I almost always have several "investigators" on my lid. On the days they aren't any on the lid, I see evidence that they have been there. It's normal for them to move around a lot. The majority of them should be down where they belong, feeding. I always get a kick out of seeing a balled up mass of them feeding on some tidbit. I've found that cabbage, cauliflower, and green peppers can smell quite strongly for a few days. They'll decompose quicker if you shred them up in the food processer first. I now tend to add those particular items in smaller doses, although I didn't really have a problem with them getting nasty. One time I had a bunch of green peppers go bad,so I fed them shredded up to my worms. All I could smell when I walked in the room was green peppers for about 3 days. Go easy on spaghetti, cereals, or flour products. Add those in small quantities. The worms love them and get quite fat eating them, but too much at once will make your bin smell pretty badly for a week or so. They tend to get gluey, and unless you like sewer smell, go easy on it. Freeze portions of those and dole them out gradually. I usually mix them in with chunky pieces of celery and carrots. I always put a thick layer of shredded newspaper, (or other paper), on top of all the food. Then I sprinkle some water on it (lightly) to moisten it. Keeps the flies, etc. out of the bin. It's very satisfying when you finally harvest your first batch of compost. It's also fun when the worm family grows and there are all sorts of ages of worms in there, from tiny, tiny, babies to big fat adults, and everything in between. I noticed a lot of the worms that roam around in the lid, etc. appear to be what I would classify as teenager size. Sandy

Wow! I'm impressed! I just cannot figure out how to fix pc problems. I couldn't even get my printer installed and working properly! I guess it's because I'm one of those visual people, I can't read the instructions and follow them..I have to be shown or it needs to be intuitive. I hired a tech to come set up my PC system when I reorganized my office/craft room. BEST money I ever spent! Glad your system is up and running again!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Thanks for your kind words - here are some answers to your quetions. The counter stools - I'm pretty sure that I got them at the website below - I had them stained walnut. Looks like the website is down for maintenance right now, but try back later. Her's a close-up of the stools - THe mmirror is from Bombay Company - but I've seen somthing similar in Ballard. Topiaries came from a local Florist Called Johnsons (got them during an after Christmas sale). Yup, I have some quimpoer from Pierre Deux on the walls. The lamps came from different places - the red ones from a store called Kellogg Collection and the mustard ones from a place called Annapolis Lighting. As it turns out they both have pomegranates on the sides on the lamps. Didn't plan it that way - I just liked the scale. They look VERY similar. I wanted to have kind of have a ying yang thing going on with the red and mustard color. One side - golden couch w/red lamps, other side - red couch golden lamps. Yes we'll be decorating the tree will go (I think) in the room with the red couch - the side chair w/wood arms will go to the office for the holiday season! Thanks all! Here is a link that might be useful: Counter Stools

Thank you everyone for all your support and encouragement. We definitely will be enjoying the new dining room for Thanksgiving--only we will be very cramped over the holidays with everyone stuck in the family room. :( I do think the green wall is what is throwing me off. It's more like the first picture. I'm pretty much reconciled to repainting the wall--once everything is in place and I can get some color advice. I was able to get a swatch at RH this evening of the goldenrod striped drape I pictured above and it actually looked nice against both the tan and bone colored walls. DH made it easier as he does not like the red--so better to sneak in color with pillows, rug, etc. The drapes are being discontinued and marked down about 65% per panel which will end up saving me about $1,000 on my drapery budget--and since the roman shades are more than I anticipated, this makes it all the more tempting. I just decided to go for it--as I told DH, if nothing else I could sell it on ebay or return it. One step at a time, I guess.