Hi Mike! Thanks, :-) That's Goober. Worlds biggest pain in the butt, spoiled brat, love bug. lol... My process? I guess you could say I'm a organized mess. lol.. I have been sifting a bag of bark twice to make sure to get all that I can use out of it. I make different mixes for the different types of plants and where they are. Inside or out.. I'm mainly using pine bark, and because it's more flat in nature, 3/8" to 1/8" is O.K. for the gritty mix, and 3/8" to dust is O.K. for the 5-1-1. (1/2" to dust can be used for the 5-1-1 too, but I don't like the bigger pieces of bark) If using fir bark, 1/4" would be used for both mixes. The left over bark that does NOT go through becomes mulch. As you know, I tired to break it down for use in the mix in my blender, but that did NOT work so well. lol! I have 3 garden beds, and I like to mulch containers too. We do get hot here. ;-) So none goes to waste. A few pieces have also been thrown in the grill to help get it started, sap wood too ;-). lol. What DOES go through the 3/8" will be sifted over 1/8" to remove all the smallest particles. That is set aside and used in various ways. It's great for seed cover in the garden beds, or added back to the bark for the 5-1-1 instead of peat. After the very small has been removed like mentioned above I will have clean bark ready for different needs. If it's a very small container, like for a succulent, I like to sift it over 1/4"(and use 1/4-1/8")I don't like or want large pieces of bark in a 3" pot, and my plants do fine with it. If it's to be used for the 5-1-1 It will be ready to use, and I would add back in the less than 1/8" pieces, to powder, in place of peat. O.K. , so does this make sense? I haven't had my coffee yet. ;-) I'm glad to hear this has been of some help to some of your friends! JoJocolor>

"New code requires neutrals at all switch legs" If you rn the feed to the switches you do notneed to be concerned with switch loops since you wil lnot be using them. The hot feed goes to both switches. The switched side goes to each light, along with a neutral. All the neutral in the switch box are tied together. All the grounds in the switch box are tied together (and to the switch grounding screws and the box if it is metal). Each switch then feeds a 2-conductor cable (with ground) that feeds a bank of lights one after another. Each light is placed across the now switched hhot and the neutral. There are no 'switch loops' and all you need is 2 conductor cable.

Found another Ins. Co. and signed a new policy (same coverage and price), they have the inspection report and the cloth wiring wasn't an issue. Our agent mentioned that they would be doing their own inspection. Talked to our original agent, she wanted to know who the carrier was. I told her, she said she had talked to them as well and they wouldn't cover my house due to the wiring. She has a feeling the new policy will be cancelled as well. Not sure what to do, we have a mortgage and the bank requires us to have insurance. Replacing the wiring would be a major headache, financially and physically, as the walls are plaster lathe and there is no crawl space to access any wires.

Yeah - I obviously don't know the terminology. Apologies for that. I have wired in my previous two switches (a 15w light fixture and a garbage disposal) to the two-switch "yoke" (?) on the left. That is working fine. I just screwed in the dimmer switch to fill the gap and see how it'll look, though it isn't hooked up to anything yet. Here's what it looks like now: I didn't realize that work box volume was factor, either. Do they make 2-gang old work boxes can accommodate what I'm going for? I know that typically you run power to a dimmer first, then the transformer, and then the lights. But the power supply I bought from Armacost is not an AC compatible dimmer. It will only work with 12V DC voltage. Therefore I have to go: 120V Line - Transformer - Dimmer - Lights I'm wondering: can I hardwire in 14/2 romex from the transformer to the line voltage in that same work box? Then run 16 AWG back to the dimmer, then 16 AWG to my lights? Seems real tedious but I don't see how I can do it differently, given what I'm working with.