Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: 2023, A New Year, Blank Canvas, Clean Slate, Family Traditions, Happy 2023, Happy New Year!, Love, New Years Dinner, New Years Quotes, New Years Resolutions, New Years Traditions, Ringing In The New Year, Southern Traditions, The Open Road, Traditional, Traditional Meal, Traditions, Viva La’ Tradition
Another New Year = A clean slate. A blank canvas. An open road of possibilities! I for one am excited for the opportunities that 2023 brings…

The future is what we make of it… You hear that a lot… & in my experience, it rings true! Lets make 2023 the best year yet!
“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.”
~ Benjamin Franklin
💥Happy New Year!💥
Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com
YouTube pg. –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dPkQiE04jcr385SOL0gkw
Facebook pg. – https://www.facebook.com/mark.carter.775
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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, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Love, music, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Family, Family time, Family Traditions, Friends and Family, God Bless, Grateful, Gratitude, Happy Thanksgiving, Love, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, 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, Sunsets, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Decorations, Thanksgiving is Coming, The Presence of God, Time, Time flies, Time in a bottle, Time Off
Time is so funny… Sometimes it drags on & other times it goes by so fast that you miss things. I say it all the time, but it seems like this year has gone by quicker than any year before 💨 Turn around and boom 💥 it’s Thanksgiving! We are hosting our family dinner here in a few days, so we have been busy straitening up, decorating and basically getting ready 🦃

After all these years of living and working and doing, the one thing I have figured out is, you have to be grateful for your blessings 🙏🏻 (Ps: I’m still working on it 😊)
With my hectic schedule it’s easy to push on and take things for granted just to get through this day and to the next… But you miss so many things in that process, the most important things. God, family, friends, rest, health & happiness can be glossed over and left in your wake… Maybe it’s like the spirit that comes over you at Christmas 🎅🏼 you want everyday to feel like that. ⭐️ Thanksgiving can be the same. I’m going to try to let my Gratitude exceed my expectations everyday and see what happens ❤️
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
~ William Arthur Ward
Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 to Everyone!
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Koi Ponds, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Autumn, Autumn Color, Autumn Leaves Falling on Water, Autumn Poem, Cookout by the Pond, Fall, Family time, Fire Pit, Football, Love, Now, Seasonal Interest, 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, Time, Time flies
What a beautiful morning! The sun is out and it’s so warm I was able to sit outside in my shorts and a T-shirt this morning 😊 We are past our 1st frost and freeze now, so I guess you can call this an Indian Summer… And I’ll take it! In 8 days we will celebrate Halloween 🎃 Then we enter the Holiday Season 🦃 🎄It all comes so fast 💨 I’m still trying to enjoy the Fall Color before it disappears… Here are a few pictures of some Fall Color that I have captured on film over time. Enjoy the season at hand, it’s the best one, and the only one that’s real right Now ❤️










Colorful foliage, almost no bugs, beautiful weather, football, fire pits… I Love Fall 🍁🏈🎃🔥
“Looking out my window
In October’s golden light,
I see a beauty unsurpassed,
A truly lovely sight.
Leaves are saying soft good-byes
As they come floating down
To make a nature’s carpet
Of yellow, red, and brown.
Mountain tops, now turned to white,
Forewarn of winter chills,
While trees, like golden rivers,
Wind their way up through the hills.
Throughout our world’s creation
You will ever find it thus,
Kaleidoscopes of color,
In God’s hand, the artist’s brush.”
~ Alora M. Knight
Have a great Sunday 🙏🏻
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Videos, Waterfalls | Tags: Autumn, Autumn Color, Autumn Leaves Falling on Water, Autumn Poem, Colorful Foliage, Colors, Fall, Fall Color, Fog, Foggy Morning, Love, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday on the River, Sunday Reflections, Sunday with Family, Sundays
It was a thick fog this morning around the river. The temperature dropped into the lower 30’s and the water is still fairly warm… Makes for a Beautiful Foggy Morning! Especially as the sun ⛅️ burns slowly through the fog 🌫 Revealing a totally Bluebird Blue sky 🌌
These last couple of weeks have been close to perfect weather! Cool crisp mornings 🌞 warming up by mid morning to the 70’s… Not a cloud in the sky ❤️ The foliage is really starting to show now 🍁 Maples, sumac, dogwood, sassafras, gum… My advice is to get out and take a country ride every few days from now through late October/mid November. The color show is starting now in earnest and has a very short run…
“Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
~ Robert Frost
Have a beautiful Sunday!
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Hummingbirds, Koi, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Videos, Waterfalls | Tags: Autumn, Autumn Color, Autumn Leaves Falling on Water, Autumn Poem, Autumnal Equinox, Colorful Foliage, Cooler Weather is Coming, Crazy Weather, Fall Color, Fall Gardening, I Love My Family, If You Don’t Like The Weather, Love, Love and Meaning, Love Thy Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself, Predicting Weather, Seasonal changes, Seasonal Interest, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, 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, Tennessee Weather, Waterfall, Weather Lore, Weather Signs, Woolly Bear Caterpillars
Good Morning! ☀️ What a storm we had last night! ⛈ ⚡️ 💥 Here we are changing seasons… Bye bye Summer, Hello Fall 🍁🍂 We have literally been on a West TN weather seesaw… It was 100 degrees on the last day of summer, So Hot 🥵 Then the next day a 51 degree morning… Then back up close to 90 today, but guess what – down into the 40’s tonight😮

Oh well, again the old saying holds true, “If you don’t like the weather, just you wait”…
Now it’s on to breakfast and then a little work in the Garden! I Love ❤️ Fall!
“In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil.
And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb color effects as from August to November.”
~ Rose G. Kingsley
Watch this short for the cutest puppy ever 👇🏻
Have a great Sunday!
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, 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, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Autumn, Autumn Color, Autumn Leaves Falling on Water, Autumn Poem, Autumnal Equinox, Carters Nursery Pond and Patio, Changing Seasons, Do the seasons know it’s time?, Fall Gardening, Jackson Tennessee, Love, Poem, Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Seasonal changes, Seasonal Interest, Seasonal Koi Feeding Temperatures, Seasonal Koi Seperation Anxiety, Seasonal Water Garden, Sound of the Season, Summer Season, The Seasons, Unseasonably Warm, Vernal Equinox, Waterfalls
The older I get, the quicker these seasonal changes seem to come… WOW! Are we already looking at the END of Summer?

Summer is going out on a HOT note! High 90’s today & we may very well see 100 degrees tomorrow! 🥵 But, then on the official 1st day of Fall (Thursday the 22nd) the high is only gonna be around 80 degrees… Do the seasons know it’s time?

“During the autumnal equinox, the sun shines directly on the equator, and the northern and southern hemispheres get the same amount of rays. The alignment officially occurs this year on Thursday, September 22”
So the 1st full day of Fall is on the 22nd. Are you ready for Fall?
“Lyric night of the lingering Indian summer, Shadowy fields that are scentless but full of singing, Never a bird, but the passionless chant of insects, Ceaseless, insistent. The grasshopper’s horn, and far-off, high in the maples, The wheel of a locust leisurely grinding the silence Under a moon waning and worn, broken, Tired with summer. Let me remember you, voices of little insects, Weeds in the moonlight, fields that are tangled with asters, Let me remember, soon will the winter be on us, Snow-hushed and heavy. Over my soul murmur your mute benediction, While I gaze, O fields that rest after harvest, As those who part look long in the eyes they lean to, Lest they forget them.”
~ Sara Teasdale
Here’s to changing seasons… 🍾
Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com
YouTube pg. –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dPkQiE04jcr385SOL0gkw
Facebook pg. – https://www.facebook.com/mark.carter.775
Pinterest pg. – https://www.pinterest.com/cartersnursery/
Filed under: Boutique, Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Koi, Koi Ponds, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Pond Tips, Pondless Waterfalls, Sunsets, Videos, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Blakes Exotic Animal Ranch, Bring a Flashlight, Carter Country, Carter Country Boutique & Gifts, Cartercountry, Carters Nursery, Carters Nursery Pond & Patio, Carters Nursery Pond and Patio, Charity Pond Tour, Dancing In The Moonlight, Date Night, Fall Pond Tour, Flashlight, Full Harvest Moon, Full Moon, Fund raiser, Garden Tour, Harvest Moon, humane society, I Love Animals, Jackson Animal Care Center, Koi Ponds, Landscape Lighting, Late Night, Lighting, Love, Love Your Pets, Low Voltage Lights, Mini Moonlight Pond Tour, Moondance, Moonlight Pond, Moonlight Pond Party, Moonlight Pond Tour, Moonlight Pond Tour Video, Moonlight Tour, Moonlighting effects, Night Sky, Nightscaping, Nighttime Pond, Nighttime World, Pets, Pond Cleaning Supplies, Pond Lighting, Pond Supplies, Pond Tour, Pond Tour Tickets, Pondless Waterfall, Saturday Night, self guided tour, Special Night, Super Moon, The Nightlife, Things to do in Jackson, Things to do near me, Things to do tonight, Underwater Lighting, Water Garden, Water Garden Tour, Water Gardens, Waterfall at Night, What ever happened to Saturday night, Yard Ponds
It’s Saturday morning, we are preparing to open the gates at Carters Nursery and we are counting down the Hours till this evening! The Moonlight Pond Tour at Dusk!

Then the gates will reopen at 6:30 for further ticket sales and to start the tour 🌕
The 18th Annual “Moonlight” Pond Tour is tonight! And this year we landed on the exact night of the Full Harvest Moon 🌝 So everyone is in for a real treat! Don’t miss this Unique Garden Tour Experience! Tickets are $20 ea. (children under 12 are FREE!).


– The Jackson Animal Care Center receives 100% of the money from the tickets we sell for the tour! We Love and Support our Local Animal Care Center and we support their Mission in our Community. Most Importantly, we truly appreciate YOUR support! Without the community behind this, it won’t work. So please come out and help us make this a Success. It’s a Win-Win – Enjoy a GREAT night out while helping a worthy cause.”
What: The 18th. Annual Moonlight Pond Tour
When: TONIGHT! 💥 Saturday, September 10th. from dusk (7:00) till 11pm.
Where: Beautiful North Jackson, Tn. in Madison County.
Why: It’s Fun, Affordable and it’s for a GREAT CAUSE! A truly Unique & Beautiful Garden Tour!
Tickets: $20 for the Pond Tour (no charge for kids age 12 and under)
Moonlight Pond Tour Tickets are ON SALE NOW at Carter’s Nursery! Call Jo or Sandra for more info at 731-424-2206
I’ll see y’all around the Ponds tonight! 🌕
Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com
YouTube pg. –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dPkQiE04jcr385SOL0gkw
Facebook pg. – https://www.facebook.com/mark.carter.775
Pinterest pg. – https://www.pinterest.com/cartersnursery/
Filed under: Family time, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Koi, Koi Ponds, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Pond Tips, Pondless Waterfalls, Sunsets, Videos, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Adopt a Pet, Blakes Exotic Animal Ranch, Charity Pond Tour, Color Changing Fountain Lights, Color Changing Underwater Lights, Dancing In The Moonlight, Date Night, Fall Pond Tour, Family Pet, Full Harvest Moon, Full Moon, Fund raiser, Garden Tour, Give, Harvest Moon, Help, I Love Animals, Jackson Animal Care Center, Jackson Tennessee, Landscape Lighting, Lighting, Love, Love Your Pets, Low Voltage Lights, Moondance, Moonlight Luau, Moonlight Pond, Moonlight Pond Party, Moonlight Pond Tour, Moonlight Pond Tour Video, Moonlight Tour, Moonlighting effects, Night Sky, Nightscaping, Nighttime Pond, Nighttime World, Pathway Lighting, Pets, Pond Lighting, Pond Tour, Pond Tour Tickets, Saturday Night, self guided tour, Special Night, Spot lights, Summer Nights, Summer Pond Tour, The Nightlife, Things to do tonight, Underwater Lighting, Water Garden Tour, Waterfall at Night, Waterfall Wednesday Night, West TN, Worthy Cause
It’s Tuesday evening and we are counting down the days till THIS Saturday evening! The Moonlight Pond Tour 🌕 is almost here!

The 18th Annual “Moonlight” Pond Tour falls on the exact night of the Full Harvest Moon (Saturday September 10th.!) so everyone is in for a real treat! Don’t miss this Unique Garden Tour Experience! Tickets are $20 ea. (children under 12 are FREE!).


– The Jackson Animal Care Center receives 100% of the money from the tickets we sell for the tour! We Love and Support our Local Animal Care Center and we support their Mission in our Community. Most Importantly, we truly appreciate YOUR support! Without the community behind this, it won’t work. So please come out and help us make this a Success. It’s a Win-Win – Enjoy a GREAT night out while helping a worthy cause.”
What: The 18th. Annual Moonlight Pond Tour
When: Saturday, September 10th. from dusk (7:00) till 11pm.
Where: Beautiful North Jackson, Tn. in Madison County.
Why: It’s Fun, Affordable and it’s for a GREAT CAUSE! A truly Unique & Beautiful Garden Tour!
Tickets: $20 for the Pond Tour (no charge for kids age 12 and under)
Moonlight Pond Tour Tickets are ON SALE NOW at Carter’s Nursery! Call Jo or Sandra for more info at 731-424-2206
Mark Carter
Carter’s Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com
YouTube pg. –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dPkQiE04jcr385SOL0gkw
Facebook pg. – https://www.facebook.com/mark.carter.775
Pinterest pg. – https://www.pinterest.com/cartersnursery/
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Hummingbirds, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Waterfalls | Tags: Art, Doors, Guitar, Love, music, Rain, Rainy Day Song, Rainy Days, Rainy Morning, Relaxing, Riders on the Storm, Scout, Stormy Weather, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, 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, Sunrises, The Smell Of Rain
Man I love a rainy Sunday Morning ❤️ I’ve been out on the porch since about 6am just listening 👂🏻 First to the thunder, then the lightning 🌩 then the storm hit ⛈ I fell back asleep in my papasan chair 😴 I woke back up with a song in my head… Riders on the Storm by the Doors. So I go inside to get my guitar and when I come back, I had to find another seat… My audience was waiting…

We have had a busy week at work! Hosted a birthday party 🎈 Went to an Art Show 🖼 Drove to several out of town locations for design meetings, watered, mowed, mechanic’d, and still didn’t get it all done… and I wouldn’t have it any other way! A busy schedule is a good thing! A blessing 🙏🏻
But today, I’m gonna watch it rain for a while…
“I hear leaves drinking rain;
I hear rich leaves on top
Giving the poor beneath
Drop after drop;
’Tis a sweet noise to hear
These green leaves drinking near.
And when the Sun comes out,
After this Rain shall stop,
A wondrous Light will fill
Each dark, round drop;
I hope the Sun shines bright;
’Twill be a lovely sight.”
~ W.H. Davies
Have a lovely Sunday!
Mark C.