The canaries know it’s spring at the Brothers Greenhouses, located on SW Victory Drive in Port Orchard. For more than 15 years, birds have resided in this retail nursery attached to working greenhouses. Oscar was one of the original birds, earning that name because of his Oscar-Award-worthy singing performances. The birds are delightful. You will […]
décor
Posted inHome
Keeping it Coastal
On the cover of Craig and Jen Dolezal’s wedding book is a quote by novelist Ivan Doig: “Life is wide. There’s room to take a new run at it.” These words to live by have layers of meaning for the couple, who came to the Pacific Northwest from Atlanta in 2013. The first is love. […]
Posted inHome
Multigenerational Housing
Gig Harbor resident Dawnita Parkinson, a former Russian linguist and captain in the U.S. Air Force who is currently a stay-at-home mom, said she usually gets two reactions when people hear that her father-in-law lives with her. “They either say, ‘Oh my gosh, how do you do that, I could never live with my in-laws,’ […]
Posted inHome
A Simple Farmhouse
Simplicity has a timeless allure. Perhaps farmhouses derive their popularity from that simplicity that piques memories of a simpler time and place called home. But as Chris and Julie Anne Madson discovered, simplicity takes a serious commitment. They made choices, sat with them and then simplified them further over and over, again, throughout this experience. […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Internationally Known Sculptor Mardie Rees
Enter the brightly lit studio of Gig Harbor artist Mardie Rees and you might find her working on a larger-than-life sculpture honoring the founder of a Canadian school, a World War II memorial to U. S. Marine Raiders or some other high-profile commission. Or she may be creating a sculptural portrait of a young woman […]
Posted inGardeners Corner
Some of the Best Flowers for Beautiful Vase Displays
Spring is undoubtedly my favorite time of year. Each spring, I especially look forward to cutting fresh flowers from my yard to arrange in a vase on my kitchen windowsill or dining room table. In some ways, the finished display is like a trophy showcasing my gardening skills, while allowing me to bring color from […]
Posted inAt Home
Shades of Green you Might Not See
When remodeling or building, we often hear how prospective clients might want to incorporate “green” methods into their projects. They typically cite items like solar panels, low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) materials, ground-source heat, ICF foundations, on-demand water heaters and more. Many of these can be very pricey options, with very long payoffs. We have noticed […]
Posted inPeople & Places
People on the Walls
Magic of sorts — the delightfully unexpected — happens as life seems to pause once in a while to say, “Have you tried this?” And we did. It was called the PaintPeopleProject. Some 20 professional fine artists and photographers, not all knowing one another, gathered to paint life-size people right on the walls of a […]
Posted inGarden
The Caretaker
Simply defined, a garden is a collaboration between nature and people. Plants cannot be willed to do what you want. They must be treated as partners and given what they need for water, light, soil, climate and so on. In return, gardens will give you what you need: food, flowers, beauty and peace. This the […]