Sages of the Soil

When their vegetable garden didn’t sprout as planned Connie and Bob Langgood went to the New Hanover County Arboretum’s plant clinic on a rainy Thursday morning in search of answers. A team of skilled Master Gardeners was ready with help — and soil sample boxes. Ireland Upchurch a 94-year-old volunteer sat at a counter surrounded…

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The View from on High

Unmanned aerial vehicles aka drones equipped with cameras provide a perspective not available from the ground. New regulations mean the sky is the limit for this nascent industry

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Homes of Habitat

Each month these pages feature a stunning Home of Distinction. Thoughtfully planned and designed — often to the specification of the homeowner — expertly crafted on all points then professionally and tastefully decorated and landscaped these beautiful houses feature the best of the best. In this issue we feature a collection of homes that are…

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The Art and Challenge of the Portrait

One of the oldest forms of art portraits have been widely revered throughout history. Portrait trends have adapted to varying cultural preferences sometimes emphasizing blatant honesty and naturalism sometimes drawing on metaphor and idealism while always withstanding dramatic transitions in painting style from the realism of the Renaissance to the geometry and abstraction of the…

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A Tasty Tradition

A traveling salesman from the Chattanooga Bakery named Earl Mitchell was in Kentucky coal country nearly 100 years ago so the story goes peddling his wares to miners in the Southern Appalachians. One miner apparently didn’t see much that particularly appealed to him. He told Mitchell to come back when he had a snack “as…

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Creating a Supportive Community: Inspiration for Working Women

As a CEO wife and mother Stephanie Lanier is very well acquainted with the unique challenges faced by women who juggle life in and out of the home. In conversations with other women she knew she wasn’t alone. Others in the business and nonprofit world felt the same pressures. Lanier the head of Wilmington real…

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A Guild of Their Own

Networking and collaboration are crucial to any fruitful business. It’s no secret that who you know can be a game changer — not only because being introduced to the right people can open new doors to opportunity but being surrounded with those who inspire can have a real positive effect on your own work. As…

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Island Ladies Who Garden

Warm evening light filters through the fuchsia-colored blooms of the crepe myrtles in the Harbor Way Gardens as Melynda McNeil walks along the footpath to the central fountain. The shaded garden oasis nestled in the west end of Wrightsville Beach Park is a welcome resting place for the town’s residents and visitors including moms who…

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