Gary I would not put fats or meat products into the compost. I add shredded junk mail, newpaper, and cardboard, grass clippings, leaves, as well as anything the chickens don't get, plus eggshells which add calcium..Banana leaves add potassium etc. You can get spent coffee grounds from Starbucks by the bag full. The earthworms really love coffee grounds and the added paper. If you are finding certain things are not breaking down that fast then maybe not add as much of those. I also add wood ashes and sawdust in smaller amounts from time to time from dh wood working projects lol. I am not obsessed with turning the piles...I do it when I think about it...maybe 1-2 times per week. We used pallets that we got free off craigslist to build two composting units in two separate places in the yard. They probably get part sun. Then we have the two vermicompost bins that we built under the rabbit hutches from instructions I found online. If you don't have livestock, sometimes Craigslist has ads for free or cheap manure. They will even sometimes load up your truck or also, I have seen that they will have it in 50# feedsacks ready to go. This is usually much cheaper than buying Black Cow at HD. You might also check with your local Feed Store to see if they know anywhere you can get manure cheap or free. They may let you post a sign in their store. Our feed store allows people to post signs. If the weather (by some miracle in FL) is really dry for awhile, it may be beneficial to hose down your compost piles once in a while. The moisture helps the breakdown process. Normally I don't do this unless its been really dry because it rains or we get a lot of moisture from dew etc. My vermicompost bins under the rabbit hutches do get hosed down once per week because they are under a metal roof and don't get dew or rain on them. I do not use dog, cat or meat eating animal manure to compost. Rabbit and goat manure can be used straight without being composted. There may be other kinds that can be used that way as well. Most benefit from being composted down a bit. Some plants are also more tolerant than others to fresher manure without burning. IF in doubt compost it down all the way. It seems to compost very quickly here in FL especially once you get worms in there. I wanted to add that pine chips and hay are good as well. I use fine pine chips in my chicken coops and in their nest boxes. They all get raked out with the manure and added to the compost. Extra hay gets into the rabbit vermicompost that drops down through the wire from their hutch from their nest boxes and what they eat. There is probably some alfalfa pellets in there as well lol. This post was edited by sultry_jasmine_night on Wed, Jan 22, 14 at 12:52

When we had a wood burning fireplace (mine is now gas), I used the above mentioned dustpan and brush on cold ashes. I did not clean it every time it was used, I had glass doors to close and didn't notice a stale smokey odor ever. Do not use your vacuum cleaner. DH was going to surprise me by cleaning the fireplace while I was at work one day and vacuumed out the hearth. The weight of the ashes burst the vacuum bag and put a layer of burned wood dust on everything. If you must, use a shop vac with a disposable filter bag in any corners or depressions only after you've removed as much manually as possible, like at about 98% clean. I made it a seasonal chore, not something done weekly, certainly not after each use.

I just tried a simmering potpourri for the first time and it made the whole house smell so Christmas-y! I had fresh peel from my breakfast orange, so I put it in a saucepan w/ water, a couple of broken up cinnamon sticks and a spoonful of whole cloves & put it on the stove over low heat. It's still going right now & I'll definitely do it again. I also get the free trimmings from HD and arrange them around the house, since our tree is vintage aluminum. They don't sell balsam, though & that's the most fragrant, IMO.

I should have photographed all the pages. A version of Ricky's was listed remember called something '...in a Hat'. Finishing the toasted cut-out piece on top to serve. I really like all the South American egg scrambles. This book was discussed at work so we all shared our favorites. A Brazilian and a Venezuelan I discovered like the same 'variegated'. Similar to the country style pic above. (my Brazilian friend calls them variegated). Makes sense. Pan medium, melt a small pat of butter. Crack in pan two eggs, turn down heat to low. Cook low and slow until whites solidify, no crispy edges. Yolk still tender runny. Add tbsp fresh salsa, chopped avocado...or any handy veg, spinach, etc., a bit of crumbled queso or feta. Stir folding so the egg white and yolk yellow are not a fast scramble...variegated. Even just a simple quick egg I prefer this way. A bit of dill is nice. I like the flavor of the yolk even if partially cooked.