If only I had found out about WS sooner, now I'm scrounging in my kitchen for containers! Can't wait to get started! Thinking the nearest dollar store will have SOMETHING to get me going!! Yes dirtbert, I was planning on putting the paper pots crammed together in some kind of plastic tray with a lid, so when it is time to transplant I can just plop the whole thing in the ground without disturbing any roots. I tried starting veggies from seed indoors a couple years ago, had no idea what I was doing, spent a ton of money on seed starter packs, etc. and it was a complete and utter failure. Last year I bought some perennials from Walmart and such, but I couldn't believe the cost for such tiny plants! Can't afford to do that every year! Plus, there's just something special about starting from seed. I've been researching more and more about gardening the past couple months, and feel much better prepared to tackle my dirt this year! EEEK! Gardenweed your little sprout is just darling! One of my biggest worries, I know when they start sprouting you're supposed to take the top off your container, right? Well I know where I am, we could get spring like weather for a week or two and then suddenly plunge back into -20 C temperatures. Wouldn't this kill anything that's sprouted? LOL, here I am concerned about this and I don't have a single seed planted! I'm so excited to get started though! Hubby and daughter think I've gone off-my-rocker, but I don't care! Can't wait to see their faces in the spring when I have a ton of plants for the garden with little to no cost!!

cynanjon: Here's one. On that website when you search for bathroom hardware, 5 pages come up and each page has a couple of the open-ended ones. I was looking for Umbra specifically to find more of the ones I bought several years ago and LOVE. Not available anymore but I might have to try these open ended ones now. Think I'd mount them vertically just to make sure nothing rolls off the end. The one I have from Umbra has a metal bar the t.p. roll sits on. The bar sits in the side mounts. But it just drops down from the top and sits in. Has never popped up and out. Love not having to squeeze a roller to get it back in. Ouch! Lots of other manufacturers. I just wanted to find my old one by Umbra. Here is a link that might be useful: open end t.p. holder

I calculate that there's no comparison in this house. My rags (residue of towels long-used to the point of threadbareness, sheets, underwear, etc.) would turn white with astonishment/shock were they ever to be accorded the exclusivity of enjoying a wash cycle all to themselves ... they usually get dropped into the tub when it comes time to wash the dirty work/gardening clothes. Occasionally they may get washed in warm water, more likely cold ... but it's seldom that they get immersed in fresh water - usually it's water (and soap, with a little extra added) that was cycled through suds-saver after the whites, coloured, linens, etc. ... and dirt that precipitates out of the wash water while in the suds-saver doesn't go back into the washer, but gets flushed down the drain after the upper water has been sucked back, if I'm around to do it. The water is pulled from a well in the yard (that's too close to what used to be the barnyard - I have to bring water that I drink and use for cooking from the city). The well was expensive to construct ... but that was done many years ago, and the long-ago-rather-expensive pump needs repairs from time to time, but not in the seven years that I've known anything about it ... but the landlord takes care of that, when needed. Sometimes I need to haul in some air from the air pump in a "pig" to add to the bubble in the top of the pressure tank, to keep the pump from starting and stopping several times during the withdrawal of a small amount of water - but it's the landlord's pig, and he doesn't charge rent when I use it: he's a really nice guy! It takes a miniscule amount of electricity to produce the water in the washer to wash the clothes. Not much to run the washer for that short time, either. And during most of the year they are dried "online" ... which was the way we dried clothes long before anyone ever heard of computers or the internet. In winter, they'll be hung over a line in the basement. Some of you who read my story about reusing toilet paper, may remember that it included my observation that the regular roll of toilet paper collected some dust while not in use for several months ... well, it's about the swame story on the roll of paper towels hung under the kitchen cupboards. Enjoy what's left of this great productive (green?) summer: learn something new before Saturday, if possible, O.K.? ole joyful

@taconichills.... I have not been shy about speaking up. I fully relate and have dealt with problems which necessitated jackhammering concrete, redoing tile, ripping up crooked sub-flooring etc. My list could go on. And I certainly don’t think it’s wrong to insist on the proper installation of things and a quality build. I’m just tired. For the record, some of the subs may be sloppy, unskilled and not exactly sticklers for quality, but most of them have worked extremely hard and some have worked well into the night in almost complete darkness. Laziness has, for the most part not been one of the problems I’ve dealt with. Lackadaisical attitude towards quality - yes. Laziness - no. I’m not a drinker, but I might just start :)