The size of new single-family homes has increased substantially in the last few decades. However, a recent trend in slightly smaller homes that began several years ago might be reversed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As homebuyers spend more time at home, they are seeking houses with more space. According to data from Realtor.com, the median […]
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Posted inGardeners Corner
Designing Gardens for Year-Round Color and Protecting Your Investment
Create a colorful year-round garden filled with flowers, greenery, colorful fruit, fall color, winter interest and a few surprises. Consider seasonal interest when planning a new garden or landscape. Adding a few key plants to existing gardens can help boost your landscape’s seasonal appeal. Include a variety of plants with multiple seasons of interest as […]
Posted inGarden
A Garden on a Lake
The magical view from the deck says it all — mountain peaks, placid lake and a garden that beckons you to leave the deck and wander through it to the water’s edge. This lovingly tended garden of Denice and Don Heblich on Wooten Lake in Tahuya is filled with love, creativity and an extreme level […]
Posted inPeople & Places
A Day Trip to Harstine Island
“Suri is the Bengal tiger. Tabbi is the Bengal/Siberian hybrid,” a felid-savvy guide introduces the two wild cats. “Your smells and movements are new so you’re part of today’s enrichment. It’s good for them.” Suri (at nearly 300 pounds) studies visitors through the fencing. “In the wild, they eat primarily deer and wild pigs,” the […]
Posted inCommunity News
Gig Harbor Brings Back Summer Concerts, Outdoor Movies
The City of Gig Harbor Tourism Department is bringing back the much-loved summer series of concerts and movies at Skansie Park for 2021. Due to state guidelines, both series were unable to occur in 2020. Both events, Summer Sounds at Skansie and Friday Night Movies in the Park, take place at downtown’s Skansie Park, set […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Theresa Stirling’s New Beeswax Painting Workshops
No time like now to learn something new — local artist Theresa Stirling has taken her in-studio workshops online by request. Stirling now offers a chance to learn the ancient art of painting with beeswax and fire — and to do it from the comfort of your own space. No experience necessary — she offers […]
Posted inHome
A Lodge and Treehouse Experience on the Key Pen
It’s one of West Sound’s best-kept secrets — a lovely little gem hidden in a 10-acre woods on the Key Peninsula. Frog Creek Lodge was built as a private residence for a large family in the mid-1970s. The original owner sold it in the 1980s to a couple who turned it into a retreat center. […]
Posted inGarden
The Inspirational Rosedale Gardens and Nursery
If there’s one good thing that came with the COVID-19 virus in the past year, it’s the increased interest in the joys of gardening. With more time to spend at home and the need to fill the gaps left by social distancing, home and garden businesses have noted a surge in sales. Another positive: The […]
Posted inGarden
The Whistler in the Woods
Birders measure the arrival of spring not by a date on the calendar, but by the sounds of birds returning from winter warmth in the South. From March to May, over two dozen species of migrant songbirds arrive for breeding in West Sound. To the delight of many, they fill the mornings with an array […]