The name means “shining” or “glittering island.” Sri Lanka. When you step off the plane in Sri Lanka, you’ll know you are on a tropical island. The air is perfumed with the scent of tropical flowers and pungent spices like turmeric, cinnamon and cardamom. The sun kisses your face and you can feel the moist […]
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A Taste of Coast Salish Culture
Port Gamble S’Klallam master fish cook Benji Ives tends his barbecued salmon and his clambake pit with as much care as Tom Douglas might put into his own applewood-smoked black cod or Hama Hama purple clams. But you won’t find hot mustard and sesame on Ives’ salmon, or bacon, leeks and malt vinegar croutons with […]
How to Camp like a Scout
A tradition dating back a hundred years, summer camping is the quintessential family experience. For some, it’s the allure of a cheap getaway, as far as vacations go. For others, what makes the idea appealing is the promise that at the end of a short road trip is a wondrous place where time crawls. Where […]
The Magic of Fletcher Bay Gardens
The garden of Nick and Marj Masla represents the best of the lives of the Masla family. This beautiful garden is the culmination of three decades of growing a passion for flowers, creating a retreat, building businesses tied to the bounty of the garden and nurturing a family with strong ties to the land. The […]
Solar Homes — What you Need to Know before Going Solar
The sight of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on residential roofs around West Sound is no longer a novelty. Enticed by the idea of saving on their power bills — or perhaps the idea of helping save the planet — homeowners are joining the renewable-energy movement. It’s not a cheap investment. Although PV installation prices are […]
A Sparkling Boathouse
In the search for a new home, the owner found one that had a picturesque but deteriorating boathouse attached to a rickety pier. Who knows how much that influenced his purchase of the home, but that bit of history from the 1930s was of great interest to him. Twenty-four years later, after several phases of […]
The Collaborative Farm-to-Table Spirit of Mossback
Mossback. It’s a slang term for anyone who prefers the gray drizzle of the Pacific Northwest to its elusive, sunny days. And we all know what happens sans sunlight — moss grows. Except in Kingston. There, Mossback is a restaurant with an ever-changing farm-to-table menu, a supportive community of local family farmers and producers whose […]
Driven by Design, Inspired by Nature
Theresa Stirling’s studio is a quiet sanctuary in a loft above her garage, a place between the earth and sky where serendipity joins inspiration. She takes mind-clearing breaks by walking in her yard, paddle boarding along Hood Canal or perhaps chatting with her chickens. Her art is spiritual, ethereal and subtle, whether she creates a […]
How One of the World’s Greenest Homes Came to Be
Walking into Heron Hall on Bainbridge Island is like ambling into a laboratory of building sustainability. Almost everything you eye, touch or feel in this lovely 3,000-square-foot experimental home of Jason and Tracy McLennan is salvaged, reused or repurposed. Take the front entrance. The massive, hand-carved door is from Afghanistan and is more than 50 […]
