grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

  • Home
  • Bio
  • Publishing
  • SHOP!
  • Garden
  • Food
  • Reading & Books
  • Sunday Letter

Sunday Letter: 07.03.22

July 3, 2022 By Talya Tate Boerner

Sunday Letter

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Holy moly, I’ve been both riled up and in a funk, feeling hopeless and helpless over many things going on in our country. I took a few days away from the craziness of social media to just be. And while nothing has changed with respect to the things that riled me up in the first place, stepping away from incessant and often hateful chatter is healthier for me than jumping into it. I feel better when I refocus on the basic things that make me happy. Deadheading spent blossoms. Escaping into an unputdownable book. Cooking a healthy meal. Visiting with friends. Watering my seedlings each morning. While I don’t trust the slippery slope I believe we are sliding down, today I choose to focus on the good.

There is always good somewhere.

I believe that deep down in my bone marrow.Continue Reading

Sunday Letter: 07.05.2020

July 5, 2020 By Talya Tate Boerner

Sunday Letter

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

I hope everyone had a safe Independence Day. We were invited to watch fireworks from the backyard of a friend of a friend. Spectacular fireworks, y’all, and we had a front row (bring your own chair and sit socially distanced) view.

fireworks

While our country is divided and the news is enough to give me nightmares (Friday night I literally dreamed I was living in bombed out Syria!), I am feeling optimistic. Yes, 2020 has officially jumped the shark (Kanye West is now running for POTUS), but I’m still glad I live in America.

Continue Reading

4th of July: gentle on my mind

July 4, 2018 By Talya Tate Boerner

4th of July

Before we went to the lake for the 4th of July, we drove over to a fireworks stand near Luxora to buy a sackful of Roman candles, bottle rockets, stink bombs, and Black Cats. We carried them with us like luggage, as though we couldn’t buy sparklers in Mountain Home.

How the whole bag didn’t combust when we stopped for butterscotch malts in Lake City was a great mystery to me. In the time it took the Tastee Freeze waitress to whip up our orders and slide them through the window, Momma’s car morphed into an oven. We could have baked chocolate chip cookies on the dashboard, if we’d better planned.Continue Reading

Next Page »


Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25
  • Maggie and Miss Ladybug: My New Children’s Nature Book
  • Sunday Letter: November 9, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 26, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 5, 2025

Novels:

Coloring Books:

Fiction-Themed Coloring Books

Backyard Phenology:

Children’s Nature Book:

Never miss a blog post! Subscribe via email:

Looking for something?

Categories

All the Things!

A to Z April Blog Challenge Autumn BAT Book Reviews childhood Christmas creative writing prompt Dallas Desserts Fall Fayetteville Food Gracie Lee Halloween Hemingway-Pfeiffer holiday recipes home humor Johnson Family Keiser Lake Norfork Lucy and Annabelle Mississippi County Mississippi Delta Monarch butterflies Munger Place Nana nature Northeast Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Osceola poem Reading Schnauzer simple living simple things spring spring gardening Summer Talya Tate Boerner novel Thanksgiving The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee Thomas Tate Winter Wordless Wednesday

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!

All content and photos Copyright Grace, Grits and Gardening © 2025 · Web Hosting By StrataByte