Hurrah Maggie. Thanks for sharing. As you know, and thanks to your inspiration, we're on our own journey with rabbits as well. We picked up a breeding pair of NZ's on Easter (by coincidence). We're slowly processing our first litter born two weeks after Easter. Since then, we too have been experimenting with diet and valiantly searching for info - namely, a recipe for homemade pellets (wafers, whatever) to supplement with hay or dried grass. Our ideal is to rid ourselves from a dependence on feed stores, but still have healthy rabbits. We have lots of green stuff here in the Pac NW, but hay is a little trickier to make. It rains A LOT. We managed, but it was a real struggle to dry properly, and I'm not sure it is the best quality, even though its from pasture grass seed sewn this spring. They eat it though! Here's our report: Without a doubt, Mr. & Mrs. Bunny were raised on pellets. Since Mrs. Bunny was pregnant when we bought her (surprise!), we never moved her entirely from pellets, but slowly introduced greens, much to her delight. Mr. Bunny was far less receptive for a long while, but he's rather a cranky sort anyway (honest) and displays his various moods by accepting or rejecting food (and bowls) no matter what we feed him. So no real baseline sample with him! Our first litter was exposed to salad and pellets from day 1. They prefer salad to pellets and grass hay as a slightly distant third. We also treat them with toasted bread ends. I get these from a bakery I work at - no hormones, preservatives etc., just toasted whole-wheat bread. (Inspired, I experimented in the creation of a bread substance specifically for rabbits that could be more easily preserved, but later abandoned the idea). The results from our first litter were that the kits never reached a good weight until much later - even though they always had pellets available! Our biggest - now at twenty or so weeks is finally 5 lbs, though most are averaging 4.5 lbs. On the plus side, no one was ever sick or in poor health. It just took them lots longer - which cost us time, energy (and $$$ for extra housing!) When we brought this topic to the meat rabbit group on Yahoo, it was explained that our feeding program was prohibiting rapid meat development. Were surely not surprised really, but the alternative (for best results), would be a feeding more program which more resembles the "Cornish Cross Rock" practice. We're searching for a happy medium. We were fortunate enough to meet one of our state's most knowledgeable rabbit growers showing at the fair this year. She echoed the meat group and admitted that rabbits will suck down greens "like candy bars" when given the choice. (I'm not so sure this is a bad thing). She DID mention that we should ignore what others say about having to have high grade pellets. Her opinion is that the cheaper brands work just as well as the more expensive ones. As for home made foods, she recommended an old book that lists a recipe for meat production (author - Templton, we have a used copy on order). I'll share the recipe when I get the book. At least we'll know whatÂs IN those pellets - or should be according to Templeton! Mrs. Bunny just kindled 7 more kits last week, so we can make adjustments this time. The meat rabbit group often discusses diet so lots of good info there, thanks to someone here who recommended it. Again, when the book arrives I'll share the info. Thanks, Maggie for your post. How timely! LF RJ

Gosh! Guess we are just going to have to post lots of pictures for you. It means I am going to have to get my geek husband to give me a crash course in posting photos. I have tons on the camera. I live in suburbia but everyday there is a suprise. The other day while waiting for my five year old's school bus, a pileated wood pecker landed in a tree 10 feet from us. What a sight! I got goose bumps. My five year old said how pretty, then patted my arm to calm me down. - Elisabeth

We replaced our near 18 y.o. Mitsubishi in 2010 with a new Mr. Slim. Haven't got the model # handy but it's the one that runs from about 4400 btu up to 22,000 btu as required. (it's a cooling only model) . It works really well and is very quiet inside. The outside unit is virtually silent making no noise whatsoever so putting it on or near a patio is no problem whatsoever. You can't hear the fan and you can't hear the compressor at all. How they do it I don't know. However there are two things I don't like about it and you may want to consider depending on where you place the indoor unit. To clean the filters the front opens upwards like a hatchback and you may need a ladder to get them out and replace. They slide in on a curved rail.. Our old Mitsubishi I could just reach up and they slid straight down . Now it's a chore because our unit is located above the stairwell going upstairs and a ladder is a necessity and a bugger to position in front of the stairway It's also needed the blower fan in the indoor unit cleaned each summer because so much dust and dirt accumulated on the vanes that it couldn't get up to top speed.. For some reason the filters just don't filter even though they're installed correctly. Air just seems to get around them from the sides or something.. It costs about $150 to have the tech come and clean that out. If I'd known about this at the start I probably would have bought another brand. It cost about $1000 more than the other brands but had a better warranty and that sort of sold me plus the fact that the previous one had lasted so long.. but those filters are a downfall.

For all intents and purposes, your range is definitely an "island" or "peninsula" range. The half-wall will help a bit, but the majority of the effluent will still be in the open. Regarding the wall, it should be at least 9" thick -- that's the bare minimum you should have behind any open range or cooktop. If those are stairs directly behind the range, then I would be very careful about skimping on ventilation -- people going up/coming down will have anything not caught by your hood in their faces -- think billowing steam from boiling water, smoke from any browning/frying, splattering grease, etc. I'm with you on no downdraft -- they're better than nothing at all, but not much better! (Experience speaking!) They only work for items right up next to the fan -and- shorter than the top of the fan by several inches! They're also loud! (See that item in the video above -- tiny and short! Did you also notice in the video that even at the highest speed not all the steam was captured - quite a bit escaped above the fan? If that were a typical pot -- say 8 quarts or 12 quarts, even more would escape!) Regarding the need for venting...there are two primary things that affect what you need for venting: the type of cooking you do and the type of cooking appliance. Cooking is the most important with appliance second. If you do any grilling, you will need a very effective and much larger/stronger hood. If you fry, stir fry, brown meat, etc., you will need a good hood If you just steam or boil water, you will need a good hood, but the fan may not have to be as strong. Gas, especially high BTUs, will need better venting b/c of fumes and higher heat "Regular" electric still has heat, but not the gas fumes Induction does not introduce added heat from the burners, but there is still heat from the food -- much less heat overall, though BTW...others are correct, it's more expensive to vent in an open space like your situation than when against the wall. The hood is more expensive b/c it has to be finished on all 4 sides Venting can often be more difficult -- having to go up, turn a corner, and go out an exterior wall (be careful about venting through the roof) You need a bigger and stronger hood b/c you have more and stronger air currents that will make capturing the FOGSS (fumes, odors, grease, steam, smoke) more difficult....plus anything missed will quickly spread throughout the home. The lack of cabinets flanking the hood and a back wall to help corral the FOGSS is also an issue. So, how to minimize the impact since you are dead set on having the range in that location. First suggestion: Would you be wiling to leave part of the wall up? Say the width of the range + 9" to 12"? That would give you a wall to help your hood work better and to cut down on the FOGSS spreading. The hood size won't be as big an issue as well. Keep in mind that you spend far less time standing in front of your range cooking than you think -- only about 10% of your time. The rest of the time is spent prepping at counters & sink next to or across from the range (about 70%). (The other 20% is spent cleaning up -- at the cleanup sink, wiping down table & counter, loading/unloading the DW, etc.) Sizing of Hood: Width...The hood should be at least 6" wider than your cooking surface. So, for a 30" range, the hood should be at least 36" wide. This provides an extra 3" on each side. FOGGS do not just rise, they also expand as they rise. Since you don't have cabinets and a wall stopping the expansion, your hood definitely needs to be wider. (I might even consider 12" wider since it's going to be so open.) If your hood were against a wall with cabs flanking the hood, then 6" wider would be sufficient. Depth (front to back)...The hood should be 27" deep for the same reason as the width above. If your hood were against the wall, then it would only need to be 24" deep. Height...you want the hood to be able to corral the FOGSS for expelling to the outside, so the taller the hood body is, the better. Fan...I would go for at least 600cfms. Note: You might need makeup air (MUA). Some municipalities are starting to require MUA. I know you don't want something so big, but if you really want the range in the open, then one of the consequences is the need for better/bigger venting.