Happy Birthday…

Yesterday the family along with many friends took an adventure to Wonderland as we celebrated my neice & nephews birthday… Alice (Bianca) & the White Rabbit (MicGill) had a great time with their friends going down the “rabbit hole” to play royal croquet, search for the gold key, a tea cup race & a mad hatters tea party. The Queen of Hearts (also known as my sister) played her part perfectly walking around yelling off with your head, to both kids and adults. The Mad Hatter (Guy) was busy running around keeping the kids entertained, and the adults as well - refreshing his lipstick! The kids had so many great ideas, and their birthday party ended up as magical. Happy Birthday Bianca & MicGill – Love Auntie Jennifer

GABRIOLA GETS A BIT OF DRAMA

On August 20,21,22 the Gabriola Theatre Festival will be in full swing on Gabriola and there is a lot to offer everyone from chuckles to tears. Street Art takes place this weekend- so you can pick up some local art between performances, Lochnivar lane will be closed to vehicle traffic as 50 artists set up there booths and display there stunning works of art. I just bought tickets for two of the plays from the kiosk located right in front of Artworks (which will be open everyday until the festival), and saw that a few of the plays have already sold out. Mara Brenner is busy training up some of Gabriola's youth to do a dance performance on stage during the festival, they will be dancing to the beat of "Broadway Baby" on Saturday at 11:30 and Sunday at 4:15. It'll be a great weekend to celebrate the"drama" of this creative island!

Ice Cream Cones with a cause.

I saw the following ad and I just love it, it sums up island living perfectly.

“Who is that walking through the Village? Does

she live on the Island

now – or just visiting?” asked a long-time resident of Gabriola.

“Who cares” I replied,

“Where’d she get that

Ice Cream Cone?”

Ice Cream Cones now available at the GHCF Volunteers’ office. Monday to Saturday – 10am to 4pm. (formerly - the Hardware Store) in Folklife Village – run by and to benefit the Gabriola Health Care Auxiliary/Foundation.

Reading Rocks on this Rock.

If you want to encourage your kids to read this summer, stop by the Gabriola Branch of the Vancouver Island Library in the Folklife Village and sign them up for the Summer reading Club. This year’s theme is “reading rocks”, and they are making it fun for kids to explore and get familiar with the library. My kids went a few weeks ago with a friend and did the “scavenger hunt”, a great way to get them familiar with the library. We're filling up our reading lists and having fun, reading time at the Gabriola branch of the library this summer is on Tuesdays from 3-4pm. The Island Book shoppe is located next door to the library and offers a great variety of new and used books, and a nice selection from local authors & illustrators.

Working Silver

I love jewellery and I love to make things, so I was thrilled to get the newsletter from workingsilver.com letting me know of some irresistible upcoming classes being offered in Gallery 223 (downtown Nanaimo). I'm definitely a beginner and a little shy of power tools and things that I could possibly get to explode (propane makes me nervous at times), but this is fantastic. There is something for everyone, whether you want to learn how to enamel, make some Christmas presents (in which case, I'd love to be on your list) or learn how to texture metal. You can arrange to have your own private class, which you can even do as a fundraiser, or go to the drop in studio once you have some basics down. Kathy Brandon from Gabriola Island is offering many of the courses and currenlty has pieces on display at Artworks.

Perched above Gabriola Island

If you drive around Gabriola, it's quite likely that you will spot some of the wildlife here without even leaving the car. Gabriola has a large population of deer, something to watch out for when you're driving and it's common to spot an Eagle or two around as well. If you go down South Road towards Silva Bay from the Village, you will see a large white sign with "Eagle Nest" in red writing just before Shaw Road. Across the road you will see a large tree and near the top is an Eagle Nest. It's amazing to look at the nest and see the large branches. Hornby Island has a web cam in one of the eagle nests, it's worth checking out anytime but especially during nesting season (January - August). Eagle Nests and Perch trees are usually found within 1km of the shoreline, if you see one contact the Ministry of Environment and have it designated as a "Wildlife Tree". If you'd like to learn more about Eagles you might like the information on the GROWLS website and you may also want to take a look at the Wild life tree atlas.

Gulf Island Adventures

Yesterday we celebrated out mom's birthday on Saltspring Island. We wanted to create a memorable day. We like to celebrate birthdays with experiences, so we thought this year we would let her join the circus.

Our adventure took us from Gabriola over to Saltspring Island, a southern gulf island that has a ferry leaving from Crofton. We went for a beautiful drive to the amazing Flying Dreams Aerial Studio. Greeted by Victoria the owner and extraordinary teacher, we went into to the beautiful studio called the "Temple", it has 40 foot ceilings, an amazing view and is breathtaking in itself. Victoria gave us enough courage to try some of the basic skills on both the aerial silks and the trapeze. We’re not sure if we did more climbing, upside down manoeuvres or laughing & not sure which caused the soar rib cages today! It was an amazing experience and a “must do” if visiting Saltspring. It's part of the beauty of exploring the islands, there are plenty of unique experiences and adventures to partake in.

Happy Birthday Mom!