(Leslie here... addicted as always) Wonderpets... I found a link on the 'Bed Bath and Beyond' website to a mortar and pestle set that's identical to the one I use. It's made of marble, and costs only 13 bucks. Here's the URL to that link... http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=10177863 BUT...they have another set, made of granite, which I think would work even better for eggshells.(Wider diameter, made of bulkier material, more spendy though) See... http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16041807 (I really like that one) Whatever you do, make sure you get one that is hefty and has some serious weight to it. As thin as eggshells appear to be, it takes a surprising amount of force to beat them into actual dust after grinding them into tiny bits. Trust me, you want the heaviest and most durable material you can find. Natural stone works perfectly for this. I can give you more tips on the fine art of pulverizing eggshells if you want. I squish them up in my hands first. Toss a few in the bowl, (don't fill it too full because you want them to be somewhat vulnerable to the hardness of the stone. Too many acts almost like a mattress) and start by grinding them into small bits. (This is like a rolling motion; you're just rubbing the surface of one stone against another stone, with egg shells in between.) Once I get them into smaller pieces, I continually shake the bowl back and forth horizontally across the counter; this brings the larger pieces up to the surface; the dusty stuff stays towards the bottom, acts as a buffer, (mattress) and allows you REALLY smack the bigger chunks HARD, without having to worry about striking stone against bare stone. Eggshells have no choice but to disintegrate upon sharp impact like this. (Yes, at this point, I basically hit them as I would with a hammer... so the 'mattress layer' protects the stone from any damage.) I probably wouldn't try this with ceramic material, definitely not glass... and I'm afraid metal might actually dent up from repetitive abuse of this nature. The marble one I use tolerates these beatings beautifully, with no ill effects whatsoever. I only wish the bowl was a little bigger, and also... fatter, heavier stone would just speed the process, and require less effort from whomever is doing the actual pulverizing. Oh and Laura... you have me pegged. I'm up to my ears in 'experiments' around here. Of those eight piles, I've managed to keep 4 in the 125-150 degree range for almost two weeks now. They are melting amazingly fast... My plan is to 'process' the contents of four cold piles through the hot piles as they go down; adding greens, and minding my ratios as I go. AND no bad smells or anything! Truly, I having a blast with this forum and all my compost-related adventures!!! I've just finished sculpting a decent sized hole in the ground to use as a fire pit... because I feel convinced I can fill this hole with sand, line it with rocks, and and use it to make some version of 'bio-char'. I have buckets of experimental 'bug juice' brewing... molasses tea. I've been prowling around the national forest too, in search of indigenous bacteria. (People dump huge piles of yard wast out there too, which I've been more than happy to scoop up while I'm there.) I built a very cool sifting table, which so far... I've been using to sift old, partially decomposed wood/bark mulch, but soon will use it to sift compost also. I've got one empty wire cage left, before I would need to cut into a new roll to make more. I've sworn to my boyfriend that I wouldn't keep more than these 9 bins going at once... but... you know how that goes. Found a source for free Alpaca poo yesterday... might be worth cutting into that new roll after all. :) Leslie in CO

Insecticidal soaps usually work on scale. Be sure you continue to spray as directed on the bottle. I think you will have to do multiple sprays, as new eggs hatch out, to catch all the yuckies.

Hmmm. I only get error message from that link. But, instead of an Australian insect, how about considering a US resident -- various common names are flower fly, hover fly, and syrphid fly. Here's an account that includes an image of an egg alongside an aphid and various cast skins. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/NE/syrphid_flies.html Here is a link that might be useful: syrphid fly -- at UC

Lol, Bunny :) The crust is the only actual recipe; the quiche is just s method… 4 eggs beaten with 3/4 cup heavy cream with salt and pepper and whatever herbs you like, poured into a parbaked crust lined with shredded cheese and whatever else you want. This is a double crust recipe; for chicken or ham and leek pie i use it all, but for quiche I freeze half the dough. 2 1/2 cups sifted AP flour quarter cup grated Parmesan 12 tblsp salted butter (or equal amount of unsalted butter and a tsp table salt) 1/2 cup sour cream 1 egg at room temp In a food processor, pulse flour (and salt if you’re using unsalted butter) and parmesan til combined. Add in cold butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces and pulse until butter is pea sized Combine sour cream and beaten egg, then add half to the flour mixture and pulse five or six times, then add the rest and pulse until a dough begins to form. I put a piece of plastic wrap on the counter and dump the dough into it, then bring it together by pulling the sides of the plastic in towards the center. (it’s easier than handling it and oreserves the butter temp better.) Divide the dough equally and form into disks, wrap and refrigerate for an hour, or put one in the freezer for future use.