Apoligies for bringing up an ancient post. The "Cowboy Charcoal Mesquite Wood Chips" potato chip bag size are I believe just that. Wood Chips not Charcoal Chips. Used for getting wet and smoking and flavoring food. I remembered seeing smaller bags of "stuff" next to charcoal and I think this is what it is. Sorry for the bad news, we will just have to buy the big bags and crush. As for crushing. Please, please, please do not breath the dust. Wetting will cut the dust and soften the charcoal making crushing easier. Many people are presently hard at work making small cookstoves that use only a tiny bit of wood and leave charcoal. http://worldstove.com/products/the-beaner-backpacking-stove/ is one brand. It has had poor reviews in backpacking forums. So don't buy it. It is a tiny example of the important aspect of charcoal making of burning off the released gasses so they do not pollute. The gasses released by the charcoal actually burn. Burners that use less wood are very important in places where wood is scarce and women have to search long distance for it and are subject to grave dangers and death. The secret of biochar is not what it is but what it is not. The empty spaces are the gold. The wee beasties do all the work. The nooks and crannies like a good english muffin provide the surface area. Like much of the sea is baron until a shipwreck which draws sea life. Biochar is an island of microscopic life. I'm interested in how to get the biochar dirty or life filled to do its job. May toss some into bokashi before the vermicomposting bin. I have made, am and will in the future make a few small batches. 1/4 acre here too. I will soon buy lump charcoal also. To put in the worm bin. I may not crush. Biochar is charcoal made for the express purpose of putting into soil. Process are still being worked on to bring biochar production into this century. The key is to make biochar without making polution. The idea is to use the offgasses to good use. They are valuable resourses too. Biochar like a baby is temporarily resource hungry before it begins giving back to society. But it is not a picky eater. BSFL waste drippings, pig waste, the yuckier the better. Biochar provides a home for the good guys in the soil. Without the good guys the soil has either bad guys or is dead. Living soil grows good plants.

Here's ours, which still is not used as a desk, although we're getting closer now that the construction tools aren't here as much. I never thought it should be desk height, but DH did and he won. We have the swiveling t.v. over it so if HE wanted to, he could look at it from chair I think. We still have to decide on an appropriate chair. Currently we have a wastebasket and dog bowls under it. Cute, yes? Items jump from that lower surface to the upper one constantly. I had hoped that it would be a barrier, but it's not. In my thinking, we might as well have had entire surface flat. Cork board between cabinet and desk is now used less decoratively. It's a working message center. That's where calendar hangs, thank-you notes and such are posted and oddball coupons get put. Although there's a "pencil drawer" we keep a pencil mug on the desk. Cabinet above desk is 16 inches deep--allows notebooks for financial statements, phone books, etc. Top shelf is unrelated storage of party gear. A permanently mounted power strip at front of bottom shelf of this cab allows DH to put chargers in here and let cord dangle down so that the device is seen and not forgotten once it is charged. He can turn off power to all chargers with one switch. Lobby is to left of desk. I'm trying to put "things going elsewhere" into the shelves in the closet in lobby instead of on desk--lib. books, stuff for Mom's sr. residence, things going to friends, etc. Otherwise, they accumulate on desk. But that's fine with me--better there than in the rest of the kitchen where they used to cluster, esp on top of refrig. because that was by front door. Because the peninsula is right there next to the desk, I would rather spread out on that to do any work with pencil and paper, but then, I'm a person who needs special glasses to focus on arm's length stuff, so I suppose that little desk just looks like too much work--easier to stand and write at peninsula with my multifocus lenses and squint. I clear pencils and paper and calendar and address book off the peninsula at least twice a day and plunk them back on HIS desk. Computer will never be used at desk, I'm sure. (It moves between peninsula and dining table all the time.) Telephone holder lives on desk, at least for now. I'm hoping to get it wired into a place on wall closer to dining room, but until then, it's here. This cordless phone is another thing that hides throughout the kitchen and has to be put away on desk when I spy it. One benefit of this space: For parties, we can clean off the desk and bulletin board, put up a sign or something decorative like this framed piece, then put beverages here. Keeps traffic out of kitchen. Remember--this is Formica, so it's not going to mind.

I think you have to be really careful with outdoor chairs since many of those shown are metal. Unless the cushions are extremely soft and thick, that metal is too hard on old bones for extended period of time. I have Braxton Culler chairs in my kitchen because they were the most comfortable I found on my trip to NC. Even the high end dining chairs like Baker were uncomfortable to me to sit in for a long period. The chair in the link below is Braxton Culler, which, I'll admit, is not cheap (I'm not sure of the cost but their products are generally not inexpensive), but since she'll need only one, it may be doable. I can see her sitting in it all day. Dee Here is a link that might be useful: Braxton Culler chair

Thanks for the replies. No, they are not Elfa or Ikea - at least not that I could find. I searched both of those sites. In my observation, and from the 50 or so given to me, the plastic does not break on these. These are almost 20 years old. The plastic is not weak or tired - I examined them closely - it is flexible and intact and they function perfectly. They are much easier to install and perform better than the claw type. Believe me, I tend to over-think and over-research everything before doing a project and this has not been a hurry-up-and-slam-them-in type thing. I researched beforehand, I measured and double-checked everything beforehand, my shelves are level, they are mounted in studs, and they are mounted correctly. The claw type, when inserted and used exactly according to the manufacturer's instructions, still require some flexing and bending in order to get the base of the bracket mounted high enough underneath the shelf so that the shelf is level. These are much easier for a number of reasons and I would like to get some more. I thought this would be a good place because I know a lot of DIYers come through this site. If anyone recognizes them and knows who makes them, I would be most grateful. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving! Carol