I drilled some holes in a deep litter-box like container (came from the hospital when we brought #5 home), and filled it with the lava rock I bought yesterday. I am a little upset that over half the bag is not rock, but dust. Tony suggested we add it to the dirt we'll be putting in the raised garden beds once we get them built. At least it won't go to waste. That said, the big $4 bag was only enough to fill the litter pan with a little left in the bag. Anyway, the container is now in the fish tank after much rinsing. I'm still not sure what I want to plant in it as the water comes right up to the top, so I may be limited on my choices. I don't want to be stuck with lettuce, but I think I may need to do more research into what varieties grow best in very moist conditions.
After school today, #2 and I planted the five varieties of basil in the aquaponic fish tank (with Kernel Mustard) in his room. We will have to wait and see how they grow. We planted all of the Thai Basil seeds, and all of the Genovese Basil seeds. We still have leftovers of the Purple Ruffles Basil, Large Leaf Basil, and Sweet Basil.
The bell pepper tucked in the lava rock off to the side of the aquarium in the inverted top of a milk jug is doing well. Despite the cats knocking it into the water repeatedly, I'm seeing new leaf growth in just the few days it's had roots in the fish water.
Mabel continues her girth growth. I continue to be on kitten watch, but she's not showing any signs of immediate pending delivery. She has her moments where she's overly affectionate, and her times when she lays in the box and kicks Henry out, but she still seems comfortable, and she's still eating and drinking and moving around.
All of the guinea pigs are weaned and ready to leave now. Unfortunately, #1's friend can't have Othello (landlord issues), so he's back up for adoption. That's two babies that were supposed to leave that are still here now (Tripoli and Othello). What poor luck! I am hoping to find them all homes fairly quickly, but that seems to be stalling out too. Despite posting photos on various ad sites, I've had very few replies, and most of the replies I do get are from kids. I'm not against kids having pets, but when it comes to getting a new pet - it's the parents that need to contact me, not the kids.
I'm still waiting for my tax refund to come in. We filed our papers before the deadline, but we're still waiting. The plan was to use the money to buy the supplies we need to build the raised gardens and set some aside for regular expenses (toilet paper and soap and stuff like that). I'll have to use some of it to get a new camera too now.
I've also been working on getting more stuff listed on eBay as they've been having some listing promotions. No luck on sales yet, but I'll keep trying.
And lastly for tonight, #2 got to trade again. He sent some sage seeds off and got spaghetti squash, butternut squash, lettuce mix, borage, and French Breakfast radish seeds. Just a few of each, but enough for him to try them out. It'll be fun to see what recipes he picks out to create with his new veggies.