Update: I have a mess on my hands. Most of the tips of the leaves are dying... and I have found white mites crawling all over the top soil. Sheeh! I don't know how they got this bad this fast. I cut off all the spotted leaves and sprayed the whole plant with Gardensafe fungicide, but I think it only works on powdery Mildew on Strawberries (it's Sulfur). Any other ideas? These are the second and third potted plants I've had with mites in the soil. Can I water them with rubbing alcohol? Or, maybe I should just toss them.

If you use Mozilla Firefox browser, you can download an add-on called NoScript to block all the ads and the rolling header at top. I don't see any of it. After you get it installed, on every website you go to right click, then left click NoScript (mine is at the bottom of the list). Then if it's a site you always use and know is safe, left click "Allow all this page". If it's a new site to you, left click "Temporarily allow all this page". NoScript blocks the ads but allows the website. (Sometimes when you move around on the page, you might have to click NoScript again.) If at some time an ad appears here even though you have used "Allow all this page", right click & go to NoScript. If it says "Forbid doubleclick.net", click it, and the ads will stop again. It also stops those blue words that if your mouse moves over them take you to an ad. That's intellitxt.com. You want to make sure on the NoScript list it says "Allow intellitxt.com" which mean it's blocked. One thing that takes a while to remember is that when you go to a new website, nothing will work (no typing or clicking) until you allow (either temporarily or permanently) the page. Until you get used to it, you feel rather dopey waiting and waiting until the "Doh!" moment hits you that you need to go to NoScript. Ads are inconvenient, obnoxious things, but these "re-directs" which are embedded in the page most times without the page's knowledge can also be dangerous, taking you somewhere where a virus or trojan will infect your computer without your realizing it. But also if you're googling and you click on something, you have no idea if it's a legitimate site or a trojan waiting to happen. That's why NoScript blocks everything until you tell it to allow the page only - not any scripts/re-directs that might be attached to it. It's easy and free. I strongly recommend it. It only works on Firefox. Internet Explorer and Chrome don't have it. For me it's worth switching browsers for the protection NoScript gives. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

I got 'Aurora' at Home Depot. Just check the little succulent section every time you are there. It will show up eventually. 'Calico Hearts' is A. trigynus, maybe? Andromiscus has been easy here, but just about every succulent is easy here. Here is a link that might be useful: calico hearts plant info

Interesting. We recently moved from a 1931 house with original bathrooms. Which we never go around to renovating. They had American Standard cast iron bathtubs that were very comfortable. Angled correctly for your back, higher up so you can get a good soak, and the cast iron kept the water hot a good long time. But they were a bit gross just because the finish was so worn off. The one in the kids bathroom was even beginning to bloom rust to the surface. Our new home was built in the 1980s. The kids bath has a perfectly nice tub/shower combo. Would you believe that my (college age) DD commented on what a bad tub it is to take a bath in? The MBR has this humongous 6 foot soaking tub in cast acrylic that is actually too large to be comfortable soaking in for me, and I kid you not, takes over 20 minutes to fill with water high enough. MBR has a dormitory sized shower that is separate from huge tub. When we eventually remodel, we know we want a large and nice shower. But if I could afford a really nice bath tub, I would probably want one too. But only if I could find one as comfortable as the 1931 American Standard. Probably no way to use vintage, as those usually were set in place before the walls were up due to weight. Being a realist, I would expect to probably not have the tub. More important to have a nice shower that is safe to use as we age in place.