When fresh from a pepper or tomato, the float test is a good way to sort out the best seeds. The majority of the sinkers are good, the majority of the floaters are not so good. That doesn't mean that all of them will not grow. Many pepper floaters will grow but sometimes not as quickly. Depending on how many of the seeds I have, I may or may not use the floaters. Once dried many seeds will float. Peppers especially will usually float. It doesn't mean they are bad. I often like to soak them for a few hours before planting. I think it speeds germination some, especially on older seeds. Many of the pepper seeds are still floating after the soak and germinate just fine.

My kitchen in Detroit was so small it was crowded with two people in it. So I always wanted a bigger kitchen and now I've got one. Not too big, just right. We have natural stone countertops and floor. They're beautiful, but a pain in the butt to clean. Wouldn't mind having my old linoleum counter & floors again lol! But mostly I've usually wanted less. I used to feel overwhelmed by all the space in my large house and all the stuff that needed to be cleaned, stored, and maintained on a regular basis. Moving to Guatemala has certainly simplified my life. Now the only material things I want are a bathtub (we have only a shower) and a fireplace. Mayvbe someday I'll get them. But if not, that's OK too. At least I have my bigger kitchen!

I bought some T&M seeds just for the fun of it, and followed the instructions: Pluck off the orange fluff, put in moist sand, and put in absolute darkness in warmth. I had six out of eight seeds germinate, starting about a month afterwards, and going on to about three months. Plumeria gets quite large, up to about ten metres (30ft) or so, if I remember correctly, but can be kept smaller in pots. They take at about four years or so to start flowering, from what I've read. They are easy to germinate, though. I just stuffed the seeds upright, half-buried (just the seed part, not including the wing), into the soil, wing-side up, and they germinated in a few weeks. Be very careful, though, the stems of the seedlings are extremely fragile, I've found. A bit of shear pressure on them, and they snap easily. Pecans, I have no experience with. Palms, I haven't germinated, but I had some seeds someone gave me, and he said you just put it in some moist soil and wait for a couple of weeks, and they'll germinate. Good luck!

I had the most fun with my squirrels when I got to watch them slide off the feeder pole! I don't want the squirrels to eat my tomatoes, so I don't want to feed them all winter. I made a little platform and put it on top of rebar I'd put into the ground. I placed it far enough from the roof and a tree that they couldn't jump onto it. They climbed the rebar very easily, so I greased it with Crisco. Oh, that was so funny! each squirrel would get a couple of feet up, start sliding, then turn around and jump down. Some tried climbing a nearby shepherd's crook in hopes of jumping from there to the feeder, but their paws were so greasy, they slipped off of that! After a day or 2 of that, I thought they gave up forever. Actually, they knew when the Crisco got dirty enough to be sticky, and there they were in the feeder again! I used vaseline for the second dose, as I don't think it will get sticky like that. I've had the feeder in place for about 9 months, and only had to apply grease twice--I'm happy! Hosta, I researched how to give the squirrels a gentle zap, and couldn't find a good way. It's nice that your husband knew how to set that up.