Leslie, How wet is your pile? I got the impression from one of your first posts that you are watering it a lot. It may be too much. If you can pick it up (and yes, I use my bare hands in my pile all the time; I just don't think that the bacteria that are interested in eating dead vegetation are going to be very interested in me) and wring a good bit of water out, it may be too wet. If it is too wet and there's a good bit of 'greens' in there, it will begin to stink after a few days. If it does, spread it out to dry or turn it more often to help it dry. If it is not too wet, I am a bit surprised that you have not gotten things to heat up in #2 yet. It seems like you should have a good pile going (plenty of size and the correct ingredients if your greens are still fresh - meaning not already composted). When I hit things right in my pile it begins to heat up over night and within two or three days it is often over 140 F (again, that's when I have gotten enough greens in with the browns and it is not too wet or too dry). But you should get some heating if you have a good bit of greens and browns (even if the ratio is not perfect) and if the wetness is anything close to correct. Your bins should be of adequate size (mine are 4 feet across and 3 feet tall and made of wire mesh as well. The rough material at the bottom of #3 should help your pile to breath. I would continue to keep my eyes open for some greens, continue as you are and trust that it will all be compost in time. Steve

Funny that you should inquire about our tumbleweed snowman today. We got some really gusty winds this morning...I saw my husband take off running out the front door...(I was wondering what was going on and then I saw that the snowman wasn't there)then I knew what was happening and I followed after him along the side fences yelling to just get the ear muffs and scarf...then noticed that the winds had also blew the rebar with it. LOL. A bit gusty indeed!!! (He had hammered the rebar into the ground thru the snowman when we first put him up). Anyway...he is gone now. :(:( I was going to take a last photo of him leaning backwards...looked like he was laughing. Oh well. Next year we plan on having a family...we are glad your family enjoyed him over the holidays. Extremely interesting that you would see him in person then in my photo on the Gardenweb. Do your inlaws live in Artesia area too? We had another storm blow through Mt Charleston & mountains at sunset-dropped snow again (we only got some rain)...you can have any snow that wants to stay on the ground out here...so far it hasn't LOL. You are right-you should have more snow in Nebraska!! 60 degrees-yikes that is a heatwave LOL. I certainly hope your ear feels better now, OUCH. My husband wears hearing aids so I can relate to that problem. It's no fun dealing with bad ears. I had a double ear infection years ago and was flying to Denver, Colorado in 5 days....YIKES...my doctor gave me some excellent antibiotics to get rid of the infections in 3 days. I had no problems thank God for that. Nice hearing from you again. I will send some snow your way now...........!

It seems like a galley kitchen without one wall...the island is taking the place of the second side of the galley. It's a nice plan and it makes it easy to access everything....while providing a pathway behind the island, so people aren't walking through your work area. I think it's much easier to work with, than an island kitchen, with appliances on the back wall. The island can become a barrier to the other spaces...this way, it's a buffer and primary prep area. Hope you find a house plan! An architect may be able to help....but either way, save lots of pictures. It's the best way to show someone what you really want :)

Gary and Elaine remind me of the couple from the Taster's Choice ads on TV years ago. Whoever writes the captions manages to find just the right item to comment on and so many times I would have missed the odd thing- like beautiful photo of an all white bathroom with the caption.... "Oh dear, our Q-Tip decanter is almost 1/5th depleted" ....and underneath the stink is a huge glass decanter full of Q-tips - well actually only 4/5ths full. That jug would easily hold over a gallon of liquid. Maire