Arts & Shopping

Get Clean And Be Green

Powerful yet gentle! In honor of Earth Day, we took three environmentally friendly all-purpose cleaning products (two locally made against one national brand) and really put them to the test — we cleaned our office microwave, which is no easy…

Going Dotty

The point of patienceThe first question you have to ask is — how do you ever get all those glass dots so perfectly placed?Kristina Logan, a Portsmouth glass bead maker of international acclaim, says, “It’s about slowing down. Through controlled…

Making a Splash Along Water Street

Featured Shop – Cymbidium Floral Boutique • Exeter.Water Street in historic Exeter is a happy promenade, offering a little something for everyone. You’ll find toy stores, beading, bakeries, copy shops, and clothes and more clothes. Picnic in Swasey Park and…

Better Than Broadway

New Hampshire’s summer theaters offer top-notch plays in towns where the stage is a part of the community. And the actors who just thrilled you could easily wind up enjoying an after-show drink in the booth next to yours. Geographically…

Between Times

A whodunit set on New Hampshire’s seacoast.It might look like the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel, but the setting for this work of fiction is called the Smythe Hotel. There unwinds a tale of mystery and murder that spans two…

More “Cereal-sly”

Featured Shop – [me] and goji • Barrington.It’s a slam dunk hit — [me] and goji, based in Barrington, has people all over the country waking up to a new concept in cereal. It’s a make-your-own online artisanal cereal from…

Rocking Stockings

Surprise Santa with a sense of style.After 33 years as a high school business teacher, Pam Chaffee thought it was time to put down the books. Three years ago she gave up computer software for soft fabrics, feathers and felt.The…

Nature Nurtured

Polymer clay — transformed.In a word — stunning. How else to describe the wearable fine art of Kathleen Dustin of Contoocook?Dustin has taken a crafter’s medium without a fine art history and given it a shining presence. Polymer clay (Fimo)…

A Different Sort of Jelley

Sweet and Spicy! In a blind taste test, our staff compared four N.H. gourmet pepper jellies from around the state. Here’s what they thought and which one they liked the best.LollipopTreeSweet vidalia onions and bell peppers, combined with tart cranberries…