sorry to bring this back up, but as an employee at college square in the garden centre, i'm a touch angry. you have to keep in mind that although the management (manager who works in floral and the garden centre + ONE full time person they have) & the horticulturist should by all rights know what they're doing, the rest of us are part-time staff dragged out from various departments inside the store and generally have no idea what we're doing. blame the training, blame the lack of initiative on SOME of the employees, but at least cut the people that deserve it some slack. we can't please everybody all the time, and when you only have 2 people on the lot (one of whom is working cash and one who's doing the seemingly never-ending task of moving everything around/watering/carrying out soil/answering questions that he or she has no idea about) there's not too much we can do about making sure every plant is fine. i'm sorry, as serious gardeners that may offend you, but every year we're short on labour and there's NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT. and that's the end of me defending myself and my company. now for examples of some of the things i HAVE done for people this year that would get me shot by my manager: -filling up 4 cartfuls of 601 petunia flats, and spending 3 hours trying to find more annuals that looked bad enough for me to justify "throwing them out" (cover story) to give to someone who just wanted to make a public space look better -giving people sale prices a week before the sale started -calling every loblaw's in ottawa (not an understatement) because a girl who cuts grass as a summer job accidently killed one particular Epic perennial that we didn't have in stock, and the person she was working for wouldn't pay her until it was replaced -signing up for classes at algonquin to actually learn more about gardening for next year when i come back to the garden centre it's not that Loblaw's as a whole is so bad and disgusting. but one person has a good experience, they share it with 1 person, if that. someone has a bad experience, they share it on a messageboard with anyone with a computer. ...sorry for the rant, but this just gets my goat.

I have the same nasty blob that shows up a couple of times a year (in the same spot) on my gravel dtiveway. If I leave it it dries out and falls apart when I shovel it away. If I remove it right away it is a slime consistency. The top a bright orange and the interior a brighter orange. It varies in appearance slightly. This last one looked like popcorn that had been tossed in a bright orange sauce. I'm glad to read the previous comments as I too thought some animal was vomiting on the driveway. The closest plants are about 6 feet away so it does not seem to be related to plants or mulch as some have suggested but who knows. If anyone has any suggestions as to where a person could learn more facts about this fungus I would appreciate that information.

Ha ha. Three years later, reviving this thread again. I searched THS for well water smelling like sulphur and this thread brings back memories of much worse smells. Around the time this thread started (wish I'd seen this then!) we were re-doing our master bathroom. One of the guys would arrive in the morning and do a #2 in the other upstairs bathroom which was the only one with a shower at the time. We HAD to use it to get ready for work! He NEVER used the fan. It smelled HORRIBLE. He knew we had a powder room downstairs. The thing is, my husband and I kept complaining to each other, but we didn't say anything to this guy. We counted the days until he'd be gone, and we made sure someone was already in that bathroom when he got to our house, so he couldn't use it. I know it's hard to talk about these things with people. But we gotta say something to these people. That's really the solution. And contractors should think about their customer service in all aspects. Our "business" always smells worse to others than to ourselves, you know! So many years later I think of this contractor and I immediately think of his poop. I'm sure that's not the impression he wanted to leave? I admit I never noticed anything about their handwashing. Our bodies have how many trillions of bacteria already in us and on us? I know we might like to think of our bodies as sanitized temples, but I'm not sure there's anything else in my house that's grosser than what's in my own body, to be honest. Well, uh the litterbox ... speaking of smells I need motion-activated fan for that!

molanic, amen. I truly believe all of us here love our cats and only want what's best for them, given our resources and abilities. I just realized this thread was in the home decorating forum! :) Well, it is in the "Discussions" section. I didn't realize there was a pets forum. I actually like having OT discussions with the regular GW members. As I mentioned in my OP, the catalyst for my wet food quest was my friend's cat almost dying from a urinary blockage. Fortunately, he survived, at considerable $$$ expense. He was put on a strictly wet diet by the vet. My friend "W" and I talked about it at length, I trust her, and I adore her cat. Online I read from a variety of sources and all signs pointed to wet being better for cats, hands down. So here I am, trying to do the right thing by my dear kitties. I'm not gonna give up, but neither am I gonna stress the entire household. We'll get there eventually. Zephyr is on presnisolone which can (and does) cause weight gain. He's not obese, but it's at his upper limit. My vet is very strict about cats' weight. His twin, Bessie, is small and lithe. She has the typical sagging stomach, but it's not fat. They eat the same food although I'm sure Z helps himself to some of hers. Me, I've been about a size 4 my entire life. :)