Ok, hang on, folks! Ants are NOT generally predators of earthworms! If we're talking about fire ants then there is sometimes concern, but other than fire ants we do not have a problem with ants preying on earthworms in North America. And while it is technically true that ants can remove raw organic materials from a worm bin, the loss of nutrients from the system is highly unlikley to have any measurable impact on system activity. Bryan is right that centipedes can prey on earthworms, but 1) earthworms are not their primary food source and 2) it is unusual for centipede numbers in a bin to be sufficient that they have any measurable impact on worm population. There are no beetles that are common to worm bins or compost piles that will feed on or harm the worms in the system. The bottom line on all the critters commonly running about worm bins and compost piles is that they are beneficial to the process and will not harm the worms, the humans associated with the system, our pets or our plants if the critters remain in the finished material when it is used in the garden. A healthy worm bin SHOULD have a huge variety of invertebrates present. The only significant caveat is fire ants, which should be eliminated from the bin due, primarily, to their danger to humans interacting with the bin, but also because they will SOMETIMES kill the worms. Critters in the system are a vital part of a healthy bin's ability to maximize OM processing. Love your critters, my friends! They are on our side! Kelly S

I would stay away from ANY Electrolux regrigerator! I was told that Electrolux products were good quality. How far from the truth! My refrigerator (3yrs. old, model:E23C75DSS4) has been a major disappointment. Many of my problems started right away. 1. The seal on the freezer must not be tight, because shortly after I bought it a had a pound of dead ants on the bottom shelf of the freezer. 2. It is very loud and runs almost constantly. My 30 year old GE was less noisy. 3. The coating, that is supposed to make the stainless steel mudgeproof works very well, but shortly after we bought it it started to bubble up. 4. The doors are not aligned. One is higher than the other and sticks further out. 5. It is supposed to a counter depth. That is absolutely not true. When the doors are opened all the way they will hit the edge of your counter top. 6. The doors are supposed to have a mechanism that prevents them from flying open past a 40 degree angle, unless you want them too. That "stop" does not work anymore. Now we have to hold the door in a position that will keep it from hitting the counter top. 7. By year two some sticky bron fluid had leaked out of the bottom right door hinge, causing it too creak very loudly when being opened. I get sick to my stomach when I think that I paid $2000 for this. It is not worth more than $500. Unfortunately due to the reputation of Electrolux in Europe we did not think that we needed to buy the extended warranty.

Just a quick update. We've been to the vet. He did an Xray to confirm heart problems and said that Ginger is Stage 3. According to the vet, this is not too late for medication to give her a good quality of life, although it certainly can't cure the problem. He put her on three medications. One to strengthen her heart. One to lower her blood pressure. One which is a diuretic and she is taking a fairly high dose for several days, and if her coughing goes away he will slowly reduce the amount until it seems right. The medication caused diarrhea the first night. She is still having the spells where her legs give out and they are worse than they were at the beginning. We haven't even taken her outdoors lately. I put puppy pads by her bed, and sometimes just the effort of climbing out of the bed to use the pad will bring on a spell. The vet seems to think that will improve. I hope so because it scares her when it happens. It scares us too, but it's her we're worried about, not us. We hate to see her frightened like this. We are holding on to hope for a little bit, but we won't put her through this indefinitely. Only a little while, as the vet seems to think there is hope and says today's meds are really good. He did say that her tongue is nice and pink and that is a good sign, compared to when the tongue turns bluish for lack of oxygen. Of course, he also reminded us that at 15 1/2 years of age, she is quite elderly and medicine is not expected to keep her feeling good (even if it gets her that way at all) indefinitely. My heart breaks for her. I will let you know how she is doing again later on.

I agree that it would take a lot of space to store cutlery that way, and I don't have that much to spare. I'm happy with a nice, shallow drawer with dividers for nesting my silverware. However, I think the idea to have something like that for spatulas, turners, etc. is brilliant. A lot of people use crocks on their countertop to keep frequently used items close at hand, but I resist the visual clutter. I know that they can look nice, but that's just how I see it. So, if I was redesigning my kitchen, I would definitely be interested in using something like that for other kitchen implements. I do prefer the square shape, for efficient use of space, but I would take whichever I could get and make work in my kitchen.