More images from Afton Villa Gardens in St. Francisville, LA.
Many of you asked how the flowers are cared for at this abandoned site.
A caretaker was there watering all the plants. When asked about the property he
excitedly stopped watering to show us an old, faded photo of the original home.
He seemed to genuinely care for the place. Even though I understand Cajun accents fairly well,
this gentle soul had such a strong dialect that I had difficulty making out his words.
I did a lot of nodding and smiling, charmed by his animated ways and enthusiasm for the old place.
We still connected even though I didn't understand a thing he said! :)
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| This pitiful calf mooed me over. I felt sorry for her because she sounded sad. I petted her and scratched her head for a while and she seemed to enjoy it. Maybe she was looking for her mama. |
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| Cher bébé (Shah beh-bay), as we say around here. :) |
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| I was captivated by this beautiful flower growing through the cracks of the old foundation. How can you not admire something so strong and beautiful and determined? Just goes to show that even though this flower doesn't have the perfect conditions in which to grow, it grows anyway! And beautifully at that! |
I'm not sure I will be keeping this layout. It works great for pictures, but the words stretching
all the way across on a smaller monitor do not automatically adjust, which is why I am centering
my text. But it looks kind of stupid with the text this way so I may have to go back
to the way it was before. If someone has a formatting suggestion, I'm all ears!
to the way it was before. If someone has a formatting suggestion, I'm all ears!
Participating in
48 comments:
I'm so glad you have posted these images, Gail. They are wonderful captures of color and texture. I LOVE large images, but I see what you mean about the text....it really doesn't bother me, though. (Daryl needs to see that water tower!)
These are wonderful! Poor Cher bebe!
I love the water tower, the statues, the barn!
The flower is a testament that no matter how deep one is buried, there is always a way out.
Oh, the layout looks great on my 24" monitor.
actually everything looked great on my computer today....photos and words !!!
and that poor calf....sniff sniff....
and that water tower and the statue.....WOW !!
Wonderful sharing!
That little muzzle poking through the fence is so cute!
I like the white "mustache" grows on the tree.
Gorgeous images! Looks like an interesting place to visit.
Sigh.....
I love the tranquility your photos give me.
As for the text...doesn't bother me. After looking at teeny tiny text on the computer at work, it is very nice not having to strain my eyes!
your images are beautiful. love the garden statue and old wood grains. and sweet cow. :)
Spanish moss is just the best thing. That water tower is my second favorite thing. I don't know why, but I always want to take a picture of an old water tower. Weird, I know.
Gail, is that tree a Banyan Tree? That was marvelous! I enjoyed all of your big pictures and I didn't mind the text centered. But do what you want. It's fine with me tho. :D
Wow- some really gorgeous photos! love them all!
My favourite is the moss on the trees - I find it fascinating and I'd love to see it!
Haunting and beautiful. Btw, I think your new format looks great.
The pictures look so great I hadn't even noticed anything funny about text. (I guess if you were writing whole books it wouldn't be good centered, but I didn't even notice it here).
Lovely post -- poignant with the lonely little calf and the brave flower and the nice man so proud of where we worked -- and such beautiful pictures of all of it.
The picture of the calf's muzzle poking throught the boards of the gate was just adorable. And the one of the first statue, with the Spanish moss behind it was a stunner. I wish I'd had a picture of you nodding confusedly as the caretaker talked. I wonder if he occasionally offers a drop of water to the lovely flower growing from the crack.
These are beautiful photos! That rusty water tower is gorgeous! That would make a nice framed print!
I don't know about a small monitor, but your blog looks great on both my desktop and laptop. I usually center my text, too.
Gail, you have such a good eye for seeing a photo opportunity (I probably said that before) with each one of your pictures telling a little story. A flower growing through a crack - nicely spotted.
The beauty of this format Gail is that it allows you to place in bigger pictures which can look better. Do you really think the words look odd? They look OK on my computer - Dave
What a beautiful place that is!!
What a wonderful place. See the donkey behind that fence is so cute. The thing that really stands out is the moss. In Jacksonville when I was a child there was moss everywhere. I do not see in here in VA where we live. Such a pretty post. Thanks for becoming a follower. That always gives me hope my photography is improving a bit. genie
Love all these haunting photos. I can almost hear the stillness.
Sounds like me as I have a hearing problem so half the time I do not understand what folks are saying. I later get the update from Hubby.
This gentleman sure has a green thumb.
Love the old gate and hinges.
Oh my gosh this is a beautiful place and your photos are amazing. B
It is really hard to figure layouts out I know that is why I do not change:) Good luck you are doing great. B
What a gorgeous group of photos! I really love that sweet little cafe and the statue too. Your new layout looks great on my monitor.
I like everything centered like that... it looks good to me =)
Strong, willful lil flower, isn't it... love the color.
All of these photos were taken at the same place as the barn?
Cajun is hard for me to understand, so he'd really have to slooow down for me. lol
Wow - what an amazing place. Those statues belong in a film.
I love that cow's nose through the fence!
I love the Spanish Moss. It makes me miss Savannah, Georgia. It's where I went to grad school.
Beautiful shots. I hope that cow isn't as sad as she sounds!
Gorgeous photography ~ love the cow and text looks wonderful on page to me ~ (A Creative Harbor) artmusedog and Carol ^_^
oh my what a beautiful place. the 5th photo (the tree) is magnificent. I laughed when you said you still connected with the caretaker even thou you didn't understand a thing he said. I pictured you smiling and nodding, being the good heart you are. the last photo is awesome, so strong and so fragile at the same time. xxo dear friend :)
about the layout, it's great to have pictures this size, for the text it is better to align it left, still dividing the sentences shorter. a smaller monitor will open from left to righ, having the text centered is not the best sollution. xxo
Bear With Me....Excellent photos, thanks fr sharing♫
Such gorgeous photos, Gail - that oak is magnificent!
Really great photography, Gail. Love that first shot with the bokeh, and never seen so much Spanish moss in one place!! Have a good weekend.
Hi there - I like a lot of these images - but the flower in the concrete is splendid.
More clouds and rain here today - who said it was spring!
Stewart M - Australia
It's good the caretaker was so nice. I've run across a few that won't talk and won't let you take photos. It's a beautiful old estate.
That single flower growing through the crack symbolises the place!! Lovely post, great captures. Have a wonderful weekend Gail :)
Well girlfriend, I am in love with these photos. That flower growing up out of the concrete looks so cool. I love that shot. But they are all Gorgeous shots. Hope you are having a awesome week.
Hugs~
Stunning images as always! I love the statue, the moss in the trees and of course that flower...Love that image....would be a good FB banner image ;-) I have a blogger account & might be able to help you out with your template...let me do some playing and I'll see if I can come up with a template that will show off your photographs and your words beautifully. Big hugs to you my friend and have a spectacular weekend! ;-) xoxo, Mitzi
Gail, that was way funny about your reaction to the words forming a candlestick holder. hahahaha. Really I didn't plan that. After when I was editing I noticed that. So funny. Thanks for your nice words. Have a fab day!
Oh my goodness, I am loving that "little" nose!!!
I think the text looks fine, Gail.
Have a wonderful weekend!
I'm in love with the old scultures and of course, the calf. Wonderful images.
Maybe just get a bigger monitor? Lol.
These are amazing Gail, I love that enormous tree and the beautiful little flower...nature is fragile and strong at the same time :)
Gail-
Lovely, Lovely, Lovely!! The live oak tree - my most favorite tree in the world with all the spanish moss blowing in the breeze and the statue standing in front of one of the moss laden tree. You must go to St. Francis and sell or offer some of these magnificient photos to them!!
Can you just imagine the history that those trees have seen! They say that these live oaks can live for two to three hundred years.
Thank you for sharing!!
This is a wonderful post. Love the images, the story and the French influence. Je vien de la belle Province... Quèbec. :)
Oh, Gail, that's so Louisiana. We're going to New Orleans next weekend. Going to the Destrehan Festival. I'm looking forward to getting some of those Louisiana oranges.
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