Country Cottage at 795 Rappahannock Drive, White Stone, specializes in comfort. Its owner, Pam Sawyer, describes the business this way:

“We are a full-service florist making custom designs for weddings, funerals, birthdays and every day. We deliver to Middlesex, Lancaster and Northumberland counties. We are also an ice cream parlor and gourmet sweet shop. We make homemade fudge and gourmet chocolate with only the finest ingredients. We serve hand-dipped Hershey’s ice cream, shakes, sundaes, malts, floats, splits, more.”

Pam Sawyer

Sawyer describes herself as a graduate of both high school and “the school of hard knocks.” She has always been self-employed, working with her husband, whom she credits with loving support, along with two sons and their wives and “nine wonderful grandkids.”

In working and maintaining family life, she said, “the hardest part has been balancing work and family time.” Triumphs of her work include “the relationships I have developed with my customer...