At the big box stores if I go through the gardening entrance I frequently find myself answering questions. People are usually talking outloud to others, asking questions, so it's easy to offer unobtrusive help. How durable are the various plants, what spacing, how big they'll grow, etc. Recommending organic methods for pest control issues means one less toxic yard on the planet. On Friday I passed a woman with an interesting array of herbs and woody edible plants in her cart and remarked "your yard must be delicious!" That was enough for an interesting conversation about how we cook and the flavors we have in our gardens. I think this is like what Dorothy does so well - social interactions with strangers are good for all of us.
It seems only fair that in the same store another customer offered me advice that I could use when shopping plumbing parts. He said "you can bring it up on YouTube, there are lots of videos." My response - "I'm good with taking plumbing advice from a total stranger in the plumbing aisle." You can usually tell who is at sea working on their home project and who is there for a specific piece they know they need. He knew what he was looking for. Today should be the final day of my plumbing project.
Dorothy, I'm still researching and eliminating any coconut products, and I was saddened to learn that the "vegetable glycerin" in my Tincture of Green Soap is coconut based. I'm giving these away, and my ex yesterday took home the 1/2 gallon of green soap. He'll use it as a soap, but remarked that back in the day when he was doing ceramics he used green soap to brush into the molds so the pots would release. Do you do this? This was using a slip instead of hand shaping harder clay, maybe a totally different process.
What are our lurkers up to now that Spring is officially here? Jon with his cameras and safety alerts for the parents, Patty in her RV somewhere in the American West, and many others who work quietly on their decluttering projects. Any eBay sellers? There are so many marketplaces now, Facebook offers local competition, but eBay with all of it's rules still tries to stay the gold standard for online selling.