And the winner is ...

Percy is just busting at the seams. He wants to reveal the name of the winner of the Susan Branch autographed book.

So, without further ado...

Laura Jenkins! You are the winner of the Susan Branch autographed book. I used the trusty random number generator to pick a winner.

Congratulations Laura, please email me your address. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Susan Branch's birthday and a blog giveaway

Today is Susan Branch's birthday. If you read my blog often you will know I am a big fan of Susan's. Susan and I have much in common. We both love animals and we have lookalike cats. Her Jack really looks like my Oscar. We are both foodies, love England and tea, and then of course there's Martha's Vineyard. She lives there and I would love to have even a Summer home there.

 

I met Susan twice at two book signings. Last Summer, I met her in Sandwich, Massachusetts for the signing of her book, "A Fine Romance".  Here's the original book with Susan's handwriting. Susan's husband let me get a peek at it.

So since it's Susan's birthday, I thought I would celebrate by giving away a copy of this book. I bought an extra copy at the book signing and I told her I was going to give it away on my blog.

So, here's what you need to do. Leave a comment on this post. I am not going to make you follow my blog but I do hope you will come back. I'll draw the winner on April 15th and I may even throw in a few extra goodies!

Cupid's Tea

A pretty invitation arrived in the mail recently. A Cupid's Tea.  My friend who has a lovely home was having a lunch/tea. I, of course, accepted.

The home is spectacular.  This is the music room. The settees were reupholstered to fit the room's colors.

Another view of the music room. The piano is a real beauty! My friend's son has entertained with his musical talent on many occasions.

 

Not many homes can accommodate a full size antique sleigh. 

The tablescape was so pretty. Some of us sat in this room, the dining room, and others sat at a table in the kitchen.

I do like this pattern of china. My friends collects it and it is perfect for Valentine's Day.

Here's the tablescape for the second table.

 

A view from the family room looking towards the kitchen. Before we ate, Deborah thanked us for coming and read us a quote from Susan Branch's newest book, "A Fine Romance". We all love Susan and her books. Did I tell you we had tea with her once? We (my tea group) did, in Plymouth in November 2007 after a booksigning and sadly before I started my blog.

 

We were offered two kinds of soup, butternut squash with crème fraiche or potato leek. And then, three kinds of sandwiches, roasted turkey, roasted chicken, or country ham on brioche with all sorts of toppings. Also, arugula with goat cheese and walnuts and a quinoa dish.

 

We were served a tea from Harney called Valentine's blend. It was a black tea with chocolate and pink rosebuds.

 

There were plenty of choices for dessert as well. Petit fours, lemon squares, and brownies.

White chocolate and milk chocolate dipped strawberries were popular. So pretty on a tray.

Scones were served with lemon curd, strawberry jam, and cream.

Everything was so attractively displayed and equally delicious!

After our bellies were full, we went back to the dining room to craft some Valentines. We had a quick class from an instructor on stamping, embossing, etc.

Here's the Valentine I made. I did not go too crazy with embellishments because I am lazy. I made an envelope out a doily and used a heart my sister had discarded. A bow, a word and a little bling. Presto, simple Valentine.

I think I will need to create a vignette around this masterpiece. So far, I have not decorated for Valentine's Day. Actually I don't usually decorate for the holiday.

Thank you Deborah for inviting me to your beautiful home. I loved it all, especially spending time with my good friends.

What are you doing for Valentine's Day? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear what you have planned.

Susan Branch book signing- Sandwich, Massachusetts

The main reason I chose to visit Sandwich, Massachusetts in August was because Susan Branch was doing a book signing there. Susan had tweeted that she was going to be signing her new book, A Fine Romance, on Martha's Vineyard August 15th and 17th.  As much as I wanted to go to the Vineyard for one of the signings, I knew I couldn't. The 15th is/was my Sister's birthday and the 17th was the date of a big birthday party I was throwing for her. So those dates were out.

I am a follower of Susan on Twitter so I tweeted to her asking if she had any other signings scheduled for Massachusetts. Susan tweeted back to me that she was going to be at Titcomb's Bookstore on August 19th. I googled Titcomb's and found out it was in Sandwich. The next day I made a call to Titcomb's and purchased two tickets. Vicky (the owner) told me the tickets she was putting aside for me had a low number, meaning we would be one of the first people to meet Susan. The excitement began to build. I made our reservations for the Belfry Inne and waited anxiously for the day to arrive.

The event was held at the Sandwich Town Hall, a beautiful and historic building. Inside, it looked like every seat was filled. Susan has many fans in the New England, after all she lives on Martha's Vineyard.

My sister and I got in line to purchase books and calendars.  That is where we met Wendy. Wendy had come alone to the book signing and I started chatting with her. She wasn't as familiar with Susan Branch as I was so I started to fill her in. She was excited to meet Susan too. I snapped this photo of Wendy and my sister.

I invited Wendy to sit with us as we had seats in the front row. We got there early and I wanted the best spot for taking photos. So we chose seats at the end of the first row.

As you can see, the Town Hall was filled with Susan's fans or girlfriends as she calls them.

Susan arrived on time and quickly engaged her audience. She decided to read some excerpts from her book. She showed us Petey, a toy her husband received as a boy.

Susan kept a journal of her trip and this journal turned into her newest book, A Fine Romance. She gave us a sneak peek. 

She wrote in her journal every day and she also added photos and drawings to it. The real journal looked like the printed book right down to the handwriting. Yes, the book is beautifully handwritten!

 

She held the journal up for everyone to see. I wished I had been sitting right in front of her instead of to the side.

 

 

Susan took questions as well. She was as sweet as she looks. Not at all impressed with herself.

 

She did not limit the number of items she would sign for each person. I was hoping she would sign three for me. A book, a calendar for my friend Kim and my Autumn cookbook.

 

Here she is signing the cookbook. She was interested in each person and she chatted with everyone. Amazing really.

 

She signed a few items for my sister too. I think one might be a gift for someone.

Susan's book contained recipes of course and the refreshments were made of Susan's recipes.

The cookies were absolutely delicious. I thought this was a nice touch.

While we all enjoyed refreshments, Susan was still signing books. She made sure everyone got their time with her.

She even posed for photos with some of her adoring fans, young and old.

I spied Joe (Susan's husband) taking photos from the balcony during Susan's talk. Then he came downstairs. I saw he had the journal in his hands so I asked if I could see it.

He flipped through the pages and let me snap some photos. He likes to stay in the background he told me.

I'm so glad I called for tickets earlier in the month. I would have been very disappointed to see a sold out sign.

It was time for an early dinner after the book signing. I asked my sister if she minded if I invited Wendy to dine with us. She thought it was a great idea. Wendy accepted the invitation and we decided to walk to the Daniel Webster Inn. We passed a small home with a beautiful garden. I wanted to live there.

This house was pink on the front and was also quite charming. The houses on Main Street were a nice manageable and unfussy size.

The weather was fantastic for outside dining. Not too hot or too cool. We practically had the patio to ourselves.

We all ordered the same thing. Pan seared scallops, half order. None of us wanted leftovers because where do you put leftovers when you are on vacation?

I do believe my meal is smiling at me. I loved the presentation. Compliments to the chef.

Here's the menu. You can read about our pan bronzed scallops if you like.

We all had the petite treats desserts. Wendy and I chose mudpies and my sister had a chai
tea crème brulee. She said it was the best she ever had.

I was in my happy place by the end of the day. A book signing and meeting with someone I admire, making a new friend in Wendy, and ending the day with a delicious dinner. And this was the first day of vacation. It was perfect!

The Painted Lady of Sandwich

In the last post, I mentioned I would tell you about the Painted Lady, one of three buildings that comprise the Belfry Inne property.

We stayed at the Painted Lady and we were not disappointed.  This was my room.

I woke up in a light filled gorgeous room to a glorious morning. I loved my little stained glass window. The Abbey was not the only building with wonderful stained glass windows.

I actually booked this room because of two features. One was a stained glass window, the second was because of the private patio.

The outside is so appealing if I were driving by I would have to make note of the place.

The flowers were colorful and plentiful. I could not stop taking photos of them.

Were the flowers carefully chosen to match the colors of  the Inne? Perhaps.

This is the path outside my patio. Charming, just charming. Made me want to just stay in my room and watch the bees and the flowers.

The bath towels were folded like fans. I took this photo for reference in case I want to try it at home.

I got to read my new book on the patio and I liked to spend my mornings out there too. The book is A Fine Romance by Susan Branch and we went to her book signing at the Sandwich Town Hall. I will tell you all about it in the next post.

Speaking of mornings, this was my breakfast on the second day. I think this looks like the Sydney Opera House don't you? We got to eat breakfast in the Abbey, the converted church. I would rate the food A+ and so was the service and the ambience.

Back to the Painted Lady, yes there really were bats in the Belfry Inne. This was painted on the walls of the tower. Such a cute sitting area.

I hope you enjoyed your virtual stay at the Belfry Inne. Next, I will take you to the Susan Branch book signing.