Back when I lived in a place with a similar kind of plum tree, I dehydrated a bunch of plums for snacking through the year.  I also tried just about every plum jam/jelly recipe I had.  Then, there was plum cake & plum cobbler, too.  I always thought I'd try a plum wine one year, but I never did (that recipe will certainly use up plums!).  You might also see if a local food pantry would like some.

For folks interested in making jams without store-bought pectin, check out Gourmet Preserves Chez Madelaine by Madelaine Bullwinkel (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1572840781/sr=8-1/qid=1156565860/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-1535790-3310528?ie=UTF8).

It's a great book.

I don't have any Scottish ancestry, but I'm thinking about doing the tartan for my home state:  the Texas Bluebonnet tartan.  I really like the colors, and it does remind me of the state flower.

I'm excited about a new resource I found.  I may have to weave a tartan just because:
http://www.weddslist.com/cgi-bin/tartans/pg.pl?source=rb

You might also be able to use a hanging fruit basket to display some items.  Also, a bit of messiness draws people in; so, don't worry about being too neat.  And, I'll agree with faithin--people are attracted by things that spin, no matter if they spin themselves.

Charkas really aren't so great for spnning bulkier yarns.  If you are planning on plying to get sports and worsted weight yarn, you can spin the singles on the charka, but you may not have enough room on the spindle to ply as much yarn as you'd like.

On another note:  I spin mostly on spindles, and, with my lighter weight spindles, I can do lace-weight yarn.  The light-weight spindles tend to have a good fast spin (equivalent to using a higher speed whorl on the wheel).  I prefer to make a 2 ply; so, I'm actually spinning pretty fine for each of the singles.  I may predraft, but I definitely loosing/fluff up the roving before spinning.

Basically, when I try to wrap the newly spun yarn onto the spindle, it untwists.  What am I doing wrong?

You have to keep the newly spun yarn under tension or it will unspin.  If you let go of the end, it will relax into a less-spun state.

Sticky due to the paint?  I'd try using a furniture oil/polish on it to see if you can remove some of the stickiness.

As for top vs bottom whorl, I use either depending on which of my spindles works best for what I'm doing.

If you'd like to try spinning with it (and don't know how to spin), check out the links in the FAQs.  They include a link to make your own spindle as well as links on how to spin.  Otherwise, I agree with felting.  The FAQs in the felting board can help you get started.