Lots of interesting points and I also was surprised by the foods on the list, most all of them being my favorites. Annie brings up an interesting point by saying that her old doc said "we were sanitizing ourselves to death." I couldn't agree more. Growing up, I stayed with my grandmother most every weekend or school break. Another cousin that lived close by did the same and we were outside and dirty from sun up to down. We ate whatever my grandmother fixed without complaint because we were so hungry from active play EVERYTHING tasted good. She bought staples from the store like salt, sugar and flour but everything else was raised or grown on the farm. When our cousins from out-of-state came for a week or two, their mother polished and fussed about them, forcing vitamins down their throats. They were very picky eaters as well. They didn't get dirty or if they did and their mother happened to see some mud on their clothes, they were wisked off for bathing and changing. I must qualify that I do understand the difference between getting dirty and filth. We bathed every day, mind you, with clean hands and face when we sat down to eat. Anyway, long story short, those kids were sick ALL the time. Their mother felt like we "country cousins" were quite primative ;) There is no better way to ward off illness than to have clean hands and work place when dealing with food. I have had fun learning safe canning practices here as well. That does not mean I shower my home in "sterilizing" agents but certain surfaces do get a bit of bleach in the soapy water once in a while and especially my counters and sink if I have been dealing with meat. That was the way my grandmother did it all those years ago, too. I don't know, I think common sense goes a long way. Those "super bugs" are out there now thanks to over-use of everything so we do need to be cautious. I want my house to be clean, not sterile. One more point I wanted to make or comment on (and I'll try to keep this short, sorry) is the use of antibacterial soaps and antibiotics. I am a nurse and have to use the antibacterial soaps (really strong stuff) on a very regular basis. About once a year I get this horrid painful rash on my hands and the first time it happened I went to my doctor about it. Seems that the bacteria, both bad and GOOD had been wiped off my hands and allowed some kind of viral thing to happen. The same thing happens when we take antibiotics and get various yeast infections. The good bugs are there for a reason! If we need the antibiotics, I'm glad they are there because they can be life-saving. I just think they are over-prescribed and many people aren't satisfied if they come away from the doctor's office without some. Lori

I bought an Electrolux EW30IF60ISA free standing induction range 2.5 years ago. I loved it when it was working. The cooktop recently failed (there was a loud bang as I lifted my tea kettle off the hob, and then the range displayed error code 31). I don't know what conclusion you can draw about the reliability of the brand from that, but I do think that the industry shift to 1 year warranties is a bad sign. Maybe you could glean something from comparing how much manufacturers charge for extended warranties? Anyway, the error code indicates that I need to replace the left side generator board, which costs $450. Yale Appliance (where I bought the range) charged me $99 for a service technician to come to my house and read the error code, which I had told them over the phone to begin with. When the board came in, the technician came back to my house, took off the back of the range, and pointed out that there was a scorch mark on the right side board, so I'd need to replace both. Since this was adding up to more than $1000 with labor, I decided not to do it. I have since done a little poking around, and took the back off the range myself to have a closer look. It turns out that the left side generator board is actually on the right side, but that the board with the scorch mark is actually the filter board (whatever that is), which sits below the generator board. I'm going to try replacing that myself, since at this point I don't trust the service from Yale. Anyway, I'm not too happy with Electrolux right now. I think they ought to have longer warranties on these appliances, and design and build them so that they won't need to be repaired. But I suspect that all the other manufacturers have similar quality issues, so I don't know what advice to give.

I agree that very few of them beat the averages ... how could they? They have offices to run, computers, phones, postage and staff ... and buy and sell a lot of stocks, and though their fees are low, many of them pretty well turn over their whole portfolio annually. Those that do that ... have a lot of capital gain to report to you (you hope!) annually ... of which the income tax people want their, in that case, ongoing, share. And they have that management expense fee (often higher than the income tax cost) that reduces their effective rate - and they get their guaranteed rate, whether they produce or not! Also - when it comes time to sell those units, you'd better have kept records of not just your original cost ... but also of all of those declared payouts that were reivested, in order to calculate your capital gain. Many mutual funds keep track of your average cost per unit ... that works O.K. ... until they get bought out/merged, etc. and usually the new system just starts from when they took over. Have you checked Morningstar, the agency that rates them? What about learning how money works and buying individual stocks yourself? I bought shares in one of Canada's half dozen or so nationwide banks over 40 years ago for about $4.20 per share, that was paying about a dime or a bit more as annual dividend. A year ago May each of those shares was "worth" (i.e. "could be sold for") $107.00 ... but they were heavily involved with the U.S. stinky problem mortgage situation, so their price slipped down through the 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s into the 50s ... and have recovered a bit to low 60s. Some here recently said that, of course, I sold ... no, I hadn't. Partly, at the time of the high price, didn't have any idea that it would slide so far ... plus, it went from 4.5 doubles in 41 years to about 4 doubles in those years ... which, apart from the increased income via dividends over those 40 years, is a pretty good rate of growth. But if I were about to buy more bank shares, it'd be a different one, as this is not their first goof in recent years. Recently dividend rate grew from $2.80 to $3.08 to $3.48, which earlier in Canada were tax-advantaged, and recently that advantage increased substantially: so that a person with solely that kind of income went from tax-free $28,000. - 30,000. tax-free, to $46,345. tax-free, an increase of over 60% in one year. Further ... I've subscribed to what I consider Canada's best personal money management magazine for quite a number of years, that carries no ads, is pretty well all text - and the writers respond to subscribers' questions. Local subscribers meet regularly in about 40 places across Canada and I've met with about 20 others monthly here for about 8 years or so: many perspectives and I've learned a lot, there. Cost? Gas to get there, wear and tear on the car - plus, time ... a couple of hours a month, and another at the coffee house after, with a few of the guys and gals. If I'd put that $4.20 into the average even equity-based mutual fund 41 years ago, would the size of that asset have doubled that well? Rather doubtful, I think. A couple of mine have - several haven't. But I don't want to dump 'em this year, due to forced sale of a major holding - Canada's largest telco going private (damn it!). And that's with the income reinvested - and my shares paid me dividends quarterly, with frequent increases, for 41 years. However - the big proviso - the average growth rate has not been that good. I've avoided some taxes as I went along, but that piper will have to be paid, one of these days. Whether while I'm alive ... or for my executor to take care of, before dispersal of my estate to my kids and charities. Had I put that $4.20 into a bank account, GIC, bond, etc. where the number of dollars of principal has been guaranteed, would I have developed any such result? No way! Apart altogether from the tax advantages in the equity-based game (whether of the mutual fund or individual investment variety)! Did I say earlier ... that I prefer to run my own show? Further ... though it was 60 years ago, I grew up on a farm, and farmers are used to irregular income, with loss of some potential income when a cow dies, or reduced yields due to drought or flood (but the price of diesel fuel, fertilizer had to be paid, regardless). And seasonal income, for many. How many town folks could handle getting paid once or twice a year? Plus, they manipulate not only capital, but labour - to repair the tractor, or trade it on a bigger one? Which would require getting bigger tillage equipment, as well. Put a new roof on the barn, this year ... or build it larger? Farmers were much more used to uncertainty than city folks. Or, rather, than city folks used to be. Now, with pensions shrinking and disappearing like fog in the morning sun ... and, in many areas, the values of one's equity in one's owned home (well, "partly-owned", considering the mortgage), and with employment being uncertain, with full-time work scarcer, there have been major changes in the economic picture for city folks, as well. Back up and look at the far horizon ... occasionally, at least. Good wishes for increasingly more effective use of not only your income, but of your assets, as well. ole joyful

Thanks Dave! Good to hear they do so well for you! I'll keep that in mind if I add any more, and keep an eye on 'Graham' and 'Celebration'. Is that 'The Pilgrim' by chance in your ideabook? The ones you have are gorgeous. Pots are even easier than digging holes, Rosecanadian! If you have an empty pot, why not? HMF had the fragrance as "Strong, anise, licorice fragrance," but I don't remember it as licorice-y. Maybe more like star anise? A rose that smelled like fresh spices would definitely be a favorite of mine, so that's possibly what I'm remembering.