Gardening in Central Virginia

The arc of the sun reaches its zenith on June 21st, bringing the first day of summer. From then ’til December 22nd the golden orb tracks steadily back towards winter. If you haven’t yet been invited to a summer solstice party, plan one now to celebrate the longest day of the year. Cocktails at twilight […]

How You Can Succeed in the Housing Market

For the past couple of months, Gini Carl’s mornings have consisted of seemingly endless rounds of bed-making, dishwashing, vacuuming and trailing after her 11-year-old daughter “to pick up everything she drops.” No, Carl’s not some Type A, neat freak Martha Stewart wannabe. She has, however, been playing one since early April. That’s when she and […]

Virginia pastoral

Earlysville is one of those picture postcard examples of Central Virginia: Barrels of hay line the main drags through town, grazing cattle dot the rolling hills against a Blue Ridge backdrop and flocks of geese make pit stops in people’s front yards. It’s a place where many residents give directions like: “Take a right at […]

Outside chance

It’s hardly news to anybody that the local real estate market has shifted. Whereas buyers a couple of years ago had to be happy with whatever they could find, now it’s sellers who are feeling a little desperate. What’s more, inventory is way up. When I asked Martha deJarnette, an associate broker with Pace Real […]

Shelter Sites You Don't Want To Miss

Back to basicswww.realsimple.com Unless you haven’t ventured anywhere near a grocery store in the past five years you are probably familiar with the proud housewife’s almanac: Real Simple, the magazine that takes life and makes it easier…or at least more manageable. It’s a relative phenomenon that has expanded from the traditional magazine format into television, […]

News and Ideas For Sustainable Living

Wage clean air with the peace lily and other houseplants. Places in a planned utopiaBelvedere development will sell a green vision Can you create a sustainable community nearly out of thin air? Local development company Stonehaus is betting it can. Its 675-unit Belvedere development broke ground on May 10, beginning a five- to six-year buildout […]

Homeward bound

We have a new dining experience to tell you about: It’s called eating at home. O.K., eating at home is not really Restaurantarama’s forte. If left to our own devices we’d be scarfing down mac ‘n’ cheese in front of the TV every night like the rest of America. We much prefer the more civilized […]

Getting out of Dodge

As I write this, Memorial Day weekend is upon us. I have Monday off and I fully intend to “call in sick” on Friday. Four days of freedom meant it was imperative that I get the hell out of here; I haven’t left town since Christmas, everything in Aspen is closed for the off-season (including […]

Shop talk

I recently sat down with John Riggins, Washington Redskins Hall of Famer turned D.C. talk radio host. Here’s what he had to say. Wes McElroy: New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens has once again been given special considerations: He can leave the team on days he does not pitch. How would “special considerations” have gone […]