When Gabriola’s foxgloves set seeds in late summer, I collect some, bring them home, and scatter them all over the place. Now we have lots and lots of foxgloves, which suits me fine. Foxglove flowers usually hang down. But here we have an aberrant foxglove, with flowers facing upward. I like aberrations. This is not [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,gardening 14 Comments so far
How would driverless vehicles change life on Gabriola? Would the Gabriola Transportation people want one to circle the island hourly, acting as a bus service? Before you conclude that I’m reading too much science fiction, note that Google has succeeded in making driverless cars legal in Nevada.
Filed in Gabriola Island One Response so far
The Gabriola Home and Garden Tour is today, so these signs are up all over the island. Did you (or will you) go on the tour? Is your house or garden featured on the tour list this year? I did get a tour of a lovely under-construction house today, and saw an interesting garden, too. [...]
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While wandering in the Gabriola woods at the beginning of June, I found a hummingbird nest with eggs inside. Somehow I wound up in the same area this evening, and here’s what’s in the nest now:
Filed in birds,Gabriola Island 11 Comments so far
Gabriola’s 707 Acre Community Park will have official trailmarkers soon. People who are in charge of safety-related things on Gabriola say we need them, and the Gabriola Parks and Open Spaces Advisory Committee has come up with trail names to put on the signs. (Flying Shingle article: Parks committee proposes trail names. Gabriola Sounder article: [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,Gabriola people,trails 10 Comments so far
I was at Arbutus Lumber this afternoon, to buy five screws. My wife tells me that most people buy more than the number of screws they need for a given job, so that they have some on-hand and don’t have to keep going back to the hardware store. I can’t see the fun in that. [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,news One Response so far
Who are those people who throw cigarette butts out their car windows when driving along North Road – and elsewhere on Gabriola, too? What on earth are they thinking? I’ve always wondered. Today I saw a driver do this, and was surprised to see the name of a local business on the back of her [...]
I imagine the spiders who built this web are less than pleased with what’s happened.
Filed in Gabriola Island,insects 2 Comments so far
Heading down to the Gym at Twin Beaches this morning? These articles will give you something to chat about with your workout partner. The Washington Post reports on a food and diet: Potatoes bad, nuts good for staying slim, Harvard study finds. If you’re interested in healthy eating, this’ll give you something to think about. [...]
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The other day in the Gabriola woods, we came across a few tent caterpillars. We said some words – being surprised and all, having almost walked into them – and they did this: this back-and-forth stuff that looks as if they are roaring like lions in their tiny little brains. pericat has had a similar [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,insects 2 Comments so far
Have you seen Sharon McInnes’ bird column in the Flying Shingle? (Sample here.) Sharon has now started a Gabriola Bird Blog, which sounds like the perfect thing for those of us who would like to learn more about the island’s birds. I’d like to know more about the birds on Gabriola, but I’m usually too [...]
Filed in birds,Gabriola Island 2 Comments so far
When we first moved to Gabriola, a friend pointed out some of the plants that just appear in one’s garden. One of the plants was vetch, which our friend said would only grow a foot tall or so. But this vetch is four or five feet tall – it grows in a protected enclosure (can [...]
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This is Emcon’s cutting machine, for use on grass and everything else that grows along the roadside on Gabriola. Here it is in the Tunnel, on North Road, near Tait. The drivers are a bit over-zealous in using this thing, I think. Why mow Vanilla Leaf down to the ground, for heaven’s sake? But anyway. [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island 6 Comments so far
Ingredients: property with wild bits that are difficult to penetrate dog raccoon
Filed in dogs,Gabriola Island,wildlife 7 Comments so far
If you were a schnauzer, I bet you’d love riding around Gabriola in a sidecar attached to a snazzy red scooter. This schnauzer seems quite content with the arrangement.
Filed in dogs,Gabriola Island 5 Comments so far
It’s been years since coal mining stopped in Nanaimo, but now there’s a proposal for a coal mine at Fanny Bay in the Comox Valley. (Info at NoCoalMine.net, Coal Watch Comox Valley, and in this newspaper article.) Of course this is a serious matter. Those who work to prevent coal mines and related industries could [...]
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Do we have crows on Gabriola, or is it just ravens? I kind of think it’s just ravens, but what do I know? Anyway. Here is more annoyed wildlife news: Angry Velociraptor Crows Terrorize Everett Police: Collectively, a group of crows is known as a murder, and murder is apparently exactly what this particular flock [...]
Filed in birds 7 Comments so far
I hope beavers on Gabriola aren’t as frustrated as the beavers in Anchorage. From the Anchorage Daily News: Beavers get tough defending their turf.
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