Pansies, primroses offer color as temperatures creep up
Two early bloomers many gardeners turn to for their first bursts of garden color are pansies and primrose. While both come out early, they each present a different look; the pansey putting out flat or ruffled flowers and the primrose offering a tightly wound rosette....
Start your garden off ‘Brew-tifully’
Tea lovers swear by a well steeped cup (or two) in the morning to smoothly jump-start their days, especially during the long winter months. While caffeine supplies the kick, healthy nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous, ions and flavonoids are added advantages. As...
Squirrels are all about the nuts and bolts
Do you (and likely your dog) love watching the curious adventures of squirrels as they jump tree to tree and scurry around in your yard? While many people know that squirrels like acorns and have bushy tails, what else are the crazy critters up to as they bark,...
Herbs offer an ideal accent to your garden
With many gardeners putting their attention on their vegetable gardens with spring upon us, herbs could get some due consideration as well. Their green foliage and aromas in the air could add some atmosphere to a windowsill or plant beds, and can work as wonderful...
Lecture series explores history of canning in the Chesapeake
Though there’s still farm after farm here in the Eastern Shore’s “Land of Pleasant Living,” you’ll rarely see one commercially producing tomatoes and canned tomatoes in general have gone to the wayside as fresh tomatoes are able to be easily trucked onto grocery store...
Terrariums making comeback after decades in background
If you grew up in the 1960s or ’70s, your home décor may have included macramé wall hangings, Indian bedspreads and almost certainly terrariums — those magical mini-gardens encapsulated in bottles and jars. Baby boomers, rest assured, you’re not having flashbacks. But...
Love and Chocolate … Eastern Shore style
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” —Charles M. Schultz Fortunately for Eastern Shore chocoholics (and those who love them) gratifying one’s appetite for the blissfully enticing confection doesn’t require either a plane ticket to...
Is it time to turn the page?
Moving during life’s later years brings many challenges. Empty nest, divorce, and changed financial circumstances can all contribute to a search for smaller surroundings. The euphemistic expression for such a pursuit is downsizing. It isn’t really too difficult a...
Taking care of clutter
Recycling the basics is in many homes part of the weekly routine of a running household. The paper, plastic, glass and aluminum bins fill up and every so often you take them to the nearest cluster of igloos or colored dumpsters and you’re reset for the next round. But...
Go with your ‘gut’ and eat cranberries and blueberries
Many people know of the healing role of cranberries and cranberry juice when it comes to human male and female urinary tract infections, but, according to Dr. Amy Howell, a research scientist and nutraceuticals specialist at Rutgers’ Marucci Center for Blueberry...
The new year is an open page: You’re the author
It is that time of year again. No sooner than the clock strikes 12 at midnight on New Year’s Eve than we begin to plan our resolutions: We sign up at the YMCA, local gym or exercise group; we dump all the cookies, cakes and snacks; we start that book on self-help. By...
Stitching together the fabrics of life
Carrie Elzey can’t remember a time she didn’t love stitching fabric together. It never mattered to her whether the material was the finest or fanciest. What excited her most was the leftover scraps, the bits and pieces destined to be discarded. Her boundless joy in...
Exit ahead: Simplify your busy life with meditation
We are always moving ... going ... doing. From the moment our feet hit the floor after waking to a screaming alarm we are already fighting against our brain. Even before our day has started we have forced our body to unnaturally wake up going against its normal...
Learn to think outside the branch
By Charlene Marcum For many, the fondest Christmas memories are made going to the tree farm with my family and selecting our Christmas tree. The smell of freshly cut fir, spruce and pine evergreens and the selection process for “the perfect tree” heralds in the...
Use a smart strategy when making your resolutions list
by Emily Brockbrader “Lose weight.” ... “Eat healthier.” ... “Become more organized.” ... “This is the year of ME.” Sound familiar? As the holiday season looms, many of us take the time to look back on 2017 and re-evaluate some life choices. All the things you had...
A new haven for honeybees
By Carol Kinsley In 2009, Chris and Carrie Jennings purchased five acres of former cornfield in Cordova, Md., just 10 minutes from Easton. Chris, a cabinet maker, built a beautiful home there. “There were three trees on the property,” noted Carrie, who has a degree...
Learn to allergy-proof holiday desserts, deliciously
By Debra R. Messick Feeding those we love with sweet holiday treats often involves equal measures of stress and bliss. Bustling to shop for ingredients, mixing, then baking sometimes drains our last ounce of energy when we’re most pressed for time. But the heavenly...
Perennial poinsettias possible!
By Debra R. Messick Like many people, I once believed poinsettias were preordained to last only as long the Christmas season. A few hardy specimens might linger briefly into the new year, but once the holidays were gone, so too were the iconic flowers identified with...
‘Friendsgiving’ a trending hit
by Sean Clougherty Friendships are often one of the things we’re most thankful for when asked so it’s somewhat ironic that getting together with friends can be a tall task during Thanksgiving. That is, unless you plan for it. “Friendsgivings” as they’re called — set...
Consider making your Thanksgiving feast a brunch
by Charlene Marcum; Photos by Frank Caramanica Agonizing over the exhaustion of spending a week preparing a Thanksgiving dinner that is eaten in 30 minutes? Join the movement away from the traditional Thanksgiving table this holiday season and serve a decadent brunch...
Watercolor painting: It’s not just for children any more
by Leslie Milby Photos courtesy of Hillary Parker When most people think of watercolor, it may be hard for them to shake the notion of the kiddie version where it seemed like all you made was colored water flow across your page in a puddle — not a method of making a...
