Okay, just to be clear, does CM stand for corn meal? Are we all talking about ORDINARY ground up corn, the kind you can get at the food store and very similar to the kind you can get at the feed store? Because corn does not break down and wash away. That's what chemical salts do. Ordinary agricultural corn meal in my neighborhood costs me about $6/50-pound bag. That's $2/1000 square feet. Store bought compost delivered in bulk costs me $35/cubic yard plus $40 delivery fee. At a rate of 1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet that's $75/1000 square feet. So I can apply ordinary corn meal more than 30 times before I have spent the cost of one application of compost. I will concede that ordinary corn meal is not the highest protein value per $ (not always), but certainly it is an extremely valuable addition to your organic program. My underlying soil (call it sub soil if you have the nerve) is crushed limestone. Below that is solid limestone. Our landscape had been neglected for decades and all the soil that might have supported much turf was washed out. At first we brought in "topsoil" to bring the level up to that of the surrounding concrete walkways and curbs. We nearly broke out backs on the clods in the topsoil. For our next round of surface preparation we bought a sand-compost mix. It was pure white beach sand (from our ancient Texas beaches that are now 50 miles inland) and pig manure (fresh, hot, and very rank smelling). We all know that compost will decompose completely. That was back in 1992. Since then our sandy soil is completely black with humates and byproducts of the organic program started in 2001. In that time I applied compost once before I learned that I could not afford any organic program that relied on compost. Then I discovered ordinary corn meal, corn gluten meal, and other ground grains available to me but maybe not to you in other areas. Since 1965 I've been working on yards in Calif, Ohio, and here in San Antonio. I've never had a yard this easy to keep and that looks even remotely this nice. My California yards were more lush than most I've seen in Texas. Florida yards are unbelievable to anyone who has not seen them. Here we have trouble growing house plants that down in FL are full sized shade trees. So, all that to say that I think sandy soil is excellent. Adding ordinary corn meal will feed the microbes that are already there. ONE application of compost will bring in more microbes that may not already be there. Repeated applications of compost tea is so INexpensive that if you are of the mind to make your OWN, I will not argue. In fact I have posted a website for an acquaintance who put off posting the info on his website. If anything else could be done to improve sandy soil, I would say add clay, but that is a topic with so many paths that is way beyond my ability to track. Clay is not clay is not clay. In my previous life we used a certain type of clay as a heat shield inside jet engines, but not any other type of clay, only the clay mined from a certain mine in Massachusetts (or somewhere). I usually don't get too involved in detailed clay/sand discussions.

Hi i'm not getting the first two pix?? gary

I prefer the art to be hung like art on the walls, as was recommended when this came up before. However, I'm feeling a bit lost as to how to be helpful here to you. I STILL like the original tile posted here. A lot. I also like the blue and white coral-like tile and the blue and white circle flowery things which almost could pass for starfish. With the latter two, it seems like they would both combine nicely with white subway if you just wanted an accent tile over the range area instead of taking the pattern all the way across the kitchen. I'm a sucker for arabesque tiles almost all the time, but I do think they showcase better where there is a larger area between counter and uppers than more narrow. And, I'm not as big of a fan of powder, sky and pastel blues for your condo at all. The tile you can peek at in the tropical dining room pic is intriguing if you like the idea of going more towards aqua and less towards the blues - but can't see enough of it to really tell what it is. The pic aktillery posted of the modern bungalow shows again how a kitchen can be basically neutral put still benefit from some color (I happen to love that counter, wonder what that is).

Hi Amrita, I love it. The glide out extension racks had one spot where they were not enameled; very small bare spot about 1/4 inch in exactly the same spot on each rack. I think it's where they were picked up and dipped. I thought an oven of that price should have racks that were better. I emailed GE with my complaint. Within 24 hours I received a reply requesting pictures which I provided. They sent me two new racks pronto. Another time I called to ask what the temperature of the High broil and the low broil was as it isn't in the manual. You always get to speak to someone even though they are not really technichians. I could tell it's someone looking it up in a manual. Fine with me, I got my answer pronto. My point is they are accessible and respond which I appreciate which so many mfg don't do. I know a lot of people on this forum are great bakers and bake a lot. At this point in our lives, I don't bake much anymore with the exception of an occasional pie, crostada, quiche or tart for dinner parties. So I can't speak to the eveness of baking cookies. I do bake bread but haven't used the proofing mode since I have been making the slow proof bread that sits on the counter for 18 plus hours. The baking I do, everything comes out just fine. I do make pizza but have a pizza stone I use and it comes out well. The steam clean in my opinion is worthless. It didn't really clean the oven and cleaning up the water and other mess was more work than I expected and the oven was still dirty. However, the self clean function works great. I have used it 4 times despite the general consensus on this forum one shouldn't use the self clean function on ovens. It seems to preheat realtively fast, but I haven't really timed it. When in the preheat mode it makes a low rumbling sound. Doesn't really bother me but my husband who is hard of hearing but hears low sounds looks around wondering if a barge is coming by the house. When it is turned on, there is a fan that works but again, it isn't really terribly loud. The fan runs long after the oven is turned off. It's relatively quiet. Often I know its still running because I can feel it as I walk by. I love the french doors and the way they work. I like the looks of the oven in my kitchen as well. I don't have another oven other than an Advantium so my oven gets a fair amount of use. I guess you can tell I am happy. It looks good and functions well. If you have any other questions that I haven't covered, just ask. Best wishes, Inga