Maurice Richard Blowe, who grew up in East Hampton and attended East Hampton High School, died at home in Phoenix on Nov. 14. He had been ill for about 15 years with various ailments, his family said.

Stewart Miller Cullum, who grew up in East Hampton, died on Nov. 9 at Good Shepherd Hospice in Port Jefferson. He was 78 and had been ill with cancer for three years.

Weeks after a re-election campaign that saw her win 60 percent of the vote over her Republican challenger, Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming announced on Tuesday morning her intention to challenge Representative Lee Zeldin in New York's First Congressional District next year.

Virginia Woolf was likely not talking about scrapbooks when, in her “A Writer’s Diary,” she advised the reader to “arrange whatever pieces come your way.” But this magpie sentiment surely fits the 19th-century notion of collecting the ephemeral bits of one’s life into albums that illustrated the scrapbooker’s personal world.

Local pros agree: The rules of good interior design are universal, even when it comes to decking your halls and swagging your walls with garlands, wreaths, and lights. Think “less is more” and the “rule of threes.” Think themes, like vintage or forest, and complementary color palettes.

What’s a house without a story behind it? Just a structure. So what do you do if you find yourself living in new construction with plenty of character but no history? No story? Make something up.

Making your hurried holiday rounds, as you sprint off Main Street and into the Ladies Village Improvement Society’s Bargain Box thrift shop — recently renamed the Shops at the L.V.I.S. — you cannot fail to notice the octagonal dollhouse in the entryway. It is huge, standing tall at 5-foot-4, with nine rooms, two bathrooms, a basement, and an attic. When you pause to peek inside, you see how intricately it has been decorated, with festive details that change with the seasons.