Oh yes! As soon as I saw Netta's nice stack I could see Miss Kitty belly diving into those! I love the idea of using the attic once we get it sprayed with insulation, but we don't have a place to have stairs that have a pull down opening. We have to use a ladder, in the bedroom. Nix on the attic drying!! During our renovation, the contractor has been very carefully helping us to create a kitchen with a seed office off to the side - and getting temps just right in there. Not to dry, not too humid, not to warm or cold...perfect for seed storage. GGG

I would dig the soil under the top mulch to loosen it, and add some compost to the top several inches, some bone meal or soft-rock phosphate if you have dogs that will check out the bone meal for two months. Better than peat moss is coir--the coconut husks. Peat moss kills a lot of plants from getting a bit dry; coir/dirt won't dehydrate roots so quickly. My neighbor and I grow blueberries. He told me to mulch them each Spring with about 4" pine needles to keep the soil really acidic--add some water when the soil is drying and he does not fertilize otherwise. Once I bought azalea fertilizer and that has helped my young plants. Maybe they won't even need that in another year. Blueberries don't have regular-type roots; they cannot have the soil around their roots cultivated. I pull weeds gently when the ground has plenty of rain water in it.

This is a final follow-up to my experiment freeze drying with dry ice. I rate it a dismal failure. It may be theoretically possible to freeze dry foods with dry ice, but it certainly is neither convenient nor cost effective. Another way of freeze drying in the link above was to flash freeze with dry ice, then put the frozen foods on an open tray in a frost free freezer. I did that with a tray of apple slices. They are not yet at the dehydrated bendable stage after six days in the freezer. I don't know if they will ever get to a dry enough state to snap when bent. I do not rate this system as practical either, because it takes the purchase of dry ice and use of lots of freezer space for the process. The third method of freeze drying was to flash freeze with the dry ice, then put it in a vacuum chamber to draw out the moisture. Wartach astutely noticed the $15 harbor freight vacuum pump. The acrylic for the top is available from Lowes. I was planning to use a large stock pot for a chamber and a cut rubber mat for the gasket. I would still have to figure out the line to the chamber from the pump. Thanks, Rick for the reminder to be careful with dry ice. At the moment, I am so disappointed in the dry ice, I may not even proceed with the vacuum chamber experiment. Its interesting that people put processes on line that they have never tried and then do not report any results of their own experiences. I don't want to leave people with a false impression so am supplying this report. On a pleasant note, I just finished reading the biography BIRDSEYE, The Adventure of a Curious Man and I highly recommend it. Birdseye learned about flash freezing while living in Labrador and preserving food for the winter. He wondered why foods frozen in mid winter stored so much better than foods frozen in fall or spring. When he returned to the states, he used EXISTING knowledge and technology to invent a practical way to flash freeze foods and store it. Unfortunately he was ahead of his times. There was not distribution or storage available either commercially or in homes to appreciate what he had done. Never the less, food storage world round has been transformed by his success and perseverance. After succeeding in that venture, he turned to dehydration as the most practical way to preserve and distribute foods. He did not live long enough to discover that his original flash freezing was also the key to quality dehydration. Carol

There was a time some years back that I had dry skin, particulary my arms and upper legs........I used to slather myself with vaseline, with little to no results. Someone suggested using body lotion right after getting out of the shower, that helped quite a bit, I use any kind of cream, but some of the ones others suggested are a good idea. Then I bought some body gloves in the beauty aisle (cost range from $2.99 to 7.99), they are gloves that are a bit abrasive. You use them in the tub or shower, wet them, lather them up with soap and start washing, the scrubbing takes off the dead dry skin. I am 50 yrs. old and my skin is incredibly soft,my husband thinks so too. I have given these gloves to many of my friends who also are addicted to them and love the results. I can't say it would be the total answer for you, but it worked for me. And also try to drink plenty of water......... hope that helps some. Happy New Year