Simple Pleasures - grace grits and gardening

under the influence of Spring!

April 9, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

If only this post came with 3-D vision and a smell plug-in. No kidding, this place I live is park-like. I’m under the influence of spring and savoring every moment. Come with me and see for yourself. I took these pictures via iPhone while walking Lucy and Annabelle. The colors are unretouched.

You might say, oh no, here she goes again, all she does is post pictures of flowers. So yeah, that’s true for now, and isn’t it wonderful? If that’s not your thing, well… sorry (#notsorryintheleast #whatswrongwithyou).

Our neighborhood is alive and vivid and every bloom is a thrill to the senses.

Phlox spills over old stone walls. Tulips thrive in slivers of soil.

I’m a kid in a candy store.

Until we moved to Fayetteville, I never knew that tulips could be perennial. What an amazing thing. I’m certain tulips NEVER came back in Dallas. (Read what A Green Hand has to say about planting bulbs for a more natural garden HERE.)

I plan to luxuriate in every drop of spring. Soon, summer will come bringing long hot days, warm nights and blooms that thrive only in the heat. And I’ll like that too, but it will be different.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]I’m under the influence of #spring & luxuriating in every drop! #gardening #fayetteville @AnnSandersagh[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

Elle King – Under the Influence

the Colors of Easter

April 3, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

iris

I recently told my friend Laurie that my dream job would have been working for Crayola, specifically naming the crayon colors. Since I was a kid, everything about crayons fascinated me from the fresh smell of the wax to the way something so simple could transform a plain piece of paper into a refrigerator-worthy work of art. A new box of Crayons with the colors lined up sharp and perfect, or an old coffee can filled with broken stubs and unraveled wrappers—I’ve always loved them all.

Since my Crayola dream job has long been taken (I checked their website) and the crayons have already been christened, I decided to match up crayon names with the soft colors of Easter. It’s something I automatically do while walking the dogs. Those daffodils popping up everywhere? They come in various Crayola shades including canary, unmellow yellow and sunglow.

During this Easter season, Fayetteville is bursting with blooms. Pastels as soft as spun sugar. Tufts of fresh green grass begging to hide a dyed egg. The color of someone buying me an ice cream cone for no reason at all (Lemony Snicket). Happy, happy colors.

Easter is such a gift. A gift I don’t deserve.

Outrageous Orange

Banana Mania

Spring Green

Goldenrod

Inch Worm

Cotton Candy

Carnation Pink mixed with Wild Strawberry

Razzle Dazzle Rose

Blue Violet

White

If you are a Crayon nut like me, here are a few fun facts from ColourLovers.com:

Crayola crayons currently come in 120 colors;
An average of 12 million crayons are made daily;
The average child in the U.S. will wear down 730 crayons by her/his 10th birthday;
The first box of Crayola crayons was sold in 1903 for a nickel and included the same colors available in the eight-count box today—red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange, black and brown.

There’s nostalgic goodness in every box of Crayons. Sometimes that’s just what this world needs. Especially at Easter.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Discovery – Swing Tree

searching for a Boo Radley tree

February 10, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

I’ve been searching for the perfect Boo Radley tree. Know what I mean? A tree with a knothole in it, just the right height and size to leave trinkets inside. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley hid treasures in a tree knothole for Scout and Jem.

I know you love the book as much as I, and if you don’t, well, what can I say? You might want to do some deep soul searching.

In case you need a refresher, here’s a list of the gifts left in the tree:

2 pieces of chewing gum (Wrigley’s Double Mint)

2 scrubbed and polished pennies (1906 and 1900 Indian-heads)

1 ball of gray twine

2 almost perfect miniatures of two children (Scout and Jem)

1 whole package of chewing gum

1 tarnished medal (Spelling Bee medal)

1 pocket watch that wouldn’t run, on a chain with an aluminum knife

With all the trees in our neighborhood, there must be a perfect Boo Radley tree. And I have plenty of opportunity to search. I walk Lucy and Annabelle several times a day so that at night they do this…

It works rather well. They pull on their leashes in different directions, bark at squirrels and people on bikes and mothers pushing baby strollers while I look at trees. I notice the bark more during the winter. Nature’s patterns are stunning, especially when there’s no hiding behind spring blossoms or autumn foliage.