Village Shopping

Looking for a gift? Entertaining guests? Gabriola offers some great shopping at many locations. One of our favorites is the Folklife Village Shopping Center offering groceries, pharmacy, gifts, clothing and more! When you have finished your shopping you can drop into the Village Liquor Store for a special bottle of wine. Can't decide on which one to buy? They give good advice too.

Sustainability on Gabriola

This weekend a sustainability workshop was held on Gabriola at the Community Hall. With approximately 50 participants it was a lively event. The focus was to bring together individuals and organizations committed to long term sustainability of a healthy community. The format was small groups dedicated to such topics as affordable housing, water, food security, emergency response and community preparedness, art and culture, youth, waste management, and protecting natural areas and ecosystems. This was a grassroots effort and all were welcome to participate in crafting a plan for the future. Contact this group at communitysustainablityplan@gmail.com.

350 Climate Action Day

October 24, 2009 marks the second annual 350 Action Day, a day dedicated to joining thousands of people around the globe to call for strong climate action. Wonder where the 350 number comes from? 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide—measured in "Parts Per Million" in our atmosphere. 350 PPM—it's the number humanity needs to get back to as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change. We are currently at 387 and Saturday is a call to action to bring about awareness and get that number down.

The website 350.org is a valuable resource in determining what you can do whether it is creating your own action or joining an already planned action. Search for the location closest to you and see if any event for Saturday peaks your interest. Dance, sing, hike, walk, jump, swim, do whatever it takes to help bring awareness to this event. Become part of the solution...the children of the world will thank you!

Winging It!

Part of the Gabriola Thanksgiving Festival was this weekend of Art Start Workshops. Sponsored by Gabriola Arts Council and British Columbia Arts Council, this two day extravaganza of Art instruction was free for the under 18 crowd and $10 for adults. The workshops averaged 2 to 3 hours and covered such artistic pursuits as drawing, painting, dance, singing, mosaics, knitting, hooking and spinning, drumming, working with clay, and making suncatchers and wings. Carly attended "Winging it!" and created a beautiful pair of wearable faery wings.

Beach Visit

This beach access and swim raft is located in Clark Bay. It is a bit too cold for swimming in the waters off of Gabriola now, although the hardy still do, but there are stairs down to this very pretty sandstone beach which offers pleasant walking and the view of the Strait is spectacular!

Gabriola Studio Tour

It is day two of the three day Gabriola Studio Tour 2009, this free self guided yearly event is a favorite of islanders and visitors alike. 40 artist studios are open from 10-4 over the Thanksgiving weekend with art from the whimsical to the useful including paintings, glasswork, woodwork, leatherwork, metalwork, stonework, jewelry, quilting, books, pottery, photography, textiles - meet the artists and experience a grand display of their art in quaint little artist gallery settings throughout the island. This is a well planned event with a fabulous tour brochure map available everywhere and on line. We find 1/2 hour per gallery is a good expectation. On our first day we each bought a purse from Indian Summer and some little gifts. With day two and three ahead of us we are sure to find more treasures to make our own.

Flowers for Sale

Earl's Dahlia Garden, where you can buy a bunch of Dahlias for $3, is located right next to the little boat launch in Descanso Bay. Sitting on the bench in this picturesque setting you have a good view of the ferry coming into the Dock on Gabriola.

Olympic Torch Coming to Nanaimo!

It hasn't happened since 1988 but the Olympic Torch will be coming to Nanaimo. On October 31st starting at 5:45 pm at maffeo Sutton Park there will be live entertainment and the torch will arrive at 8 pm - actual Torch Relay Route will be announced 10 days prior to the event. See the City of Nanaimo site for additional info and have fun at the festivities!

Dolphin Sighting

Dolphin sightings have been increasingly common in the Strait of Georgia, particularly at this time of year and a group of around 200 Pacific white sided Dolphins have been spotted frolicking near Entrance Island off the shores of Gabriola. Photo credit "NOAA".

Apple Time

Most of the apple trees have been producing well this year and these century old Kings are no exception. There are half a dozen old trees on this property and we were invited to pick. 100 lbs of apples later and the trees looked the same as when we started. Now it is time to preserve them. We will dehydrate some, can the apple sauce, freeze some for pies, make juice and apple jelly, and the best we will save for munching on - lots of fun!

Kissinger Lake

A great little destination lake is Kissinger, within 2 hours drive from the Gabriola Island ferry on Vancouver Island this is a great spot to camp for a few days. This small lake is located just past Cowichan Lake on the way to the Carmanah Valley. It is run by Timber West and will be open until the Thanksgiving weekend. The water is clear and a comfortable temperature for swimming, the lake is stocked with trout, there are no gas powered craft allowed, and mid week you almost have the place to yourself. There is a bit of history here to stumble upon, as it was a thriving logging camp in the mid 1900s. This is one of our favorite fall destinations.