(Over)due for an Update

The aquaponics system is absolutely flourishing.  Mostly.  We have a couple little sprouts that are hard to photograph that we think might be brussels sprouts, but I'm not convinced those are/will do well in the rock bed.  We'll see.  Worst case, they'll go outside in the backyard veggie garden (which will be well-fenced this year so we don't give the bunnies a brussels sprout buffet, sorry, bunnies).

The beans, though.  The green beans are happy.  Ecstatic, even.  Check this out.

See all those extra leaves and tendrils starting?  Happy, I tell you.  Meanwhile, in the foreground, those are some of the leafy greens.  Spinach & mesclun, I believe.  Look how tall they're getting!  And leafy!  In fact, in some spots they're starting to get the actual lettuce-type leaves, the serrated ones.

See 'em?

The cukes are doing well too.  Not as huge as the beans, but starting to get the secondary leaves.

They're budding there in the middle of the initial leaves.  These are pickling cukes, so it'll be fun once Eric takes up making pickles.  Once we have actual cucumbers, that is.

And just a quick overhead view of all the leafy greens and tomatoes, just to show how they've proliferated.

Salad in a bed of rocks!  Oh, and in case you're wondering about the fish, they're still doing well.  Holding at 4 fish, which are eating well and getting bigger by the day.  I wouldn't expect goldfish to get that big, but they're definitely bigger than when we got them.

My, How You've Grown

Just a quick update.  Day 7 and the tallest of the broccoli and mesclun and/or spinach sprouts are 1.25 to 2" high.

I measured.

Leaves! And a Grade School Science Experiment

Remember in grammar school when we were given birdseed, paper towels, and plastic bags?  We wet the paper towels, put the seeds between two layers of them, and sealed them in the bags... and sprouts grew.

We did the same thing here the same night as we scattered the other seeds in the aquaponics tub, only with green beans & cucumbers.  Today, we opened 'em up.

They grew a ton in just 6 days and rooted right into the paper towels, which was pretty funny.  So into the rock bed they went!

Meanwhile, we noticed yesterday... leaves!  Leaves on the shoots in five days!

And today, they're just going crazy!  A ton of growth.

And if you're wondering about the fish, we're down to five, as we lost three while the system stabilized, but those five are doing well.

I'm 40

As of 12:12 a.m. today, in fact (as I write this statement, it's 11:56 p.m., which means by the time I publish this post, it'll be a day later).  For a landmark birthday like this, I did a lot of celebrating!

On Saturday, Eric and I went to Mystic, CT for the day, leaving NJ early in the morning, and getting back late at night.  We had a blast at the aquarium, where I got to feed stingrays for the very first time.

The great thing about the Mystic Aquarium is how close you can get to the exhibits.

Is it me, or are jellyfish just wrong?  No, really, where are the parts?  Aside from body and tentacles... where's the brain?  And if there's no brain, what sends the messages do the tentacles to move and sting?  And then there's the fact that they look so mushy and vulnerable, but they're actually dangerous.  Wrong, I tell you.

The funniest thing, though, were these two sea lions.  Hysterical!  I got video...

After we left the aquarium, we headed for Old Mystic Village, where we had a terrific lunch and walked around the shops.

Then we went to Mystic Seaport itself, where we watched some great demonstrations.  And asked another tourist to take this shot of us.

Then, we had dinner at S&P Oyster House, and watched the ships pass through the drawbridge there.  It's not often you're actually at a drawbridge when it's being lifted.

On Sunday, we met with my family early in the morning for my birthday and the birthday of my brother-in-law.  His birthday actually was on Sunday, while mine was today.  There's nothing like ice cream cake for breakfast.  And I got the best gifts!  My parents got me a series of massages at this spa, and I used the first one yesterday - Raindrop Therapy.  The massage therapist used nine different essential oils during the treatment, and it was absolute heaven.

My sister and brother-in-law, though, they got me this!

I've never had a sewing machine before, but I've wanted one for years.  I haven't actually used one since 8th grade home economics, when I made a pillow shaped like a cupcake, so I'm in the process of reading the manual.  I'm so excited!  From my 7 month old nephew, I got a gift bag of spools of thread and a bag of all sorts of nifty decorative buttons!  There was also a note that he wants me to make him things.  Of course I will!

Later in the morning, Eric and I met up with our friends, as well as my sis, brother-in-law, and nephew, to go to the Turtle Back Zoo.

We finished there with perfect timing, as just as we left the sky turned black with an impending storm!  From there, we went to play mini golf at Monster Golf - all indoors, and all lit by blacklight, with everything reflecting in UV.  It was great fun!  Then, it was off to dinner.  One of my friends, knowing me so well, gave me a gift card to Michael's for my birthday.  Today, I went shopping, and used it to buy these:

I'm so excited!  The one on the left has instructions for creating the absolute cutest stuffed animals, to accommodate my nephew's request.  And the book on the right, the one about revamping t-shirts into new clothes or other items intrigued me... you'll see why in a fun upcoming blog post.  (This is what we call foreshadowing, folks.)

So not only will you be seeing new soap here, not only will you be seeing awesome featured artists and blogs, but you'll be seeing my non-soap creations as well!  Heck, I'll even post in-progress shots, so you can see how I do things.

Today, on my actual birthday, Eric took me to WD-50, a restaurant owned by Wylie Dufresne.  If you've watched Top Chef, you might know who he is.  Dinner was amazing.  And just to be an attention-hound for a moment, I have to tell you Eric got me the sweetest gifts!  For starters, there was this box of Godiva chocolates.

To go with it, this tin of rare white tea, my absolute favorite!

And then, to go with the tea, this Lenox tea set!

The nifty thing about this, aside from the fact that it's Lenox, and really pretty, is that it's stackable.  When not in use, the teapot sits on the teacup and fits into it, forming one pretty sculpture.  How great is that?

My birthday week has been amazing!