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Simple Pleasures #2

October 5, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Week two living in Fayetteville…I feel more unpacked and settled in with more time to write. And that’s nice! Here are a few of last week’s simple pleasures.

simple pleasures #2 with Grace Grits and Gardening

Clouds. Monday night I joined a group of Northwest Arkansas Blogger friends for dinner at The Depot. Walking to meet them, I stopped to take a picture of this incredible cloud hovering over Dickson Street. It was a huge cloud—the only cloud in a clear sky. After I took the picture I decided it was in the shape of a razorback. Do you agree?

Razorback cloud hovering over Dickson Street.

 

Birds. The birds found my bird feeder. After a week of no feathered visitors, I can’t tell you how excited this made me. Yesterday three fat cardinals fed at the same time. Of course I didn’t have time to get a picture of them, but this little guy posed for me. So cute.

after a week in the new house, the birds found our feeder!

New Friends. My sister-in-law and her friends, Stella and Barbara, have welcomed in right into their weekly dinner group, and it feels like I’ve been there all along. (I have been a regular visitor during the past year, but my attendance has been very sporadic.) Tuesday night Barbara made chicken pot pie and an assortment of appetizers and salads. Talk about comfort food… these ladies know how to do it up! I get to host in two weeks. Yay. What to cook?

Barbara's chicken pot pie

Rain and Cooler Temperatures. We finally received much needed rain. The front brought cooler temperatures. Much cooler. Like a low of 38 degrees Saturday morning. Brrrrr!

Junkin & Pumpkins. I went junkin with my writer friend Laurie who blogs at Junque Rethunque and See Laurie Write. Such a fun day (more coming on this later). Even before I arrived at The Junk Ranch (really how can you not love that name?), I got a thrill simply driving past pumpkin patches in Prairie Grove. Those fat orange pumpkins sitting in the fields caught my eye, and I know the Great Pumpkin is waiting out there somewhere.

Prairie grove pumpkin patch - Simple pleasures

Can you see the pumpkins? I couldn’t get very close, but they are there!

What simple pleasures did you enjoy recently?

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

 

Did you miss last week’s post?

Simple Pleasures #1

Yarnell's Ice Cream

 

I am not a fish…

August 11, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

grace grits and gardening #beach #ocean

I love the water, but I am not a fish.

From high above, I study the water.

And watch the fish.

A spirited surge of spray collapses to foam, covers the shore, returns to sea. Strands of seaweed languish at daybreak.

Just below the clear surface, fish dart and flit and flash silver to the sky.

Breakfast.

I love the water, but I am not a fish.

morgueFile

This was written for The Writers’ Post Blog Hop #88 using the following prompt: I love the water, but I am not a fish. Check out Her Storybook for other posts related to this blog hop.

talya

V is for Vacation

April 25, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

I am a homebody.

Sometimes my best vacations are those spent at home. A few days carved out between yesterday and tomorrow spent with a good book and a bottle of wine is more relaxing than a carefully planned, often expensive trip.

Simple is good.

John and I have a tiny place in Arkansas we visit when we want to get away from the busy-ness of Dallas. With only 892 square feet of space, we fill it with things we absolutely love—favorite artwork, vintage plates and crystal, old books, leather club chairs from the antique store around the corner.
Sleeping with screen doors separating us from the wild, we wake to the chirp of songbirds. A neighbor’s rooster crows. When it rains or snows, what a bonus…
Our schnauzers, Lucy and Annabelle, love the expansive yard filled with buried treasures from a previous dog. As I write, bamboo rustles a soothing tune. 

Sometimes vacationing is a state of mind.


“Home is the nicest word there is.” 
― Laura Ingalls Wilder
talya
Musical Pairing:
Spring, Danny Wright

Blogging my way through the alphabet. V is for Vacation.
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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:

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