The “grow your own” mushroom experiment ground to a halt. The kit did produce a few mushrooms, but the container I had them in wasn’t big enough for the fruiting body to fully develop. I moved them to a larger plastic container, put water in the bottom to keep the humidity up, and the whole thing shriveled. Hm. There were a couple of fruiting starts, but they haven’t grown at all.
Mushrooms sprouting from a grow-your-own kit
One of the things the seller said was that the fungus will stop producing mushrooms if it gets too dry in the original container. I opened up the container and added water. Two days later, more fruiting bodies sprouted. We’ll see if they develop into full mushrooms!
New mushroom sprout after opening up container and adding water
We’ve moved Sophie the cat into a new room with her human. To provide her all she needs, without having to deal with the kitten, she has a litter box as well as food, water, and a climbing tree. The litter box was a little too open for her though, so my eldest suggested we make a box to go over it to give her some privacy.
PVC frame for the litter box cover, with Thor the kitten inside
We started by taking measurements, then making a PVC frame. We already had the 1/2” PVC pipe and the socket tees, so it was just a matter of cutting to size. Thor the kitten was particularly found of sitting inside the “box” even if it was only an outline. We purchased 2 yards of household fabric, which is thicker than calico fabric or quilting fabric. To keep the cover in place, I made button tabs that wrap around the bottom pipe.
Button tab attached to the bottom of the cover
To make the opening, I cut an “X” into the corners of a rectangle, folded back the flaps and sewed double fold seam binding around the edges of the hole.
Cover with opening and Thor peeking through
To test the fit and hold, I put Thor on the top. He thought the hammock was so comfy he settled down for an hour nap. While he was cuddled up, Izzy the cat and Missy the dog also explored the new object.
Thor on the box, Izzy in the box, Missy looking into the boxLitter box privacy cover installed
We had to remove Thor from the top of the box to install it in the final location. My eldest reported the next morning that the offering was appreciated; Sophie went in to do her business. Success.
Thor the 4-month-old kitten is definitely growing. It seems like every time I turn around he looks bigger. He recently found his way back up to the windowsill where he first lived in our house, so I snapped a picture for size comparison.
Thor at 2-months-old in the windowThor at 4-months-old in the same window
Cube storage shelves installed horizontally under a full sized bed
We are doing a great room switch with the kids this summer, and I found that I had four unclaimed three-shelf cube storage shelves. My eldest needed some more storage space, so we turned them sideways and replaced the metal bed frame with the shelves. This actually works! To add suspenders and a belt, we also used wooden slats to span the space between the shelves, but it wasn’t strictly necessary. We picked up some fabric cube bins so the bed will have drawers underneath. The bins were on sale, so the sum total of the project was $24, since we already had the shelves and slats. The center of each unit is open, which the cats discovered to their delight, so we will be leaving two available for cat egress.
Thor the kitten with his legs through a dog’s ring toy
Missy the dog has a favorite chew toy: a three ring chain of rubber loops. She only chews on the orange one though, to the point that we’ve had to buy a new one because only the orange ring was chewed through. Thor the kitten loves his Missy dog, but going over to her toy sticking his feet through the orange ring, then laying down has me baffled. Kitten logic, I guess. Maybe it seemed a good idea at the time.
