WOW, Jane, you really have a "fireworks show". Now, where can I buy those? Also, how do I find room in my little gardens? I've already misplaced a plant I received as a gift this spring. Don't ask. Kay

I think it depends on what region of Germany you live in. In my area, we had "Knecht Ruprecht" who would put coal in your stocking if you were bad. But there was no registry of good or bad children. And yes, December 6th is St. Nikolaus day where boots are filled with nuts and chocolate and oranges and other goodies. :o)

I came across this site from appliance repair and they recommend the following. While it is helpful, I wish they would reference the size of washing machine so people can use it as a baseline. https://www.appliancerepairspecialists.net/blog/how-much-laundry-soap-to-use/ Here’s the breakdown of how much laundry soap to use in HE washers: HE liquid detergent= Use one tablespoon (1 TBSP) Regular detergent= Use two teaspoons (2 tsp) Powder detergent= Use two tablespoons (2 TBSP) . . . my profile washer: Bosch next 500 FL 8 kg/17.6 lb capacity ~4.0 CF with onboard heater water hardness: moderately hard detergent: Persil original liquid, Tide Free liquid and powder I did 2 full loads (towels & bed sheets) on the weekend with 2.0 TBSP liquid. This morning I compared some towels in the bathroom that were washed from this and 2 weekend ago (those towels were washed with 1.5 TBSP). The towels from 2 weekend ago were softer than those washed this weekend. After doing laundry, I did a XXsanitary cleaning of the washer and there were bubbles present, so I suspect there was soap residue left this time. Maybe the appliance repair recommendation is for 4.0 CF, so I'm going to experiment with using 1.0-1.5 TBSP (15.0-22.5 mL) to find my sweet spot.

My feeling is that you may be in color overload. It is easy to get there, especially with the thousands of colors offered. Truth is out of all the colors there are really a handful of popular colors that work. There is a paint company called C2. They don't have a ton of stores, but you can order samples online. You don't need to paint your own samples - they sell huge samples ( 18" x 24" painted color samples (not printed paper). The samples are about $5 or $6 per sample.if purchased in a store, $9.00 online. They have smaller painted cards that run $1.00 online and are free in stores. Their full fan deck is only $50.00 They have a limited selection of colors, just the "Best in Class". Using EasyRGB to look up colors that are similar to Revere Pewter in Benjamin Moore Paints I get this: 10 colors with very little variance. Using the same program but looking for colors that are similar to Revere Pewter in C2 Paints I get this: 10 colors that are similar in depth of color but have quite discernibleundertones. You are pretty much guaranteed that one will look good with your cabinets and floors. More isn't always better. Sometimes it is simply more confusing. If I were you I would probably start with the lighter colors, closer to C2 Archival For $11.00 you can get the small paint sample of all 11 colors - pick the 3 you like best and for another $30.00 get big samples and make a final decision. Easy peasy done!