Although the government does not like you to do that, they consider it a landfill and want you to get permits and stuff, many gardeners do bury kitchen scraps. You need to bury them more than an inch or two, 6-8 inches is better and make sure no bones, meat, fat, or poop from animals that eat meat. There are various reasons, and exceptions to these rules I will not go into. Three methods are followed: - post hole - dig a hole with a posthole digger, dump in the scraps, cover up. - meandering trench - start a trench, as you put scraps in the trench, cover them with dirt dug from continuing the trench. - pit and trench - divide your garden, row by row, into three rows. Trench and bury in one row, plant in the second, walk in the third and repeat thru your garden. Next year plants go where the trench is this year, trench goes where you walked last year and walkway goes where you planted last year. You may want to get a composter made for what you wish to do instead. Add some leaves, sawdust, or shredded paper everytime you add kitchen scraps. If it smells you are not adding enough of the browns. Once full, let it set for another six months to a year while you start a new one. Worms will find them and take care of the real work.

Lynn we are in a very similar place about our house - it's too big for us at this stage of our lives. We use most of the square footage in some way - because it's there - but could easily manage with half ! Our youngest will be graduating from college next May and HOPEFULLY will be employed and able to support himself but who knows? Our older son works for the forest service but those gov't jobs are shakey, to say the least, so we always want to have a place where they can land if needed. So.... we keep the big old house - for now. Stuff? I reached a saturation point many years ago and continually work to pare down. But it's back to that big house thing again - I'm not going to live in empty rooms so there's still far more STUFF than I actually need. When my mom died and I helped my dad move into an apartment, tons of family stuff came my way. Eleven years later when my dad died, the rest of it came to me. We've all talked about this before - the pull of family items and how hard it is to get rid of some things. But it has to be done so over the years I've pared down to the things that have the most meaning and passed the rest on in one way or another. I have dreams (nightmares?) about moving into a small home and having boxes and furniture stacked everywhere because I didn't sort and get rid of enough before moving!! Gifts? I could write a book. Christmas at my in-laws used to make me physically ill with the insane buying and giving of cr@p. It doesn't matter to me a bit how much time is put into the shopping and wrapping, or what the item is. When someone (namely my MIL) is purchasing *stuff* because of a date on a calendar and is obsessed with getting the same # of packages for each person, because that's "just what you do for Xmas" I want no part of it. We'd been married only a short time when I told my DH that I was opting out. He was totally on board. It was a sore spot with everyone in his family for many years but we held firm. We just stopped buying. Our kids would get everything they needed and some of what they wanted all through the year at a time when it made sense to get the item, not an enormous pile o' stuff, all on one day, much of it to be returned, exchanged or donated. And that returning/exchanging all fell to me, of course. A few years of that and we started just donating everything, in the boxes, tags still on. Give me a quiet day, with my family cooking together, laughing and going for a long walk...... THAT'S the gift I want.

Caligal, it really sounds like you want to stay with your current home. However, I'll just point out that right now the inventory of foreclosed homes gives people unprecedented chances to obtain homes they could not hope to have before and many will not be able to afford in future (let's hope no more such "wonderful" home markets). I don't mean go looking just for a bigger home (although in your case some additional size would be nice), but rather a lifestyle improvement: A decent home in a location that is particularly desirable to you. You know, location, location, location. Things like good schools, a pretty sociable neighborhood, close to family, en route between friends and mall (they'll be dropping in), favorite amenities close by (cows in pastures or high-density shopping, your choice), good proximity and transportion to work. Whatever floats your boat. If you're not already in a place you'd really like to raise your children and even be happy growing old, this current opportunity to make your home there should not be passed up for any but the most important reasons.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm sort of glad we had so much cold weather - it was the perfect time to do this project. Marti8a, yes I have done everything myself EXCEPT hang 4 cabinets on the wall and move the electric for my stove! I could have gotten my son to help with the manual labor, but when I am excited about something I like working by myself. (that excitement doesn't always last till the end of the project!)It was/is a lot of work but it was fun. The frige is huge! Her name is Lucille (after my mother), but we call her 'Big Mama", lol I began by looking for a frige with bottom freezer and ice in the door. None of the single door had ice in the door. That's why I ended up with a fr8nch door. The only reason I could afford this one is because my former employer makes them and employees/retirees get a discount. And it is not really stainless, it's something called clean steel. I really like it but the ice in the door takes up a LOT of room! There is a panel on the dishwasher. I wonder if the screws will come out after all of this time. I'll see.