Jeannie Marie & Company

 An Impromptu Stop  We had rented a taxi while in Cozumel last year to take us around just so we could stop when  we spotted a place we would like to explore The color of the water in the Caribbean is just exquisite    Standing at that beautiful cement wall we could see across the inlet  We then walked along the wall to see what lay beyond.  We spotted our ship!   Also we found iguanas the size of possums! The shadows in these pictures are perfect to send to Shadow Shot Sunday 2  Take a moment to click on the link and see featured photos from all over the world.

 At the Spring Hill Botanical Gardens, one area is devoted to a darling little village.  It's all set upon a hill looking like a time has forgotten it. Here you can see smaller houses tucked here and there.  The train was not running today but as with any small town, daily service is not always available! The back side of the hill has a lovely waterfall  Pink foliage watered by the spray of the falls  says SPRING!  Also next to the falls these pink beauties reside.  Isn't it the sweetest little blossom?  I enjoy finding new flowers like this one above.   Especially when they are pink!  Sharing at Pink Saturday!

I barely touched the surface with my photographs and the photographs hit the highlights mostly.  The garden is located in a what appeared to be a small area on the map but with so many meandering pathways they have made good use of the land and created quite an extensive garden.   Here are photos from just the area that they located all the cactus and succulents.  I enjoyed the little sculptures which is one of the features of this place, everywhere you find little whimsical items tucked here and there, hidden until you turn a corner.   This was huge cactus was twice as tall as I was and was huge over all.  It seems that the yellow stems come out a bit further then the bloom dies and falls off.   The path was littered with them and there were still hundreds all over the bush.  As with any desert, you will find bleached bones among the cactus!  Potted cactus had so many varieties, you can see larger versions of  all the photos by clicking on them

In the late winter the trees are still leafing out, leaving dappled shadows on the path. It was a great surprise to me to read, in an advertising newsletter that came in the mail, that there was a botanical garden very close to home.  The newsletter listed events coming up in the area and mentioned a garden club in Spring Hill that was going to have an upcoming lecture on backyard gardening exclusively with natural Florida plants. When I looked up the club it mentioned that they owned and operated this botanical garden.  I decided that I would not delay going, I would go today. It was far nicer than I expected and much larger The photo above and below is part of the fantasy garden. The lattice makes a pretty shadow!  Then you follow pathways under twisting branches and through lush greens The Oriental Garden was charming  It led to a lovely pond  This beautiful plant, placed in memory of someones beloved, was in full bloom

This is a photo of my Great Grandmother Elizabeth Jane and her husband William McDougall It was not marked and was just an unidentified photo in a book.   Since I have been doing genealogy I have studied these people in the known photographs and when I came across this one, I knew who they were.  I knew almost immediately as Elizabeth looks so much like my mother, at that age.   I have an older photo of William out in front of their sod house with my grandmother, their oldest daughter.  He is hard to see as he is wearing a derby hat but just putting two and two together, plus the mustache which he wore in his Civil War Uniform photo is the same.  He looks kind here, not as rough as the later photo, not quite as handsome as the earlier one.  But it's definitely him.   As soon as I can locate those other photos.....I'll post them.  Found this one of him - the rough one! Sharing with Let's Talk Vintage #40