If you’ve been reading this blog for years, you might remember my surprise when I first found frost flowers: one morning trees and fallen branches were decorated with weird swirls, strands, and globs of frost. I wrote about Gabriola’s frost flowers, and included my favourite photo of them. (Oh, this is also a pretty decent [...]
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The lack of rain in these parts is getting kinda serious. From CBC: Water shortages hitting record-dry B.C..
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We had snow this morning on Gabriola – great big flakes, but they didn’t amount to much. And then, while pondering the cold, I came across this salmonberry blossom on North Road. When do you ever see salmonberry blossoms in March?
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When the power goes out on Gabriola, it’s nice to have some items of comfort; this is one of mine. It’s a candle lantern. A spring inside pushes the candle up automagically, as needed. A glass chimney prevents wayward breezes from blowing out the flame. It’s altogether splendid. I bought it on the interwebs, of [...]
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Having the snow melt so quickly is awfully convenient.
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There’s a trail in there, somewhere. See it? It’s right down the middle, between the trees. The salal has bent under the weight of snow, so getting through takes a bit of effort. We woke to four or five inches of snow on Gabriola today, and what a pretty scene that makes. But of course [...]
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We’ve got some dedicated cyclists on Gabriola. Are you one of them? If you’re determined to ride on snowy roads and trails, here’s something you might like to try: zap straps (also known as zip ties) on your tires for added traction. The Dutch Bike Company of Seattle explains all in their Seattle Snowpocalypse blog [...]
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Last night Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for our area. No snow. This morning that forecast page says snowfall warning ended. And now? Snow! It’s snowing heavily here, and starting to stick. I wonder if this will affect voter turnout tomorrow.
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Right now the island is so dry that much of the salal in the Gabriola woods is wilting. Really seriously wilting! I’ve never seen this much salal in distress before.
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Hike in the Gabriola woods every day, year round, and you’ll soon learn what raingear works and what doesn’t. By now I’ve got fine rain-trousers and rainjackets (thanks, Mountain Equipment Co-op!), and some splendid swamp-proof boots (yay, Bogs!), too. But anyway. Raingear is all fine and good, but what about when the puddle in the [...]
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Now that Gabriola’s power is back on and your neighbours have stopped gloating about how wonderful their generator is, there’s time to noodle around on the interwebs and see photos of a BC Hydro power crew at work on Gabriola, presumably up in that bucket thingy to restore your power. They were at the intersection [...]
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Oh, Gabriola. How many trees do you think will come down on the island tomorrow? CBC warns: Hurricane-strength windstorm to hit B.C. coast. A windstorm with gusts up to hurricane strength is expected to slam into the entire B.C. coast Wednesday morning. [continue] Environment Canada’s forecast for Gabriola says, in part: Wind southeast 50 km/h [...]
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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 [...]
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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.
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Some of Gabriola spent 12 hours without power today, starting about 3 am this morning. Anybody happen to know what caused this outage? BC Hydro says just due to snowstorm. But what took the line down, and where? Curious folk would like to know.
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Do you see the trail there, Gabriola? I don’t either, though we’re looking straight at it. But this is good, right? You wanted extra exercise and extra adventure. Tramping through snow piled on top of salal is just the ticket, and is far more fun than some silly routine at the gym. Extra points if [...]
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We woke to fresh snow today on Gabriola, and I bet I know who’s happiest about that: the island’s dogs! This is Cardhu, one of the most eager-to-love-you dogs I know. One day maybe I’ll get a better photo of him. It’s hard because he seems to never be still.
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If you don’t usually walk in the Gabriola woods at this time of year, you won’t be expecting them. But see? Here’s one:
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