u/silverdogwood

A family member with a birthday coming up loved the old Keg at Dixon Rd - the old layout with quiet tables by the fireplace or booths where you could get a sense of privacy (his words). We checked out the Keg at Sherway when Dixon was closed for renos, but it seems so modern, and LOUD LOUD LOUD, so we didn't stay to eat.

What's the new layout at Dixon like? Is it the same as Sherway or are there still some quiet tables available? How's the location now? I looked for photos online, but afaik most of them are from before the reno. I may have to pop by there to take a look at the new layout.

Any tips for trying to get a quieter, more private table? Is that even possible now? We're OK to go off-hours if that works (better to get rarer roast beef I'm told).

If you have chronic health concerns and you've gone to a holistic dentist in TO, what has your experience been? Is that even necessary these days? Have 'regular dentists' started taking a more holistic approach or is it really still better to find someone who specializes in holistic dentistry?

I can trace many of my health problems back to questionable dental work many years ago, so looking to avoid repeating that. I have pretty extensive chronic health issues, so wanted a holistic practitioner, but wondering now if that's all it's cracked up to be.

I checked out a well-known holistic dentist a few years ago - went there initially to repair a chipped tooth (the previous repair was coming loose), but the repair they did failed after less than two years. I went back and got it repaired again, but it's now failing again two years later. The previous repair lasted over 40 years. I didn't have any of these problems with my previous dentist (now retired).

I've been looking online to find another holistic dentist, but so far the ones I've seen in Toronto have some pretty valid negative reviews. The reviews say that they are overly focused on $$$ (which is true of the dentist mentioned above as well), and that the work they do doesn't last or is of questionable quality, which is my main concern.

My husband has been experiencing much of the same things after his (non-holistic) dentist retired and sold the practice: aggressive upselling and what seems to be more shoddy work than his old dentist. Is that just 'a thing' now everywhere?

There seem to be dentists who come up on google searches for holistic dentistry but who appear to be regular non-naturopathic/holistic dentists when you go to their site.

Am I better to just try to find a good dentist period, or should I keep searching for a holistic one? If anyone has recommendations, I'd be grateful.

Edit to add:

I should have mentioned that I have extensive allergies to most dental material (tested & confirmed by a hospital allergist when I needed dental work redone after having bad reactions to a previous root canal and crown). Holistic dentists specialize in biocompatible materials and the connection between oral health and general health.

I have significant health problems, so the air issues have had a significant impact. I started getting chest pains and trouble breathing long before they sent out the first air quality alert for our area (originally I thought I was having a severe allergic reaction to something, until we realized.) We've been monitoring the different sites ever since, and there are some significant differences, so thought I'd pass on my observations, for anyone else also trending this.

We have several high quality air filters and air monitors in our home, so keeping all the doors/windows closed has helped a great deal with everything 'smoke' related: except for indoor CO2, which also impacts me significantly and has been climbing steadily because we can't open windows. We were monitoring the different sites to see when we'd be safe enough to open them to air out our house (the last hour has been great and we're aired out now).

I've been monitoring using the following sites below. One alarming observation is that from website to website the values would be astronomically different for the same region. It took me some time to figure out that the difference was because of one or more of the following: some have an extreme lag between measuring and updating their page (up to two hours); or measuring and updating their charts (which displayed values might be different from the current values); some sites display an average over time (but may have an option to view current values; and some values just seemed to be discordant for no reason I could figure out.

Also, some sampling sites on a particular page may be pulled from different sources, which aren't kept in sync with the values from the original site (e.g. Air Quality Ontario).

Lastly, because the measurements are so impacted by wind patterns, if you're between air monitoring sites whose values are widely discrepant it's a bit of a guess where the values on your particular street are.

In order of usefulness, here are the sites I've been using for Etobicoke Central/West:

Air Quality Ontario: Toronto West: current Air Quality Health Index (AQHI)

Live Air Quality Map | IQAir Canada

Raw PM2.5 by PurpleAir

Toronto West, Ontario, Canada Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index

Toronto West, Ontario - Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) - Environment Canada

Everything has been good (green) for the last hour, but our sensors show the PM2.5 levels may be starting to climb again outdoors.

I hope this might help anyone else who needs to be closely monitoring the air quality levels.

Just today we've started seeing what appear to be weasels in our backyard. Residential area, but several blocks away from any stream/park. (Central Etobicoke just south of Eglinton.) Have never seen a weasel in the wild in my several decades on this planet (including several years living in National Parks/wilderness areas); always assumed they were elusive creatures. So quite surprised to see them here/now!

Anyone have any insight what's brought them here/why?

Turns out, after recent testing, I'm allergic to cow's milk. Very allergic :( I loooove cheese - all kinds of cheese - so this is hitting hard.

I'm only slightly allergic to sheep's milk, and quite like the taste of it, so thought I'd try out some sheep's milk cheese. Bought as many kinds as I could find at our local grocery store (admittedly, probably not a great selection). Let's just say I wasn't impressed. They were - mostly, with the exception of Feta and Blue which I like but wouldn't eat regularly - Ok-ish, but nothing to write home about. In comparison to my favourite cow's milk cheeses (e.g. I'm *addicted* to Grana Padano Riserva ever since my husband accidently bought it a few months ago) they were all mostly boring, too mild, or just... off. I'm sure supermarket cheese isn't the best representation, but was disappointed that nothing jumped out as even a possible option.

Even the vaunted Pecorino wasn't all that impressive in comparison.

I also tried a goat's milk 'cheddar' but it barely tasted of anything at all - so not sure if that's because it was goat cheese, or just a poor cheddar.

So I'm hoping you can recommend some good sheep's milk cheese, or even a good goat's milk cheese (I'm only slightly more allergic to that) that has some body and... umami? I know sheep's milk has a different fat content - is there even any such thing as a hard sheep's milk cheese?

Any and all suggestions welcome, and appreciated.

Does anyone have recommendations for a person, or people, or small company, who does small garden cleanup jobs in the west end? Hopefully someone with garden ideas (not just grass cutting).

We're dealing with an estate situation, and want to find someone to help us with garden/yard clean-up. Time and health constraints have created challenges, so we've thrown in the towel re: doing it ourselves and are hoping to hire someone. All of the flyers we've seen are only about grass-cutting (and usually want a contract), not garden cleanup or rejuvenation.

This is a small job, (it's a small lot), so not a big project. But we may want someone who can come a few times throughout the year as we get further along in clearing things out &/or figuring out what we want to do with it. Eventually we plan on doing something more 'landscapey' but for now just need to find someone to help tidy/move/trim/plant things, relocate or donate lawn furniture, pots, etc..., and just generally make it more presentable.

Any recommendations are welcome - for someone who takes on small jobs and has perhaps some creative ideas for garden maintenance/rejuvenation. (We're hopeless gardeners, btw.)

We need the same thing with help around the house/cleanup, but I'll post that separately.

Central Etobicoke, btw. On a bus route.

Does anyone have recommendations for a person, or people, or small company, who does small garden cleanup jobs? Hopefully someone with garden ideas (not just grass cutting).

We're dealing with an estate situation, and want to find someone to help us with garden/yard clean-up. Time and health constraints have created challenges, so we've thrown in the towel re: doing it ourselves and are hoping to hire someone. All of the flyers we've seen are only about grass-cutting (and usually want a contract), not garden cleanup or rejuvenation.

This is a small job, (it's a small lot), so not a big project. But we may want someone who can come a few times throughout the year as we get further along in clearing things out &/or figuring out what we want to do with it. Eventually we plan on doing something more 'landscapey' but for now just need to find someone to help tidy/move/trim/plant things, relocate or donate lawn furniture, pots, etc..., and just generally make it more presentable.

Any recommendations are welcome - for someone who takes on small jobs and has perhaps some creative ideas for garden maintenance/rejuvenation. (We're hopeless gardeners, btw.)

We need the same thing with help around the house/cleanup, but I'll post that separately.

Central Etobicoke, btw. On a bus route.