Hi Everyone!!! Yes, it’s me, your long-but not-forever-lost Girlfriend, checking back in, because I have all sorts of news, and I’m forcing myself to take time from writing my new book this lovely Monday to catch you up a bit . . . I’ve been away from my blog and pretty much everything for waaaay too long . . . but I have a ton to tell you, so get ready! Here’s one of myold favorite songs, MUSICA for you!👏 First off . . . the
YES! 2027 has arrived at our Studio right at Summer Solstice! 2027, in the form of a purse calendar, the Mini, the Blotter, and my new Wall Calendar! 💝
Here it is . . . I just got mine yesterday and read it last night; it made me cry and laugh because it’s an ode to our old house . . . Probably the main character in my blog for all these years. That old house was SUCH a person! 💝
You can read here what you will find inside . . .
I had to do it, I kissed the door jamb as we left the house, but it wasn’t enough…I just couldn’t go without a proper good-bye, and I think this might just be it! And my little buddy Jack is on every page, even on the cover, where he belongs!💞
Last time I laid them all out was in 2013! There are 19 calendars in this photo! I can barely believe it. And this is only half! There have been 14 new ones since then! Funny way to keep a lifetime diary . . . kinda tells me how long I’ve been doing this! I look at them and think, “How FUN!!”👏👏👏
So, I’ve been keeping very busy . . . not the least was replanting our wildflower orchard. What a learning adventure this has been, me trying to emulate an orchard full of wildflowers I saw in England in 2004. . . if you’ve kept up with this blog, you know this is my second try, and I don’t expect to have it right for maybe 4 more years. That’s okay! I like long projects!❤️
You really have to slow-walk yourself through this with your camera and snippers to appreciate all the colors and variety of wildflowers, some so very tiny . . .
It’s pretty awesome if I do say so myself!
It’s not really brain surgery, you just throw out seeds and up they come, but there’s preparation that has to be done, straw that has to be laid to thwart seed-eating birds, and constant watering, and then there’s the crazy gardener I never met who came and was told to weed MY GARDEN, which no one is supposed to touch but me, and goofed up and weeded out half of my new wildflowers.😖I never saw him, but thank God he went home before he finished, or it could have been worse. Things happen. Plenty left for me to coo over.
See the little flat white flower? That’s Baby’s Breath! A very different variety from the one they have in the florist shops … and my favorite. It’s floating all over the orchard!
And speaking of natural beauty. I know how you love photos of Jack . . . isn’t he the most beautiful boy? I have been trying to think of how to tell you this 😢 (so get ready), but at age 16, Jack, our little guy, has gone to heaven. Way before I was done with him as I’m sure you know.😥 It was so fast, over one weekend, and then, he was gone. I was kind of dumbstruck, he’s had diabetes for years, and maybe that led to it, we don’t know. It’s been a little while since this happened, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to tell you about it. The vet said it was just one of the regular things that cats get. Kidneys. I’m glad it was fast. I hugged him so close and thanked him for all he had brought to my life and I could feel him hugging me back. I hugged him for you too.😘
Our little petty pets, so hard to say goodbye. But what a GIFT!💝 My sidekick, in all things, even on the floor exercising.
Even tucking himself in next to the toaster to watch me cook.❤️
He was so much fun . . . waiting at the top of the stairs for me to shoot him one of those fat ponytail bands…
And he was beautiful. And you can see by his face, looking right AT me, he had great powers of concentration. He was such a little personality!💝
Now he’s with my other little guys . . . I hope he LIKES them, Jack was just a two-human kind of guy.
We are lucky to have these little bo-bos waiting in the wings for when this happened . . . Remember these two? These kitties, S
imon and Sammy, are HEAVEN cats who’ve lived here in our California house since they were kittens. They were Studio cats who hung out with Sheri when she was working in the Goat Barn shipping calendars. We sort of inherited them when we moved back to California; we all agreed that moving them didn’t seem the best thing for them; we’ve known them from the beginning and love them dearly, and didn’t want to disrupt their lives any more than we had to. They lived with us in the house whenever we came to visit … but then Jack moved in, and he would not, and did not,want to share his space with any other cats, so these two lived in the Goat Barn, which was kind of 
okay with them, but we felt guilty and always knew they wanted to come back into the house. We fed them in the barn, morning and night, let them out in the morning, put them to bed in the barn as the sun went down. The rest of the time they wandered the gardens with us, lounged on the deck. They were really good sports about not coming in … and it’s been almost 2 years since we got here. Literally the DAY after Jack was gone, Simon OPENED the screen door and walked in. I looked at Joe and he looked at me. We thought we might wait a while before moving them in. But we had another think coming. And so it is . . . they’re in and they’re staying in.
As a small example of what they do for us in the laughter department, Joe is TRYING to sleep (see the little hunk of hair on the pillow at the top? That’s Joe).
Joe’s trying to hide but Simon is not giving up!
This little love bucket ADORES Joe… wakes him every morning, and I adore him for adoring Joe. So we celebrate life, our memories and our now, as that’s what must be done!💖
If you’ve never had a kitty, you don’t know what you’re missing. Although, don’t get me wrong. I adore dogs.🐕 I’m lucky because Alfredo and his son Jesse used to live here; they take care of the hedges and big garden things, they come all the time, and each have a dog! So, basically, I have two cats and two dogs! Big dogs, a little pit bullish, almost scary, except they are the sweetest good boys in the world and scared of the kitties! What would we be without our little petty-pets?💓
So true, they’re all just little heart-beats . . .
Here we are, out to dinner next to the ocean … I am taking this photo of us in the window of the restaurant behind where we are sitting ~ there we are on the patio and there’s the ocean ~ life is good.🤗 We’ve kept busy, I’ve been mostly writing-writing-writing my book, Joe’s been getting shipments of books , cups, etc. ready… feeding me, and taking care of the rest of our lives. We’re doing it together because we have so much to look forward to! 👏👏👏
Made it to friends for dinner … I’m putting this pictures so you know I’m healthy cause I know you worry when you haven’t seen me in a long time.🥰
Best thing Joe and I did happened in May . . . still living in the glow of this day. This is Jane Bay at her 85th Birthday party … Jane is my 
darling girlfriend whose idea it was for me to write a cookbook ~ I’ve written about her and thanked her in several of my books . . . but we haven’t seen each other in many years. What a reunion!💞 On a charming patio in a sweet old hotel in San Anselmo with her darling sister Kitty, and all of their friends, and some of their kids! What a celebration of life! Jane was George Lucas’s assistant for something like 30 years, so the party was filled with her old 
friends from Skywalker Ranch, many of them are my age, and some of them still work there, and all have wonderful life stories to tell, California kids, who accidentally on purpose fell into the most creative jobs in the center of a magical hub-bub . . . Such an interesting bunch, all there to celebrate the friendship and generosity of Jane, the air buzzed with L O V E! See those flowers up there ⬆️? 🌺🌺🌺 So gorgeous, I was taking a picture of them when Kitty walked by and said “Steven Spielberg sent those.” Of course he did 🤯, perfectly normal.💞
Look at her . . . she’s still magic, with that soft southern-girl laugh and big smile, so smart, so good, such a friend.💗
But the wonderfulness of my days did not stop here . . . Look at this!😱
Something else out-of-this-world happened. I bought some used shoes, Louis Vuitton Shoes, in an auction. My very first auction. My very first designer anything. And that’s not the half of it, because these adorable chunky shoes (Joe’s not wild about them, but they’re just my style), oh yes, P.S., belonged to DIANE KEATON! They did! My girl! I was shocked to get them because the odds were monumentally stacked against me. The auction took place live in New York, and worldwide on-line. I don’t know what happened, but the person/people I was bidding against just STOPPED! They stopped bidding!!!! Leaving me in the cat-bird’s seat! Why? I don’t know! They must have had an emergency! Had to leave town instantly. Everything else I bid on went 
WAAAY over my head, even though I sat there like a vulture, finger hovering over the computer, ready to strike . . . to no avail. But the shoes are MINE. Shoes that were last, and ONLY, worn by DIANE KEATON!!! All of her clothing, gorgeous handmade linen jackets (I tried for ⬅️ that one), big skirts, belts, HATS. Designer everything! All went for arms and legs, and although yes, these are the most expensive shoes I will ever own, they were nothing compared to $8,000 dollar hats, etc. I have never had the urge to buy designer clothing, but I don’t mind having a little something-something like these. (Clutches own heart, with eyes to heaven.)😊
I get to walk in Diane Keaton’s shoes. Couldn’t be happier even if I had the red, No Place Like Home shoes from the Wizard of Oz! To me, these are better! They aren’t here yet, still going through the system of an auction house, getting shipped soon, so I keep praying nothing goes wrong. No worry, I did get a receipt, so they have my money!👏 Guess where I will wear them? YES, at our first book signing, when we honor our beloved Diane Keaton, get all gussied up to dress like Diane, our darling “woman to love.” I might have to call it Woman to Love Booksigning. Will they fit, you might ask? They said there was no size in them, but they measure 11 ½” long, and we measured my clunky black loafers with the big heels and they are 11 ¼”… IT SOUNDS GOOD, and my fingers are crossed. I wake up now, all sleepy and coming to consciousness, and first thing comes to mind, “I have Diane Keaton’s shoes,” and a wave of happiness washes over me.
So what else … oh! Books! I have one TV series, on Britbox, to tell you about, and one wonderful book title to share … the Britbox series is taken from the last book written by Charles Dickens, which neither Joe nor I had ever heard of, called Our Mutual Friend. The series is old, from 1998.. but REALLY good. An accidental discovery, just lurking around on Britbox. Complicated, but in a good way . . . not hard to follow but keeps your attention. It’s a good mystery with lots of history, and of course Dickens’ famous message of too much rich makes too many poorer. We’ve been trying to go slow to make it last, it’s so well done. You’ll love it!😘
This is the book … Circling the Sun. It’s a biography of the life of Beryl Markham (famous for writing her own wonderful biography, West with the Night, which I hope you’ve read ~ if not, I have TWO books for you 😊). Circling the Sun is also beautifully written, but a much more detailed look at Beryl’s unconventional life. We listen to it when we walk. The reader, Katharine McEwan, is so fantastic, with the BEST, most delicate English accent, she makes the written words even more wonderful.💝
Speaking of delicate and English . . .😊 Time for a CUPS, update! Fine bone china, made in the potteries in Stafforshire, England . . . here’s the brand new HOLLY OAK!
They sent me pics so I could approve the color . . . I told them, It’s a GO, they look beautiful!!!
And they sent me samples of the real things! I always wondered what the door of the real Holly Oak would have looked like if I had the nerve to paint it red. This was the very best way to find out! Looks GOOD! FYI, Kellee is saying, as of yesterday, that the Holly Oak cup is almost sold out! I wrote the manufacturer this morning to see if they can add a few more, and they said they would try, so be sure to check back if you see SOLD OUT on this cup! (A cup that in my heart I call, “Once Upon a Time.” Because it’s a fairy tale to me!)♥️
They haven’t shipped yet, but they will soon . . !
Here’s the WINTER cup, which makes even more sense now considering the subject matter of my new book which you will soon read about, and we still have them! Both cups are the large 16 oz. size, thin-lipped, and not just any cup, as most of you already know!💝And now, welcome to the REAL Life of Sue: Because writing my new book is really all I do most every day, I dream about it most all night, and wake up thinking about it (immediately after remembering that I GOT DIANE KEATON’S SHOES💃🏼) . . .
💘 Here it is . . . My Our new Book! With a brand new name!♥️
Comfort and Joy . . . as in Tidings OF! As you know (and have been waiting so patiently for me to finish), I originally started out to update my 128 page Christmas Book, but in my ear was echoing, “where is our winter book?,” “when will you write a winter book?,” and slowly over time, the title, focus, and subject matter of my new book changed and opened wider, and although it’s STILL a Christmas book, and still has all the subjects covered in the first book, it’s now 200 pages of so much more, with lots of photos, covering all those subjects you see at the bottom of the cover . . . With the main subject, as with all my books, being Home, and the happy, creative world of Domestic Bliss, and the little things that make life sweet.
The inside flap gives even more hints to the contents. I figured this COULD be my last book, and we MIGHT be on the way to my last booksigning and so my Girlfriends, just in cases, this year, with our new calendars, the new cups, this new book, the cross-country booksigning, the reprint of my new Summer Book, the Autumn Book, and Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams, all back in print and arriving soon, AND planning our trip to England in March, still going to give you the details when we get closer (book first), it’s all my way of saying thank you… and if I need to say fare thee well, I will have gone out with a bang, not leaked away under the door, but come out to tell you in person what a difference you have made in my life.💞 Some of you from the very beginning… ♥️ We grew up together!💃🏼 
Each day Comfort and Joy, ‘Tis the Season, is closer to being done, ~ doing it has taken me EVERYWHERE, through all my winters, and holidays, with my girlfriends, and our parties, and my family. and decorating it all with Joe, my memory cup is full to the brim!💝
Here’s another sneak peek at some of the pages . . . Thank you for your patience … You can see it’s going to be late, our booksigning is now going to be a fall adventure, but it will be worth it I promise. A MUCH better/BIGGER book than what so many of you already preordered.👏😊 I want to make this GOOD, I filled it with COMFORT AND JOY so you will never forget me! ♥️
Because you know I’ll never forget you! So off I go, back to work … but I promise, I will return the minute I turn in the book . . . we are sooo close, and after I turn it in, it’s only 3 months until we get it back! During that time we get to call our bookstores, plan our route, and see if we can come visit and bring YOU! Today I heard from Book Love in Plymouth, MA, inviting us to come there! I think our girlfriend Amy Woodward called them and asked them to invite us … she told them she’d bring her Book Club and that probably did it! I’m SO excited, I love that place ~ the town is so charming, and of course, with the Mayflower right there and all… the beautiful old graveyard is the best!
Love you dearests, write me, tell me how it’s going! Click on tiny word below where it says “comment.” 💞
probably won’t get it from the printer until July! Everything is taking longer, and as you know, COSTING more: production, shipping, taxes, etc, but it is so helpful, being as small as we are, to have some idea of how many we should order ~ we always run out too fast, no matter what it seems, so we’re trying to not let that happen! And the minute the books come in, sometime around the 4th of July they go out . . . first ordered, first sent! They go out and so do we! Joe and I, once again, “off to see the wizard,” as my mom would say! A new adventure, driving cross-country to meet you and sign your books at, hopefully, your local bookstores! Unless, of course, there is no gas, then we’ll take the train! We’ve been seriously plotting and planning this year. Because I’ve been thinking . . . and I didn’t want to crawl out of town 
in the dead of night ~ just disappear… I’d much rather go on the top of a hay truck shouting, WASN’T THAT FUN???? Because this is probably my last book (notice “probably), and our book tour will definitely be our last ~ Don’t worry, I feel wonderful, I’m not sick, I’m going on this book tour to CELEBRATE! It’s time ~ I’d love to have a few years to play in the garden, and go to LUNCH, and get 
healthily on THAT BOAT again! ~ do all the wonderful things that old people do . . . I’m about to turn 79. Going to turn 80 next year (planning to live until 100 💝), but what we’re doing feels like perfect timing. I owe everyone so much ~ you especially, my darling girlfriends, and the lovely bookstores who’ve been so GOOD to me . . . the connection we’ve shared, the LIVES we’ve shared, all growing up together, figuring things out … has meant the world to me.♥️ I knew your new babies, and you knew my DAD! I just couldn’t bear to go without a proper good-bye and thank you. So here’s how it’s going to go . . .
name is Jane Bay . . . I had cooked for her and given her a recipe box full of illustrated recipes, so she knew I loved to cook and paint and make things, and it was her idea I should put those things together and write a cookbook. Instant denial took over and lasted for years, my initial reaction was the normal, who, me? Way back then in the early 80s, the understanding of self-esteem had not yet filtered down to the little people ~ it was just coming into fashion … but one day I thought maybe I should try . . .and then I made it my dream, because of the confidence Jane had in me. And finally, I did, I wrote a book. Because, I thought . . . might as well.⏰ It’s still a surprise. There is a Susan Branch, and then, my friends, there is me.💞
And when we’re done, while we’re on the road, we’ll have 2 cups on the website (until they’re gone), and nine of my children will be in print ⬆️.💞 Plus this,
2006 have a warehouse! And they will do all our shipping from then on, we’ll still offer books and calendars and who knows what Time Factory might want to make! But one thing you should know, Kellee has always been the person who made sure my books had the signed bookplates, but doing it this new way means that 💞touch will unfortunately be missing, which is why you have to come to the signings! So I can do it in person. And don’t worry, the books will still have ribbons …. And if I want to do another book, or some other project, I can, but you see how long they take! And I keep promising Joe that I will stop.💞 But it won’t be as bad as we think . . . Because I’m not giving up the blog! I want to stay in touch, shoot the breeze, tell stories, see how everyone is.💞 And then next Spring, we hope to get on board the SHIP, and travel 
across the Atlantic and go see Rachel and Paul! And stay for a couple of weeks in London, which we have never done, because as you know, we are firmly English Countryside people, but I fear we might have missed something, so we’ll find a little place in London, go to all the big city museums, and climb onto those red double-decker buses, stroll through the parks, along the river, and see everything London has on Winston Churchill and Beatrix Potter, and the rest of the time we’ll be walking along old paths under ancient trees, feeling the history of the countryside, going to pubs with Rachel and Paul, and come home whenever we want!👏 Let me know if I should put up a link for the ship we’re taking, as we get closer, in case anyone wants to join us next March.😊 YES! 
into our driveway and down to where Joe was working in the garage… Look how high the door is … it really does look like an old carriage! Big thanks to sweet neighbors, and to the fairies who obviously came with us from the Island!
