After much time and patience, an avocado is born

Dear Heloise: My mother sent me your article on how to grow an avocado tree years ago. I started an avocado seed in a plastic sandwich bag with a small amount of water and placed it in a sunny window. The seed started out slowly. The treasured sprout went from a small pot to a larger pot as it continued to grow. Five years ago, my family moved to the San Antonio area.

It was at that time we decided that since we were planting our family roots in San Antonio, we would plant the avocado tree in our new back yard, a tree that had resided only in temporary accommodations, from one pot to another. Last year, we had our first avocado from the now-25-foot-tall tree. Everyone asks me what kind of avocado seed I used. I honestly don’t know.

Thank you for sharing your information about growing avocados. We have enjoyed watching the tree grow, and were delighted when we saw the first avocado appear on the tree. I hope you enjoy the photo of my husband, Val, holding the fruits of our labor. Shayne Cox, Converse, Texas

Shayne, thanks so much for the photos. If you would like to see the fruits of this family’s labor, visit my Web site, www.Heloise.com, and look under special columns!

I also grew an avocado tree (about 15 feet tall) from a seed, but mine was inside, in a sunny spot in our foyer. Sadly, it died after about 15 years. Heloise

Dear Heloise: When traveling by car, I keep my medicines and makeup in an ice cooler. It’s handy and keeps items insulated from the heat as well as the cold. It keeps both meds and makeup handy and easy to get to. I also always carry a wet washcloth in a plastic sandwich bag, as well as a hand towel. Marilyn Toland, Mechanicsburg, Pa.

Dear Heloise: I have a very tall dresser, and sometimes things fall behind it. So, I keep an old pair of stockings with my vacuum cleaner. Whenever I need to get to something behind the dresser, I put a stocking over the vacuum tube and secure it with a rubber band (and hold on tight!), then I lower the hose down behind the dresser and turn on the vacuum. The item sticks to the vacuum without going in the tube. Elizabeth in Virginia

Dear Heloise: Having moved more than once and having tried many systems for labeling boxes, this is the one that works best for me. I marked each box on the top and all four sides with numbers. In a small notebook, I wrote the number for each box and listed the contents for that number. I listed them as they were packed so that the items on the top of my list were actually on the bottom of the box. This made it really easy to know what was in each box. Settled in Pennsylvania

SBlt Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate