I've had several coconuts over the years. I treat them like a short-lived novelty of a good trip to the tropics. After several futile attempts at sprouting my own cocunuts that I collected in Hawaii or South Florida, I realized there was a better way to get a coconut from my travels. While digging through a pile of coconuts that had dropped from a canopy of mature palms, I noticed several that were growing small trees. I finally discovered one that would be perfect to take home with me--a small coconut that was not on the sand, rather it was perched on a pile of shells. It had a small (1") nub of its first sprout and a tiny root sprout on the bottom. At home I put it in a pot with potting soil and there it thrived for years. I was lucky to have a VERY sunny south facing plate glass window/sliding doors that flooded my DC-area apartment with all-day sunlight in the winter. In the spring, summer and fall the palm went out on the balcony where I turned it regularly so the all the fronds would get direct sunlight over time. Spider mites were a problem. I would have to take a wet paper towel and wipe the fronds every week or so. Fortunately there were never more than 4 or 5, so it wasn't too labor intensive. They key to my success was the big, warm, sunny window and an easy move out to the balcony in the summer. After a year or two, their new swords would open to reveal more and more splits so they'd look like a real palm, much like the photos "US MARINE" posted above. Eventually the palm would get too big or would just fail to thrive. I was lucky enough in my travels that I could pick up a new sprouted nut off of some tropical beach and start all over again. My last one didn't survive my move down to the Delaware Beaches. The house isn't as warm and sunny as my condo was and I moved during the winter months. I had to cut back some of the biggest fronds and it never took to the cooler, dimmer location. When growing a coconut indoors. Just treat it like a treasured, temporary visitor.

Thanks, April! I sew for fun, and also make quilts...but I never use a pattern. Can't read the things! Which is why I don't crochet much. I'm pretty good at knitting a simple afghan, though! :O) (meaning: if you like a single color, boring stitch!) lol Selling on Ebay is OK, but I've found it's only worth it with bigger ticket items, like over $10. Because there are list fees, ending value fees, and paypal fees too....so unless you charge an extra $2-3 on top of regular shipping charges (which most sellers do, it costs around $7 to ship a SHIRT! Geeze!). Anyway, I don't Ebay much anymore, only with things I KNOW will sell fairly well, because it just takes too much time...and it's not worth it in the end, to me. But I hope you make a good go of it, if you decide to try! Wishing you lots of luck!! :O) I forgot to show ya'll Aubeni's "cupcake". OhMyGoodness, I don't know WHAT I was thinking when I got this for her! (well, OK...it's pretty. That's what I was thinking!) :O) It's an 8" round Rose, chocolate cupcake in the middle (about the size of a mini muffin!!) and the rest is sugar icing. Big DUH here....I let her eat it for breakfast this morning!!!! I'm gonna be peeling her off the ceiling in about 30 minutes. (countdown begins....NOW......) LOL

Howdy!!! Seems like this thread is relatively active. Not to beat a dead horse but if someone could help, we’d be so appreciative! We are finishing out a kitchen remodel and got our countertops installed Wednesday. We told the salespeople we wanted counters that were as white as possible but we could not do marble because we have five kids and can’t deal with stains or etching. I told them we likely needed granite and that I prefer granite typically. The salesperson sold me on Luce di Luna which I think is the one y’all have mentioned as not actually being quartzite? The person who sold it to us said it was a real stone (unlike quartz) and that it was more practical than marble because it won’t etch/stain and works like granite. We’ve used it for all of 36 hours and I noticed tonight MANY marks (forgive me I forget whether they would be “stains” or “etches”) on the island overhang where said children have sat to eat multiple meals. We are very clean people but didn’t anticipate any issues and thus didnt thoroughly clean the counters till this evening when I unpacked the cleaning supplies that had been boxed up from the remodel. Here’s some photos. So two questions: is there any chance this is indeed quartzite? We took a razor blade to it and saw only a minor scratch that wouldn’t be noticeable. And 2. Assuming this is our new reality, is there any way to repair marks like these so at least we can get a “do-over?” Can’t believe we trusted the “experts.” We are very disappointed and discouraged. Thanks for any pointers!!

Hi Tara. I had Danby counters for 6 years before moving this summer and am totally happy I went with it. I had a couple chips - 1 in the middle of the island that I think my kids made and 1 around a sink from a cast iron oven; tons of etching and zero staining (and we had very small children and did not baby it). I didn't love the etching or the burn marks I mentioned in another comment, but nothing else about the counters bothered me. I miss the look of it SOOOO much after our move - we now have a salt and pepper granite that I HATE. I just don't hate it enough to go through another renovation. I always looked at old marble counters and statutes thinking they were beautiful with or without chips, so if you have a similar aesthetic I don't think you will be disappointed. If you need perfect, I think any kind of marble might be a lot of work and potentially disappointing.