I know you’ve been waiting to see more of the mysterious antlers in the Gabriola woods, so here you go. For ages these antlers were twisted: one looked as it should, but the other had drooped down to point at the ground. We called them the twisty antlers. And then a few weeks ago – [...]
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We get serious amounts of rain on Gabriola in the winter months, and we know people on the island whose basements and crawl-spaces flood every year. We also know some people whose Gabriola property is very swampy. With that in mind, I was fascinated by the land-locked floating house. (Go look!) How amazing is that? [...]
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Look what the Gabriola forest has for you: a heart! This is a bracken fern, slowly unfurling.
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A while ago I was in the Gabriola office of the Coastal Community Credit Union, doing some financial stuff. I showed my driver’s licence to the teller, then took it back. At the end of the transaction, the teller asked for my licence again, saying now we’ll scan your driver’s licence, so it’ll be in [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island 3 Comments so far
Gabriola’s nettles are now a foot high in some parts of the woods. Have you picked some for your dinner? If so, you probably know that cooking removes the sting of nettles. Here’s an easy cooking method you may not have considered:
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Here’s periwinkle (vinca minor), one of Gabriola’s prettiest non-native flowers. You’ve probably seen it for sale at a garden centre, where they’ll tell you that it’s a great ground-cover because it spreads so nicely and covers up everything in sight. It’s just starting to bloom at Drumbeg. So pretty! And so invasive.
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I drive along North Road towards the south end of the island, and note with some annoyance that a vehicle a ways ahead of me has stopped, in the middle of the *#$%^@! road, for no apparent reason. On the other side of the road, a white truck is backing up to get back to [...]
Drive along North Road sometime, and look around a bit as you go through the Tunnel. Have you seen how many trees along there are flagged with pink or blue tape? The photos shows a recent addition. What is that about? Who is putting up that tape, and why? There are too many things on [...]
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From the Times Colonist: Minister promises action on B.C. Ferries. Transportation Minister Shirley Bond says the province plans to act soon on recommendations by the province’s comptroller general for B.C. Ferries, including one that could see a salary cut for the corporation’s CEO. You can anticipate that in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be looking at [...]
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So, clothes dryers. Dump them in the forest seems to have been the favoured disposal method for old clothes dryers on Gabriola; I’ve found quite a few in the woods over the years. Recently I’ve been re-visiting the ones I know about, thinking that maybe I could find a good dryer drum for Michael Mehta, [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,junk in the forest,photos One Response so far
Will anything change on Gabriola during the Olympics, do you think? Will we be inundated with visitors, either those who’ve come from afar to see sporting events (and will make a side-trip to our island), or those who are fleeing Vancouver? I’ve seen nothing about the Olympics here; maybe I just haven’t paid enough attention. [...]
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The Gabriola Post Office has a notice posted on the front door. Have you seen it? They’re looking for a contractor. They explain: The nature of the services to be performed is sortation, delivery and collection of mail to and from designated tender points as described in the suggested Description of Service “Schedule A”, including [...]
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If you live on Gabriola, you’ve seen Buddy. He’s the dog who runs beside his human’s bike as they travel all over the island. Everywhere I go, I see this dog! He must be one of the fittest dogs on Gabriola, and maybe one of the happiest, too: he gets exercise, company, fresh air, and [...]
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We’ve been amused by peacocks in other people’s neighbourhoods around Gabriola, because — ha ha! — it’s funny and the birds are interesting. I’ve even blogged about Morri H. Mostow’s Gabriola peacocks. We’ve been equally amused at other kinds of free-range fowl who seem to wander anywhere they please on other parts of the island. [...]
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This vase appeared in the middle of the Gabriola woods last year. Is it stranger that: a) There’s a vase in the middle of the forest, or b) Every time I pass there’s a new arrangement of greens or flowers, and fresh water? Update, September, 2010: vase now looks like this:
Filed in Gabriola Island,photos,trails 2 Comments so far
Ah, such fine tugboats we see around Gabriola! These ones are near Drumbeg. (Tugboat captain has been my fantasy career for a while now. I’d like to spend lots of time out on the water in a strong working boat.)
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A Gabriolan.ca reader has asked for help in tracking down a 20-year-old Shaw cable show about Gabriola. It was made in March, 1990, and was about the hooking up the last pole to bring cable television to Gabriola. Are you the sort of person who tapes and keeps television shows about Gabriola? And, if so, [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,history One Response so far
Here’s a fungus I come across now and again in the Gabriola woods. I’ve seen some small specimens, but most of the ones I’ve found are huge. The one I saw last week was bigger than the platter you use for serving Christmas turkey. Amazing. I’d love to know what it is, and I suppose [...]
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