November ferry to Gabriola
Looking back at the sunset as the ferry nears Gabriola.
Filed in Gabriola Island, ferries, photos 2 Comments so far
Archive for November, 2009
Men of Gabriola, your help is needed
Britain’s National Trust is encouraging men to pee on the compost heap. The Telegraph reports:
The rather unusual practice is already actively encouraged at stately homes around the country where pee bales have been deposited in secluded areas of National Trust gardens to allow male members of staff to relieve themselves.
The Trust, which actively campaigns on [...]
Filed in environment One Response so far
The Pacific Biological Station and its Gabriola connection
A few days ago, I posted a photo of a building on the Nanaimo waterfront, and asked What’s the Gabriola connection? I wondered if any of you would know. (I am starting to think that readers of this blog know everything – at least about Gabriola!)
Andrea posted the answer. She wrote: The first director of [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, environment, insects, sea creatures No Responses yet
Two-bite brownies
When the Gabriola grocery store was out of chocolate (maybe it still is?), I decided that emergency measures were needed. After a bit of hunting around, I found this recipe for Two-bite Brownies on a blog called Food and Whine. I tried them, and yum, they’re good!
Apologies to those of you who subscribe to [...]
Filed in food No Responses yet
Growing your own food on Gabriola
Do you garden, or are you tempted to give gardening a try? (I hear that garden plots at the Gabriola Commons are only 20.00 per year.) If so, you might be interested in the Zero Mile Diet Seed kit, which sounds just perfect for Gabriola residents. I ordered mine the other day.
Here’s what’s in the [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, food, gardening No Responses yet
Former businessman lives on no money for a year
Do you know anybody on Gabriola who lives on very little money? I’ve met a few such people, but none of them have stories quite like this one. Here, this is from the Telegraph: Former businessman lives on no money for a year.
Mark Boyle said giving up his job, possessions and money to live the [...]
Filed in lifestyles No Responses yet
What’s the Gabriola connection?
Here’s a building on the Nanaimo waterfront. Can you guess what its connection to Gabriola is?
Update: the answer is here.
Filed in Gabriola Island 5 Comments so far
Identifying Gabriola’s mushrooms
In the Gabriola forest I see more mushroom varieties than I ever could have imagined. What are they? Which mushrooms are edible? Which are poisonous? I spent a lot of time wondering about this, so last year I decided to learn about mushrooms and figure it out. And I did.
Now I get it: I know [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, mushrooms 3 Comments so far
Living without money
Now here’s a fascinating article from the Times Online: Living without money.
Twenty-two years ago Heidemarie Schwermer, a middle-aged secondary school teacher just emerging from a difficult marriage, moved with her two children from the village of Lueneburg to the city of Dortmund, in the Ruhr area of Germany, whose homeless population, she immediately noticed, was [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, lifestyles One Response so far
Gabriola lighthouse
Not the lighthouse you were expecting, is it? But the other one isn’t actually on Gabriola Island. This one is.
Filed in Gabriola Island, photos No Responses yet
Gabriola’s chocolate problem
(Or rather: how it is impossible to find any decent chocolate on Gabriola today.)
Dear Village Foods,
Do you see the empty spot on the shelf? It’s where the Vivani Bitter 85% dark chocolate is supposed to be. Now, I ran out of chocolate a few weeks ago, and I’ve been checking this spot every single day [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, food No Responses yet
Small house on Gabriola Island
I like tiny houses. I can’t stay away from the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company website, where houses range from 65 to 837 square feet. Just go look at the range of stuff they offer – is that cool or what?
I like the simplicity of tiny houses, and the fact that they use less of the [...]
Filed in environment No Responses yet
Welcome to power outage season, Gabriola!
Things to do when the power goes out, again:
Get the fireplace going.
Remind self that early Gabriola pioneers would not have whined about lack of electricity.
Open bottle of wine.
Remind self that early Gabriola pioneers would not have whined about lack of running water.
Cook things that can be cooked on stovetop. (Yay for propane!)
Light lots of candles, [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, weather 2 Comments so far
Cougar on Gabriola
Do you know there’s a cougar on Gabriola? That’s what my friend asked tonight when she called to warn me about it. Apparently a cougar has been spotted near the Daniel Way area.
Yipes.
If you don’t know how to prevent a cougar attack, this would be a good time to read up on the topic – [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, wildlife 4 Comments so far
Water everywhere!
If you’re thinking of going for a stroll in the woods, wear your gumboots: whole sections of the Gabriola forest are now flooded. And those old logging roads? Ha! Many of them look like this.
Update: Some of the puddles are so deep that my dog has to swim across them. Imagine! And I’d need hip [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, weather No Responses yet
Forest face
The other day I walked in woods I don’t know very well, because hunters were shooting at deer in the place where I usually hike. (!)
Anyway. In unfamiliar forest, I followed what looked like a trail until it betrayed me by not being a trail at all. I got so desperately lost that I had [...]
Filed in trails No Responses yet
Gabriola petroglyph
We’ve got lots of petroglyphs on Gabriola; this is one a friend pointed out in the woods last week.
I’m glad we have all those petroglyph reproductions at the Gabriola Museum, but it’s way more fun to come across a real petroglyph in the middle of the forest somewhere.
Filed in First Nations No Responses yet
Gabriola ferry not going anywhere
(Ferry update: fixed.)
Anybody know what’s up with the ferry this morning? BC Ferries says:
Please be advised that the Bowen Queen is currently holding in Descanso Bay (Gabriola Island) until further notice.
The thing I hate about these BC Ferries we aren’t going anywhere right now notices is that they never give reasons. Did something break? Have [...]
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Mystery in a puddle
Some folks have tempests in teapots. On Gabriola we have mysteries in puddles, like this one: a friend spotted hundreds of these things floating in a puddle in the middle of a trail. What on earth could they be?
They’re just little things – the largest is maybe 20mm in diameter. When crushed they crumble into [...]
Filed in trails 8 Comments so far
Making ink from mushrooms
You’ve seen Shaggy Mane mushrooms, and maybe you’ve fried some up for dinner, too. But did you know you can make ink out of them? Shaggy Manes (Coprinus comatus) are inky cap mushrooms. MushroomExpert.com explains about inky caps:
Inky caps are fascinating mushrooms. They are saprobes, assisting in the decomposition of wood, dung, grassy debris, forest [...]
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On the Bowen Queen
The Bowen Queen will be Gabriola’s ferry for the next few months, while the Quinsam gets upgraded.
Your favourite part of the Bowen Queen is probably the passenger lounge, where you can get out of the winter cold and read your book.
I like this part better.
Filed in ferries No Responses yet
Another birdhouse!
A few weeks ago I spotted a birdhouse in the Gabriola woods. Odd that I hadn’t noticed it years ago, I thought, as the birdhouse did look as if it had been in place for ages. Then a friend noticed it as well, on her own. Had we both been hiking past that birdhouse for [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, trails No Responses yet
Shaggy Mane mushrooms
This is the Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus) mushroom. It’s edible and choice, and all over the place on Gabriola. When it’s young it looks like the left and centre specimens. When it opens up like an umbrella, this mushroom is past it’s prime, and you wouldn’t want to have it for dinner. When it gets [...]
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