Gabriola Island Lifestyle Blog
Archive for the ‘Healthy Living’ Category
Monday, October 4th, 2010
Kissinger Lake is about a two hour drive from the Gabriola Ferry on Vancouver Island just past Cowichan Lake. This pretty little spot belongs to Timber West who offers it as a forestry campground and they stock it with rainbow trout making it a favorite destination for campers and fisher-people. There are no gas powered engines allowed so it is very peaceful there. With the warm temperatures and sunny skies of this past week we had to make one last trip out for the season. There is a little dock to dive and fish from and a gravel beach. At this time of year there are also some great patches of chanterelle mushrooms which are wonderful cooked over a campfire. There are some good walking opportunities in the area as well but you have to keep an eye out for bear who are also plentiful!
Posted in Camping on Vancouver Island, Food, Healthy Living, Weather | No Comments »
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
I fully believe this is my last swim of the year, at least on this side of the border. We escaped from Gabriola and
had a wonderful few days at Pine Point on Cowichan lake. The first day was warm and sunny, and the water temperature was very comfortable so I swam every day. On the way home we stopped at Russell farm and bought local corn – really yummy! Our next stop was Frederich’s Farm in Cedar where we bought 12 pounds of blackberry honey. This was fresh from the hives and the bees were swarming in the honey storage room and outside, but they seemed friendly enough. Next time we visit this farm we are hoping for fir honey which is our favorite.
Posted in Buy Local, Camping on Vancouver Island, Healthy Living, Weather | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
August is blackberry time, and Gabriola has lots of thickets of these luscious treats at the south end of the island. We try to go out a few times each season to pick berries. This time we took the kids and they helped, mind you they ate as many as they picked. We brought
home enough to make jelly, a pie and blackberry ice cream. Yum!
Posted in Cooking, family life, Flora and Fauna, Food, Gabriola Living, Healthy Living, Kids | No Comments »
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
How easy it is to grow and how beautiful when harvested. We grew garlic for the first time this year. Just plant cloves in the fall and they are ready to harvest in late July, no fuss they almost take care of themselves. And they are out of the ground early enough to mak
e a last planting of bush beans in their stead! We are so pleased with the result that this will be a yearly crop for us.
Posted in Food, Gardening on Gabriola, greener living, Healthy Living | No Comments »
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
What a great day, it was sunny and warm. We walked to the market this morning to pick up some artisan bread and fresh produce. We ended up with that and more. There were juicy carrots, big walla walla sweet onions, and freshly made spring rolls. We bought old fashion style licorice and on the way out I picked up a shampoo bar – the best for good hair days! There were lots of people at the market and we chatted our way up one side and out the other.
Posted in Buy Local, Food, Gabriola Living, Healthy Living, Shopping on Gabriola | No Comments »
Sunday, June 13th, 2010
Two of my grandaughters go to dance school in Nanaimo and I was invited to attend the year end dance recital ‘Solid Gold’. It turned out to be a tremendous produc
tion held at the Port Threater with dozens of dances lasting for just a few minutes, all with elaborate costumes. What a delight! The youngest dancers were about three and the oldest were grandparent age. Each class danced and there were awards and lots of flowers. I was impressed.
Posted in family life, fitness, Healthy Living, Holidays and Special Events, Kids | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
On Saturday May 1st between 1 and 3pm in Folklife Village on Gabriola Pat Maloney, Kerry Sorrenti and myself, will be shaking our can for money! Well the PHC (people for a healthy community) garbage can to be exact:) This is part of the Shake Your Can Drive put on by the Gabriola Arts Council on Saturday to help raise money for many of the Charity/Non-Profit organizations on Gabriola. Swing through the village on Saturday and toss your spare change into a good cause of your choice!
Posted in Causes, fundraising, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Holidays and Special Events, People, volunteering, West Coast Living | No Comments »
Monday, January 11th, 2010
It’s competition time! Gabriola and Quadra Island are competing to see who can be the most active and in turn help prevent cancer. It begins January 16th and runs until February 26th when one of the 2 islands will be crowned Most Physically Active. The challenge is $10 and you are to keep track of your numbers and call them in every week. Kids are only $2 and thanks to Arbutus Building Supply every child registered at Gabriola Elementary School has been sponsored. The extra bonus is not only the good feelings from being physically fit but all the proceeds from the registrations go to a local charity. The winning island gets 100% of their proceeds as well as 50% of the losing islands proceeds for a total of 150% going to the Lunch program at the Elementary School (when we win). Get your fitness challenge log at IDA Pharmacy in the Village, Arbutus Building Supplies and The Gym @ Twin Beaches. Come on Gabriola, let’s get active and show who the winner is!
Posted in fitness, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Holidays and Special Events | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Well the year is winding down and it is time to look back and remember all the days sunny or rainy, happy or sad. The girls are another year older and our oldest will be registered for Kindergarten in the coming months. The younger will be starting pre-school this year and so begins the yearly adventure of another grade, another teacher and so much to learn for both them and us. We added a new member to our family by finally getting a dog! Dexter is a 5 month old Bichon and is greatly loved by all, especially the girls. This year also came with the addition of 15 chickens of which 12 are still around and kicking, 2 of the 3 roosters became dinner this past summer and were quite tasty. Our garden was fantastic with beautiful tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and beans, we are still eating greens, herbs and squash that we grew this year. Hopefully we will expand the garden next year and try growing new things such as some ancient grains.
I joined the board at People for a Healthy Community and look forward to working with the other amazing board members to give back something to the community that made me who I am today. Dave’s business has taken off and Sleepdeprived Computer Tech’s have helped keep many people’s computers running smoothly. He also has spent a fair amount of his time volunteering with the Gabriola Co-op Radio. Through all of this we still manage sometime for each other and the kids and have really enjoyed the past year watching them grow while laughing at all the goofy things they say and do.
We always tried to keep Real Estate out of this blog but I am breaking the rules just for a moment. Business was slow in the beginning of the year but then took off at an incredible speed, so much for the “Quiet Year” perhaps that is still to come. Okay so know that the rule has been broken I will endeavor never to do it again and keep this an island lifestyle blog.
Thanks so much to all who have made this such a great year we really appreciate all your support.
The McMahon’s/Vincent’s/Wishinski’s
Posted in Causes, Food, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gardening on Gabriola, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Holidays and Special Events, Kids | No Comments »
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Kissinger Lake is about a two hour drive from the Gabriola Ferry on Vancouver Island just past Cowichan Lake. This pretty little spot belongs to Timber West who offers it as a forestry campground and they stock it with rainbow trout making it a favorite destination for campers and fisher-people. There are no gas powered engines allowed so it is very peaceful there. With the warm temperatures and sunny skies of this past week we had to make one last trip out for the season. There is a little dock to dive and fish from and a gravel beach. At this time of year there are also some great patches of chanterelle mushrooms which are wonderful cooked over a campfire. There are some good walking opportunities in the area as well but you have to keep an eye out for bear who are also plentiful!
Robyn & Carly McMahon and unlicensed assistant Lesley McMahon, your Gabriola Island Real Estate Sales Team