Susan Branch's Blog, page 32

Light the Candles and Set the Table

“Traveling is all very well if you can get home at night.  I would be willing to go around the world if I could be back in time to light the candles and set the table for dinner.” ♥ Gladys Taber.

           MUSICA

What a week!  We had a wonderful time in Connecticut, but it is so nice to be home!  Here we are on board the ferry heading back to Martha’s Vineyard the slow way.  We’ll be home in time to light the candles and set the table for dinner.

There’s the lighthouse and some of the little cottages along the shore . . . Good clues for knowing we’re almost home.

There are a few wooden schooners like this that live permanently in the Vineyard Haven harbor.  So beautiful, love catching glimpses of them under sail. Wind, sea, seagulls crying, more lovely hints that we are drawing nearer. 

When we see the church spires, we know we’re there . . .

And now, here I am bright sunny Monday morning . . . Waking up to the quiet, to the going-nowhere-today, to birds singing and morning sun slanting through the maple trees . . .to a cup of tea and . . .

To the kitties, here’s Jack posing, Girl took off the moment I pulled out the camera. I checked to see what Vanna was doing, and found her bed empty.  She’s not even home.  The nerve of some peoples’ children. There was a note “Be back soon.”  OK.

Then I thought, “Good. I have it all to myself.” First thing I did was walk out to see what grew while we were gone.  We had a good drenching rain storm, so the mock orange (left) and the pink Beauty Bush are cascading over each other and smelling like exotic perfume. 

Pink perfection “Linda Porter” (named for Cole Porter’s wife, he wrote the song you’re listening to) is blooming.

I picked strawberries for breakfast . . .

And washed one

Y U M !

I got the laundry going and started hanging it on the line. I really wanted to come in and update the Blog, and pick the winners, but would you look at this day! So, you may have noticed, I’m late.

I suppose one of these days we will have to cut the beauty bush back, we can barely get through it to get to the back garden, but probably we won’t be doing it today.

Hello to the Goldfinches . . .

So here’s what we’ve been up to since we last talked . . . We’ve been away ~ I was asked to speak and sign A FINE ROMANCE at the annual meeting of the Friends of Gladys Taber, in Danbury Connecticut.  If you don’t know who Gladys Taber is, you can read more about her HERE. But she is an author that I have loved since I discovered her many years ago.  So I was honored and thrilled when they invited me to tell the story of how I found one of my heroes ~ it’s just another odd and wonderful way to find out how connected we all are, even when it is least expected!

The day before I was to give the talk, Joe and I were invited to see Stillmeadow Farm, and the 1690 farmhouse in Southbury, CT that Gladys Taber called home ~ many of her books are centered on this house. Here I am arriving at Stillmeadow for the first time in my life. I am verklempt. 

Because what does anyone do when they see a fabled place for the first time?  They cry, tears pop out horizontally. I thought I was strong, but the moment I got out of the car, I was mincemeat.  Gladys’ granddaughter Anne had come out that door to greet me and what did she find?  Mincemeat. The moment I saw the house, my imagination jumped to the picture of Gladys and her best friend Eleanor seeing this adorable little place for the first time, and saying, “I’ll take it!”

The house is not a museum, it’s still family owned, and I don’t think anything has been changed or moved since Gladys lived here. For about two hours, Joe and I had the privilege of wandering around Stillmeadow taking pictures, visiting with Anne, hearing her stories, drinking her tea, eating her cake.  In addition to writing books, Gladys raised thoroughbred cocker spaniels and this iron bootscraper on the windowsill is one of the little reminders you notice here and there around the house.

Gladys was born in 1899, she lived through two world wars and the great depression, and died on Cape Cod in 1980, but despite the turmoil in the world, she managed to carve out a “safe space” for herself, where peace and contentment reigned supreme ~ she stayed happy and grateful her whole life.  She wrote fifty-nine books (all out of print now, but still available in used bookstores and flea markets if you are lucky ~ collecting them is part of the fun), about one a year for her whole writing career beginning around 1925. She also wrote homemaking columns such as her “Butternut Wisdom” for women’s magazines.  She was a hard worker and very prolific, very wise and very funny.

Here I am standing in front of the famous fireplace where Gladys would simmer baked beans and other wonderful things during the wild snowstorms she described in her books.  I was wishing it would start snowing. Snow us right in so we would have to spend the night! “Oh darn,” I would say!

See Gladys granddaughter, Anne, in the mirror?  She is telling Joe how she’s working to upgrade and protect Stillmeadow and the surrounding countryside, and these days that’s not as easy as it sounds.

Speaking of sounds . . . Mas MUSICA?  Something for Gladys.

There is a wonderful movie called “Christmas in Connecticut.”  Have you seen it? Because if you haven’t, you have something to look forward to!  Write it down and save it for this Christmas.  You will love it!  One of the most adorable movies ever, starring Barbara Stanwyck and lots of other wonderful actors.    Supposedly this movie was loosely based on the Gladys Taber Ladies Home Journal Column called “The Diary of Domesticity,” started in 1945.  As you can see from my photos, Gladys’ living room didn’t quite look like the one in the movie version ~ she lived the life she wrote about; simple, humble, and very real. 

Here we are in her tiny kitchen where “the cheese melts, the butter sizzles and the cream sauce bubbles.”

You can see, as my sister would say, this is a one-butt kitchen.

Not like the kitchen in the movie . . .

There’s an old spinning wheel and the house is filled with old books. Stillmeadow is not open to the public.  There is no support money arriving from anywhere.  It is just as Gladys left it, not really so long ago. 

We readers of Gladys Taber all know how much she loved milk glass, and here it is, in the corner cupboard, just as she described it.

Here are the stairs to the second floor, straight up, almost like a ladder, with a rope to hold onto.

Here are the stairs in the movie. I like them both.  

Upstairs, three tiny bedrooms, still in use.

With quiet views of a quiet place. The same view people saw here three hundred years ago, when Stillmeadow was new.

I love all these old headboards and footboards, look how beautiful the wood is. Anne spent part of her childhood here.  

This is Gladys’ bedroom . . . The daybed (on the right) is where her desk and typewriter were.  

“I suppose I am a sparrow, a stay-at-home-bird.” ♥ Gladys Taber

Her desk was in front of the window on the left.  The books are just as she left them.

I told Anne that the house reminded me of Beatrix Potter’s house, it was like an English house, and she said, “Well, it was an English house!”  Yes, oh my, she’s right, because in 1690, when this house was born, this was Southbury, England!

Then Joe and I went outside to wander around ~ Anne and her husband David are doing lots of work on the house, working to put it into better shape, the way it was when her grandmother lived here.

These old houses are so “natural” they could be compost within a very short time!

This is a famous spot in Gladys’ books called the “Quiet Garden.”  Over the years, the trees grew thick over it and growing things were shaded out, most of the garden has disappeared, but do you see the new posts?  Anne and David did those just recently.  They are bringing it back.  The reason it’s called “Quiet” is because it was fenced in with a gate; it was one of the few places on the forty acres that the dogs were not allowed.

This is Gladys in her glory, and we can judge her heart to be the best.

Thyme used to grow between the stones, roses tumbled over the picket fence, and will do again someday; they are planning to thin the trees that grow around the Quiet Garden. Once the sun shines on it again, it will be fun to see just what comes back on its own!

Here’s the old well.  This was the topic of conversation for Joe and I (our Morning Science episode) for our walk through the woods today.  How was it, we asked ourselves, on a drizzly, icy, snowy afternoon, to pull up a bucket of chilled water from the well (because you had no running water in your house so this is what you had to do), fill a pail, carry it inside, then go out (brrrrr!) and get another, and another until you had enough, and then heat it over a fire, and start filling a tub for your bath.   Then go bake the bread for dinner. And make a quilt.   We are baby food compared to our ancestors.  But they had something over us.  They had quiet. Pure, clean, sparkling like stars (and lots of them), deep-breath quiet. Maybe a jingle of reins, maybe a clip-clop of the horses. Church bells. But that was it. No dishwasher noise, no TV, no radio, no cars, no beeping things or phone answering machines, no snow blowers or leaf blowers or lawn mowers or hair dryers, and no, “you’ve got mail.”  

Deep breath . . . Mountain laurel runs rampant around Stillmeadow and the Connecticut countryside in general.

This is the new fence that David and Anne have been building.

This is the unpaved street in front of Stillmeadow. Much effort to conserve this area has been inspired by Gladys and taken up by many others who live nearby. In your heart, you look at it and you say, please never change.

Because it’s lovely to take a walk up this quiet road, see the beautiful old houses and red barns and smell the green things growing.

And listen to the water fall . . .

So now it’s time to go.  There are almost 200 people coming for the Reunion . . . and thanks to Anne, they will all have a chance to tour Stillmeadow.  A rare occurrence, so there’s lots of excitement in the air.

We get ourselves together, put our cameras away, and off we go . . . I have to practice my speech!  Two Hundred People, Yikes!  I was not born to get up in front of two hundred people.  I will do it, for the cause, but I am wicked scared.

The big day has arrived.  Here I am with Susan Turnley, the hard-working editor of the wonderful Gladys Taber Newsletter. (Saving the memory and legacy of Gladys Taber is not a money-making enterprise, no one is paid, everyone does what they do with the fervent wish that Gladys Taber books and wisdom will be around to help in any small way to guide the future. If you’d like to help, you can sign up HERE and receive your very own copies of the best Newsletter I’ve ever seen. Thank you Linda, Carol, Nancy, Vernon, Louella, Paul, and Teresa!)  Susan is introducing me, and giving me a gift, which turns out to be this adorable little children’s book about lambs!

The perfect thing for me, because I am crazy about lambs!

Published in 1931 ~ Just my cup of tea.

“It’s not that I belong to the past, but the past belongs to me.” ♥ Mary Antin

So now it was time to face the MUSICA . . . these people made it easy . . .

I thought about putting some of my talk here, but the way I discovered Gladys Taber will be in my new book ~ my talk wasn’t short ~ I’ve already kept you waaaaay too long, and I’m not even done yet!  We still have our drawing!  I woke Vanna, she is stirring!

The best part about being here was this lovely group of kindred spirits.  Can you see the little girl ↑ at the first table, she’s looking at her camera (I think) wearing a light pink top and has dark hair? 

Here she is, you might remember this photo of her, her name is Kate ~ her grandmother sent this to show her reading A FINE ROMANCE.  She was there, so you can see, I was among friends!

And then, too soon (Susan and I planned to do this a year ago, it’s been in the future for so long), it was over, and we were on our own again, doing what we do best, traveling the backroads in our rolling billboard toward home, stopping at antique stores and bookstores, 

Doing our best to help support the country people by stopping at their darling nurseries and buying flowers for the front porch.

OK, Here we go, Girlfriends . . . the big moment has come!

OH VANNA?  We are so ready honey, come on down! (Still groggy, feet clomping in pink satin slippers, sweeping down kitchen stairs now, she had a big day yesterday, I should start another blog called Life of Vanna.) She’s wearing one of those black satin eye-shaped masks that keep out the light, the ones with the eyes embroidered in pink thread ~ pushed up on her head. But she’s pulling out the names with her normal verve and style, she can do this in her sleep, despite the kajillion names on tiny pieces of paper, like confetti . . . between these last two posts, we had over 4,000 comments.  Yes, dearest girlfriends, this is definitely a record around here!    

OK, here we are, Winner #1, for the unbound proofs of my 2015 wall and mini calendars . . . the winner is . . .

 

Gwyn Whelband! A Girlfriend in Australia!  Congratulations Gwyn!

And now . . . fingers crossed that YOU are the winner . . . behind door number Two, the signed HEARTS and FLOWER quilt made from my Martha’s Vineyard Fabrics goes to . . .

Roxanne (the Roxanne with a pie stand in her kitchen)

Congratulations Roxanne!!!

And, here we go, door number THREE, my Tea Party fabric collection, including a bolt of yellow bees, the Little Fat Quarters, and the baby fabric . . . (I hate to even announce this last winner, I would so like it to be all of you! But it must be done . . . and we do have small consolation prizes for everyone)  HERE WE GO, the winner is . . . yikes, I’m even nervous saying it . . . 

Linda from Idaho!!!

Congratulations Linda!  And to all of you lucky winners!!! Look for an email in your boxes from me!  Send me your addresses so we can get everything off to you!  Thank you to everyone who put their name in . . . I’m determined to keep giving things away until everyone’s got something!  It’s getting harder, but I’ll keep trying, so watch for the next Giveaway!

Now, the consolation prizes, and then you are free to go live your life, in the spirit of Gladys Taber: listening to the birds, enjoying the little things in life.  Little things like this: 

Don’t let summer go by without trying this amazing Lemonade, it’s like no other!  It will cheer you right up!

And for you all, because your creative heart shone through in your wonderful comments (that I will never get over actually), a special BOOKMARK just for my Girlfriends ~ you can print it out on card stock . . . from me to you with love and gratitude.♥  

And now, on to my next “project.”  Four of my best high school girlfriends are coming from California on Friday for four days!  . . .

Cathy, Marilyn, Lynn, and Karen ↑ (that’s Karen on left, me on right ~ yes, Karen’s the one I met the Beatles with!) I need to get out my old photo albums!  Planning menu, island tour, fluffing bedrooms (throwing rubber bands for Jack, hugging Girl Kitty, my work is cut out for me).  This is their first time on Martha’s Vineyard!  Who’s more excited, me or them?  Has to be me!

Bye for now Girls, Keep in touch!  I hope you have a wonderful day! One more bit of brilliance to cheer your day . . . look at this!  Fred and Eleanor and more Cole Porter. The end is positively spectacular!

Blog Daddy!

Good Morning from rainy Danbury, Connecticut and hello everyone, especially Blog Daddy!  You know what?  I had planned to announce the winner of our Anniversary Drawing last Tuesday!  But every time I went to do it, there were another 200 comments! So I’ve been waiting. And “moderating” — which is what I have to do because there is too much spam mixed in with all your nice comments and I need to delete it.  Plus, I love to read what everyone says, so it takes me a while to get the comments all up ~ especially when we are traveling the countryside in our Fine Romance van!  BUT, I just did it.  Your comments, dear Girlfriends, are like manna from heaven.  Thank you so much, you know how much I love our give and take . . . it’s a two way street, the love boomerangs off me, and back on you, back to me, back to you ~ and that’s how it’s always been. ♥ XOXO  And now, MUSICA for our Blog Daddy. 

I think I should wait til I get back home to announce the winners for the drawing.  #1, because I’d like to make sure everyone has this last chance to sign up, but #b. we’re away and I think Vanna had a party at the house last night with all her elegant and enchanting friends, because she won’t answer the phone this morning!  We can’t do it without Vanna!  So why am I here you may ask? Well, Father’s Day is Sunday!  And so, no matter where I am, my dearest Blog Daddy needs to feel the love.  Here we are, my dad and I in Durango Colorado, listening (and dancing) to my brother Chuck and his band.  My brother wrote a song once that goes “I’m so lonesome in my saddle since my horse died” that is beyond hilarious.  I should write the words for you someday. I keep trying to get him to sing it on Youtube so I can put it up here.  He is the highlight of our family reunions. ♥

  That’s me and my dad up there, I have a pencil in my mouth . . . why, I do not know.  But this message is for all our dads, brothers, uncles, husbands, boyfriends, and all the good garden-building, grocery-shopping, animal-loving, memory-making,funny-song-singing, laundry-doing, blog-reading, bacon-bringing, hammer-wielding, non-tail-gating, mommy-hugging, baby-kissing, help-providing, Good Daddies of the World.  Here’s to you! ♥  We really do adore you!  (Dad, Harfaparfy farfatharfer’s darfay tarfu yarfu, tharfuh tarfee sharfirts afar arfin tharfuh marfail. ) Secret message in family language to my dad from the last of the big time spenders ♥. 

 And so, that’s all for now . . . Tomorrow is our big event here at Gladys Taber’s house (Stillmeadow) in Southbury.  It’s very exciting for me ~ I’ve got my camera and Joe has his and we’ll give you the full rundown very soon.  Until then, a couple more days to sign up for our drawing, and I will see you soon!!! Love you! Gotta go practice my speech!  XOXO

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Happy Anniversary Girlfriends!  MUSICA 

Today is the day we’re going to begin our June celebration for two wonderful events ~ It was June 11, 2009 that we started connecting with our wonderful Friends on Facebook.  Two years later, on June 9, 2011, the Blog went live (still quiver when I think about it) and our connection to our Girlfriends began! That’s pretty good! But it makes me wonder, why June?  I didn’t plan it that way, in fact I was kind of surprised to see how close the dates were.  Maybe we were inspired because it’s such a pretty month. I’ll tell you one thing, it smells like heaven here on the island.  The Beauty Bush and the Mock Orange are in bloom (to name just two), I picked my first four strawberries today and look at the foxgloves!

Magic.♥ One more reason to celebrate.   

Three years ago, when I first started blogging I had NO idea how it would go ~ “going live” was so scary! I wondered how people would find me, and if they would even come.  I  knew how I wished it would go and tried my best to make it something everyone would like, hoping everyone liked dishtowels, dishes, and old movies as much as me! Any of you with a blog knows exactly what I’m talking about. Saying to yourself as you are writing a post or putting something up on Facebook, “I hope they like this!” then letting the chips fall where they may! Scary! And first time you’re “liked!”  Or, then, to be “shared!”  How wonderful it is to get your first comment!  How amazing to have your first give-away! And that excitement and amazement really hasn’t gone away.  Traveling to England together put the frosting on the cake. I loved it so much, we’ll definitely do it again (yes we will!).  I just wish there were more hours in the day for blogging. Such a creative way to connect with kindred spirits.  So how do we celebrate?  Easy:  By saying “Thank You” to everyone who helps to make this dream come true.  Which would be YOU, thank you very much.♥ 

As many of you know, it has been my dream for years, way before there was any such thing as a blog or even the Internet, that the people who’ve written me such wonderful personal letters (since 1987 when my first book came out and I started getting mail), could meet each other. The letters were so nice, so full of love, I always thought it would cheer people up to know that despite what we see and hear on the news, the world is filled with wonderful home-loving, creative, family-adoring people, in all countries, all parts of the world, and even in countries where we might think our “enemies” live.

  Even there, the cities and towns are filled with regular tea-drinking, flower-growing, music-loving, tender-hearted, soup-making, peace-loving kinds of people just like you and me.  You just don’t hear that much from them because the other kind are so obnoxious and loud.  But there are many more of our kind of person in this world than of the obnoxious ones. Truly. No matter how different we may look from each other on the outside. And we need to band together in our appreciation for beauty and a gentle way of life.  It must be scary to live in a land where the maniacs have the keys to the castle. You would probably feel trapped and worried about your children all the time.  Let’s pray for them, and then give them this place, and each other, to meet and celebrate the little things that make life sweet ~ and especially, all the ways we are so very much alike. They like apples, we like apples. They like gorgeous blue tablecloths ~ we like gorgeous blue tablecloths.  They like picnics and the sounds of nature and going barefoot, and we do too! They like starry nights and big moons and us too! It’s an amazingly wonderful beautiful world.

Imagine all the people, living life in peace ~ You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one . . .

So, to celebrate all of this and all of us, we are having not One, not even Two, but Three Give-aways in this blog post, and this contest is open to everyone everywhere on the planet! If someone in a faraway land is chosen in this drawing, we will mail their package to wherever they would like it to go.  Because it is true, we are the world. What the Internet has brought has surpassed my wildest dreams . . . I thought it would be good, but I didn’t know it would be this good! So here we go, let’s start off with some inspiration! Mas Musica? Frank? Oui!♥ 

You should probably get a cup of tea or something cold to drink . . . this could be a long one!  The inspiration for this giveaway came from a request in a Girlfriend’s comment a couple of months back ~ she asked, “Could we see more of your quilt collection.”  Oh boy, yes, you can!  Here we go!

From the very first quilt I got, which happens to be the one my Great Grandma made for my Grandma who then gave it to me, it’s always been the colors. I love the old-fashioned fabrics, the soft pastels and simple patterns and I love that they used lots of white. These are the colors that inspired my watercolors.

A little worn, a little faded, and never signed.  Just so lovely and artistic, and humble and oh, if they could talk.  You know they were made by creative women, and often in groups.  Could we please listen in on one of those conversations, oh dearest back-in-time genie?

All those tiny little hand-made stitches. I have so much appreciation for this art.

It’s easy to relate to the hearts that made them.

I made a few quilts when I was young, never as beautiful as this one, but then I learned to paint, so I painted quilts instead, and I learned to go to antique stores and there I found old quilts . . .  which I’ve collected for years . . . now I drape them over sofas . . .

It’s not a huge collection, and I don’t have all the scientific information on them, I just like to drape them on bedroom chairs . . .

at the ends of the beds . . . so I can look at them and be charmed and feel happy.

I like them in the kitchen in the winter, folded over the back of a chair, even though it really doesn’t make any sense, I just like to look at them . . .

At one time I had a “Heart of the Home” store on the Central Coast of California where I sold a few vintage quilts whenever I could find them (or part with them).  These were in a pile in a corner of the store, they weren’t for sale, only for inspiration, so my shopper Girlfriends could see how pretty a stack of quilts can be and begin the search to get a stack for themselves.

From the beginning, my watercolors were influenced by the beauty and the colors of these quilts. I painted what I loved. I don’t make stitches so much anymore, I paint them.

You can kind of see quilt-influence in the things I’ve made in the past . . . everything feels a little like a 1930′s quilt.

The other big influence on my watercolors was the dish variation of the quilt.  To me quilts and dishes have everything in common: home, practicality, love, beauty, history, delicacy and most of all, that color again. They also reach out when I walk by at a flea market, take my hand and say right out loud, I’m going home with you. And I say, thank you, I could not agree more.

I love painting my own rendition of pattern ~

Almost as much as I love finding and collecting old dishes…

You see? Dishes ↑ and Quilt fabric ↓ ~ See the resemblance?  Kissing cousins.

Especially when it’s me choosing the colors.

This is fabric from my long extinct “Tea Party” Collection of fabric.

And lots more than quilts was made from those designs. These were made at the wonderful embroidery studio at Crabapple Hill. They sell the great old-fashioned embroidery patterns you see here and in the photo before this one and lots more.♥

Even this Tea Tin is a “sub-unit” (made that up, like it) from the design of quilt fabric.

And because of the fact that all of this fabric is now gone from the market place, and there’s no more available anywhere . . . except right here in my hot little hands, the First Give-away turns out to be everything you see here . . . except of course Jack.  He is not included.

I hope everyone likes yellow, because the words “everything is included” means this bolt of several yards of “Honeybee Yellow” fabric.

In addition, I found a yard (or maybe a little more) of each of these three fabrics, from my “Sweet Baby” collection, the dot, the check and the lambs with the hearts. In they go!

And yes, “everything” includes a complete set of the “Tea Party” Collection in “Little Fat Quarters.” 

Little Fat quarters and the bolt of bees (and the little lambs), and also a gift card from me to the winner of the drawing with love.

You can see better some of the fabrics in the pile of Fat Quarters.  I hope someone out there can put them to good use!  OK, so that is Giveaway # 1!  This officially puts us on . . .

. . .’cause here comes the rest of the Give-aways!

Next? OK, this is Give-away number #2.  Again, the cat is not included (but try taking a picture without him in it!). What these are are the unbound proofs for our brand new 2015 Wall and Mini Calendars ~ you can’t hang them, but they’re just too nice to throw away. The color is beautiful, they’re on heavy paper so I thought possibly, someone would like these, maybe to do some scrapbooking with?

Here is Jack with the Mini Calendar, you can see, the pages aren’t hooked together . . . every time I try to take a picture, he jumps into the middle of it, he makes me laugh. Kissing occurs.

But here’s more of the inside of the Mini Calendar — lots of bookmark-making or card-making possibilities here too!  Knowing you, there are a 1000 possibilities!

And here’s some of the art from the Wall Calendar.  Both calendars have been approved and the finished products should be arriving at the Studio any day now.  So this is Give-Away #2, both of these brand new calendars, and both signed.

(Oh, don’t worry, in case you were, the big Blotter Calendar is still on schedule for shipping in late August.)

And Now, Number Three Give-away to celebrate our FOSB Girls and our Blog Girlfriends, this 53″ x 74″ quilt made with my “Martha’s Vineyard” Collection of fabrics, also quite extinct and no longer available (except for today, here).

The pattern is called  ”Hearts and Flowers” ~ I designed it and it was made and presented to me by the fabric manufacturer. 

And I signed it with the year it was made . . . this little quilt is behind door #3 of our Drawing.  I hope one of these doors suits your fancy!

And FYI, we still do have a few bits and pieces of some of the fabric collections, still have a few patterns for aprons, pillowcases, and appliqued dishtowels, many of which are free (especially our really cute gored apron).  Just go HERE.

Girl Kitty thinks it’s all just lovely. She likes quilts too.

One more rather exciting thing! My AUTUMN book went to the printer yesterday!  I’m so very proud to announce that the Tenth Anniversary Edition of AUTUMN from the Heart of the Home will be in stores by October first!  Autumn will be published in the USA by Spring Street Publishing, and just so you know, this new edition is exactly like the first edition in every way except this one comes complete with a ribbon bookmark and will have a different publisher.  (We weren’t completely in charge of the ribbon the last time, this time we are, so voila, we get one!) 

All my most favorite recipes and most inspiring ideas for Autumn fun, both indoors and out, are there. Pumpkin Cheesecake!  Corn Pudding! 

Including crafts and sewing, because Autumn is the most creative time of the year, all that good Back-to-School energy never goes away! First whiff of September and I want to make something!  And Yes, we are having a Pre-sale for the book, beginning TODAY.  We have ordered an early shipment of books to be sent to the studio just for our Girlfriends.  We always seem to run out of everything (no matter how carefully we plan), it seems to be our M.O. but if you have ordered a book in our web store, you are guaranteed to get it the minute they come in, before we begin shipping to the bookstores and Amazon.  Although the publication date is October first, we will start shipping your books by the middle of August and maybe even sooner if we get lucky!  Perfect timing, because by then, we are going to be yearning for those fall breezes.  (But not yet.)

And one more thing, if you are the kind of person who likes to do their Christmas Shopping early, here is a combination that will give you something to give away and something to keep, a win-win.  To celebrate our Anniversaries, we’ve bundled the two books for a very special, limited-offer, thank-you-for-being-here price.♥

You all know how to enter the drawing ~ it’s easy, just leave a short comment below and in a few days we’ll draw names. (For those to whom the blog is mailed, you should click here www.susanbranch.com, scroll to the bottom of the post, look for the tiny letters that say, “comment” ~ click there and leave your comment. I don’t know why, but the senders of the email blogs do not include a way to leave a comment.)

  I will warn Vanna to exercise a bit more this week, clear her head, get that arm pumped ~ she has a big job choosing three winners!  The first name chosen will win prize number one (fabric bundles) the second name chosen will get the calendars, and the third will have the signed quilt. And I’ll email the winners and let them know the minute I know.

I’m going back to the garden.  I’m reading Gladys Taber in preparation for next week!  Very exciting!  Makes for a very nice life, reading this book, and smelling the flowers.  Hope the same for you.  Love you, Girlfriends.  Happy Anniversary! XOXO

WE MADE IT HOME!

Yes, we made it home.  But I thought you might enjoy some New York MUSICA and a few big city scenes before we go back to small world reality.

We caught the Island Home for our return trip on the MOST beautiful day.  I must say, the weather for our whole trip was brilliant!  Cool enough for a sweater, warm enough for basking.

Here we are tooling along, we’ve just turned out of the city onto the FDR Drive going north past the east river toward Connecticut.

Lots of I-95, the Connecticut Turnpike is very very ugly, which I’ve always found hard to understand because Connecticut is so beautiful, how did they let this hideous road run right along next to the shore???  I don’t know! (venting time)  But since Joe was born and raised in Connecticut he has this other “secret” road to take us on instead.  It’s not a very big secret, and it’s not a very big road, it’s called the Merritt Parkway.

It’s famous for the beautiful bridges and overpasses built beginning in the 1930′s. Each one is designed in a different architectural style, all designed by the same person, and all built by the WPA — which it would be nice if we had again!  This country got some of it’s prettiest roads and buildings because of the WPA.

 My favorite part about the bridges on the Merritt Parkway is that they are all too low for trucks. Wizardry in bridge building is what I call it. Hence, no trucks on this road!

It’s so civilized, 37 miles of just-beautiful ~ it’s actually in the National Register of Historic Places!

Like a street in Central Park.

That’s not to say there is no “nature” in The City.  Just the opposite.  Besides the miracle that is Central Park where the city goes to drink in the trees and the sky and have picnics and play ball and run and walk, we had our own little miracle of nature ~ Joe took this picture of a dragonfly that landed just over our head where we were sitting at the time on the 16th floor of our hotel (the , at Lexington and 37th, BTW). That is some wandering dragonfly.

See the string of lights?  That’s where the dragon fly alighted.  This is the top floor of our hotel, where, on beautiful evenings like this one . . .

They serve cocktails in this “room” with a view.

Joe loved it up here and so did I. Next time we want to bring our binoculars!

From our stools we could feel the breeze (remember, we are still on an island) and look off in all directions, and down onto “roof gardens” such as this one.  These people must have worked late or were out of town, because no one in their right mind would have been indoors on an evening like this if they could have helped themselves.

Just across from our rooftop was this interesting old building, with open roof and arched windows and green growing up inside the walls and lots of people inside celebrating TGIF.

Even though we’re on the 16th floor, we had to look up at these two.  It’s so wonderful to see the old architecture alongside the new.

Even more interesting when the sun goes down and the lights begin to come on.

And of course, right from our stools we could see the Empire State Building, all lit up.  Green this time.  The building lights up in all colors depending on the event being celebrated at the time.

 Green was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Police Athletic League, but they change it for the Fourth of July, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, for almost any celebration imaginable.

Saturday we had lunch in this wonderful French restaurant called  Les Halles (pronounced Lay Ahl).

The food was wonderful!!!  I had a Salad Niçoise and Joe had Steak au Poivre and both could not have been more delicious.  

We took the whole day off.

After lunch we hopped into a taxi and went to . . .

One of my favorite stores in New York called ABC Home ~  which is seven stories of gloriosity ~ everything you need to help you remember what a wondrous world this is. 

It’s like a museum because everything is so artsy and special and one-of-a-kindish, but better than a museum because if you see something you simply can-not live without, you don’t have to just cry inside, you can buy it!

They have beaded horses, elephants and lions, which I know everyone needs.  But that’s not the point, the point for me at ABC Home is looking and ooohing and aaaahing and taking pictures, and these fanciful colorful creatures are perfect for that!  I may not need them, but I still think they are wonderful and appreciate the creativity that made them.

Everything is artistically and carefully arranged. Someone really cares about the details in this store. This lamp is so fun, little pricks of light come out of it as you move around it.  The copper pots?  Yes, I know.

They even make timers, whisks, and potato mashers look good.

There’s all kinds of beautiful bedding and towels, a whole floor of it, and lovely fluttery curtains too.

And every so often, for no reason except to pleasure the eye of the beholder, eye candy like this.  They are real roses and smelled wonderful. The eye and the nose were pleasured to the nth.

Vintage dinnerware!  Silver candle sticks and serving pieces.  They have kept away from the dull, the humdrum and the mundane.

It’s anything but. They had antique and new drinking glasses in every color, some of them paper thin.  See the ceiling? The whole building is in an old warehouse.

They believe in art . . . these little salts! Everything is so different.

And if you need a wooden-handled pestle and mortar or a sparkly carafe, you have come to the right place.

Lots of furniture too, in all styles, sofas and chairs, everything . . . useful and original too, like this cart on wheels.

Yes, they have a baby department that is truly hard to get out of.

I just wished I could squeeze into one of these little girl dresses!  I would take the one with the big red polka dots.

Of course, they have the dinosaur division.

I know you want to know what we bought.  The only thing I needed was to fill up with inspiration and beauty and there was plenty of that.  I just so enjoyed looking at everything and taking pictures.  The jewelry was made by designers, it was delicate and just gorgeous ~ I could never have chosen just one thing.  But, this ↑ is what I bought.  It’s for asparagus and pasta among other things and we needed it.  Did I tell you I am pretty practical (not very practical, but pretty practical)?  Unless I need it, or I can’t live without it, I try not to buy it.

But I needed this hipster charcoal onesie and could not go home without it ~ for our new baby boy (my great nephew) Xavier.  The pottery X has a hole in the back; it can be hung on the wall.  A cool hip New York baby outfit for my Central Coast of California Baby is on it’s way.

We had drinks at King Cole Room, at the St. Regis Hotel, a place we accidentally discovered one lovely rainy night many years back when we could not find a cab.  We’ve always come back to see the amazing Maxfield Parrish Mural over the bar.

We spent the morning at The Morgan Library and Museum.  Saw lots of paintings of romantic landscapes and other amazing and beautiful things ~ such as this.  This IS George Washington!  This life mask was molded right on his face in 1785 and the miracle is now we could stand in front of it and take a picture of it. That’s George Washington!  Can you believe it!?

One of the ceilings in Morgan Library.  Talk about filling your inspiration cup . . . there is nothing like beauty and history and . . .

the music of the night.

Mas Musica? Cuz we’re goin’ home . . .

And here we are on the boat, heading home . . . passing our sister ship . . . skirting Old Cape Cod . . .

The light was especially beautiful as we drew closer to the island and the sun was getting low.

Here we are arriving into the harbor.  You can tell the season has changed, the sailboats are coming back!  (They put them away during the winter and the harbor is empty. Sailboats with flags flying are a harbinger of the summer season.)

Yes, we had our people waiting for us.  As we are emptying the car, they watch.  They were adorable, wriggling around on the floor to be petted, which we did happily.  Elizabeth and Diana took such good care of them.  While unpacking, we turned around in time to see the moon coming up . . .

The next morning, Sunday, real life, we walked along quiet shady streets over to Elizabeth’s new house because they were having a yard sale in her driveway.  From left, that’s Daisy, she’s the darling daughter of Mimi holding the whale, then Amy in the stripes, I’m behind Amy, then Diana, and up front, that’s Elizabeth.  Elizabeth’s new house is on the left.

We walked downtown to have breakfast at the Waterside Market . . . then we window-shopped up Main Street.  I heard Mimi say, “Hey isn’t that your house?”  And I looked in the window, and by gum, yes it is!  Someone had painted it and the painting was for sale in the window of this gallery!  Pretty good eh? We thought so!

So then we went back home.  And put the flag away until Independence Day, once again making ourselves incognito.

And played with Jack, watered the garden, did laundry, made tea, and sat down to write to you.

 

And here we are, ready to begin life again.  Only twelve days from today and we go back out to Connecticut to Gladys Taber’s House!  Can’t believe it!  And the next time I post, it will be the celebration for our three years of blogging, five years of Facebook with fun giveaways for my Girlfriends!

 Hope you enjoyed New York!  It’s always fun to have you along.  ’Course I think of you with every click of the camera!  Rabbit-Rabbit Girlfriends.  Happy June! XOXO

Guess where we are?

Hi Everyone!  Guess where we are?  Here’s a hint:  MUSICA

Yes, New York! This is the view from our room. It thrills the cockles of my heart.

This was probably my first awareness of the Empire State Building. I watched this movie about a thousand times long before I ever saw New York in person. An Affair to Remember.  Cry your eyes out.

Our room is so comfortable!  We got here last night and I watched the Invasion of Normandy (OMG) under a blanket (a true nap blanket, came with room, on bed below) on that sofa while Joe sat next to me studying up on where we’re going to eat today!

Isn’t it just wonderful?  I love New York. Growing up I never imagined I would be the type to go to New York.  I was more the type to camp in Yosemite.

Every window comes with a view.  See those cabs?  We’ll be getting into one of them this morning to careen wildly through the streets (because that’s what you do) to BEA, Book Expo America, at the Javits Center where we’ve been invited to sign Our book, “A Fine Romance” in the Baker & Taylor booth. So excited.

We’re in the “Murray Hill” area of Manhattan, I’m sure some of you know where that is.  Lexington and 37th, lots of pre-war brick buildings, a real neighborhood with old trees.

The view from the bed. It’s really there!

 They call New York “America’s Home Town” and this strikes me as one of the reasons why, there’s a lot to love in this beautiful city.

But of course, we take “real” home along with us wherever we go.  I’m sitting here having tea this morning, listening to this musica, writing you and about to put pink polish on my fingernails.

One more picture from the room with a view early this morning.

But, I hear you say, what about the kitties?

Never fear.  Girlfriends Elizabeth and (her cousin and best friend) Diana are visiting the island from California, working on Elizabeth’s new house, staying in my house and on the job for Kitty Love.  Kitties will be properly spoiled while we are away.

  I did my part and made Peanut Butter Cookies so no one would starve.  And this recipe has no flour ~ it’s so easy, I thought you might like to have it (so easy I memorized it! That should tell you something.) . . . preheat oven to 350°.  There are only 4 ingredients: 1 egg, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 c. sugar, 1 c. peanut butter.  Lightly beat egg and vanilla together, whisk in sugar, then peanut better; mix well.  Roll into 1″ balls, place about 2″ apart on ungreased cookie sheet, press with fork to make tine marks across dough.  Bake 10-12 min until golden around edges. Cool on waxed paper. Makes 2 dozen.

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten our June celebration.  We’ll be celebrating five years with FOSB, Friends of Susan Branch, with our wonderful Facebook Friends, and three years for my dear and darling Blog ♥ Girlfriends with a very fun giveaway that I think everyone will like, quilters and non-quilters and just regular people.  I want to be at home where I can wrangle the comment section better than I can from here . . . so just a few more days.  Tell your quilter, sewing, or quilt-loving friends.  And Have a lovely day everyone.  Wish us luck at the Javits Center!  Love you! XOXO ♥

 

MEMORIAL DAY, so much going on!

So Much going on!  Almost Memorial Day!  MUSICA!

What makes you happy?  This makes me happy.  To see these little ears making themselves comfy in the laundry on the kitchen table.

. . . And dishes, glorious dishes. Sheets on the table waiting to be folded, and this is my third filling of the dishwasher . . 

I’m doing one shelf at a time, putting dishes in the dishwasher, washing each shelf with soap and hot water and then rinsing them . . . getting off all those winter cooking juices.

Almost everything goes into the dishwasher ~ except for the really big bowls on the top shelf which don’t fit so I do them by hand . . . and also, anything suspicious, like plates with a gold rim, or the red stripes on these old glasses. I don’t know if the dishwasher would take them off, but that would be very sad, I take no chances and wash them by hand.

Enameled glasses too . . . with hand-painted flowers too cute to lose . . .

I can’t fold sheets until Prince Jack wakes up . . .

So I dry dishes.

And go for a little walk around the house. Look at that fat bee!

That yellow on the back of his legs is pollen.  That’s where they keep it.  It’s like their purse.

And then these little darlings . . . we love to see goldfinches at the feeders.  They look good with the cardinals  ~ all that bright exotic color.

Isn’t he perfect?  Joe took this picture right through our kitchen windows using his telephoto lens.

Jack has moved. I wash the sheets, Jack gets into them, I wash the bowls, Jack gets into them. I get out of my chair, Jack gets into it.

Who me?  What?

Don’t bother me.  I’m almost napping again. You can rewash it, what’s one bowl? (He is so right!  One bowl, and isn’t he the picture of perfection!)

So I continue cleaning cupboards.  One of the fun things about this job, I get to pet and admire my favorite dishes . . . this is one of them, this old Christmas platter I designed back in 2003.  I’m not sure how many of you even saw this one . . .

. . . here’s the back of it.  Michel and Company, the company that manufactured this, was sold before most them even came on the market, but they are so perfect for Christmas cookies, I thought maybe you hunters might enjoy looking for it on ebay or Etsy. Yes, I see it, Made in China.  Oh well.

More glasses, more sheets . . .

. . . long shadows and another day, more spring cleaning . . . getting guest rooms ready for the Girlfriends.

Girl Kitty keeping busy in the pantry . . .

And Lowely’s mother sent us a gift . . . a cat cottage her own kitty had finished with.  Now it’s Jack’s turn.

Of course, he’s interested. What self-respecting cat wouldn’t be ~ and Jack is nothing if not self-respecting.

 

It’s three stories, there are little circle cut-outs between floors so kitties can go exploring . . . Here’s Jack heading for the second floor.

And here’s me, on the floor with the camera, peeking through that front door, looking up to see Jack on the second floor.  Look at that face.  How can a person even think about leaving home when she would have to say good bye to this face!

Yet, we must go to New York at the end of next week and kiss this little face goodbye.  Only for three days and the person staying here with Jack and Girl may actually love them as much as me. They will get such good loving I have no fear, they won’t even have time to miss me.

Just because I follow the kitties around doesn’t mean I’m not working ~ oh no, here’s Joe and I reading the new book to each other, making notes, cutting things, adding things ~ then I go back to the computer and retype.  I think we might be doing this for a while!

These lovelies are delicious anytime of year, but right now I’m thinking of our girlfriends in the Southern Hemisphere who are just about to go into winter!  Hard to imagine from our viewpoint through the bees and the wisteria and the lilac, but I know it’s true.   So we want to help our Girlfriends way down under celebrate their cozy season . . .

I thought I’d remind them of the most delicious Chili  recipe from my Autumn Book!  You will love it!  Try it with Corn Pudding !  Stay  warm down there.  Write in and tell us how the weather is, what your trees look like, what holidays you’ll be celebrating! It’s hard to imagine our Autumn without Halloween and pumpkins ~ do you do something like that in the fall?  

But around here it’s almost Memorial Day Weekend! On Martha’s Vineyard it’s the true start of the Summer season when all the restaurants are open again and the nurseries are filled with every kind of blooming plant, and the boats begin to arrive loaded to the gills with summer visitors . . . you can read all about the island festivities right HERE and remind yourself of my delicious Bean Salad and lots of other perfectly picniky holiday recipes you can make to celebrate.  And, best of all for us, the island tradition that takes place right outside our front door.

Today we’ll hang our flag on the front of the house!  We have to do our part!

Joe reaches out through one upstairs window, I’m in the other, he throws a corner of the flag to me, I catch it and hook my side, he hooks his, and up goes the flag. Since 1989. Been doing it so long, now we are our own tradition.

Don’t forget, we’ll be having a big drawing to celebrate our third anniversary for the Blog and our fifth year on Facebook.  A little hint: There will be something in the drawing that will be of particular interest our quilting Girlfriends, be sure to tell your friends to look for it.  Something for quilters and sewers, and something for everyone else.♥  

Have a wonderful weekend Everyone!  I’ll check back in if something fun happens (extra fun). xoxo

  

How’s Life ?

 Hi everyone, how’s life? MUSICA?  OUI! I’ve heard there are terrible fires in San Diego and snow in northern Illinois (of all the disheartening things); and here on the island the forecast was for a week of clouds and rain. But they were wrong!!! It’s been just the opposite.  We have been waking up to blue skies and 70 degrees ~ we walk every day, making hay while the sun shines.  We’ve been gardening every day too (it’s looking so cute out there), and doing a true deep and rewarding spring cleaning.  I am ON the kitchen now, every bowl and plate in my open cupboards is going into the suds today for sparkle upgrade.  The silver is going into the aluminum foil ~ but I look out my studio window right now and I can see butterflies floating around the garden . . .

I keep the kitchen doors wide open while I work because the birds are singing their hearts out, and just like now, when I feel the need to procrastinate due to spring fever, I go out and pick wildflowers like these.  You all realize we have not seen anything like this for a full year?  How exciting!   So pretty!  Free ~ like the best things in life!

This is what our entire neighborhood smells like right now. Lilac. This, plus wisteria, plus Lily of the Valley. All in bloom right now.  Help, I’m going mad with something I don’t know what it is. Perfumorama Virus.

It was my girlfriend Lowely’s birthday on the 14th . . . she asked for that Lemon Roll I showed you on the blog last week . . . I’d sent over a couple of pieces to her and John for tasting, so she asked for another one for our girlfriend’s lunch Birthday Party for her . . . instead of forsythia petals like I did on the first cake, Lowely got a little bouquet of wild violets and Lily of the Valley.  Isn’t it fun to decorate cakes with gatherings from the yard!  Happy Spring!

How’s this for seasonal segue and non sequitur all rolled into one? How dare I say Happy Spring and Delicious Autumn in one breath!  Well, because this is part of what I’ve been up to lately, planning ahead ~ we know we love fall, maybe not right this moment, but we still love it. And I finally did it!  I have started to reprint some of my older books.  And AUTUMN is going to be the very first one.  It will go off to the printer at the end of the month.

And because we are in charge of this book, it is going to be printed in the good ole’ US of A!  Made in America.  Totally.  Are we happy?  Yes we are.

As with anything, there are good things and bad things about doing it ourselves.  One good thing is we get to choose where it’s printed, the only bad thing is we aren’t able to print a zillion of them like a big publisher would, although

. . . we did become our own publisher for this.  Yes! That’s the other thing I wanted to share with you.  We are actual publishers now! That’s our logo ↑ ; it will be used for the first time (but not the last) in the new printing of AUTUMN.  If ever you would have told me that sometime in my life I would a.) be an author or b.) be a publisher, I would have (and did) laughed out loud.  This is what I like about life. You just never know.

Autumn will be our first project.  And as the publisher we get to decide important things, like ribbons.  If you figure out which book is Autumn in that pile above, you will see that it has no ribbon. But since we are doing our own publishing this time, guess what?  No one can tell us “no” but us and we would never do that. We are really nice to us.  We would like a ribbon.  Of course, my darlings, you may have one.  Could we have our book printed in the USA?  Yes, dears, we know that means a lot to you.  

No one can say no!  The publisher has to pay more for these things, but since that’s us, we can choose what we want.  We have all the power.  (None of the money of say Random House, but ALL the power of “that little old ant,” with high hopes of moving a rubber tree plant.) MUSICA.

Other than than having a ribbon and changing the publisher’s name to ours, the book will be just the same.  If you already have one, I didn’t add anything new . . . so you won’t miss a thing.  But if you’re new to me and my blog . . . or your daughter has grown up and has a family of her own now, here are some of the goodies I have for you inside this book:

Melt in your mouth EASY Pumpkin Cheesecake . . . well worth the price of the book all by itself.

But there’s so much more, like my Texas-style Chili, Corn Pudding, and Spicy, Sagey Corn Chowder ↑ you can serve alone or ladled over creamy Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes.

There are delicious appetizers like Red Chili Onion Rings, and ideas for gifts like brown sugar and cholula Spiced Pecans, Butter-Bit Croutons, or . . . 

 There are”Jack-Be-Little” Pumpkins stuffed with butternut squash, leeks, and apples you can arrange around the turkey platter . . .

September will be time for back to school, and what says it better than . . .

. . . Chocolaty, Chewey, easy to make, the best brownie recipe in the world? Nothing really . . .

Recipes and ideas for all the seasonal celebrations like Halloween are included . . .

There are special salads . . .

And at Thanksgiving, the recipe for my Grandma’s famous Turkey Stuffing . . .

And beside recipes, there are stories like My House and Morning Science; Decorating and Entertaining for the season . . .

. . . decorating the table, fixing up the Guest Room, making Gift Baskets, interesting ideas for Fall Collections, recipes for Afternoon Tea, things to do in Sweater Weather, fall Cocktails and everything else our vagabond Autumn hearts desire.  

I’ve been reading it over while getting the art ready to go to the printer, and despite the birdsong and the smell of wisteria, or maybe because of it ~ I’ve enjoyed it. I’m sure you can tell I’m very excited.  If this goes OK, we’ll do some more!  We hope to have the new printing in the studio the first of August, just when we’re all longing for Autumn and wishing for those cooler breezes and thinking about hot apple crisp with crunchy topping and vanilla ice cream.  It’ll be for sale in bookstores too, but as usual we’ll make sure you have first crack at them, trying to make sure we have enough for our Girlfriends first ~ we’ll also keep signed copies for you in our webstore.

So you know, in a couple of weeks I’m going to New York to Book Expo, then to Connecticut to give a talk at the Gladys Taber Reunion, then my best high school girlfriends are coming from California to stay here with us on June 20 . . . can you tell we are going to have fun?  Oh yeah.  That’s Karen second from the right, the one I met the Beatles with. But before I go clean up the house (!!! now you see the situation, nothing like company to get a house clean!), here are a couple more pictures of island spring!

. . . This is morning light on our house through the Linden trees . . . I keep getting up thinking I will see rain, and this is what I see instead.  Lucky! Dreamy ~ after that winter.

Joe and I drove out to a part of the island called West Chop just to see these white daffodils blowing in the wind next to the sound.

And here’s me, muddy-kneed and happy, putting in some petunias..

and one of my favorite low-growing mounding plants called Brachyscome.

So, that’s it for today Girlfriends. I hope you enjoyed Spring and Fall all in one post!  We have another big surprise for you coming soon.  June 11th is the 3rd anniversary for my Blog; it’s also the anniversary of our first post on FACEBOOK ~ so we have decided to combine forces to make a wonderful drawing, to say thank you for your support, and for the fun you have brought all of us, me, Kellee, Sheri, and Alfredo (and Joe too!) Not to mention Jack and Girl . . .♥   Have a wonderful day!

XOXO MOTHER’S DAY

Dearest Girlfriends, Happy Sunday and Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Unmother’s Day too XOXO . . . Happy May!  Here’s a song to celebrate this lovely special day . . .  MUSICA  I have a little story for you . . .

A wise Cherokee grandmother told her granddaughter about a battle that goes on inside people. She said, “My darling, the battle is between the two “wolves” that live inside us all. One wolf is Evil.  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false, pride, superiority, and ego.”

“The other wolf is Good.  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The little girl thought for a moment and then asked her grandmother, “Which wolf wins?”

The old grandmother put her hand on her granddaughter’s chin, tipped her head up, looked into her eyes and replied, “The one you feed.” ♥

 

I have the perfect day planned.  First I write to you, then I go bake this blueberry angel food cake to take to a Mother’s Day party at my girlfriend’s house tonight . . .

Light and lemony . . . I’ve made this before, the recipe is below if you haven’t tried it, it’s a perfect cake for spring and you can use fresh or frozen berries.  Rather than separating the 12 eggs yourself, just buy plain egg whites, then it goes together in a snap.  And just think, it’s fat free!

And then I call and shoot the breeze with my mom for a while ~ we have exciting family news to talk about . . . my niece had her baby yesterday, a 6 lb. 8 oz. baby boy, her first.  He’s beautiful, would you like to see him?

 Isn’t he the perfect Mother’s Day present? For my mom and sister and her daughter, perfect for the whole family. ♥  My dad is going to love seeing this picture! xoxo

Ain’t life grand?  Oh yes!  Our tulips are still going strong ~ and I started my salad garden yesterday, crunchy fresh homemade organic salads, crisp tender leaves from our garden, I can’t wait!  I planted arugula, two kinds of parsley, lemon thyme, rosemary, and three kinds of lettuce so far.  And right now (it’s 6 am here) we have the softest gentlest rain that is going perfectly with my cup of lavender earl grey tea and Anne of Green Gables on TV  . . . it’s also making all my new little plants drippy, immersed in delicious rich compost and very happy.

But this is my most exciting thing in our garden right now.  The strawberries jumped out of the strawberry pot where they were originally planted and made themselves at home all over the garden!  Even into the path.  But that’s OK with me.  This looks like a bumper crop ~ and there is nothing like a juicy strawberry fresh from the garden, still warm from the sun.  I’m already thinking about jam and freezing and we haven’t even gotten to strawberry shortcake yet. But we will!

I hope you all have the most wonderful day.  Call all the mom’s you know and spread sunshine . . . and don’t forget your “Other Mother’s” ~ the women who’ve inspired and nurtured you. Forward them this post, they will have a Mother’s Day “card” with Musica to dream a dream on . . .  Sending love to all of you! XOXO

LITTLE LUXURIES for SUMMER

I thought today I’d do a post about some little luxuries you might like to think about for your garden. The dictionary says that Luxury means “extravagant living,” but that’s not the kind of luxury I’m talking about today  . . . I’m talking about the little things in life with some sweet MUSICA for you. ♥

We can’t control what goes on in the whole wide world, but I know you know we can make life very sweet in our own small corners of it.  Spring is the perfect time of year to watch the paper for local yard sales and flea markets.  Meandering at this time of year is a wonderful thing ~ take your camera and when you see a tree or flowers you love, take a picture or get a clipping so you can ask for it at your nursery.  Lots of wonderful treasures await you for the season.  Here are some ideas for summerizing your life. . .

You can usually find really good deals on vintage tablecloths and napkins and they make your outdoor table especially welcoming.  They would also make a wonderful Mother’s Day gift! And see the tiny bird house church on the top of the bench behind the table?  Keep your eyes open for little garden items like that ~ look for things made of natural materials such as wood, straw, cotton, pottery, stone, brick and wicker.  They are the perfect materials to compliment a natural environment like your garden.

Old handmade cloths give a feeling of romance around the house and garden . . . and here are more ideas for that . . .

Choose a flowering tree to plant in your yard . . . it will give you YEARS of joy.

This is the dogwood we planted three years ago . . . it gives me something to look forward to every spring . . . makes me so happy to see it blooming.

Or, if you have the right climate, plant a tree that will provide you with sweet smelling blossoms and free food like this little orange tree.  Apples are good too, grapefruits and lemons and figs, oh my!

Or a wonderful flowering tree like this albizzia (at our house in California) with pink furry flowers that grows huge, like an umbrella; it shades the house and keeps it cool all summer.

Yes, trees do take time to grow, but that time will pass anyway and you’ll be surprised at how soon you’ll get huge enjoyment from a tree, almost immediately.

And that way you’ll have a place to put the old quilt or blanket you find at the flea market, take your book and a pillow, wait for leaves to move in the wind, look at the sky and feed your soul.

Picnics are the joy of spring summer and fall . . . this is one we had with our girlfriend Rachel at a lovely spot in England called Stourhead.  See the baby geese?  It doesn’t take much to make a day you will never forget.  Almost every town in America has a beautiful place where you could go for a picnic.  Food, drink, blankie, and thou. That’s all you need. Plus a little mas MUSICA.

And then there’s light.  The magic of the night.  We have the moon and the stars and lucky for some of us who get fireflies in June, but there is always room for more ~ twinkle lights around the door, over arbors, along fences, between trees and bushes . . .

help make summer memories . . .

You can find all styles of lights in craft stores, almost any big box store, even big drug stores.

And keep an eye out for “chandeliers” if you have a place to put one over your picnic table.

Even your bug buckets (buckets filled with citronella candles to keep away mosquitoes) can be cute if you look for them.  (And by the way, a quiet fan in the garden is also a great way to discourage mosquitoes, they are too weak to withstand the wind.  HA, take that!).

While you’re at those yard sales, keep your eyes open for interesting candle holders, ones where the candle goes deep so the wind can’t blow them out.

And, of course, look for tiny vases and old jars for your flowers.  See that blue one?  Joe found that in the hole he dug when he planted the Dogwood!  Buried treasure!

A tiny vase of flowers takes about a minute to put together, needs very few flowers and look how cute.

Watch for something like this bird planter for your outdoor table.

I love gorgeous old pitchers too . . . so much charm, especially the colored depression glass.

And drinking glasses too  . . . everything tastes better from glasses like these.

Old glass makes the prettiest bar . . . You don’t have to go get all of this at once, in fact you really shouldn’t even if you could. Collecting is half the fun!

Little luxuries at this time of year definitely includes sun tea.

We bought this small fountain for our porch because of the soft musical noise of the flowing water.  It was very inexpensive, there was only one of them, and I’m not sure where it came from, but keep your eye out.  They have so many of them these days and it’s such a nice thing to hear near the kitchen door.

Of course this, to me, says it all.  It’s how I feel every day. ♥

Now look waaaaaay over there to the right.  Under that little pile on the lawn is a large flower basket with a tall handle.  That is my BEST garden thing.  You’d be surprised at how many weeds and things that basket can hold ~ tons! ~ and it’s still easy for me to carry it. So if you get to a basket shop, look for a large flower basket . . . the kind with the scooped out bottom, the bigger the better.

Of course a bird bath in the garden where you can see it easily is a pure source of natural joy. ♥

This one is at our house in California ~ we also love our bee skep and the strawberry pot . . .  see how all the natural-looking materials fit right in with Mother Nature?

Yard furniture is another thing we like to find at big flea markets ~ like the one at Brimfield here in MA, or the once-a-month Swap Meet in Alameda in California ~ they have such cute and different things.

These rocking chairs were made even more adorable (and comfortable) with the little tie on pillows and backrests.

We found this old swing for our tree at the Ventura Swap Meet.

Over the years we’ve amassed a mish-mash of old chairs, adirondack and wicker, mix and match is always fun.

And even a plain old bench is nice to have in your garden ~ it gives you a place to sit and smell the green things growing and it makes a good work table too.

This old and very heavy wrought-iron table and chairs belong to my girlfriend ~ and for a true luxury, it you have a place for it, OMG, this PORCH.  What pure heaven.  I’m taking the photo from the sofa she has there . . . I would live here all summer if this was mine.  YEARS of fun, right here, don’t you think?

Near the door you go through most often?  Something that smells wonderful.  This is wisteria . . . and because of where it is, fragrance comes into the bedroom windows too.

And this delicious smelling vine of pink jasmine, grows over both doors in California, it blooms mid-winter through spring.

And another thing, if you have a place for it, is a trellis.  They can be put against walls or fences or made into arbors and look especially pretty with the addition of a lovely climbing rose like this New Dawn.

And once you get your clothesline up, you are very likely going to need a good strong . . .

laundry basket.  And if you don’t already have one, I would suggest you get one of those fuzzy things to go in it, because that is a little luxury you will adore year round.  ♥

I hope I’ve inspired you today to

Keep track of your garden with a garden diary . . . write down what you plant, put in little photos so next year you will know what’s coming before it does.

The first thing I notice in the spring are the very long shadows that come across the lawn and into my windows in the early morning. They pop up in places they never are during the winter.

They splotch sunlight in the most interesting places . . .

And remember this? ↑ The stories I’ve written and collected from my diaries for years — the pile of papers I showed you a couple of months ago?  I’ve been working hard putting together what I hope will be a wonderful story about my first little house here on the island, moving to Martha’s Vineyard and starting over.  Every day the book becomes a bit more pulled together, makes a little more sense, telling another story of island life.  I am over the moon with it.  I never want to be done.  I’ve never said that before either.  I will miss this one when she is gone. ♥   Writing this book has been taking me away from blogging more than normal, but it won’t last forever, I promise I’ll be back and I hope you won’t miss me at all when you see what I bring with me.

That messy bunch of paper above has now turned into those ↑sun-splotched pages with numbers and everything!  In a book, neatness counts!  I have you in mind with every word I write.   That’s what makes it fun.  It’s kind of like a giant blog.  Or like A FINE ROMANCE, only in Martha’s Vineyard and California instead of England.  It’s hard to tell when it will be done since I’ve never written anything like it before.  I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Sail away with me Girlfriends. . .

And one more thing . . . I’ve had several people ask about the event we’re attending in New York at the end of this month called Book Expo.  It’s not open to the general public which is why I haven’t made too much of it here on the blog, but it’s truly an honor to be invited to do an author signing at the Baker & Taylor Booth . . . so, just in case you ARE going, Joe and I will be there and signing A Fine Romance on Thursday, May 29, at 2 pm ~ please come say hello!  And we’ll be seeing many more of you in Connecticut at the Gladys Taber event in June!  Lots to look forward to!  Bye for now, Joe and I are heading out on our walk, taking my own advice to go outside and play!   It’s a gorgeous day ~ 65° here right now!!! Wishing you the MOST wonderful day! XOXO

It’s May! Brrrrr!

RABBIT~RABBIT!  According to folklore, these are supposed to be the first words out of your mouth on the first day of a new month to insure a month of good luck . . . and here we are . . . It’s MAY!  Brrrr!  And it’s MUSICA . . .

AND It’s Spring Girlfriends (everywhere maybe but not exactly here) and you have been leaving the most gorgeous comments and today, we have gifts to give. So I’m wishing all of you the very best of luck.♥  Rabbit~Rabbit.

But, first a little tour of our garden and the neighborhood to catch you up on what’s new. Put your jacket on, that sun is very thin out there, but “pretty” is returning to New England after a long brown and sepia-colored winter ~ in the form of sweet-smelling pink and yellow blossoms, so gorgeous we barely notice the chill, we are so happy, we do not look gift horses in the mouth.

The cherry trees are blooming.  One of the things I wait for every spring.  They are such a gift!  What flower store could do a better job with a bouquet?  This tree is the gift that keeps on giving year after year.  It puts a song in my heart.

Spring is the perfect example of the glass being half full around here.  We’re still waiting for the season to really pop with most of our plants.  When you drive around most everything is still like it looks in this photo . . . but I did want to show you a picture of one of my favorite little cottages in Edgartown.  I’ll have to remember to go back when the roses are in bloom on that arbor!

And these are the trees just across from that gorgeous cherry tree in our garden.  Still waiting for their leaves to come.

We mulched and fertilized the roses last week, and you can see they appreciated it.  But this is not California . . .

This is California! Kellee sent me this picture of the garden at the studio out there, where the roses look like this right now…

That’s OK, on the island we’re  happy to have our wild violets blooming in the lawn . . .

They’re so sweet and they just say, “MAY” . . . and when you need a cute little edible flower to decorate springtime cakes, puddings, pies and even salads, voila!

But back to romance in tree form . . . cherry trees in bloom ~ we have them in palest pink . . .

And dark Pink . . . these are weeping cherries . . .

This one is just behind my picket fence garden . . . they give us terrible cases of . . .

I bring it all inside.  If looking at flowers cheers you up and you need more  . . . HERE YOU GO….

It’s still early for us . . . all week it’s been like this. We’ve been able to go on our walk, but we have to wear our full winter garb when we do, hats, gloves, scarves . . . and this morning it’s been sheeting down cold gray rain, so we’ll try to go later . . .  

But it’s OK,  I have lots of spring cleaning to do and this is the perfect weather for it.  We have a lot going on in the next few weeks.  We’re going to New York at the end of the month for BEA (that’s Book Expo America at the Javits Center) where I’ll be one of the authors signing books there (we love New York and haven’t been in a long time).  In June I’ll be joining several of you at the Gladys Taber Annual Reunion in Danbury Connecticut where I’ll be speaking and signing A FINE ROMANCE ~ can’t wait for that . . .  AND THEN, on the 20th of June, four of my high school girlfriends are coming to stay with us for a few days. Very excited! We’ll get to take everyone on Island Tours (our own version, Nancy Luce’s grave, etc.) which we love to do. I have the perfect excuse to gussie up this house which I need!

Starting with this dusty shelf of cups and things . . . It needs a little bit of TLC after a long winter indoors with us cooking everyday. . .

It’s the perfect rainy day thing to do ~ put it all in the dishwasher and get everything shined up.

BUT, before I start any of that, I need to get Vanna up and let her know we’re waiting for her.  

V A A A N N A ?  I call up the stairs in musical tones . . .(one does not want to scream or yell at Vanna if one wants cooperation, one has learned ♪).

And look who comes out!

So I stand at the bottom of the stairs and shoot the rubber band up to the top for Jack (of course this wakes up Princess Vanna which is just what I was hoping; she loves Jack so much she is never mad at anything he does) ~

He watches me . . . seeing if I wait for him to drop it or if he needs to chase after me . . .

This is him taking it out of his mouth . . . The eyes!  Can you believe those eyes?

And when he’s not on the stairs, he comes and drapes himself on my art table and tortures me by chewing on everything he can get his paws on.  That’s OK.  I have Girl Kitty who is a perfect lady and almost makes up for the shenanigans of Jack.

Ah, here’s Vanna ~ she just walked into my studio wearing pink satin slippers and yellow satin chinese pajamas with belled sleeves and wide legs looking exotic and quite divine considering the ungodly hour this is for her normal life . . . her hair is tied back with pink ribbon and she’s ready to draw those two names; in fact she is snapping her fingers at me ~ “Get the show on the road” is what I think I hear her saying. (I don’t get no respect around here.)

So, with no further adieu, VANNA, start your engines please.

She slips off her mules and high-dives into the huge basket where we’ve put all of your names and she is spinning to the bottom, her legs going like scissors, twirling and mixing the names, doing her normal fabulous job of it, they are flying Girlfriends.   But here she comes . . . and, yes, she has got one . . . and now, there’s the other one . . . and here we go . . . Fingers crossed it’s you!

The WINNER for the Emma tin filled with gen-u-wine Martha’s Vineyard jingle shells, the 1900 copy of Elizabeth and Her German Garden and the first edition copy of A Fine Romance, IS our lucky Girlfriend . . .

JANET MARKLEY

Congratulations Janet!

And now . . .

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For the two signed “STORY” BOOKS . . . the Lucky WINNER IS our Girlfriend:

PATRICIA STANLEY

Congratulations Patricia!

OK, Janet! and Patricia! There are emails waiting for you in your email boxes.  Be sure to write me back with your mailing addresses so I can sign your books and get them out to you.  CONGRATULATIONS to you both.  This was a very big contest and look, YOU WON! Isn’t that amazing!

And the rest of you?  Thank you so much for being here.  I can’t tell you how much I wob you.  I’m sorry you didn’t win.  Because I really wanted you all to win. Maybe next time!  (My hardest thing is this.)  xoxo

Is it possible you weren’t wearing your lucky necklace?  Take note, I did a selfie of my lucky necklace.  Because I got my KITTY LOVE charm from the studio and now all my “people” are here (There’s Joe and the English Countryside and A Fine Romance, Girl and Jack in Kitty Love, home sweet home with Martha’s Vineyard, and YOU and the blog with Girlfriends!  What more could a person ask for!) ~ I only take this necklace off to sleep and I put it right back on the minute I get up in the morning. It’s my lucky charm, I wear it while I’m writing and I don’t know for sure if it’s working, but I’m going so good and having so much fun that I have to give these charms the credit! ♥ I’m on page 523, Girlfriends.  I would say, “Somebody stop me” but I would be lying. Please, no one stop me!

Now here is something new I hope will be of interest to you . . . I just discovered it and thought you might like it too. It’s this roasted pineapple and pepper sauce we found at Costco.  It is so good.  Just a little bit spicy, but not so much that it would terrorize anyone, just spicy enough to make life interesting.

It’s like a pepper jelly, so you can serve it on crackers with cream cheese, or on crouton toasts.  There are delicious-looking recipes on the side of the jar.  It’s gluten free; we had it on salmon and it was wonderful.  The other night we sauteed onions and ginger in a skillet with a little bit of oil, we cooked boneless, skinless chicken thighs until they were almost done, tossed in one of those gorgeous yellow pears in the picture in the last post (chopped), added chicken stock and some of this sauce, put a lid on it; let it come to a simmer and finish cooking the chicken along with the pears and it was just delicious, spicy, sweet and different.  

And we liked the sauce almost as much as a dip with these wonderful “Popchips” . . .

Also gluten free, also delicious, half the calories of potato chips, healthier and very crisp and at Costco too … Needless to say I have no personal interest in either of these products, only so far as my taste buds are concerned, but I thought you might need a very yummy consolation prize today.♥

I hope where you are it is NOT raining (unless you’re experiencing a drought, then I hope it is a steady strong rain just like here) and NOT snowing, prayers for NO tornadoes in the sky, just a gentle spring breeze, soft sun, and blessings over all.  That’s my recipe for your day.  Thank you for every dear word expressed in all of your comments. ♥ XOXO

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