Susan Branch's Blog, page 37

LIFE of Jack or Why You Need a Petty-Pet of your Very Own

Here we go, it’s the Life of Jack, who, if you don’t know, is the youngest of our two Kitties.  I finally decided his story needed to be a permanent part of the blog ~ I’m posting it here first, and later you’ll find it up at the top of the blog under “About Me”.  I’m in California right now, far away from home and pets, and thinking about them and thought I’d have fun by writing about how we came to get Jack and what he’s meant to us . . . he’s an excellent example of why, if we can, we should all have a kitty!  And if you’ve never had one and are curious, here’s kitty info from me and Jack to you with love. ♥ Con Musica

When the shelter called to tell us that a male tuxedo kitten had come in and asked if Joe and I wanted to come look at him, we said OK.  On the drive to Edgartown we talked about what we would name him if we decided to take him.  I was tired of naming all my kitties the same thing, always “Man Kitty” for a boy and “Girl Kitty” for a girl (my creativity comes to a screaming halt when naming my cats, I’m terrible at it).  In the car Joe suggested we might call him “Jack” ~ we still aren’t sure why he came up with that but it sounded OK to me, better than Man Kitty.  When we arrived and this new kitten was put into my arms, he tipped his head up to look at me and I could see the paper collar he was wearing.  Lo and behold!  They had already named him at the shelter!  And his name, written right on the collar was “Jack!”  Hello?  Pack him up!  He’s ours!  Even though he kind of looked like there was a big black spider on his face, this kitty was meant for us!  There’s Jack (above) with Joe on his first day home, ten weeks old and sweet as pie.

At this point I was just hoping he would grow into his nose . . . but no matter what, I was in love, mad love.

One of the best things about kittens and cats is that they’re great for people who haven’t the patience for the six months-to-a-year (or maybe lifelong) potty training required for a puppy.  You just fill a plastic box with kitty litter before you pick up your kitty, come home, put him in it, scratch his paw there so he can see how delightful it feels and that’s it!  He’s potty trained!  You are done!  He will always go there!  Brilliant!

And of course, having a soft little fuzzy guy like this in the house is just so much fun!  Like a cuddly baby that doesn’t grow up and can almost feed itself and never needs his diaper changed.

He has the roundest eyes that seem to get greener as he gets older!  He makes me run for the camera about eighteen times a day  because everything he does is just so cute.

 The cuddling never ends . . .

After a while we began to notice that Jack has a movie-star quality.  Like Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind or William Powell in The Thin Man→, or even more, like Hercule Poirot, the Agatha Christie detective   ←who’s always getting  himself into trouble, but looks suave while he does it.  Jack had those kinds of superstar qualities.   ♥

We started looking at mustaches with a different view . . .

Sheri and Kellee (whom many of you know from my Studio) felt very connected to Jack from the beginning.  Even tho’ they were in California, 3000 miles away from where Jack lives with us on Martha’s Vineyard, they got into the action.  And in fact, they went out very soon after this and got their own Studio kitties!  Two kittens that live with them at the Studio.  Because what is life without a cat?  Nothing makes me happier when I’m away from home, on a vacation or something, than to go into a store that has a cat in it!  Oh, the fur!  Oh, the contentment!

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Me, too, I could no longer bear to have this pillow sitting around as it originally came to me. . . something was missing . . .

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I pulled out my black permanent marker and fixed it right up . . . now it’s almost the exact image of Jack!

He taught me what he likes.  The first thing that caught his attention was this furry red ball.  He just LOVED it.  He carried it around in his mouth all the time looking like an adorable greeting card.

Black and white kitties have always been my favorite because they go so well with my furniture.  Artistically pleasing ♥ and very graphic.

After a while, I would throw the ball, he would catch it, and, depending where we were, he would bring it back to me to throw again.

Notice that post he’s sitting on?  Joe wrapped a board with an old piece of carpeting and put it in the living room the first day we got him.  Jack loves this post, he knows it’s his and he never scratches the furniture, ever, he just goes to his post.  If you get a kitty, give him a post asap, don’t let him start with any bad habits.  Bad habits are hard to break.

Jack showed off his multi-talented self from the beginning, gathering his toys together in one spot.  Hunter gatherer.

I would find little groups of his toys in piles around the house. One time I picked up the scale in our bedroom, because he was sniffing around it suspiciously, and under it there were seven ponytail bands.  I would throw them to him and never see them again.  He’d been scooting them under the scale.

He’d lost interest in the ball throwing and retrieving, and instead, he wants me to shoot ponytail bands for him . . . so he can catch them in mid air with his two paws, put them in his mouth, and bring them back to me!  You can see him clutching onto one of the bands here.

It’s what he loves to this day . . . we do it every morning and every night and sometimes at lunch!  At times, like this ~ have you seen Simon’s Cats?  Simon has his finger on the pulse of a kitty . . .

Jack’s on a bench in front of the windows on the far side of our bed.  I stand at the bedroom door, shoot the ponytail band across the bed, he catches it in mid-air, brings it to me, and goes back to wait (like a hawk) for me to shoot it again.

A young man and his pony tail band . . . purrrrr.

Our lives are so much more fun since he came into the picture . . . he keeps us laughing  all the time.  Here he is at his first Christmas.  We thought he might climb the tree, or tear the ornaments apart, but he was perfect, and was our Jack in the Box, the best present of them all.

He was curious and in on all the decorating . . .

. . . making the whole room prettier and cozier while he’s at it.  Sometimes I marvel that God gave us these little creatures to live with us inside our homes, purr in our ears, rub against our legs, cuddle with us and our children at night.  They are love and it’s love that makes a house a home.♥

Even taking a bubble bath is more fun with Jack to help!

Cooking is more fun too . . . he usually watches me from the top of the fridge.

This is my favorite photo ever.  Jack’s eyes on that bug!

No bug is safe in our house.

And Jack LOVES ladders.  Joe was painting the kitchen and Jack was helping.

He was so comfortable . . . I think he wished I would put his food dish up there.

Sleeps like a dream on a narrow ledge even with his leg dangling over the side.

But he knew he had to come down to eat . . . and this is how he did it, just walked down the rungs the same way Joe did. (Except Joe doesn’t do it upside-down!)

For a while I thought we might have to leave a ladder up in the house forever.  No matter where the ladder was, even if it’s leaning against a wall, Jack loves it.

I put the ladder up to bring down baskets from the pantry rafters ~ turn around, and there he is!

I love it when he poses photogenically . . . he is a purrfect kitty model.

I don’t even have to say, “OK Jack, be cute for the camera.”  He just does it.  That’s how talented he is.

When I iron, he tries to help me there too.  SO, I must go get the camera!

If I don’t pay attention for a moment, he stretches out a glossy leg and looks like this in front of me and oops, excuse me while I go get the camera!

He’s wonderful when he poses, but he’s a total nut in motion . . .

I love his lunatic eyes

Especially here, with my girlfriend Elizabeth —  I catch some of his best expressions when he’s moving . . . Look at him look at her!

Then he looks at me with eyes that say, “why are you letting her do this to me?”

Jack didn’t come to a catless home, my older kitty (guess what her name is) Girl Kitty, was here.  I thought Jack would put a bit more interest in her life, but Girl is not warming up to Jack.  She sees his existence as pointless, awkward, and even disturbing.  She growls when he tries to come near her.

He would love to play with her … but they’ve been more or less like this from the beginning, Jack wants Girl, but Girl does not wish to have Jack, he’s a bit too much for her.   They don’t fight, they just don’t mingle much despite the yearning in Jack’s eyes.  I have now learned that if you have an older kitty and you want to get a new little one, get two — that way your new kitty has someone equally rambunctious to play with and will not torture the older one.

She can just be her imperious self and there could be two little crazies under the table.  Poor little boy . . . but he is almost three now . . . to introduce a new kitty, would make all new problems.  We’re good, we’ve figured it out.  But next time, I’ll get two.

 Jack has had to accept this as his brother, the ever-vigilent, wide awake, but not that much fun, Petey.

The seasons change and Jack watches everything from the window.  So far I haven’t let him outside.  I heard that if you live where there’s traffic, you should keep them in for at least the first two years, until they have lost that “chase anything that moves” syndrome where they follow a butterfly or a bee right into the street without a thought.  They’re like babies.  Can’t let them go on their own until they’re older.  Maybe next year, after I’ve thoroughly scared the bejeebers out of his relationship to the great outdoors.  I let Girl out, but she never goes more than ten feet from the house.  Just the way I like it.

When a neighbor cat comes into our yard, Jack will follow it, running madly from window to window to keep it in his sight!

And of course, in all seasons, he’s endlessly entertained by this, we have feeders outside our kitchen windows and we are a very popular bird restaurant!

I want him to get used to NOT EATING birds before I ever let him out.  Would like him to see them as “Normal.”

The hardest thing I ever have to do is say goodbye . . . he watches from the window when I drive away, even when I go to the store!

And his joy is obvious upon my return (that’s his head, upside-down, at the bottom of the screen) and I feel just the same way!

Jack has become famous lately — he has fans like “Bentley” reading about him in books . . .  but, despite that,

 . . . he remains humble and still helps me with the laundry. ♥

Another reason to have a kitty (or a dog, bunny, bird, hamster, parrot, fish) is not just because they need us to protect and love them . . .  it’s a two way street . . . we need them.  They are good for our physical and mental health . . . they build strength in the happy gene and even lower blood pressure, that’s how good they are; owning a cat makes you 37% less apt to have a heart attack!  Any information you would ever need to have about owning an animal is available through Google.  Ask and ye shall receive. ♥  

Some people search all their lives for purpose when anyone can see that God served us purpose on a silver platter.  He gave us the earth and all of its magnificent treasure to care for.  That’s our purpose.  He made us strongest of all, and that comes with responsibility.  We are the stewards of the air, the oceans and waterfalls, flowers, woods, and homegrown tomatoes; He gave us the profound gift and responsibility to care for the critters big and little, lions and elephants, chickens, puppies, chipmunks, snakes, trout, polar bears and kitties, every wonderful living thing that makes up the magical chain of life, including us with each other, the strongest to the weakest amongst us.   If for nothing else, that’s why we’re here, to take care of the beauty that God has given us. When I play with my cats, I look up and inside my head I hear myself whisper, “Thank you, God!”  If you ever see someone being cruel to an animal I encourage you to call your local Humane Society or even 911 and get that person straightened out!

Eat, Drink and Be Scary . . .

I thought that today I would pay attention to the calendar because it’s that time of year when the world wants to get scary  . . . and eat!  And I have lots of ideas for that!  Starting here, with a Halloween menu and some of the little things that make life sweet . . .  Not sure if it fits but I’m in the mood for French MUSICA!

Everything from spiderwebs in your soup to pumpkin ice buckets and plastic spiders floating in the your ice cubes ~ and don’t forget popcorn night and those wonderful old movies ~ maybe start a little project for a Christmas gift with a favorite old movie on TV.

 Shop your house and find things to decorate: celebrate harvest with apples, pears, pumpkins and squashes, old quilts, candles, jars of fresh herbs and marigolds, baskets, leaves, acorns and pine cones . . . make small seasonal vignettes.  Let the last tomatoes from the garden ripen on a kitchen windowsill.  Sleep with the windows open so the stars and the moon can watch over you.

Set out old books and magazines with covers that remind you of what you love. . .

Cook and invite your friends over . . . It just wouldn’t be fall for us without our favorite Chili recipe — get the best chili powder you can find at your market ~ we usually get the kind you can buy in bulk ~ or bags of it in the Mexican food department.  This recipe isn’t particularly hot, as in spicy (or “pica” as they say (brilliantly) in Mexico), but you can add a quarter tsp. of red pepper flakes if you’d like to feel a little more heat.  It goes delightfully with the sour cream!  Here’s the recipe:

Click HERE to see step-by-step directions for making this special Chili. This would be a very good place to use your sour cream spider web, especially for a Halloween dinner.  Serve things in heavy pottery, wooden bowls, pewter, ironstone, brown and white transferware, red Spode.

Invite your friends (no matter how strange they might seem to the outside world, you know their hearts are in the right place) ~ ask them to wear their hats.

“It’s not what’s on the table that matters, it’s what’s on the chairs . . .”

Another good place for the sour cream spiderweb mentioned in  EAT, DRINK AND BE SCARY at the top of this page . . . is my elegant

It’s all delicious with . . .

Or this next one, one of my favorite recipes ever . . . every delicious thing of the season, cinnamon-dusted roasted apples, plump raisins that pop in your mouth, thick pork chops, moist with celery and onion stuffing, and sweet potatoes . . . in one big casserole that makes your whole house smell like heaven.

Here I am, in my favorite fall apron (that I love even if it does make me look like a country road), stuffing “Jack-be-Little” (did someone say Jack?  waaaah) Pumpkins with apples, leeks, squash, mashed with butter and cream.

You can have one on each plate when your guests arrive, or serve them on a large platter, they are such a knock-out . . . you can also stuff them with the Sweet Potato Casserole on p. 65 of my Autumn Book (cream cheese, sweet potatoes, brown sugar, eggs, walnuts, nutmeg, yum!).

When it’s turkey-day, surround your roasted bird with these and when you bring it out people think they stepped into a Norman Rockwell painting.  Know what?  Make just one for you and one for someone you love.  That’s good enough.

Here’s an easy placecard I made one year.  I used letter-stamps for my friend’s names and burnt the edges over the flame on my stove holding the card with tongs.  Be sure to blow out the flame quickly before the whole thing burns up!  You can lean the card against a tiny vase of flowers, cut a slit in a mini-pumpkin and slip it in there, lay it on top of the napkin or tuck it into a small pine cone.

I always forget to take pictures of my Corn Pudding until it looks like this.  It’s the most wonderful easy, delicious dish in the world.  Here’s the RECIPE.

And now, the must-have of the season . . .

If you have never made this before, please take this opportunity to do it!  And make the lemon sauce.  This is an amazing dessert: tender fragrant deliciousness. ♥  Warm cake in a puddle of cold lemon sauce with whipped cream.

Go on a wild goose chase . . .

While it bakes and fills your kitchen with gingerbread fragrance, grab a sweater and go outside and poke around.  Take your scissors and see what kind of wild things you can gather to decorate with.  Or plan a walk in the wild and windy woods, bring nature indoors ~ wild asters, windfall apples, or rose hips, whatever is local to you. Everyone has something, you might be surprised when you go out to look.

More MUSICA? Is it time yet? Oui!

It’s really unending all the wonderful decorations you can make with things you find on the ground.

“October gave a party, the leaves by hundreds came . . .”

Last year we grabbed a few fallen branches and leaves and wound them with bittersweet to decorate our front door.

Cinnamon, being so good for you, is great in this ice cream and nice thing to have in your freezer for small unplanned celebratory moments.  ♥  I speak from experience.

Fly your colors, Girlfriends . . . air your down comforters for the winter. Bring fresh fall air inside.

It doesn’t have to be very much for you to feel like something is special about today. A little vase of flowers is all you really need.

And then of course, there is the possibility of TWINE …. a four o-clock cup of tea with a friend, and then, when it’s five o’clock somewhere, perhaps another kind of surprise from the fridge . . .

You can include a gummy worm in your Vampire’s Kiss for a special Halloween scream fest!  This is actually our favorite thing for April Fool’s Day, here in a glass with coffee in it, or at the edge of the shower drain, both work so very well. (This is part of the DNA that develops when you are born into a large family. Torture of your fellow man naturally comes with the territory.)

And here’s what we’ve been doing at “work.”  Kissing kitties!  This is Kellee with one of the “Studio Cats” she and Sheri got after the last time I was here.  What is work without a kitty?  It was my first time meeting him.  His name is Sam, or Sammy, but I seem to call him Jack.  He is heaven to sleep with!  (Our studio is our old house.)  He is an adorable cuddle-cat.

And this green-eyed girl is Sasha.  Longer hair, but she’s Sammy’s sister.  These kitties didn’t get the greatest start in life; in fact they were being bottle-fed by their rescuers when Kellee read about them and went to get them.  But here they are now, two of the nicest, softest, prettiest, cleanest, best smelling little petty-pets anyone could ever hope for.  The other thing I’ve been doing . . . as Sasha has discovered, is unpacking some of the treasures Joe and I found last month on our cross-country trip . . . like for instance this vintage, totally handmade Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt . . .

We’ve been setting everything out so we can oooh and aaahh over it and I can take photos and write descriptions of it . . . so much of it matches the things I have at home.  It’s what I like, so when I find “another one” I can’t help but get it for you!  It’s all going up in the Vintage section of our web site, very soon!  I told you, we want to have an especially wonderful holiday season this year.  We want Santa to be berry berry good to you!  I found lots of tea things, the prettiest cake plates and sandwich platters! Who’s more excited, me or you?  Me probably.

So much good stuff . . .

. . . and a hard-to-find Banana Dish (you can see mine here) and lots of wonderful classic old Christmas books to decorate the coffee table in front of the fire and bring lovely yesterday into wonderful today . . .

And you know what else we did this afternoon, me and Kellee?

We designed Dishtowels!!!!  We finally found someone who can make them for us in the kind of quality we think is good enough, nice, thirsty, hemmed cotton that holds the color when washed and doesn’t wrinkle to the point of no return . . . and the very best thing about them is that they are Made in America!  Tadaaaa!  Are they not adorable?

 These are just paper mockups so far — the actual dishtowels will arrive somewhere around the end of the month.  I designed one of them to match our new Tea Tin (how could I not) and the other is my favorite Santa Face (when my own personal Santa, Joe, posed for me all those years ago). ♥ On Sunday, November 10, we will open our booth at the Remnants of the Past Event and we’ll have our new dishtowels there among other things, including me, signing my new book, and hopefully lots of you, wearing your badges (click on that link and scroll down to print out your badges, so you can recognize each other, and scroll down even further to the November dates to learn more about the event).

OK Twine time for me.  Must go…. Hey girls!  Ain’t we got fun? xoxo

A New Post . . .

My dad says, “I’m ready for a new post.”  But my mom’s house has a kryptonite barrier that resists computer connection! And then it turned to . . .

and memories of the island and home and fall and leaves and all of that came washing over me.  My colorful little leaf collection I make every year, with leaves gathered from the dirt road where we walk each morning.  I string them together for my kitchen window with a needle and thread . . .  I

My backyard with layers of crunchy leaves drifting down and clouds of undulating starlings flying over trees and picket fences, the smell of salt air up from the harbor, my girlfriends popping in, not to mention Iris . . . a bit of homesickness seeps into this post  . . .

Missing my dishtowels dancing in the cool autumn air . . .

There’s just something about October . . . but since we are now in California, we recognize there are other kinds of beautiful fall days in other parts of our country that “vagabonds with gypsy blood” simply cannot resist, and when you are there, it’s best to play the MUSICA of the neighborhood . . . go with the one you’re with . . .

Hello October in sunny Seal Beach, California!  Can you hear the waves roll in?  Feel the warm sun and soft breeze blowing?  As Marilyn Monroe would say, “It’s all so delicate.”

And here’s a bunch of gypsy vagabonds if ever I saw them ~ heading off to Kokomo!

Just another day in paradise.  If you look waaay over there on the left horizon, you’ll see a tiny little white half-moon looking bubble . . . see it?  Well, next to it, you can’t see it in this photo, but it’s definitely visible to the naked eye (because of the smokestacks), is a huge gorgeous ocean liner so elegant it sends a chill up your sun-warmed spine. . . and you say, I got to GO there . . .

. . . and when you get closer, if you didn’t know before, you find out it’s the legendary Queen Mary launched in 1936 by King George V (Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather), a world class ocean liner still complete with old world ambience and authentic Art Deco decor and permanently berthed in Long Beach as a hotel with restaurants and bars and tours and shopping for all the world to enjoy!  So of course my first thought was, “Let’s go for tea!”

I cannot imagine a better place to park The Fine Romance Van than in the shadow of this great ship.  You just drive right up and park and walk right on board!

We were getting out of the car when Joe discovered Petey in his bag.  Surprise!  I hid him there.  :-)  He’s so happy.  I know you can’t see it on his face, but trust me, he’s thrilled.  (Petey is thrilled.  Joe?  Not so much. “What’s this doing here?”      . . . I can’t seem to get the boy to swallow all the Kool-aid!)

Our cameras never stopped clicking as we walked up to the gangplank, me, my mom, and Joe.

You get on board and it’s so wonderful you actually want to run in all directions at once.  Here we are on the Promenade Deck, trying to be ladies and gentleman about it.

So much to see!  And we get to do it with my mom!  The ship is huge; they said if you stood it on its end it would be taller than the Eiffel Tower.  You’re free to walk all over it, stem to stern as they say.  The ship’s horn blew (honked) on the hour and each time it did, I waited for the ship to do this:

She seemed fully capable of taking off and looking just like she did in her heyday . . . and we kept thinking, you go girl!

. . . Back then, passengers cavorted with the likes of Clark Gable and Loretta Young, Bob Hope and Walt Disney, British royalty and Prime Ministers too. This ship saw more than its share of glamour and we felt it everywhere we went.  During WWII she was painted a (successfully) invisible sea-grey color ~ nicknamed the Grey Ghost, she transported thousands of troops and was a hero in her own right.  The  history of this ship is rich with story and there for the taking and imagining.  In the bars, you can still catch the blurred images and feel the anxiety of boys (our dad’s and grandfathers) in sailor suits going far from home to save the world.

. . . and now us, Joe, my mommy and me for a proper tea in the Tea Room, no blurred images, and only one sailor suit . . .

A table for four please . . .

Yes, we will have this.  The food was wonderful, as you can see, it tasted just as good as it looked!  Little perfect tea sandwiches . . .

. . . egg and chicken, melon and prosciutto, some with caviar and salmon . . .  Mom and I had a full tea, Joe had a large shrimp salad.  The food was great!

The tea desserts were painstakingly made and delicious!  I took about a thousand photos in the Tea Room, but I know you want to see the ship . . . so let’s go do that shall we?  Let’s start in the gift shop!  It’s the normal thing to do. ♥

If you ever need a crown for any reason at all (and who doesn’t even if it’s just to wear around the bedroom), this is the place to shop for them.  They come in all shapes and sizes, sparkly reproductions you’ve seen at many famous queenly events.

They even had crown rings . . . my mom and I had lots of fun in here!

Tea pots, flowered china cups, special teas . . .

. . . all kinds of fun things . . . being the practical girl I am I bought only one thing in there: a red tin box of bandaids that said, “Keep Calm and Carry On” on each bandaid.  I could not resist.  Cute and useful too.  My two favorite things in shopping.

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Many of the shops carried vintage-looking clothing and accessories . . . I liked the red shoes so much I looked up the maker, Chelsea-Crew, to see what else they had!  I now predict new shoes in my future.  Cute and useful!

And look at these darling reproduction watches!  Aren’t they adorable?  I want one!

The shops look like this and showcase lots of interesting and wonderful things.  I bought a gold scarf covered in sequins for Diana! (From the book? To thank her one more time for telling me to go with Joe to Boston!  She loves anything that sparkles and I love her! ♥)

Besides the shopping, they have a self-tour you can take that gives you peeks (through glass walls) into the rooms decorated as they would have been back in the day.  This is the children’s playroom, filled with old toys and children’s furniture.  Many of the original murals are still here too . . . making it very easy to step back in time, and positively no sea-sickness involved! Gorgeous mural huh?  Would be nice in my dining room!

This would have been the Captain’s Quarters.  Nearby were the much-smaller, windowless, but still lovely rooms for the Captain’s Steward which included a tiny pantry complete with teapot and bar still filled with the old glasses.  I could easily live here if I had too.

Speaking of the bar, here is the Observation Lounge out on the bow of the boat with a wonderful view of the shore, swirly Art Deco ceiling and original mural.  Some people seem to dress up and play the part of elegant passengers here.

Here’s a closeup of part of the mural over the bar . . .  I love the lady in pink, and the bow on the woman on the right!

There are over 300 one-of-a-kind staterooms you can choose from if you come here and spend the night.

You get off the elevator in the hotel part of the ship and it looks like this, hallways filled with the rich wood paneling and gorgeous rugs that decorate almost every space on the ship. The hotel also has a spa and a fitness room.

Here’s one of the main dining rooms . . . can you imagine?  At sea, this beautiful room?  Pearls and glittering diamonds and red nail polish, satin, lace, perfume and tuxedos, the band plays Cole Porter.  So very extremely civilized.  Cary Grant makes a toast and clicks delicate champagne glasses over the gardenia bouquet at table number six! Myrna Loy bursts out laughing.  What could it all mean?

Not to be completely outdone in the realm of “not too shabby” here is one of the dining rooms where we had dinner on the Queen Mary 2.  They managed to keep the amazing ambience of specialness with a capital H for Heaven, just like the movies.

The Queen Mary is filled with 1930′s sophistication and style, carpets are all gorgeous on this ship!  I actually took a photo of every one of them.  One of these days we’ll just do photos of “rugs I’ve known and loved.”

And the same style echoes on the Queen Mary 2 . . .

Of course the whole thing comes with stunningly beautiful panoramic sea and shore views!  See the tall building with the green roof?  That’s where my mom and dad had their first date.  He was wearing a sailor suit and my mom tried not to swoon. ♥ We are a hotel dating people, apparently.

For Joe, we saved the best for last.  He had tea, he kept his pinky in the air, he dealt with Petey with a certain kind of grace, he shopped, he looked at darling rooms, now it was time to take the elevator to the bottom of the boat . . .

. . . deep down to the bowels of the ship where they keep the engine room . . .

Joe was beside himself in here, he loved it . . . four floors of pipes, funnels, switches, gauges, nuts, bolts, and engine-type things for him to marvel over.

Look at all those dials!  So exciting!!!  Straight across the room there’s a sign that says, “control panel.”  I was thinking we could use one of those in our house.  Push a button for instant control!  If only . . .

We stayed all day, until it got dark and we think we only saw maybe half of what there was to see.  But it was time to get home, must save a few hours for our nightly game of Rummikub and eat our Potato Chip Cookies!

Out one of the windows of the Queen Mary we could see Long Beach Harbor and the docks and cranes where ships from all over the world come to unload their containers filled with goods.  So exciting to think that in three weeks, a ship will come into this dock and unload pallets filled with the second printing of our very own book!

Yes, we’re still receiving your darling “traveling photos” — our book gets around!  Here it is with our girlfriend June, at Nauset Lighthouse in Eastham on the Cape!

And for all of you who have ordered books and are waiting ever so patiently, your signed copies of A FINE ROMANCE will be the very first to go out in the mail . . . the girls in the studio are ready!  Girlfriends, we have sold out of the second printing too!!  We are new customers to the Long Beach docks, but they will be getting a third shipment with our address on it at the end of November!  Who woulda’ thunk it?  We are as happy as those kids riding the waves here in Seal Beach ~ we’re on our own little wave of sorts. I look to the left and the right, and there you all are, on your boards, riding the waves with us. ♥ Lookin’ good!

On October 15, new charms arrive . . . more Girlfriends charms (for those of you who missed the first ones) and our Fine Romance charms will be here too . . . and we were so excited to learn that our Tea Tins came in on Tuesday!  Along with my two favorite and now our signature blends of tea . . . the lavender tea with roses I wrote about in the book ~ and my favorite organic every-day Earl Grey tea.  It’s all here!  Most of you have already figured it out ~I used to be the one who gets to announce things, but you are too fast for me!  You know stuff before I do!  I brought my own tin along with me so I’ve had it this whole trip, but I still can’t wait to see them all at the studio today!

Yes, this is the day we reach our destination for this first cross-country leg of our trip after a month of living out of the back of a van, we will settle in to our house for a month!  Squealing with joy (in a whisper, because my mom and Joe are still asleep). I have my tea and I’m sitting at my mom’s kitchen table where, for the moment, I have the quiet all to myself.  Only the sound of munch of cookie.  The stars are still twinkling in the sky, a little blurry through the soft fog from the Pacific.  We’ve had a wonderful time, every day we pick a new restaurant next to the water to have lunch at!  Every night it’s Rummikub and homemade something.  And later today we’ll drive up beautiful blue Pacific Coast Highway along the ocean, winding past Malibu, Zuma, Trancas, and Ventura, into Santa Barbara, then over the mountains with a possible pitstop at Cold Spring Tavern (if we can bear to stop, those last few miles to home are always the longest, almost unbearable rounding the last two curves) to Arroyo Grande where they are expecting a balmy high of 71 degrees today, thank you very much.   For the first time in two years, we will see Kellee, Alfredo, Sheri, and Bonnie (who’s been helping out at the studio lately), and meet the two kitties, the “Studio cats” that everyone adopted since the last time I was there!  There are two mooshable, petable kitties at the end of this rainbow!  I will need to be careful not to pounce on them!  Then I get to have lucnh with my darling BFF Diana on the beach at my favorite restaurant in Shell Beach and let the laughing roll!  I lived on the Central Coast from 1971 until 1982 (the formative years) until I moved to Martha’s Vineyard and I’ve kept in touch with several people there. Lots to look forward too.  Four high school best friends are coming to the Remnants Show on November 10th! (I hope if you can, you’ll join us!)  Karen (with the beautiful red hair with whom I met the Beatles), Marilyn, Kathy and Linda (we made our Drill Team pom-poms together at a slumber party at Marilyn’s ~ among other things).  So much fun!  I have a garden here too that Alfredo has been watching over for us.   I’ll take lots of pictures!  I must close now, with lots of love and kisses.  And I think it’s only right that I give my mother the last word . . .

ARE WE THERE YET?

The age old question of travel, are we there yet?   We’re at one of the “theres” right now, with lots more to go . . . want to see what we’ve seen?  Oh yes, we could write a book!  MUSICA.

This is life on the road.  Not elegant, but functional. Which is saying something.

Our daily in, looks just like our daily out, only pointing in the opposite direction.

The long and winding road.  If you ever feel crowded where you are, just know there’s plenty space left in this beautiful wide-open country . . .

. . . amongst waves of grass and wild Black-eyed Susans, where clouds drain down the sky and graze the tops of mountain ranges, with views so wide, and an infrastructure so encompassing, all your “proud to be an American” buttons get pressed.  Words like, “purple mountains majesty” and “fruited plain” come to mind. . .

Unfortunately, we are efficient bug killers out here.

And did you know that Lake Michigan is so big it has waves and looks just like the ocean?  I think you could surf Lake Michigan!

It’s a lovely place to catch the sunset and the last of the summer evening breezes.

There are a lot of happy people in this world . . . you see it everywhere you go.

We found this at a blues music festival in Iowa City . . . . we walked through it to get to the bookstore (Prairie Lights) there and this was my favorite thing . . .

A public bucket list!  Make a difference! ~ Be Happy! ~ Jam with Kiss! ~ Change the World! ♥

Motorcycles are a big part of road life!  Motorcyclists are a very festive bunch of people!  This is Goshen, Indiana and this huge group has joined together to honor the fallen heroes and first responders now and on Sept. 11.

And history, plenty of colorful American history out there.  Here we are in cowboy country, Dodge City, Kansas at Boot Hill.

Joe finds me working on the car in the parking lot and is wondering what I am doing since the car is HIS department.

But I’m in charge of decorating.

. . . for the Fine Romance Van.

Which fits in everywhere we go . . . especially here in Hog Wild country, we wiggle our butt in between all the other piglets, we make this grouping into a party — then we go inside and buy Kansas-Barbecued everything to eat in the car!

This is the visor on my side of the car.  I know you recognize Girl and Jack, but who is that third kitty?  It belongs to one of our Girlfriends who sent this photo to me just before we left ~ I brought it along.  It fit in so perfectly.

On we go, munching beef brisket, ribs, and powak bah-ba-cue, under a sky wide as forever.

Then, in New Mexico, no doubt about it, we found us some weather.

Even while a corner of the sun was still peeking through the clouds, the rain began and the van was blown sideways, rocked by the wind . . .

It got a little wild with the water flying up; passing a truck was like being on the inside of a car wash . . . clouds churned into blackness and we moved toward it.

But we came out of it as we went in, with blue skies and beautiful wildflower-strewn Arizona waiting on the other side . . .

And suddenly, there’s that sign again, we see it every time we drive across country.  ”Meteor Crater” just rings every one of Joe’s bells, he wants to go there so much and we’ve never have time before.  But this time, we hit the breaks and off we go, six miles down the flat road to nowhere . . .

And at the end, a museum on the side of a hill, where we buy tickets to see a crater that was formed by a meteor 50,000 years ago.

And it’s a crater alright.  No doubt about it.  I recognized it immediately.  Flat desert, but all around this hole in the ground is a steep hill.  When the meteor hit, it pushed all the dirt up and around it in a perfect circle, like the well you make with flour to drop the egg in when you are making pasta (if you know what I mean).

It has a platform a ways down you reach by a steep stairway where people go to get extra close to take pictures.

People like Joe.  But not people like me who stay up top, not on a dangling platform, and take pictures of the people who do.

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Inside the museum you can stand in front of a photo that makes you look like you are down in the crater, but of course, you aren’t!

And then we’re on the road again, for more wildflower roadside of Arizona . . .

So pretty we have to stop and take pictures, along with other fellow travelers and admirers of beauty.

Smells of pine and sage, in the high desert south of Flagstaff.

Closeup and personal with the flora and fauna . . .

And views that go forever . . .

Wild asters and all the rest of it  . . .

And then, we arrive, at destination ground zero.  Cottonwood Arizona, at home with the Blog Daddy,

. . . and about to have one of our very favorite dinners in the world . . .

And that’s it for today Girlfriends.  Yes, all those new things in the last post that we ran out of already?  More are coming!  More Peter Rabbit Emma cups, more Charms, more Bobeche, and you know, more A FINE ROMANCE books too, it’s all on the way!  Tea too, end of this month, and Tea Tins!  Also, for you California Girls I posted new information for our EVENT on the Central Coast in San Luis Obispo, and added another bookstore, famous old Independent Bookstore, Vroman’s in Pasadena.  Be sure to check those events every so often!  OK, I’ll give the Blog Daddy a big hug from you!  XOXO

KELLEE CALLED!

Kellee called today to tell me about the exciting things happening at the studio . . . several of the things we’ve been working on for the last few months are starting to arrive and she wanted me to let you know!  Beginning with our Girlfriends Charm.  They’re here!  And they’re gorgeous! MUSICA, yes. xo

Pretty in pink and decked in flowers, engraved on the sterling silver core with “Girlfriends” on one side, and ♥SB on the other.  Yes, it has hearts!  Isn’t it wonderful?  I’m so happy!  You can read about it by going Here.

The Girlfriend Dream Charm comes in a clear bag with this quote-card to make a perfect gift for the mom, sister, and best-friend girlfriends we could not live without.

And that isn’t all . . . look at this! ↓

Oh yes, the Martha’s Vineyard ♥ SB Dream Charm is here too . . . so we know we’re not the only ones. ♥  I designed it in a blue ocean pattern complete with swirly waves just like what surrounds the island.

Our new ♥SB Dream Charms fit all the popular bracelets out there ~ they look so pretty together on a chain or ribbon around your neck too.  In one month, a third charm will be arriving to join the others. It will invoke the green vistas and winding hedgerows of the English countryside and will be engraved “A FINE ROMANCE.”

 I could just cry!

But there’s still another surprise:  Do you remember my bobeche (bow-besh)? It’s that little saucer in the photo above that sits on the top of any candlestick.  Once in a while you can find them with dangles, like mine with the stars.  I bought these somewhere years and years ago and use them for Christmas, New Years, winter breakfast parties, or summer nights outside under the moon.  I just love the way the stars twinkle in the candlelight.  Originally the saucers were designed to catch melting wax from the candle, but I still use them even though my favorite Swedish candles don’t drip . . . because they’re so pretty.

Because I love them so much, I have looked for years for these same bobeche for you, but to no avail.  I could not find them anywhere. I found other shapes, but no stars, and my heart was set on the stars.  So after last year, when they were the sparkling centerpiece on my sideboard for the YANKEE Magazine shoot (the holiday issue with my house at Christmas comes out at the end of next month ~ see?  We thought it would never get here, and now we’re almost there!), I thought, that’s it, these bobeche are too darling,  maybe I could have them made?  And so I did!  The same crystal-clear sparkly lucite stars and beads hang from a “cut glass” saucer, proving once again, as my mother always says, “where there’s a will there’s a way.”  And they just came in!!!  We have them as a pair and they’re a bit expensive, but they last forever and ever.  You can pass them on.  You can give them as a wedding present.  They are worth it. And, the good news is, this is only September, plenty of time to find a good sale, save some money, and then come spend it on bobeche!

And speaking of sparkle, NOW LOOK!  Are you kidding me?  This too?

Yes, indeedy!  These brand new Emma cups honoring Beatrix Potter have just arrived.  Bunnies on the outside, birds on the inside.  We have them!  I have my name all over one of them (I know, you’re shocked!), being shipped to the island even as we speak! And we have the cutest new Emma linens too . . .

And that’s the big news for now.

Here we are, still in Kansas today, with the view from our window of the cutest van in the whole world.  Last night at Watermark Books in Wichita, we had our last book signing until our second printing comes in (at the end of Oct).  If any of you want a first edition copy of A FINE ROMANCE, you can still get them at the normal retail price. We saved some extra boxes of first editions, brought them with us, signed them, and left them with the bookstores as we went along, but they are going fast.  You’ll find phone numbers beneath each of the dates on the EVENT PAGE.  Lots of photos of the book signings and many of the wonderful people we met along the way are there too.

I can’t tell you what a complete joy this last month has been to me.  Meeting so many of you, wandering the country, a true joy.  Our book has been a blessing in more ways than one.  A little time off will be nice, a visit with my dad will be wonderful, and then more events when we get to California.  And in between, I’ll meet you right here!  Bye for now!  Happy weekend Girlfriends! ♥ xoxo

SIMPLE PLEASURES

 One of my favorite simple pleasures?  MUSICA!

Just thought you might like to see how I’m holding up.  Me and Petey, we are having a wonderful time. ♥  Joe too — he’s taking lots of photos at every book signing.  We’ve crossed Massachusetts into upstate New York, passing through Pennsylvania, into Ohio, then Michigan and Indiana and now we’re in Illinois, seeing America! Everywhere we go it feels like we’re meeting old friends for the very first time.  At each book signing, we talk and laugh like we’ve never been apart, about our picket fence gardens, our families, favorite recipes, trips to England, Beatrix Potter, Willard, tea parties, Martha’s Vineyard, how much we love dishes, Goodreads, Gladys Taber, the Beatles, quilts, art, decorating, old movies, our Peter Rabbit rooms, polenta cake, getting our colors done; we exchange kitty stories and talk about favorite books . . . regular Girltalk, about all the little and best things in life.  Some of us have “known each other” for many years, since my first book.  I get to meet moms and granddaughters, husbands and sisters and best friends.  It’s been such a treat.  We’re getting as close to as many of you as we can, you are doing your part too and we meet in the middle and it’s been loverly!

 I’ve updated our EVENTS page almost daily with a couple of photos from each book signing, and even with a new book signing event in Bakersfield California, so don’t forget to check back there for updates. ♥ Also, in case of book emergency, you can, for the moment anyway, probably still find signed first editions of our book at the last two bookstores we went to . . .  Anderson’s Bookstore (630/963-2665) and Better World Books (574-534-1984) ~ I think they’d be happy to send one to you.  (If they run out, you can still pre-order a signed copy from our web store ~ the second printing is due to arrive at the end of October.)

Our Fine Romance Van has gotten very popular!  A  TV station in Kansas City has asked that we park it on their lawn when we get there so they can show it on their Morning Show — oh yes, and incidentally, I get to come too!  You’ll note that the modus operandi for our traveling life, the “bring everything” mantra, still holds. (That’s only the stuff that comes in at night in the photo, you should see what’s in the van!)

Tomorrow, Sept. 12, there’s going to be a Tea Party/Book Signing at a gorgeous Country Club in Wilmette, IL … you can learn more about that on the EVENTS page.  Then it’s off to Iowa City, which made me think you might like this recipe for Iowa Corn Bread.  It’s getting to be that time of year . . . by Friday, I think Fall will actually begin!

Just thought you’d like this ~ Motel life is always fun!  Like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get!  Here is what was waiting for us in the bathroom last night!  They are so formal here!

The computer is working very slowly today . . . it’s taking forever for a photo to come up, but I wanted to say hello!  Off we go to the laundromat.  Home looks really good from here, but we would not miss this for the world!  Thank you for all your encouragement and L-O-V-E, love.  Hope to see you along the way!  XOXO

On the Road . . .

Here we are, on the road, and finally I get to say Hello, so . . .

Here I am!  Verizon came through, I have much more access to the blog, from the road, than I did before.  I thought I’d do a quick update for the last week, it’s all a blur, better catch it while I still can!

Rabbit-Rabbit! September first came and went, but not before I managed to turn over my calendar page and hang up my Autumn Banner.  Because although we won’t be home, life does go on!

And by-the-way, yes, Janie has made us all new Autumn banners which should be in our web store any day now.  Like the others, it comes in its own little handmade envelope; the perfect way to celebrate the change of season.  Look for more of Janie’s darling creations coming throughout the holiday season.  And yes, we have Beatrix Potter Emma mugs coming very soon too, I know some of you are waiting for them!

About this time, we were doing our final packing . . . I made the most delicious thing to take along . . . I segmented oranges and pink grapefruit to put in a jar to keep ice cold for breakfast . . .

For our ice chest, to take on the road . . . Jack watched.  He was wondering . . . you could tell . . . “what is she up to . . . this doesn’t look good . . .”

Because I was running around decorating.  We want to feel at home when we get back.  The seasons will have changed, it will be the end of November already and I will want to jump right into late fall . . . get cozy, cook, be home . . .

 I’m already homesick for my house and cats.  I put up my little collection of metal stars and draped my fruit garland across the kitchen windows.

I put down all my winter rugs.  And by the way, if any of you like the English “Chocolate Box” rug I designed here, I think we may still have a few of them left.

I arranged my owl family on the window sill ~ I found them in an antique store years ago and they are a fall tradition for us.  The big one is a jam jar and the little ones are salt and pepper shakers.

I got out a pile of quilts for the living room . . .

And arranged my new salt and pepper (relatives of Petey’s) with my “new” little metal stove on my stove shelf…

Then our pal Iris from across the street came over to say good bye . . . we love her so much and hope she waits for us until we get home, she’s a little bit rickety these days … there were lots of dog bones and hugs for Iris before we left.

I went upstairs to put some laundry into the suitcases and Jack was ready for me . . . these two hair-bands were right in front of my dresser . . .

And these waited for me on the floor just outside the bedroom door, right where Jack arranged them, where he most loves me to shoot the bands to him . . . Such a smart kitty!

Who me?  You talkin’ about me?

But the clock kept ticking and pretty soon it was a face full of softest kitty neck in the whole wide world . . .

as we kissed them both goodbye . . . and out the door we went, with a tear in our eye, on the road again!

With the perfect MUSICA because you know, there is a kind of freedom when you turn up the music and hit the open road in your Fine Romance Van . . . you get skies full of beauty everywhere you go . . .

And sunsets over corn fields . . . (the corn fields are there, trust me! )

And something new around every bend in the road . . .

Here we are, just clipping Vermont on our way to Ohio . . .

Crossing a bridge in New York with a wide lake on both sides . . .

Past old barns . . .

And wonderful stands of sunflowers front the road and topple over picket fences . . .

Charming views every where we look . . .

Cozy houses are everywhere . . . people here are building up their wood piles right now!

And lots of old barns, many of them painted red, dot the American countryside . . .

And here in Ohio, lots of Amish buggies and frisky horses, and every one of them we saw had a mom driving with a child next to her, going to do grocery shopping I would think.  I always wonder how slow life must be without a car, without any TV or radio to disturb the peace.  I don’t think they give them enough room on the road!

The first day, we stopped at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA because we’d heard they had a wonderful display of Winslow Homer’s art . . .

In his own hand . . . we were able to see his early work, and then . . . these . . .

Watercolors, so delicate . . .

They take your breath away . . .

Filled with heart . . .

He made beauty and left it for all to see and enjoy. ♥

And today, we are here, in Wilmington, Ohio.  In a hotel room.  I just got back from the exercise room where I take this WONDERFUL book I’m reading (it took me a few pages to get into it, I’m so glad I gave it a chance) to ride the stationery bike.  Here’s my book waiting on my bedside table for nap time!

I just thought you’d like to see our hotel fridge.  We took everything from our ice chest and went shopping last night, so we can make new healthy stuff for the road.  I laugh every time I look at this!

And that gives you a small teeny taste of our road trip so far.  You know most of the time I work in my studio in what used to be called “the music room” of my old house.  Mostly my noises are kitty purr, maybe the heater humming, or the fire crackling, or lawn mowers mowing, or the grammar school down the street at recess, or church bells.  Very quiet. Scratch of pen. Clink of paintbrush against side of water bowl.

And then, our Fine Romance Van arrives at the Learned Owl Bookstore, with this as our reception party!  I almost can’t get out of the car!  I don’t know what to say.  Except to all of you, those who were there and to those who were there in spirit and support, thank you so much for everything you have done to make our book a success.  And I have news about it.  You know we went to second printing, which comes in at the end of October?  I think I told you . . . Well, in the meantime, guess what?  Due to demand (probably because of your relatives and girlfriends!) we have now gone to third printing!!!  And in plenty of time for Christmas!  I am verklempt, beside myself and overwhelmed about it all!  I just wrote this book for YOU, and never thought it was going to go further!  We have 130 reviews on Amazon right now, and they are all, all, five stars.  You did that too!

And for our British girlfriends, I have news for you too!  You can now pre-order a signed copy of the book much nearer to home (meaning much less cost for postage) from our friends at Much Ado Books in Alfriston in E. Sussex.  It will also be available at the gift shop at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, Hampshire!  Plus, if all else fails, Amazon UK is carrying it too!  I’m just glad it’s there.  It was one of my little prayers, that my book about the wonderfulness of the English countryside would be available there.

The book still continues to travel without us . . .  Here it is in Washington DC, the photo taken by Victoria and David Smith who come up to be with us at the Learned Owl.  Toot toot!  Next stop Grand Rapids, Michigan!

He Loves Us, Ya Ya Ya!

Hi Girls, remember when we first started our trip to England, how much trouble we had with the Internet in the beginning?  Sporadic communication?  Well, it’s the same thing here!  You will need some bop MUSICA while you’re waiting!  Even though, from the picture below (sent via Twitter by our Girlfriend Kathy), you can see how wildly successful we’ve become . . .

. . . I still can’t seem to tame the Internet gremlins that plague me.  This means another day of cell phone calls between me and Verizon so that I will have access to the blog while we drive from place to place.  But I promise to make up for it when all settles down!  I just wanted to let you know what’s been going on and why you haven’t heard from me and why I haven’t been able to “moderate” our comments!

I’ve been taking lots of pictures which I’ll have for you soon.  But I knew you’d want to see one of the main reasons it was so hard to leave home.  My dearest little boy playing with his new catnip pillow.  I would say, “Note wildness in eyes,” but you all know that wildness is always there!  We have to leave the hotel now if we’re going to make it to our next adventure in Hudson, Ohio!  So bye for now Girls.  I’ll be back! xoxo  P.S. People are loving the Fine Romance Van!

PACKING AGAIN!

Hello everyone!  We just got back home from our little jaunt through Massachusetts and New Hampshire which I wanted to share with you. Now we’re packing again, this time for our cross-country trip! Here are some sounds of New Hampshire Lake Life for your morning Musica.♥

When we got home, we went on our walk in the woods on a cool crisp morning, the breeze making the hairs on my arms stand up ~ I picked these up — they set my Gypsy Blood Astir!  I know it’s still hot in most of the country, but in New England, I can feel, smell, see and hear my favorite time of year creeping up on us in the most wonderful way.

This gate is on the hotel grounds of the gorgeous Church Landing Mill Falls Hotel where we stayed on Lake Winnipesaukee in Meredith, New Hampshire. We went to this lovely place for a book signing at Innisfree Bookstore, but once we saw this hotel and this lake we thought about staying forever!  I love this shape of gate/trellis and how it frames a peek-a-boo view.  Just makes you want to go through it. And P.S., if you are going up there, the food in the Lake House Grill dining room was outstanding!!!

This hotel room was a gift.  Between the bookstore and the hotel, they gifted us two nights here in this little piece of heaven.  We had no idea where we were going, we just put the address of the hotel they’d suggested into the GPS. We expected a normal motel room where perhaps we would have a discounted first night.  We found out our stay was a gift and for two nights when we checked in!  We walked into the room, there were squeals because it was so gorgeous — it had a deck, this is the deck, that’s a corner of the room there,  I took this photo about 3 seconds after we entered — I ran straight out to the deck with the camera because we arrived just in time for moon rise and the cricket serenade.

The next night, we got this . . .

The full Green Corn Blue Moon shining Pink on Lake Winnipesaukee!

Just below our deck, running the length of the hotel fronting the Lake was this grassy knoll with lawn chairs and little stairs leading down to the water . . .

Lovely gardens and gates with peek-a-boo views of the lake . . .

And Adirondack chairs strategically placed for water watching and breeze feeling . . .

We went on walks and climbed up Lockes Hill in the Kimball Wildlife Forest . . .

Which always makes me very happy, taking long walks in nature . . .

Especially this one, to the summit, with a view of Lake Winnipesaukee and a few of some of its two hundred and fifty islands.  People live on those islands, often in old “camps” and go everywhere via boat on this lake in the summer time.  Some of the boats are classic antiques.  On Golden Pond was filmed near here.  Oh the loons!

Then it was time to go to the bookstore.  We could see pretty easily that we were in the right place!

And then we went inside and there were the Girlfriends waiting for us!

I was able to spend a little time with everyone, talk and visit.  But the line is always the fun thing, I can hear them out there getting to know each other and laughing ~ I want to go get in line too!

We brought along some extra boxes of books to leave behind with Bev when the signing was over.  A FINE ROMANCE is sold out at the Publishers (unbelievable!!!!), we’ve reordered and are once again taking preorders for signed books from the studio,  but if you are having a book emergency and need a signed copy right now, try calling the nice folks at Innisfree Bookstore, 603-279-3905.  We also left lots of signed books with Titcombs Bookshop in Sandwich, 508-888-2331.

Here are two people who worked at Innisfree, both sweethearts, Brandi and Martha . . .

We would have stayed at Church Landing Mill Falls Hotel the whole time, but they were sold out for the weekend, so we had to move.  And this is where we went, to the Lazy E, with Lazy being the operative word, because how could you not be with this as your morning view:

Our little cabin had a kitchen. You take your tea out here in the early morning and watch the old boats go by and listen to the wake lap against the shore.  They have a bonfire at night too, you can sit outside, smell the wood fire, watch the sparks go up and join the stars.  It’s a beautiful world up there.

We loved walking through the neighborhoods and looking at all the lake cottages, big and little . . . I had to take a photo of this darling bird house! Look at the little benches at the door and the window boxes!

I thought this was a mailbox, but I’m not so sure.  Whatever it is, it’s cute!  Then it was time for us to go to Milford to the . . .

Toadstool Bookshop for another book signing.

The Fine Romance Van has been wonderful!  We weren’t sure we were going to like it, but it’s like going to a birthday party wearing the cutest dress, it just makes things more festive!

And here I am, answering questions for that person standing in the way back . . . or something like that . . .

And more girlfriends, more fun talk, more meeting and greeting.  The room was also full of husbands and guy friends, although you can’t really see them, they sort of hang around with Joe!

Here’s Girlfriends who are regular visitors to the Blog, from left to right, Kate, Judy, Rachel and Jackie, out front gracing the Fine Romance Van . . . Hi Girls!!!  Thank you for coming!!  ♥

Jan (in the middle) is the manager of the bookstore — she made it such a nice event — providing tea and scones for everyone!  They were all wonderful — that’s Melanie on the left and Prudence on the right.  Thank you Toadstool Bookshop!!

Then it was off to early dinner, before our drive back to the island — Chicken Caesar Salad for Joe (with balsamic vinaigrette), Lobster Salad for me (blue cheese on the side), iced tea with lemonade, and then of course for the devil that lives inside us both, Onion Rings (roughage)!  We loved the picnic tables and the sounds of the crickets and this fall-like day — such a perfect time to take advantage of the outdoors. (BTW, Here are some good Autumn Picnic recipes, we loved this spur-of-the-moment picnic so much — just click on each recipe and it’ll come up.  Remember spontaneity is a wonderful thing, so it’s good to plan for it!)

We got to Woods Hole in time to make the freight boat home . . .  just in time for sunset and cries of sea gulls and smell of ocean . . .

And pink peach red orange blue yellow lavender sky — it was a gorgeous cool, fall night on the water . . .

As lovely as New Hampshire is, I guess we won’t be moving there anytime soon.  There’s no place like home!  ”If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air . . .”

And when we walked through the door, we had a surprise waiting for us!  It came directly from another house we love, Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, England (I wrote about our visit HERE).  Yes!!!  There was a lovely English accent waiting for me on our telephone message machine! Onto my knees I went, leaning in close to the table hear, with my pen and paper at the ready.

The call was from the museum gift shop (here ↑ where I bought my quill pen and ink that I wrote with in our book).  The caller’s name was Ann and she said she’d read  A FINE ROMANCE, and loved it (eeek) and wants . . . wait for it . . . to carry OUR book in the Jane Austen Gift Shop in Chawton, England!!!!  I am not kidding.  This has happened.  I can barely imagine a place where I’d rather see our book.  ♥

Although the photos we are receiving are kinda really so WONDERFUL ~ our book is experiencing the very best life has to offer!  I’m living vicariously through it now!  Talk about travel!

Buckingham Palace Gates, for example!  Can you believe it?  But there it is!  Taken by our Girlfriend Laura who is flight crew from SFO and took it with her to England just for us! Isn’t this wild?  I think I see the Queen peeking out her window . . .

Yes!!! I guess I don’t have to tell you who this is!  This should make my dad very happy.  He’s been wanting our book to get into the hands of the Queen since the very beginning!  This photo came from the English Rose Tearoom, in Carefree Arizona, just down the road from where my dad lives.  I want to take my dad and his adorable wife Jeanie for Tea there when we get out to see them next month! ♥

And then there was this.  OK?  Has my cup runneth over?  Yes, it has.  As most of you know by now, this is our book on the rock wall overlooking Post Office Meadow in Near Sawrey, in the Lake District, with lovely evocative Castle Cottage in the background, where Beatrix Potter and her beloved husband William Heelis lived for thirty years. ♥ Taken by our Girlfriend Eli, who lives in the Lake District.  She got on a boat, crossed Lake Windemere to take our book to Near Sawrey. ♥

Eli makes darling knitted sheep too!  I had to show you!  Sheep!

And then we have the cat lovers . . . the animals who are happy to see Girl Kitty and Jack get a little bit of attention.  This is Jackie’s (she was in the photo with the Fine Romance Van at the Toadstool Bookshop) dog Bentley.  Black and White fur people are so decorative!!!  And go especially well with a red ribbon!

And then there’s Peaceable Kingdom right here, our Girlfriend Cathy’s two sweethearts, Poetry the cat and Gabriel, her dog.  They live the cozy life!

Tuckered out from “reading all night,” Maria’s pup is sound asleep.  Look at his soft flappy ears and his big beautiful paws. ♥

Which reminds me, I wanted to show you what I brought home for Jack.  Oh he loved this.  Eyes big as saucers when I pulled it out of the bag.  All those rubber bands for MEEEEE????

Both he and Girl were so well cared for while we were away.  My friends Elizabeth and Cathy were here from California.  So the kitties were hugged to the point of thinking they were staying with four year olds!  Hugged, loved, well fed, kissed, petted, scratched, followed around, and generally messed with.  Jack was worn to the bone.  He even looked a bit jaded ~ something in the eyes.

But that doesn’t stop Elizabeth, she can’t help it, she adores Jack.  Here she is, informing him that she’s “coming in.”

Oh My God, he thinks, eyeing her madly, you are a MANIAC. ♥

Please Mother, take me a way from her!  She’s crazy!!  S A V E   M E !!!

But I don’t save him because I understand Elizabeth’s need.  When something is so precious it must expect to get hugged and kissed constantly.  Excuse me, I have to go attack him myself now!  The guy gets no rest.

Girl slept with Elizabeth every night (but is back next to me since we got home), and Jack slept with Cathy and everyone was happy.  ’Cept me now, because early Saturday morning we go again, and this time, it will be for months.  The kitties will be loved (we have friends moving in here for the duration), but I will be lonely without them, and can already hardly wait to get home!

 To go means even more appreciation when we return.  Fall, crossing the USA is going to be wonderful!  Seeing our family and friends in California will be heaven!  Must take the bitter with the sweet ~ Ahhhhh, life is good. ♥

I think I have everything out of (Freudian slip) in control for us while we’re on the road.  Hair cut, ✔, Tea packed, ✔, Clothes Pole in Van so we can hang things up (Thank you Joe) ✔, twenty pounds lost since May ✔ (just thought I’d throw that in ), house decorated for Autumn-ish-ness ✔, Storm windows figured out ✔, Dinner reservations made with friends next to water tonight ✔, three-month supply of cat food stored ✔, Litter box emptied, washed, bleached, rinsed, and refilled ✔ ~ Next year’s calendar covers are designed; quotes and Christmas art have been sent to YANKEE Magazine for our Holiday feature article; the second printing of A FINE ROMANCE will arrive at the end of October; more calendars are ordered (hopefully we won’t run out this year); soon Kellee will be putting up new FREE THINGS for Fall in our web store; cute ads are designed for TEATIME Magazine; any day now our engraved Glass Charms (Martha’s Vineyard, Girlfriends, and A Fine Romance!) will be at the studio; plus our cute Tea Tin is on the way, and my favorite lavender tea too. There are new Emma cups, including the Royal Baby Mug, and a new Emma Peter Rabbit design should be here any moment that is SO darling! Lots of fun things are coming for Autumn and the holidays.  It’s our own little world of sugar and spice and everything nice.  ♥

We have Bookstore Events and Tea Parties planned (see EVENTS in the right-hand column of this Blog) although we had to stop making appointments after Wichita because we don’t have books, but we’ll gear back up as soon as they come in).  It’s only kitty kissing needs to be done now, and a whole lot of it. ♥

Ooops, Girlfriends,  Jack just dropped the ball behind me.  Gotta go.  Love you!  I’ll keep updating the blog as best I can on our trip . . .  I want you to see it all! ♥ Have a wonderful day! ♥

Spontaneous Adorableness

Well, Girlfriends, currently we are experiencing what I can only call “spontaneous adorableness,” but what else would we expect considering our source!  I have to show you . . . but first . . .  MUSICA!

You should go get some tea too …  Guess what?  We now have eighty-three reviews on Amazon!!! Amazing, wonderful, darling, detailed, brilliant, thoughtful reviews!!  Maybe I’m a little biased, but hey! I can’t help it!  Thanks to you, we have gone back for a second printing!!!!!!  Are you kidding???  NO!!!

We are doing our best to make sure the stores where we’re going for book signings are supplied with books, plus we kept a secret stash at our Studio just for our Blog Girlfriends (for as long as they last).  It will be a few weeks before more books arrive (probably by the end of October) and hopefully, by then, supplies will flow steadily through Amazon and other places.

S P O N T A N E O U S   A D O R A B L E N E S S

THAT’S OUR GIRLFRIENDS . . . WHO ARE  

A N D

Look at our traveling book!!  A Fine Romance is having lots of FUN!  When I say, “spontaneous,” it’s because we never thought to ask for photos, but they came anyway ~ through Twitter, Facebook, and via email . . . and look how cute!

This is Samantha who took our book to new heights! All the way to the top of Idaho’s tallest peak, Mt. Borah, at 12,662 feet!  Makes me so proud!

 In this one, our friend Judi is having her Fine Romance under the swaying palm trees in Florida . . .

And here’s our book, luxuriating in the Emma cupboard belonging to our English Girlfriend Chris . . . who lives in

 . . . in this adorable cottage in Buckinghamshire, England!  (BTW, I think there should be a law that one Friday a month certain people (all normal of course) are allowed to go into any house they want.  :-) )

Imagine how this pine floor smells, how quiet the night is, how bright the stars, under the trees in the mountains at Trillium Lake near Mt. Hood in Oregon with our camper friends Holly and Ron . . .  with our lucky, lucky book!

And if this isn’t romantic I don’t know what is.  Cozy reading for beautiful Kate, who is visiting (from Connecticut) her grandmother (and our Girlfriend) Eileen.

And welcome to the Fine Romance Dinner our girlfriend Valerie made in Sacramento California, complete with Coronation Chicken and Hot Milk Cake, and Beatrix Potter People too!

Here is Sherri’s garden, and her favorite place to read . . .   I’m not sure where she is ~ maybe she’ll leave us a comment to tell us!

And this, this is Julie Marie’s “Princess Tess,” who, Julie says, gave A Fine Romance “Five Licks!” Another great review!

And here, from Karen, via Twitter . . . the biggy and the littley.

Thank you Girlfriends, you add so much to the festivities, and make everything even more fun! ♥

Mas MUSICA for the rest of the story . . .  And here we go . . .

I’m writing this from a motel on Cape Cod . . . because yesterday we kissed the kitties good bye, and left our house on the island . . . to cross the sound . . .

 I made a big thermos jug full of Gazpacho for the five days we’ll be touring around New England . . .

Joe packed up the van with all the necessities of life on the road, ice chest, electric tea kettle, Tin of tea, British Country Living Magazine, maps, Petey, signing pens, my pillow, my diary, his beret, his GPS, our Emma mugs . . .

And off we go on the boat.  (I just discovered something while writing this.  If a person has her name on the side of her vehicle, and it is parked just outside her motel room, she should probably not “run out to the car” to get cream from the cooler in her jammies with her sweater as a “robe” even on a very beautiful morning.  She might get out there, and realize her neighbors are packing up their cars in front of adjoining motel rooms, and having breakfast at picnic tables, and contrary to popular belief, she is not alone, nor unidentifiable.)

We rolled off the ferry and drove to the town of Sandwich, the oldest village on Cape Cod, settled in 1637.  We kept marveling at how beautiful it was, and how much it reminded us of England, like it had snapped off the edge of England and floated over here.  If you ever have a chance to visit Cape Cod, look for Route 6A, you’ll love it ~ lots of antique stores!  We came around the bend, and suddenly, we saw this sign in front of the Sandwich Town Hall where our event was scheduled!

Oh My,  I thought.  But it looks mighty quiet around here.  Are we sure we’re in the right place?  This is a VERY nice neighborhood.  There was a gorgeous old church with a tall white-painted spire across the street from the Town Hall . . .

. . . and lots of darling houses.  I wish we’d taken a photo of this one at night when we were leaving . . . the ladder was down and it was magical.  But still pretty adorable with the ladder and in the daylight.

And look at this little cottage . . . doesn’t it just say love?  Look at those window boxes!  The blue shutters!  The garden!  Of course, I’m a fool for a picket fence.  Too cute!!!

And here’s the Town Hall ~ which has been continually in use for 175 years.  In 1939 President Roosevelt provided stimulus funds to repair it ~ there have been sing-a-longs, silent movies, balls, town meetings, and fireworks here, it’s a center of Cape Cod culture.  The Titcombs folks saved us a perfect parking place, that’s us on the right.  The Town Hall was so quiet on the outside, except for that “sold out” sign, I thought maybe no one had come, or there had been an emergency and everyone left . . . but then . . .

Oh, yes we can!!!

I talked and then they talked and I answered questions, and afterwards we all talked and I signed books for the nicest people in the world.  They met each other while waiting in line . . . the hall was a cacophony of women’s voices meeting and greeting . . . And there were lots of 

 . . . they exchanged contacts and at least some of them went out to dinner together!  That’s Elizabeth from the bookstore behind me; she was such a doll, helping me and everyone with their books.  PLUS she brought a little show-and-tell for me to see, her first-edition copy of Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim — she let me hold it:  soft brown worn leather, embossed cover, little frail ribbon bookmark, beautiful paper.  She knew I’d love it, and she was right.

 Titcombs is a very special Independent Bookstore that was started by Vicky’s (in blue) parents (Ralph and Nancy) in 1969.  Vicky’s the oldest of eight children (just like me), so Titcombs has been a family affair from the start; Vicky’s brothers built the building the bookstore is in, their grandmother manned the cash register until she was well into her nineties.  All hard work, love, and the American dream. ♥ For our event, they served everyone Polenta Cake and Lemon Butter Cookies from the recipes in our book, plus my Grandma’s Chocolate Shot Cookies too . . . and iced tea with mint.  After everyone had left we signed extra books so Titcombs will have plenty of them in their store now that we’re gone.  I also want to thank Fran (in the pink) and also Elizabeth (in the flowery dress) for all their kindness and hard work.

And then it was over, and the lights were going out . . . but since we were kind of on cloud nine and feet were not actually touching the ground . . .

We drove under a big moon through the quiet streets for a little dinner at the Bee-Hive Tavern in Sandwich on Rt. 6A ~ it was our first time at this restaurant . . .

. . . but it definitely won’t be our last.  It’s so cozy with wooden booths — Joe had steak and fries and cold slaw, and I had crab cakes ~ yum.

Last night we got a room at the Earl of Sandwich Motel … Family owned, sparkling clean and quiet, a little fridge, wifi (thank goodness), comfy beds ~ but my favorite thing, our room (#2) is right across from their . . .

lovely treed garden where families were having their complimentary breakfasts at picnic tables.  One lady was working on her computer in the sunshine and there were ducks, geese and wild turkeys walking around the lawn.  So civilized!  We heard a train go by and one of our favorite sounds, that long train whistle . . .

 They have a pool here, and a duck pond, and look at those ducks/and/or/geese with the little cotton hairdos!

And that is it.  Joe is tapping his foot and saying, “Hello?” as if we’ve never met.  So I must go.  I will be out of computer reach until The Fine Romance van stops next in New Hampshire (if you’re near there, check EVENTS and come join us at a book signing).  So, that means your comments will have to wait until I get someplace I can read them.  But I didn’t want to leave you out of the action. Have a wonderful day everyone!  Dance by the light of the beautiful full Moon tonight! ♥ xoxo