I SEE THE LIGHT!

Hello! It’s me again, with more of the same! But different, of course, especially because for the first time, I SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL! And keeping in mind that it’s the little things in life that mean the most ~ I’m only saying a quick hello, lots of little catchup things to tell you about . . . and in keeping with that, a spot of MUSICA ~ the very young voice of Frank Sinatra, to you from me, with love. I’m excited, because I finally got my own copy of the new calendar. Did you get yours yet?

I sat right down with it and read the whole thing. It made me cry. And since I love to cry for happy, I had to cry again. Kinda made my day.❤️ I hope you like it! I hope it makes you cry too. It’s about our old house on Martha’s Vineyard, but it’s really about

My other calendars are here too . . . in case this is your first time to my blog! They’re all available at my web store… 

Also some news from my Ex! Ha Ha, how often do you hear me say that? But remember when my dear old friend Cliff Branch wrote a book called American Made? It had some very sweet pages about me in it. It’s that one, up there on the right. ↗️ Well, that was 10 years ago, believe it or not, and he has just written a sequel, the one on the left. He’s a great writer, they’re both really interesting, especially to us lucky baby boomers who lived through it all, because there are so many good memories in these books ~ & they’re both FILLED with photos. And since the first book leads into the second one and the second one refers to the first one, it’s a continuing story, and so, “for Susie (as he and his mom called me) and her Girlfriends,” he has given us a special deal: BOTH books for $9. That’s it, and no shipping charges. He just wanted to. So sweet. So if you’d like to sit in your armchair and take a little trip back in time, go to www.Americanmadestory.com Just put in the code SUSAN10 when you’re checking out, and voila! ♥️

And if you are new here and have no idea who Cliff Branch is, then you might like my book, Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams, which includes the story of how I got to Martha’s Vineyard and why I moved there. And it’s a LOT easier to order right now, because it just came back from the printer, and after a year’s wait, it’s back in stock!👏

And this one too, AUTUMN, is back in stock in the NICK of time. Aren’t you already thinking about Fall? Me too.🍁

And because it’s SUMMER, don’t forget my new updated Summer Book ~ we just got in the second printing of that! The best way to cool off, is stay in and read! Or, go to the air conditioned library, and read! Or to the park, or listen to a good book in a cool bath ~ and what ELSE is good, you might be asking, what have you read lately? . . .  Well, I have a good one for you! It’s a charming, well-written love story called The Echo Of Old Books by Barbara Davis. I loved it! Read it on my walk (listened to it!). Cried at the end. Right out there on the road. And despite what you might think, I’m not that easy of a crier! Only if my heart gets touched. And, of course, when they sing, “we are the world, we are the children . . . 🥲” Anyway the book is kind of like 3 stories all happening at once starting in New York in the 1920s, and ending, after lots of mystery, in New England the 1980s. Each character tells their own side of it because all 3 of them wrote their own book about it. You’ll see. Be sure to tell me what you think! Now I’ve started, finally, after all these years, listening to Mark Twain’s Masterpiece, Huckleberry Finn. I have never read it. But I owe it to myself I think. I’m a few chapters in, and I’m pretending I’m back in the 1870s when this book came out trying to relate to it from that point of view. I already love Mark Twain with all my heart. Something tells me I will feel it all over again when I finish this.💝   

Next, because it is still summer and what is more summer than a yard sale, except for perhaps an ESTATE SALE, which is what we are finally having at our old house on the island, THIS COMING WEEKEND!! Finally!  So if you’re in the area of Martha’s Vineyard,  this is the ad running in the local Vineyard paper: “Estate Sale: July 25-26, 70 Spring Street, Vineyard Haven, 10am-3pm both days. Park on the street or at Tisbury School. Numbers given out at 10 am. A unique collection of little things and big things from Susan Branch and Joe Hall after 36 years in their beloved house.”  Don’t worry, we’ve had many yard sales there before, our house is good at it. Very Experienced.  And this one will be inside, not in the garden! BTW, in the spirit of full disclosure, don’t expect the pink dishes to be there, I finally couldn’t take it anymore and at the last minute,  the Rose Chintz are being shipped out here! 💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼

 OK, I don’t know how I get anything done . . . It has now been unofficially spring in our part of California since around the last day of February. I’ve had MONTHS of spring fever. Clean, clear days, the windows and doors wide open, the air filled with soft breezes, sun-splotched garden, zipping hummingbirds and birdsong, roses and poppies and our two new lavender Crepe Myrtles in their first bloom, with temps hovering around 68ish. We’ll pay, El Nino is coming this winter. But right now, it is 100% Spring Fever all day every day! I’m not complaining, this is a dream come true, but you tell me, HOW is a person supposed to stay in her chair???? 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

There is no escaping it, this is the view from the Laundry Room!! I’m doomed! Chimes ring softly in the breeze which we can hear from every window, birds peep too . . . 

The bees buzz and flit, the butterflies flutter, our big Albizzia tree is shady and full of pink flowers . ..🌸🌸🌸

And there’s a party in the wildflower orchard! (Now this, a song that makes me happy to sing for the rest of the day!💖)  Mas Musica!

Sun breaks through beach fog that visits our valley early mornings . . . 

Shining so brightly on the poppies that you can see every hair on their stems.

But I have no time for it, I started writing our new book in February and thought HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I might have it done by the end of March! ROTFLOL. Not. Because then I thought April, then I thought June, then I thought oh no, we’ll probably be on the road in August🥵, but we dodged the bullet on that one… because I wanted this book to be extra good, I kept adding, and soon it was a completely different book. I had to give it a new name! I only thought about the time going by when I WASN’T working. When I was, it was like I had all the time in the world. Extra good came before anything common sense-ish, like getting it done. That’s the good news and the bad news. In the end, it will be all good news. And what matters more than the end?

Once I got it into my mind that this might be my last book, there were several things I felt I needed to say, and write,

just in cases, so it went from the planned Christmas Book update of about 144 pages, to a whole new book called Comfort and Joy, and it was all about Winter (look there’s the Rose Chintz dishes!), winter parties, Valentines, and Girlfriends, how to overcome the dark-time blues, winter projects, but of course with lots of Christmas, and 200 pages! And even when I got to March in the book, I still had to put a teeny bit of Spring in it! It’s always taken me forever to write a book, I knew that, but for this one, there was one thing I forgot to faction in: Old age. I don’t WANT to work 17 hour days anymore. Well, it’s really more like I CAN’T. Well I could, but I would be dead. So, I have to outwit the death part with DELICIOUS naps, and walks with my book, and early-to-bed, and go-ahead-sleep-in-till-5 in order to get it done! Which I joyfully report, I AM. IT’S ALMOST DONE. I SEE THE LIGHT! and, I’M STILL HEALTHY!! As my mom always said, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” 

I am rather proud. I always wanted to be 80 with a new book coming out, but not taking chances, I’m 79 with a new book coming out. Going to England when I’m 80! When I think how happy my Dad would be to see how happy I am, with all the gifts he and my mom and all those luvlee ancestors who came before bestowed upon me, I think you know what that makes me? YUP! Happy!Not sure if I showed you the new cover, with the new title? Well, here it is!💖

And here’s the end papers . . .

And here’s the title page . . .♥️That is the page I will be signing when I meet you on the book tour when this book is finally in my hot little hands. They say it will take 3 months to print it once they receive it, which I am praying is at the end of this month. This is why I GOTTA GO!♥️

But not before this! No way. This is dessert! My eyes are bugging out in this photo for a reason . . . GUESS WHAT IT IS? (PS Why does my hair look brown in pictures when in real life it’s gray? Looks brown in the bathroom mirror too, but outdoors it’s practically white. Does anybody else’s hair do this? If so, what’s your take on it?) 

This expression says, OMG, they’re here! I have waited FOREVER. Do I dare open it? Because if I do, all the anticipation has to go away. Maybe I shouldn’t open it. I see Joe’s scrunched up face and realize he’s right. OPEN IT! So I drag the box opener across the top, verrrrry slowly, dragging out the moment, a little scared of what I might find inside. So many ways things could go wrong, but so many ways they could go RIGHT! I quiet those thoughts by speeding up, pull out all the packing stuff, and oh yeah . . . it’s them . . .⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Look at them. Are they adorable or what!🤩 There is only one answer to that from my perspective! And they’re exactly as worn as I hoped they’d be, clearly having seen lots of fun in their time. I can’t wait till they start talking to me! They still have plenty of life in them. We are PERFECT for each other. Note, She never threw them away. Another reason to love her. Even though she had a jillion newer pairs. They are THAT good . . . old, and used, and kept forever. 💞

Oh yes, they have the Louis Vuitton logo on the backs. They were definitely hers! Will they fit? So I can walk in Diane Keaton’s shoes? OH! PS! I’m so lost in thought of how this felt I just realized I forgot to say that these are Diane Keaton’s shoes I bought in that online auction last month!!! A pure miracle that I got them! I assume everyone knows, but that’s almost funny . . . YES!!! They’re Here! It really has been a red letter month.

But, yes, the question is still there, WILL THEY FIT…   

Off go the Skechers, on go Diane Keaton’s shoes, my very first designer ANYTHING, except for Laura Ashley of course. I felt like a rough Cinderella sliding my foot into this shoe. Wiggling my toes. They fit! Like buttah . . . of course they fit! They had to fit! We were meant for each other! 🥰

They are just right. Good with jeans, good with skirts.Even Joe likes them. And I love them. I wish they were auctioning off Beatrix Potter’s flowered hat & Mark Twain’s white vest! Can you imagine? What an outfit I would make!

Well, whew! I did a blog, and I did it fast! I just wanted to say hello and let you know all is well and that things are humming along. The kitties are wonderful and we are proud to say, they have us fully trained. We’re fast learners! They are really NICE kitties, and funny, and full of silly antics as cats always are.

Joe treats me like a princess, he feeds me every day the most delicious things, and does all the grocery shopping. The wind beneath my wings, besides taking care of all the shipping stuff and planting an occasional tree. We are in this together.♥️  

Off I go, back to work! Writing the Index next! Getting close! I can finally say, I’ll see you soon! Love you all! Be good to yourselves! ❌⭕️❌⭕️