Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Waterfalls | Tags: Almost Spring, Chasing Chickens, Chickens, Coffee, Coffee Mug, Cold, Eggs, Free Range Chickens, Huevos rancheros, Ice, Morning Coffee, Ranch Style Eggs, Spring is Almost Here!, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Reflection’s, Vernal Equinox
Beautiful Sunrise 🌅, early morning chores, including breaking up ice in every bowl and trough… Cold 🥶
But the coffees is Hot ☕️ And breakfast was epic! We had black beans 🫘 and rice with applewood smoked sausage for dinner last night. Left overs almost demand my wife’s favorite breakfast – Huevos rancheros! 💥 ie; Ranch Style Eggs 🍳 But when I fix them… Markus T.’s Hillbilly Eggs 🍳 💥
Jo likes her eggs 🥚 over medium. I like egg whites only… But both have rice, black beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole 🥑 & salsa 💥 It’s a meal 🥘
It’s the kind of breakfast that fills you up, warms you up, and let’s you skip lunch 😊
It’s a Cold 🥶, Sunny 🌞 Beautiful 🤩 Day! Don’t waste it 🙏🏻
“The sun is brilliant in the sky but its warmth does not reach my face.
The breeze stirs the trees but leaves my hair unmoved.
The cooling rain will feed the grass but will not slake my thirst.
It is all inches away but further from me than my dreams.”
~ M. Romeo LaFlamme
Enjoy this day! 🌞
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Waterfalls | Tags: Almost Spring, Boating Season, Coffee, Daylight Savings Time, Enjoy The Day, I Love Spring, Love, Morning Coffee, Spring Beauty, Spring Color, Spring Countdown, Spring Forward, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Reflection’s, Sunday Reflections
The daffodils have bloomed, red buds, cherry’s and so many other early bloomers are showing out right now ❤️And todays event is a definite mile post every Spring. Daylight Savings time 🕰 It’s always tough loosing an hour of sleep… But, in a few days it’s fine, and we get the long evenings 💥 I am a fan for sure. The days will continue to get longer all the way to the Summer Solstice 🌞 Soon our Gardens will be in Full Bloom! Our vegetables will be in the ground and growing. Boating season is starting. It’s finally back! I LOVE Spring!
More coffee, then who knows?
“In spring the morning is darker
farmers don’t like it one bit.
Children go to school in the dark,
it’s still light when bedtime they hit.
Others prefer daylight saving,
with longer evenings of light.
There’s more time for beach and barbies
before twilight fades into night.
In autumn clock hands fall back
for that missing hour to reclaim.
This upsets our sleeping pattern,
now the brain we need to retrain.
Time then returns to normal
sending the body into shock.
We are messing around with time
by moving those hands on the clock”
~ Vivian Wade
Have a great day!
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Anticipation, Breakfast, Chickens, Coffee, Coffee Mug, Frosty Morning, If You Don’t Like The Weather, Morning Coffee, Mud, Spring Gardening, Spring is Coming, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Tennessee Weather
Spring is elusive. It tease’s us a bit. My Saucer Magnolias are in full bloom, my big Weeping Willow is leafing out. The ground is very wet, muddy in fact with more rain forecast all week… Then a cold snap is expected that will nip all these early plants and trees back. This time of year it’s always 2 steps forward & then – 2 to 3 steps back… But that is also part of the magic that Spring brings us 😊 Resurrection, renewal, regrowth… ❤️
It was a cool, muddy morning, but we got the chores done in record time. I fixed coffee ☕️ Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee to be exact (so good!). Had a simple quick breakfast (bagels & eggs 🥚) and then I got a pot of soup going for dinner (homemade potato 🥔)! No football 🏈 to tie me down this afternoon… Who knows what might happen! 😇
“The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.”
~ Gertrude S. Wister
Have a great afternoon!
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Hummingbirds, Koi, Koi Ponds, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Pond Tips, Pondless Waterfalls, Videos, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Breakfast, Coffee, Daffodils, Morning Coffee, Spring Gardening, Spring is Coming, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Trees
Up and at it this Sunday morning… Quick chores, feeding the animals, feeding us, coffee ☕️ goes without saying… Spring is in the air! Shrubs and flowering trees are busting open, some a little prematurely… But, it’s a beautiful thing to see.
This is when you can really see the coming of Spring. The trees changing color, the daffodils 🌼 blooming. Forsythia blooming, early cherry trees and plum and crab apples busting open… It’s hope and healing and medicine for those ailing from Spring fever 🤒 Get out and find your cure!
“Flowers clad in colorful t-shirts and vibrant shorts are swaying in the gentle breeze. Birds are singing. Trees start filling with leaves, and the branches laden with exploding buds look majestic. Balmy spring days are coming. I am happy, very happy.”
~ Bhuwan Thapaliya
Have a great day!
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, God Bless America, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Breakfast, Chickens, Coffee, Morning Coffee, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Songs, Sunday with Family, Sundays
Good afternoon 🙏🏻 I always try to post a Sunday Reflections blog, and they have almost always been in the morning. The morning just got away from me 😂 Coffee ☕️ Chickens 🐓 Breakfast 🍳 Picking up, cutting back, composting, trash duty, etc. Preparations for the coming season… Plus Preparations for the coming week 😊 February is only a few days away and I already have Spring Fever 🍀
Thursday is Groundhog Day, the half-way point of Winter! Then it’s a downhill roll into Spring ❤️
Have a great afternoon!
Mark C.
“Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle … a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream.”
~ Barbara Winkler
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Waterfalls | Tags: Christmas Countdown, Christmas is Coming, Christmas Magic, Christmas Season, Christmas Spirit, Christmas with Family, Coffee, Family, Family Traditions, Holiday Season, Love, Snow, Snow Day, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Poem, Sunday Reflections, Sunday with Family, Sundays
22 degrees this morning when I went down to the Chicken coop… 🥶 Cold, frosty morning with a beautiful Sunrise 🌅 Today marks 1 week till Christmas 🎄 So I don’t really mind the cold right now, it adds to the feeling of the season 🎅🏼 But, it’s fixing to get even colder… And, maybe snow ❄️ Did someone say White Christmas? It may just be in the cards… ❄️
As I write this blog, I’m sitting behind the wheel of my truck waiting on Jo to re-emerge from Krogers… Needed supplies for a Christmas party this afternoon 🎅🏼
As soon as we get back, Breakfast! More coffee ☕️ then it’s back to it! Merry Christmas 🎄
The lakes are covered with ice;
Our trees are full with frost.
It seems as a good nice winter,
but one thing, one thing is lost.
~The Snow-The Snow-The Snow!
The fireplace is a cracklin’,
the moon is full and bright.
The stars are just there twinklin’,
It seems as a perfect night.
But what is there missing?
Maybe the perfect sound?
Nothing but the wind gusts,
blowing the snow around.
The fire goes out;
the babies start cryin’,
The wind picks up;
I start smilin’.
Could it be?
Finally some snow!?
I looked out the window to see a dimming glow.
I drank my hot chocolate,
which warmed my body.
Then, like a lion, I jumped into bed,
and slept.
When the light had shown in,
I sprung out of bed.
So quick, she heard me, my mom said.
I looked outside, and saw no brown.
The ground was bright!
The ground was white!
Whiter than the whitest of rice,
Whiter than the cotton like clouds of the sky.
Maybe, just maybe, winter would be pretty nice!
~ Jocelyn Larrabee
Have a great Sunday! 🎄❄️🎅🏼
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Breakfast, Coffee, Coffee Mug, cold morning, Cold Weather, Family Breakfast, Ice, It’s Cold!, Morning Coffee, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Poem, Sunday Reflections, Sunday with Family, Sundays
Cold frosty morning 🥶 Had to break ice from the troughs for the 1st time this season… The leaves are still coming down, but most have already fallen. Thanksgiving is coming quick. Coffee ☕️ and breakfast 🍳 await.
We are looking at a little cold snap for the next week, dress accordingly!
“On a cold November morning Frost wrapped the world in an ashy hue Sucking the heart from silence As an optimistic sun gazed through Naked branches of oak and maple
Peeking through the limbs of gray Lighting the indigo skies with grace Dancing, flowing, praising In waves of enchantment, such riches Radiating warmth and awaking The crackle of leaves, stunned By the bitter air, the chilling stare Of freezing sparkles on thoughts Met by the luster of dawn”
~ Regina McIntosh
Enjoy this cold November day ❤️
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections | Tags: Australian Shepherd, Biscuits, Biscuits and Gravy, Chicken, chicken Coop, Chickens, Coffee, Coffee Mug, Dark Winter, Daylight Savings Time, Fall Back, Feeding Birds, Feeding Time, Free Range Chickens, Hen House, Instagram, Morning Coffee, Pets, Sunday, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Time flies
It’s always easy to “Fall back”! My personal clock didn’t change though… I was wide awake shortly after 4am this morning. My iPhone had already updated, so I changed all the clocks ⏰, reset the oven and microwave clocks… Straitened up, made coffee, made biscuits and waited for the sunrise.
Shortly after breakfast, I let the chickens 🐓 out to free range a bit, then came back to drink some coffee ☕️
In the short time that I was in the house a couple of things happened. My sons Australian Shepherd got out of the fence and not only scattered my flock of chickens that were outside, she went into the hen house & ran ALL of my chickens out and scattered them to the wind 💨
You know what comes next… Trying to locate and round up chickens isn’t easy, in fact I’m still in the process… Y’all have a wonderful Sunday afternoon 🌞
“I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Hummingbirds, Koi, Koi Ponds, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Pondless Waterfalls, Sunday Reflections, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Celebration, Coffee, Daily Blog, Daily Enjoyment, Daily Ritual, Daily Routine, Day Off, Family, Family time, Family Traditions, Feeding Birds, Feeding Koi, Feeding the Soul, Feeding Time, Fish Feeding, Friday Off, Garden Chores, Happy Labor Day, Holiday, Labor Day, Labor Day Weekend, Life is Good, Living the Life Abundant, Morning Coffee, Nursery Work, Saturday off, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Songs, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Time Off, Watering Plants, Weekend Off, Work Life Balance
Labor Day Weekend… It’s definitely nice to enjoy a few days off! There are still things that we have to do of course, but since we live at the Nursery & Gardens we also work for a living… It’s just another day in our routine…
Or is it?
I was reflecting on my labor in life, and In many ways my labor is my life… I mean, I literally live at the Nursery/Farm that I work for a living… There are no days off when there are plants to water (or they die!) and animals to feed & water (or they suffer &/or die)! So I have done what anyone in my situation has to do, I have embraced it wholeheartedly! And I LOVE my Family! My ‘everyday’ Lifestyle! And I LOVE MY Job! ❤️
“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
~ Saint Francis of Assisi
Happy Labor Day 🇺🇸 to everyone that Labor’s out there! I hope you love your job too! 🙏🏻
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Hummingbirds, Love, music, Sunday Reflections, Waterfalls | Tags: Coffee, Coffee Mug, Cooling Down, Day Off, Early Morning, Enjoy The Morning, Good Morning, Love, Morning Coffee, Morning Zen, Quiet Morning, Quiet Time, Rain, Rainy Day Song, Rainy Days, Rainy Morning, Rest, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday on the River, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays
Light rain falling this morning. Cool air. Last day of July… Lazy Sunday! We have been so busy and it has been so Hot and Dry… This rainy, cool day off feels like a blessing 🙏🏻
“A break in the heat
away from the front
no thunder, no lightning,
just rain, warm rain
falling near dusk
falling on eager ground
steaming blacktop
hungry plants
thirsty
turning toward the clouds
cooling, soothing rain
splashing in sudden puddles
catching in open screens
that certain smell
of summer rain.”
– Raymond A. Foss
Have a great ’Lazy Sunday’…
Mark C.
Carter's Water Garden 