BY NORA LEA REEFE - At the meeting Wednesday of the Boca Grande Garden Club, Paul Epsom, English gardening correspondent for PBS's "The Victory Garden," presented an informative and humorous program entitled  "A Transplanted Englishman's Five E's of Gardening,"  in which he wove a history lesson, including geography of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain, while describing points of style and design along with some short biographical sketches of English garden designers.  

Lifelong Learning will welcome Dr. Rosemary Bowler as the moderator of the latest segment in the Film Forum series on Friday, January 20, at 2 p.m. This is the second in the “Something Worth Talking About” series.

A special unveiling and open house at The Island School will also take place on the same day.

BY JULIANNE GREENBERG - Everywhere you look, all around us, there’s so much natural beauty. Our environment is filled with picturesque scenery and delightful images.

I’ve always been jealous of those who can magically transform a blank canvas or paper into an image that actually resembles something artistic and beautiful.

Whether it’s our awe inspiring sunsets, blush pink early evening clouds, stunningly vibrant Bougainvillea or the shells that wash up on our beaches. There are so many vistas, images and faces that beg to be captured through art.  

If you need a little instruction to get you creating something, there are several groups, clubs and classes that can get you going in the right direction.

BY LIZA STROUT - Michael Miller was born in Peoria, Ill., the second of seven children. His father was a carpet layer, his mother a homemaker.

As he puts it, “We were relatively poor. Not middle-class, but poor.”

When he was a child, he went to work with his father. Back then, you didn’t iron carpet to join them at a seam, you used to whip them. Sew them together with surgical needles. Work became a habit that has lasted his whole life.