Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Hummingbirds, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Waterfalls | Tags: Blackberries, Blackberry Winter, Blackberrys, cold morning, Cool Morning, Cooling Down, Crazy Weather, Mark C., Picking, Picking Blackberries, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Reflection’s, Sunday Reflections
West Tn. weather is crazy, but still very seasonably predictable… The blackberries are in bloom once again & boom 💥 here comes a cold front that drops the temps overnight. Cool and crisp this morning and it feels SO GOOD 😊 I love me some ‘Blackberry Winter’…
Enjoy this day and this lovely little cold snap… knowing that soon, Summer Heat will be upon us! And, it will be time to pick blackberries once again 😊
“I see blackberry winter’s here
that very special time of year
when thorny vine’s small pure white bloom
announces colder weather’s doom.
It’s cold enough to wear long sleeves
to ward off spring’s last chilly breeze
yet warm enough up in the day
to show that cold won’t long hold sway.
The flower of this lowly berry
reminds that summer won’t long tarry.
This mini-season won’t last long
so don a coat and tag along.
We’ll both enjoy this evening’s nip
hands in each other’s loving grip
and gaze into each other’s eyes
as stars replace the clear blue skies.
As whippoorwill gives serenade
from ‘cross the pond in brushy glade
beneath a blanket we’ll start to plan
vacation on the ocean’s sand.
But in the back of cozy mind
all thoughts of winter left behind
tiny voices, soft and sweet
reminds that next comes summer heat.”
~ Stan Holiday
I’m off for an adventure… Y’all have fun 🤩
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Love, music, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Family, I Love My Mother, Lunch is at 11:30, mother in law, Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day Breakfast, Mother’s Day Gifts, Mother’s Day Lunch, Steaks, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Reflection’s, Sunday Reflections
Everyone is “Born of Woman”, so everyone has a birth mother. Some of us are fortunate enough to have a Mom ❤️ A nurturer, giver, teacher… A person above & beyond all others in your life. I am blessed by the fact that I still have my Mom!
We are having Lunch together today 💥
Proverbs 31:25: “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”
I think this bible verse sums up a Mothers Love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
My wife is being celebrated today as well as my sister and many many great Moms that I know ❤️
“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.”
~ William Makepeace Thackeray
Happy Mother’s Day to ALL the Moms out there! What in the world would we have done without you! ❤️
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Breakfast Tomatoes, Coffee, Family Breakfast, Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth, Gardening, Growing Tomatoes, Homegrown Tomatoes, I ❤️Tomatoes, Indeterminate Tomatoes, Morning Coffee, Organic Gardening, peppers, Seasonal Tomatoes, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Poem, Sunday Reflection’s, Sunday Reflections, Tomato Sandwich, Tomato varieties, Tomatoes
I’ve been up since early morning, doing a few things in my garden. Finally getting my tomatoes 🍅 squared away 👏🏻 It was a test… I almost always get my ‘maters’ out by April 15th… But this years weather had other plans 😊 Late frosts, wind and storms, unseasonably cool nights well into late April, early May drove my decision to wait. PS: I’m glad I did.
In fact, I know several old gardeners who always wait until Mothers Day to plant their tomatoes 🍅 and peppers 🌶 🫑 and almost always have show stopping gardens with HUGE yields. “It’s all about soil temperature and warming nights”… I’ve learned that this age old wisdom holds true almost every time. Everything revolves around proper timing…
“Whoever makes a garden. Has never worked alone;
the rain has always found it, The sun has always known;
The wind has blown across it. And helped to scatter seeds;
Whoever makes a garden. Has all the help he needs.
Whoever makes a garden. Should surely not complain,
With someone like the sunshine.And someone like the rain
And someone like the breezes.To aid him in his toil
And someone like the Father. Who gave the garden soil.
Whoever makes a garden, has, oh, so many friends;
The glory of the morning, the dew when daylight ends.
For rain and wind and sunshine, and dew and fertile sod;
And he who makes a garden, works hand and hand with God.”
~ Douglas Malloch
Have a great Sunday!
PS: 1 week from today is Mothers Day! ❤️
~ 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, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Waterfalls | Tags: Cool Morning, Garden, If You Don’t Like The Weather, Spring, Spring Beauty, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Reflection’s, Sunday Reflections
What a beautiful, cool morning. The next 4 mornings in a row the temps will be in the low 40’s as well… as we enter the month of May. A little cool, but I’ll take it 😊 Blink and we are 1/2 way through Spring…
I love every season, but Spring is my favorite. I’m still woken by excitement many mornings this time of year and it drags me right out and into my garden 🪴
Which is where I’m headed now 😊 As soon as I finish this last cup of coffee ☕️
Sunday morning advise- Get out and enjoy some Cool Spring morning weather… Before it turns to Summer Heat 🌞
“In April, we cannot see sunflowers in France, so we might say the sunflowers do not exist. But the local farmers have already planted thousands of seeds, and when they look at the bare hills, they may be able to see the sunflowers already. The sunflowers are there. They lack only the conditions of sun, heat, rain and July. Just because we cannot see them does not mean that they do not exist.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Enjoy this breezy Spring Day!
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, water garden | Tags: Coffee, Cover Plants, Crazy Weather, Family, Family Breakfast, Family time, Feels like Spring, Frost Warning, Garden, I Love My Family, Late Frost, Morning Coffee, Plant care, Spring, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Night, Sunday Reflection’s, Sunday Reflections
This morning was cold and crisp and damp and it felt like early Spring in March… But it’s April 23rd.! The entire hill and holler is green and in full bloom 🌺 My Nursery is fully stocked as well… And in the morning, we are looking at a very late FROST 🥶 So yesterday evening a LOT of plants got moved in and covered, the rest was left until today 😊 Such is the life of a gardener 🪴 “Till it, plant it, water it, weed it, move it, then move it again… But, what’s the alternative? Chance? Or a lost season of growth? Less plants?…. I think NOT! Let’s get to moving plants!
But, I don’t want to gloss over the fact that we are actually having a Spring this year! Spring is so exciting and changing and renewing… So we will gladly play along 😊
A bit more coffee, then back to it!
“The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You’re one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud come over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you’re two months back in the middle of March.”
~ Robert Frost
Have a wonderful Sunday!
PS: Frost tonight! Cover & protect your tender plants 🙏🏻
~ 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, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: April, Blogging, Breakfast, Coffee, Family Breakfast, Feeding Koi, Garden, Homegrown Tomatoes, I Love Spring, Mark Carter, Morning Coffee, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday Night
Cool start to the morning, overcast, 46 degrees and a little windy 💨 But, it’s warming back up! We finally had a week of good weather! Got some work done ✔️ and a slight sunburn… But, this is the time! We are past frost and the whole world is ‘greening up’. Gardening starts in full force now 😊 Tomatoes 🍅 peppers 🌶 squash and corn 🌽 My Koi are eating twice a day now and very happy 😃 Things are looking up ⬆️
“And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.”
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley
Now it’s on to coffee ☕️ and eggs 🥚 My chickens 🐓 are loving spring too! I’ve got eggs coming out of my ears… 😋
Have a wonderful, blessed Sunday!
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Hummingbirds, Love, music, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Waterfalls | Tags: Breakfast, Can I Feed My Koi, Day Off, Eggs, Family Breakfast, Family time, Garden, Morning Coffee, Pancakes, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Reflection’s, Sunday Reflections, Sunny Sky’s
What a week! In one week we have seen record lows and freezing weather, severe storms, damaging winds and now it’s sunny and in the upper 70’s… Springtime in Tennessee is exciting I tell ya’! We just finished our 1st garden show of the season! It was nice to see everyone out and ready to start another growing season! So much happens now! But, for today I get a slight reprieve… It’s Sunday Morning! Breakfast with family and lots of good Coffee are 1st on the list this morning ☕️
After breakfast we are gonna do some things in the garden. I’ve gotta get moving… Have a great Sunny Sunday!🌞
“The word ‘March’ comes from the Roman ‘Martius’. This was originally the first month of the Roman calendar and was named after Mars, the god of war. March was the beginning of our calendar year. We changed to the ‘New Style’ or ‘Gregorian calendar in 1752, and it is only since then when we the year began on 1st January. The Anglo-Saxons called the month Hlyd monath which means Stormy month, or Hraed monath which means Rugged month. All through Lent the traditional games played are marbles and skipping. The games were stopped on the stroke of twelve noon on Good Friday, which in some places was called Marble Day or Long Rope Day. The game of marbles has been played for hundreds of years and some historians say that it might have been started by rolling eggs. In the past, round stones, hazelnuts, round balls of baked clay and even cherry stones have been used.”
~ Interesting Facts about March
It’s gonna be a nice week!
~ Mark C.
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, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Love, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets | Tags: After the Storm, Blessed, Blessings, Breakfast, Brunch, Chickens, Count Your Blessings, Electrical Outage, From My Window, Fun, Hurricane, Loss of power, Storm Damage, Storm Water Retention, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Reflection’s, Window
We woke up this morning to electricity ⚡️ Yes! Lights 💡 running water 🚿 ICE! 🧊 Wow 🤩 Not having these basics at your fingertips for just a couple of days is… Strange to say the least. We are so use to having them, we can completely take it for granted that they will always be there at the exact moment we need them…
80 MPH strait line winds are no joke! Think Hurricane… I was downtown in the radio studio when it hit – 💥 It shook the whole building! The roof on the building across the street started peeling off and flying down the street 🌬 Traffic cones and barrels were flipping down the street, cartwheeling into parked cars and flying through the air. Trees were snapping, so were the power lines! The signal went out, along with all streaming and phone lines. It was one of the worst storm scenes I have ever witnessed, and it was over in a matter of minutes.
This is the window I watched the debris blown hurricane force wind storm through ☝🏼 But I really saw the damage that was done on the ride home. Trees down everywhere! Power poles and lines down all over town. Debris, trash cans, barrels, toys, clothes, you name it were blown into piles everywhere you looked. Wow! Then when I got home… No power. I wasn’t surprised after seeing the level of damage. Luckily, no one here was hurt 🙏🏻 We had some damage, but nothing we couldn’t clean up and repair. Then we sat down and expected the power to pop back on any minute. But it didn’t. None Friday, none Friday night. So we were forced to close Saturday. No power all day… But, they did restore power over night and this morning, we had lights and water🚿 a HOT Shower was nice 😊
- Thank you 🙏🏻 to all the hard working men and women who worked day and night for 2 days to clean all that mess up and get the town back up and running. We are fortunate to have dedicated folks to take care of business like this! ❤️
So what did we do to pass the time? Here’s a little video for ya’ Entertainment is where you find it 😊
“If it weren’t for electricity, we’d all be watching television by candlelight.”
~ George Gobel
Have a wonderful Sunday!
Mark C.
Carter's Water Garden 