Grace Episcopal Church

Continuing on with our day in St. Francisville, LA, B and I made time to visit Grace Episcopal Church. The church was very beautiful, but I was more interested in the cemetery, as was B. Probably the most fascinating thing there was an open tomb. B titled her Facebook album, Tales From The Crypt. Dang, I wish I had thought of it first! lol B is a great photographer with a sharp wit. When we both decided this day would be an adventure, I had no idea we'd be climbing deep into a damp, dark grave! When she said 'Let's have an adventure' she meant it!

This must've been a baby or young girl. Isabel is her first name; couldn't read the last name.

Detailed carving of above grave. It said OUR DARLING BELLE.

Open tomb...down we go!

Sweet B. My ISO was too low, as was the shutter speed
which resulted in B looking all ghost-like.
Not a good photo by any stretch, but it fits!

Rear of church.

Linking up with Tex's

Cat Island

Last Saturday my friend B and I were excited to visit a place new to both of us: Cat Island--a 10,000+ acre NWR (National Wildlife Refuge) located near historic St. Francisville, LA. From January - July most of the area is under water, so we were worried that we might not be able to cross a couple of the one-lane bridges leading into the preserve. But we decided early in the day that this would be an adventure and treated the day as such. Bravely (trepidatiously?) we entered the refuge, and although I spent most of the day swerving to avoid pot holes, it was dry.

We arrived at our destination around 8:30AM, so the heat/humidity weren't oppressive. Yet. We were prepared with snacks and drinks, but I was unprepared for the amount of sweat that would drench me in such a short time. Thankfully, B had an extra cloth to lend me so I could mop my face. I had so much fun with B and I hope we get to do more exploring together. It's so wonderful to have a nature-lovin', photog bud.

Checkered skipper

Bee on "sensitive plant." I haven't seen one of these since I was a child.
The leaves look like small ferns that close up when you touch them.
Next time I'll get the leaves in the shot. B's is so much better than mine.

Butterflies were landing on us right and left.

B photographing the inside of a large cypress.
Is she dressed for success or what? I've got to get a vest like that.
There are so many pockets for all sorts of goodies!

This Bald Cypress is the largest tree of any species east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
The massive base splits off into two trunks and is 56' in circumference, 83' tall,
and is thought to be about 1,000 years old. Maybe even 1,500 years old!
A viewing platform was constructed around the tree to protect it.
A very nice article can be found here.

B has all kinds of neat camera stuff. See that strap? I've got to get one. Also, she has a clip-on
thingy that holds the lens cap. Since I keep losing my lens caps, this is another must-have.

B noticed this scary spider as we were leaving the big cypress. Yikes!

White Ibis with a leaf stuck to his bill.

Cemetery gate in St. Franisville, LA
More of our afternoon there in a future post, which includes exploring an open crypt!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Thanks to Tex for hosting the fun Good Fences meme!

Also, many thanks to Anni for


And Stewart for

LINK

Almost forgot to add Eileen's. Thank you!!

LINK

Afton Villa

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! :) 

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.

Cher bébé (Shah beh-bay), as we say around here. :)

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!

Participating in

Kate @ Thankful Thursday

Barn Charm! Finally!

Double D and I drove to St. Francisville, LA after church to see the countryside. It was such a beautiful day, I told him that if he wanted to stay inside and watch football that it was fine with me, but I was going somewhere, anywhere, to enjoy this gorgeous weather. I didn't say it in a way to make him feel bad, but he said he'd rather spend the day with me. Cue the "awwws" now. :)

We ended up at Afton Villa Gardens. A quick history: In the mid-1800s David Barrow constructed a grand home for his second wife. It was well cared for until 1963 when a fire destroyed the villa. The remnants are surrounded by lush gardens, with various statues and pillars scattered about.

Imagine my delight when I saw a barn off in the distance! Although I have many other photos to process, the barn took top priority. Tricia, thank you for hosting barn charm. I'm so excited to finally participate!

Processed with a Katie Lloyd texture

One of the remnants of the burned villa

Edit: Just found out about Homestead Barn Hop, so I'm linking there, too!

As you can see, I reformatted my blog. A HUGE thank you goes to Brian King for helping me with questions on sizing my images and other blog issues. The time he took to answer my questions was very generous, kind, and deeply appreciated! Please let me know if you have any problems with the new layout. Thanks!