The two fruitless olives to consider are "Swan Hill" or "Wilson's" (Olea europaea wilsonii). They will be labeled and although you may see flowers, they don't produce viable pollen so no fruit. You might also consider Mastic, a small/medium sized evergreen tree. Several of the trees you mentioned above are deciduous (loses leaves in winter), which may or may not be a consideration for you. Eucalyptus microtheca - grows to 30 or 40 feet tall and wide. Mexican redbud - this tree is deciduous and may be difficult to find Monk's Pepper (Vitex agnus-castus) - spikes of purple, pink or white flowers are followed by small BB sized seeds. Deciduous in winter. Texas redbud - deciduous Here is a link to a site that has over 600 plants and a great search feature that will help you with your tree choices. Here is a link that might be useful: Water Wise Landsaping

DL, To remove the peel after cooking, you use a food mill or sieve, yes? If you like it not too smooth, I'd suggest peeling and coring the apples first. (And chop roughly, or even finely in food processor.) That way you can cook it as much or as little as you like to get a good consistency with some "body" left in it. Stop cooking when it's just a little LESS smooth than you want it, since it'll cook a bit more when you process. I'm one of those who recommends a mix of apple types for best flavour (and for an interesting texture, as some will soften more and sooner). Of the kinds you mentioned, Granny Smith and Jonagold are pretty sturdy. Macintoshes a bit less so but hold up OK. Their flavour makes a very nice sauce, IMHO. Delicious will definitely soften quickly. If it comes out more tart than you like it from the varieties you choose (e.g. including some Granny Smiths), you can just add a little sweetener (sugar, or honey). Life is too short not to have applesauce the way you like it! Good luck! Z

Hi, I quote your original post: "We took the energy and time to level the ceiling, put up new drywall etc... We then sealed it with an oil based sealer/primer. Waited a few days, then proceeded to paint on a laytex ceiling paint. " You directly state you used an oil based sealer primer. Show us a picture of the labels on the cans. There must be some product incompatibility going on. Rough texture shouldn't appear out of nowhere. When there's a problem I always suspect that the first coats were not allowed to dry fully, esp. if the primer was oil. If it is uncured it will cause mischief with the finish coat, esp. flat latex. Putting more coats on top to affect a remedy actually makes it worse. I'd let it dry a good long time and see what happens. Another thought: you absolutely never put oil primer over new plaster- the caustic components turn the oil in the paint to soap and it peels right off. If the drywall job involved a large quantity of setting-type joint compound, the house is unheated, and the work was finished immediately before painting, then that's a possibility; the moisture still inside the not-fully-cured Durabond is reacting with the oil primer. Casey

With respect to the duct diameter: There have been rules for commercial kitchen ventilation ducts that attempt to minimize the amount of grease that condenses on the duct walls (a bigger problem for commercial kitchens than residential kitchens, but still relevant). The goal was an air velocity of 1500 ft/minute, as I recall. Commercial systems typically run at one speed, so this would correspond to full power. More recent study suggests that higher speeds are better for warm ducts, and lower for cold ducts to reduce duct wall impingement due to turbulence. In any case, the flow rate (CFM) divided by the duct cross-sectional area (sq. ft.) yields velocity in ft/min. What will the flow rate be, he asked? Well, we might guess that a 600 cfm rated blower having to pull/push air through a duct at 1000 ft/min and through hood transitions, the silencer, and the baffles, against some (hopefully small but unlikely to be zero) house negative pressure, will only move an amount well under 600 cfm. One would need a fan curve to calculate net flow rate, assuming that one knew all the losses including the baffle loss as a function of flow. Lacking that, I would assume maybe 450 cfm max, given a screened open window equivalent for the MUA, and that the duct is fairly short. 450 cfm in an 8-inch duct (0.4 sq. ft.) is 1125 ft/min -- a good value for the desired span of flow velocities. I wouldn't use a 10-inch duct unless there were a near-term intent to upgrade the range and the hood to a larger size. You can fit an 8-inch silencer more easily into the six feet of duct length that you have. With respect to in-line vs. roof blowers: In this case where there is not a lot of duct length to play with, the possible need for offsets to get the blower away from the edge of the roof, and given the weight of an in-line blower that would have to be supported somehow in the duct length, and maybe some day repaired, I would tend to prefer a roof blower, unless there were some overarching reason for not mounting on the roof. kas