Brian, You simply learn from other and work out some things on your own. We do get some frozen eggs in the winter, but we try to gather several times a day to minimize that. I have a "chicken house within a chicken house" kind of thing built to house our layers. It consists of an insulated box about 8 x 8 x 5 feet within a larger building. The box has roosts, nest boxes, and an outside access door that can be closed. Our layers were all pretty old and were not very productive, so I decided this fall to slaughter them and my wife canned all the old birds. We use the canned chicken for quick soups, etc. The goats are now all in one small barn and yard. The animal part of the barn is 8 x 8 feet and small enough for them to heat with their bodies. The other half of the barn is the milk parlor (8 x 8) and the kidding room (6 x 8). That side is heated when necessary with radiant heaters on the ceiling (to prevent fires from contact with the straw and other bedding). Water buckets are kept thawed using electric tank heaters or heated buckets, and the water is all hand-carried from the heated garage in the winter. In the summer, however, the troughs are filled using hoses and float valves. We have been using the same setup for over 10 years now and it seems to work quite well. I have dreams of having heated water to the barn and the line is in, but not used as yet. I have an on-demand propane water heater out there that is not yet hooked up. We used to keep the Boers and Nubians separate, but now combine them in the winter to save on hay, which can run from $7--$20 per bale here. Don

Your zone is very different from ours so I don't know how to answer that question. I won't use a bloom booster except as I described above to get blooms during a rare summer cold front. The reason is that our weather is so hot in the summer that the plants stop setting fruit. In fact, at our house this week, in just a couple of days, we move into that danger zone of temperatures in the mid-90s. Hopefully we won't stay there. I'd hate to think the tomato plants have already set all the fruit they are going to set this spring/summer. If your tomato plants are blooming and your daytime highs are staying below around 92-95 and your nighttime lows are staying below 70-72, you shouldn't need a bloom booster. Your plants should bloom naturally and should set fruit. I haven't used a bloom booster in years because even though our summers routinely are very hot, I usually don't need a bloom booster unless we are in prolonged drought, and we haven't had prolonged summer drought at our house since 2015, which is extremely rare. If your tomato plants are blooming and not setting fruit, perhaps your nights still are too cold (below 55 degrees). Or, if you are having normal weather and fruit should be setting in the temperatures you have but it is not, then perhaps there is a lack of wind to shake up the flowers. Tomatoes have perfect blossoms and the flowers need some movement in order for the pollen to fall from the anthers inside the flower to the stigma, also inside the flower, to achieve pollination and fertilization. If your air is very still or if wind movement is blocked by something like a building, your plants may need some help moving. There are various ways to do this. The traditional one is to thump the flower blossoms. If you have a lot of plants and they are caged, you can just walk along a row of cages giving each cage a gentle shake as you pass by. Or, if you have a tennis racket....walk along the row of plants with your tennis racket in your hand. Give each tomato cage a good whack as you walk by. That will cause the plants and their flowers to move and the pollen to move around inside the flowers. You can use a bloom booster whenever you want, but don't overdo it. Too much can cause too much fruit set and then the plant has more fruit than it can carry to maturity.

Here's what I have in my file: COLD CORAL SOUP 3 large cucumbers 1 small onion, sliced 1 cup tomato juice 1 Tbs. tomato paste (don't omit, Linda LOL) 1 cup chicken broth 1 quart sour cream 1/4 cup dry fino sherry 12 small fresh basil leaves for garnish Peel the cucumbers and slice in half lengthwise. Spoon out and discard the seeds. Cut into chunks and place the cucumbers in a blender or food processor. Add the onion, tomato juice, and tomato paste, and process until pureed. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, add the broth, then whisk in the sour cream and sherry, beating until well incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. Lade into chilled soup bowl and float 2 or 3 basil leaves in each. Makes 4 to 6 servings Source: La Bonne Soupe cookbook Gazpacho via Liz Jones 1 cups chopped peeled, seeded tomato 1/2 cup finely chopped Green pepper 1/2 cup cucumber chopped and peeled and seeded 1/2 cup chopped celery 1/4 cup chopped onion 2 tsps snipped parsley 2 tsps snipped chives 1 large clove minced garlic 2 � T red wine vinegar 2 T fruity, green olive oil 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp worsterchestershire 2 cups tomato juice.stir, cover and chill at least 4 hours..over night is better My adaptations 1 T minced parsley 1 T minced fresh basil 1 T minced fresh chives�or green onion tops 2 cloves garlic through a press 1/2 tsp Fresh ground pepper 1 tsp w'shire Soup,chilled cucumber I call this Bridal Luncheon Cucumber Soup, because I have served it at several bridal luncheons. The card says it's from "Cooking Across the South" a cookbook of my daughter's. 2 large cucumbers 1 clove of garlic 1 tsp salt 1/2 Tsp dry dill weed 1 cup lemon juice 2 8 oz cartons of sour cream 2 cups half and half And milk to make it thin enough Chopped chives and cucumber slices for garnish Peel and seed the cucumber and puree in a blender. Pour in the sour cream and 1/2 and 1/2 and mix well....add milk as needed to thin if desired. Chill and serve garnished with chives and cuke slices. I also somewhere, have a recipe for a strawberry soup but that wouldn't go with what else you are having...and a recipe for a pea soup made with frozen peas And I think chicken broth and cream or sour cream....topped with julienne pea pods. Can't remember where that recipe came from nor where it could be....but it's good and beautiful!

a2gemini: Our granite is juparana oro. The backsplash tile you see there is an inexpensive 4x4 porcelain tile. Sorry I don't remember the name but we got it at Lowes a few months ago, it is made in Italy and was $0.33/tile. It was on the shelves by all the tumbled marbled stuff that I think it's supposed to mimic. We mixed it with a tumbled marble noce pencil tile throughout: And with a few handmade tiles behind the range: Good luck with your remodel!