It’s BACK to school! Yup! as we start the new school year means we say goodbye to summer and the more free time which comes with it. The time we spent indoors, outdoors and elsewhere relaxing or doing something else. Something of course which has nothing to do with school. One of the places I enjoyed spent some of my time was in my backyard. In my backyard there is absolutely LIMITED space to play! That is due to the fact that the backyard has many other things in it. My backyard is a very interesting place that basically describes our family. Today I will explain what is in my backyard! Hopefully I will capture the details enough that you can start to imagine what our backyard may look like!

Right when you walk out the screen door, you are stepping on a brown deck. We painted the deck last summer and the summer before that. Now it is a beautiful brown colour. On our deck has a gazebo. As it’s defined, a gazebo is ‘a roofed structure that offers an open view of the surrounding area, typically used for relaxation or entertainment.’ Our gazebo shows that our family loves to spend time outside. We eat outside on beautiful days. Personally I am not a big fun of insects and bugs but I try not to let that bother me, seeing as the sound of nature is enough to bring the feeling of at peace. We also eat outside with company sometimes, and the gazebo is perfect! It’s got green brown chair with green pillows, and a nice brown table in the middle. We also have a net around the gazebo to prevent insects and bugs from disturbing us while out there. Thank God!! Just last week my siblings and I had friends over and we ate our meals outdoor while having a glorious moment! On our deck also have some built in rectangular pots that we place flowers in. Our dad loves flowers and jumps at the opportunity to find the best flowers to place inside!

Now take three steps down from our deck. You will see a mini garden!! In our garden we grow varieties of vegetables including; squash, pumpkin, coriander, cucumbers, tomatoes, and much more! Our garden version just shows how much we love to eat natural produce. Speaking about synergize as described by Angela recently, my dad prepares the soil and then my mom plants the plants in the soil, we do the watering. We all chip in to watch the veggies grow and take any produce that is ready to eat!

If you go and walk in between the garden and our fence, you will stop at a row of bushes. These bushes aren’t any ordinary bushes! They’re raspberry bushes. In the good summers, they grow tons of raspberries! That is why we have got to pick them before the bunnies, birds, and insects get to them first! I don’t always love picking raspberries due to a minor issue (insects), but I pick them anyways. Our raspberry bush doesn’t need any special care as it grows on its own, but we take pride from our raspberry bushes. Plus, they make GREAT, smoothies!! Yup, that’s right; we make smoothies out of our raspberries. They’re delicious smoothies! We wash the berries, plop them in the blender add a couple of more ingredients, then we blend it all together making a delicious creation!!

Our backyard is on an upward slope, so if we do ever remove the garden, we cannot put anything like a trampoline or a pool. When we just moved into our house, there was no garden so it was all open space. Being the creative selves we are, Serena, Vanessa, and I found a fun game to play! We played octopus!! It is a very fun game that consists of running, skill, and fun! Oh how I miss the open space!! Here and there we still play some games on our deck; like jump rope! We also make dance routines to the songs on my iPod.

Our backyard attracts ample of petite animals. It attracts birds, bunnies, bees, and (sigh) raccoons. We love our backyard as much as they love our backyard!! The bunnies are (we believe) a family. There is a big plump one, a small chubby one, and a medium fluffy one. We are more than welcome to share our backyard with them. To us it’s an extra space that comes with our home. To them it IS their home!! They live under the deck and come out occasionally! Once we saw the big plump one and I watched as my dad threw a carrot near it. We wait. After two minutes it is nibbling the carrot with great satisfaction. That’s reminds me the visits to the zoo where you see animals of all kinds behaving their natural best.

All of these great memories are alive because of my wonderful backyard! And my wonderful family! Either it was in your previous home town, or it is in your current one, what is your favourite memory linked to your backyard? Yes as said, It’s BACK to school, BACK to more indoor time, as we wait for the summer and its greenish nature to fade (..not yet though)!

Venus Wambura