I find all sorts of things in the Gabriola woods, and some of them are related to land surveys. (I’ve already blogged about the brass cap markers and bearing trees.) Here are a few questions for land surveyors and other folks who know about surveys.
Filed in Gabriola Island 7 Comments so far
I don’t much care for the decor at Mad Rona’s Coffee Bar. I’ve heard some folk refer to the place as Little Vancouver, but I think that misses the point: it isn’t that this café looks like it belongs elsewhere, but that it lacks any local particularity at all. All the furnishings — the chairs [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island 3 Comments so far
I’ve found a treasure on the internet: a site called journeytoforever.org has a small farms library with the full texts of hundreds of fascinating, mostly vintage, books about organic farming, homemade alternative energy, and all kinds of related subjects. So much interesting material! Be warned, I’ll probably use this collection as the basis of a [...]
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Anybody want a short-term job on Gabriola? Census Canada is hiring. I know this because they sent their adver-blurb to Gabriolan.ca, presumably for publication. If you’re on Gabriola and you need work, this could be just the ticket. Especially if you don’t mind door-to-door stuff. On the other hand, the people I know who have [...]
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OK, Gabriola drivers. (And cyclists, and pedestrians.) What do you think is the most dangerous intersection on Gabriola? I nominate North Road and Lochinvar, because this keeps happening to me: I’m driving from the South of Gabriola along North Road. I get to the village area, and go to turn left on Lochinvar. A driver [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island 4 Comments so far
Oh dear. It’s snowing on Gabriola, and Environment Canada says: Today: Flurries except snow at times heavy over southern sections. Risk of thundershowers late this afternoon. Local amount 15 cm over southern sections. Windy over southern sections late this afternoon. High plus 1. Tonight: Periods of snow ending near midnight then cloudy with 40 percent [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,weather 2 Comments so far
Look: Gabriola honey! How cool is that? If you’ve read my other honey-related posts (WWOOF on Gabriola, beekeeping on Gabriola) you’ll know that I’ve been eager to get my paws on local honey for a long time. And now I’ve got some! It’s fantastic.
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With the warm weather and peak gardening season coming up soon, my thoughts turned to slug control (as one does at this time of year, you know). Long-term readers of this blog already know I am not a big fan of slugs. But I would gladly coexist with them, if they didn’t trash my vegetable [...]
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If only we could end the vandalism problem on Gabriola! Here’s the result of a recent random act of meanness and senseless destruction. (It’s at the Huxley Park tennis court, which is a popular enough target for vandals that the court is now kept locked.)
Filed in Gabriola Island 4 Comments so far
In one part of the Gabriola woods, I see a lot of this: very hollow trees. (Or maybe I should call them stumps, or snags.) Only the bark remains! Apologies to Yeats for stealing a line from one of his poems to use as a blog post title.
Are you one of the many Gabriola gardeners who spend cold months planning your garden? This could be fun: Hydroponic gardens float you to a leafy salad. The system is basically a piece of Styrofoam floated in a container filled with water and soluble fertilizer. Holes punched in the Styrofoam hold slotted cups, and each [...]
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Our favourite ponds in the Gabriola forest turn to works of art on cold mornings. I love the beauty of it all, and then the hilarity: the dog dances on ice, slides on ice, leaps on ice, crunches ice, and rubs her face onto the ice.
Filed in Gabriola Island,weather 3 Comments so far
Gabriolans for Local Food Choices has organized a Food Forum. It’s tomorrow, Saturday February 19th, at the Gabriola Community Hall. The event runs from 12pm to 4pm. It’s billed as an afternoon of information and dialogue. And open invitation to all who grow and eat food. At 1pm there will be a Let’s talk about [...]
Filed in events,Gabriola Island 2 Comments so far
In the news: Gabriola rockslide probably not caused by Tuesday’s tremor. A rockslide on the western edge of Gabriola Island left a muddy scar in the bluffs facing the Duke Point ferry terminal during the weekend. Gabriola Fire Rescue chief Rick Jackson responded to the reports of a landslide on Sunday. Upon reaching the scene, [...]
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The Nanaimo News Bulletin reports: Boaters stranded on Snake Island rescued by helicopter. Two men are lucky to be safe after rough weather stranded them on Snake Island Saturday. The men, who set out from Gabriola Island in a 2.4-metre rowboat, were reported missing just after 4 p.m. [Source: sorry, article no longer available.] Yeah, [...]
Filed in boating,Gabriola Island 2 Comments so far
If you’ve got a dog and you live on Gabriola, these bylaws apply to you: No person shall own, keep or harbour a dog and permit or cause the dog to persistently bark, yelp, howl, or make any other similar persistent sounds. The owner of a dog shall not permit or allow their dog: to [...]
Filed in dogs,Gabriola Island 17 Comments so far
Last spring I blogged about potato boxes, which seemed like the coolest idea ever. Some of you built potato boxes of your own and tried growing various kinds of potatoes in them. So, how’d that work out for you? Did you get a huge and lovely crop of potatoes? Or was the experiment a failure? [...]
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We’ve got lots of Turkey Tail mushrooms on Gabriola; I’ve blogged about them here. Today I noticed a Fungi Perfecti research update about this fungus: Turkey Tail mushrooms support immunity of breast cancer patients in NIH-funded clinical study. (.pdf) Fascinating. Related link: Medicinal Mushrooms. (It’s not the kind of mushroom you’d want to eat with [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,mushrooms 3 Comments so far
