Island Artist - Sheila Norgate

I visited Sheila Norgate's Heartspeak show on February 13th and while I fell in love with a few of her paintings there I also came across an album featuring pieces she had created on commission, most of them portraying the commissioner's four legged friend.
I decided our beloved Boxer, Optimus Prime, would make a perfect model so I picked out a photo for Sheila to use, told her a bit about his personality and within a couple days I brought home this fabulous piece of artwork!
Visit Sheila's website at sheilanorgate.com

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!!!

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

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.

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.

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.

Silva Bay

On a stormy Sunday afternoon boats huddle in the protected waters of Silva Bay. Boaters can come ashore and find a shipyard, seaplane terminal, coffee shack, restaurant, laundromat, showers, fresh water, liquor store, groceries, bookstore, dive center and a rustic log church. There are several docks to chose from at Silva Bay Marina, Pages Resort and Marina, and the Silva Bay Inn.

Mimosas

It's Friday afternoon and we've had a busy week so I put out a call to the family. "Let's all meet on the deck at 5:30 for Mimosas under the mimosa tree". Our mimosa tree is covered in little pink brushlike flowers and looking at it this morning I thought of the refreshing drink called a Mimosa, made with three parts sparkling wine and two parts fresh squeezed orange juice it is delicious! I stopped at the liquor store and chose a yellow tail bubbly, at the grocery store there were beautiful minneola oranges. The children were served orange juice with sparkling water and we sipped our drinks in the shade of the mimosa tree.

Market Kaleidoscope

This week the market offered a kaleidoscope of goods. Gorgeous hand dyed yarns, soft leather bags, bright tye dye clothing, gleaming pottery, aromatic canteloupe, deep green watermelons, sparkling jewelry, all produced on Gabriola. We bought a beautiful stoneware mug some canteloupe and a watermelon and headed home for tea - yummy!

Garden by the Sea

At the end of Berry Point Road there is a charming little cottage garden by the sea that sells bedding plants, across the street is a wind swept sandstone beach and exhilarating view of snow capped coastal mountains. Around the corner is an orchard with dozens of varieties of apples, many of them heritage, pears and plums, all offered at a handy fruit stand.

The Future is Bright

We've got some pretty good shopping on Gabriola, but it will soon be even better. The Madrona Market Place has been given the go ahead by the Islands Trust. In the early part of 2010 the first phase of this new shopping center will provide a pizza and pasta restaurant, coffee bar, retail stores and office space. This prime location at the heart of the Village was the home of the old T&T gas station. The owners and developers of this project are local residents with a vision and a great sense of design and color, our expectations are high and I doubt that we will be disappointed!

Inside the Saturday Market

Although we have a good start on our veggie garden, it doesn't produce near as well as the market gardens, so a trip to the Saturday Market lets us grab a few things that we don't have, we can then browse the other vendors. Mmmmm Slow Rise Bakery bread and scones! So many stands, the soaps always attract me, and a pie for tomorrow night's guests, some plants for our pots and along the way so many friends to greet and catch up with. What a fun morning!

Local Delivery

Being a both parents work family we have to divide our time up wisely. One thing that we have done to create more time and feel good about the outcome is to start using the Spud grocery delivery service. Spud is a local Victoria company that allows you to order all your food online and have it delivered to your door weekly. We started receiving a delivery 3 weeks ago and received our 4th delivery last night. We ordered fresh pasta from Bagga Pasta in Victoria, Mount Royal Bagels also from Victoria as well as a plethora of fresh fruits and veggies which have been wonderful quality.
When you look at your statement not only does it give you the price you paid and the quantity received but it also gives you the distance traveled. Last week I managed to have my average distance that our food travel come out at 750 km, the average to a typical grocery store is 2500 km. This week didn't come from as close being that I received Turbinado sugar which had to travel a whopping 10490 km! If you are interested go to www.spud.ca and if you decide to order use this promo code CRVIC-MCMCAR to receive $25 off over your first four orders.

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.

Gabriola Greens

A tasty and nutritious treat even for the little ones ... my daughter loves this stuff! In the summer time we frequent the Good Earth Market to pick up our favourite greens and vegetables but in the winter I am happy to find these huge leaves of organic rainbow chard in our local grocery store.

Winter in Wonderland

Though not a record it is unusual to have so much snow and for so long, but really it is kind of fun. An excuse to stay home (the kids love it) and sip tea by the fire, we still like to go out to shop. The Village Shopping Center was bustling with activity and looked beautiful under its blanket of snow.

Fruit Stand

Berry Point Fruit and Honey, just the place to stop for apples and pears. When you shop there you will be amazed at the number of varieties. There are boxes of fruit to choose from, a scale to weigh them, bags and a jar to put your money in. This is the honour system and it is a treat to stop and shop in this way. I bought the little pears and they were absolutely delicious!

Harvest Thyme

There are many places to stop for coffee on Gabriola. When I'm with my husband he usually chooses Harvest Thyme. He likes their french press method of making coffee and the Gabriola Coffee Company dark roast. Harvest Thyme has a comfortable setting blending natural foods store and healthy choices lunch cafe, with seating both inside and out. This is a great place to meet up with friends and lounge about gabbing, drinking your favorite beverage and snacking on their delicious muffins.

Wine Tasting

We entered through the gates of the Gabriola Island Winery and followed a winding road up to the wine making facility and tasting room. We were greeted by Chris and Fenix who poured us samples of their Pinot Gris, Merlot and a Port style fortified wine made from Blackberries and Blueberries, we sipped their lovely wine and enjoyed the spectacular views of the Strait of Georgia from their 45 acre fledgling vineyard high up on Gabriola's north end. We were also treated to a bit of a tour of their wine making vats and the portugese copper and bronze still which they intend to use to make a brandy. We browsed their gift wares and I purchased a nifty picnic blanket. This was a fun excursion and promises to be quite the attraction in years to come as they develop their offerings.

The Village

Gabriola Island's main shopping complex is called Folklife Village Shopping Center. This is a beautiful timber frame building with high ceilings and big beams and we are so lucky that its owner had the vision to bring it here from the Vancouver Expo 86 site. Housing in style a delightful assortment of food, clothing, gifts, library books, videos, hardware, pharmacy, real estate and liquor, it is a focal point of our community.

Market Day

The weather was very pleasant this morning and we decided to go to the market. There is such a variety of crafts, furniture, art, pottery, clothing, toys, cards, jewelry, and foods to choose from, all locally produced. We went for the food. Glenn choose an artisan licorice and a white chocolate blueberry scone. I bought organic whole wheat medjool date raisin bread which makes heavenly toast, a huge head of butter lettuce and a pretty note card. We browsed through the rest of the stalls and then headed for coffee at Art Works. An enjoyable morning!

A Little Black Dress

One of my favorite dress shops is The Wooden Hanger on Gabriola Island. There is a wonderful selection of clothes, different from the ones that you see in chain stores. This is a great shop and I find that much of what remains in my wardrobe are pieces that I have bought over the years at this delightful store. The clothes range from casual to dressy, are fashionable, wear well and best of all, comfortable. This time I was looking for a simple dress that could be worn both for work, play or in the evening with a jacket. What better than a little black dress, simple with a little ruffle on the bottom and made out of a washable cotton knit. This one is a keeper!

It's In the Bag

Mum and Nana took me to Village Foods today to shop. Nana say it is a wonderful grocery store and I agree. We started in the produce department - so much to choose from, and such pretty colors! Peppers, broccoli, asparagus, carrots and oranges all went into my cart. Next we went to the meat department and I saw bison, local beef, and ground turkey - mum selected local free run chicken breasts. The bakery was next and we got naturally leavened multigrain bread. Then organic eggs and yogurt from the dairy department. And on the way to the checkout we picked up fig bars. I'm looking forward to dinner tonight!

A Fish Story

We were drinking coffee this morning when my husband asked "what's for dinner tonight?". Well, I felt like fish and fresh is the only way I like it so I needed to shop.

Gabriola Island offers excellent shopping opportunities and when it comes to seafood my favorite place to visit is Maranatha Fishing and Packing on Coast Road at the south end of the island close to Silva Bay. It is a pleasant 15 minute drive from the north end along tree lined roads and definitely worth the trip. Sylvia is always behind the counter and welcomes us with a smile. They have a good variety of fresh, frozen and smoked seafood - all of it wild and very fresh. They smoke the fish themselves and it is fantastic. Even the kids like to go and insist on a bit of smoked salmon for the ride home.

So I gathered my daughters and grandaughters and off we went.

What's for dinner? Tonight it is fresh wild coho, ling cod and smoked spring salmon. Delicious!