Question. In the years you've been working this garden soil have you ever put anything into it? Fertilizers, composts, anything? If so what.

I feel compelled to add that this is EXACTLY why people should get a soil test done, especially if it is a new bed. Often some mysterious reluctance to doing that. What you'll learn is EXACTLY what you need, and also what you don't need. Otherwise, you just spend money piling broad-spectrum fertilizer on, hoping you hit the target somehow. That's like doing target practice blindfolded. Now, as in the case here, if you get back some very unusual result, it's worth looking into more carefully.

Thanks Dan!

I find it sad that people on here have to “brag” that they only run the dishwasher every other day or twice a week.

You see that as bragging? I'd call it discussion /realism.

It does not sound like you really 'need' the second DW.

I'd argue that no one "needs" a second dishwasher, but many things discussed in detail on this board are far from "needs".

Loss of potential storage space.

In my mind, this is the big deal. When you add a duplicate dishwasher, you're probably going to add in more cabinetry for storage ... cabinets are expensive, counter tops are expensive. And duplicate this and that drives up the size of your kitchen, adding steps to your work each day.

It's hard to beat SIMPLE and well-designed.

For background, we entertain A LOT and having a DW for dishes and another for larger trays would be glorious

I understand having a lot of dishes when you entertain, but I don't see the problem in running one load while another is sitting in the sink waiting.

For all the people who have nasty stainless steel appliances there is a solution. Vinyl wrap, yes the same Vinyl wrap used on cars will work great on your appliances and last many years. The best part is you can just peel it off when you're tired of the color.

Great for all appliances except your cooking range because of the heat, but so many colors to pick from and truthfully I think Stainless steel is a boring color.

kevin9408:

That would be an excellent solution to fix dented appliances. The auto body dent removal people seem to have no luck with stainless steel. You could simply fill the dent with Bondo, abrade to smooth, and wrap. Better put a stopper on that door first though:

“What YOU wrote is misleading. You wrote, "There is a major class action suit against Whirlpool" when that "major" suit was filed by three people, and followed up with the claim that refrigerators were "designed to break" rather than there was a defect in the design.”

The number of filers isn’t really important, the size of the class is what matters. If this was something that happened for a significant period, it would likely be major as the class would be quite large.

I don’t have any knowledge of planned obsolescence, but that is certainly something that companies have done before. While claiming the problem was intentional may be a bit sensational, pretending it is just a design defect seems charitable. The lawsuit notes thst they used wiring that was not durable enough for the designed function, which usually means the appliance was value engineered and the cheaper part used because the failure rate was acceptable. The law suit alleges that they had reason to know it was failing more than a decade ago and decided not to make changes.

"My default is to disbelieve, not believe"

The police didn't believe a woman I knew or didn't care when a boyfriend broke her arm. She tried to file charges but they just took away his guns, and gave them back a week later. I started dating her a few months later and he kept calling her nonstop to come and visit him but I convinced her it was dangerous and she never did, thank god.
A few months later the guy Shoots and killed his new girlfriend who was leaving him and then shot himself. My girlfriend was traumatized and left me because how could she trust any man? I left her alone and a few months later we reunited and married in 1996.
The Victim's name was Jennifer Noack, and the killer's name was Duane F. Arbuckle, it happened in Crystal MN on October 16, 1993.
The only reference I could find was in the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women.
"Jennifer Noack, 23 Crystal October 16, 1993. Jennifer was shot and killed by her boy friend,Duane F. Arbuckle, who then shot and killed himself. Jennifer had just started a
graduate program at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire and worked in the Twin
Cities on weekends. She was breaking up with Arbuckle and had gone to his apartment
to pick up some belongings. When she didn't show up for work on Saturday morning the police were called."

Elmer, I'm not judging you on your comment but 1 in 3 women have faced some type of Physical violence by a partner and a claim of abuse should always be believed by default.

"What percentage of men murdered in their homes did so at the hand of someone they know, or an intimate partner?"

The number is high but it's a slow death over many decades and from deliberate constant nagging. So the men just die, because they want to. (hehe lol).

I found the O.J. board game which appears to be very rare, it's called "Play OJ the verdict". Copyright 1994 by a company called borderline Productions Inc.

Players get jailhouse jacket money at "arrest". Players roll dice and must follower instruction on the space landed on. Instructions include; pay atternoney fees $10K, Mistrial motion lose a turn, you need new suit pay $1K, and many more or draw a card. One color are Innocent or guilty and other color moves ahead or back spaces for reasons such as prosecution gets new hairdo.

It's dumb but seems to be very very rare. So rare I've found nothing about it. It's known there are four board games that exist but doesn't include this one. So this is a fifth people don't know about. I'm thinking a starting bid on EBAY of $100,000. It is real.

Patriciae, I remember when it became know he was an abuser and Hertz continued to use him as a spokesman. To this day I won't rent cars from them (not that my lack of business really hurts them).

“Did abhorrent OJ outlive all members of his dream team?”

He outlived 3 of 9 attorneys. Johnnie Cochran, F. Lee Bailey and Robert Kardashian have passed away. Robert Shapiro originally led the defense team before Cochran took over.

I cook with these often. They are not spicy hot and they’re not really related to red peppercorn. Rather, they are the husk of a certain type of prickly ash.

Purchase good quality and you want to remove the stems and those little black seeds in the center of the pods; then you want to gently toast the husks. Let the husks cool.

The texture of the whole husk is unpleasant, and in my opinion it is better to grind them into a powder after they have been toasted and cooled and the stems, and that black seeds have been removed.

You can use a mortar and pestle, or you can put them into a regular pepper mill dedicated to just that particular material. It is best to toast and grind them as you need them — this will assure that you have the best, most fresh aroma.

I find that they do have a pleasant flavor as well as an overall sort of numbing tingling component. Fun, pleasant, ”addictive!”

If you are new to using them, be sure again to remove stems and the black seeds lightly toast and then pulverize if you were making a dinner (say) for two people I would not think it’s necessary to use more than a half or whole teaspoon of ground, powder, if you are new to this seasoning.

You can use them with Chinese food that isn’t necessarily hot or spicy, although they are more often used with dishes, such as Kung Pao, or Sichuan dishes.

It can be tedious, trying to pick out the stems and those little black seeds. The black seeds won’t hurt you, but they have a muddy gritty texture and spoil the toasted prickly ash husks. If you’ve got some eight and 10-year-old kids sometimes they like doing crazy stuff like picking out portions of things and they would be good possibilities for recruiting them to work. When I was about ten, I used to love untangling jewelry chains, doing lots of particular fussy stuff. It was sort of fun and rewarding.

Anybody ever have an eight year-old or a six or seven-year-old peel the skin from your sunburn? win-win .

Edited

HERE is an informative link:

https://redhousespice.com/sichuan-peppercorn/

Also:

https://www.allrecipes.com/article/what-to-know-about-szechuan-peppers/

PS Two things:

1. Avoid buying the already ground powdered sichuan peppercorn. Usually they are flavorless and you cannot be sure that the stems and black seeds were not included in the ground up stuff. It is best to prepare your own as needed, fresh.

I have read that some vendors sell the peppercorn/prickly ash husks free from stems and black seeds.

2. The sichuan peppercorns/ Chinese prickly ash gives a unique buzzy, numbing, tingly sensation. This ingredient does not numb your tongue or make you insensitive to the heat of chilli peppers — in fact, Sichuan and Hunan dishes are usually made with both the sichuan peppercorns (ground) AND hot peppers (commonly the widely available dried Chinese ”Facing Heaven” chilies. ( BTW, you can grow more chili pepper plants by just planting some of those dried seeds. I have done it. You can eat the hot chilies fresh or dried. However, most educated diners do not eat the dried red chili peppers. They are used for heat, flavoring and appearance.

We've had several threads about Magnolia scale. The complaint includes production of honeydew which attracts undesirable insects and sooty mold is also a problem. The same problem occurs with an explosion in aphid populations. "spraying sugar water" on foliage is a really bad idea.

It's a new bug to me. It's less than a 1/8" (3mm) long so a fine mesh netting would be required, so I just checked the mesh I bought and the holes are 0.8mm X 1 mm.

Lots of stuff will kill ALM flies. What I see is no ORGANIC method will control them but my go to chemical Permethrin will sure do the job. It's approved for Onions and garlic with a retreat interval of 7 to 10 days and perfect. Permethrin can kill up to 8 weeks but it's a stretch so every 10 days will work great. I haven't met a bug it won't kill except adult potato beetles.

Yes, it's safe. If you spray your yard for mosquitos it or one of it's pyrethroid cousins is in it. It's in head lice and scabies treatments, It's in roach, fly and mosquito spray and the list goes on and on. People even treat camping clothing with the stuff, works great on ticks and approved even for that.

If you buy it premixed you'll break the bank. I buy a 10% concentrate in quart containers for $20 and mix 1 oz to one gallon so a quart will last years. It's night out for Japaneses Beatles and 2 treatments is all I need to keep them off stuff for the month they're around. What I won't use Permethrin on is flowering plants, I don't want to kill pollinators.

I have a rule, I will NEVER eat a thing made or grown in Asia and especially China. About 70% of US garlic is imported from china now and why I started growing garlic 15 years ago, because Chinese Garlic is a nuclear toxic bomb! Suit yourself and stay organic but when your bulbs turn to mush think twice before buying powered garlic and bulbs and know the difference.

FDA requires all roots must be removed from imported garlic, so a Chinese bulb has no roots and shaved clean. There are other ways to tell, weight, color and a sticker stating "product of china" unless it's an ingredient in another product. There is a website called garlics .com ran by by a Chinese grower trying to debunk government testing results as a lie but truth is the testing shows it tests positive for toxic chemicals, pathogens and heavy metals including: lead, arsenic, chlorine, methyl bromide, melamine, E Coli, and more.

I'll take a bath in Permethrin before eating Garlic, or anything from Asia.

Permethrin is a synthesized extract from the Chrysanthemum flower and called Pyrethrum. If these bother you I hope you have no pets with a tick collar or apply a flea and tick product. They Contain flumethrin which is a pyrethroid and a cousin of Permethrin.

Interesting that people are recommending specific pesticides to control allium borers (leaf miners), and quoting respectable sources. As I noted a few days ago, it has also been claimed that no residential pesticides are available that will work. See https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/allium-leaf-miner. So I guess there is some disagreement in the community. Though it is true that spinosad, for example, is banned in several states and some countries. Permethrin is also mentioned here, but that is not approved for residential use.

daninthedirt, that was also my understanding. An exceedlingly difficult pest to deal with.

Perhaps if I were younger I'd try some of the suggestions. But at nearly 80, I can't take on more garden set ups than I've already got. So, probably gilroy garlic from now on.

Yep, 3/8" offset cabinet hinges.

Thanks all - any idea if they still make them? I would like to swap them out for a different finish.

You can find various places. Here's one: 50 Pack 3/8 inch Insert Kitchen Cabinet Hinges Kitchen Cabinet Door Hinges Satin Nickel Self Closing Cabinet Hinges for Kitchen Cabinets Semi-Concealed Cupboard Hinges Face Mount Cabinet Hardware https://a.co/d/etQvFvR

Pumice stone should do it. I haven't used it on cast, I use something better but I've used it on the bottom of my stock pans and they end up looking brand new.

What I've used on cast Iron is a DA sander (dual action orbital sander) with 220 grit and then 320 grit quality sanding disks made for metal. I've taken very rusty cheap (lodge) cast iron pans and made them way better than new with a smooth high polished finish. Then I seasoned the pans a couple of times.

Someone said use 200 degrees but it's not how you do it. Give the entire pan and not just the bottom a thin layer of oil and pop into a smokin hot 450 degree oven for 30 minutes. It's going to smoke, it needs to for the oil to carbonize to actually be non stick and seasoned.

There is nothing wrong with Lodge but they're not polished and why the price is low. Cast Iron can be ground, sanded and polished to mirror finish if you have the time.

Do you eat any fried food? Bacon, Fried chicken, etc? If so just fry in it. That will season it just fine.

Also, I do not like to cook anything in mine with tomatoes or vineagar. I can taste the iron fron the pan and it WILL make it rust.

I do not think you had rust, just leftover from the hamburgers.

I haven’t read the advice you‘ve been given thus far but here’s mine, a combination of advice I’ve read here and elsewhere and what I’ve found has worked best for me:

It looks like it’s nicely cleaned up. wash it one more time then wipe it dry, then as you’re drying it rub it hard with paper towels. If there’s a bit of black that’s ok but if there’s any brown then there’s more rust to scrub.

After you’re done with cleaning and drying well, coat with oil. Flaxseed - pure flaxseed, found refrigerated - is supposedly the best but I don’t bother as it’s expensive and I have no other use for it. I use avocado oil, and have used grapeseed in the past. I do NOT like to use vegetable oil though many instructions include that.

Once oiled, take clean paper towels to wipe off as much of the oil as you can. Anything more than that left behind can become gummy.

Put upside down in an oven. Heat to 350, let it bake for a bit then shut off the oven. A couple hours later when it’s all cooled, repeat. And repeat. If at any time you find the pan feels gummy, you left too much oil. Scrub the gummy sections clean and start over, as it won’t go away on its own. Oil and bake three times and you should have a nice shiny skillet to cook with.

There is flashing under the shingles and bent up the wall. You're seeing the counter-flashing which covers it and ties into the brick.

After looking at all the pictures from the listing it's really not that bad, it's just how the furniture is staged, and the color of the accent wall. Think about mounting the TV on the wall between the opening from the kitchen and closet door, position seating toward the TV to give the room more depth.

I'd maybe run veneer stone or large tile to the ceiling peak before changing the color.

Yes, other pictures help to get the big picture, and It's a nice looking house including the outside pool area. How do I Know this? Google lens, it's amazing and pulled up the listing there in Tennessee.

I love your space and your new house. I agree finding a solution for that vast space will go a long way to making it feel better.

If it were my house. I would put a fake window exactly like the real windows. A framed fake window that is really just hung on the wall. So it would look like there are 3 windows. Am I seeing window blinds on the windows? I would get a 3rd exactly the same to create the illusion of 3 windows.

Looking forward to seeing this beautiful space come together.

I just did a Google Lens search and there appear to be a few sellers of the wall hanging. This is just one.

Priority: Granny will need assistance at some point to even getting to the back yard in time so focus on how to build multi level decks transitioning down from level to level to the yard with short ramps or at least steps with a 4" rise per step. At her age I'm sure mobility has already become a challenge and those existing steps need changed.

Buy or download a landscape design program. These are inexpensive and easy to use with nearly unlimited possibilities and grandmother can help you design what she may like.

Actually everyone has great ideas, but you really need to start with budget. Once you have determined how much is being invested in this area, then you can start getting bids on different projects to see how far those funds can go. Do the most beneficial things first - better stairs, a deck, walkway etc. Flowers are easy enough to create nice beds DIY - get the family together for a bbq and do some gardening.

What a great gift !

I think by limiting the grass to a wide curved path, and planting a mix of vegetable and flower beds to border it will make mowing an easier chore, and lead the eye to that charming shed.

Your last post confuses me. You said, " Your battery is not dead, it is not asleep, and it can be charged." Then you said, " But what you learned today is your battery is the problem and there is nothing wrong with the saw." Those two things seem mutually exclusive: either the battery's OK (and something must be wrong with the saw or the charger) or it's not.

My own impression, based on knowledge of how electricity and electric motors work but no particular knowledge about Li+ batteries, is that something is wrong with the battery that allows it to deliver near-normal no-load voltage, but prevents it from delivering enough current to operate the saw.

What I paid: $200 for the saw with 18" bar, bar cover, 2.5AH battery, charger, and original box.

An afterthought: I thought about how I might have avoided this hassle, and I realized that something doesn't fit. I tried the saw before I bought it. I met the seller in the parking lot of a Starbuck's, so I didn't run it very long, but I ran it longer than I can run it now before it poops out. What changed between then and now? It's not because the seller charged it up just before bringing it to show me. I charged it up just before I tried to use it. And he couldn't have replaced a good battery with a bad one after I tried it; he gave me the saw in the box, and after i tried it I put it back in the box. It was a simple short transaction with no interruptions or distractions; no way he could have taken the saw out of the box, changed the battery, and put it back without me noticing.

Well good luck, I'm done.

What you can't see is a Rega Planar 10 turntable, with an Aphelion 2 cartridge, and an Aura phonostage pre-amp. The main preamp, BTW, is a MC C12000. And the system is rounded out with a HiFI Rose 150B Streamer.

I've watching numerous types of conifers grow for the last 30 years and can say with confidence neither spruce or pine will regrow the branches or needles once they are abandoned because of competition (with minor exceptions). For all trees it's a race to the top and they will focus energy to grow vertically to get to the top for sunlight. Conifers are the planets original tree species and the tallest in America. Redwood, Douglas fir, Sequoia and cypress are all conifers.

25 years ago I trimmed lower branches from pine, blue spruce and Norway spruce up 10+ feet and they never grew back. I only witnessed a few attempts in all the years and remember because they were oddities to me (and the exception). But Spruce does hold their lower branches better than Pine, but pine will abandon lower branches even from it's own competition from above because there is better opportunity for sunlight at the top and where they focus growth.

Your trees are spruce. The difference is spruce grow individual needles and are very stiff. Pine grows needles in clusters. It's very unlikely the abandoned branches will ever grow back. If they were pines at least a quarter of the trees from the bottom up would be just trunks.

Thank you good to know

You can easily have just the cabinet doors and drawer fronts manufactured out of cheap crappy sawdust fake wood many people seem to like today and paint the frames the same color. Ikea has top notch fiber and particle board cabinets and the best part is you get to put them together, call it quality control.

Looks like red oak on the floor but if it is can't it be refinished? Then again a nice pressed sawdust laminate with a paper picture of wood on top will look waaaaay better.

MDF = Medium density fiberboard. Made with wood fiber and 9% Urea formaldehyde resin glue. It will swell in high humidity conditions. Urea is synthesized urine, and don't get me going about formaldehyde. And when your hinge screws pull out of the garbage good luck there. I do get a chuckle when I open a MDF cabinet and see MDF shelves bowing.

Going back to the beginning! Think about Vinyl wrap.

@jqueen3 Are your current floors hardwood?

I have so many reasons to love my LVP floors…not the least of which is to save the forests…but also the very low maintenance…and easy installation ..and no fading ..as I have tons of windows….i grew up with the monthly obligation of servicing beautiful old hardwood floors…so i am especially appreciative of my “only damp cloth for spots” upkeep…

The diagnosis does sound rational but does need confirmed with pressure gauges and thermometers to verity if it is low. But I believe in checking other simple and overlooked reasons before condemning a unit as having a leak before pulling out the gauges to even check.

There are other issues which would simulate the same effects of a dirty filter. To many blocked or shut supply vents, blocked return grills, blower motor not running or a very dirty caked up squirrel cage fan will lower air movement over the evaporator in the house will do the same as a dirty air filter.

Setting your thermostat to low will also cause the evaporator to freeze up and migrate to the condensing unit. Any chance you set it below 67 degrees? It would take a while to move to condenser but once the evaporator starts freezing over it turns into a domino effect. If this was the case and once it thawed out it would be fine unless you did it again.

A restricted metering valve is least common but would also cause your condensing unit to freeze up. This is often overlooked and has cost many a new condensing unit only to find the tech never checked the super heat. If he didn't investigate any of the other reasons I mentioned and automatically assumed it's low refrigerant I'd be suspect. Over confident is just as dangerous as under qualified.

You need to go to the air handler and see if the fan is actually working. If it is and the first time there was no air it means the evaporator in the air handler was completely blocked with ice.

The 2nd time you check and found some air blowing the ice has started to melt. You will be able to hear the fan running at the air handler if it is running. If it's running keep it on "ON" to melt the ice. You did good turning it on, but do not turn on the air conditioning.

You should have an "emergency heat" setting on your thermostat. Turn that on. It will cost more but is the accepted temporary procedure until you can get the issue resolved.

Did they come back to repair it?

The fan control on the thermostat is for the fan inside. The fan outside turns on when it's in air conditioning or heat pump mode.

" You really need to consult an architect "

As well as the building dept to make sure the conversion is legal in your area.

I'm about to confuse people but few plants need direct sunlight, they only need the minimum amount of Photons measured in Micro Moles each day that the plant has evolved to grow in. Nearly Everything reflect Photons but the reflection will have less energy then the original, and anything you can see reflects photons to your eyes and also to shade.

How much a plant needs is measured in Micro Moles and determined by a formula referred to as Daily Light Integral (DLI). Chrysanthemums have a minimum DLI of 14, but at a some point your growing spot didn't get enough reflected light to support Mum growth. To put DLI in perspective optimal DLI for tomatoes is 25 to 30.

Because some low light plants Can't handle high levels they may die before the tomatoes grew taller, so there is only a window of plants you could put there. Some options would be Caladium (8-30) and Hosta (8-30), both adaptable to a high DLI. I don't know how low your DLI goes but what ever you pick the DLI should be well below 14 but may need to tolerate a high DLI. Chinese Cabbage (10-12) could fit you needs.

To find a plant's DLI requirements googe the question "what is the DLI requirement for XYZ"

Bees needs - Thanks, I usually remove a lot of lower leaves on my tomatoes too, just to keep the soil from splashing up on the foliage. I haven’t had an issue with hornworms. I don’t grow a lot of plants and I’m not sure it would be worth it for them. [g]

When you switch to Dill…is there a Dill that is short? I usually grow a tall Dill and it does reseed. Cilantro is a great idea - we use it and it grows to blooming size pretty quickly and I think it’s very attractive. Just about the right height too.

Marmiegard - I’m surprised. Why have I always had the impression that Basil required full sun? You are in z7 though, so I assume your summers are hotter than mine.

I think I will have to try the basil and cilantro and the Nasturtiums and see which one does best.

We have a lot of rabbits and the tomatoes are grown outside of a fenced area because the rabbits are not interested. So, I won’t be doing greens in that area, because the rabbits would devour it.

Thank you!

You’re right, basil may be a zone thing for me for sure, as we hit some high temps and weeks of drought in high summer. Too bad about the greens, but I get it! I used to have a largish fenced deck area where I could protect container greens from deer, though did tomatoes and such within fenced raised beds in yard. Now my containers mostly are in deer zones and I’m going to try some wire cloches, but kind of got less enthused about container greens.

Yes it's possible! I'm not your MOMMY so won't tell you NO! You DON'T need to show your reasons or kitchen plans because they WON'T tell ANYONE a thing.

You only need to shave off 0.6811 and a piece of cake with a $50K vertical surfacing machine!

No problem and possible but make sure the bed is big enough and get a auto feed, cranking a handle is a pain.

WANT to do it on a budget? Use a grinding tool like a belt sander with a 80 grit resin DIAMOND belt and it will do the job!

Just lay the soapstone on a flat surface and start grinding off the back side so you don't need to re polish the front. GRIND! GRIND! GRIND!

I would but I'm busy right now making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Another approach is to remove the drywall behind the slab and adhere the slab directly to the studs. Then, if tiling the back splash on each side of the slab, the combined depth of the drywall plus tile leaves only a very slight slab protrusion.

I agree that excessive soil temperature swings will kill the roots and seriously stress the plants. they also look as if they're over watered but both issues will kill off roots so both issues would look the same. Under watering would look different with branches and leaves doing some serious wilting before turning yellow.

Have the plants always been pale green/yellow, or at one time a nice green and then turned sickly? Do you fertilize your plants because as Dan said they're well past the seedling stage and should be fertilized. In cold soil a lot of plants including tomatoes have a hard time taking up nutrients even if the roots didn't die back and will also make the plants look like yours with plenty of fertilizer in the soil.

Cut off those lower branches because they aren't going to survive anyway to remove some demand on the roots. Stick a thermostat in the plant and see what the temperature is, and try to keep it at between 65 and 85 and fertilize if you haven't already. They still can be saved.

Hello again everyone, and thanks for your interest. My two worst tomato plants have pretty much died, and all the rest look great. I am going to toss the sick ones very soon. I did put some powdered fertilized in with the potting mix - it is possible these two got an overdose. All the other plants seem to be doing fine, so I am not sure. I guess it might just remain a mystery - as I tell my husband all of the time -- not all of the plants make it. thanks again for your thoughts...

You put powdered fertilizer into the potting mix? Was that according to directions? Most powdered fertilizers are intended to be mixed with water at a strong dilution. MiracleGro, for example, is about a tablespoon or less per gallon. When you water with that solution, most of that fertilizer drains away. This sounds potentially like a killer proposition to me.