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!”
What a beautiful home and your decorations bring back so many memories for me. Happy Holidays to a special gal!
I just love your mantel, Susan ! It makes me wonder where I could put one in our house. We are in the north part if the lower peninsula in Michigan so it would be a perfect thing to get. Thank you for this Christmas blog!! Merry Christmas to you, Joe and Jack!
no snow? but as we know very well christmas isn’t snow….it’s the joy of the reason for the season, family, friends, kind hearts and giving….looking forward to december solstice here too!
Thank you, Susan, for helping all of us to remember Christmas, family, friends, and to be grateful for all our blessings.
Wonderful. mantle, it transforms the space! Merry Christmas to you both!
What a welcomed Willard to receive, filled with such wonderful thoughts and ideas, and made extra special since today is my daughter’s birthday! Maybe I will win the drawing as a gift to her! Merry Christmas, Susan!
Have a blessed Christmas, Susan. I’ve enjoyed following your blog for the past 18 or so years. I remember a story you posted long ago about a young friend who visited your home when you were a teenager. It involved homemade pancakes and her wistful dream of having a home like yours one day. I don’t recall all the details, only that it was a lovely and inspiring story. If you know which one I’m talking about, please, please repost it!! Thanks for sharing your heart and home.
Such a darling cozy fireplace! ❤️
Love the beautiful bookmark! And thank you for sharing the clever mantle idea.
Happy Holidays!
Love your fireplace mantle !!
Merry Christmas Susan! Joe did a wonderful job on the mantle. I love the cozy vibe it gives. Thank you for sharing your life with us. Seeing the latest edition of Willard in my mailbox always brings a smile. I get a cup of tea and relax as you update us on your world. Wishing you and Joe a happy healthy 2026! God Bless!
Always enjoy a seeing a new issue of Willard pop up. Time to settle in with a cup of tea and enjoy the post
I’m so delighted when your Willard appears in my Bookmark page. I love all the gifts of comfort kindness and memories that you gift us with your writings. And I feel the love and kindness from everyone that responds. What a delightful community of kindred spirits.
Merry Christmas to all.
Merry Christmas Dear Susan! Thank you for including Jack, I always love to see him! I remember buying the B. Potter books for my two girls and reading them with all the voices I gave the characters! Beatrix was a very special person and it’s nice to have a new generation learn about her! We got our first snow today here in New England and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Happiest of Holidays to all of you!
I was so happy to see your fireplace. It was the one thing I thought I was going to miss when you showed Christmas Decoration posts. Then, there it was. Great job Joe!! Loved the Beatrix Potter Journal. Wishing you a cozy, comfy Christmas from me and Princess Lucky Cat.
I look forward to reading the latest Willard every month
What a joy to read your newsletter and see the beautiful pictures from the glorious life you have cultivated
Susan- your warmth and creativity inspire your fans
Hi, Susan! I have your original Christmas book and many of your others, too. I have always loved reading Willard also. Your double wide is as beautiful as your Martha’s Vineyard house – just smaller and so cozy. Thank you for always having a positive outlook on life. Merry Christmas to you and Joe and a happy 2026!!!
I just love your Willards. I look forward to them from the moment I finish the last one.
Your new mantle looks so perfect! I’m glad you and Joe were able to make that work out.
I already have your darling Christmas book, but the Santa mug would be great. I love the one I have with the Queen on it. I see you’re working up updating old cookbooks, which is nice. I’m still waiting on you to finish your story about Ireland with your nieces. When will that be finished? 😉 Love you lots!
I rediscovered you when your Fairy Tale Book came out. Thank you for inspiring me with your creativity, your garden and Beatrix Potter.
Dear Susan,
You are such a part of my Christmas Life, every day!. I reach for your cookbooks first, your fabric made into a quilt, your words of encouragement and inspiration have helped me learn to be me. Have a Merry Christmas, dearest one. I hope you receive as much love from life as you have given to the world.
Ahhhh! A Willard to raise my spirits today! Thank you, Susan. You always know how to put the joy and fun into holidays in meaningful ways! Just when I was feeling overwhelmed, after my “Willard Break” with a cup of hot cinnamon tea, I am now inspired to say “YES!”, and go put up those last few decorations and deliver cookies to neighbors on this cold St. Louis afternoon.
Merry Christmas to you and Joe, and sending nose boops to Jack too!
I love the fireplace. We live in a double wide in Massachusetts and I’m happy with how cozy it is.
Joe is amazing! He can do anything 🎄🧑🎄
Merry Christmas and Happy Blessed New Year❣️
I absolutely love your creativity! You have been blessed with a magic touch. Love your blog. Have a Merry Christmas and all good things in the New Year.🎄🩷
Always love your blogs delightful.
Hello, Susan, It is such a joy to receive your Willards! The Beatrix Potter Society Blog interview was especially interesting and revealed many parallels between your life and Beatrix’s. I’m now inspired to read more about her and to reacquaint myself with her stories.
Thank you for the photos, the music, the creative ideas, and for sharing yourself with your readers. Best wishes to you and your family for a very Merry Christmas and a new year filled with simple pleasures.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
it was fun to see your fireplace coming together. Handy husbands are a wonderful gift. It is amazing what we can do when we put our minds to a task. Your home looks lovely for Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful celebration. As always, thanks for sharing your magic and joy with all of us. Take care.
Love,
Crystal ( your friend from snowy Minnesota)
I love all your decorations, so so pretty. Happy Holiday season.
Hi Susan, your old/new house looks wonderful! Our Book Club of 4 had a tea today and read from your book, “Home for Christmas”. One of our members was on FaceTime upstate in California while we were in Temecula with a temp today of 80 degrees. Thank you so much for enriching our lives in the best possible ways!
Merry Christmas! Always enjoy reading what’s going on with you. It’s funny how you look at something so many times and then suddenly a revelation hits – how to make it better. That’s the best feeling and to have someone to help you make it, well, that’s the good stuff! Wishing you and Joe all the best in the coming year.
Just love your joyful posts. Have a great Christmas and New Year.
Love your mantle and it truly is a special thing to have a husband that can make you just about anything! Aren’t we lucky?!
Greetings on Gaudete Sunday! Third Sunday in Advent! We really are called by the Divine to experience JOY. Thank you, Susan for spreading good will and gratitude while remaining honest, human and speaking your truth. Now, more than ever, during this season, we must seek Peace and Justice AND JOY! I look here and to all of your work to find that dependable JOY. So grateful XO
Love your new mantle. Joe did a wonderful job. Wishing you both a Merry Christmas!
Oh sweet Susan ~~~~ it’s not Christmas until I get out all my Susan Branch treasures. This year was particularly special as I’ve given your Santa dishtowels to my dearest of Susan Branch girlfriends! I loved watching each of them unwrap their “prize”. Heartwarming. A big THANK YOU for 30+ years of bringing us all joy and laughter. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Fabulous mantle and beautifully made. It also does a nice job breaking up the mirrored wall. Best holiday wishes to you both!
Wish I had a fake mantel to put over my fake electric fireplace stove!
Everything looks so cozy. Wishing you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you for the magic and delight that you share. I am always grateful to find you in my inbox. Merry Merry and Happy Happy to you and yours!
Happy Christmas, Susan, Joe, and the kitties.
One of my holiday traditions is re-reading your December blogs to live vicariously through your blog what at New England Christmas feels like. Since I live a couple of hours north of you now, what you see in your area is what we see here in Aromas. I love living here, but I also enjoy seeing how people live, and celebrate, in other parts of the country, and world.
I love your new mantle, but I love the image of you cackling with laughter even more.
That’s often how I feel when I’m making art, or decorating.
Ever since I learned about your blog and books (I have known about you since the 90s when I used your scrapbooking stickers), I started collecting certain items for decorations.
My favorite are the vintage pine cone gnomes. I love them. My parents had them in the 60s, and I scour vintage shops for them now. I have about 7 now of my own, and I set them up on our mantle!
Sending you all so much love and appreciation. I made your chicken, pear, and cranberry dish the other night, and it was delicious!
I loved your post Susan. My 6 year old granddaughter and I are coloring a story book of Peter Rabbit. My name, for many years was Margaret Lane, same as the author who wrote about Beatrix Potter.
Dear Susan,
The quote about joy is so true, what you give comes back to you. In that case, you must have lots of joy coming your way. I so enjoy your Willard news letters, and have treasured your work for decades now.
Have a blessed Christmas Season and New Year 2026- can you believe it?
Keep dreaming,
Amy James
When a new Willard arrives in my inbox, I make a cup of tea, find a cozy chair, and enjoy an inspirational visit with a kindred spirit. Thank you, Susan, for photos, music, quotations, and most of all, delightful artwork, that inspire in every season! Best wishes for a wonderful holiday 🎅!
The mantle looks fantastic . Joe is a great carpenter. Merry Christmas and Happy Ew Year. 😊
The mantle adds so much to the cozy-factor of that room! I actually have a mantel in my home that used to house a gas fireplace/logs, but had to have it removed when a new roof was put on (and the old rotten chimney was removed/capped). It sat empty for a few years, but last year my parents gifted me an electric fireplace insert. It is so wonderful to see a “fire” in beneath my mantle again! And my mantle is piled with vintage books I’ve found….all surrounded by this December’s twinkle lights and green garland. Merry Christmas! (Just ordered Distilled Genius, as I had missed it when first published…it is my Christmas gift to myself this year!)
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you and Joe. Love the Williard as usual and look forward to those to come in 2026. Give Jack an extra pet from me.
Barbara
Dear Susan, so happy to hear from you! I’ve always felt that even if you lived in a cave you’d make it a joyful, bright and happy place for you and Joe! I love your new fireplace, it’s lovely, and is exactly what was needed. Poifect! Enjoy this beautiful season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus!
Thank you, Susan, for sharing such lovely parts of your life with us. After all these years, we must be friends!
So wonderful to find a kindred spirit, in the joy I feel at Christmas and the bliss of Home Sweet Home!
No matter the circumstances, the Fairy Tales can keep happening, as long as we keep our hearts open to the magic. Thank you for teaching me that, Dear Susan.
Cynthia
Thank you for your bookmark again!! I print out two. One for me and one for my granddaughter. we always look forward to the full moons:) Your mantle looks great. Happy Magical Holidays!!
Hello, Susan!!
We on the West Coast (Santa Barbara) are thrilled to have you back nearby! I’ve gone to every book-signing event featuring you over the years…Apple Farm, Madonna Inn, (singing with your long-time girlfriends), and a “yard sale” at your country house ages ago! Plus, Tecalote Books and the lovely gift show in Downtown Santa Barbara!
It seems you and Joe are bringing your magic to the Central Coast. How wonderful is that?
Welcome Back!
Carol Schlerf
Merry Christmas! Give Jack a kiss for Tiger Lily (my cat)
Your fireplace so lovingly made by Joe is simply the cat’s meow!!! What a cozy transformation and added such joy to your already happy life. Merry Christmas blessings!
Susan,
Another wonderful post to uplift our spirits and make the season bright.
All the best for you and Joe.
Linda Auwerda
Utah
Thank you for the gift of the full-moon bookmark. I keep it in the book I’m reading, so I don’t miss a full moon. This is just one of the many gifts I’ve received through these 30 years: these wonderful Willards, books, calendars, cookbooks filled with recipes that work. We count the days till local tomatoes come in so we can make you gazpacho.
I love the idea of a mantle real or faux for decorating.
Love the fairytale especially the part about decorating the mantle three times! 😂
Merry Christmas and wishing you and Joe many more blessings in the New Year! 🙏❤️
Your Joe is so good to you, he is a special man. I love the sweet mental that he made for your home. Thank you for sharing your ideas..
We have a couple things in common. I lived in snowy upstate NY, and now I am Southern California! And yes 40 degrees at night is cold !!! I love all your books, your blog, of it it. I always think, I’d love to be her neighbor! Merry Christmas ♥️🎄🌟,
It was like receiving a Christmas present when I saw your Willard in my email. Love your blog and books Merry Christmas!
We have had plenty of snow in Chicago! Thanks for cheering me up tonight with this joyful Christmas Willard. Merry, merry.
Like you, I love having a mantle. I decorate it every season and holiday. It makes me happy. We moved into our current home 2 years ago and it has a large fireplace and mantle. The fireplace has gas logs and we finally got around to having our gas company check it out and make sure it would safely burn. I love my warm fireplace and now look forward to cold weather. The fireplace is especially beautiful with my decorated mantle. Merry Christmas!
Love the mantle built with love just for you! We did this in our previous home. We have a real fireplace now, and I love decorating it year round for every holiday and season. I take inspiration from you. Thank you for sharing your sweet life with all of us!
Love the mantle! My husband has built several wooden things I’ve requested: a bookcase, a small bench, a clock, and wooden game boards. I requested a mantle but have yet to talk him into it – what’s your secret?
Just mention it every so often. Like in March, June, August, whenever it pops into your mind… “Wouldn’t a Fake fireplace look WONDERFUL there, think how I could decorate it for the season. It would take no space, but how COZY it would be. Gee, I wish I had a fireplace.” By Christmas you should have it. xoxoxo
I love the mantle. My husband and built a few things I’ve requested from him:
a bookcase, small bench, a wall clock and a couple of game boards. I asked for a mantle but have yet to get one – what’s your secret?
Merry Christmas!
We have an electric fireplace with a beautiful surround. It’s really fun because we can turn on just the flames without heat or with heat. Sometimes I just want to watch it.
I got one of the Christmas mugs for my friend but I really would love to have one, just for ME. lol, thanks for your inspiration in decorating and gardening.
Great job Joe! I don’t have a mantle either because we have a wood stove in a corner. But after seeing yours I’m thinking I need to find somewhere to put a fake one. I just love yours!!!
Happy Holidays to you and Joe and Jack and a happy New Year.
I appreciate the discussion of where you and Joe installed your new mantle. From earlier photos you shared I thought it was installed in the middle of the room. Now I know it is installed on a mirrored wall. I love it.
I’m so grateful to still be enjoying your Willards after so many years! Thank you for this one in particular because of its coziness and newsiness. I find it comforting that you are in my home state now. I love how you always “bloom where you’re planted”!
Your new fireplace is beautiful!
Your words are like a balm to my weary soul. It has been quite a year! We have decorated the tree and the mantle on the fireplace! Next we bake cookies and bread to share with family and friends! Merry Christmas to you and Joe! Life is good!
Merry Christmas!
Your new fireplace and mantle are perfect!
Great for decorating the changing seasons!
Thank you for all your interesting stories!
Susan, what a beautiful place you live in. You can get out and enjoy nature and life everyday! Have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
I love the mantle, Merry Christmas 🎄
Merriest Christmas to you all! Thank you for this generous opportunity with all the lovely giveaways. Wishing you more happiness than your hearts can hold in your “new” home. The fireplace is perfect!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy 2026 to you Susan, Joe, Jack and all your family and friends. We hope your holidays are fabulous! Love & hugs, Debbie
Reading your post has lifted my spirits beyond measure! Merry Christmas to you, a Kindred Spirit I have never met in person but feel I know by heart.
Peace and Joy,
Nancy
Good Morning Susan,
Thank you for your wonderful Christmas Holiday Willard. You help bring back the joy that sometimes gets lost in the daily grind and family drama. Thanks for that. I am glad that you are “bloomimg” in your new garden!
PS: love the mantle!!
Merry Christmas dear friend! Your charming “Willard” is a reminder to all of us that the circumstances of our daily lives need not dictate the way we choose to live our lives. Joy and beauty are found within all of us and are reflected in everything we do and say! You choose to fill your home, garden, writings and friendships with just that, beauty and joy! It warms my heart and inspires my dreams to see how you embrace to possible! I am forever grateful to you for being a light in my life! With love and wishes for the Merriest Christmas🎄Deborah
As always, thank you for another newsletter. They make me feel so happy and hopeful.
Merry Christmas to you and Joe!❤️. Love the fireplace mantel 😍
I’m not sure if my first comment came through or not because I was on my phone so I’m commenting again. I want to make sure I’m included when Vanna draws the lucky name.
You are here Larkin!!💞
You have a way of lifting spirits and making us feel like we are guests in your home! Thank you Sweet Sue! Chef’s kiss for your fireplace — it’s just what you needed! ✨🎄✨ Wishing you & yours a Merry Little Christmas with love ❤️💚❤️
Merry Christmas Susan and Joe! What a beautiful home and mantel. 🙂 Your home always makes me feel so cozy and peaceful. Many blessings to you in the new year.
Hello dear Susan! And Merry Christmas to you and yours! I’m writing from sunny New Mexico where we are wondering if the stretch of warm, spring-like days we are having is our “new climate”, and we have to get used to it. Normally we joyfully welcome SNOW by now!
Your creation of a mantle to decorate is fabulous! Isn’t it fun when our dreams come true? And isn’t it the BEST when we share our lives with a handy creative who makes our dreams come true? Thank you for generously sharing your ups and downs with us. And thank you for the Beatrix Potter “scoop”! Like Beatrix, you make our world a better & happier place!
Your home is so YOU!! Surrounded by such beauty and natural gardens. …and I love your new mantle. I am in Naples, Florida and I just put in a fake fireplace so I would have a mantle to decorate as well. And because it has a heater…perhaps I’ll need a little warm-up on some chilly evening/morning in January!
I too am blessed with a husband who makes whatever I desire. It’s wonderful to be spoiled by a loving, talented man. You reminded me of Beatrix Potter and the legacy she left the Lake District. She loved nature and wanted to preserve it from developers. So with the proceeds from her books she bought up farms over the years and donated them to the Historical Trust. We can all see the beautiful countryside that she loved.
Merry Christmas to you both. Looking forward to a picture of your pink jasmine in the spring.
Merry Christmas. You are always so inspiring. I had the Santa/Christmas cup, but sadly accidentally knocked it off counter.
Dear Susan,
Your enthusiasm for life is a tonic. I am re reading Isle of Dreams because I am moving to a new home in a new state by myself and need your courage! I am aughing once again about the Day-Glo orange dune buggy! Thank you for bringing the world to us in magical colors with each newsletter. Your new mantle is exquisite especially against the mirror – who would have thought a mirror would amplify the beauty! Smiling!
Sending lots of love,
Brenna
Thank you for reminding me of many forgotten memories. For building hope and believing in fairy tales. So very much to be grateful for. May you and Joe have a most wonderful, loving, memory filled California Christmas.
continued thanks for ALL your Willards!!!! So homey, so fun, so Inspirational…I adore your work, writings….have most of your books….Wishing you and Joe a wonderful holiday season….longing for my kids to arrive soon…currently, here in SW OH we are snow covered, and have a snow day from school!! I’ll take it!
Cheers!!!
Good morning! Thank you fit this lovely, happy, inspiring post. It filled me with joy and the Christmas spirit. We are buried in snow and the high today will reach -2 so pictures of California are delightful ( but as long as I can stay inside I love the cold and snow ;-).
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas! Love seeing the pictures of Jack!
Thank you, Susan, for another dispatch from your little patch of heaven. I so admire your joie de vivre, and the delight you take in making each moment special. I look forward to each Willard and know I’ll be inspired! Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.
“Some people just make you feel better when you are around them. They are sunshine to your soul and medicine for the mind.”
Thank you, Susan, for being the gentle, creative gift you are!
Susan, your home is beautiful – I love your new mantle!
Wishing you all a Happy Holiday!
What welcome Christmas cheer! Thank you! Your mantel idea is brilliant and the final result is stunning. What fun it will be year-round.
Thanks for writing and sending. I’m working on calendars for 2026 – for my sister, for my desk (your big desk calendar), and others I just can’t let myself stop doing (like the squirrel one for my office).
Merry and happy to you, Joe and Jack.
That mantle is fabulous! Thanks for your bright spirit that always lifts me up.
I love the fireplace mantel so much and I love how you have figured out how to bring a bit of colder climate Christmas feel to your new home in California! Thank you for the inspiration! My husband and I moved to Texas 3 years ago after living up North (Iowa and Oregon) our entire lives (we are 60 years old now, so a lot of years of having cold, white Christmases!) I have found that the way I have the way I have always decorated for holidays doesn’t quite match down here in this neck of the woods! But I also discovered that I don’t really care about that! I’m going to keep doing it the way that brings me joy! It might be warm outside where we are now but inside, our house is full blown white Christmas! Lol
Thank you for always inspiring me to do more to be happy, help others, & find JOY in the small things!!
Hope you and Joe have a very Merry Christmas!