happycthulhu, I gotta tell you that you are pumping too much power through your water. Too much force destroys the fungi. The fungi body is much bigger and longer than bacteria. Bacteria are way way way smaller than fungi. If you push too much force through the water you break up (kill) the fungi. Fungi just cannot take the force. So while it might seem like a good idea to really get the water rolling hard this is not, I repeat NOT a good thing. Most of us who make aerated tea want fungi as well as bacteria. Also, becuse fungi are so much larger do not use pantyhose as a holder of the compost. The openings are just too small for the funji to pass well into the water. The same holds true for pillow cases. The thread count is so tight that only bacteria can go through. If you combine the extremely small holes of some materials along with even a moderate amount of sediment inside the poors of the bag and you might not even get bacteria passing through to the water. This is why a paint filter is such a good idea. The openings are plenty big while still holding the compost inside. I have found the paint filters from Doit Center are better than the ones from OSH. I have so much less sediment in my bucket when I use the bags from Doit Center. Remember, people like Deuley have taken the time to actually look at the level of microbial life in their tea's and have provided us with some very solid data. I gotta believe that when they say not to do something, then don't do it. Not only am I not smarter than some of these people but they have the equipment to actually test their product and determine the method that provides the best result for such a little cost. My setup cost around $30. Only time will tell if aerated tea will be helpful to my garden, but somehow it seems to me that this is a pretty good idea. Even leeche (I don't know if I am spelling that one right) is a good idea. That has been used by farmers for thousands of years. I gotta believe if people had the ability to make aerated compost tea back then they would have been doing it too. When Deuley says he gets better results using pond water, then it is better to use pond water. I just don't have access to pond water. When Deuley says to beware of chlorine or Chloramine, you better beware of them. You can aerate chlorine out of the water but not chloramine. Chloramine can only be taken out of the water by special drops you can buy at pet stores. You should call your local water district to make sure which kind of chemical they use to treat your water. People like Deuley have provided us with some very good information free of charge. There is no way I could ever come up with such a simple, and low cost way, of making this stuff - let alone thinking of it in the first place. Let's be wise and follow what they say. happycthulhu, you gotta put a restrictor of some kind on the air you are pushing through the water. You are literally pulverizing the fungi. At least it looks like it to me from the pic. A video would give us a better idea of just how hard the water is moving in your tub. The microbes need oxygen for sure but it appears to me that you have gone to the extreme and are doing more damage than good. In this situation you have gone way past "if a little is good then more is better" and gone to the other extreme, to the point of too much is not good. If people us a pump sprayer to put their tea on the plants, be sure to use the opening that gives you the largest water dropletts. This s important for two reasons: Creating larger water dropplets means that the tea is not evaporating as fast. This means that the plant has a chance to absorbe more of the tea. And this is one of the reasons why I make tea in the first place (along with the pest control properties). Second, because fungi are so big if you use an opening that is too small you will break them up into little pieces by using an opening that creates too fine a mist. You want the tea on the plant as long as possible, which means big dropletts. Pump sprayers are a good idea because they let you get both the top of the leaves and under the leaves. I just use the drench method using a watering can because it is easier for me. The idea is to "steep" your tea, not create an avalance of air. Just because they are small does not mean they are indestructible. Tom

Mary_lu, the bookcases are indeed built in. I thought about painting them - or even just painting the inside portions - but I am so hesitant to paint that old wood! I think for now I will concentrate on bringing in ironstone pieces and just generally tweaking the books and decor displayed there. Something I just realized last night is that I'm displaying a lot of sentimental items there - photos of babies who are actually big ol' kids now, little stuffed animals and books from my childhood ... and while those things are very special to me, I feel they're not quite conveying the overall look I'm envisioning, because they're not cohesive (if that makes sense). But how does a person pack them away? That will be hard to do! ;-) Oakley, I do like your suggestion to paint the fireplace a creamy white. I can envision that more easily than I can doing it in green - plus, I think you're right that it would brighten the room better than the green would. I know what you mean about the impact folded, stacked quilts have in a room! I used to have an old hutch that I displayed quilts in (it's long gone now though). I want to keep the quilts that I'm currently displaying on quilt racks though, since my Grannie made one and her mother made the other, and I'd be just devastated if one of the cats decided to do something "naughty" on them. I might look for some old cutter quilts though to fold and display somewhere in the room. My wheels keep turning! I think I can turn this into a much cuter, cozier space. I feel like I've been neglecting the upstairs while I focused on painting downstairs these past few months.

Autum it can be staggering on the cost of lots in some areas. We are really low end here from about 12K for a city lot which are 50 by 150 ish. They vary. We bought half an acre for 19K. Wish it was smaller but to get what we wanted on the lot we needed this much because it is a triangle. So we ended up with more dreaded lawn than I wanted. My friend has two houses one huge at 6 bedrooms two story.Daylight basement being one of the stories. Barns out buildings and a second smaller two bedroom house all on almost 10 acres for 160K. So on the other end of the scale there are places going pretty darn cheep. Certainly more than we want to deal with no matter how inexpensive. As far as DIY it is so much harder as you say the older you get. Some thing that I could easily do in an hour and not even batting an eye takes me so much longer now and I some times have to think if it is even worth it. And with my DH 10 years older then I am I can not always ask for his help now as I need to consider if it will cause him as much pain if not more than me. I was just thinking today to get it all done as fast as I can now or seriously consider hiring some one to help me. I just hired a guy the other day to lay some pavers in the dogs yard to lower the mud level in the house this winter. There was just one little corner needing to be finished filled in.He lifted and carried four pavers at a time when I would struggle with carrying ONE. And my knee does not work=bend like it should any more. Needs surgery I have to wait on. My ankle is still healing from a fall a year ago.I struggled to carry an end table this morning to move it from one room to another. A few years ago it was not hard to move.And I still have not finished painting the inside of our house and usually I have a house painted inside and out in the first year. This was a new house but builders paint is crappy. NOW the outside needs painting too. Next year and we all will get to decide what colors. So glad this is a small house. The cost of paint is staggering now and where I buy it in Oregon they added two dollars a gallon fee for?? some thing about the environment.GGGRRRRRRRR

Floor guy did not come today, so we are not as done as I anticipated yesterday. Which is a good thing, because I forgot that the router/cable modem/computer/phone/wifi/tv is all attached to a cable coming out of the FLOOR in the first corner he'd come to. So tomorrow, soon after the dentist visit, I buy a 50 foot length of ended coax to replace the one we must cut off. Then, I shall run a new coax from the IN-box splitter on wall near elec meter, up into the attic and across and down to the closet hiding the electronics. That is because the electrician told me they'd be back when the LAST TOUCHES were being done....things like mounting the TV, the electronics in the closet, and now I must run the line myself because of the floors. I hate when that happens, don't you? I might just call him in the morning after the dentist trip, see what he (the electrician) suggests. I know they have about 4 crews all working, and all 4 crews settled on us to get the house old wiring replaced and new areas of house wired ready to accept fixtures and appliances. ...all in one day....my head spun for two days. (You cannot imagine how great it is to have all safe wiring that can carry the load plus conveniently located.) I don't see why I cannot change and reroute the deal myself. First and probably ONLY obstacle to completion would be getting up there and through the attic and back down to the new hall closet. It might take one of the (younger) electricians an hour at most to complete it. But me? Honey, we are looking at all day if I'm lucky. I'll see what happens tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm charging my Kindle Fire to play Mahjong and Freecell and go to bed early. My back is killing me from sleeping on the sofa. (And that's the way life is in the remodel with owners in residence)....... really a learning experience.....thank heaven that I was prepared by Smaller Homes Forum for the last umpteen years....2002 comes to mind....but maybe that was when I began posting on Alabama Garden Forum here.....time flies.....so much for a reality show on HGTV, never in a hundred years could a remodel be done so quickly. Not in the real world. Maybe I need to watch DIY? Or visit Smaller Homes Forum for the real story. ....among friends.....over a cup of tea. Love you all.