Filed under: 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, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Videos, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: CAC, Certified Aquascape Contractor, Chicagoland, educational workshop, Extended Family, Family Traditions, Greg Wittstock, Master CAC, Master Certified Aquascape Contractor, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday on the River, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Songs, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays, There’s No Place Like Home
This Summer has just flown by for me… I must be having fun right 😊 Most Sundays are family days. Eat breakfast together, spend time together, etc… Today is both different and the same 💭 Today my wife and I are at a work conference that we attend yearly for training and CEU points for our certification as Pond/Water Garden Specialist. We have been working and training with some of these folks for well over 20 years… So many of these folks are like an extended family!
An extended family I have
I am so glad
To have you all
I feel ten feet tall
And I give you my all
If you need
You will not have to plead
I will feel glee
If I can give you what you need
There is no need
For you plead
My love for you all is a guarantee
Let me know you are in need
And I will be there in lightning speed
To help you all in your time of need
So remember there is no need
To plea
I will help you in time of need
~ Keith Wells
~ Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Love, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Videos | Tags: #Bugwatchin, Beautiful Sunset, Bug Watching, Bugs, Easily Entertained, Entomology, Fun, Have Fun, laughing, Love, Love and Meaning, Night Sky, Nighttime World, Opacarophile, Spider, Spiders, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday on the River, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Songs, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Sunset, Sunsets
What a week… Work, rain, storms, heat, shipping delays, out of stock, yada yada… The ‘New Normal’ they call it… But, all in all a good week! Lots to be Thankful for 🙏🏻
My reward was the weekend with my lovely wife on the river. Boat riding, swimming, photography, beautiful sunsets and then after dark… Bug Watching! (yes, we are both easily entertained 😊)
There are so many opportunities to watch bugs at the river! I mean, it’s kinda the only show in town 😊 #bugwatchin
We rode around giggling like a couple of kids, eating ice cream, cracking jokes and yes, watching bugs… I got her laughing pretty good 😊
Then we found this one, and watched for quite some time. She is pretty cool 🕷
What can I say, I’m a cheap date 😊
“Stood on the ledge of my sleepy blue sorrow
back from the edge, guess I’ll see you tomorrow
can’t lie, not the first time I’m thinking of you
but the night bugs are out, life’s distractions will do
I looked to the west as the day slowly fadyded
turned up the volume of cricket and katydid
rhythm rubs life in the darkness outside
steer clear of the blue light or get yourself fried
With the zapper you took out the skeeters and flies
while spiders and ants faced the raider’s demise
yellow jackets and wasps, you chased from their hives,
but these night bugs are here for the rest of our lives
bittersweet bugs for the rest of our lives
Back in the house now, I roll down the screen
protecting myself from the lurking unseen
from the critters, which drawn by the lure of the light
make feast in their famine on food, flesh and fright
we handle the things that intrude in our spaces
the bugs in the dark and the unwanted faces
we roll down the screens and we listen to voices
those sweet summer sounds, and this night bug rejoices
With the zapper you took out the skeeters and flies
while spiders and ants faced the raider’s demise
yellow jackets and wasps, you chased from their hives,
but these night bugs are here for the rest of our lives
too many months have passed without hearing
the music which blends with the night bugs I’m fearing
I nearly lost hope for those sounds in my life
but these night bugs revive good ol’ summertime strife
bittersweet bugs, for the rest of my life
Stood on the ledge of my sleepy blue sorrow
back from the edge, guess I’ll see you tomorrow”
~ G Clair
Have a great Sunday!
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.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: 29th. Anniversary, Best Friend, Best Wife Award, Breakfast, Family time, Free Breakfast!, Friends and Family, Good Times, Happy Anniversary, Love, Love and Meaning, Marriage, Partner, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday in the Garden, 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, Sunrises, Time, Time flies, Time in a bottle, Time Off, Wonder Woman
Sitting on the porch swing with my girl this Sunday morning 😊 It’s 29 years today… 29 years in the blink of an eye 👁 Time is a funny thing… When we sit together time stands still. When we are apart or waiting on one another to get back, it sometimes drags on… Time is an illusion…
Im fixing breakfast for Jo this morning. She wants fresh tomatoes, biscuits, milk gravy and eggs… Another reason we get along so well 😊 Great minds think alike!
After breakfast, who knows what will happen!
Y’all have a great day!
“Love grows more tremendously full, swift, poignant, as the years multiply.”
~ Zane Grey
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Declaration of Independence, Family, Family Fun, Family time, Family Traditions, Fireworks, Happy Independence Day, I ❤️ This Country, independence day, July 4th., Love Thy Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday in the Garden, 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, Sunrises, Sunsets, USA
Are you proud to be an American? 🇺🇸
When the anthem plays, do you stand and put your hand on your heart?
Do you feel that pride, do your eyes well up, does the feeling swell in your chest?
Tomorrow is the celebration of Independence Day 🇺🇸 God Bless America 🇺🇸
“The United States is the only country with a known birthday. All the rest began, they know not when, and grew into power, they know not how…. There is no “Republican,” no “Democrat,” on the Fourth of July, — all are Americans.”
~James Gillespie Blaine
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Waterfalls | Tags: Balance, Cat Rescue, Catmint, catnip, Cats, Gardening, Herbs, Irish Sayings, Landscape, Love Your Pets, Nursery Cat, Pets, plants, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, 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, Yin Yang
Its a mild, beautiful, overcast morning. A perfect morning to get out and enjoy the air, check on plants, listen to the birds and the Waterfalls. I’m drinking my coffee this morning from the Hemingway House cup we got down in Key West earlier this year 😊 Like Earnest, I love cats 🐈 too…
Our cat isn’t a ”polydactyl type”, but shes a heck of a mouser 🐁 And she LOVES mint! Not just catmint, most any mint will do 😊
Balance is so important in life. All the hard work we have been doing to keep the Nursery up and to prepare for the upcoming Pond Tour is balanced by the beauty of the Landscape that I enjoy every time I stop to admire a flower or feed a Koi 🐠 Or even to watch my cat working through every one of my plants to see which ones she likes the best 🌺
Have a blessed Sunday 🙏🏻
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Family, Family time, Family Traditions, Freedom, Freedom isn’t Free, I Love My Family, Love, Memorial Day, Memorial Weekend, Peace, Peace on Earth, Ragged Old Flag, Rest In Peace, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, 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, Thankful, USA
Early morning sunshine… Watering, feeding the birds and animals, feeling thankful 🙏🏻 Reflection on the reasons for our peace and freedom… Its a beautiful day!
Remember
Someone’s child, left long ago,
A strange land,
Someone’s foe.
An unmarked grave, fields of green,
Resting quiet,
Just eighteen.
Winds of freedom, wash us now,
Remember him,
This I vow
~ Victor C. Kleinschmit
God Bless America! 🇺🇸
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Love, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Lightning, Love, Love and Meaning, Petrichor, Rain, Rainy Days, Rainy Morning, Sound of Rain, stormy night, Stormy Weather, 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, The Smell Of Rain, There will come soft rains, Thunder
What a storm last night! the power went out around dark and shortly after a big storm hit ⛈ ⚡️ What a light show 😯 We were sleeping in a cabin with a tin roof… ie; We got some Good Sleep!
“Here in the deep tangled forest
All is quiet and still,
While far to the west the thunder,
Re-echoes from hill to hill.
And the lightning’s flash, ever vivid,
In great gashes knives the air;
The rain comes down in torrents,
A deluge everywhere!
Bathing the heat-sick flowers
That they may bloom once more;
Painting the grass a greener hue,
That grows by our cabin door;”
~ James W. Whilt
Enjoy this day ❤️
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Daffodils, Flowers, Late Winter, Magnolia X soulangeana, SaucerMagnolia, Spring, Spring Gardening, Spring is Coming, Spring Pond Maintenance, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday on the River, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Songs, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Sunrises, Sunsets, Trees
Crazy weather… It was supposed to have rained all day, but it didn’t rain a drop 💧So in essence we got a free day! 😊 So nice and so warm, it turned out to be a wonderful Spring day! Walking around the Landscape, so much is blooming 🌼 Daffodils, Magnolias, Forsythia and the Maples, birch and willow are coming out like gangbusters – don’t forget the Privet 🤧 can you say Pollen…
Did I mention crazy weather? Rain tonight. Freezing temps tomorrow night, followed by more rain and a chance of snow by weeks end… “If you don’t like the weather”…
Have a wonderful evening! 1 week from today we will have a much longer evening 😊
“Come with me into the woods. Where spring is advancing, as it does, no matter what, not being singular or particular, but one of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.”
~ Mary Oliver
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Waterfalls | Tags: AOG Grill, Burning Leaves, charcoal grills, Cookout, Family Fun, Family time, Family Traditions, Garden Chores, Gardening, Gas Grills, Grilling, Grilling Station, grills, Leaf cleanup, Leaves, Outdoor Lifestyle Area, outdoor lifestyles, Outdoor Living, Outdoor Room, Saffire Grill, Spring Cleaning, Sunday, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Gardening, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday on the River, Sunday Poem, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Songs, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Sunsets
What a gorgeous morning! We started around 30 degrees with full Sun ☀️ and it has steadily warmed… It will be mid 60’s soon and it sure is nice 😊
We are gonna work in our yard a bit today, burn some leaves and maybe some steaks 🥩 on the grill as well! A little glimpse of Spring is pretty sweet on a Sunday! 🙏🏻
“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”
~Henry Van Dyke
Enjoy your day!
Spring is Coming!
Mark C.
Carter's Water Garden 