bethie_biker

I started our eggplants from seeds for the first time this year, but the seedlings look amazingly like the tomato seedlings which were started the same day. I tried starting some more eggplant seeds to compare, but none of them came up the second time. I'm 90% positive that I didn't mix up the seeds, but I'd like to make sure before we transplant them next month. Could anyone tell me what eggplant seedlings look like at about three inches? A picture would be great too. Thanks!

I have a post card of an oil painting which I'd like to frame, but I'd like it to look more like the original painting. Is there a product which will give the brush stroke and possibly the crazing effect without ruining the post card?

A friend gave me a tiny spider plant last year which had been started from the shoot off a larger plant. My plant is healthy, thriving, and is bigger than any spider plant I've ever seen. I'd like to start some more plants, but my plant isn't sending out any shoots with baby plants. My friend grew plants from other starts, and her plants have been sending out baby shoots since the summer months. Is there anything I need to do to encourage shoots? Do spider plants have male and female varieties?

A few years ago I used a website to make hotel reservations. It showed me hotel details and a price, but I didn't know the actual hotel until I'd booked the reservation. It gave a price about 50% less than the normal price for the room. I'm searching for prices on a room, but none of the big-name travel sites seem to fit this description; and the site which I thought it was isn't it. Does this ring a bell with anyone? I just hate to pay $110 per night for a hotel which was $58 per night just three years ago!

The latest Mother Earth News has an article on growing peaches from seeds taken out of locally grown peaches. They say to split the hull, take out the seed, then put it in damp soil in the fridge for one to three months until they begin to sprout roots. (That's the extremely edited version of the directions.) They said that peaches actually self-sow very easily, but we've had peach pits in our compost bin for years which have never begun to break down or grow. Has anyone had luck growing peach trees from seed?

Our eggplant plants seem to be thriving. They're making a lot of blooms, but the blooms aren't turning into fruit. This is the first year we've grown our own, and we're not sure what's going on. One article I read said to "mist them to help them set fruit", but they didn't explain how or with what I'm supposed to mist them. Any advice would be appreciated.

I've spent a lot of time on beaches over the years searching for sea glass without much success. Does anyone know a beach in the US which is known for it's sea glass? Is there a good season to find it?

I've spent a lot of time on beaches over the years searching for sea glass without much success. Does anyone know a beach in the US which is known for it's sea glass? Is there a good season to find it?

One of them said that he wasn't going there because McDonalds was encouraging children to be "gay". I pressed him for details, but apparently his church told him this without giving him anything to back it up.

I've also been told that First Southern National Bank won't "allow" their employees to eat at McDonalds. I heard this second-hand, but the source was the spouse of an employee. Does anyone know why a bank would ban their employees from eating where they would like?

If anyone has information on this, I'd love to hear the details.

I always seem to watch "Love Actually" while I'm wrapping gifts.

What's your favorite movie to watch to put you in the holiday spirit?

I'm looking for the souvenir machines which press or elongate a penny. I'm familiar with the locations on PennyCollector.com, but I was wondering if there were any locations out there which have been missed.

Three months ago an older stray cat adopted us. When the temperatures went over 100 degrees and after having him checked out at the vet, we decided to let him come in the house. He still goes to the door a couple of times a day and asks to be let out, and we allow him to go whenever he wants. For the first couple of months he used the litter box or went while he was outside, but for the last two weeks he's begun to go in the tub. The litter box is only five feet away from where he's going. All of this began when our 18 year old cat was sick and had to be put to sleep. We cleaned the litter box thoroughly, thinking that the "sick" smell might have put him off. We also clean the tub after each incident so that he doesn't associate the smell with the tub. It's been suggested to us that the previous owner had the litter box in the tub; but since they've apparently abandoned this cat, we're not able to ask. We'd appreciate any suggests that would get him back in the litter box.

We'd like to plant some more lettuce seeds after the weather begins to cool, but we're not sure what variety would do well in the fall. We're in Zone 6 in the US. We have some cloches and can protect the plants if we get an early frost. We'd like to know what varieties have worked well for other people and sources for the seeds.

We've made a topping for bruschetta with fresh roma tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, and garlic. I'm wondering if it will do well if we freeze it. My husband says it will be nothing but mush when we thaw it this winter. Has anyone tried this with any success?

On our 2005 Malibu there is a button on the driver's side of the gear shift. It has a + and - sign. There's no mention of it in the manual which came with the car. When it's pushed there doesn't seem to be any reaction and no symbol appears on the dash panel. We'd like to know what it does if anyone can help.

About a week ago a female cat started showing up at our house. She was so skinny, dirty, and scabby looking that we gave in and gave her food and water. She's been back every day and usually spends most of the day sleeping on our porch or following us around the yard. She's wearing a flea collar, but she still had fleas so we treated her with Frontline. I'm wondering if she has real owners somewhere, and we're just one of her homes now. My husband said if she's still around in a few months we'd take her to the vet for a check-up, but I'm concerned that she may not be spayed. We have two indoor cats already and hadn't planned to have another one. Any advice would be appreciated.

I participate in the Arthritis Walk each year with a small team. My family and friends are very generous with their donations, but I'd like to increase the amount that I'm able to raise for the charity. My team members are all adults and many have arthritis, so physical events (like a car wash) aren't our best bet. Any ideas which have worked for you would be greatly appreciated!

My brother and the mother of his child have seperated after several years. They lived together but never married. I've always given her a holiday gift each December although we were never more than polite to each other. Do I still need to buy her a gift this year, or should I just mail their son's gift to my brother's home and skip her? In the past, she has never thanked me for anything I've bought for her. Although I did actually make the effort to find a gift I thought she would like, the only time she's mentioned a gift was when she complained to me a year later. (The more I type, the more I wonder why I ever gave her a gift when they were still together! I may have answered my own question.)

We decided to try a new type of tomato this year and grew San Marzano from seed. They did terrific for the first 6 weeks after transplanting, then one plant began to have yellow leaves. Within a week, it was completely dead. We thought we had an insect problem and dusted, but another plant began to yellow, then another until all of them were dying. We've checked and don't find any insect problems at all. The plants appear healthy up until the day before they begin to yellow. We've given them consistent water. We replaced the first plant that died with a store-bought grape tomato plant, and it's thriving. We live in South Central Kentucky (USA) and have always have great tomato production in the past. Any ideas?

My mother-in-law had a bag of Lays chips with a contest on it. I've copied down the code but can't find the contest anywhere on the Lays website.