Archive for February, 2009

Cliff Cornell charged with desertion

Arkansas Online has an update on former Gabriolan Cliff Cornell: Soldier from Arkansas charged with desertion. Fort Stewart commanders have filed a desertion charge against a soldier accused of fleeing to Canada four years ago to avoid the war in Iraq, a spokesman for the Georgia Army post said Thursday. Spc. Cliff Cornell, 29, will [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in Gabriola people 3 Comments so far

Dear Gabriola snowplough drivers

Dear Gabriola snowplough drivers, Do you miss us? We miss you. Why don’t you come clear our neighbourhood streets, then stop in for a bowl of hot soup? Love, The snowed-in people who are about to hike to the village for groceries.

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in Gabriola Island,photos,weather Comments Off

Gabriola’s beautiful inconvenience

What better than a blanket of snow to add magic to a Gabriola morning? And what better than snow — with more on the way, apparently — to make the washing machine repair guy cancel his visit to Gabriola today? The septic system repair guy phoned last night to cancel, too, so our fixit day [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in Gabriola Island,weather Comments Off

Food delivery service for Gabriola

I have often wished that somebody would start a food delivery business on Gabriola. I’m thinking of something along the lines of Takeout Taxi, Go Waiters or Yummy Web. What a great concept. The delivery service we had in the city printed menus from various restaurants. You’d phone the delivery guys and say "I’d like [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in food,Gabriola Island Comments Off

Your chance to support Radio Gabriola!

Have you written your letter to the CRTC in support of Radio Gabriola’s application? No? You’d better do it soon if you want your letter to count — the CRTC has to receive your note by March 5th. I tried to use the CRTC website to submit my letter, but it was hopeless. I don’t [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in Gabriola Island 2 Comments so far

Would Transport Canada give the Quinsam an exemption?

By now you’ve heard of the new Transport Canada rules for ferries, which means that the Quinsam can’t carry as many passengers as it has been able to — not unless BC Ferries adds another staff person to the Quinsam. I expect this will lead to maddening sailing waits in the tourist season. Anyway, it’s [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island Comments Off

Hidden in the Gabriola woods

If you hike in the Gabriola woods every day, and if you go to all sorts of obscure places that are off the trail, you eventually find the places where people are living in the middle of the forest. There aren’t any obvious trails going to this campsite, so the chances of somebody stumbling across [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in Gabriola Island,photos Comments Off

Green gadgets for Gabriola?

What do you think — are some of these green gadgets perfect for Gabriola? From Tech World: 10 Unbelievable eco technologies and green gadgets. From luminescent fiber-optic wallpaper to wood-powered hot tubs, kinetic iPods and cardboard bridges, green technology and sustainable innovation continue to amaze and impress us all. Here’s a look at our top [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in misc Comments Off

Skunk cabbages

Look! Gabriola’s skunk cabbages have emerged from swampy ground, and are starting to grow: a perfect west coast sign of spring. You know that bend in North Road as you go from the village and approach Horseshoe? Just before the road straightens out, look to the right and you’ll see skunk cabbages next to the [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in Gabriola Island,native plants,photos 2 Comments so far

A food-growing system based on natural ecology

There seems to be much interest in food security and sensible farming practices on Gabriola. (On Tuesday Robin Wheeler will speak about her book, Food Security for the Faint of Heart. See Gabriola events calendar for details.) If those topics are close to your heart, check out this article from the Daily Mail: Now my [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in food Comments Off

What I missed at Christmas

I hiked through these woods at Christmas, but didn’t notice then that somebody has decorated a cedar tree with Christmas ornaments. It’s in the Elder Cedar (S’ul-hween X’pey) Nature Reserve. If you start at the park’s main entrance on North Road, you then either take the stepping stones across the stream, or head off the [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in Gabriola Island,photos,trails Comments Off

Mushrooms, slime molds, and jellies: oh my!

We have zillions of mushrooms on Gabriola, and lots of slime molds and jellies, too. Here’s what some of them look like as they grow.

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in mushrooms Comments Off

More Beyond the Pale for Gabriola

A few days ago I blogged about the Beyond the Pale concert planned for Gabriola. Sounds great, doesn’t it? The Saturday night concert (February 21st) is now sold out, so they’ve added a 3pm concert as well. Sign up at Raspberry’s, or get your tickets at the door, if there are any left by then. [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in events,Gabriola Island,music Comments Off

Expect longer waits for the Quinsam

The Gabriola ferry route isn’t the only one affected by the new passenger limit rules. The Courier Islander notes what happened to North Island MLA Claire Trevena on her way home to Quadra Island. …she arrived in time for the 5:25 p.m. ferry only to find that a number of young people were heading over [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island Comments Off

Gabriola’s black mushroom

The acronym MOTD used to mean ‘message of the day’ to me — it was the message that a Unix system presented to the user on login. These days, the letters MOTD mean mushroom of the day as far as I’m concerned — there are zillions of mushrooms on Gabriola, and I find new ones [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in Gabriola Island,mushrooms Comments Off

Quinsam returns to Gabriola

BC Ferries notes that the Quinsam is returning to the Gabriola route on Wednesday morning. The MV Quinsam will return to service on Wednesday, February 18 with the 5:45 a.m. sailing from Descanso Bay. The vessel returns to service following the first phase of its midlife upgrade that included painting of the vessel, steel replacement [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island Comments Off

Gabriola eggs

Remember all that fuss at the Gabriola Farmers’ Market last summer about eggs? Anna, who cooks at the market, insisted on using Gabriola farm-fresh eggs. Along came the food inspector, who handed Anna an official notice to stop using Gabriola eggs. Eggs have to come from someplace where they are officially graded, he said. Health [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in food,Gabriola Island Comments Off

Beyond the Pale

I love Klezmer music, so I’m thrilled that Beyond the Pale is coming to Gabriola. See? Here’s how fun they are: Beyond the Pale will be at the Roxy on February 21st. See Gabriola events calendar for details. (Here’s an article on the phrase beyond the pale. If you’ve ever wondered where the phrase came [...]

Read the rest of this article »

Filed in events,Gabriola Island,music Comments Off

Next Page »