Author: Kay

Best of the Peninsula – Jewelry


Here’s another voting category in the Peninsula Daily News poll: Best jewelry. Cole’s Jeweler’s won this year.

It is that time of the year when gentlemen sometimes look for that special something for ladies who like little velvet boxes and glittery things. Cole’s Jewelers is on East Washington Street. You should be able to recognize it by the hand and nose prints I’ve left on the front window.

Then and Now – Nootka Rose


Sequim is rightfully known for its beautiful cultivated lavender, but one of my favorite native flowers is the Nootka rose. It can tolerate growing near salt water and is profuse in the Dungeness Recreation Area. Leaves first appear in spring from thorny branches. By early summer the bushes are lavish with buds and blossoms. I love the heady rose fragrance, though it’s rarely carried on the breeze unless it’s warm. The scent is usually saved for noses that get up close and personal.

Summer rose bushes are now a sea of bright red hips. The branches have lost their leaves and look bramble-y, so characteristic of Washington in the winter. The hips, or rose berries, don’t ripen all at once, which helps provide food over a longer period for many birds, small mammals, deer, and elk. They are a good source of vitamin C for human cooks who are willing to turn them into jellies or tea.

Roses readily intermingle with snowberries. This photo doesn’t do it justice. Through the winter they brighten the landscape with their red and white berries, a cheerful touch in a sea of dormant plants.

Best of the Peninsula – Happy Hour


In polling by the Peninsula Daily News Applebee’s won the “Happy Hour” category. Okay, it’s not Cheer’s but there’s something to be said for half off appetizers and some standard drinks. If I’m not mistaken pitchers of beer go for half off on some days, too.

What can I say? If you want to rock out from time to time you’ll have to wait until a Son’s of Norway dinner. . .or a big night at the Elk’s Lodge. . .or just head on over to Blyn to the Seven Cedars Casino. I guess we’re not much on bright lights and big city life in these parts. Suits me.