Candles have the ability to fill a room with mood
When the colder weather arrives with the inevitable early darkness, it is a natural cue that it is time to settle down and snuggle in. As your family begins to hibernate this year, try lighting candles to add warmth to your home. While they are a simple enhancement,...
A cheeseboard a must for party spreads
What if I told you one of the most popular dishes to bring to holiday parties is one you don’t have to bake, freeze, saute or anything else labor intensive and is practically impossible to mess up? And you could even support local business to boot? It’s not a...
Safe at home after 60
Home is where the heart is and seems to be our safe haven. But as we age, staying in one’s home can pose challenges to those living alone. For seniors in Talbot and Caroline counties, Partners-In-Care provides help meeting these hardships. The Mid-Shore’s PIC office...
Orrell’s Maryland beaten biscuits live on
If you grew up spending Sundays and holidays with family on the Eastern Shore, chances are Orrell’s Maryland Beaten Biscuits were on the menu. The company’s saga started in 1935 when Ruth Orrell began making biscuits in her Wye Mills home kitchen to raise funds for...
Sunflour Bakery dishing out lots of smiles
For Lanna Talley, making people happy with baked goods has always brought her joy. “There’s pictures of me in an apron when I was 3 with my grandmother. I just love it,” she said. “You can’t give someone a cookie without putting a smile on their face.” Moving to the...
Shop ‘small’ to make a gift special
Think about your favorite Christmas movies. There are the funny slapstick movies where the main character is having one issue after another at the overcrowded box store. Then there are those cozy Christmas movies, where the characters are strolling with paper shopping...
Events switch gears to reach public
Fall is a chance where everything turns golden outside, and the crisp air seems to bring our optimism. After a simple summer vacation, events in the community have begun to reemerge with the fall foliage in October. Kicking off the fall calendar were Cordova’s “Not...
Cooking in the great outdoors
As summer’s roasting hot temperatures come to an end, many start thinking of roasting marshmallows over a hot fire. While nothing beats a classic s’more, with gadgets both old and new, there are endless concoctions to create over a bonfire whether it’s at home,...
Students, parents and teachers have settled into a virtual learning routine
Long before last Spring’s school closings and shelter in place quarantine, Easton-based Decorating Den interior designer Rayona Bennett and her husband, who both work from home, had faced the challenges arising from juggling limited space with multiple professional...
Sure, go ahead and play with your food
Whether it’s a normal Trick-or-Treat this year, a socially-distanced party or a special family night in the home, sweet treats will still be the main attraction for many families on Halloween. Sure, your child could eat the entire pile in two minutes or you could keep...
Violas pack a colorful punch for their size
When it comes to favorite fall flowers, mums and pansies are traditionally the stars of the cooler weather garden. But violas, the less flashy, more petite cousins of the pansy, provide a greater number of blooms per plant atop trim stems and pack an impressively...
Seed Stewards initiative promotes native plant propogation
The Talbot County-based Environmental Concern recently announced the launch of the Eastern Shore Seed Stewards initiative to teach gardeners and plant enthusiasts how to collect seed in their own backyard gardens. The non-profit’s Native Plant Nursery, operating in...
Crape myrtles entrenched as a Shore thing
While they may be native to places in East Asia, crape myrtles have long been ubiquitous with Maryland’s Eastern Shore. With a plethora of color and height options among its varieties, the tree’s beauty avails itself to a lot of different situations. They line streets...
Phippins are paying it forward
As Chris and C.J. Phippin moved around from state to state, their passion for helping foster children always came with them. After moving to Maryland last fall and settling into a property with more space than they’ve ever had, they want their outreach to expand as...
In pursuit of the hot pepper
With quarantine spring underway last April, I agreed to grow a pandemic garden with some neighbors. Taking a poll of preferred vegetables to sow, I prepared to hear the old standbys requested: tomatoes, lettuce, squash, carrots, cabbage, beets. But a transplanted Nova...
Sellers playing with house money as buyers vacate cities for Mid-Shore
Six months ago or more, an appraisal on a home $50,000 below its listing price would have likely stalled the home’s sale. But when it happened a few weeks ago on the Mid-Shore, the buyer didn’t bat an eye, offering to pay the full asking price. It’s just one example...
Ethel Mae studio a pour house
“I don’t know how to paint.” ... “I’m not an artist.” ... “What if I mess up?” Deanna Pratt has heard it all from her guests the first time they visit Ethel Mae Studio, a creative space she opened a little over a year ago in downtown Easton. Pratt, a Talbot County...
Sunflowers are a beauty everyone enjoys
Sunflowers are undoubtedly one of the most loved flowers out there. Even those with limited plant knowledge can identify them and they appear everywhere from kitchen decor to inspirational quote backgrounds to tattoos to accessorizing the blushing bride on wedding...
Shrubs more than just a supporting cast
With typical uses of concealing a foundation, creating privacy along a property line or stabilizing a slope in the yard, shrubs and hedges can quickly get stuck waiting in the wings rather than featured in the limelight of a landscape. But in their supporting roles,...
A national park in your backyard
During the COVID-19 quarantine, many homebound dwellers revisited the friendly confines of their own backyards with renewed appreciation. But over the past 15 years, Dr. Douglas W. Tallamy has been a nonstop force of nature trying to reach as many people as possible,...
When life zigged, they zagged
If there was ever a time to use the word “pivot” (in addition to moving a couch) it’s during the COVID-19 crisis. Parents are turned into temporary teachers and snack dispensers, front line workers are turned into super heroes, and we’re realizing our worlds couldn’t...
