I am loving spending time in my backyard this year. We've seeded the area where the pool used to be which helps it look amazing.  The wild rabbits come for dinner most evenings to snack on the new grass and the cherry leaves that have fallen to the ground.  The squirrels have taunted both the dog and my husband with their antics in the cherry trees.  The wisteria bloomed in May and as always have taken over the old fort providing shelter to the the little chickadees wanting snacks from the blueberry bushes.  Instead of pole beans, we are trying bush beans and so far they are coming along.  Last year I mainly used white flowers and I really do like the white and the green but decided to switch it up this year. And I wish I would have planted more of these red flowers.  The humming birds love them. They go from stalk to to stalk and then perch on the cafe lights overhead. We end up eating more meals outside this year than we ever have.  I'm thinking that a table size fire bowl for the patio table just to take the evening chill off.  But I am loving my yard.  

This is the first year that we had a robin nest. I was so looking forward to seeing little blue eggs and baby robins peeping for food but after a few days the nest was left abandoned, sadly.  However, we have a resident bunny or two or three.  One day I walked outside to see a mother bunny and her baby.  He was tucked under her tightly and nursing.  She took off and dragged him a little ways until he flipped to his feet and high tailed to her.  He immediately dove under her and latched on again.  I keep my camera out and ready for any opportunity for a little photo shoot.  I walk slowly towards some plants wanting to get the lighting just right and then slowly drop to my knees and then my stomach.  I commando crawl taking photos the whole time and trying to frame the bunny before it takes off.  One day I was outside with my camera and there were two of them.  It was just shy of dark and my camera wasn't set right for the light.  I barely had enough time to bring the camera up to my eye and snap a photo of their antics before they took off lickety split.  And so I got bery blurry photos of the these rabbits playing leap frog or leap rabbit.  I'm hoping this lead to baby rabbits for me to photograph later.

So it ends.  After 8 years of homeschooling, 3 years at the public school and 2 years at the community college she graduated.  She has enough credits to have her AA degree as well as her high school diploma with honors.  The high school seniors were out of school since March with limited school work.  She continued with her community college classes and writing lengthy papers past the ceremony.  She is my last one to finish this milestone.  So how did our high school handle graduation Covid style.  I think it went well all things considering.  I almost wish all the kids had it like this.  The speeches were online and so we could watch them via Facebook.  Then we were given a time to period to show up to the school.  The parking lot was set up so that if there was a line the cars could wind through the lot. The student got out of the car, and got into line maintaining a 6ft social distance from other students. We were able to drive slowly and watch her take her diploma cover, hand her name card to the student reader, have her name read, walk across stage, pose for the camera and walk off towards a large 2020 backdrop, pose again and then get back into the car.  We had front row seats for the whole thing.  As we drove out, teachers were lined up cheering.  Hopefully for a job well done and not because they didn't have to have another Parks' kid in their class.  We headed over to old Main where she met up with a friend for a couple of photos and then home.  It was short and sweet and I had a better view of her crossing stage than I had with the boys.  The school did a fantastic job with the flow of graduation.  Now I am sure that it was much harder on staff and teachers since they had to be there since 10 am and through 4 pm.  That is a long time but I was very impressed.