DEAR SUN SPOTS: I’m hoping someone can help me. Earlier this summer, I lost my mother’s white-gold diamond ring. I had just had it set with her diamond and my two smaller diamonds. I have looked everywhere and I am hoping someone found it. I’m almost to the point of reporting it to my insurance company so please, if you have found it, let me know. I will pay a finder’s fee. I can be reached at 645-3855. If no one answers, please leave a message with your phone number. Thanks for your help. — Michelle, no town

ANSWER: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a kind Sun Spots reader has found this dear woman’s special ring? These mementos of our loved ones are so precious and worth much more than their monetary value.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I am looking for an independent drum teacher in the Lewiston-Auburn or Oxford area. My 10-year-old grandson started with someone who is no longer teaching, and I cannot afford the professional fee of a teacher affiliated with a studio. Perhaps you have someone in your Rolodex, or someone interested in teaching can call me at 212-6542.— Sue, no town

ANSWER: I suggest you contact Josh Caron through Main Street Music Lessons in Auburn (mainstreetmusiclessons.com, 376-3376). He teaches drum lessons and may know of others in his musical network.

Another idea would be to put the word out at your town’s high school where upperclassmen may welcome the opportunity to mentor your grandson. You may want to try doing the same by contacting the music department at Bates College (bates.edu/music/) or the University of Southern Maine (https://usm.maine.edu/music).

Readers, if you know a drum instructor ready to take on another student or have this expertise yourself, please write in.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: In the Aug. 8 Sun Spots there was a request and recipe for a chocolate zucchini cake. We made the cake per the instructions. It was very good, but a little heavy on the chocolate.  The recipe called for 6 tablespoons of cocoa.

For the next time we made the cake, we used Swiss Miss milk chocolate hot cocoa mix in place of the cocoa. Each envelope contains three tablespoons so we added two envelopes and there was no measuring required. This milder-flavored cake was more to our liking and is great served warm or cold with whipped cream or ice cream. We just wanted to pass this along. — Fern and Sylvia, Norway

ANSWER: That sounds very good and I’m glad you adjusted the recipe to your liking. You can also back out some of the regular cocoa. If I’m remembering right, the original recipe has 5 tablespoons of cocoa and half a cup of chips but our family likes a bold dense chocolate cake so when I make it, I ramp up the amount of chocolate and add extra chocolate chips, ½ cup to the batter, and another half a cup sprinkled on top.

Playing around in the kitchen is one of my favorite things to do and I applaud anyone who likes to experiment and put their own signature on a recipe and just make things up as they go along. Those delicacies are often the best!

This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name. We won’t use it if you ask us not to. Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com.