I'm thinking I remember reading on here that when you add fresh you just make sure that you use the processing time for whatever needs processed the longest in the recipe As Carol said, that is a very old guideline and more often than not, no longer applicable due to the other variables involved. Like the others above, canning plain with just the salt gives the best results IMO. The few times wife or I ever tried adding other ingredients we always regretted it when the jars were opened. It always sounds good in theory to add those other flavors but doesn't work in actual practice. People just don't understand the effect that the PC processing is going to have on those added flavorings. But if she insists on doing it then dry herbs and spices only, not fresh, and only in small amounts. She can always add more after opening. If she wants garlic and onions then used dried garlic and onions. Dave

I would not have recommended acrylic. We had an acrylic tub and surround that did not last. Acrylic has some disadvantages: - It is very brittle and will require support underneath to remove any possibility of flexing, which would make it crack over time. Our surround cracked within five years under very minimal use in an unsupported spot. - Be very careful to use ONLY recommended cleaners. I damaged the acrylic with a brand-name cleaner and ever afterwards, could not keep it looking good. It would look dirty within a week again. - Your salesperson is talking out of his hat. Acrylic is not quite as slippery as cast iron, but it is still slippery enough to be dangerous with water and soap. I'm actually very surprised the surface of your showerpan is not nubby-feeling. I thought all horizontal surfaces in mfg'ed tubs and showerpans were federally mandated to have a non-slip coating. It's usually a plastic overcoating with a "pebbled" feel underfoot that works very well against slippage.

What's the state of your heating plant these days? I remember your posts from last fall about wanting to have some kind of temporary and intermittent heating for when you were visting over the winter. I ask because if you have damp moldiness, I doubt if you can deal with it effectively without a healthy dose of well-heated house air. You might find that if you can heat the house to normal temps, even when you're not there, that alone may be sufficiently curative all by itself. Beyond that, the remedy for all sorts of moldiness consists of changing the environment to inhibit the growth of mold. You can remove its surface manifestations but don't imagine you can sterilize away or even sanitize into oblivion. At best you can force it into abeyance.Mold needs moisture laden air (which is where temps come into play, see below); stillness in the air, darkness and food. Food is somewhat specifc to the species of molds, but many have wide palates. Basically food is any organic substance: paper, wood, (both cellulose), dirt, both outright earthy-type soil and the ickier dirt of general grunge, fly specks, greasy-dust, fats from soap and body soil. And they need certain temps to flurish. But they can survive in a resting or dormant form decades outside of these temp parameters, hence you can not really expect them to go away, just to go quiet, awaiting better days. Now about the affect of temps and moisture laden air. For a given amount of available moisture, cooler temps will result in condensation of water droplets on surfaces; warmer air will hold hold more moisture in the air. In general heated houses are also dryer because of the ensuing exchanges of warm air out into the atmosphere through leaks and door openings and closings. Plus heaters which burn air also move it through and out. Your first task is to get the house heated and dried out. If you aren't heating with a heating plant, then you must wait for nature to provide this after Spring has arrived (probably in mid to late May in western PA.) When that happens get the whole house opened during all warm days, but closed again at night. Remove the lino and use paper towels to mop up the visible manifestations of mold. You can treat the area with bleach if you want. But simple hot water washing, and ordinary clean-up will also be fine. Then get the air in the house heated with both interior and basement areas dried out. This will remove molds' essential conditions of life and suppress them - for now, at least. If you have breathing or health issues, you might wear a respirator and a discardable Tyvek suit when tackling the first rounds of clean up. Continued, heated occupation of the structure and fairly intensive standards of household cleaning over a period of years will be effective in winning the mold-wars. Give some early thought to makking sure your basement is as dry as it can be. Also don't panic, almost all old houses have some mold issues - and most old house owners co-exist with them without excessive problems. L.

It could be my eyes, but in your inspiration pic, it appears the the seat trim goes out a bit beyond the neighboring cabinets. And the seat does extend beyond the bookcases on either side of the sketch that comes up at the top left in the bench example link above. How much does the trim extend beyond your bookcases? How deep is the seat overall? Could it be due to the fact that it needed to be made deeper to be a usable seat? It might be tough to sit on a seat that is the depth of many bookcases. It might be more of a 'perch' than a true seat if not deep enough. Is it possible that it might look a bit unfinished if it didn't extend a bit beyond? Do you plan to put a cushion and pillows on your bench that might hide the 'overage'?