Help him to make some bread, or scones, or even fresh pasta, keeping one lot plain, the other with herbs added. Savoury crackers are another way of doing it. Another very simple idea is a jug of water, one just water, one with a sprig of mint, or lemon balm in it. Taste the difference! He could experiment with other herbs, too, like ordinary tea, basil, thyme, rosemary, whatever. Tell him he'll be making a cold-water infusion. That should blind him with science! He could have a row of jugs with a different herb in each, and little plastic medicine cups for taste-testing. He could, of course, make a real tea, using boiling water poured over the herb. He won't need to wait so long then for the flavours to infuse. Put a fresh sprig of the herb in the water for decorative purposes. Don't forget to label each jug so he can remember which herb is what. Get some cream cheese. Make cheese balls. Keep some plain, to the others, in small batches, add an assortment of herbs, or just roll the balls in the herbs. Parsley, chervil, chives, sesame seeds, garlic (or garlic chives), paprika are some suggestions. Make a small batch of spaghetti bolognese sauce, minus onion, basil etc. Just the meat and tomato base. Then take half of it and add in the herbs. Taste the difference!

I am a teacher, and we did an experiment like this last year in my 4th grade science class. It went like this: We took two common Dieffenbachia plants, both potted in ordinary (no added fertilizers) potting soil. Over a period of weeks, we added some all-purpose fertilizer to just one of the plants. Both plants were getting the same regular water and sitting in the same windowsill. The fertilized plant seemed to put on a little more growth. Nothing outstanding. Then, after 6 weeks or something like that, we stopped watering both plants, and watched to see how long it took for signs of distress to appear. The results were striking. The plant without fertilizer quickly started to droop and turn brown with no water. The fertilized plant kept its color and form many times longer, only starting to show stress about the time that the other plant looked almost completely dead. It was interesting. Hope that gives you some ideas. Heck, take the whole experiment if you want. I hope your son does well. good luck!

Thank you so much for your thoughts. We do not have a drain lever. It is the type that you just lift and turn the actual drain cover....in the bottom of the tub. Wish I had more technical name for it. Not sure about the shower valve cover plate. Will have to look into that further. Let me ask this. It is my understanding that grout will allow water through. It is not water tight. This home is less than 2 years old. If water is expected to get through grout then there must be something in place to make sure that the water that does escape through grout does not turn into a leak. If in fact the water is escaping through grout as that is what we have concluded here...what could have gone wrong? Could tile be improperly installed? Was something not done that should have been done? How will we be able to tell? Thank you in advance for any thoughts you have.

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions! It's so strange that the first mood board did not appear. Here it is again. I might use the first light (since it's already been purchased) in this bedroom. mamorella: I love that crown light from Shades of Light. I was actually thinking about putting it in my study but it's a little too small. It's gorgeous though!