Thanks, Michael. I have remembered that you've mentioned that before for sandy soils and have been thinking about adding it into those beds. I think I read that someone has been using "nitrogen-enriched" kitty litter with good success. Do you know a reason why that's not a good idea? It seems like it would be a source of cheap nitrogen, anyway. Rosefolly, as I've looked at the nutrient availability chart related to pH there's something else that happens with boron at high pH. I think I understand that at low pH plants uptake too much boron but at high pH boron become inaccessible so you get a deficiency. But I don't quite understand because at pH 9 and above it looks like it uptakes well again. Here's a link to one of those pH nutrient-availability charts. Thanks for the birthday wishes! Here is a link that might be useful: pH nutrient chart This post was edited by harborrose on Thu, Sep 19, 13 at 20:34

This is a confusing subject. There is a ton of info on this forum but it requires some time to read through enough of them to begin to make sense of it. This is one thread that I've liked as a detailed summary: help please with ventilation I would clarify/amend one point that haus proud made. It's mostly just semantics, but typically, an "extenal blower" is one that actually sits outside the house, either mounted on the roof or the side wall of the house. Here's one example: Abbaka Hy Ex external blower In contrast, an inline blower is mounted inside the house. It connects "in line" with the ductwork, thus the name. Most commonly they are mounted in the attic. They really can be placed about anywhere in the duct run: they don't have to be close to either the hood or the exhaust opening. Ours, for example, is about 25 feet from the hood in the attic, and about 8 feet from the actual exhaust chimney mounted in our roof. Here's a link to what is clearly the most popular inline blower, the Fantech FKD series: Fantech FKD blower I agree that phrases like "collector - hood space - canopy - sump - umbrella - holding filters" are confusing. Really, all of those words describe parts and/or features of what is generically referred to as a hood liner. Typically that is a metal "box," open at the bottom, which installs into your custom wooden hood. It contains some kind of filter to catch oil, usually some type of lighting, and in the case of "internal blower" hoods, the actual fan that blows air into your ductwork. That is not needed if you choose to use an external or inline blower, a much better solution if it is doable IMHO. There are many sources for hood liners. Most hood manufacturers make them. The real question is what your needs are. A generic liner may be fine, or if you are doing something more out of the ordinary, then a custom unit from a supplier like Modern-Aire may fit the bill. Keep posting more specific questions as you proceed: the more specific the questions are, the more useful the responses typically are.

So here's my train of thought on this one. Move the TV to the right of the fireplace (closing up that window), Change the french doors to a 6' wide fixed casement picture window, and add a full-lite swinging door to the short wall to the deck. The goals being 1) your view will actually be much better through a giant picture window than french doors 2) make full use of that former mudroom by fully incorporating it into the kitchen 3) direct traffic around kitchen. We have a mountain view and the house used to have a sliding glass door in the living room. The center frame of the slider went right through the middle of my mountain, so I changed the slider to a big 6' picture window; it frames the mountain perfectly now. We added a full-lite swinging exterior door for access to the deck in a location that doesn't impede view as much. My kitchen isn't much bigger than your mudroom, so I don't exactly know what one would do with approximately 24'x10' worth of designated kitchen space. That's huge. Don't pay too much attention to where I put kitchen fixtures as I just kind of threw them in there. I just wanted to toss out the idea of changing the doors. Also, it's nice to be able to see the fire and the TV at the same time, right? :-)

It is helpful to get even a feel for proportion of colour through visualisations isn’t it? I do prefer the top, to the middle image. Maybe I struggle with the emphasis on garage doors for many homes too. Is it a cultural thing possibly? The desire to accentuate them, over the front door, is strange to me, when their size does that anyway. I do like the fun punch of the front door still.