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, Food, Good food, Ham, Happy Thanksgiving, Menu, Pecan Pie, Pecan Trees, 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, Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato Bar, Thanks, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Decorations, Thanksgiving is Coming
It’s Thanksgiving week! 🦃 And Thanksgiving Dinner is at my house! I’ve been thinking about all the work I have to do this week to prepare… Making a list… But, at least the menu is set… I got ham again
I also got the sweet potatoes 🍠 But I’m putting a different spin on it this year … Instead of the regular ”Sweet Potato Casserole” you may expect… I’m Doing a Sweet Potato Bar instead! You get a whole, baked Sweet Potato & you top it yourself! Brown sugar, butter, marsh-mellows, candied pecans, fresh cinnamon, whipped cream, etc!
And I always fix several pecan pies from my MiMi’s recipe…
Everyone else is bringing something as well, can you say Feast! There will be Family and friends and LOTS of good food! I have a LOT to be Thankful for! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I am also very aware of the men and women who serve our country 🇺🇸 and will be unable to return home for the holidays. We owe them a very special Thank you and prayer ❤️🙏🏻
And there are so many around that don’t have as much to be thankful for… Many that even dread the holidays. I know I need to do my part to help others as well…
Well, with all that being said, I better get started…
Have a Thankful week 🙏🏻
“Give me the end of the year an’ its fun
When most of the plannin’ an’ toilin’ is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin’ with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An’ I’ll put soul in my Thanksgivin’ prayers.”
~ Edgar A. Guest
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Love, music, Sunday Reflections, Waterfalls | Tags: Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, Decorations, God Bless, God Bless America, Gumbo, Happy Holidays, Holiday Season, 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, Thanks, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Decorations, Thanksgiving is Coming, USA
We had a beautiful week of nice Fall temps, enjoyed the peak of Fall color and got quite a bit of work done to boot… Today was a nice family day of preparing for the Holiday Season that is upon us 🦃🎄 We decorated a bit, went thru all the menu for Thanksgiving to take inventory and be ahead of the game. We also cooked up a big pan of Chicken and sausage gumbo 🥣
Even the dogs helped in the kitchen…
We are only a week and a half away from Thanksgiving😮 This season is just flying by 🌬
Im starting early this year! Im already in the Holiday Season 🎅🏻
Thanksgiving is Coming!
“An attitude of gratitude is a never-ending prayer.”
~William Arthur Ward,
Have a great night!
Mark C
Filed under: Family time, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Autumn Color, Autumn Leaves Falling on Water, Beautiful Day, Beautiful Sunset, Colorful Foliage, Fall Beauty, Fall Color, Fall Gardening, Family time, Family Traditions, I Love My Family, Indian Summer, Kentucky Lake, Lake, Love, Private Areas, River, River Life, Rivers, 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, Tennessee River
This has been a beautiful Fall day… It started with a cold heavy fog 🌫 needing a long sleeved shirt and coat & ended with a light sunburn in short sleeves 👕 A wonderful Autumn Day 🍁
So Beautiful ❤️
It looks like a beautiful week ahead. I hope you can get out and enjoy this little “Indian Summer” we are about to experience this week. Sunny 😎 with highs in the mid and upper 70’s.
“There’s a crispness in the air that greets the morning sun, a feeling of anticipation, a new day has begun.
Harvest days are ending, winter is drawing near, yet in between is surely the most special time of year.
They call it Indian Summer, and it seems to fit the bill, for it’s as if the Lord took a feathered brush and painted all the hills.
Now as I sit contented, atop of one of these, a book in hand to pass the time, the sound of a gentle breeze,
I can almost imagine an Indian child upon this mountaintop, looking down at the land of her forefathers, lost within her thoughts
For in every persons lifetime some heartache may occur, but on these hills in quiet solitude, God helps us to endure.
So I say that the eyes are a window, beauty is found within the soul, and upon the hills of Autumn, that are strewn with red and gold.”
~ Julie L. O’Connor
Have a good night 🌙
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Koi Ponds, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Autumn, Autumn Color, Autumn Leaves Falling on Water, Autumn Poem, Autumnal Equinox, Breakfast, Burning Leaves, Colorful Foliage, Fall Color, Family, Family Fun, Family History, Family Pictures, Family time, Family Traditions, Leaves, October, Pancakes, 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
What a beautiful morning! A quick, early walk this morning was perfect! Leaves are really showing color now 🍁 and many are falling in good number… Its about time for a good early Fall clean-up and burn 🔥 It really helps clear the way for later in the season.
Then its back in the house for breakfast 🥞 🍳 No brunch today! Too much to do and see outside on this gorgeous Fall Day! 🍁🍁🍁
Only 1 week from today is Halloween 🎃… Get out and look around before the show is over!
“October is the month for painted leaves. Their rich glow now flashes round the world. As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall so the year near its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight.”
~ Henry David Thoreau
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Koi Ponds, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Pondless Waterfalls, Sunday Reflections, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Art, Art in the Garden, Art Show, Artistic Waterfalls, Carters Nursery, Carters Nursery Pond & Patio, Carters Nursery Pond and Patio, Family, Family Dinner, Family Fun, Family History, Family Pictures, Family time, Family Traditions, Friends and Family, Friendship, Garden Party, Good Friends, I ❤️ My Art, Old Friends, Party, Pond Party, 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
Good day to everyone! Just finished a great brunch and sat down to finish my Blog that I started late last night… We finished up our last event of the season last night, and it was a FUN one! A local artist and friend for over 30+ years, Matt Brown came to the nursery last night with a literal truck load of art and paintings and we set up our Nursery as his Gallery of Art 🖼 We called it ’Art in the Garden’ and it was a very unique and a very special evening. We even set up a ’Blacklight Room’ in the Koi Shack to showcase some of Matts unique pieces. I’ll tell the rest of the story with a few pictures of last night.
What a great evening! Matt and I have been friend’s for many years now, Maybe its because we both work with our hands to make unique, artistic creations? Our mediums are very different, but I think his Artwork within the gardens and by my Waterfalls was pretty Awesome! And it brought a bunch of people out to enjoy a night of Art and enjoyment, another win-win!
PS: We are gonna do this again! 💥
“Each of us are flowers in the garden of life we bloom,
We all bring a different light to brighten the daily gloom.
We all posess great potential to inspire our fellow man,
To offer peace and love is a choice we all should plan.
We can each bring joy to a life filled with sadness,
Just through a soft touch or word spoken in gladness.
We can also bring peace to those with a troubled mind,
Bring hope to a broken heart joy from the daily grind.
For every flower has something beautiful to share,
That has special meaning to someone, sometime, somewhere,
But our time is short, just like a season,
As autumn advances with purpose and reason.
We all have these gifts and we must take a chance,
If we spread peace and love it’s the garden we enhance…
Enhance the garden…
Spread the love… The peace will follow…”
~ Cosmic Dreamer
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
Mark C
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Hummingbirds, Koi Ponds, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Autumn, Autumn Color, Autumn Leaves Falling on Water, Autumn Poem, College Football, Fall Gardening, Family, Family time, Family Traditions, Football, Football Time In Tennessee, God Bless, I ❤️ Football, I ❤️ my Family, I Love Football, Indian Summer, Safe Travels, 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, Unseasonably Warm
What a beautiful day! 86 degrees and sunny 🌞 It has apparently lit a fire under me because I just cant sit down… We have been decorating and cooking, Fall cleaning and slowly getting rid of Summer plants that just have to make way for Fall 🍁
Plus, its been a great weekend of Football 🏈 The TN Vols won and Alabama lost! 💥
Homemade fresh vegetable soup and cornbread is for dinner 🍲 Man I love a nice Fall day!
“A day like a day in summer.
Exceptionally still. The long shadows of the maples
nearly mauve on the gravel paths.
And in the evening, warmth. Night like a night in summer.”
~ Louise Gluck
Have a great evening!
Mark C
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Brunch, Family, Family time, Family Traditions, Gentle Sounds, Hiking, Rainbow, Rainy Morning, River Life, Sound of Rain, Sound Therapy, 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, Sunset, Sunsets, Tin Roof
Well, I actually slept late this morning 😴 Late night movie marathon + Rain on a tin roof made it possible 😊 For the record, I actually woke up at my normal time! (with only a few hours of sleep…) But that rain coming down on the tin roof we were sleeping under, simply lulled me back to sleep 💤 Cut to brunch 🧇 🍳 Now we are going for an extended walk 🥾 So Im gonna post a few pics from the last couple days as my reflections…
Theres more weekend to enjoy, so Im off!
“Waking up to the sound of rain on a tin roof,
Music to my ears.
Darkness still lurks as I open my ears and hear this sound.
Music softly playing,
Describes this day.
The rain pours down softly,
The sky is all grey”
~ Jeri Martindale
Enjoy your Sunday!
Mark C.
Filed under: Family time, Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Lake and Pond, Love, music, Outdoor Lifestyles, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, Waterfalls | Tags: Autumn, Autumn Color, Autumn Poem, Changing Seasons, John Keats, Love, Outdoor Living, River, River Life, Rivers, Seasonal changes, Seasonal Interest, Sunday, Sunday Breakfast, Sunday in the Garden, Sunday Inspiration, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Naps, Sunday on the River, Sunday Poem, Sunday Quote, Sunday Reflections, Sunday Sunrises, Sunday Sunset, Sunday with Family, Sundays, Tennessee River, The Seasons
Today has been like the rest of this entire week… Long and Beautiful! 🌞 Fall came in with cool temps and blue skies. We got out on the lake today to enjoy a little time off and to officially welcome in Fall.
Although I hate the Summer being behind us, Fall is always a beautiful, welcome season… Here’s to Fall!🍁🔥🏈
“Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, –
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.”
~ John Keats
Mark C
Filed under: Family time, Food, Fountains, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Hummingbirds, Koi, Koi Ponds, Lake and Pond, Landscaping & Gardening, Love, music, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles, Pond Tips, Pondless Waterfalls, Sunday Reflections, Sunrises, Sunsets, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Carter Country, Carters Nursery Pond and Patio, Charity Pond Tour, Fall Pond Tour, Full Harvest Moon, Full Moon, Fund raiser, God, God Bless, God Bless America, Harvest Moon, humane society, Jackson Animal Care Center, Jackson Tennessee, Koi, Koi Ponds, Magical, Moonlight Pond Tour, Moonlight Tour, Moonlighting effects, Night Sky, Nightscaping, Nighttime Pond, Nighttime World, Pets, Pond Lighting, Pond Tour, Pond Tour Tickets, Pondless Waterfall, Saturday Night, Streams, 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, Tiki, Underwater Lighting, Water Garden Tour, Waterfall at Night, Waterfalls
The morning after is real… 🤫 I was the only one up in the whole house most of the morning… I don’t know what it is, but i cant “sleep in”. I’m just drawn up and then outside in the morning 🌞 But truth be told, I am pretty worn out too… Last night we hosted our annual Moonlight Pond Tour for the 17th time. And it was such a beautiful night!
We didn’t get through talking with folks, closing up and blowing out all the Tiki Torches and candles till around 12:30 last night, which is pretty late for an old Pond Guy and Gal 😊 But then when we got inside the house, were wide awake… so we had coffee and cake… ☕️🍰 Whew, great day and what a great night! but then… The Morning After 😒 I may need a nap 🥱
Thank You! to everyone who came out to support the cause! And a BIG ’Thank You’ to the homeowners who hosted the tour! ❤️ Its an honor and a privilege to be surrounded by such Awesome and caring people 🙏🏻
Enjoy your day!
“Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning …”
~ William Wordsworth
Mark C.
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, water garden, Waterfalls | Tags: Be Prepared, Details, Early Morning, Enjoy The Morning, Fall Morning, Family time, Good Morning, Moonlight Pond Tour, Morning Coffee, Morning Zen, Pictures, Quiet Morning, 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, The Devils in the Details
What a beautiful morning 🌞 Sunday morning is the start of the new week, and quite the week is ahead… This week leads us to Saturday evening and our annual Moonlight Pond Tour 🌝 There is always so much to do! Ive been sipping coffee thinking about it and scribbling down a rough list as things come to me… Last minute kind of stuff, you know how it works, a ”few little details”… This = a week of Hard Work!
Last evenings perfect sunset was followed by a rising, waxing moon 🌙 So beautiful! This months Full Moon is the Harvest Moon 🌝 which means, the Moonlight Pond Tour is coming!
If you have ever made big plans with great intentions of success, you know what it means to have a ”few details” to take care of… “All we lack is finishing up”… ie; Gotta get to work!
Y’all have a great Sunday! See ya’ Saturday evening 😊
“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
~ Peter Drucker
Mark Carter
Carter's Water Garden 