Going to Pot

I live alone: no roommates, no pets, just the occasional centipede or spider. It's peaceful but also dull. I can handle dull, and I actually like regular periods of dullness -- it's a hermit thing. I don't like the deadness of my home, though, and have long contemplated how to remedy the problem. One solution especially recommended itself: a plant. This too is problematic, however, since I don't get much direct sunlight through my one window, which limits my options. Also, if I go home for a week, I'd need to find a surrogate parent for my adopted flora.

Put those factors together, and in my mind it led to one conclusion: cacti. So, I yesterday when I was at Walmart -- after the bookcase shenanigans -- I bought three small cacti for $2 apiece. Here's a picture; the tallest one is about 6" high, to give a sense of scale:
Today, I went to Lowe's and Walmart hunting for the supplies to pot my cacti. I decided to pot them together, since they all need the same care. At Lowe's I found this largish (12") clay bowl and saucer for about $12. It should be enough room for the present.
I also checked around on the internet for advice on the care of cacti, and one site suggested Schultz cactus mix. Walmart had that for $1.87. The websites also recommended pebbles on the bottom of the pot (to aid drainage) and on the top of the soil (to retain moisture). The pebbles are from Lowe's, for the chagrin-inducing price of $3.97. A bit steep for rocks, I thought, but I don't have time to cruise the neighborhood for easily-nickable gravel.
The soil in the cacti's pots was already pretty dry, so removing them intact was easy. The spines were a bit more difficult; I got some thick cowhide work gloves from Walmart ($4.96) since the cheaper cloth ones didn't seem likely to stop a determine cactus. I put an inch of pebbles on the bottom of the bowl, another inch or two of soil on top of that, and then settled the cacti into position. I added the potting soul around them after they were in place, in retrospect a silly choice. I got soil all over the smallest cactus and had to delicately brush it off with a toothpick, to get out the clods lodged between the tiny quills.
Then pebbles all round to top it off! I think it turned out rather well. Views from three angles below (somehow I managed to get my toe in the frame each time):

So, now I've got to figure out where to put it. I'm thinking of moving my computer back to the bedroom, since I discovered a hidden cable outlet in their. That means I can move a table or something by the window, and the cacti can go on the table. In the meantime, they're sitting on top of my PC tower...