Boaters had best take extra care.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

More Than Just Clay and Mortar: The story of the Gabriola Brickyard and the workers and their families

For more than five decades until the early 1950s, the Gabriola Brickyard was the biggest industry on the island. Millions of bricks were manufactured and exported annually to Vancouver, Victoria and New Westminster where they were mortared into roads and buildings, may of which still stand today.

But the Brickyard was more than just shale and clay. It was [continue]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/17/gabriola-musuem-brickyard/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/just-another-weed-patch/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/just-another-weed-patch/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 17:39:07 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19806 If you’re interested in growing things on Gabriola, or in agroforestry, there’s a blog you’ll want to read. It’s Just Another Weed Patch. The about page explains: We’re ‘Just Another Weed Patch Farm’ located Gabriola Island, in British Columbia Canada. Starting in April 2012 we began a 19 month agroforestry adventure to transform our 2 [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> If you’re interested in growing things on Gabriola, or in agroforestry, there’s a blog you’ll want to read. It’s Just Another Weed Patch. The about page explains:

We’re ‘Just Another Weed Patch Farm’ located Gabriola Island, in British Columbia Canada.

Starting in April 2012 we began a 19 month agroforestry adventure to transform our 2 acre pasture into a productive demonstration site of 250 nut trees surrounded by alley food and flower crops interspersed with happy laying hens, troublesome sheep and buzzing bees. That’s our plan!

This web site will document the good, the bad, and the ugly for your web browsing pleasures.

The project has a target completion date of all trees in the ground and cultivated alley crop rows established by November 2013 so the clock is ticking. Stay tuned for weekly updates via text, photos and video postings showcasing our progress and learning curve. [continue]

Just Another Weed Patch posts interesting and well-written stuff, so I’ll be following this blog.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/just-another-weed-patch/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/entrance-island-lighthouse-heritage/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/entrance-island-lighthouse-heritage/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 17:18:16 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19802 From the Nanaimo Bulletin: Entrance Island Lighthouse nominated for heritage designation. For nearly 140 years the Entrance Island Lighthouse has been a beacon shining across the waters of Georgia Strait to guide seafarers and aviators safely to their destination. The lighthouse, which has been manned since its construction in the mid-1870s, is located off the [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> From the Nanaimo Bulletin: Entrance Island Lighthouse nominated for heritage designation.

For nearly 140 years the Entrance Island Lighthouse has been a beacon shining across the waters of Georgia Strait to guide seafarers and aviators safely to their destination.

The lighthouse, which has been manned since its construction in the mid-1870s, is located off the northeast tip of Gabriola Island.

It’s one of 28 B.C. lighthouses currently nominated for designation under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, intended to protect the heritage character of lighthouses. Lighthouses are nominated for protection under the act through a public petition process, which comes to a close May 29. [continue]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/entrance-island-lighthouse-heritage/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/on-rowing-around-islands/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/on-rowing-around-islands/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 17:10:59 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19797 I rowed around an island, once. It was not my idea, against my better judgement, and I’ll never do it again. It was a smaller island than Gabriola, too, so I sure won’t be doing anything of the sort here. But serious rowers do circumnavigate islands. Jordan Hanssen and Greg Spooner recently rowed around Vancouver [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> I rowed around an island, once. It was not my idea, against my better judgement, and I’ll never do it again. It was a smaller island than Gabriola, too, so I sure won’t be doing anything of the sort here.

But serious rowers do circumnavigate islands. Jordan Hanssen and Greg Spooner recently rowed around Vancouver Island. The News Tribune has the details, including:

As repetitive as rowing is, the crew is propelled by knowledge that the more strokes they take the more they discover. For all their journeys, the Salish Sea showed Hanssen and Spooner plenty they’d never seen.

The northern lights. Whale spouts. A skinny-dipping gold medalist. A chance to play basketball in an isolated First Nations community. A near miss with a tugboat.

It was a pretty amazing experience, Hanssen said. But we still have a lot of things to get right. [continue]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/on-rowing-around-islands/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/more-property-taxes/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/more-property-taxes/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 16:52:19 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19792 We’ve heard so much about proposals for a bus service on Gabriola. There’ve been surveys, articles, and meetings. Howard Houle, our RDN rep, has posted this very sensible thing on his website: Lately there has been talk about a bus service on Gabriola. I would love to see that happen when the community is ready. [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> We’ve heard so much about proposals for a bus service on Gabriola. There’ve been surveys, articles, and meetings.

Howard Houle, our RDN rep, has posted this very sensible thing on his website:

Lately there has been talk about a bus service on Gabriola. I would love to see that happen when the community is ready.

When I read the feasibility studies however, and yes, more than one has been conducted, they do not ask the most critical question, which is: Are you as a property owner willing to pay an increase in your taxes for a bus service? [continue]

Howard adds:

While I am at it, the Gabriola Radio Society would like to receive some of your property taxes as well. They are thinking about a tax request of $60,000 per year for seven years that will run about $24 for a $300,000 property. [continue]

What do you think? Would you be willing to pay more taxes to have a bus service? To support the Gabriola Radio Society?

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/more-property-taxes/feed/ 1 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/brickyard-beast/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/brickyard-beast/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 16:34:18 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19786 Well, this is insane. Stan and Nancy from The Gym at Twin Beaches have organized a running event called The Brickyard Beast. It’s a 10k road race that starts at Tait and Ferne, heads down to Brickyard, goes up Brickyard Hill, and then along South Road, Lochinvar, and North Road to Gabriola Elementary School. And [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Well, this is insane. Stan and Nancy from The Gym at Twin Beaches have organized a running event called The Brickyard Beast. It’s a 10k road race that starts at Tait and Ferne, heads down to Brickyard, goes up Brickyard Hill, and then along South Road, Lochinvar, and North Road to Gabriola Elementary School. And this on August 5th, which is likely to be a hot day.

Runners apparently do this kind of thing voluntarily.

Would you run up Brickyard Hill?

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/16/brickyard-beast/feed/ 1 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/15/entrance-island-lighthouse-keeper/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/15/entrance-island-lighthouse-keeper/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 16:55:24 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19780 The Daily News has a story about the lighthouse we see from Berry Point: Lighthouse keeper will remain in place at facility on Entrance Island. The Entrance Island lighthouse, just one of approximately 50 manned lighthouses left in Canada, and its keepers will continue to provide services for the local marine community. Gabriola boaters, and [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> The Daily News has a story about the lighthouse we see from Berry Point: Lighthouse keeper will remain in place at facility on Entrance Island.

The Entrance Island lighthouse, just one of approximately 50 manned lighthouses left in Canada, and its keepers will continue to provide services for the local marine community.

Gabriola boaters, and others concerned with marine safety, are sure to be relieved.

But lighthouse keepers fear that the federal government’s recent decision to halt plans to destaff all the remaining manned lighthouses in the country is just a temporary measure that may soon be revisited. [continue]

Sigh.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/15/entrance-island-lighthouse-keeper/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/14/concrete-canoes/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/14/concrete-canoes/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 16:44:36 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19762 Thinking of building a little boat to paddle at Descanso or Drumbeg? Here’s news of unusual canoes that might inspire, or at least boggle: canoes made out of concrete. I know you’ll want one.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Thinking of building a little boat to paddle at Descanso or Drumbeg? Here’s news of unusual canoes that might inspire, or at least boggle: canoes made out of concrete.

I know you’ll want one.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/14/concrete-canoes/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/12/bears-how-to-avoid-etc/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/12/bears-how-to-avoid-etc/#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 05:37:37 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19749 Now that we’ve got a bear on Gabriola (seen on Ferne Road today), some of us will be a lot more alert in the forest. This list is from Backpacker Magazine’s article, Rip and Live: Learn to Survive a Bear Attack. Here is when and where you’re most likely to see them: Dawn and dusk. [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Now that we’ve got a bear on Gabriola (seen on Ferne Road today), some of us will be a lot more alert in the forest. This list is from Backpacker Magazine’s article, Rip and Live: Learn to Survive a Bear Attack.

Here is when and where you’re most likely to see them:

• Dawn and dusk. Although bears are active at all times of the day, this is when you’re most likely to see them out and about.
• In the fall. This is when they gorge themselves silly—called hyperphagia—to store fat for hibernation from October through March. But don’t assume all bears are hibernating. Some emerge to dig under the snow for food, and in the South, black bears stay out year-round.
• Food-rich areas. Since bears are ruled by their stomachs, you’ll find them at nature’s buffet tables: berry patches, forests laden with hazelnuts, beechnuts, or acorns, clamming areas, near carrion, and salmonspawning areas.
• Avalanche chutes and trails. Bears enjoy easy travel just like us.
• In the silence. Bears probably will hear or smell you before they see you. To help avoid surprising one (especially if you’re downwind), make noise: Talk, clap, sing, jingle bells (in some areas, bears have learned to associate metallic sounds with people). [continue]

The list above is from page 3 of the article.

(By the way, you’ve just got to see the classic bear warning sign.)

I’m not sure if North Road Sports sells bear bells, but outdoor stores in Nanaimo certainly do. (Check at Valhalla Pure Outfitters or Alberni Outpost.) And of course you can order them online from Mountain Equipment Co-op.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/12/bears-how-to-avoid-etc/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/12/mystery-berries/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/12/mystery-berries/#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 05:09:08 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19735 Last spring a mystery plant appeared in my garden. It grew some leaves, then sets of delicate white flowers, and then dark berries. I knew it wasn’t any of the berry plants native to Gabriola, but what could it be? I meant to find out, especially because I thought about eating those berries. But I [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Last spring a mystery plant appeared in my garden. It grew some leaves, then sets of delicate white flowers, and then dark berries. I knew it wasn’t any of the berry plants native to Gabriola, but what could it be? I meant to find out, especially because I thought about eating those berries. But I didn’t find out, so oh well.

Summer went, the plant died. On cold winter nights I puttered about on the web instead of in the garden.

Now, in the winter I spend too much time on a certain seed company’s website, and I order more from them than I should. When the garden was under snow, the description of a plant called sunberry seemed particularly appealing: a thornless plant, with berries vaguely similar to blueberries or huckleberries. Sounded like a fun thing to try, so click click, order, done.

I started those sunberry seeds indoors, and planted them out into the garden today. And you know? They’ve just developed sets of delicate white flowers. It’s the very same plant I wondered about all last summer.

So are you growing sunberry plants on Gabriola? Because the seed that grew last year’s sunberry plant had to have come on the wind, or through a local bird. Was it a seed from your plant that somehow made it over here?

Sunberry, by the way, is one of the plants Luther Burbank claimed to have developed. See sunberry page at Vegetables of Interest for more details.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/12/mystery-berries/feed/ 2 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/11/coastal-ferry-act-changes/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/11/coastal-ferry-act-changes/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 14:57:00 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19730 From the Daily News: Ferry users guarded over impact of recent changes. Amendments made to the Coastal Ferry Act this week were greeted with enthusiasm Thursday by local stakeholders, while the conspicuous absence of other suggested measures, such as restraints on fare increases, were largely treated with guarded optimism. [continue] The article quotes three Gabriola [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> From the Daily News: Ferry users guarded over impact of recent changes.

Amendments made to the Coastal Ferry Act this week were greeted with enthusiasm Thursday by local stakeholders, while the conspicuous absence of other suggested measures, such as restraints on fare increases, were largely treated with guarded optimism. [continue]

The article quotes three Gabriola residents you probably know:

• Sheila Malcolmson, Gabriola’s Islands Trust representative, and Islands Trust Council chairwoman
• John Hodgkins, chairman of the Gabriola Ferry Advisory Committee
• Phillip Vannini, a Royal Roads University professor who wrote Ferry Tales

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/11/coastal-ferry-act-changes/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/10/mind-the-gap-or-not/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/10/mind-the-gap-or-not/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 04:51:36 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19722 By now you’ve probably heard of Phillip Vannini, who lives on Gabriola, teaches in Victoria, and wrote Ferry Tales: Mobility, Place, and Time on Canada’s West Coast. Today the Bowen Island Undercurrent has an article on Philip and his work: Mind the gap (or not). It includes this bit: Vannini inquired about the various signs [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> By now you’ve probably heard of Phillip Vannini, who lives on Gabriola, teaches in Victoria, and wrote Ferry Tales: Mobility, Place, and Time on Canada’s West Coast.

Today the Bowen Island Undercurrent has an article on Philip and his work: Mind the gap (or not). It includes this bit:

Vannini inquired about the various signs about the line-up and ended up including a chapter in his book entitled Mind the Gap. There is a significance in the gaps, he said. And I compared Bowen to Gabriola and Sointura. On Bowen, if you go and join the ferry line-up and lineup hasn’t stretched beyond overload sign, you can fill the spaces at the bottom of the hill. On Gabriola, you don’t do that ever. [continue]

Well. Who knew Bowen had different rules?

The article also mentions that Philip has a website to go along with the book. It’s FerryResearch.ca, and of course there’s a Gabriola Island section.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/10/mind-the-gap-or-not/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/10/breaking-rules/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/10/breaking-rules/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 19:09:05 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19713 A friend’s son has been setting snares to catch rabbits. (No, not on Gabriola.) She knows it’s probably illegal where they live, but doesn’t care. Being a boy is illegal these days, she told me. It’s illegal to give your kid a normal childhood. So she says nothing about the boy’s attempts to catch dinner [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> A friend’s son has been setting snares to catch rabbits. (No, not on Gabriola.) She knows it’s probably illegal where they live, but doesn’t care. Being a boy is illegal these days, she told me. It’s illegal to give your kid a normal childhood. So she says nothing about the boy’s attempts to catch dinner in the woods near their house, and life goes on. Maybe one day they’ll have a rabbit in the dinner-pot, and maybe not. In the meanwhile, the kid dreams and spends hours in the forest.

Ah, flagrant disregard of Rules Deemed Stupid. My friend would fit right in on our island, don’t you think?

Meanwhile, here is a thought-provoking article from OutsideOnline.com: Breaking the Rules: Doing Right Means Sometimes Ignoring the Law.

MY LIFE IS A SERIES of mildly illegal acts. I have jumped where jumping is not allowed. Slept where sleeping is verboten. Swum forbidden rivers cascading from the French Alps. Skied untracked powder where I should not have skied untracked powder. Hopped many a fence for apples, views, trails, or just because I felt I had the right to do so. [continue]

Are you a breaker of rules, too?

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/10/breaking-rules/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/10/killing-scotch-broom/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/10/killing-scotch-broom/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 16:15:41 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19709 For years now, groups of volunteers have been working to eradicate broom on Gabriola. They hold broom-yanking parties at Drumbeg and other spots, and often seem to use something called an extractagator to pull broom out of the ground. I happened to be over at a Comox Valley website this morning, and found mention of [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> For years now, groups of volunteers have been working to eradicate broom on Gabriola. They hold broom-yanking parties at Drumbeg and other spots, and often seem to use something called an extractagator to pull broom out of the ground.

I happened to be over at a Comox Valley website this morning, and found mention of a different approach there:

Now that the broom is beginning to shows it yellow flowers, it is time to cut it. If broom is cut at ground level while in bloom, the plant will die in the summer’s dry heat – and it will not form more seeds.

Is that right, broom eradication experts?

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/10/killing-scotch-broom/feed/ 10 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/cooking-in-a-bentwood-box/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/cooking-in-a-bentwood-box/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 05:18:48 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19703 Here’s a reminder of what life was like on our coast before Europeans arrived: Cooking in a Bentwood Box. Prior to the trade of steel cookware on the Pacific Northwest, the Native Americans prepared many foods in wooden cooking boxes. Instead of putting the box on a heat source, red hot rocks were placed inside [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Here’s a reminder of what life was like on our coast before Europeans arrived: Cooking in a Bentwood Box.

Prior to the trade of steel cookware on the Pacific Northwest, the Native Americans prepared many foods in wooden cooking boxes. Instead of putting the box on a heat source, red hot rocks were placed inside of the cooking box to cook food. As you can imagine, some knowledge and specialized equipment are needed to safely heat cooking rocks and build a cooking box that doesn’t leak. [continue]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/cooking-in-a-bentwood-box/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/quinsam-broken-sailings-cancelled/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/quinsam-broken-sailings-cancelled/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 02:17:36 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19701 Oh my. Here’s the latest from BC Ferries: Sailing Cancellation – M.V. Quinsam Please be advised that due to mechanical issues the M.V. Quinsam is currently holding in dock at Nanaimo Harbour until further notice. So I imagine we are back to foot-passenger-only watertaxi service, which is what usually happens when the ferry’s ill. UPDATES: [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Oh my. Here’s the latest from BC Ferries:

Sailing Cancellation – M.V. Quinsam

Please be advised that due to mechanical issues the M.V. Quinsam is currently holding in dock at Nanaimo Harbour until further notice.

So I imagine we are back to foot-passenger-only watertaxi service, which is what usually happens when the ferry’s ill.

UPDATES: see comments below.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/quinsam-broken-sailings-cancelled/feed/ 8 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/proposed-pole-design/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/proposed-pole-design/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 23:03:14 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19683 Kathy Ramsey sent this along for us. It’s an artist’s rendering (drawn by Derrill Shuttleworth) of a painted pole. This seems to be the design intended for the corner of Taylor Bay Road and North Road. What do you think of it? Would you like to see a pole painted like the one shown below? [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Kathy Ramsey sent this along for us. It’s an artist’s rendering (drawn by Derrill Shuttleworth) of a painted pole. This seems to be the design intended for the corner of Taylor Bay Road and North Road.

What do you think of it? Would you like to see a pole painted like the one shown below?

(There are all sorts of comments about the whole idea of Painting Gabriola’s hydro poles – you might want to put your general comments about the program over on that comment thread, and your reactions to this specific design here on this post. But hey, we’re not that fussy. Just have your say!)

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/proposed-pole-design/feed/ 4 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/quinsam-sailings-cancelled-2/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/quinsam-sailings-cancelled-2/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 18:51:32 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19678 BC Ferries says: Please be advised that the M.V. Quinsam has cancelled the following sailings due to mechanical difficulties: 1200 departing Nanaimo Harbour 1235 departing Descanso Bay Source: service notice on the BC Ferries site. UPDATE: for the latest, see the comment section of this post.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> BC Ferries says:

Please be advised that the M.V. Quinsam has cancelled the following sailings due to mechanical difficulties:

1200 departing Nanaimo Harbour
1235 departing Descanso Bay

Source: service notice on the BC Ferries site.

UPDATE: for the latest, see the comment section of this post.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/quinsam-sailings-cancelled-2/feed/ 3 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/the-repair-cafe/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/the-repair-cafe/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 16:09:51 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19673 From the NYT: An Effort to Bury a Throwaway Culture One Repair at a Time. AMSTERDAM — An unemployed man, a retired pharmacist and an upholsterer took their stations, behind tables covered in red gingham. Screwdrivers and sewing machines stood at the ready. Coffee, tea and cookies circulated. Hilij Held, a neighbor, wheeled in a [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> From the NYT: An Effort to Bury a Throwaway Culture One Repair at a Time.

AMSTERDAM — An unemployed man, a retired pharmacist and an upholsterer took their stations, behind tables covered in red gingham. Screwdrivers and sewing machines stood at the ready. Coffee, tea and cookies circulated. Hilij Held, a neighbor, wheeled in a zebra-striped suitcase and extracted a well-used iron. It doesn’t work anymore, she said. No steam.

Ms. Held had come to the right place. At Amsterdam’s first Repair Cafe, an event originally held in a theater’s foyer, then in a rented room in a former hotel and now in a community center a couple of times a month, people can bring in whatever they want to have repaired, at no cost, by volunteers who just like to fix things. [continue]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/09/the-repair-cafe/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/08/never-ending-renovations/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/08/never-ending-renovations/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 04:29:26 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19661 This is not a local story, but it makes me laugh. From CBC: Winnipeg man told to wrap up 24 years of home renos. Oh my. Can you imagine? We all procrastinate here and there, I figure, and some of us are better at it than others. I know a Gabriola man who’d like to [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> This is not a local story, but it makes me laugh. From CBC: Winnipeg man told to wrap up 24 years of home renos. Oh my. Can you imagine?

We all procrastinate here and there, I figure, and some of us are better at it than others. I know a Gabriola man who’d like to sell his house, but he’d have to clean up his yard first. Years have passed while he’s been thinking about getting started. Maybe you know him, too. I’m glad he’s still on the island.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/08/never-ending-renovations/feed/ 0 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/08/bc-ferries-simulator/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/08/bc-ferries-simulator/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 17:41:46 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19657 BC Ferries has a new ferry simulator for training staff, says a Daily News article. B .C. Ferries’ $1.5-million investment in a computer simulation training system will likely provide long-term benefits that go even beyond basic safety. The number of accidents and so-called hard landings are expected to drop as crew members refine their abilities [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> BC Ferries has a new ferry simulator for training staff, says a Daily News article.

B .C. Ferries’ $1.5-million investment in a computer simulation training system will likely provide long-term benefits that go even beyond basic safety.

The number of accidents and so-called hard landings are expected to drop as crew members refine their abilities in a life-like environment, which will keep the costs for repairs down. [continue]

Well, that’s a good thing. The ferries have been quite crashy over the last few years.

Now that BC Ferries has gone to all the trouble and expense of creating a simulator, it seems to me that a bit more work could lead to a very fun game for the public to play. Just imagine — you could download the don’t crash the ferry! game and practice docking the Quinsam, all from the comfort of your computer chair.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/08/bc-ferries-simulator/feed/ 1 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/08/bear-gabriola/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/08/bear-gabriola/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 16:36:25 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19643 Somebody has seen a bear down at Twin Beaches, GROWLS says. So, hmmm. If you’re heading down to Taylor Bay, Pilot Bay, or anywhere near there, you might want to be a little more alert than you might otherwise be. And of course that bear could be anywhere on Gabriola by now, or might have [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Somebody has seen a bear down at Twin Beaches, GROWLS says. So, hmmm. If you’re heading down to Taylor Bay, Pilot Bay, or anywhere near there, you might want to be a little more alert than you might otherwise be.

And of course that bear could be anywhere on Gabriola by now, or might have already pushed off to head for another island.

If anything on your property might seem like a food source to a bear (meat, fish, birdseed, fruit, garbage) then you might want to make some changes. I’ve seen what two bears did with a bottle of fish-fertilizer intended for the garden, and it was pretty extreme.

If you hear a bell jingling in the woods today, it’ll be me with bear bells on my pack.

(The bear photo here is a cropped version of this photo, which was taken by Traveler100 and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)

Update/see also: How to avoid a bear attack.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/08/bear-gabriola/feed/ 25 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/yurts-on-toast/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/yurts-on-toast/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 02:37:50 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19636 This has got to be one of our island’s more perplexing signs.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> This has got to be one of our island’s more perplexing signs.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/yurts-on-toast/feed/ 11 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/burdock-cardone/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/burdock-cardone/#comments Sun, 06 May 2012 20:47:21 +0000 Anon E. Mouse http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19632 Gabriolan, you know that patch of burdock you posted about last year? Assuming it hasn’t been sprayed or anything, you might want to consider harvesting some of it to make cardone. Now would probably be a good time for that, while the stems are still young and tender. I was foraging at a friend’s place [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Gabriolan, you know that patch of burdock you posted about last year? Assuming it hasn’t been sprayed or anything, you might want to consider harvesting some of it to make cardone. Now would probably be a good time for that, while the stems are still young and tender.

I was foraging at a friend’s place and came home with a bag of young burdock leaves and stems yesterday. We had the pencil-sized stems for lunch following this recipe. I had never cooked with burdock stems before, and I was a bit worried they might be bitter. But even the kids liked them. It helped that they had already eaten the first one before the inevitable question, What is this stuff? I also made breaded cheese in case they hated the burdock, but I was pleasantly surprised — they actually preferred the burdock. We dipped the breaded stems in mayonnaise and ate them with our fingers.

Real cardones or cardoons are the stems of artichokes. I’ve never had them. Making use of a substitute which cost only my time to harvest it, and at the same time maybe limiting the growth of an invasive plant a little bit, seems like a win-win situation, especially considering that all parts of burdock (even the burrs, which I’ve recently learned can be made into tea) are supposed to be very good for you. The leaves I brought home are in the dehydrator – they’ll join the other greens I’ve been gathering and drying (so far this spring, dandelion, violet, and goutweed) in ‘mixed-greens’ jars. Basically, any time I pick too many herbs to use fresh, they go into a jar of dried greens – the idea being that a pinch or a handful can be added to soups, sauces, omelets, teas or whatever on the spur of the moment. I find it’s an easy way to get these greens into our diet, it suits our recipes-are-only-for-inspiration way of cooking (and, honestly? no one else in our household seems to know the way to the garden, so if I’m not home fresh garden herbs and veggies are usually off the menu).

If you want to learn about the health benefits of burdock and get more recipe ideas, this web site is a good place to start.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/burdock-cardone/feed/ 2 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/salal-leaf-skeleton/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/salal-leaf-skeleton/#comments Sun, 06 May 2012 17:55:08 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19624 In the warmer parts of the woods, salal is starting to bud. All very pretty, of course, but I’m more taken by this skeletonized salal leaf.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> In the warmer parts of the woods, salal is starting to bud. All very pretty, of course, but I’m more taken by this skeletonized salal leaf.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/salal-leaf-skeleton/feed/ 1 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/canada-oil-disaster/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/canada-oil-disaster/#comments Sun, 06 May 2012 15:51:15 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19618 If you worry about oil spills in the waters around Gabriola, you might want to take a look at this Times Colonist article: Is Canada prepared for an oil disaster? A ring of proposed pipeline and resource development projects surrounding Vancouver Island would dramatically increase the number of tankers and freighters in nearby waterways, and [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> If you worry about oil spills in the waters around Gabriola, you might want to take a look at this Times Colonist article: Is Canada prepared for an oil disaster?

A ring of proposed pipeline and resource development projects surrounding Vancouver Island would dramatically increase the number of tankers and freighters in nearby waterways, and there are growing fears – on both sides of the border – that Canada is not prepared to deal with a major oil spill. (…)

Sheila Malcolmson, chairwoman of the Islands Trust, the land-use and planning agency for the Gulf Islands, said she has peppered the federal government with questions about oil spill response plans.

We are told that successful [spill cleanups] recover 10 to 15 per cent of the oil, so our first priority has to be advocacy around preventing spills in the first place, Malcolmson said.

Then, the other area of concern is, when there’s a spill, what is the capacity for cleaning it up? The more we learn about that, the more worried we are.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/canada-oil-disaster/feed/ 2 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/potato-fungus/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/potato-fungus/#comments Sun, 06 May 2012 15:36:38 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19606 At first glance, it’s hard to tell, except that potatoes don’t generally appear in the middle of the forest overnight. These strange fungi are the size and general shape of potatoes, but they’re hollow inside. I assume slugs made the portholes.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> At first glance, it’s hard to tell, except that potatoes don’t generally appear in the middle of the forest overnight. These strange fungi are the size and general shape of potatoes, but they’re hollow inside.

I assume slugs made the portholes.

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/06/potato-fungus/feed/ 2 http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/05/selling-home-made-food/ http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/05/selling-home-made-food/#comments Sat, 05 May 2012 17:40:09 +0000 Gabriolan http://gabriolan.ca/?p=19597 Have you ever tried to sell homemade food at the Gabriola Farmers’ Market? I think there are pretty strict laws about what you’re allowed to sell. I seem to remember that if you want to sell pies, say, you have to make them in a commercial kitchen. It’s very nice of the health authorities and [...]

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> Have you ever tried to sell homemade food at the Gabriola Farmers’ Market? I think there are pretty strict laws about what you’re allowed to sell. I seem to remember that if you want to sell pies, say, you have to make them in a commercial kitchen.

It’s very nice of the health authorities and legal system to save us from home-made pies, but we miss a lot of delicious food this way, too, and it’s pretty clear that a lot of the rules are insane. There was the thing about eggs a few summers ago, remember? Somebody at the market was using Gabriola eggs instead of eggs that had been graded in a commercial facility off-island. Oh, the horror! The food inspector guy got involved. There was a huge fuss. Then the food inspection people decided that local eggs were probably ok after all. Whew.

Anyway, I meant to point out this article from good.is a while back: Free Jam: It’s Time to End California’s Law Against Selling Homemade Food.

Dafna Kory first sold her homemade jalapeño jam at a clandestine farmers market in San Francisco. The jam was a hit and so was the Underground Farmers Market that brought it to consumers. But the market was shut down by the Department of Public Health because the sellers did not comply with city and state regulations.

Their crime? Most of the vendors produced their products in home kitchens. [continue]

Interesting to hear about the changes California is proposing. How does their approach compare to the rules we deal with here?

(From Gabriolan.ca.)

]]> http://gabriolan.ca/2012/05/05/selling-home-made-food/feed/ 6