The mites will likely not go deep in the bin, nor will much else but the worms. One thing I read was that if you are really upset about non-worm visible lifeforms in the bin you can do one of several things... One (which I prefer) is to put your bins outside where they belong if you don't like living with extra lifeforms and micromanaging a bin that is taking up the most expensive area of your property. Another time proven technique is to ignore your boxed dirtfarm so that less hours of your week are dedicated to worrying about something that is taking care of its self. If plan A and B there don't work... You can take advantage of the fact that worms will dive for cover if you dump extra water in the bin, and all these mites, ants, pillbugs, and whatever else, will surface... Where you will be waiting with a grin and a blowtorch. I've found the blowtorch method to be highly effective at reducing the populations of insects that gravitate to one location. A reduced population of insects will quickly breed back up to swarming strength in the protected shelter of a house though, and since I understand that my ancestors differentiated indoors from outdoors by what one expects to encounter there, I keep my bin in the chicken coop (unheated, Zone 5). Beyond that, the larger your bin, the less things that can possibly go wrong with it. If it's deep, it can't overheat or freeze. If it has high volume, it can hold more worms than can be preyed upon and excess can be taken for whatever you want. If it has much room, the worms can separate into their personal favorite locations and run away or toward hot composting locations. If your bin is large enough, you can't over or underfeed it simply because the worms can express their natural survivability, which they can't do when you keep them in a little test-tube bin indoors.

I do most of my sewing with a Pfaff Varimatic (not vintage, though discontinued) and occasionally a Juki serger (also not vintage and now discontinued). But I own a lovely, lovely Featherweight and a Singer 27K/28K treadle. The Featherweight works fine for piecing, but lacks the oomph to sew heavier apparel fabric. The treadle is also a beautiful machine in a gorgeous quarter sawn oak cabinet and I keep meaning to get it brought up to working condition. I know a shop that could do it, but it's just so heavy to lift that I keep putting it off. However, after reading this thread, I moved my treadle out of the south facing window where it has been for the past couple of years! My final machine is a Singer 401 from the early 1960's. I bought it for one of my daughters but she never took it out of her car. After driving around with it for a year, the tension mechanism broke (surprise). I have it at the shop while a new part is located -- possibly made new. I told her that if she ever decides she wants it back, and I still have it, it's hers. Until then, it will be mine. She really doesn't have any interest in sewing. This was me pushing her, so I'm just as well pleased to get it back. It's a good machine. If I got a chance to find a Bernina 1008 at a good price, I would jump on it, too. My taste is decidedly for fine quality mechanical machines, preferably metal not plastic. If I ever decided to get an embroidery machine, I would get a dedicated machine, not a general purpose one that also did embroidery. Rosefolly

Hello to ALL, So very grateful to ALL of you....these pictures and Ideas are invaluable to us! Like that Tile Back splash, a lot, so classic! sparlekitty - just love your Kitchen, please make a copy and send to me, right away...I mean the real thing!! What are those amazing counter-tops and your floor and your Range, we still are looking for one? Do I SEE a WINDOW above your Range HOOD! This just looks wonderful! TODAY, we were seriously talking about cutting out a Window sized Area, into our WALL above the Range - this is the WALL between the Kitchen and the Dining Room! This would give the Kitchen a direct VIEW out of the front Dining Room Windows and look out to all the trees in the wooded area, across the street!! Also, the front of our new, old house faces SOUTH - so all that lovely light might be very welcome in the long winters, here! Or do you think that we will have enough light from the door into the Dining Room and we should just add more cabinets on the Range Wall? Has anyone cut out part of the wall in one of these 80+ year old houses? Is this really difficult? Yes, we still are giving very serious thought to selecting the Cherry Cabinets for the upper & lower cabinets on both sides that will have a counter-top! You are right, since the Pantry Cabinet and the Frig. Built-ins are already white, trying to match those does not look too great...we tried this week-end, again but were not happy with the white Cabinets that we found at three places! DH really likes the Adel Cabinets from Ikea but we have to try and figure, a layout using their non-custom sizes? Should we just remove the Soffit above our Sink Wall - will the Kitchen, Look Better without the Soffit? And then we can use the 39" Ikea Cabinets, right? Here is another picture of the last corner in the Kitchen - See where the Counter and lower Cabinet is recessed about 6" ? This allows the large old door to close, where the back hallway comes in? We do not want to take down any of the original wood doors, they are just too beautiful to us. And the powder room is across the hallway. You can See the Soffit above and this only goes across the Sink side of the room. Has anyone used Ikea, lately - are these any good, we went to one of their large stores near Cincinnati, today, never been there before, lots of walking and looking! We have always wanted the very simple lines, like you see in the Adel shaker style and this may be the answer to the budget! These are not real Cherry Wood, which we really love - does anyone have any suggestions for finding simple Cherry Wood cabinets at the Most reasonable cost, that have a descent looking finish? We would be happy even if they are nearly natural and even with the lightest of stain - since we have had Cherry many times before and we know that they will darken on their own, in time! Forgot to share that we are going to try and finish the 3 season Sun Room, into an insulated 4 Season Room with new windows and floor - before the weather gets cold here!! So we really need to save money on the kitchen cabinets, we feel that the windows are just as important and we will really miss our Sun Room when we move in less than a month! Every time I think about the count down - I get giddy, scared and excited, all at once! Just like all of you, we are afraid of making a mistake on a big ticket item! This G W and All of you, really keeps our sanity and we are so grateful for ALL of the Ideas that keep us thinking - too easy to get frustrated and we want to stay positive! Thank you all, again, this help is really appreciated - Does anyone think that we should try to Open up the Wall above the Range, how much and how far above the back splash on the Range is good! As you can see from the pictures, there is no Hood above the Range and maybe we can keep it that way since we mostly bake or use the GE Advantium? We will be able to hang the GE Advantium under the cabinet to the left of the sink. Is it better to have the new Opening that will look out to the South or to have the Range hood and extra Cabinets? Cannot figure out how to do both on the same wall - guess we can take the Tall white Pantry Cabinet out of the corner and use in the hallway since it is finished on 3 sides! Then we may be able to make more room for a new Opening - but should the Range be centered on the Kitchen wall? Will try to add these Pictures, Thank You All for looking and helping us to decide! roseofblue

Thank you all for your compliments--I'm so happy that you appreciate my kitchen, and I am very touched by your kindness. Since I love spreading the DIY news, I'll share some info one the cup-shelf project: I've mentioned using scrap lumber, left over from other projects--everything was scrap! I ripped the shelf and support pieces from a 1x12 board, and used a 1/4" cove bit in the router, to trim the bottom edge of the support piece. The towel holder corbels and spice shelf are attached to support pieces, which are screwed into the wall studs, parallel to the counter. The pieces are all connected. All the screw holes were countersunk and filled. Here's a close-up showing how everything fits together: The shelf sits on top of, and is screwed into, the long support piece, and there's a screw that goes through the corbel into the shelf, toward the front. LOL, at this distance you can see the seam where the two corbel pieces are joined. Oh, well, it adds character ;). The corbels are cut on the same upper curve as the supports for the old school cabinet, across the room. They're 1.5" wide, compared to 3 inches on the school cabinets. This pic is of the underside of the corner, with a scarf/miter joint. Each piece is cut on 45 degrees, then fitted together and nailed, making a stronger joint than a butted joint. It's actually backwards, because my miter saw 'reclines' in only one direction, and I didn't want to cut the angles by hand. One could also use a biscuit/slot to add strength. This is the support for the towel holder: The corbels are attached to either side of the 'placket', which is screwed into studs. The window used to be wider, so there's an extra stud in that area. The corbels were then attached to the cabinets. The underside of a cabinet, showing how the corbel is attached--you can see the screw holes: Hope this helps!