Well, I like my grass. I don't feed it steroids and don't waste fuel other than my own and DH's to cut it and I certainly won't use water to keep it going. If I'd have to do that, out it would come and in would go some xeriscape gardens. In the past couple of weeks I've used 5 wheelbarrows full of UCGs and a bit of ashes to wake up the worms to aerate the lawn and help me out. My daughter (12) loves to fling the stuff and so do the neighbourhood kids. During the flinging I get asked a lot of questions. The result has been a few visits from parents who are asking what we are doing to make the lawn so green and to get it through the dry periods in great shape. They tell me they've heard things from their kids who came home smelling like coffee. So I talk while we walk through the gardens, and while doing so they begin to notice the birds and the butterflies which are plentiful. I got a visit today from a lady and her daughter up the road who asked what kinds of plants she needed for Monarchs because her daughter was here last week and one landed on her shoulder and she wants butterflies. I have a lot of extras so I gave them to her on the condition that she not use herbicides and pesticides in her gardens - if she has a problem, she has my phone number. They were so happy as they walked away with plants enough for an army of butterflies. Our municipality has gone a long way in becoming somewhat 'organic' and environmentally responsible. There are bans on pesticides/herbicides, our compostables are picked-up every second week, and regular garbage every other week, all recyclables must be separated into categories, there are depots for batteries, paint cans, and the list goes on. Yet there is much more that can be done and educating the young ones is where we need to speed things up. That's where the key is. Bravo! to anyone who does so in the smallest of ways as it all counts.

The windrow gets little direct sun. I'd say max maybe 2 hours in the afternoon if that. With trees the sun is dappled and if needed I can always move the windrows around to take advantage of the greatest high temp afternoon shade. I'll keep the additional shade in mind. If I used a tarp to block afternoon sun that might make some difference but burlap bags on the windrow would not. I would agree with Rick concerning the rest of the year and my experience with a windrow but the only factor I can see that changed for me was mid August heat. All the windrows are in large part under trees and get full shade. The idea about the ice isn't even to cool the entire windrow, I know I can't provide enough to keep it that cool. While those bottles are thawing though it'll cool enough around them to allow the worms to squeeze into some a/c during the hottest part of the day. It seems like more shade, water saturation, possible ice bottles are my best options. I'm really a novice, just trying to figure this out. It allows me to make compost for free out of garbage that others would put in a landfill. I love using the worms energy to generate it instead of turning piles manually and the product seems to be higher quality. I've noticed worms in my windrow still, just greatly diminished numbers. The ones that have survived will quickly multiply based on my past experience. There may be more in the piles than I realize just based on the fact that they could be near the bottom where temps are the coolest. I've not torn through the entire thing, just dug around in spots to check. Thanks for the advice, I'll think about the shade more for next summer and also check around for misting systems that'll allow me to keep the windrows moist in summer when it dries here. Thanks again for all the feedback and I'll keep you posted. Feel free to ask more questions if something isn't clear.

Like you have discovered and Carol said, it's so important to let the house tell you what should be done. I always shudder when we get posters who are the proud new owners of old buildings who are immediatey launching into massive remodeling projects. Sometimes I just want to sit and curse at the shelter press articles that lead people to think this is the only way treat old buildings. So much damage can be done, and unneccesary "rehabbing". You can do yourself, your bank account and your house such good, by just concentrating on cleaning up your new old house for the first year or so. At the end of a good long get-acquainted period your house will help you decide what really needs to be done and you will have avoided harming the less-obvious cool things in your early enthusiasm. Pity the poor house who's new owners are bleating about "taking it all back to the studs" and then "restoring it". They should have bought a new house in the first place, in my opinion. Your Gill house sounds wonderful. It seems to me I did read somewhere recently an article about his work. I wouldn't un-do the porches yet, but keep that thought in the back of your mind. It's not that I wouldn't be willing to take down an added on porch down (or open it up), it's just that it might have been added for a reason that isn't clear yet clear to you, or even to the original architect. (Architects have sometimes been known to let their concept get in the way of real life.) One argument that you could use on your DH, if and when you decide to tackle the issue: At least here in NY, if you removed 1,500 SF of enclosed living space from your building, your property taxes might go down significantly. You could check on this and be sure to document and correct your property assessment records if you go that route. For planning purposes, there is also usually a date when the assessments are final for a year. Getting it done before that date would affect the next tax cycle. Missing the date would move the change to the second tax cycle, so it would be worth meeting the deadline to achieve sooner tax savings. Molly~

measure them and make sure they both fit. but should be ok. you don't want something too big. just enough to fit comfortably under the table.