The variety in all the acorns caught my eye.  I am so thankful that God designed such difference in the world!
Author: Joyce
Nature Photography Class
Over that last few months, I took a class called Photographing Nature. My biggest goal in taking photography classes was to learn how to shoot what I wanted completely in manual mode and not have to adjust the pictures once I downloaded them.  At the beginning of the summer, most of my pictures were horrible!  All of the photographs for this class were taken manually and I rarely had to change anything. Most importantly, I understood why, what I chose to do, worked!
Chalk Art
After a busy day with school work, helping neighbors and doing needs around the house, it was time to have fun!
Migrating
We were outside when we noticed seven or eight Monarchs on our butterfly bush.  There were two or three other ones flitting about also.  It is the first time we have ever noticed so many Monarchs in our back yard at the same time.  We think they are migrating.
Audrey went outside and caught a few to test for OE. Â One of them was sick, so she kept him, but released the healthy one. Â She also roamed the neighbors’ yard to see if she could find anymore.
We are hoping that more Monarchs use our yard for a B&B as they travel south. Â We have been working hard to plant more Monarch friendly plants and, according to Audrey, you can never have too many butterflies.
Today’s Smile- Fighting Pirates
Megan gave this to me yesterday. Â Then she told me the story about it.
This is a picture of a girl who is a very good sword fighter or with any weapon. She is fighting a boy pirate who is not so good a fighter as her, but is a bad guy. He robs people. Then he tries to escape in his ship. She got on his boat, even though it was sailing away, on a rope she had made. She rescued all the treasure.
I think we have been reading too many pirate stories out loud and watching too many versions of Treasure Island.
Scarecrows
We started out with paper, glue, markers, glitter and a pattern.  Now we have six unique scarecrows that show our personalities!
A Class on Photographing People
I spent the last six weeks taking an online course on people photography. Each lesson focused on a different aspect of taking good portraits. The last lesson was to formulate a business plan.
It was a good class with a lot of interesting assignments.  The hardest task was taking a close up picture. The most challenging was creating an abstract.  My most fun pictures were those of Audrey with her butterflies and chrysalises.
I am taking one course this session and then will take a break. Â It is hard to get my school work done while teaching the children. Hopefully, I will be able to take more in the summer.
Bird in the Hand
We heard a bird hit the window and checked to see if it was okay.  The silly bird had its wind knocked out of it.  The kids enjoyed holding it as they debated the safest place for it.  We were amazed how long it stayed with us before flying off into the woods.
Butterflies
It has been a difficult year finding Monarchs, at any stage, in the wild.
Audrey discovered if she bleaches the eggs of sick butterflies, the offspring have a good chance of being healthy.  She set up a nursery and managed to collect a lot of eggs this year. I do not know exact numbers, but she has released over 150 Monarchs this summer!
Bass Harbor Wharf
While waiting for our lobster dinner, we enjoyed the wharf. Â It was neat seeing all the lobster cages and watching boats come in.
When we were there, the tide was low. Â We were told that it will rise twelve feet higher! You can see the water lines on the sides of the piers.
