Oh, My! Do I have photos!

Hi dear friends from Ten Gables Cottage,

In the afternoon before sunset is one of the nicest times to take photos! I just came in from a walk around the property and took so many photos, some that I just must share with you!
It is about 70 degrees here and lovely today. This first one is of the beautiful clouds with some hanging moss to the side.












Then here is a view of some palms on the northwest of the yard and I was trying to get the white Egrets flying in the sky. Click on this to see if you can make them out.









I spotted a squirrel in one of the huge Live Oaks and you can see him paused and eating a nut there high in the tree, with all the Spanish Moss hanging around him. He did not care that I was snapping away. Click on this one, too, to see the squirrel better.



















Here is a photo of a big, big Cypress tree, which by the way, is endangered in Florida and it is unlawful to cut one down. Why would anyone want to? They are beautiful trees. As they get older in swampy areas they have upshoots, called knees. This one is near a little canal, but I haven't seen any "knees" there.

It made a big mess in the yard about 2 weeks ago when it was so cold--lost most the leaves, but the whole place smelled heavenly of Cypress. It will soon show some green shoots coming back.















Here is a photo of Ten Gables cottage framed by the Oak with hanging moss. I love the deep shadows this time of day!










O.K, Is this not one of the prettiest trees you have ever seen? Just look at the bark, the texture, the color! What a gorgeous tree! Click on it and you may see a cactus that lives on its branches--I suppose it does no harm---it looks kind of snakey, though.
















Another view of the beautiful trunk.


















And, the trunk in a different light.
















And speaking of light, look at the shadows produced by the sun behind this tree. I loved this photograph. It is probably my favorite of the lot!


















And here is a big surprise. I walked over to view the veggie garden which is short on things at the moment. I have cabbage and broccoli and radishes, but unexpectedly I found 3 leaf lettuce plants that have just appeared on their own! How great is that! Last garden I had, I grew lettuce and it must have seeded itself. I am thrilled and will try to eat it while it is nice and tender. One of my favorite things is "Wilted lettuce", a nice Southern recipe, where you fry bacon until crisp, then add some vinegar to the bacon drippings and pour over fresh lettuc and crumble the bacon over top. Such a great salad!
Oh, and I forgot---add some chopped green onions, too. Yum!


I hope you have enjoyed my walk today! Thanks for looking. Egretta