Well, we are happy as clams because we definitely have something to hope for! The rain in California this year has been really horrible wonderful. Anyway, there's certainly been a lot of it which we need and are grateful for! And I know many of you have been suffering much more, in a deep freeze, punctuated by ice storms and blizzards, for months, and although it's cozy, I know just how much it can drive a person stir-crazy after awhile. I think I have some permanent scars from it. Makes people spread quilts in front of fireplaces during snowstorms for pretend picnics, with popsicles, things like that.

Which made me think, how can I send a breath of springtime through an email? If I could, I'd send you the smell of freshly cut grass and a bouquet of sweet peas; but there seems to be no way I can do that, or bring up the temperature, or fill your house with that first crisp spring air to fly through your rooms and shove winter out the door. We have all that to look forward to! But I can send COLOR, and flowers and lightness of heart, so put on your sunglasses ladies, pour yourself a cool one, imagine the sun pouring down and warming your bones, drenching your gardens, making birds sing and flowers grow. Because as you all know...

I went out to take photos on the only day this week it didn't rain. The hillsides are green velvet now and covered in drifts of purple lupin; daffodils are blooming at our house and very uplifting on gray days, so I wanted to show you, as I think daffodils are harbingers of HOPE (as in, if it happens here, it's bound to happen where you live!). My little picket-fence garden is just beginning to show signs of life. I did one of my 2 second VIDEOS to show you...

Here's news that will bring some springtime into your life...true harbingers of Spring are snowdrops and robins, and that's just what our new EMMA CUPS are sporting, just in, to help remind us of what is coming and maybe get a little head start on living it now.

I'm so happy to announce that my friend Sharon Lovejoy wrote a new book -- it just came out! So much work, and beautiful. I know lots of you are collectors of her books, check out her new one -- TOAD COTTAGES AND SHOOTING STARS is perfect for spring dreaming...

If you saw FOSB (Friends of Susan Branch) on FACEBOOK a few weeks ago, you saw what a good time we had at the Road to California Quilt Show! Our new BABY LOVE FABRIC was well received, so we thought some of you might like this really easy pattern for our one-of-a-kind BABY PILLOW. It's free, just to you who receive this WILLARD, free for one month, until March 19, when the pattern will go on sale to the general public on our web site. So if you like it, please download it now, it's all yours, with Love from Us.

We put lots of new fun things in the VINTAGE section of our store...that's cheerful don't you think? Antiquing from your chair is a good thing, no chance of getting wet or slipping off the porch!

Our RECIPE BINDERS have sold out a couple of times; we finally got them back in, in case you're looking for a fun scrapbooking project to take your mind off the weather and send your COLOR and creative energy into the stratosphere (where it can do the world some good). You can make a family cookbook for yourself or as a gift; it comes with stickers and papers and everything you need. This may be the last time we have these binders because a new edition is in the works for next year.

Something BRAND NEW, for you who've been wishing for GREETING CARDS. A whole DAISY BOX full of cards, forty of them in each box, two of each design for all kinds of events, from Birthday's to Missing you, and everything in between. Comes with envelopes of course, plus divider cards, and even a little book with just the right thing to say for each occasion. This is another one of those products that will be around for a while, but then will be gone forever.

What else? Oh! Have you all had a chance to see a copy of the Jan/Feb issue of La Vie Claire Magazine? Interesting interviews with lots of entrepreneurial women, and I was lucky enough to be one of them!

Have you taken yourself to see the movie The Young Victoria? It's still at some theaters, a little hard to find I've heard, but if possible, do something nice for yourself and go see it. Or wait to get it on Netflix! The gorgeous fabrics alone are reason enough! The nightgowns! The hats! The cravats! The boots! The rooms! The colors! It's all so beautiful and wonderful; it's a wonderful love story too.

Because of the rain, which refuses to cut it out, we had to cancel the FARMSTAND ANTIQUE SHOW and reschedule it...which we did. So if you need a winter break, an elongated snow day, please join us on Saturday, February 20th when we TRY AGAIN to make it happen. The Farmstand will be decked out in vintage airstreams, we have old quilts, books, dishes, furniture, linens, dried flower wreaths, all the good stuff; something for everyone, even the guys; there will be picnic tables with umbrellas and food is available, and cupcakes too. Here are the DIRECTIONS...try to come...oh yes, I'll be signing books, and Sharon Lovejoy will be my special guest, signing her new book. We think it will be a lovely day, and hope you can share it with us. If there are any weather concerns, please check with us at www.susanbranch.com for updates.

Did you smell the flowers and feel the sunshine? I hope so, I chose all the words carefully, because, like my favorite Gladys Taber says "Almost all words have color and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone's eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her too."

hope this WILLARD has you seeing Pink all day...with those proverbial rose colored glasses...Happy Buds of Spring....

P.S. Need more SPRING? We're continuing the party on our new HOME PAGE...and "Party" is truly the operative word...so come play, hear more pink words, get a new recipe, be inspired...

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