Cactus garden

Thing One is very interested in cacti. Or perhaps it's more precise to say he is attracted to them. He likes their interesting shapes and colors. Each time we have been to the home improvement store or nursery this spring, he has bought himself a cactus or two. With his own money. That is how much he likes them.

We talked about planting them all together in a cactus garden. At a recent yard sale, I found a perfect container. It's a copper top from an old birdbath. It has handles on it which make it easy to move around.

So recently Thing One and I spent an hour putting together the garden. It's very simple. We bought special cactus potting soil, and stuck them in there. Eventually we will get some pebbles to put around the top. I sprung for a few small succulents to add to the garden.

Thing One is hopeful that his garden will win a ribbon in our county fair in September.

Moles and Voles

We discovered a vole in our front yard, eating leavings from our bird feeder. The things were curious about it (as was I) so we decided to do a mini unit on voles and moles.

There are a surprising number of stories featuring moles. Here are the list of resources I used for our unit.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Mole Music by David McPhail
Mouse and Mole series by Wong Herbert Yee
Tick-Tock, Drip-Drop by Nicola Moon
The Little Gentleman by Philippa Pearce
Seasons of the Moon: Winter Moon by Jean Craighead George
Why Mole Shouted and Other Stories by Lore Segal
What a Treasure by Jane and Will Hillenbrand
Rose and Riley series by Jane Cutler
The Moles and the Mireuk: A Korean Folktale by Holly H. Kwon
Moon Rope/Un lazo a la luna by Lois Ehlert
Bringing Down the Moon by Jonathan Emmett
Wilfred to the Rescue by Alan MacDonald
The Diggers by Margaret Wise Brown

We learned about the similaries and differences between moles and voles, and learned about Silent E.