Jay, you have described this "addiction/dish-ease" to a "T"!! We can so relate!! The one down part of all of this though is that when I get invited somewhere else for a meal and the food is super-delicious but no effort has been put into the table, I feel kind of "let-down". Of couse, I would never say anything and maybe it is because all of my friends/family say they can't "compete" (with me)so they don't try! Does anyone else feel like that? Printer - Enjoy your "ME" time - I know I just love having the house to myself when DH is away - it is fun to "play"! DD

Wow! So fortunate to be blessed with people like this in our world!!! And such a contrast to the puppy mills out there! Thank you for sharing. I have passed this on to everyone I know! Namaste Ginny

Rather than one person/household getting one generator on their own, it seems to me to make sense for half a dozen near neighbours to get a somewhat larger one together ... which would mean that it would be probable that at least one of the six would have a place to store it. Usually when there's a prolonged power outage, at least some of the people concerned would not be going to work and could haul it around from house to house to plug in for some power - four hours or so of the 24 (or, if four owners, six hours per household). If someone moves away or does not wish to continue to participate, either the others of the crew have a waiting list, or go looking for a replacement at the time ... or kick in enough cash each to buy out the departing person's share. A number of local farmers bought a generator that they drive from the tractor, and have a switch-over at their service pole, so that they can disengage the power from the line and plug it in to the generator hook-up. That would make sense, for when I went from house to house generating in a power outage in this area (ice storm() over 30 years ago, many wanted me to hook into the furnace ... but I dared not do that, for most are hooked directly into the main service box, and if we disengaged the furnace switch, then put clamps on the line to the furnace ... and for some reason the switch back to the line got engaged ... there's no way that I want to send power back out into a line that hydro service guys understand to be dead! People get killed, that way! But if the householders could disconnect from the line, and hook easily into the generator, they could use furnace, etc. as well ... and the larger generator that several could buy when working together would allow this (not blow out a smaller generator when they tried to overload it). More rain last evening - to cause more trouble for my already blighted tomatoes! ole joyful

Which side of Toronto do you live on? Maybe this will help for soil mix components? [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/porosity-water-holding-capacity-cost-of-common-soil-components-dsvw-vd~4061703[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/porosity-water-holding-capacity-cost-of-common-soil-components-dsvw-vd~4061703) Crystal Star Orchids is a pretty fantastic place to buy succulents, but you need to make an appointment first. They have a very large variety of common and uncommon succulents and are continuously expanding their selection. Jade Greenhouses is also very good with some more unusual plants than your typical store. Another family run business that grows their own succulents. Sheridan Nurseries is usually also good. Some locations are better than others. You can try Terra, but they are overpriced and don't really know how to take care of their plants. Vandermeer Garden Center in Pickering can be good or bust. Very cheap! Valley Succulents are very nice to deal with if you are willing to mail order. They have a different selection you may not find elsewhere. Can be slow to respond sometimes, but are very friendly. Best to pick a whole bunch of plants from their website and ask what's available first. Every season I email them for interesting things I might like and they give me a short list of many that are not listed on their website. There's many more than that... last year I went to a huge number of places looking for interesting succulent species. Now that I have a pretty solid collection going on, I am only looking for specific things. =)