Talya Tate Boerner's Blog, page 16

Sunday Letter: 02.28.2021

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Last week was certainly a welcomed change from the prior week. Yay for seasonal temperatures and a bit of sunshine. Tomorrow we welcome March, and soon thereafter, spring.

I’m pretending spring has already sprung. Even with recent sub-zero temperatures, our daffodils and tulips and crocus are poking right through the soil. In another few weeks, winter will be a memory.

Yesterday, I pulled my three spring/Easter decorations from storage.

Call me ready. I may go ahead ...

Sunday Letter: 02.21.2021

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

What a week, right? Lots of snow across the country, the entire state of Arkansas buried under record snowfall amounts. Many of my friends and family in Texas have been without power and water for days.

I swear I only wanted enough to fill my snow cream bowl.

Five things I discovered since last week’s Sunday Letter:

my fascination with snow greatly diminishes after four inches and/or four days;-20˚ is stupid cold;the forecasting skills of the groundhog are highly ...

Sunday Letter: 02.14.2021

Happy Valentine’s Day Sunday Letter friends,

I seem to be marking time from one holiday to another these days. My Nana was born on Valentine’s Day, so I always look at this day as her birthday more than any other way. People born on Valentine’s Day are extra sweet.

We are having a cold, cold week, (I think the whole country is!) with a glaze of ice and a little powdery snow on the ground since Tuesday. Ice is totally unnecessary in my opinion, although I suppose as it melts it does provide a go...

6 Meyer Lemon Recipes

Today I have six Meyer Lemon Recipes to share with you. You may remember from a recent Sunday Letter, our soon-to-be neighbor gave us a sack of Meyer lemons from her trees in Houston. You know the saying, when life gives you lemons? Well, I didn’t make lemonade, but I was inspired to try a few new recipes.

Lemony foods are my favorite! No kidding, I would rather have a lemon-flavored dessert than chocolate.

I’ve not wasted a drip of juice or a sliver of zest. And can I just say, these are the j...

Sunday Letter: 02.07.2021

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Did you have a productive week? I did! I base this news entirely on the fact that I cleaned our oven—ha. Momma finally received a first dose of the Covid vaccine. Yay. I can’t wait to get one, but I know it will be a while for me. It has been a long time since I’ve not been old enough for something, but as it stands, I fall way down on the bottom of the vaccination list.

That’s okay.

I’ll wait my turn, keep wearing a mask, socially distance, and cheer on those who ca...

Book Reviews: January 2021

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Hey reader friends! As promised, I’m bringing back my book reviews this year. The six books I read in January took me down south to rural Mississippi and up north to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. From Reconstruction to present day Twitterworld, I plowed Kansas farmland and hiked the sea coast in the UK.

For me, January was a month of escape, suspense, humor, and empathy.

Reading. I highly recommend it.

“The world was hers for the reading.”
―...

Sunday Letter: 01.31.2021

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Well, well, well, here we are at the end of another fast-as-a-freight-train month. Spring really will be here before we know it. I look for it every day.

Yesterday I checked to see if our crocus was blooming, but saw no sign yet. I did notice our tulips are beginning to pop through the soil. Seems early but with February greeting us, I guess it isn’t.

I organized my seed drawer and discovered I collect seeds the way I collect books. Maybe this year I’ll get more of t...

Sunday Letter: 01.24.2021

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

(I may earn money from Affiliate Links in this post.)

I woke up this morning thinking about how when we were kids, Momma always said GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY. That was the mantra of mothers all across the country. We played outside most days when the weather was good, and sometimes when the weather wasn’t.  Wouldn’t the world would be a better place if we would all make it a point to spend more time outside?

Playing. Walking. Soaking up sunshine and fresh air. Bird-watchi...

How to Repot an Orchid

As promised in my last Sunday Letter, today I’ll show you how to repot an orchid.  It pains me to imagine how many orchids I’ve killed through the years. When I was a silly, busy banker, I truly thought after they bloomed once, they were done.

Um, no. Like every living thing—a schnauzer puppy, a milkweed seedling, a carpet of lichen—learn what orchids like, treat them with a little TLC, and not only will they re-bloom beautifully, but they will grow larger.

Crazy, I know.

An Expert I am Not

Bef...

Sunday Letter: 01.17.2021

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

After a cold week of snow, brooding clouds, dark skies with only a sliver of moon, a little sunshine (I think), and lots of wind stirring up dry leaves that hitchhike into the kitchen via two schnauzers who are in and out, in and out, we greet another Sunday morning.

Whew.

I was glad to see 2020 end, but honestly, I’ll be glad to have January behind us too. Seeing all the troops in Washington DC is surreal. The current state of our nation is surreal. I pray for calme...