Gabriola Bottle Drive Fundraiser

This Saturday February 27th on Gabriola there will be a bottle drive fundraiser to help raise money for the Higgins family while John Higgins is in treatment for cancer. This fundraiser is being put on by the Gabriola 4-H Club and will take place at The Gabriola Commons on North Road across from the Elementary School. Please bring down all your bottles on Saturday starting at 10 am or call Cheryl at 250-247-8517 for pick-up of large amounts. Thanks to all who organized this, it is great to see how this community bands together when needed!

A Boreal Ballet on Gabriola

We were treated to a wonderful performance from the dancers of Gabriola Dance School. Owner and instructor Mara Brenner choreographed a lovely production complete with exquisite costumes, beautiful voices and smiling faces. The youngest dancer (who happens to be my youngest daughter) at only 2 1/2 all the way up to dancers who are 16 years of age made this such a fun and entertaining show. The youngest girls were dressed as snowflakes with beautiful tutu's and white crowns. They were lead in their dance by 4 eight and nine year old girls who were absolutely fantastic in making sure the littlest ones were happy, excited and ready to dance their little hearts out. I am so incredibly happy that there is a great little dance school right here on our door step, what a wonderful addition to Gabriola Island. Again a huge thanks to Mara Brenner and all the dancers and parents that made this show happen!
ps. To make it even better the admission was by donation of either a food item or cash donation with all the proceeds being donated to People for a Healthy Community.

Gabriola to Host Radio Conference

Gabriola Radio Society has been selected to host National Campus Community Radio Conference from Monday June 7—Friday June 11th 2010. This premium conference, taking place at Camp Miriam, will be open to all NCRA members as well as anyone interested in expanding their radio skills and knowledge. Gabriola Radio Society will be creating “Camp Radio”, an atmosphere with a total 5-day immersion in all things radio, hosted by experienced radio professionals. Delegates will have the opportunity to be housed in either on or off-site accommodation with a 100 available at Camp Miriam itself and the remainder using local B&B's and hotels There will be a series of advanced upper level workshops which will also appeal to those just beginning in a radio career. Visit www.ckgi.ca for any information pertaining to this conference and the battle to bring community radio to Gabriola Island.

Gabriola vs. Quadra!

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!

Happy Birthday Gabriola Artworks!

This past Thursday was the midnight birthday bash for Artworks here on Gabriola, 14 years, hard to believe! It was a great time with door prizes, champagne, food and cupcakes. Many items where marked down substantially with some being on sale until the 11th of January and a few straight through the month. We got there around 7:30 and had a nice evening sipping champagne while chatting with friends and shopping. A very elegant way to shop for sure!! Robyn bought a pair of Lindsay Godfrey earrings while I have my eye on a stone heater and may go pick it up today. Thanks to Artworks for being such a fabulous place to be, so many art shows and events you are a rockin' part of this community! Happy Birthday!!!

What a year!

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

Gingerbread Cottage

Last year we picked up a gingerbread house kit from Costco with everything you need to make a house. The problem was the ingredients were so awful the girls were not allowed to eat it. This year we decided to do one from scratch and it was much easier than I had anticipated. I used the gingerbread recipe from Martha Stewart, recipe here, and then cut out the shapes needed to build it. Once it cooled I made Royal Icing, recipe here, and then we got to building. We cut chocolate layer mints in half for roof shingle and then I let the girls get right into it. Of course every piece of candy we had purchased was used and I am amazed that it has stood up under the weight. The girls are very excited as they have been told they can start eating some on Christmas Day. It was a really fun activity to do on a rainy afternoon.

First Gabriola Snow!

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event"
It is the first Gabriola snowfall of the season and as always it is beautiful. The kids were so excited when I got home from work. We quickly got dinner started, got dressed and headed outside. Snowballs and snowmen and snow angels were made by all. Snowflakes were caught on tongues and much laughter and giggling came from all. Once we were ready to come in the girls enjoyed dinner and hot chocolate and my oldest gushed about all that she would be doing tomorrow in the snow, especially sledding. Here's hoping that the snow sticks around long enough for that to happen. What a wonderful evening we had marked by the first snowfall of the season.

Dance Recitals

Miss Mara's dancers will be performing for free this week at their dance recitals. The kids love to have a big crowd to cheer them on and as an added bonus they are free. The Kinderdance recital is Wednesday December 9, 2009 at 11:30 pm at the Gabriola Commons, the Grade 1-2 class is Tuesday December 8, 2009 at 3:00 pm in the Gabriola Elementary School gym and the Grade 3-4 class is Wednesday December 9, 2009 at 3:00 pm and is also at the school gym. All recitals will last about an hour. If your child is interested in starting to dance or just wants to watch this is a great way to introduce them to the world of dance that is on their front door step! For more information about Miss Mara and her classes offered visit her website.

Gabriola gets her vote on!!

Congratulations to all Gabriolan's and beyond who voted daily to ensure our place in the semi-finals for the Aviva Community Fund. We are in need of a permanent emergency health care facility and we are now one step closer to realizing that need. Daily we voted, reminding each other at the end of the day to vote became an evening ritual. This evening my husband asked if I had voted yet today because we only had 14 minutes left, I had. So wonderful to see what can happen when something so valuable is needed by all. But remember we are not done yet, voting resumes on December 2 so please vote! What a great challenge and community building activity this is, keep up the good work everyone.

The Roxy Theatre

A girlfriend of ours had a great birthday celebration idea, she is hosting a wedding party. Come as a bride or groom, bridesmaid or groomsmen, wedding crasher or such. The question of course when you have young kids is were will you host such an event...The Roxy.

We are very lucky on Gabriola to have many venue all of differing size and location. The Roxy is a great 50-seat theatre, located centrally in the village area, showing a regular schedule of movies and offering a venue for lots of other events. A perfect place for a intimate birthday gathering such as this one.

For rent at a affordable $20 per hour it is a great venue for many parties, young and old! Happy birthday to the birthday girl, have a fabulous time! For more info about renting The Roxy please email them at theroxy@shaw.ca

Joy of Cooking

I don't remember when exactly I became interested in cooking but I have been asked many times by friends why I don't cook for a living. My answer to that is that I do it for the love of it and want to keep it that way. I had considered taking some classes to learn some new skills and tackle the dishes I have shied away from in the past. Now I can do that thanks to Gabriola chef Double Dave. He will be teaching the lucky class how to prepare a sensational yuletide feast using local Gabriola fruits, nuts, wild mushrooms, vegetables, seafood and free-range meats. Classes are to be held at Jupiter Ranch. select either the session on Friday November 13th from 6 to 10pm, or the session on Saturday November 14th from 6 to 10pm. Cost is 120.00 per evening. For more information visit Jupiter Ranch.

Poetry Gabriola Festival

Plan to come to the 6th Annual Poetry Gabriola Festival, a wild West Coast celebration of literary performance. For four days, November 12-15, the Surf Lodge on Gabriola Island will be filled to the rafters with poets, musicians, storytellers, sound artists, and other special guests. Enjoy an off beat weekend of unconventional performance, remarkable readings, Round Table talks, and four captivating workshops sponsored by The Poetry Gabriola Society. This group has provided a forum for great poetry and extraordinary performance since the year 2000. Tickets should be bought in advance; on line at poetrygabriola.com, in person at Artworks, or by phone 250-247-7604.

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.

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.

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!

Fall Fair Day

It was Fall Fair day today and my sister and I took the oldest of the four girls and walked the short distance down to the Gabriola Commons. From noon until 3 pm today many Gabriolans spent the day listening to music, watching squash races, looking at beautiful fruit, veggie and flower displays and eating ice cream. The 4-H club served cotton candy and popcorn while the proceeds from the fresh corn on the cob and the ice cream went to the Hot Lunch program at the elementary school. There was a silent auction, face painting and plenty of good company, if you missed it this year make a point of coming next year!

Celebrate Summer and Welcome Fall!

It is that time of year again when the Gabriola Commons hosts the Fall Fair. It is a fun filled day full of animals and cotton candy, games, contests, demonstrations and more. It is wonderful way to spend the last day of summer, we hope to see you there!

For more info visit the Gabriola Commons website.

Yummy

Yesterday was Annie's first birthday, the family assembled and we were treated to Robyn's custard filled eclairs, simple ingredients, exceptional taste. If you would like to try making them you can find the recipe at the website below, http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/eclairs

This little piggy went to market...

Entertainment abounds both on and off Island this weekend. On Gabriola we had the Theater Festival, a three day extravaganza with eight superb plays, Street Art Artists Fair, Lions Pancake Breakfast, an Improv Workshop and dancers and musicians. At the same time in Nanaimo the Vancouver Island Exhibition took place at Beban Park. On Sunday we decided on a trip to the exhibition and enjoyed seeing all the animals and exhibits. There was a horse show, vintage cars and tractors, dog trials, home arts, a food fair and of course a midway - lots of fun!

Air Show

This past evening was a warm and sunny affair, perfect weather for an outdoor dinner party. Wine, good food, friends - and the Snowbirds for entertainment. They were doing an airshow in the Nanaimo inner harbour and this brought their flight path in a curve over our property. It was a very impressive addition to our get together!

(photo by MCpl Robert Bottrill)

Salmon BBQ

Yesterday evening my daughters and I served food at the 54th annual Salmon BBQ which took place at the Gabriola Island Community Hall. This has been a favorite event for Gabriolans for all the years I have lived here with non stop music, a fabulous meal of fresh salmon, salads and a bun, and a beer garden. There were 750 meals served and everyone had a wonderful time! There was plenty of food and at the end there was still a bit of salmon left.

Relaxing on Hornby Island

We had the luxury of getting a week off this summer and we went to Hornby Island. Many people looked at us rather oddly when we said we were going to another Gulf Island for a holiday but we so wanted to spend some time in a quiet place where we were totally anonymous. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and headed to the lovely cottage we had arranged to rent for a week. The property was beautiful and equipped with a zipline in the backyard much to our 4 year old daughter's delight. Hornby is a beautiful island which you can reach by taking a ferry from Buckley Bay on Vancouver Island to Denman Island and then driving across Denman to the Hornby Island ferry. The ferry ride to both islands are a short ten minute jump and the connections are quite good.

Hornby has a wonderful shopping area called the Ringside Market where there are 2 clothing stores, a coffee/ice cream stand with the best americanos, cafe, restaurant, book store, pottery store and of course the Hornby Co-op Grocery/Everything you need Store. While there we made trips to many of the local artist studios, beautiful beaches, farms, and of course the Cardboard House Bakery which has the best almond buns and cream puffs. It is also the home of Pizza Galore which beats any pizza place I have ever been to, fantastic!!!

Hornby is also home to two wineries and a meadery which we managed to visit without our kids thanks to our wonderful friends/travel companions. Middle Mountain Mead is an artisan honey winery combining the best of ancient and modern techniques to create small lots of premium handcrafted mead. We left with 3 bottles of Mead which we are eagerly awaiting to try. Visit their website at middlemountainmead.com.

We had such a fantastic and relaxing vacation that we will definitely be back next year anxiously awaiting anonymity and almond buns:)

Dancing Man Festival

The Dancing Man Music Festival is celebrating its 10th year on Gabriola with 5 days of musical performances in various venues including an outdoor stage at Descanso Bay Park. Some of the performers are award winners and include both local and visiting talent. For more information visit dancingman.ca.

The Circus Comes to Town...

The children found this little traveling circus very entertaining. There were no animals, just lots of clowning with jugglers and acrobats, music, hoola hoops and more. These performers generously donated the ticket price to the Gabriola Commons and the Medical Clinic. We were also treated to a release of Kelly's doves, the white birds in the light of the setting sun were absolutely stunning!

Musicfest 2009

We took the weekend and drove up to Courtenay (just over an hour from the Gabriola Ferry) for the Vancouver Island Musicfest. 3 days, 55 performers, 6 stages, 27 craft booths, 21 food booths - all spread out over the Comox Valley fairgrounds alongside the Tsolum River, so well organized, such beautiful weather - it was a fantastic event! The performers included Los Lobos, Arlo Guthrie, Steven Page of The Barenaked Ladies, Leon and Eric Bibb, Jim Byrnes and so many others that we were unfamiliar with, but really enjoyed. This event is considered "the largest destination music event on Vancouver Island and one of the Top 25 outdoor festivals in North America".

A Birthday

It was Canada's birthday yesterday and everyone was busy with island celebrations, so we got a day off. We could have been entertained at the Village with music, refreshments and wine tasting. We could have joined the Potato Cannon Challenge at the Brickyard and ended the day with a Burger BBQ and concert at Raspberry's. But we decided on a quiet day in the garden pulling weeds and planting seeds followed by an afternoon drive to Orlebar Point where we can see the Entrance Island Lighthouse and the Canadian flag flying in the breeze.

A Sunny Sunday

It was a beautiful and sunny Sunday and what better way to spend it than wandering through other peoples gardens and homes, getting ideas and admiring their efforts. Yesterday was the 11th annual 'Gabriola Home and Garden Tour' which is a fund raiser for 'People for a Healthy Community on Gabriola'. Hundreds of tickets were sold and as usual it was a great success with two homes and nine gardens on display.

Thursday Night Fun

It is always fun to go to the art openings that happen in the village at Artworks and Jeremy Maude's Studio. This week we were lucky to catch two very different shows. Artworks had it's yearly objects show and this year everything was based around a pack of matches. The works ranged from jewelry to mosaics and 3D interpretations. Very interesting pieces, definitely worth catching sometime this week when you are in the village. At Jeremy Maudes Studio in the village it was opening night for the Karen Curry exhibition. Beautiful photography and large paintings of the skeletal ribs of boats on birch panels adore the walls. It was such a treat to get to view these pieces and I wish I could have brought them home with me. We are so lucky to have such talented artists on Gabriola, if you have the time this week I highly recommend you go check them out.

We Rode to Conquer Cancer!

What an amazing event to be a part of! The Conquer Cancer ride from Vancouver to Seattle was a life changing experience. The ride consisted of 1701 riders whose combined efforts raised $6.9 million for the BC Cancer Society. Waking up at 5 am on Saturday morning we prepared to leave from Guilford Center at 7:30. The ride meandered through White Rock and across the USA/ Canada border. We continued through Washington state stopping at the many pit stops that were arranged for us along the way. Lunch was provided by the amazing and supportive volunteers in a beautiful park in Lake Stevens. Continuing along to Mount Vernon, 132 km from the start, where the busy crew of volunteers had set up a tent city for the over 1700 riders and many more crew. A wonderful dinner was provided and many stories of survival and loss from cancer were shared. After a good but short night sleep we prepared to depart from Mount Vernon at 7:30 am. Day two was incredible winding through Washington State up to Lake Samish and towards our final destination, Seattle. We continued along Lake Washington to the University and the finish line. We accomplished over 260 km in 2 days and I can't wait to do it again. See you next year in Seattle! If you are interested in doing this ride or joining the volunteer crew visit www.conquercancer.ca for more information, or talk to me, I am organizing a Gabriola team for 2010.

Walk On

We had the pleasure of taking the girls to the CD release show for The Kerplunks. The new CD is named Walk On and is chock full of upbeat tunes and snazzy songs that you will find yourself bopping your head to. The album is complete with voices from Gabriola's own children. The release show was packed with kids of all ages, balloon animals and of course cake. The girls had a blast and are very excited to listen to their new CD over and over and over and...
Visit their website for news, events and where to purchase their 2 CD's

Tour de Gabriola

Tour de Gabriola is a fund raiser for the Gabriola Health Care Society and it is a fun way to help. With donations and a registration fee you sign in at one of the check points and then ride round our very picturesque island. For us it was both a family affair and something to do with friends. These girls are pulling two children in each of those carts and to see them ride up the brickyard hill was truly inspiring!

Saturday Market

Gabriola's Saturday market opened this weekend for the season and will continue into the fall. There was a good selection of produce from the Good Earth Market Garden including lettuces, asian greens, spinach, radishes and leeks. The Slow Rise Bakery table offered delicious breads including apricot ginger, roasted garlic, and medjool date cinnamon, plus their very poplar scones. The licorice lady was there, and there were pies and home made donuts. There were stalls offering natural skin care products and cottage craft soaps, pottery, jewelry, cards, tie dye clothing, garden ornaments, outdoor furniture, and face painting for the kids. It was a great turnout for this first of the season public market.

Dogwood

The Pacific Dogwood is in bloom all over Gabriola right now, but the best show is at the south end. On our way to the Community Hall to vote we passed an area dense with Dogwood and one tree stood out to me, the flowers were luminous!

History in Art

This mural, depicting the 18th century Spanish explorer Captain Alexandro Malaspina sketching the Gabriola Island sandstone formation known as Malaspina Galleries, was discovered behind a wall in 1996 during the demolition of the Malaspina Hotel in Nanaimo. The photo shows Cheryle Harrison expertly restoring the mural, which was a crumbling mess, to its former glory. The mural will be unveiled next weekend in its new home at Nanaimo's Vancouver Island Conference Centre. (info from Victoria Times Colonist, photo by Jeremiah Armstrong)