I got a surprise last year when picking apples from a tree my grandfather planted at least 40 years ago. I didn't bother to spray it or anything, as it needs a few years of pruning to bring it back. The few apples I got that were edible were yummy from one side of the tree, yet the apples from the other side were definitely not "eat off the tree" apples. When I took a closer look I realized that the bark on one side was completely different from the other side. Apparently my grandfather was practicing this method a generation ago. The other apple tree on the property was similar but the trunks had not inculcated and one of the two died due to neglect. I will try to send a picture, but it's really nothing spectacular. If you plant them close enough I guess they become one trunk. If I end up cutting it down I will definitely be able to see if these were once two trees(or more). There is crab apple near my house that looks like one tree, but last year I noticed that the blooms were quite different on each main branch. I doubt that this is a multi-graft crab apple. I am now assuming that the closer you plant them the better so they simply inculcate.

Hi... . Sorry for the length, but if you are considering an Electrolux purchase, I hope you take the time to read this. Let me start by saying I don't usually write detailed posts/reviews. I generally leave a comment if I really LOVE a product, but I have to be pushed beyond reason to leave a negative comment. Having said, that, we built a new home in 2010, and I pestered my husband to spend the extra cash to get the entire suite of Electrolux appliances. When we built our first home, about 12 years ago, we purchased the Frigidaire Gallery series. He wanted to stick with that brand, as they were rock solid appliances, and we had no issues with them at all. How I wish I had listened to him. I will start with the double wall oven. I was using the top oven only from September of 2010 to Thanksgiving (no particular reason, I just didn't cook any big dinners) and I thought it was awfully noisy. There was a loud convection sound that never went away, even when the oven reached the set temperature. I just figured...OK its loud, but I'll have to live with it. I wasn't about to rip out a newly installed oven because it was noisy. Plus I absolutely LOVED those easy glide racks! I did expect an adjustment period, so when I burned the first few things, I sort of wrote it off as an oops...maybe this oven just cooks faster than my old one. After burning EVERY dish I made, I stuck 3 different thermometers in there and found it was 30-50 degrees above the set temp. And still extremely loud. So when I finally got around to using the lower oven, I found that after reaching proper temperature, the sound went off. And the thermometer that I put in the lower oven was pretty close to the set temperature. Apparently, the top oven has been stuck in the convection mode since day one...which explains why it is so loud. By this time, all of the racks had lost their nice smooth coat (I assume from cooking constantly in convection) and that lovely smooth glide feature (that partially sold me on the oven) were shot...completely shot. The bearings don't work and I actually have to tug, side to side, to get the racks out. I asked for new racks in addition to whatever repairs were necessary. The bottom oven racks were still OK. The cook top: We have the 36" hybrid cook top, and after a few months, it would suddenly stop working, flashing an F error code. If I let is sit for anywhere from a few hours to a day, it would start working again. But I never know when it will simply shut down. That puts a serious hamper on cooking on the holidays. I called the company, and was told that code indicated an internal problem with the "mother board", and that it would need to be replaced. The refrigerator (while it is nice and roomy) has not made ice after the first 8 months, and the water has never come out cold. It's barely room temperature. The handles on the drawers in the freezer have fallen off, and the draws frequently get stuck. My freezer is spotless...nothing to gum up the glides. Several of the small plastic shelf brackets have snapped off. The final straw? This morning, the microwave, one of only two only appliances that I have not yet had a problem with, just quit all together. I checked the breaker, and the outlet. No problems there. Just dead. I have had two separate electricians here to make sure the wiring was not faulty, given all of the issues, and the wiring is fine. The microwave stove and oven are all on dedicated circuits. Now we get to the so called "Electrolux "Support". I called to report the problems. I won't include the microwave, as it is outside the "warranty" period, but it's still only a year and a half old. The dishwasher is insanely quiet and still working well, so no complaints about that one item. I called to report the problems with the refrigerator, cook top and oven when they were maybe 9 or 10 months old. At that point the cook top was not working at all. They said they would send one person each for each appliance. Now, being a working mom, I can't take three days off to wait for three separate servicemen. That was ridiculous. So, after several more phone calls, they found someone nearby, and claimed he would be out with two weeks. Two weeks? Without a stove? That is really a long time to wait with 2 kids under the age of 6. But I didn't really have any say in the matter, and no amount of begging and pleading on my part helped. Of course, no one called or showed up. About 6 calls and 3 months later, an authorized serviceman from All American Appliance, out of Monroe, CT arrived. He looked at each appliance and determined that cook top and the oven needed new computers, and he was going to order some parts for the fridge. He claimed it could take two weeks for the parts to arrive. I waited three, figuring he must be busy. I called his office about 4 times over the next week. Only after I called Electrolux did he finally return my call. He was very apologetic and basically said my order had "slipped through the cracks", and he had forgotten to place it all together. I was frustrated, but mistakes happen, and I tend to be pretty easy going and patient. So I agreed to wait for the parts and his call. He claimed he was going to order my parts and he would be back to our house in two or three weeks. Again, a month later, I called the office several times. The woman at the office remembered me, and told me she was doing to give Dave a call, as he was not in the office. I waited a few days and called her back. She claimed she had no record of his visit, and he didn't remember ever coming here. Turns out the service man "Dave" that had come out initially is the owner of the company. No order, no parts, she has suddenly never heard of me. I called Electrolux, absolutely fuming at this point. They said they were having difficulty finding someone authorized in my area. I filed a report with Electrolux about the "authorized" repair company that had been giving me the run around. Basically, they don't want to bothered repairing the appliances, and I told Electrolux as much. I refused to waste any more time with this guy Dave from All American. I asked that Electrolux find a reputable repair man and get this taken care of. I told the rep that I have had to buy a rice cooker, and one of those plug-in cook tops to make meals when I have a $2000 cook-top sitting there, useless! It's been over a year now that I have been trying to get these issues resolved. Then, the Electrolux rep told me that, since it has been more than a year, the warranty has expired. WHAT???? I just about lost it right there, but I calmly and firmly explained that No, I initiated a service claim well within the warranty period, and due to the incompetence of both the repair company and Electrolux, I have been waiting for repairs for more than a year. They retracted that statement pretty quickly, and said they would get a different company to come out. Electrolux called a few days later with another company. A new rep left the name and number of All American Appliance!!! I'm not sure what I am going to do now. I most definitely am NOT calling All American Appliance again, so I can waste another 9 months??? The idea of having to get an attorney to get new appliances just makes me feel...tired. I could send this post to the CEO, but really, is he going to care? I'm just one person. I'm a nurse, so customer satisfaction is my number one priority, even though it's not likely I will ever see the same patient again. They should take note. I would love any suggestions/ideas on what I should do next. If 30+ hours of phone calls (and I'm not kidding) haven't resolved it, should I resign myself to getting an attorney? I don't have another ten grand to shell out to replace all of my appliances...and now that I have taken the time to write this post, I have a good mind to copy and post it everywhere I can think of!

I am not sure what you are asking, auzzy.... We are already planning to move the door opening to a different wall to better utilize the floor space in the small bathroom. if we do a regular door, the swing area will be right where one would stand to wash hands at the sink, but the door would not open against the vanity, but against the opposite wall. In using the bathroom door, one would need to step back away from the vanity (further into the room) in order to operate the door. We're thinking that the pocket door would avoid that. In our house, locks are rarely, if ever used. And the teenager daughter spends a lot of time at the mirror in the bathroom. We often open the door to tell her to hurry up or she'll miss the bus, etc. With a swinging door we'd hit her with the door. I guess that's not a totally valid reason to choose a pocket door though. it's more that I am theorizing that it will make the bath's interior space feel bigger not to have the door swing taking up literally half the open floor space... Here's the current layout. Notice how the door and vanity placement mean that the only really useable floor space is directly in front of the toilet, just that tiny spot! Here's what we are planning to do to maximize the floor space. So... the question is whether a pocket door in this case would make the space more useable? (The pocket door would slide into the wall next to the vanity.)

Just tried Paulo's suggestion for using the "temp" settings on my Max Burton and, by golly, using the 250F setting did hold my pressure cooker at 15 psi. (Actually, a tiny skoonch above the second ring, but otherwise steady for five minutes.) It seemed like maybe the 210F "temp" setting might hold the 7.5 psi pressure, but haven't had time to test it for any length of time. Anyhow, it seems that the MB's temp settings may give one the ability to make the equivalent of half step adjustments between the whole-numbered power settings. Thanks, Paulo. For clarabelled, I think the Electrolux you bought offers .2 power increments in the low end of the heating range (between "Lo" and "2.8"). On hoods, that 440 cfm hood will work. A general rule of thumb for electric stoves is the minimum hood draw you want will be 100 CFM for every linear foot of cooking surface. For a 30" stove like your Elux slide-in, the minimum would be 250 CFM and you are above that. Do have somebody check to be sure your won't need make-up air. Even a 440 CFM hood can backdraft a fireplace chimney or a gas water heater in a very tight house. (Don't be unduly alarmed, though. "Can" means it is possible, not that it necessarily will be happening.) This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Oct 13, 13 at 18:03