Living

Now we’re rolling   Plenty of projects are more important than a toilet-paper holder, but we still gave it a place on our big list of things to do. (This is notwithstanding my husband’s claim that the back of the toilet made a fine toilet-paper holder.) Of course you can buy these things in all […]

Shape shade Remember when you were little and you’d make shadow puppets on the wall with your hands?…This project isn’t really like that. But, we’re betting that if the light were bright enough, the silhouettes you create would be like a new piece of art every time you turned on the light. In that way, […]

A hammer for every task When it’s hammer time, choose wisely. If you think the concept of using a hammer is pretty easy, well, you’re pretty right. Depending on the task, though, there are specialized hammers on the market that can make your job-at-hand an error-proof breeze. When you just need a household hammer for […]

Just getting to the house that Richard Hewitt is building for himself and his wife requires some work. The road starts out innocently enough, skirting a Crozet apple orchard, but quickly devolves into a rock-strewn, rutted beast which climbs a steep mountainside to the wooded spot that is Hewitt’s homesite. It’s here that the real […]

Restaurantarama has been known to take a few jibes at the chains around town.

I can’t believe I’m writing an article on this topic and worse, I’m appalled by what I’m about to tell you. Women should let men phone first in early stages of dating. I’m in favor of modern gender roles and relationships but, as a dating coach, I’ve discovered that traditional “courting” norms still apply. They’re […]

While the lineup for Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand has changed over the years, the band’s current lineup seems the closest to a stable, functional family—perhaps because every member has a second creative outlet. Guitarist Jon Bray, who arrived from the now-deceased Truman Sparks, also makes deadly jungle boogie with Drunk Tigers. Bassist Thomas Dean has […]

Albemarle Ciderworks is a close-knit family operation. That’s no more clear than when I emerge from the office on the gently mountainous North Garden property after a conversation with brother and sister Chuck and Charlotte Shelton (which goes nearly two hours and draws to a close on a couple cups of the brut and bright […]

I am a very loyal person, but every summer, I have a passionate affair.