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2013: Top Ten Blog Posts

December 31, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

We’ve reached the end of another year…
Do you remember New Year’s Eve 1999?
Remember when we thought all the world’s computers, and thus the entire planet, would crash and burn at the stroke of 2000? At State Bank and Trust (where I worked), we spent months preparing for Y2K only to watch the new year arrive without incident. That was a good thing but honestly a bit anti-climatic.
Year 2000 doesn’t seem that long ago to me. And yes, I’m showing my age.
One of the things I do at year end is look back. 2013 raced by so quickly I can barely remember it, but luckily much of my year is recorded in blog posts. Today I’m looking back at my most popular blog posts (via page views).
In case you missed a few and/or would like to re-read/share/etc, here they are listed in David Letterman’s preferred reverse order. (Click on the number and blog title to be redirected to that post.)
10.
Dallas County Jury Duty Part One
“half the people argued they didn’t possess their own televisions…”
Dallas County Jury Duty

9.
Chocolate Covered Cherry Christmas Mice
“you can trim the tails or not…”

Chocolate Covered Cherry Mice

8. 
Seven Signs You Might Be From Arkansas
“you sort laundry into three piles—whites, darks and razorback red…”

You might be from Arkansas if…

 

7.
Homemade Lavender Peppermint Body Scrub
“made with ingredients from my kitchen and garden…”
How to make Lavender Peppermint Body Scrub

 

6.
Realistically Creepy Halloween Decor
“old is naturally creepy…”
How to decorate for Halloween - realistically creepy decor

 

5.
Flying Bat Project
“duct tape…”
Flying Bat project - great Halloween craft!

 

4.
How to Propagate Rosemary
“make angled cuts to allow more surface area for rooting…”
how to propagate rosemary!

 

3.
Mussels in White Wine Sauce
“Serve with bread to sop up the sauce…”
easy appetizer! mussels in white wine sauce

 

2. 
How to Make Pumpkins from Recycled Books
“the hardest part of the project was selecting which book to use…”
how to make a recycled book pumpkin - so cute!

 

and here we go-
THE most viewed post in 2013…

1.
Not Your Momma’s Cranberry Sauce
“momma loves cranberry sauce that slithers out of the can with a vile sucking sound…”
simple tasty cranberry sauce!

 

The moral of this top ten list…Pinterest drives page views and my Pinterest followers love food, crafting and Halloween:)Seriously, Yay for Pinterest!In 2013 I wrote 328 blog posts (not counting this one).

Three Hundred and Twenty-Eight…Although the ten above were fun projects and delicious recipes, my favorites are those about childhood memories or posts written from creative writing prompts (i.e. not that pin-able.)

Here are a few of my favorites from 2013 (in no particular order).

Cottonwood Corner
“once upon a time there was a race track…”

Cottonwood Corner, Arkansas

 

Another Halloween
“even scarecrows need Pinot…”
Another Halloween

 

The Kitchen Table
“each day began fresh at the kitchen table…”
everything happens at the kitchen table…
Joy!
“wheat harvest, smell of cotton…”
Joy - a poem
The Smallest Things
“he was happy…”
the smallest things…
The Enchanted Forest
“magic I tell you…”
The Enchanted Forest, Goldsmith's, Memphis Tn
R is for Reading
“where have you been lately?…”
Reading - where have you been lately?
Living Outside Herself
“she dared to imagine a different life…”
Living OUtside Herself - dreaming a new life.
Do you have a favorite Grace Grits post from 2013?
And now a VERY BIG THANK YOU to everyone who reads, comments, shares and tells others about Grace Grits and Gardening. I hope you’ll keep it up!
Here’s to a fantastic 2014.
talya
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Musical Pairing:What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?  Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordan Levitt

 

Blogging Like Hemingway: 10 Simple Steps

October 13, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

grace grits and gardening blogging like Ernest Hemingway
Spending time at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Educational Center in Piggott, Arkansas is magical bordering on spiritual. Ernest Hemingway, who won a Pultizer Prize in Literature for Old Man and the Sea, wrote a portion of A Farewell to Arms in the barn which he claimed as his writing studio. For a writer, this corner of Northeast Arkansas is sacred.
blogging like hemingway
Hemingway wrote each morning before the day grew hot and sticky. I imagine he gazed out the window looking to the trees for inspiration. He strolled the grounds leaving behind the sweet aroma of his finest Cuban. He felt the ground vibrate as the train rumbled through downtown Piggott…
In my efforts to channel Hemingway, I’ve compiled a list of blogging tips based on his writing style and famous quotes.
1. Write short sentences. Write straight to the point.
2. Establish a writing routine, and write consistently.  
3. Be sure to Make every word count. Use strong action verbs.
4. Don’t spoonfeed the reader. Write so your reader feels what you feel.
5. Write on the principle of the iceberg.  For every visible part, seven-eighths is hidden underwater.
6. Edit. Edit. EDIT. Write 800 words. Eliminate 400 words.
7. Live life. Observe life.
8. Edit again.
9. Eliminate exclamation points! F. Scott Fitzgerald said exclamation points are like laughing at your own joke. Hemingway rarely used them.
10. End your daily writing while you still have something to say.
Hemingway-Pfeiffer Educational Center and Museum

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Write the truest sentence that you know. -Ernest Hemingway

 

Reflections on Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged!

September 14, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

When was the last time you went to camp? As a kid, Momma packed me up and sent me off to various camps during the summer including basketball camp in Conway, church camp in Ravenden Springs, and cheerleading camp at Arkansas State. 
Except for the basketball practice, preaching and constant “we’ve got spirit, yes we do…” part, I liked camp.
Last weekend I attended AWBU, a blogger camp for Arkansas women bloggers, quite possibly some of the same ladies who attended basketball, church and cheerleading camps with me in the seventies…
AWBU was held at Ferncliff, a 1,200 acre camp nestled in the forest near Little Rock. With a bunkhouse and cafeteria, it was not unlike my memory of beautiful Ravenden Springs.
The whole ‘face with a name’ thing was exhilarating. I met bloggers I’ve been fans of for two years—Delta Moxie, Porkchop Tuesday, Desperately Seeking Gina, Dining with Debbie, Pink Heels Pink Truck, The Park Wife, and Ramblings of a Little Wife to name a few. When people said to me Oh, you’re Grace Grits?, I felt validated.
Meeting Gregg Patterson from Arkansas Farm Bureau was also a highlight. Yes, I follow Farm Bureau around like most follow sports teams…
The conference was fast paced with educational sessions throughout the day involving SEO, branding, and coding. Being able to talk blogging all day and night with like-minded ladies without getting that oh-no-here-she-goes-again-glazed-look was as delicious as the Petit Jean bacon served for breakfast each morning. 
I left the conference feeling more focused and excited about my writing. The weekend included just enough cheerleading to make us energized and just enough exercise (a 5-K instead of basketball) to work off some of that bacon. Plus, the serene setting was downright spiritual.
talya
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.


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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:

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Fiction-Themed Coloring Books

Backyard Phenology:

Children’s Nature Book:

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