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Stephen King should help pay for our move.

September 13, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

What’s everyone doing this weekend?

I’ll be packing. I’ve been packing for two days, and I’m still packing books. How ridiculous. And yes, I’ve already driven a trunk load to Half-Price Books. Stephen King or John Grisham or some author whose work is filling our shelves should pitch in for the cost of our extremely HEAVY moving truck. Yes, we are book hoarders. Always have been. Always will be.

Stephen King should help pay for our move.

 

I read that you should only move books that are a) rare, b) have sentimental value, or c) will be read again. With these rules in mind, we still have enough books to lay end to end from Dallas to Fayetteville. That sentimental value rule gets me every time.

The process is sloooowwww because I find books that necessitate stopping, reading, studying.  The old book pictured below came from the Keiser High School Library. Obviously I didn’t steal it because according to the due date card, the return date was “Never Ever” (mysteriously in my handwriting).

old Keiser High School Library Book

Do you remember the post “Things I Don’t Need More of Even If I Live To Be 104”? Add to the list Christmas Cards! I have discovered sacks and sacks of brand new cards stuck away in closets or cabinets. I snagged them at after-Christmas sales. A word of advice…buying something on sale never to be used is not a deal.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Smashing Pumpkins, Drown

 

Things I Don’t Need More Of (even if I live to be 104)

July 30, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Lately my writing has taken a back seat to cleaning. Let’s face it, a potential buyer doesn’t want to open a closet and be hit in the head with a box of wrapping paper. Although I consider myself to be a tidy, organized person, over time closets become cluttered. Drawers will barely close. The whole purging process is cathartic to me. I’ve found items I thought were lost forever. Mainly I’ve discovered there are things I don’t need more of EVER. Things I didn’t realize was hoarding. Such as…

Napkins.

Paper or cloth. All occasion. I can fully outfit a baby shower with boy or girl napkins. Thanksgiving, Halloween, New Year’s Eve. Book club. Football party. And Christmas? Oh my! I love to buy Christmas napkins at after Christmas sales. Three or four or five packages, at only $1.50 who can resist? I stick them in a drawer, and the next Christmas when our small family gathers, we use maybe six napkins. Maybe. You see the problem.

Here’s a sampling.

Things I don't need more of even if I live to be 104.

Apparently, I also hoard cheap sunglasses. I found a drawer full.

And gloves. Leather. Cashmere. Polka dot. Ski. Fingerless. Mittens. Razorback. Hand-knitted. Every color in the crayon box. (Gardening gloves don’t count. You can’t have too many.)

Now, back to cleaning. Our house officially goes on MLS tomorrow!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

“Don’t own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch fire.”
― Wendell Berry

Musical Pairing:

ZZ Top – Cheap Sunglasses

 

 


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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