“Down by the banks of the sweet prim-e-roses, there I beheld a most lovely fair.” ~ Author unknown What is a primrose? Shakespeare would say in Romeo and Juliet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Primulas are not roses, although some of the double flowers of these demure perennials are rose-like. […]
Featured
Featured Articles from the West Sound. These are the highlighted articles from WestSound Magazine.
Posted inThe Outdoors
How to Get Your Lawn Ready for Your Easter Egg Hunt
Easter morning will be here before we know it. Families will be in their yards and seeking perfect Easter photo opportunities. The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) has some tips on how to make sure you have an enjoyable and safe hunt. “You want to spruce up your lawn before the kids are out there […]
Posted inGarden
Gardening Made Easy for Boomers
You’re a baby boomer. Your green thumb, and your knees and back, seem to bend with more effort. (Was 1968 really 50 years ago?) Don’t let your interest in gardening wane — gardening is important to physical and mental wellbeing as you get older. One, gardening can help you stay fit. “You use up calories […]
Posted inHome
Downsizing in the Digital Age
Downsizing. Does the mere mention instill fear in your heart? It seems that the pace of life has become so frenetic that there simply isn’t time to consider, let alone implement, the process of eliminating your treasured possessions. The days of preparing for and organizing a traditional yard or garage sale are not only a […]
Posted inAround West Sound
Friends of the Manchester Library Plant Sale Motto: “Green is Good!”
The Friends of the Manchester Library Annual Plant Sale has always tried to make good use of our resource of community-donated plants, or what we call recycling them out into the larger community. We want to be stewards for this lovely place we live in, and to encourage others to do the same. “In recent […]
Posted inGarden
The Pacific Stonecrops — A Sedum of Our Own
Between the cracks of the dark basalt rocks, sedum’s plump rosettes cascade, a cavalcade wash in waterfall gray. Many succulents in the Sedum genus grow around the world. Gardeners love them because they are fascinating plants. Sedum spathulifolium species evolved to grow in difficult places in the Northwest — their water storage capabilities help them […]
Posted inAt Home
4 Ideas for Entertaining by Design
Entertaining friends for dinner, ballgames, game nights and more is such a popular and fun trend. So popular, that people often incorporate special spaces for their own entertaining needs into their building and remodeling plans in both minor and major ways. There are easy ways to add convenience to you existing spaces — or you […]
Posted inGarden
Cultivating Connections — Family’s Heritage Becomes New Venture to Help Farmers
Newcomers and longtime Kitsap residents alike can overlook some of the most treasured local assets: the hard-working farmers and their land. Tucked in here and there on back roads are families who have been in West Sound for generations farming the land, growing food and figuring out how to make farms survive as times change. […]
Posted inHome
Bringing the Outside In — The Waterside Home of Jim and Kelly Hettinger
Avid boaters Kelly and Jim Hettinger cruised the waters around the Key Peninsula for years. They made friends, anchored at the Longbranch Marina, and got involved in the social life at the Longbranch Improvement Club. Eventually the time came to think about looking for shoreline property. They began searching for just the right spot to […]