Thank You 1st Grade!

My friend Faye, once again called on me to assist with her class.  This time it was 1st Graders and practicing letters and spelling was the goal and they were going to write letters to a pen pal.  I get to be that pen pal. 

I have to admit that I love it when she does this writing exercise with her classes.  It is always amusing to see what is interesting to a six or seven year old.  I had a good chuckle over questions on if I wore makeup and if I like horror movies and what sort of toys I liked. In some ways it feels a lot like speed dating, where you bullet point the things that are important to you.  I have come to realize that pizza topping and ice cream flavors are very important.  (Also super amazed over the kid that says asparagus is his favorite food.)

I feel that any way to encourage a child to learn and ask questions is a wonderful thing to pursue.  I remember when I was in grade school that I had a pen pal out of state and it was a delight to write back and forth over our likes and dislikes.  The learning benefits of such a tasks  enriches the reader and the writer.  Thank you 1st Grade for your efforts! 

Longwood Garden Souvenir

I love to travel.  Museums, Botanical Gardens and cheesy roadside attractions are my bread and butter for a good vacation.  Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Longwood Gardens with myself husband, and while the gardens are magnificent and beautiful it lacked one thing.   I love souvenirs. I love the magnets that you can put on your fridge and the post cards that you can send to friends and family and even the occasional tee shirt that has logos on it. 

Longwood Gardens has beautiful vistas, lovely terrains, a friendly conservatory cat and is rich in history.  The gift shop has a wide variety of plants and gardening based items that can easily be purchased, but if you were looking for something a little more plebeian such as a magnet to grace your refrigerating unit, you will be flat out of luck.  Not everyone has garden space to bring home a lovely rose bush or would be interested dried mushrooms for soup.  Sometimes a person just wants a magnet and a couple of post cards. 

Never fear Longwood Gardens, I am here for you.  Here are a couple of magnet ideas based off of some recent pictures. Think about and get back to me if you are interested.

Green Fiend

My brother has once again tried to murder me with plant life. It is fortunate that I have  movies such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Little Shop of Horrors and Creep Show that have  wizened me up to his nefarious plan.

 
Of course it all innocently as a birthday gift. His plan was to lull me into a false sense of security with a Funky Veg Kit and then he would strike.  I am wise to his plan.  I am going to make friends with this potential green fiends and use them to turn the tides of this sibling war, much like the Ents in LOTR.

  
The Golden Zucchini is the first vegetable that I have started with in the Funky Veg Kit, and if I am lucky it will have some of the same properties as the Golden Apple in Minecraft and not try to kill me like the creepers usually do.  Overall I am enjoying the kit and am anxious to have my new plant friends under my control and then I will be able to turn the tides on my treacherous sibling.