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!”
So glad America has you, Susan! England has Emma Bridgewater and (of course) Beatrix Potter. You’re a national treasure…no matter the state you call “home”💗
My gosh, what amazing give-a-ways! Plural even! 🥰
Susan,
Thank you for all you share with us.
From another Susan
yes—you needed that fireplace,, Joe is a keeper!!!! merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Susan. Your note came at just the right time – my birthday! Thanks so much for the good cheer. I always enjoy hearing from you.♥️
Dear Sue,
Thank you for your lovely Willard. Your new fireplace looks so cozy in your dining room and I am sure you will enjoy decorating the mantle frequently!
Wishing you, Joe and Jack a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
We do miss you in New England but so happy you are making a beautiful new home in CA!
From cold and windy Cape Cod with much love and hugs,
Wendy
So glad to see in my mail today a letter from Susan Branch have missed you so much. Your letters. Are me feel so warm and cosy. I am glad you have a fireplace now to decorate for the seasons. I have a fake fireplace too and absolutely love it. Makes the home so warm and cosy looking. Thank you for being you. Hope you never stop writing.
Susan, your Willards are always so positive and cheerful. It is refreshing to hear from you and know there are nice kind people in the world who enjoy life to the fullest. There is an old local gravestone marking which says.
Life how short, Eternity how long.
How true. Let us live life to the fullest.
Happy Christmas and enjoy all that 2026 has to offer.
Sincerely Michal
Thank you for bringing light into this dark world and ‘reflecting’ it back to us. Buon Natale! Joyeux Noel! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all! Love your cozy house Susan❤️
I love your cozy fireplace!! I might need to look into this!
I love the fireplace! You have proven that no matter what type of home you live in, a little imagination and some elbow grease make all the difference.
I have loved going on a full moon adventure this entire year! I have beautiful pictures and wonderful memories of hopping in the car with my sweet husband who drives me to find the best place to view the moon. Thank you for making your full moon bookmarks available!
Merry Christmas, Susan! Your Willard’s are always so uplifting. I love the fireplace!
Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
Thank your for all the wonderful inspiration!
Big Hugs,
Libby
We bought a 30 year old house with white tile around the fireplace. My husband is taking used brick halves to make the hearth and surround. A good friend lost a black oak tree in a fire (we live in Northern California) and he milled a piece of that tree for our mantel. I’ll send a picture when it’s complete. We won’t have it for Christmas, but sometime in the new year. I love seeing what your Joe did!
thank you so much for the willard…i love the fireplace mantle idea for those of us without a fireplace in our home. I will have to think about where to place one in my little house. I do not have a Joe so will have to look online.
Blessings for a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The mantle is lovely! Wow! I love those fake fires! Just Rowen on YouTube has one in the van she lives in. She even made Linzer cookies in her van and decorated with greens from the forest. Cozy♥️I love Beatrix, too. Merry Christmas!
I love your new fireplace. Good job Joe!
Love it all. Merry Christmas to you and Joe. Met you on your book tour in 2015, hopefully again. You are an inspiration to keep doing what you love with those you love.
Absolutely love that fireplace! I am inspired now to try and find one for my home!
Thank you for your beautiful emails. I wait for each one to show up in my email!
Dear Susan,
I wish you and Joe a very Merry Christmas! 🎄❤️
I am in LOVE with your new mantle ~ such a cozy addition to your home, so creative, and your sweet Joe built it for you! Wishing you both the merriest of Christmases and many festive celebrations in front of your new addition!
Merry Christmas Susan.
Awe you inspire me! Your zest and joy for life are contagious!
I have a faux fireplace and a mantle. I have a family of felt mice up there this year, standing among some greenery.
I’m always excited to see something new from you. Just when I can feel a little overwhelmed this time of year your words put everything in perspective and I look at things in a better light, thank you!
Lovely fireplace! When I bought my house the chimneys had fallen in and I couldn’t afford to rebuild them. But I did leave the mantels in place and decorate them for the seasons! It’s heaven!
Merry Christmas to you and Joe! A fireplace is an absolutely fabulous thing to have! I need a place to display all my treasures, and I’m happy that you now have that space too! Blessings to you and your loved ones this holiday season and thank you for being you!
Your Joe sounds like my Buddy, they can do almost anything and make anything we want, and do. I have so many treasures made by hubs, far more priceless to me than any store bought items. Love the fireplace! It is priceless. Merry Christmas!
What fun your Willard is! Always so newsy and inspiring. Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
I love reading your Willard’s and seeing all your photos! It makes me happy! Merry Christmas!
I so enjoyed this read, and especially watching the fireplace progress. We live in a 1930’s house sans fireplace. When my son was little, I decided to make a mantel so we could properly hang our stockings for Santa. He was anxious that Santa wouldn’t be able to arrive via the door. So, off we went to that orange box store, and I bought one of those 36″ mantle-like shelves with mitered returns, which were very popular at the time (abt 2001). We mounted it on plywood and added some fluted wood trim and a plinth on each side, and painted it white. Then I cut an opening and mounted black fabric behind, much like Joe. My son was extremely worried about how Santa was going to get through that fabric!! <3. Luckily, he believed in the magic of Christmas and accepted "Santa is magic", as is, of course, the truth! We still use that mantle every year, and that happy memory of how Santa gets in warms my heart. Thank you for the bookmark, I look forward to it every year, and a very Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
Merry Christmas to all of you! You make us merry as can be! I love your new fireplace it is just the best! Have a blessed Christmas sweet ones!
Oh and all the gifts you are giving away, what a Spirit of Christmas !
Love, love, love the fireplace. Such a small change but a big impact. Merry Christmas to you and Joe.
Thank you for helping me love Christmas again. You are inspiring!
And I think I need to make my own mantel now!
You are so full of surprises!! It amazes me every month!! I guess practice makes perfect…..I, too, have a lot of Beatrix Potter’s books. I been collecting them for years! 77 of them! I intend to pass them on to my daughter when I take my final journey to heaven. I have managed to own every book you’ve written and I treasure each and every one. They do make wonderful gifts, too, for my special people! Thank you, Susan, for always giving me a reason to be enlightened! You have been given a special gift and I hope you have continued success with it!
Lovely new home Susan! Thank you for all your wonderful ideas! Merry Merry Christmas
Hi Susan and Joe, I thought I commented, but something happened and I don’t see it. 🤪try try again! You guys are transforming that place with your special magic and “can do” attitude. The mantle is amazing, and really cozies up the place. I love the way you always encourage us that if we can dream it, we can do it. Merry Christmas!!! Wishing you guys the best in 2026, and I have been praying regularly for the sale of your Martha’s Vineyard property.
What a great idea for having a fireplace in any room! I especially love the idea of the black velvet. Thanks for sharing your creativity with us. Merry Christmas!
Really look forward to your Willards. Just finished reading your trilogy and found it enjoyable and inspiring. Love your new mantel! Wishing you, Joe, Jack, and the barn kitties a magical Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
I really enjoy reading all your happy letters. You have gotten me in the Christmas
spirit! I do have a mantal and love decorating it very Christmas. In between its filled with family pictures. Happy holidays to you and Joe!
Susan: You bring so much love and light into our lives thank you. The sheer will that you and Joe have shown downsizing, moving and settling in all the while waiting for the New England house to sell must have been so nerve wracking. But you buckled down and created magic. You literally paint and plant the world that you want and then live there. You are an inspiration and we just love our Willards. We moved from CA to Washington State 5 years ago away from everyone that we knew. And we love our little bungalow and our new life. Dreams can come true. Can’t they! Merry Christmas to you and Joe. Best, Jean Beattie And yes, I would love to win!!!!
What a delightful Willard! Thank you for the bookmark. I always look forward to it and make one for myself and a dear friend. Your mantle story is the best. We are a little North of you in California and I also added a cabinet under the TV last winter with an electric fireplace insert. As soon as the days begin to get dark I turn on the fireplace (with a remote) for a lovely, cozy feel. If it does get chilly, I can even turn on the heat. Wishing you a lovely holiday season. Renee
Merry Christmas Susan!
Happy Christmas to you Susan and to Joe and Kitty 🐈⬛
Blessed 2026
Our daughter is homeschooling our granddaughter and grandson. I’m trying to remember the quote about school squashing the imagination of children…was that B.P. ??
I love receiving and reading The Willard ❤️
Happy holidays to you this season. I too love the mantle you created in your double wide. Holiday treasures are everywhere. Just need to look for them. I love reading the Willards.
Merry Christmas Susan!Enjoy your holiday
Thank you again for gifting us with your wonderful & hopeful perspective! I am so thankful for you & Joe & that you have each other!
A blessed Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas to you and Joe! Thank you for all the joy you give in your writing and creative ideas…..part of my annual holiday treats! Your seasonal books are on display for a festive decor as well as the yummy recipes. May this new year bring joyful memories and a great blossoming garden!!!!
I absolutely LOVE your fireplace…..how clever. What I love even better is your attitude & creativity to make ANY house a HOME. Isn’t it fun? Merry Christmas to you and Joe!!!!
I look forward to your Willards. Just finished reading your trilogy. I found it enjoyable and inspiring. Love your new mantel! Wishing you, Joe, Jack, and the barn kitties a magical Christmas and a New Year full of wonder!
Merry Christmas to you and Joe! Love your new fireplace! It makes your space so warm and cozy. I am also counting down the days to the Solstice. Brighter days are indeed ahead!
Merry Christmas Susan and Joe 🎄❤️
Happy to have you back in California and back where I grew up ❤️
Merry Christmas Susan and Joe 🎄❤️
Happy to have you back in California and back where I grew up ❤️
That fireplace looks fabulous!! That was soo smart of you to do, it really cozied up the room.
Fantastic mantle addition to your California home. Faux fireplace is perfect
for our mediterranean climate.
I live up in Cambria, and so enjoy all the gardening you are doing around your
place. inspiring.
And I’m so in love with Beatrix Potter and her amazing life. That she used her
funds from her book sales to save so much of the land in the lake district.
Oh my goodness, this fireplace is absolutely beautiful! Joe is one handy-dandy guy. And now you have a mantle to decorate year-round! Thank you for the chance to win your amazing giveaway. Merry Christmas to you, Joe and Jack!
PS – thank you for the moon bookmark, too. I print these out every year!
xoxo
Your mantle is amazing! It is charming.
A super idea and it looks amazing!
Nothing warms the heart year around like a fireplace, on or off!
Thanks for sharing your pictures…
Caught the bug so your little story and pics were medicine for me.
Feel a ton better.
God bless
Thank heaven for you❣️
Always a pleasure to read – love your new fireplace and the story. 🔥
Merry Christmas to all! Love seeing your mantle. My husband made bookshelves and I have many levels to cover with special things, including books! God bless all Stay well. 🎄
So beautiful! You and Joe always come up with a great solution. Blessed! Merry Christmas from Memarge in KS.
What a lovely, light-filled cozy home you’ve created for yourselves. Thank you for sharing it with us! A very Happy Winter Solstice and a very Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
I always enjoy your positive take on everything. Anytime I need brightening up, I get out one your books or read a past Willard. So glad you do what you do! Makes me dream. Thank you.
Lovely mantle. Merry Christmas!
My grandma had a set of those angel chimes. As a child, I was fascinated by them. So beautiful!
P.S. LOVE your fireplace! You and Joe make magic together.
I love reading your Willard’s, the handwriting, the drawings. Your positive outlook. It’s so comforting. I’m sorry that you’re gone to the left coast but the heart wants what it wants. I hope you’re thriving now that you’ve gone home. And I hope you keep in touch with all of us.
So many wonderful adjustments you’ve made to you home. I’m so glad you got a mantle (my favorite thing to decorate at Christmas).
I love all the lovelies you have chosen for your giveaway. Could I be so lucky??
A very Merry Christmas to you and Joe. Cheryl
Your fireplace is perfect beauty. So happy for you. Merry Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I so look forward to your Willard’s…always make me SMILE! Thank you for sharing your creativity!
Dear Sue,
You are such an inspiration to all of us with your gift for making a house a home. The mantle is lovely, and I look forward to seeing how you decorate it with the changing seasons. I am looking forward to filling my home with the smells of Christmas , as I begin baking cookies and breads for my friends. I wanted to include your chocolate shot cookies this year (substituting red and green shot). Should I use old fashioned oats or quick oats? I have both versions of the Heart of the Home cookbook, but I didn’t see it specified in either one. I will, of course, be making your Christmas morning coffee cake, as it is now a tradition in my home. Wishing you both a Merry Christmas (Jack, too, of course).
Your Joe is such a treasure,thank you for the always awaited Will adds I enjoy so .much!
Hi Susan, longtime follower here…I used to receive your correspondence by snail mail!! I still enjoy following along to see what you’re up to! Love the mantle, good job Joe. Merry Christmas!
Thank you for the wonderful homage to Beatrix Potter this month. When my children were young they never tired of hearing about Peter Rabbit and his escapades in Mr McGregor’s garden. One year the Children’s Theater in Minneapolis had a Christmas with Beatrix Potter production. It was a window into her creative process during long periods of solitude as a girl while her parents were away. Her darling characters and their world grew up all around her and she was never lonely. Beatrix deserves to be fondly remembered.
What a wonderful surprise to open my email and see that a new Willard was here! Hurray! Thank you, Susan, for always coming up with the most perfect words, thoughts, musings, and feelings to share! You make my heart happy! Your fireplace is fantastic! Superb job, Joe!
Susan Merry Christmas, I look forward to your Willards’get a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy!
Thank you, Susan, for making our world a bit brighter. I got this email and opened it immediately – I need the sunshine your newsletters provide. The world needs it! I have purchased your calendars and books and followed you for so long, I feel as if I know you and Joe. I love hearing about your adventures of settling in California. At 68, I am newly located in the Upstate of SC from Western NY so am familiar with change in the later years.
Thanks, again, for all of the beauty you bring to our world. Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
Love, Stephanie
I love the mantle -how fun! Love your love of Christmas -enjoy! Blessings!
Joe’s mantle is delightful! Like you, I have a husband who loves to make things; we are very fortunate 🙂
Merry Christmas!
To create is to set ones spirit soaring into unimaginable spaces. That Susan is what you have been able to open up for so many of us. You have penetrated the darkness that seems to always lurk here and there with your possitive humorous and cheerful light and happily pulled us along with you. May you both continue to be blessed with JOY so that we out here can experience the thrill of free flight.
Thank you !!!!!
Reading your blog is such fun!
What a lovely change! A fireplace adds so much to a home! Especially at Christmas time!
Merry Christmas from a “ neighbor “ in Thousand Oaks😊🎄!!
Thank you for the lovely blog!
Dearest Susan, thank you so much for the joy you bring to others and the exuberance you have for life. It is truly inspiring! I so enjoy your Willard and look forward to it coming. You are truly blessed to have a husband such as Joe. Such a gem. You two make a great team and it always makes me smile when you share the things you do together. May God bless you both as you draw near to Him during this Christmas season. It’s lovely to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. Have a blessed and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my home (in the heart of the central San Joaquin Valley) to yours!! God bless YOU!♥️🎄✝️🤶
Your visions are infectious to me!!! I am getting a “fireplace “ mantle!!! GENIUS; thank you for sharing another fabulous idea!!💖
Thank you for all the beauty and whimsy you bring to my life!
What a lovely fireplace Joe crafted and how fun for you to have it to decorate for all the seasons! Your giveaway looks wonderful and very generous on your part. I hope you have the merriest Christmas ever!
Dear Susan, You started this post with several cozy ideas, including warm jammies right out of the dryer. It reminded me that my beautiful black cat Felicity LOVES clothes and linens right out of the dryer. Her favorite is to climb in the giant shopping bag that I use to carry the wash to and from the machines. She naps there for a while until it all cools off, then she lets me fold everything. It’s adorable! She even loves it in the summer! Though she’ll turn herself around in the bag, and push herself out, except for her long legs. It’s a riot. I am so grateful for her. I also want to congratulate you on your interview with the Beatrix Potter Society! I remember years ago reading your blog about your long time admiration for her. Well done. May you and your family have a Merry Christmas! XOXOX, Ann
Your creativity inspires me to go forth and do likewise! Whee, what fun!!
You are so blessed to have your wonderful husband to build that beautiful mantle we all can make a house feel like a home, money doesn’t make a home, but the love and memories we make in that house.We did the opposite of you and your husband. We sold our house in S.Cal 5yrs ago, which we had luved in for 40 yrs. to move to Arkansas. YES ARKANSAS, but our son and his family were living here. We were lucky and purchased a beautiful home, but we had to make new memories, and het 40yrs of stuff to fit into this new house, Slowly we are making new memories. We have a beautiful flowers tulips, daffodils, and my favorite hydrangeas that I didn’t have in California. As a point of interest you and I grew up very near to each other you in Tarzana and me in Sherman Oaks, and going thru hurtful divorces, Love conquers all most everything.
I have followed you for years and simply love everything about your aesthetic. It brings me such joy whenever I see that another Willard is available. Merry Christmas to you and Joe. Can’t wait to see what you create in the new year.
Love to read your letters! Thank you for reminding me of all the beauty there is to see if we only look. Wishing you a Merry Little Christmas!
A fabulous mantel, Susan! Love it.
Hi Susan, Hi Joe, Jack and all the kitties. You did a wonderful job on the mantle. It looks gorgeous in all it’s Christmas finery. What a generous give-away, Susan. Several of your girlfriends are going to be very excited Wishing you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year. Hugs, Elaine
Happy December! Hugs to Jack!
What a lovely addition the faux fireplace is to your home! Lucky you!