OMG,if you saw my bins you would get your laugh for the day. Those are snazzy and if I am seeing them correctly,very pratical. It appears the boards in front slide in one atop the other alowing easier access to the material inside. If that is the case,lift the bottom board and support both ends exposing a space your fork can be stuck in to withdraw enough of the first material that went in to cover the top 1" to 3" deep. Cover that with new scraps and lawn/leaf mixture. Depending on your household's output of kitchen scraps and availability of other materials,you might need to hold them until you have enough to cover the partly composted material layer 1" to 3" deep. That isn't somthing you need to follow to the letter by no means. The point is pulling material from the bottom where it has compacted to fluff and expose it to air while inoculating new material. You might just as easly pull some material off the bottom and mix it with that on top until the bin has inverted. And of course you should monitor moisture and adjust if needed. There is no time line on how long it takes. When you can't tell the components apart it's ready and you can leave it in the bin or elsewhere as long as you like before using. Just put somthing over it to prevent rain and snow saturating it while it rests. IMO,your set up is much better than anything for sale at the store. Two thumbs up,you did well.

It's such an interesting arrangement of rooms...but somehow they just seem confused as to function. You have a living room that is essentially empty and then you have the family room with a desk area and tv viewing space and a table whose function is unclear. Not sure how much of this is because you don't use the living room or how much is because everyone wants to hang by the wood stove because it's warm. But other than the dr and the tv area, the rest seems to be without intention...but place holders instead. If you want a craft corner in the room, then be intentional about it...turn the corner where the maple credenza is into a crafting space with book cases or other storage and a light over the top and chairs all around a table that isn't too high...the one that's there seems high for children. This is one instance where I would want to add a wall rather than eliminate it....I'd like to see the wall between the kitchen and living room enclosed, then I'd move the stove there to tighten up the work triangle and then I'd turn the peninsula into an eat-at counter. That would make the living room a little more useful for furniture and a conversational cluster set up, and it would define a gathering space for family/visitors. In the FR, I would put the sofa back to the picture window so it didn't feel like such a barrier in the room....even if it meant I had to slide the TV away from the corner....then the arrangement of the other chairs would be more open and welcoming. The other thing that's bothering me is all the different wood colors...some mixing is fine, but I don't think there's a single piece of wood that is close to any other in color...the wood work, the dark built ins, the very light desk credenza, the medium colored table, the shelves, the picture frames, all of it is very different. Perhaps it's because wood is about the only thing to look at....there is no softness in the room....no window treatments, no pillows, no area carpets, no fabric upholstery, even lampshades are few and far between....As far as adding window treatments, I think they would go a long way toward softening the space. The baseboards are not a problem if you just hang a side panels...they need not close...and add one valance across the top of the 3 windows would look great. I'd pick the fabric first before I picked the paint as it's easier to match paint to fabric than vice versa. I'd do matching window treatments on the other windows...with or without the side panels, but leave the sliders alone. That will also go a long way to making the wood less prominent. If you want to define the rooms separately, I would go with stronger, more saturated colors and more contrast between the space...you have plenty of light so it could handle it. The colors would definitely have to work together well. But because of the open space plan and traffic flow, there's a lot of walls that are sort of unusable, so the only way to furnish them is with color. I think it would help warm up the space, but I would definitely stay away from the gray tones as they can be colder. When I see your rooms, I want to add warmth, cozy, and softness. But as I suggested, start with fabric first....then paint. HTH

i experienced the same thing when i 1st started rooting cuttings. i started my cutting shortly after the new year (way too soon) and after several months indoors exposed to the extremely dry air in the house the older leaves were starting to show those same signs of drought stress. though the drought stress may not be at the root system it does however affect the foliage. same thing happens with house plants. Once outside the older spent leaves will drop and be replaced with lush green ones. not sure where you are located, but if it's still too early to bring the plant outside you can help hydrate the plant by misting the leaves on a weekly basis.

That's the best part about using the turface. It's almost like cat litter in regards to its change of color from wet to damp to dry. When I initially stuck the cuttings, I loaded the first cup with turface I had just rinsed to reduce the dust particles. Therefore it was damp when stuck. After inserting the dusted cutting, topping with another upside down cup (with hole cut in bottom to slide over stem), I then poured additional turface thru the top hole. Then I watered just until saturated. Lastly, I cut slits in the bottom cup until I was sure it was adequately draining. Other than sticking them in a shaded location and adding water anytime I saw the turface drying out... that was it! With these, just having them next to other plants that were regularly watered on the porch was sufficient. The hole let in just enough, but not too much!