Never forget:
After a lifetime of dreaming, I know this to be true.♥️
So here is another shot of that mirrored wall … because really, if you don’t know it’s there, it can get a little invisible, and what I’m about to show you can be confusing! Call this the “Before” shot.
Of course we were spoiled, our old house came with an old fireplace, all full of ancient whispers, which we loved to decorate at Christmas . . .
. . . we NEEDED a fireplace back there, for our cold and snowy New England winters. But we realized, that due to the mild weather in California, 
we didn’t need or even want a fireplace ~ it would require space! What I actually REALLY wanted, was a mantle! This came to light last Christmas, when I looked around and said, “I have no mantle to decorate! What we need is a FAKE fireplace ~ and we could put it on that mirrored wall in our “dining room! It would reflect candlelight!🕯️ It would be so cozy!” And I gently mentioned it to my darling husband, saying simply, I need a fake fireplace on yonder mirrored wall kind sir, and him replying, something to the effect of, “your wish is my command.” Anyway that’s how I remember it.💞
And so it was. He found a mantle, he found some appropriate pieces to go with it, he made other appropriate pieces, we looked at pictures of other mantles and surrounds, we looked at our old one…
Joe began cutting, glueing, and drilling . . . I never knew his drill has a flashlight in it! How handy! And just like Michelangelo cutting his masterpieces from the marble, just like THAT, our mantle started taking shape.♥️
We just guessed what height to make it ~ the side boards for the surround, are leaning against the mirror to give us some idea of what it would be like… I really loved the fireplace I saw in one of the rooms of Jane Austen’s house in Chawton in the UK . . . narrow, tallish, simple, plain. All it needs is boughs of holly!
This is it, it’s in a tiny room.
But maybe ours would have more substantial mantle, with a sort of back splash like the one on the Vineyard. But tall and narrow… Joe put it on the floor so we could see what it looked like. I laid the sides a wee bit crooked, he straightened them and started putting it together. Pretty soon he leaned the sides against the mirror and balanced the mantle on top. I decorated it, lit the candles, went mad with delight, then undecorated it so he could he take it down. He added an apron, put it back up, balanced it again, I decorated it again, went mad, he took it down, added a tiny shelf at bottom of the apron … etc, three times . . . until we had it all! He glued and screwed it together, and stapled a piece of black velvet on the back. And once again, I decorated it!
And voila! here it is! It’s screwed to the wall ~ now permanent, staying forever ~ here Joe is doing the 
last bits, adding a hook for the other stocking, wearing appropriate head gear. “This is ridiculous,” I exclaimed, laughing out loud every time I looked at it.
I continued laughing while taking a thousand photos, so adorable. I could barely believe the transformation!
I had a mantle! I couldn’t wait to show it to you!!
It takes up no space, is 56″ tall to the top of the back splash; the mantle is 48″ wide and 9″ deep ~ and it changed everything. It even created a sort of natural space on the left where we could tuck in a tree. I’d already purchased a small one because I thought it might have to go on the table (it’s up on a plant stand now), but next year, it’s clear there’s space to have a full-height (but skinny) Christmas tree in the corner!! This fireplace is rocking my world! I love it so much.💫💫💫
Voila, the “after” picture! And now I have this little corner I can decorate for the seasons ~ there’s a place for pumpkins, candles, bunnies and chicks for Easter, for photos, flowers, books, banners, a lamp, or even a birthday cake! We get to have dinner parties in front of the fireplace!♥️ See that little card on the apron of the fireplace? Joe added a tiny narrow shelf (like we had on Martha’s Vineyard). I can PUT things there! And I now have a place where, if I want, I could have fireside chats on Instagram! Or read a story! That is why I would have to call this a Fairy Tale. Because like my mother told me, you can have anything you want, as long as you make it yourself can get your husband to make it for you! Proof positive:
PS, an addendum. After Joe finished his brilliant masterpiece, I went looking on line to see if perhaps others had had this same idea, a fireplace with no fire… a faux fireplace to add extra coziness and charm to a small room. In case my Girlfriends were thinking how fun this would be but have no Joe, I wondered if maybe it would be possible to BUY one that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Because you know, if you dream it you can make it so! I was surprised, shocked maybe, there are so many choices! Little ones, big ones, simple and fancy, whatever your heart desires!♥️ Mas MUSICA? Oui!
Look at this one, clean, elegant, free-standing, and only $150, voila! If I only knew! Ha! well, there you go! I’m so used to asking Joe, I forget that there are other ways to go about this! I love his best of course!♥️ This mantle is even a half-inch deeper than mine… there are photos of it in a living room scene when you go to their site. . . but if this isn’t your cup of tea, there of tons of other ones to choose from ~ some of them are electric and even include the fire!🔥 This world!💝
Speaking of this enchanted world, this wonderful magical outrageously beautiful world that we, the human race, positively do not deserve but are unendingly grateful for, I thought you would like to see what a California Christmas looks like!
XXXXX
Yup, no snow. And I do miss that thrilling first snow of the season! But the only white you see here are the drifts of sweet alyssum that springs up everywhere in the cool weather.
XXXXX
The breeze you’re hearing comes down our valley from the Pacific ocean, alyssum fragrance floats in the air, the sun comes out almost every day, shining golden light and long shadows on my daily walk, and the silk trees flower in pink! A total blessing for light deprived person, I put my face up to drink in the sunshine.
But we absolutely DO have winter, it’s freezing at night (40s!!!), sweater weather, for sure ~ even fingerless gloves sometimes ~ and flannel jammies of course, it’s even cold enough for me to put my grandma’s nap blanket on the bed! Extremely cozy! It just probably won’t snow.🤭
Instead, check this out!
It’s a jasmine vine that found this chair on our front deck and is making a home there! I know I’m going to be sorry I let it go! It’ll probably take hours to get it all out! But it’s actually so pretty, and . . . think . . .
. . . what it’s going to feel like to sit in this chair loaded with light pink jasmine, and just rock and smell the flowers!🌸🌸🌸 So, for a possible future moment’s pure delight, here I am waiting for it to bloom, as each day the vine gets more deeply entrenched. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Jack is sending you all his kitty LOVE!😻 So, off we go, onward and upward.Company coming today! Going to Farmer’s Market tomorrow. Need some local honey🍯, and definitely want to see what the farmers are doing for Christmas!🪴 Merry, Merry darling people. Get out into nature if you can, take lots of deep breaths, and stay hydrated!♥️
Don’t forget to leave a comment for the drawing! You can sit in front of your fireplace and read everyone a story of Christmas long ago! “Home for Christmas!”
Merry Christmas!! Loved the videos! The silk tree is new to me !
Was new to us too! It was here when we bought this place, but it is just now showing us its true colors!!!
Merry Christmas Susan! As usual I ❤️ everything about this Willard. I hope you, Joe, Jack and your family have a charming, enchanted, whimsical Christmas. (Enjoy your new mantle! Brilliant!)
HoHoHo thank you for another charming story. Merry Christmas to you and Joe.
Would love your goody bag too.
Sending you a little snow from Lake Wyola in Massachusetts ❄️☃️🥶⛄️❄️❄️❄️❄️🎄🎁
Sending a heartfelt wish for Susan, Joe, and everyone who reads Willard: that your holiday be filled with wonder and joy and kindness and love…and that you bring all those blessings with you into 2026. It’s a sisterhood that warms my spirit. As Tiny Tim says, “God bless us, every one!”
So happy to hear from you! I love your fireplace – it’s got my wheels turning! Merry Christmas! And a very happy new year!
Sending a heartfelt wish for Susan, Joe, and everyone who reads Willard: that your holiday be filled with wonder and joy and kindness and love…and that you bring all those blessings with you into 2026. It’s a sisterhood that warms my spirit. As Tiny Tim says, “God bless us, every one!”
Just what I needed today! A post from you for Christmas! Merry merry! 🎄
That just warms my heart. I love how you pay attention to the little things. The things that speak to our hearts. The mantel is brilliant. I kept wondering if Jack would have some kitty wishes. What a loveable kitty cat. Merry Christmas Susan and Joe.
You have certainly given me Christmas ideas! I love your photos. I love reading your fairy tale.
Thank you Susan for inspiring us and encouraging us with your beautiful artwork and lovely words. Your Willards always seem to arrive exactly when I need them. Thank you so much for bringing all of us together. Merry Christmas!!!!
What a beautiful Willard!
This might be my second post. I don’t see any of the posts from today. I don’t want an unfair advantage.
Holiday Love,
Melin
xoxo
Thank you Susan for inspiring us and encouraging us with your beautiful artwork and lovely words. Your Willards always seem to arrive exactly when I need them. Thank you so much for bringing all of us together.
Thank you Susan for inspiring us and encouraging us with your beautiful artwork and lovely words. Your Willards always seem to arrive exactly when I need them.
I just love reading your news letters each month. They are so much fun AND inspire me to delve into one or another new thing. Thank you for this monthly gift – wishing you a Very Happy Holiday in your New Home 💕💕
Hi Susan, Long time fan here, dating back to your very first book, very much beloved.
The new fireplace is fantastic, what a perfect place for it! Can you believe we had a mirrored dining room wall at our last home and people were always walking into it as they headed to the kitchen!
I love seeing your new home in California and the garden, Partial to California after (nearly all) my 65 years spent in San Diego.
Love all things Beatrix Potter, fairytales and garden. Your pink jasmine will be blooming in the new year, it will be fantastic!
Happy Holidays to you and Joe and thanks for sharing!
Your “Willards” are always so interseting. They make my heart happy!!!
You always bring back memories of my childhood (I am now 75!). So thankful for you sharing your life adventures. Since I am a California girl, I relate to your view of Christmas. Thank you!!
Loved it as a child, love it now, and loved the 40 years of snow in-between. We are all so gifted with beauty around us!♥️
Christmas lives in every heart and grows and changes as our lives change. I went from one Christmas tree to 3 smaller trees with twinkling lights in my kitchen window (we live in a double wide in Texas in a beautiful pasture with cows and lots of wildflowers) and twinkling lights on our fake fireplace mantle. I love everything about Christmas, about living in our Texas “home on the range” home and life at 69 — to be 70 in July. The house is warm and inviting; I made a coffee bar this week so I can quick grab coffee or tea as I watch television or quilt or cross stitch. I gardened on my front porch — pansies in Texas in the winter are apropos — they won’t grow here in the heat. So purple pansies grace the porch tonight. I love your blogs, your ideas, your continuous sharing of so much and all that is beautiful and tugs the heart. Thank you and Merry Christmas.
To everything, turn turn turn, there is a season . . . .🎶♥️♥️♥️
Bookmarks are ready to go into the stockings! So grateful for you and all the joyful things you share. Have a blessed Christmas, Susan & Joe 🎄
I was having a hard day after a hard week and wondering if I could even decorate for Christmas when along came the Willard and the tiny shelf on the fireplace. I love it. I may read this every day for a while and it will help me get some decorations up and I will feel better. Thank you! (You even gave me some ideas and encouragement for a few other needed changes. Thanks for that also!)
Feel better darling girl! You deserve it!♥️
Your newsletter is delightful to read I love every edition. Both you and Beatrix are an inspiration to me. I have loved both your watercolors for most of my life. What a treat it would be to win such treasures! Thanks for brightening the world with your love and art! Heather
LOVE IT
Love it! Love it! Love it! What a magical home you and Joe are creating. I am very happy for you and so happy you share it with us! Keep those posts coming – I look forward to them very much. You are such an inspiration to me. Love to you –
Susan Thompson
!
Love YOU! XOXOXO
THANK YOU! I needed this Willard, it’s been such a bumpy ride for us since September and it was so serendipitous that this arrived when it did. *happy sigh* Such a lovely time to sit with an old friend (I have all your books!) and just bask in sweet, loverly pictures, and just everything. Bless you!!
Susan, your mantle is absolutely beautiful!!! I love it!! What a difference it made. We had a gas fireplace installed and my husband built a mantle around it. Perfect. I love your instructions on “you can make it yourself…have your husband make it for you”☺️. I’m always saying to my husband “You know what we should do? ….. we as in you, that is”. 😘
Thank you for all your lovely Willards. Have a magical Christmas! 🎄 💚
Ha ha!!♥️
Nice to see you’re settling in your new home. I can tell it’s growing on you and it was a good decision to move. Love the fire place, great idea! Did you ever sell the Martha’s Vineyard place or is it still for sale? Merry Christmas and thank you for sharing your love for home, nature and Friends.
Barbara Kuzdzal
It’s not sold yet!
Thank you for sharing that beautiful mantle!
Love everything about your blog/newsletter.
I have shared with many.
The mantel is perfect. When we were looking for our Minneapolis home back in the day, my beloved Titus 2 Mother said that we must have a fireplace. Having not had one in the past, I did not think necessary. With her loving assistance, a Cape Cod home with a fireplace/mantel was found. I now think such a feature is important too. So happy you have a beautiful mantel to grace for Christmas.
I too have BP collection. The small books were well worn by the small hands of our children growing up-favorites and well loved.
Thank you.
Patricia M, Wood
The joy you bring to us, your girlfriends, must come back to you a thousand fold. Living in joy is a way of life you’ve clearly embraced, Susan. Thank you!
PS, love the mantle. There are also lots of old ones in antique stores just waiting to be adopted!
I looked and looked, and even went on line, and it was a complete failure! My girlfriend gave me her old one, it’s in my barn on the island and we will pick it up when we go back there and bring it home with us! 👏♥️
I love the holidays! We are starting the process of getting ready to downsize, and you are an inspiration! Thank-you!
GOOD LUCK! BE RUTHLESS and get it over as fast as you can! So you can go back to LIVING!! 🤣❌⭕️❌⭕️
Love your new mantle.. your home is beautiful
I love the Beatrix Potter section. I have loved her since I was in grade school. I have been collecting your cookbooks for the past few years! I You have wonderful art! Merry Christmas!
Dear Susan, I have been a HUGE fan of yours for many years! I love your work, your blog, your comments, books, travels, and stories. Our home is decorated with Susan Branch …Thank You for sharing your life with so many 🙂
Hi Susan. Love reading the Willards. I enjoyed your Beatrix Pitter interview too! Happy Holidays! 🎄✝️🎄
Merry Christmas from Kentucky!
Love your work Susan! You are the best!!!
Merry Christmas from Arkansas.
Love your fireplace and how you are making your California hpuse into a cozy and magical home! My husband and I moved from Northern California to Northern Nevafa almost 8 years ago. We sold our adorable 1940s cozy cottage (with fab brick fireplace) and bought a newer home that is perfect except… no fireplace. After months of looking, found a huge, heavy electric fireplace on FB Maketplace and we love it! (But we sometimes cheat with YouTube videos of charming, crackling firepaces too!) Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
I love reading your blogs and looking at the way you decorate your house. Beatrix Potter has been one of my favorites. I recently found a collection of the figurines they were selling. I came home with 2 bags full. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
what joy you bring to the holiday season! thank you!
I so LOVE & enjoy reading your Blogs with my cup of tea. Thank you ! This Dec. Blog is so special, there seems to be a sentimental feel to it(but then,all your blogs have that warmth in them).I loved how your fireplace came to place. Joe is very skilled in building peices in your home .Ive always wanted a fireplace..growing up, my parents had a stone one in our basement apt. My mom always had a fresh crocheted doile over it with sentimental trinkets. I live ina small house now and my 2nd Holiday season without my dear husband.he died with cancer last Feb. Your Christmas Blog cheered me up tonight ,as I sipped my tea and my little tree flickering its bright lights next to me. Your generous gifts in your contest sound so wonderfully fitting for a fan of yours,including me. 🙂 Wishing you both a loving holiday season surrounded by all who love you. 🙂
I so LOVE & enjoy reading your Blogs with my cup of tea. Thank you ! This Dec. Blog is so special, there seems to be a sentimental feel to it(but then,all your blogs have that warmth in them).I loved how your fireplace came to place. Joe is very skilled in building peices in your home .Ive always wanted a fireplace..growing up, my parents had a stone one in our basement apt. My mom always had a fresh crocheted doile over it with sentimental trinkets. I live ina small house now and my 2nd Holiday season without my dear husband.he died with cancer last Feb. Your Christmas Blog cheered me up tonight ,as I sipped my tea and my little tree flickering its bright lights next to me. Your generous gifts in your contest sound so wonderfully fitting for a fan of yours,including me. 🙂 Wishing you both a loving holiday season surrounded by all who love you. 🙂
Always lovely to get my Willard. Joe does a bang-up job. 3 mock-ups?
Thank you for a wonderful post! I look forward to reading these every month – always chock full of lovely thoughts and things to enjoy. Best wishes for Happy Holidays! 🎄
It’s always so enjoyable to read of your activities and see pictures of all you decorate and do. At Christmastime it’s especially fun and adds to the spirit of the holidays.
I just love your joyous and generous spirit, Susan, and your Willards are always a delight to read. Joe did an excellent job creating your mantel (yes, the kind over the fireplace is spelled “mantel”), and I know he was well rewarded by your exultant enthusiasm. Wishing you both a wonderful Christmas in your home sweet home amidst your beautiful California garden.
Dear Susan,
I’m here to wish you and Joe a Merry Christmas with all my heart. Today I took out my old copy (1990 First Edition) of Christmas From the Heart of the Home. I was looking for a couple recipes and then I just sat down and read, and read, and read, and I became enchanted by the joy and celebration this book holds over me. It’s like I’ve fallen in love all over again. So I just wanted to say, “Thank you” for the gift of my beautiful, stained, well-loved and used book of so many decades. I cherish it. Thanks for the memories.
Christmas blessings and JOY to you.
Merry Christmas, Susan! Seeing all your pretty things is a real treat as we ready ourselves and home to greet our family. Best to you and Joe in the New Year.
Love to read these letters. They are the perfect distraction from a complicated world.
Have yourselves a cozy little Christmas Susan and Joe! So enjoying seeing all the creative improvements you two have been up to! Have a Merry Christmas and a good New Year!! I’m going to print the bookmark now, one can never have too many bookmarks or books! 🙂
Always love seeing your holiday (and everyday) decorating and the joy you take in every aspect. Your Joe is SUCH a keeper.
Have a beautiful holiday and happiest new year.
I like, make that love the line with the words that are crossed out – so funny!
Happy for your new nesting opportunities!
❤️
I enjoyed your Willard newsletter ! It was delightful ❤️
You have a mantle! You are both brilliant! Thank you for the reminder that we can have dreams, and we can work to bring our dreams to fruition. Merry Christmas!
So many great items in your giveaway! I would love to win any of them!
So much fun to read bout Beatrix Potter (I have a large collection too.)
So happy that you are so happy with your new mantle, so fun.
Pick me!!! Pick me!!! 👋 🎅
A Very Merry Christmas to you!!
Susan, thank you for all of the lovely pictures, so inspiring. And so wonderful to learn how you are making your own double-wide into your own magical home.
Wishing you, Joe, kitty & all your staff A Very blessed Christmas & a Healthy New Year.
Susan, thank you for all of the lovely pictures, so inspiring. And wonderful to learn how you are making your own double-wide into your own magical home.
Wishing you, Joe, kitty & all your staff A Very blessed Christmas & a Healthy New Year.
Happy holidays and here’s to a very happy and healthy 2026! I love your new mantle…what would Susan Branch’s home be without a mantle and surfaces to decorate? You and Beatrix Potter and A.A.Milne bring me to enchanted places 🥰
always a joy to read your enchanting life and your corner of the world. You are such an inspiration.
Infinitely kind new – made my heart sing. It is a daily fervent wish. Thank you for the always positive messaging. You are appreciated more than my words can express
Dear Susan Branch,
I’m Anna Baker! My Mom was reading your Willard and saw the book and called me to see. I couldn’t believe it! You kept it all these years! 💕I’m 22 years old now and I’m still making magic! I work with children while I’m in graduate school to be a school psychologist. I have to tell you that my favorite mug is your sailboat and the happy birthday mug (even when it’s not my birthday)! When I saw the picture it brought back memories of being 12 and drawing the carrots for you. Thanks for remembering me all of these years later. Love, Anna ❤️
TOO adorable, Anna!!! How wonderful to hear from you!! What a surprise! This is the kind of thing that makes me love the Internet! Love hearing about your life now! Wonderful work, magic maker.♥️ Keep it up! Hello to your mom, and thank you for the darling cookbook, and lovely words, and the carrots!!! xoxoxo
How fun to have a pseudo-fireplace that’s really real! I love seeing your cosy home get even cosier. I even felt snow when you were showing all your decorations. And I’m a long-time, avid, fanatic fan of Beatrix Potter. Have done the pilgrimage to Hill Top; lingered in the house and the gardens as long as I could, imagining her there. She had such a wonderful story that jumped from one beauty thing to the next. Incredible to know she won prizes for her special sheep breed! A true kindred spirit, as are you.
I absolutely love your mantle! It adds so much to a room! I also have the Beatrix Potter journal that you have. It is an amazing interactive book for any fan of hers!
Hi, Susan – First time I’m leaving a comment but you have been a part of my life for so long. My daughters’ baby books (they are now 26 and 29 years old) and scrapbooks are filled with your work. I so remember my mom, sister, and I purchasing your first book so many years ago and making many of the recipes. Your memoirs lifted my spirits at a time when I really needed it. I have crocheted and quilted for years and made hand-sewn smocked dresses for my daughters but never attempted anything in the art world until this year – my first year of retirement. I was anxious to try something new and started watercoloring. So much to learn, but I love it! My artist daughter has been a great help. Thank you for all the joy you’ve brought to me and others! Merry Christmas to you and Joe. 🙂
How great to hear from you, and such sweet words! Thank you Sue, made my day!🥰
Joe is a very clever and handy man to have around! Congrats on a lovely new addition to your forever home! He’s a keeper! Enjoy your holidays and thanks for always brightening my day.
Merriest of Christmas’s!! I love your mantel, what a great idea.
Your new mantle is really special! Great musica selection this month, as always.i do look forward to that every month. Thank you! Wishing you & Joe a wonderful holiday season full of more memory making moments.
Beatrix Potter’s Journal is so darn adorable! I borrowed a copy from our library and found it inspirational as at the time I was into making ‘junk journals’ following tutorials from like minded you tubers. Anyway, I LOVEd hers. My hubby was like your Joe, very handy with a hammer and saw. Unfortunately his woodworking days are over as he’s coping with an awful case of lymphodema in his legs which makes walking or standing very painful. Tell Joe he gets a gold star for his creation. It’s just perfect. Now with the Christmas holiday in full force I’ve taken our your Santa mug and have my tea in it every morning. It makes me feel special. I love that Santa face so much. Have a very special Christmas and a very Happy New Year….
The mantle is perfect! and Joe is a wonder!!
Oh THANK YOU for the lovely Christmassy letter. You have given my spirit a lift. I love your Willards and so grateful that you send them out so consistently. Your mantle is adorable and so useful!! Enjoy this season and have a very Merry Christmas.
I’ve always loved a little white fireplace and yours looks beautiful! Thanks for always spreading joy, inspiration and hope all around from season to season!!
Thank you for the lovely Willard with the beautiful photos. It’s really put me into the Christmas Spirit during a difficult time. I am fortunate to have a copy of Beatrix Potter’s Journal including the darling little book and I love it!
Thank you for lifting our spirits…..Happy Christmas Susan!
Your mantel reminded me of the mantle we had growing up in our duplex (we lived on the second floor). My dad made it for my mother, who loved to decorate, and it was absolutely beautiful! It was wide and made of wood and white stucco. She decorated it for every season! So – every home I have lived in has had to HAVE a mantle to decorate. Your story brought love and joy to my heart during this holiday season with a happy memory of “our mantle”!
Love a good California Christmas! You could put one of those cute little electric fireplaces in the middle of your mantel to make it feel more “real”! Merry Christmas!
Love that bookmark, thank you ever so much!
Dearest Susan,
You have been my insperation and hope when we moved last year between Thanksging and Christmas. But if you could do it, so could we. Now we Love our 1988 manufactured home and the veiw is beautiful. So looking forward to this Christmas with a grateful heart. Thank you, thank you, for all you are.
I love your fireplace mantel. My father-in-law made our mantel. I love decorating it and now that he is gone it brings back lovely memories. ❤️
I so enjoy the Willards, and your drawings, and your paintings, and your lettering, and your quotes, and EVERYTHING!! Thank you. You are a blessing in a world that has lost its way.
I love reading your Willards! They brighten my day and it’s like having a fun pen pal and catching up on all of the things. Give Jack kisses, he’s looking very sassy and pleased with himself. As he should!
I love seeing all your home and garden updates. Thanks for bringing us on your journey.
Have the most Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
I didn’t think Christmas in CA could be so pretty and homey but you have done it!🎄
Your home is just lovely!! And I love the fireplace mantle that Joe built for you…so much so that I am going to have my sweetheart of a husband build me one! (He laughingly said “Thanks Susan!!”)
Your fireplace and mantle are perfect, a bit of New England in California! Your house looks beautiful all decorated for the holidays. I’ve been to Hill Top Farm three times and I feel as if Beatrix and I are old friends.
Merry Christmas to you, Joe and Jack!
Merry Christmas Susan. I love your “can do” spirit, it always makes me smile & get all happy about decorating my home. I too have a decorative mantel that was out of an old home torn down in Pasadena,CA. Found it at an antique store, painted it white and it’s my favorite seasonal decor space!! I love that you created one for your home! Merry Merry!
Thank you for sharing all of your beautiful amazing work,
Susan you are truly a blessing!
Best wishes for a very Merry Christmas to you & Joe
(and Jack too)!
Love your new mantle! A handy husband is such a blessing. I have one too! Thank you for all the light and joy you bring into the world through your art, and books, and Willards. Merry Christmas and happy 2026!
I love the matle
I love reading about your life in California. I would never miss the snow and cold temps. I love fall but dread those dark, gloomy winter days. You bring the sunshine. Merry Christmas look
I love the mantle. And you found the perfect spot for it! I look forward to seeing how you decorate it each season.
As I read, I was hoping for a glimpse of Jack. You didn’t disappoint!
My mother told me how one day, at about age 20, she came home to find grandma sitting alongside a mantel, declaring, “I bought a fireplace!” As a child, I’d help grandma decorate it with her nativity set. The mantel eventually became my own, and it’s residing in majesty in my own living room. It immediately brought warmth and joy to that room, equal to the family room which houses its own “real” fireplace.
You’ve brought the same sparkle your MV home had clear across the country! Beautiful!
I love reading about your life in California. I would never miss the snow and cold temps. I love fall but dread those dark, gloomy winter days. You bring the sunshine. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas, your blog has always been a ray of light in our topsy turvy world. Thank you for adding positivity and your beautiful art to our daily lives. In treasuring your childhood and reminding us all of the generations of hard working family that loved us so.
My wonderful husband built a mantel to cover our builder grade drywall “mantel.”
Much simpler than yours, but beautiful wood.
Merry Christmas!
How wonderful for you to share the delights of your California Christmas home and garden with us. I could almost feel the breeze when you took us outdoors.
Absolutely delicious. Thank you!
Merry Christmas!!🎄
Merry Christmas, Susan and Joe!
Thank you for sharing your home in CA with us.
Blessings to you and
Willard is such a treat to read with a cup of tea. I like to read it at a quiet time and enjoy every detail. Happy Christmas to you and Joe in sunny California!
Merry Christmas
What perfect timing…a warm & cozy letter to all us girlfriends, inspiring us to make our houses glow and to remind us how wonderful it feels to put on warm Jammie’s from the dryer, loved all of it! Thank you!
I love fireplaces.we have three! Yours is adorable. Enjoy it.