Something very low tech I have been experimenting with is a piece of black felt. It's more reflective than I thought, so if I continue with it, I'll try different fabrics. For this, I just cut a square and put a slit in it. I was trying to get some leaf shots. I also used a bigger piece as a background for some flower shots. I just laid it on the hosta and shot from above. (I can't find it, so I must have deleted it for poor quality.) bk Here's a leaf shot from So Sweet.

Hi there, thank you so much for posting. I was hoping for some good input on it and this has made my day to read your replies. artemis, glad to hear that your gas bill is not so high. I will look into the electric pilots - I never even thought of that. I agree about the cost of a new range versus buying something new. That's money we are saving right now. I forgot to mention this stove is free, another reason I think we should get it. francy, we live in New England so hot long summers are not much of a concern. I guess it could make the A/C work a little harder though when it's needed (a point my husband would make)-this July has been hot but lately we haven't needed the A/C circuspeanut, we have lots of windows too for ventilation. I guess we would look into replacing the safety valves. Growing up my mom would use the pilots to melt butter too and I would love to be able to rise some bread dough on it. Pizza dough even better - that would make my DH happy :) joshct, I don't know if this stove has a safety system - I guess we would need some expert to tell us - will go on a search for that. Again I'm glad to hear you don't see much increase on your bill either. So...we went to look at the stove today - well I thought we were going to pick it up but it didn't turn out that way. The stove is a beauty(to my eyes anyway!)- she hardly has a chip on her, hasn't been abused, the burners need some cleaning up. She has 2 ovens (my DH pointed out how a pizza box would not fit in it - I quickly said yes but my pizza pans will), 2 broilers and 6 burners. There are 3 flip up porcelain covers that are in good shape except one that has a sticky or cracked hinge. The one thing it doesn't have is a clean-out tray for the burners - you need to pull the burner covers off. It was an extra stove that they kept in the basement as a back-up (in black out days). The problem was we forgot how they used to make these and how much they w eigh and we did not bring enough people to help move this very heavy stove. So we left without my Beautyrange. I want it but DH does not - says it doesn't seem worth it. After reading some of your replies, maybe I should try to find someone who works on these old stoves. We could have them check it out, put some safety features on it. Maybe they would even transport it for us as part of that work. Where to start - "old stove restoration"? Kiddingly, I told DH it's either this one or the Garland that needs work. Anything is going to take some work. Thanks again. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more about my "new" old stove.

This oxygen discussion is interesting. I had heard people suggest they moved to lid for laying cocoons and procreation, but I never saw evidence of that. I saw intertwined worms in the bedding but not the lid. I attempted to use a technique I read about on here to keep the worms down in the compost trays I took an unused tray and filled it with about an inch of shredded paper. I put that layer on top of the others and the worms seem to stay in the other levels now and not near the lid. I'm sure this paper allows plenty of oxygen through but it's dry enough that they don't seem to want to hang out there. It actually dried out the top compost tray a bit more than usual so I had to lightly spritz it with some water. I noticed if the paper layer got damp (even from condensation) the worms would start to move up there. I guess it's all a matter of balance. It's been long enough that I decided to try to process the compost in the bottom bin. It was kind of damp and there were still quite a few worms in it. I moved the oldest tray to the top and loosened the compost with a plastic spoon. With 4 other bins sitting on top of it the compost was very dense. I found dozens of mature worms in that tray and a lot of little tiny worms. I attempted to use the bright light technique to get the worms to move to a lower level. I discovered the worms were hanging out in the loosened compost just below the surface. So as I process it I'll uncover a couple worms and they'll move down a bit. It's a slow process but I think it's helped slowly dry the compost before I process it and to keep the worms happy while I take away thin layers of compost. Since they're hanging out in the loose compost more than the dense compost this might support the idea they want fresh air.

Aisles...42" will only "work" for a year or two, at best. By then, there will be more than one of you working in the Kitchen at the same time -- you + one or two children. Unless you plan to remodel again in the next the couple of years. Cheri, they key in your situation was that you had to make do with what you had -- a small Kitchen with many doors. And even you admitted there were issues ("inconveniences"). Forever Now doesn't have those constraints -- her Kitchen is actually at least a medium size Kitchen and she doesn't have as many doors, so deliberately planning a Kitchen with issues when it's not needed doesn't make sense. I would not do less than 48" b/w the island and perimeter -- especially since the DW situation will not be ideal. Keep a wide enough aisle to not only work around the DW but also to allow more than one person to work in the Kitchen at the same time -- it's really a one-aisle Kitchen, so that needs to be accounted for as well. My recommendation is to: Move the island toward the window by 3" or so -- as you said, there won't be much traffic there and, besides, 33" is around the width of a standard interior doorway. Granted, a doorway is only a few inches thick, but I think it will still work, assuming the windows aren't an issue b/c they appear to open inward. Reduce the island's length by at least 2" -- that would still give you plenty of workspace if the DW is moved to the other side of the island sink. Reduce the 9" utility cabinet to a 6". If you keep narrower doors, you may be OK -- that just means french door or side-by-side refrigerators. See below -- you know have a 48-inch aisle. If you cut off the corner as in some of the layouts above, you might gain an additional 2" or so. Just be careful on the left b/c the front door is also in the Kitchen on that wall. BenjesBride...unfortunately, I don't think there's room to turn the refrigerator 90 degrees and place it on the exterior wall. There's not enough room for the refrigerator itself b/w the bathroom wall and the sliding door, let alone the necessary 9" or so needed b/w the wall and refrigerator to allow the refrigerator doors to open fully. Layout #2: With the 21" sink base, you can probably do all your dish rinsing at the island -- so not much, if any, dripping to the DW. . Layout #2 Zone Map: . In the end, it's up to you -- I'm just trying to get you a Kitchen that will work for several years to come while you save for a gut remodel. [It took us about 12 years or so to save up to do a gut remodel of our Kitchen, Foyer, & Powder Room (& replace all water pipes in our house), so I know it can take a while to save money for a remodel.]