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!
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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.
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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!”
thank you, thank you, thank you for sending this out today! It’s been an up and down day for me (my grandson came for lunch!) and because no one is coming to our house for Christmas (my granddaughter Jillian is hosting because I’ve had health issues since last December) – we only have put up a few decorations – gave the large tree away, and bought a pre decorated 4 ft tree. Change is hard (we are 80 and 86 years old) – but life is good – so good – so much to be thankful for. But just in a different way – as I’m sure you and Joe are experiencing this Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you both! Thanks for making our lives merrier!
Keeping your sunny-side-up is easy, living in the light of gratitude!!!💝💝💝
Your home is so cozy. We decorated our house for Christmas, with the same items every year. It’s not stylish, but it’s nostalgic and sentimental. Feels perfect for this time of year.
I loved reading Linda Lears biography of Beatrix Potter, “A Life in Nature.” She really highlighted Ms. Potter’s brilliant scientific mind when it came to mushrooms and nature in general. I also loved your faux mantel. You needed that in your new home. You and Joe have a very Merry Christmas!
What a sweet giveaway, thank you. Your mantle project is just right. I do have a mantle with a fake fire and it’s so cozy! Plus no wood to chop. Merry Christmas Susan.
Merry Christmas. It such a wonderful time. Christmas tea parties celebrating with friends. Im making the Christmas honey ham from your Christmas book. I make it evey year since the book came out in the 90’s.
I have all your cookbooks. So enjoy all the recipes. Thank you for sharing your home. So much inspiration from you. Thank you
Your Willards are always so fun, encouraging and inspiring. That new mantle is just lovely! So fun to see your Christmas decorations and will look forward to seeing the other seasons. Amazing giveaway with such special goodies. Thank you!
Merry Christmas to you all!
I will be reading Home for Christmas once again this year. So nostalgic! I love your mantel. You and Joe needed that in your new home. Have a very Merry Christmas!
Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!LOVE THE MANTLE!
Your giveaway sparks joy! Best of luck to me, hehe! Even if I don’t win a prize, I count your blog posts as merry making and we do so need that today.
Merry Christmas and Cheers to a Happy New Year!
Joe, the master carpenter, great job! Bit by bit your home is beginning to look like you never left Marthas Vineyard. Love your Willard, Susan, it always cheers me up. Thank you so much. ❤️
We were recently in your neck of the woods, celebrating our 51st anniversary. Visited Ron’s nursery, picked up a copy of your little Christmas Book at the Garden Gallery. We love that part and f our beautiful state! I wish you still had your shop down there. merry Christmas to you and your whole clan-Teri
I am so glad you have a new Willard out. I love reading them and I would absolutely love to win your gift!
Merry Christmas, Susan! I have been a long time fan of Beatrix Potter, collecting the Miss Tiggy Winkle figurine and others when I was young! Our family also had a wonderful vacation in the Lake District years ago, when I was a school librarian, and I ate up all of the information on Beatrix Potter to share with my students. They LOVED all of her stories! Thank you for your inspiring stories and art. I am newly retired and taking up some art and calligraphy myself. Enjoy your holiday!
Spreading the light! Nice to hear that Janet! Thank you for saying hello!
It’s always a treat when a new Willard arrives! Thanks for being out there during good times and the not so good ones!
Love your fireplace! I have a “Joe” too, his name is Randy LOL I am so glad you are making Californis home!
Susan, thank you for your notes of Christmas cheer! Love your vision for the mantle and what Joe created. Such a splendid idea and with your happy decor. Wishing you a blessed Christmas! 💕🎄💕
I love your enthusiasm for life and I love life too. I am 84 and my husband and I have been married 65 years. I love beautiful music and especially Christmas music. I am not really good at decorating, but I make things look pretty to me. And I LOVE Christmas time and lots of tiny lights. Thank you for sharing your great talent. Sandy
The magic words “to me.”♥️
What an absolutely holiday treat it would be to win this amazing roundup of treasures! I’ve loved your blog for a very long time too! Merry Christmas and wishing you, Joe and Jack a healthy, happy and adventure filled 2026!
Thank you for always brightening my discombooberation world!
Ha Ha! Happy to be here, happy you are too!
Beatrix, quilts, watercolor art, your beautiful calendars that I buy every year – these are just a few of my favorite things! And we share them in common, go figure. Always a girlfriend from Idaho and have been a huge fan for as long as your first book was published! Love you, Susan Branch. You have made my life joyful♥️
I plan to read all there lovely comments by candle light on Christmas
Eve in front of the fire place. Now that’s romantic! I also do this every year. I read, “The Christmas Carol”–in this same fashion. Candle light. Best wishes to all.
Joe simply can NOT live without his 1951 movie version of Scrooge with Alistair Sim. He watches it with tears in his eyes, every year!♥️♥️♥️
Merry Christmas Susan! 27 years ago I bought a set of your books as I loved all things baking, stationary and home. I remember feeling oh so special that you took the time to write me back -an 11 year old girl in El Salvador. I treasure your books, notecards and calendars to this day and have created lovely traditions with my daughter inspired by your books and ideas. Thank you for being you and sharing it with all of us!
OH Bea, how wonderful to hear from you. The kindness in the comment section of my blog is the BEST THING IN THE WORLD!!! Thank you, again, you have made my day!! xoxo
I love it all! Every single thing! Always have always will!
I get so excited when I get a new Willard email notification from you! It makes my day. Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!💗
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSPIRATION AND WISHFULNESS!\\I HAVE 5 DAUGHTERS AND WE ALL LOVE ALL YOUR JOY AND CREATIVITY!!
merry christmas and may all your Christmas wishes come true!
I loved your interview in the Beatrix Potter blog. I finally got to visit Hillside Farm last year. It was amazing and I got my picture taken in the doorway too. I’ve wanted to visit ever since you wrote about it in your book. Thanks for your inspiration.
I love Beatrix but you are even more of a positive influence in my life. Thank you!
Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
PS My husband is also handy. Can’t wait to show him your mantle. I do have one but I’d like the little shelf.
I love your website! I have most of your books, pictures, two teapots and a dish towel. I have been a fan for many years ❤️
The fake fireplace is lovely. Merry Christmas!
I have a repro New England saltbox house here north of Houston and follow so many old house, New England old house, Early American house, colonial house, etc groups and folks put in fake fireplaces all over the place. You can even add a narrow electric insert.
Your new fireplace is wonderful and you have made your new home and yard gorgeous! ♥
Beautiful love the mantel
Im cooking the honey from your Christmas book
My whole family love it …thank you for all your receipts.
Susan, A wonderful fireplace. At this moment, I am searching for an empty wall! Wishes for a peaceful and blessed Christmas and a New Year full of miracles. Kate
Beautiful mantel
I love it… I’m cooking the honey ham from your Christmas book. Everyone loves it.
I live in Southern California, too, where it is SIGH usually too warm for a fire, but I can’t imagine living without my fireplace and mantle. So, mostly I just look at it and pray for rain. It’s lovely either way and I’m glad you got yours, Susan. Merry Mantle Days!
such refreshment … thank you, dear Susan!
Many thanks Susan, for another inspiring Willard. Always plenty of lovely photos. and fun things to try. And yes, everyone should have at least one mantle, faux or real for decorating year round. Cheers and wishes for the merriest Christmas!
Thank you Susan, happy holidays!
Merry Christmas to all at Susan Branch Co. I love being part of this community of girlfriends!!! Carol
💞💞💞💞💞
I did not have a fireplace mantle either, but upended just the top of a vintage buffet to fasten to the wall at the appropriate height. The lights stay in place all year, but the the decor changes seasonally. It is so fun to decorate. Thank you for your constant inspirations.
I am in love with the fireplace! You and Joe are both so creative. Thank you for your creative inspiration all year long. Merry Christmas and Happy 2026!
Oh my goodness you never disappoint!! I absolutely love you and reading your happenings and stories. Never stop dreaming : )
What a lovely post! I love it. Joe is mighty handy. I miss having one, although I didn’t miss the one I had when I went to clean it – a dead bird fell out on me, all black and creepy; that I don’t miss, lol, but alas, in AZ one is not needed. I do miss the coziness of it all. Merry Christmas and put me on that list for the win. LOL.
I so enjoy sitting down with a cup of tea, and reading your latest Willard!
Thank you 🙂
Thank you Susan for the full moon bookmark. I really love your Willard posts!
Merry Christmas! Pick me for all your sweet gifts.
You are the best, Susan!!!
Hi Susan & Joe!
How very clever of you both to create your faux fireplace with a wonderful mantle!!! I applaud your creativity! 👏 👏👏
I really enjoyed this Willard, and am so happy you are having fun getting ready for the holidays. We have been busy, too, putting up our outdoor lights with the help of a friend this past weekend, so things are looking very festive. And today we are going to the Boy Scouts tree lot to pick out our Christmas tree.
Last year, because we’d just gotten our cavapoochon puppy, Jackpot, I thought it best to get a smaller, 5 ft tree and put it on the card table so that it would be out of his reach. Well, it turns out that it was so much easier to decorate than a full 7 ft tree, I’ve decided to do the same thing this year.
The weather here in Reno is very mild (mid 50’s, sunny & bright blue skies). I really love it, but I must admit that I wouldn’t mind a little dusting of snow as we get closer to Christmas Day.
I wish you, Joe & Jack a lovely holiday season & a Very Merry & Jolly Christmas!!!
Sending you love & hugs!💕 🎄🌟🎄💕
Barbara
I have to tell you I bought the tray you talked about in a recent blog. It’s changed my life! I put my breakfast on it and eat in the livingroom in front of the fire. Then lunch and dinner too. What a great idea!! I love it especially now with the Christmas tree right next to the fireplace. Thank you for the idea!!
I know JUST how you feel!😂 So handy! You are so welcome! ❌⭕️
Love the faux fireplace! Merry Christmas!!!
The mantle is fantastic!! It’s always so fun decorating, with my Rod Stewart Christmas CD playing loudly on my Bose. My grown children are horrified that I still play CDs!! Your double wide is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
We have one foot in both worlds, the before and after. Lucky us! Poor them, only two feet in the future!🤣
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing your happiness – it’s good news!
Your home and decorating are inspiring! I need to hop to it! Time seems to be rushing right by since Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas to both of you!
Wishing you and Joe a very Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas I’m so happy to still be reading Willard. I have many years of Willard that were mailed to me by you and still enjoy the nostalgia of them. Heart of Christmas is such a darling book. You and I are very close in age so I could relate to so many things have a wonderful holiday
Always enjoy your newsletters…a delightful mix of tying and script, photos and sketches. It is a precious glimpse into your world.
Brilliant Joe! Love the fireplace. Wishing you both a peaceful Christmas.
No sign of Jack. Haven’t seen him in a while. Hope he’s ok♥️😥
He was maybe the very last photo on the blog, he’s here! Being a good boy, most of the time!💝
Hi Susan! I love your newsy Christmas Willard. They are always so fun to read. Your fireplace is a beautiful addition to your dining room. Love how you decorate everything and make it always so festive! Happy Christmas to you and yours!
That Joe is a keeper!
always look so forward to reading your blog and share your love of England….i truly adore your bone china cups and wish you would bring them back… We have to keep the faith…there is much we have no control over
Susan, you are a breath of fresh air for me and your Willard came when I needed it the most. God bless you. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and Joe. Love you.
Your mantle is fabulous! Joe did a great job. Isn’t it funny how something that is so simple can change everything.
Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
This Willard came on the heels of some distressing news, and it helped me regain my mind. Thank you Susa. Merry Christmas 🎁
Merry Christmas, Susan and Joe! I knew that when you took up permanent residence at your California house, that you guys would work your magic and make it super special. You really encourage all of us to “make it so” with what we want and dream of. What a lovely new addition. I was pretty wowed with the outside porch , furniture, and fire pit this summer, too! Blessings to you guys!
You brightened my day with your cheerful post. Voila’! We have a faux fireplace and the world is cozy again! Bless you Susan
I look forward to your posts. They brighten my day. The mantel looks great. Happy Holidays!
discombooberation – define that please
Things out of place, mixed up, confused, anxious, worried about children, parents, money, family, starving children in other countries, AI, kids without jobs . . . all of that. Not feeling quite right! There is also discombooberated.💞
You truly bring JOY into my world with each of your Willard’s. I share them with others who need to know who YOU are and receive joy from you as I do! Christmas blessings to someone who makes our world a better place!! Thank you!!
Love receiving every Willard and catching up all Heart of the Home news. Wishing you, Joe, Jack and the kitties a Merry Christmas.
Love getting a new Willard to read before the holiday. Beautiful mantle. We heat with a woodstove (freestanding) so no mantle but lovely warmth. Happy Holidays.
Love waiting for your Blog….Also have a shared love of England…
wish you would bring back your beautiful china cups. We have to keep our faith as there is so much we have no control over…..
It’s really hard not to make them anymore ~ I love them so much! They just got more and more expensive ~ making it very difficult to do. Yes, things we have no control over! But I keep the faith and hope maybe just one more!❌⭕️
A Willard! What a wonderful surprise to start off the day, Susan. I always so look forward to your Willards; they are an unfailing spot of brightness in all the discoomberation. And recently, I’ve drawn strength and inspiration from your and Joe’s move to Ca, as my mother decided to leave her beloved home and garden to downsize last month due to financial reasons. It’s been almost two weeks now that she reduced her possessions to a few suitcases and flew across the world for this next chapter of her life. There’s been a lot of emotions and logistical challenges as I helped her move. I’ve felt a lot of guilt in not having been able to help her stay at the home she loves, and worry about how she will adjust. But then I would remember how you and Joe are enjoying your California English garden, even after the heartbreak of leaving Martha’s Vineyard. And I try to remain optimistic that she will adjust and create a fulfilling life for herself again. I hope to find her a community plot where she can garden again too. And Joe building your faux fireplace reminds me I can get creative in trying to make my home homier for her too. Anyway, thank you for your Willards, your art, your shining presence. Wishing you a warm and happy holiday!
Blessings on you and your mom, Jean . . . She has to do what makes her happy, and so do you, and I understand the love and worry that comes with the discombooberation. Let’s hope she finds inspiration in her new place, and takes all your worry away! Best to you both!♥️ xoxoxo
Susan Life itself is a fairytale and you’re enjoying it. Happy Holidays!
I found myself missing you this week. Joyful reading your “Willard” tonight!!!
My hubby passed almost 10 years ago. We lived in 2400 sq feet since 1984. This past Spring I said to myself “ This house needs a family” so, I sold it in March. I downsized to a smaller home. The only thing I did was gut the kitchen and had a new one built. I enjoyed re-decorating and making this 50 year old house my home.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Sharon Hermens in Texas
I was complaining to my husband that I didn’t feel the Christmas spirit and lo and behold your Willard appeared! Thank you for the lovely inspiration reminding me of the beautiful heartfelt things that cause the Christmas spirit to appear.
It’s always a good day when a new Willard pops up in an email! Thank you for the full moon bookmark. I was just thinking we need a new one for 2026. It gets posted on the fridge and referred to every month!
At Christmas time, no matter where you make your home, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Thank you, Susan for sharing your (and Joe’s) talents with us. Merry Christmas!
Your Willards always make my day!! So exciting, all of the news plus giveaways!!
I always stop what I am doing when I see another Willard appear! Happy Holidays to you, Jack and outdoor cats!! From me and my cat, Mrs. Pinky Pie…
What lovely treats for this season!!Thank you Susan!!!
My first Susan Branch delight was a lovely gift from a friend of The Heart of the Home for Christmas in 1989 and remember getting “Willard” by mail. I even made the Hats quilt and have used the wonderful calendars for so many years. My favorite recipe in H of H has been the linguini with clams sauce and my very favorite book is The Summer Book and ALL its terrific recipes. Merry Christmas!
Thank you for a refreshing Willard! We all need it. Love the mantel 🙂
Merry Christmas!! Chris
The joy that you and Beatrix continue to share with countless folks through your unbelievable artistic abilities, tell me that you would have been the best of friends.
And from me to you with love, as well!
This was a delightful Willard, as usual. I love your enthusiasm that comes through in your writing! It inspires me to sit and enjoy all the our Christmas decorations. Or even take a leisurely stroll in downtown (Coeur d’Alene) to savor the Christmas atmosphere. Thanks for adding joy to my holiday.
Hello Susan, what a treat to receive “The Willard in my e-mail. Reading it feels like coming home. I love the Christmas season, I want to take the spirit of Christmas into the New Year and hold it tight. I need it more the ever and I know the world does too.i have all of your Christmas books in a basket by the fireplace and look at it often. I do wish you and your family the most wonderful Christmas season and a most magical New Year……….Gabriele
Dear Susan,
I bought a used book and in the book was a bookmark from Beatrix Potters estate in UK.
I would like to send it to you with a biography of Beatrix Potter. I will read the book then send both to you. I love your work. You are the best.
Sincerely, Margaret Genie Belletete
Thank you Margaret! I have many, you don’t have to do that, but it is very sweet of you to think of me!❌⭕️💞
My husband has made two mantles for me.one in the dining room
And one in our breakfast room. He is a great guy and so talented. He is my Joe!
As I decorate for the holidays I’m thinking of you Susan and your talented ways. Wishing you and Joe the happiest holidays.
I find your outlook and attitude inspiring. We all need to be encouraged to make our surroundings beautiful in whatever way we can. I have been so interested in seeing how you create coziness and joy in your new space. It has helped me to be less disappointed in my own home and to see possibilities and find joy in what I do have. Thank you for being the inspiration for a positive viewpoint.
You have been my favorite artist FOREVER! Thank you for always thinking of us with giveaways!
😘
Very much enjoying the little blue tooth/radio your previously recommended. Bought an additional one as a gift. Love hearing audio books through it as I wonder through the house. An item I never knew I needed 🙂
Joe’s mantel is a masterpiece! The scale is perfect – tall and narrow. You’re a lucky girl.
I’m also in love with the wonderful wreath on your beautiful door. It’s all putting me in the mood for some decorating! Thanks so much for your uplifting post, and good wishes to you both, and Jack, for a very Merry Christmas 🎄 🤶!
Hi Susan. My mom was obsessed with Beatrix Potter and it definitely rubbed off on my children. When my youngest daughter, Elizabeth, was shopping in Williams Sonoma recently, she saw a mug with Peter Rabbit on it and got all teary saying that it reminded her of Nanna. We bought it, of course. Hope you are enjoying this wonderful holiday season.
-Kathleen
Everyday this week I have looked at websites and catalogs while debating the purchase of a faux electric fireplace for my sunroom. Your Willard post has moved the debate to decision status. A fireplace it is! Thank you for the continuing inspiration and apppreciation for home and hearth.
You will love it!!!👏👏👏
What fun to read this story and see the transformation! Some of my favorite children’s books are ones of transformation of places, The Secret Garden, Return to Gone Away, Mandy (by Julie Andrews, the actress). Tell Joe thanks from all of us!
Oh, dear Susan, what a lovely Willard this is! I also love Beatrix Potter, but even more than that, I love Gladys Taber, as do you! Her style is so folksy and warm, just like yours. I pray that you and Joe have a marvelous Christmas season on the left coast. Were you able to sell your home on Martha’s Vineyard? I know you had mixed feelings about that, so whatever the fate, I pray your were okay with the outcome. Blessings to you.
Susan, we don’t personally know each other but, you are a kindred sister! I have followed you forever and have grown up with you and the fairies, the English Gardens, and the passion to keep out home cozy all year long. I have and love all of your books. I cook from recipes in your cookbooks and each season one comes off the bookshelf and out to display. My Christmas cookbook is out, open to page 56 because of the Santa and Mrs. Claus remind me always of me and my Joey. If you were to meet him, he also is a kindred spirit.
You are loved, prayed for, and always close to my heart.
Thank for bring light to this darkness and “reflecting” it back to the world!
Buon Natale! Joyeux Noel! Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much for the holiday love letter. What a lift! So grateful for the internet and the opportunity to receive such thoughtful musings. I have most of your books and look at them as the seasons change. They are may favorites, and I have cases full of books. Thank you for taking the time to post. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and many many returns each with their own magic, just like the moon.
LOVE, LOVE your fireplace! You and Joe are amazing! You truly know how to make a house a home!
Oh how i look forward to every new Willard! I wait somewhat impatiently until i know I’ll have some quiet time before diving in. That way I can read it slowly savoring every word, picture and all the artwork. Thank you for sharing your Christmas with us, wishing you and Joe the most magical Christmas and a very Blessed New Year!
Joe is so creative, love the mantle so cozy.
Merry Christmas 🎄
Hi Sue, I just love your mantle that Joe made. How lovely. He is one special guy.
“The most significant gifts are the ones most easily overlooked. Small, everyday blessings: woods, health, music, laughter, memories, books, family , friends, second chances, warm fireplaces and all the footprints scattered throughout our days.” Sue Monk Kidd I really like that she included fireplaces. Yours is charming! Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing with all of us!
Ginny Gaines
Your December Willard is my favorite! The charming photos of you and your Joe in your lovely home make it feel like I am reading a letter from a dear friend. I am 70 and have been a fan of yours for decades. I recently moved and have my first fireplace ever!! So I now understand your love of your new mantel! And I must thank you for your annual Full Moon bookmark. I print up extras and include them in the Christmas cards of a few friends! They look forward to them as much as I do! Happy Christmas!!