slate countertops? got 'em? know about 'em?
lovemcm
15 years ago
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edlakin
15 years agojanedibber
15 years agoRelated Discussions
If you can't beat em....just eat 'em
Comments (9)A lot of the fear of this is just cultural. I'm sure our ancestors prior to the discovery of the first pesticides, arsenic compounds in the 19th century, ate a LOT of wormy fruit, either directly or indirectly in processed form, and didn't give it much second thought. And, I'm sure that in many poor countries around the world, it's still the norm, not the exception, to have to eat things untreated with pesticides. Most of those people no doubt also just "eat around" the parts that are too damaged to be edible. They probably turn the bad stuff into food indirectly by feeding it to chickens, pigs, goats, or whatever which then provides a human food source. And, of course, there are many cultures around the world that directly eat and enjoy insects. Aborigines in Australia ate many, many kinds of insects. In Thailand, giant water bugs, dipped in batter and deep fried, are a gourmet delicacy and are becoming very expensive, the supply being limited due to overharvesting, pesticide runoff, etc. I also recently saw an episode of Rick Bayliss' PBS series 'Mexico One Plate at a Time' where he was in a very exclusive restaurant in Mexico city that was serving fried grasshoppers. Really, any time you eat most commercially processed foods of plant origin, such as breads, juices, etc., you are getting trace amounts of insect proteins. The federal government sets allowable levels of insect matter in all kinds of foodstuffs. "Zero" just isn't realistically attainable in a cost-effective way. Here is a link to an FDA publication which shows the allowable level of contamination of various types of things in certain foods. Some of it may be higher than many people know -- for example, 4% of cocoa beans can be infested and still be sold in the US food trade. Canned tomatoes can have no more than 2 fruit fly larvae per 500 gram (slightly larger than a pound) can. Ground nutmeg can have no more than 100 insect fragments per 10 grams. Here is a link that might be useful: FDA guide to allowable contamination levels in food....See Moreinvasives...if you can't beat em, eat em?
Comments (26)Thanks, vonyon. I, too, am wondering just how deep the water will be before the cattails will say "that's too deep." If they stopped right where they are, I would be happy. I would take a photo of the pond but can't get it all in one photo and have it show details well. It may be about 40 feet long by 30 feet wide but I am not a great judge of distances. At the center, it's about 8 feet deep and yes, the pond does drop off quickly. This area had been just a wet spot that we guessed was at water level and some folks wanted permission to cross this land to get to theirs to do some logging. In return for giving our OK, they agreed to dig us out this little pond and it has proven great for attracting wildlife. We have had 6 types of frogs/toads, one turtle, a heron stopped by, moose, deer, ducks, other birds, butterflies, bats, and more. I have planted various plants and shrubs around the perimeter. It's a challenge because one side is quite marshy and there is no good earth around any of the edges because they dug up the hole and piled what they dug out to make the bankings. So it's clay and rocks. So I have to amend any soil I plant in and hope it won't get waterlogged by the clay soil around it. So far things do well: rhododendrons, serviceberry, artic willow, some other willow, blueberries, roses, weigela, raspberries that grow wild there anyway, lilies, lupines (I know they are not native to Maine though), daisies, primroses, irises and more. From now on,though, anything else I put there will be to make berries the birds like. That serviceberry is growing so slowly though. It was small to begin with and has not put on much growth. Haven't seen berries yet. I think I am going to start a new post about a bullfrog that showed up at the pond for the first time this year. I read that bullfrogs will kill other frogs and I am wondering if we should try to remove him. And I THINK I see the female there too, though she looks a lot like a green frog. I have read about how to tell the difference though. It will be too late to prevent them from laying the eggs, but if they are capable of wiping out the other frog species, I wouldn't want them there, although I know this is nature and nature does as it wishes. But bullfrogs ARE native to Maine, so maybe he will only kill some of them and all will be well. I have read on the net about places out west where non-native bullfrogs HAVE wiped out resident frogs in areas. Sorry, I guess I put the whole post here about the bullfrogs. But I will still start another post, because I would like the answers to be delivered to my email. I wish we could put checkmarks beside "threads" that we would like delivered to our emails instead of just the threads that we start outselves. Oh, and you are right that I should also post on the pond group. Thanks....See MoreBizarre Outlet Placement. Can't fight 'em, hide 'em?
Comments (19)Oh, I can relate to this. My KD designated plugmold all throughout so as to avoid outlets in the backsplash. My GC and electrician had problems complying with code for areas flanking the stove and the GFI outlet. I made a compromise based upon utility. The side of the kitchen that will house regularly used appliances (toaster oven, blenders, cuisinarts, coffee maker) will have regular outlets installed. It isn't the dominant part of the kitchen and they will be camouflaged. The side of the kitchen that is "on view", especially the backsplash flanking the stove is intact, and there will be outlets built in the side pillars. The rest of that side will have plugmold, with one GFI code outlet that is on the far side of a pillar, so it isn't obvious when entering the kitchen. The phone/area has a visible outlet. The GC's point was that you will have cords hanging down from plugmold if you are putting it in places where regular small appliances are used. I also end up with a duo of overhead light and disposal switches to the right of the sink. My KD wanted an in-counter air switch, but I still need to access the overhead light and worry about the air switch hole in the granite becoming uselss if the disposal or other has to be changed. As long as I don't have an alternating pattern of ugly outlets breaking up a pretty backsplash, I will be happy. I do love the faux paining in the photographs. Looks great....See MoreHead 'Em Up, Move 'Em Out
Comments (10)I agree with that, Marti. Today I was getting estimates, and I think a 8 x 8 x 16 container will give us plenty of room for even my garden stuff, plus a couple of BIG ROCKS.....sigh, I do so want some rocks..... The SAM did not go to Mobile, so I'm leaning toward the PODS. I KNOW those are all over Mobile, because they have been on my side of town especially since Katrina. And, folks who are redoing houses are now tending to store building materials inside a PODS on site. Much safer than leaving it inside the house or outdoors. The smallest PODS and the largest PODS are the only two sizes which they give for long distance moves. The 8x8x12 is only a storage, local moving I suppose. And between the two sizes, there is only a $300 difference in ultimate cost. So why not the bigger one if I can get DH's tools and his riding lawnmower and my garden stuff included as well. We cannot take all the good furniture yet, because we must "stage" the house here to sell it. And of course, next spring DH will be back here to wind up several projects. Like a new roof and new carpet on the remaining floors of the family room, the study, and the two upstairs bedrooms. Today I heard a bang-bang-bang-bang repeating for about 20 minutes, and I went to a window to see what it was. A hole in the soffit beneath the gutters was being dug out by a small red-headed woodpecker. Quite diligent he was too. But do they nest in holes for the winter? It is not a mating season climate now. Very strange. But yesterday DH was measuring the existing hole to make a repair, and I told him he might better remeasure before cutting the patch. It is now somewhat BIGGER. We could not figure out what did the hole, but now we know. I bought a cake of suet to hang outdoors for this little guy. I worry about the poor birds who stay up north for the winter. They say it won't be exceptionally cold this year, but it will be very snowy. So maybe we'll get our shot at the white stuff in Alabama as well. Our last snow was Christmas of 1997, when it was a powder coating on the grass but not beneath the trees....See Morelovemcm
15 years agoedlakin
15 years agowe used mineral oil on ours every once in a while. maybe once a year. that would smooth out some of the scratches, but eventually you just don't really see the scratches because in the busier areas of the kitchen, you just get kind of a 'hazy' look where all the scratches are. it's probably coming out sounding worse than i intend it to. i honestly didn't mind it.
here are some pics:
lovemcm
15 years agoUser
15 years agolovemcm
15 years agotomalyse
15 years ago
Sue Brunette (formerly known as hockeychik)
15 years agolovemcm
15 years agoannekendo
15 years ago
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janedibber