Lifestyles category, Page 168
Topiary tips: When you want shrubs to double as sculpture
Topiary is the art of growing trees and shrubs as living sculptures — cubes, spheres, obelisks, animal shapes or combinations of these. The tradition has flourished in various places at different times, but in modern gardens, topiary is rare, unless you count our foundation plantings of clipped yews and junipers...
When is the right time to dig potatoes?
Question: We have a few raised beds in our backyard. We’ve grown zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and basil for the last few years, and we planted seed potatoes in one of the beds earlier this spring. The plants are green and very big, but we aren’t sure when to dig the...
Rostraver couple turning the page on glory days of plant breeding
Sarah Zolock’s well-worn straw gardening hat reveals her silver hair through a hole in the top. “I want the hat like that,” she says smiling. “It lets the air through the crown better.” Along with her husband Steve, she conducts a tour of their expansive and beautiful garden, explaining the...
Original Pie Shoppe in Laughlintown lands on Taste of Home’s ‘state’s best’ list
When Carolyn Anderson, 47, of New Alexandria thinks about her favorite regional small town restaurant, one place pops into mind. She remembers traveling Route 30 as a child to her grandparents’ Somerset County home, and the regular stop her family made at Laughlintown’s Original Pie Shoppe. It’s now claimed the...
Restaurant seeks ‘bacon intern,’ pay is $1,000 for 1 day of work
Hello, dream job! Bacon lovers your wait is over — your day of service has arrived. Farmer Boys, a West Coast restaurant chain, has posted a job opening for a “bacon intern.” That’s right, pork pals: Bacon as a career. OK, so maybe not a career. It’s an internship. And...
Ligonier Country Market to celebrates National Farmers Market Week
For the third year, Ligonier Country Market will participate in National Farmers Market Week, being observed Aug. 4-10. The Farmers Market Coalition puts together a program and makes suggestions to farmers market operators, says Cari Frei, the market’s executive director. Among those programs is a poster contest. And for three...
Cruise back to the fabulous ’50s at The Stroll in Ligonier
If you have no particular place to go on Aug. 9, pick up Mustang Sally in your Little Deuce Coupe and head for Ligonier for some fun, fun, fun at The Stroll. The 17th annual 1950s-themed car cruise and dance contest is set for 5-9 p.m. on the downtown Diamond...
Ice Cream Fundae serves up sweet treats for Pressley RidgeVideo
Twenty-five years of ice cream, families and fun is worth celebrating anytime – especially on a warm summer’s evening. Pressley Ridge will be scooping up 14 different flavors of Graeter’s frozen dessert at its signature fundraiser, the 25th Pressley Ridge Ice Cream Fundae, from 6-9 p.m. Aug. 11 at Pittsburgh...
Massive tarantula migration to start this month in ColoradoVideo
Why do thousands of tarantulas cross the road? To get to the side where their mates live. The annual spider migration is about to commence in southeast Colorado and Highway 109 south of La Junta is a good place to watch, according to the town’s tourism team. Large populations of...
Greensburg’s Pride in the Park Picnic welcomes all
Jean Slusser, president of PFLAG — Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays — Greensburg welcomes anyone to the annual Pride in the Park Picnic. Slusser is a founding member of the group and of Westmoreland LGBTQ Interfaith Network, co-hosts of the picnic from 2-6 p.m. Aug. 18 at...
Burger King’s Impossible Whopper may not be vegan friendly
The patties for Burger King’s Impossible Whopper are 100% plant-based, but might not be 100% friendly for vegans or vegetarians. According to a footnote on the product page for the burger on BK’s website, the Impossible Whoppers are “flame-grilled in the same broiler used for beef and chicken.” Most people...
Out & About: Greensburg Art Center adds ‘Bug-elisk’ sculpture
Greensburg artist Brian McCall was hard at work on Aug. 4, installing his new addition to the Greensburg Art Center’s sculpture garden, when he was asked for the name of the piece — a tall rectangular column with ants, grasshoppers and beetles climbing the sides and a bee perched on...
Pittsburgh Restaurant Week expands far and wide for summer edition
Turn off the oven, unplug the slow cooker and close the lid on the grill: It’s time to celebrate the Summer 2019 edition of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week. Brian McCollum, director of Pittsburgh Restaurant Week, has cooked up a lot of deals for what he calls the “most delicious time of...
Get a free lesson in beer brewing at Old Economy Village
Area beer fans interested in learning how to make their own brew are in luck. Old Economy Village, 270 16th St., Ambridge, in Beaver County, is offering a free, two-day beer-making seminar. Classes will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Aug. 17 and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Aug. 31. During the first...
Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer moving to larger venue for next sale
To accommodate more vendors and more shoppers, the Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer is moving to a larger venue for its next event. Dubbed by organizers as the “biggest vintage fair yet,” the Mixer is scheduled for 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Nov. 9 at Nova Place, the former Allegheny Center in Pittsburgh’s North...
Best Buys From the Wine Cellar: Canned wines a tasty alternative
Let’s say it’s a beautiful August day, just perfect for a relaxing moment poolside, or maybe a picnic or cook out around the campfire. Sipping an easy drinking, tasty wine would be fun, but is it worth the hassle of opening an entire bottle, using wine glasses and then disposing...
Lincoln Avenue Brewery hoping to be ‘Cheers’ of BellevueVideo
Grant Saylor learned to brew beer on his back porch. Now he helps run Lincoln Avenue Brewery in the once-dry borough of Bellevue, where a May 2015 referendum overturned the longtime ban on liquor licenses. “We know it’s a leap of faith to try this business in a once-dry town,”...
Victoria’s Secret hires first transgender model
NEW YORK — Valentina Sampaio has become the first openly transgender model hired by Victoria’s Secret nearly a year after a top company official was pressured to apologize for implying trans women are off brand. Sampaio, a Brazilian, has been posting from behind the scenes of a VS Pink campaign...
French’s rolls out tangy, sweet, neon mustard ice cream
National Mustard Day has already squirted by this year — Aug. 3 — but French’s has brought new reason to celebrate. It’s still summer, and we are still screaming for ice cream, so the mustard manufacturer has obliged — French’s Mustard Ice Cream. And some taste testers give it two...
Headwaters party supports watershed association
The third annual Headwaters Party will raise money to help support the Jacobs Creek Watershed Association’s growing recreation programs, including its new water trail, says Annie Quinn, executive director. Money raised at the 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 10 event at Yinzer Valley Farms, 681 Mulberry Hill Road, Mt. Pleasant,...
From Zen to zany, backyards with style and personality
For some people, backyards aren’t just backyards anymore. “We’re seeing everything from Zen retreats for al fresco yoga to whimsical children’s spaces that go way beyond the typical swing set,” says Jennifer Bringle, editor in chief of Casual Living magazine. More and more, she says, homeowners are putting the same...
Out & About: Westmoreland Walks pops corks at Bella Terra event
Having a glass of wine (or maybe two) at a scenic area winery is a great way to wrap up the work week. Westmoreland Walks Inc. offered that opportunity to about 130 supporters with Pink Corks at the Vineyard, on Aug. 2 at Bella Terra Vineyards near Hunker. The sunset...
Out & About: Gig on Main gets downtown Irwin rocking
For good food and fun, there’s nothing better than a block party — except maybe a two-block party. The annual Gig on Main took over two blocks of Irwin’s major thoroughfare on Aug. 3, and party-lovers of all ages stopped in. A bandstand was set up at the intersection of...
Out & About: STAT Summerfest highlights healing power of horsesVideo
There’s one kind of horsepower that will make your engine run. There’s another kind that can assist in various kinds of healing, personal empowerment and therapy. It was that second kind of power highlighted at the fourth annual Summerfest on Aug. 3 at STAT Ligonier Therapeutic Center in Cook Township....
Out & About: Sweet dogs are special guests at Animal Friends bash
Organizers from Animal Friends of Westmoreland called their latest fundraiser the Dog Days of Summer Cash Bash — a fitting name both for the date and for the personable pooches in attendance. Not only did attendees at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield have a chance to go home with a share...
