Arkansas - grace grits and gardening

Farm Art Friday: duck pit

November 28, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Hidden beneath flat rice fields, duck pits are difficult to spot from the road. I climbed down into this one buried on our farm in Mississippi County. From inside, the view is quite different, the small space like a secret.

Happy Friday and good luck to all those participating in the world championship duck calling contest today in Stuttgart!

And to you Black Friday shoppers…have mercy. I’ll be watching football and maybe hanging Christmas lights.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

World Championship Duck Calling Contest 2013

Simple Pleasures #6

November 10, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Last week was filled with some of my favorite simple pleasures. I spent time with friends at a Hemingway-Pfeiffer writer retreat which meant five whole days to talk about writing, share my writing, think about writing, and actually write. This is blissful. I followed that up at the Bat Cave with my Mother which always involves lots of laughing.

So a few of last week’s pleasures were…

1. A tranquil drive through the Ozark Mountains.

2. A glimpse of Lake Norfork, (my happy place), perfectly timed at sunset.

3. Sharing the first chapter of my manuscript with other writers and receiving wonderfully positive feedback. Yay.

4. A great night’s sleep at home in Mississippi County followed by a lazy morning drinking coffee with Momma.

5. Being surrounded by delta farmland for a few days! Look at all the beautiful cotton:))

Here’s wishing you a week of good coffee and lots of laughter.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Laughter, time to write, sleeping in my own bed. A few of last week’s #simple #pleasures. [/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

David Nail – Turning Home

Ernest Hemingway Wrote Here

November 6, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Hemingway’s Barn, Piggott, Arkansas

I am fortunate to be attending my fifth writer’s retreat at Hemingway-Pfeiffer Educational Center, a truly magical place not only because Ernest Hemingway wrote here(!) but because of the synergy created by the writers who gather.

This spot in Northeast Arkansas is hallowed—the trees, the grounds, the barn where he wrote a portion of A Farewell to Arms and other short stories. If you know me, you are rolling your eyes and saying, “Here she goes ago again.” Yes, I’ve written about this place before. And I likely will again.

I am reminded of the reasons to attend a writer’s retreat. The benefits extend well beyond the words on the page. Each session is different, a result of the mentor-teacher and the student writers who bring different backgrounds, ideas, experiences, and voices to the table. We feel safe to share the truth and write our stories.

I imagine a swirl of creative color flowing over the room. Colors as bright as the fall leaves outside our window.

Although this group spans the nation from coast to coast with careers ranging from education, anthropology, military, and others, I am reminded of how alike we are in our upbringings, our dreams and desires, the things that touch us.

I am also reminded of our differences.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

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