I say it is a wild plum (prunus Americana), there are lots of forms of them as they themselves have been widely cultivated. This is not even to mention those that have escaped cultivation. The color of yours is the approximate color and size of those I've seen in the woods here in Maryland. Another possibility is a wild seedling from a discarded seed. There are lots of possibilities here, but for practical purposes, it's a wild plum. The Navajo made red dye from their roots. At first I thought it was a gooseberry or currant. Looking more closely I recognized it as a wild plum. These will send up suckers under the tree that is said to make a fabulous rootstock for grafting.

James That's nutsedge. Kind of an obnoxious weed. I have not used this, but I've heard good things about Sedgehammer. DO a search and see if it is something you can use. Mike

Kate, I'm not ready to take on all of that, but I'll toss out some ideas for the kitchen: As to your question about recessed lighting choices, the answer is to start with the bulb. That's hard enough, because there's no one right answer; it's hard for you to get a straight answer at the lighting stores because everybody has a different way of approaching that question. Many people will, for example, make the default assumption that you'll use the relatively old-school R-type incandescent floods, and accordingly install 6" cans every four feet in almost any situation. Those R-type bulbs are diffuse enough that placement is especially forgiving. They're also the least efficient bulbs available and burn out frequently. I'm most familiar with PAR type halogen incandescents, which are a little more efficient, have a slightly cooler color of light and last about twice as long. They are also more crisply focussed than the r-type, so placement is less forgiving. You can get very dramatic lighting with low-voltage halogens, but the installation is expensive and placement is extremely unforgiving - I don't like them for general lighting. Some people will point you to fluorescents, which are great for energy efficiency; I don't have a good grasp of how to work with them. There's also the fact that these lights are expensive to reconfigure if you don't like the result, so there's a strong incentive to over-light a space. Between your personal preferences and which "expert" you talk to, there are a whole lot of potential 'right' answers. Anyhow, with 8' ceilings and PAR type bulbs, I think it's best to go for 5" or 6" cans, so that you can use PAR30 bulbs. You could do it with 4" cans and the smaller PAR20 bulbs, but I don't think they're up to the task if you want a lot of light. Spacing depends on the beam angle and ceiling height; each can projects a cone of light that's brightest in the middle; if they are spaced too far apart then you'll get dim areas in between. You might have enough light with 60 Watt PAR30 bulbs, but my Sylvania catalog only shows those in a narrow, 25-degree angle flood. I have a feeling you might be better off with a 75-watt flood with a 40-degree beam angle, but I'm trying to place the cans so that you can use either.

The first pair are 'replacement' couplers, male and female, that go on the end of a hose. Used when the old coupler fails or you get a hole in the hose and need to cut it out. Slip the unit on the far ends onto the hose, push either the male or female on to the end of the cut hose, tighten down the 'slipped-on' unit and Bob's your Uncle. If the other pictures are of the same things, then that's what they are: replacement couplers.