The breakwater boardwalk in Gibsons Landing

So, you’ve enjoyed your ferry ride, and grabbed a cone at Mike’s Place. What should you do next?

Take a stroll on the breakwater boardwalk that protects the harbour.  Admire the work and pleasure boats, gaze upon the spectacular Coast mountains, and get a good view of the lower town. The gazebo at the end of the boardwalk provides shelter from the elements and the best view of boats entering and exiting the harbour.

Yes, that’s right. I love the ferry trip. Let me count the ways:

1. It is frequent. Every two hours in the off season, with extra sailings in July, August and holiday weekends.  Much better service than exists for the Gulf Islands.

2. It is just the right length.  The forty minute crossing is long enough to relax with a cup of coffee or enjoy a B.C. Burger. Just when you think to wonder how much longer, you’re there.

3. It is reasonably priced. Yes, I really think so. Travellers pay only one way to the Sunshine Coast (take that, Gulf Islands!). You can also get an Experience Card that gives you a significant discount on every fare.  With this discount, my ’walk-on’  fare is just under $9.00 return!  By comparison, my return trip into downtown Vancouver on the WestCoast Express train service from Port Moody is $12.50 a day -  and the ferry is infinitely more pleasant, I assure you.

4. It is usually on schedule. Not always, but generally quite reliable.

5. The scenery is lovely. Say no more.

6. One of the captains is quite a card. Love to listen to his messages wishing everyone a lovely weekend.

7. It takes me to one of my favourite places (and away again, unfortunately.)

So there is a by-no-means complete list of great things about the ferry service to the Sunshine Coast. I’m not unaware that the ferry corporation doesn’t get a lot of good press. My experiences have been pretty good and I’m not afraid to say so.

Awesome flavours, great value.

It occurs to me that when I am blogging about crude plywood shelving, it is time to cast my eye a bit further abroad.

Without further ado, here is the first in a 10 part series about just some of the great things Gibsons has to offer.

We almost never pass up a chance to stop into Mike’s Place in Gibson’s Landing for a cone. We always order the kids cones, which offer a very generous portion, especially if you take my advice and ask to have two flavours. The cost is $1.50, and  I challenge you to find a bigger cone at a comparable price anywhere. 

We consider ourselves gelato experts, having each eaten an average of two cones a day while travelling in Italy a few years back.  Mike’s gelato definitely measures up. The cone on the right is my current favourite:  Caramel Pecan Drumstick on top and Wild & Reckless (vanilla, chocolate and raspberry) underneath. 

Mike’s offers free wifi and also has a Fan Page on Facebook, FYI.  Next time you are in Gibsons, be sure to check it out.

Don’t you just love that line in A&E’s Pride and Prejudice?  I never thought I’d get to use those words myself. 

The storage room at the cottage is where we strive to keep supplies and clean linens for rentals neatly organized along side our personal effects. We had a system of Rubbermaid tubs, but accessing the correct tub could be a bit fraying. Always, it was our intention to get in there and “sort it out!”  And this weekend, fittingly known as Labour Day, we did just that.  Gutted it, cleaned it and Cottager erected the most basic of plywood shelves on the approximate dimensions of 22″ (deep)  x 4′ (wide) and 22″ (high).Eureka! – we are organized.

Once again, the covered deck came to the rescue, as the project was able to go ahead despite some squally weather.

Cottager was able to stay with the task, through wind and rain.

We may get around to painting these shelves some day, but I doubt it. They are what they are.

Very basic shelving is all that was called for.

Finally, we can put our hands on what we need at a moments notice. A few more bins are required, and then clear plastic sleeves will make changing labels and reorganizing, when required, the work of a moment. 

Now if only the rest of my life was so tidy...

 Now about this shed:  We’ll be saying prayers of Thanksgiving when we tackle this one. But Cottager’s new roof looks good and the contents are nice and dry.  Just . . . need . . . one more . . .day. . . at cottage!

Everyone asks my mom for her recipe. Here's my take on it.

How many times have I mentioned my mom’s guacamole? And how many times promised to give up her secrets?

Well, today is the day. With the last holiday weekend of summer looming, the time – and hopefully your avo – is ripe.

We will be whipping up at least one bowl of this at Keats View Cottage this weekend.

So here is my caveat. My mom’ s recipe is a bit finicky. For example, she blanches, peels and seeds the tomato. Not me.

She also measures everything.  Not me.

So this is really MY version of Patsy’s TDF Guacamole. No doubt you will have some of your own improvements to make.

INGREDIENTS

2  avocados – perfectly ripe if at all possible. 

Generous squeeze fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4  cup (roughly) very finely chopped onion

One medium clove garlic, crushed

Green tabasco or chili powder to taste ( Warning: chili powder will often turn your guacamole from green to yellow – less appetizing)

1/2 medium tomato, finely chopped

1/3 cup (roughly) sour cream

METHOD

Halve avocados and remove pits. With paring knife, score each half right to the peel in a cross hatch pattern.

Use spoon to remove the pre-chopped fruit directly from peel to a medium sized bowl.

Sprinkle generously with lemon juice – at least two teaspoons -  and add salt. Mash with back of fork to desired consistency

Add chopped onion, crushed garlic and tabasco or chili powder and combine well.

Add sour cream and tomato and stir gently to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

Chill at least one hour to allow flavours to develop. Serve with tortilla chips and my blog address, to save you the trouble of having to write this recipe out for all your friends. Cheers!

We ain't afraid'a no bees!

Bad year for wasps. Everyone is saying so.

We have had a very persistent hive in the garden. With guests and their pets and kids, coming and going,  we had to get right on it and stay on it. We tried hanging various tasty meaty treats over a bucket of water. At our cottage in the Kootenays, a dead fish over a bucket of water will occasion death-by-greed for most wasps. They clamber all over it, remove a piece of fish so big they can’t fly with it, and then they fall into the bucket of water below. A drop of dish soap in the water makes it less likely they will escape.

This method had no effect on the Sunshine Coast. Maybe our offerings of bacon and other meat products simply didn’t have the draw that a rotting fish does?  In any event, time constraints required us to revert to the tried and true of commercially available toxins.

Here are my intrepid bee busters, prepared for a night time sally.

They hit the area of the nest – nestled in or under a decaying timber and heavily obscured by St. John’s Wort – at least three times that night.

The next day, the Wort was largely exfoliated, but a few bees continued to zip around. Guests arriving for a week reported no wasp sightings, but when we returned to do some maintanance last weekend, they were starting to regroup. Another can of poison was purchased and used. Hopefully, we got them, but no guarantee.  If you have some fool-proof, fast-acting and more organic suggestions on how to deal with a wasp nest, please share.

Its that time of year again: So much great produce is available that it begins to pile up on one’s kitchen counters.

Someone . . . well, me actually . . . left half a lime on the counter for a few days and suddenly, we were awash with fruit flies. Pesky little things!  Lee Valley sells a spiffy trap, but they are outrageously expensive. 

Here is a trap you can assemble in a few minutes with things found around the home and it is guaranteed to rid your kitchen of fruit flies in about two hours. 

What you need to get started

YOU WILL NEED

An empty two litre plastic pop bottle

Some duct tape

Scissors

Bait – I had my best success with apple cider vinegar, but a bit of wine or orange juice would also do the trick.

METHOD 

Remove the cap from the pop bottle.

Cut all around the pop bottle, about 1 inch below the tapered top.

Put a tablespoon or two of your selected bait into the bottom half of the decapitated bottle.

Now, turn the top part of the bottle over, and snug it down, spout first, into the bottom half.

Trim up the top edge with scissors if it is raggedy, then use a bit of duct tape to seal the upside down top of the bottle and the bottom together.

Tidy up your kitchen, removing or bagging all other produce and any dirty dishes or other attractants. Wipe down your counters too.  You want the trap to be offering the only meal in town!

Now lay the trap on its side on the counter, taking care to secure it so it doesn’t roll off.

Then walk away. Have a coffee;  run an errand.

You will be amazed at how many fruit flies you catch in just a few hours.   Cheers!

2 hours later - every one of those brown spots is a fruit fly

It was back in May of 2008 that Mary Emmerling first gave me the idea of rigging up an outdoor shower, which she suggested should have mint planted all around it. The idea captivated me, but I never really raised it with Cottager, since we had many more important projects, in the vein of actual repairs, on our plate at the time.  True marital felicity often lies in the timing of ones’ discussions.

As promised, we have really been enjoying the cottage this summer, whenever it isn’t spoken for. And the weather has been lovely so we have been wandering down to the beach once or twice a day for a swim. And suddenly the time seemed ripe. So I mentioned, just last weekend, how lovely it would be to have a shower in the garden, where we could rinse off as we returned from the beach. 

As it happened, that very weekend, the urchins had three friends to stay, and all five boys were keen to put their best foot forward with the local girls, with the result that the bathroom and the shower in particular were in heavy demand. 

And all of these circumstances, plus the seed of an idea and a six week break from cottage-related chores and projects seemed to click for the Cottager. By this weekend he had pipe and fittings and one hundred feet of black hose and a shower head and a funky industrial-style on/off lever and we were good to go.

It all went together for Cottager pretty quickly. The hose is loosely coiled on the roof of a shed where it gets lots of sun but is largely out of sight. I cut back one laurel and shored up the ground to accomodate  a 20 inch round aggregate paver.  Then together we nailed up a soap holder  – biodegradable of course! – and an old planter with a new and vibrant candy mint plant. All that’s wanting is a couple of hooks for towels and suits, and I’m sure I have some around here somewhere.

Tests over the weekend indicated that we got about one minute of hot water from our 100 feet of hose. A second reel – not black and not in full sun – means that when the hot water runs out, it doesn’t run out in a shocking manner. There is another full minute of tepid-to-cool water to follow, if you have delayed your rinsing too long.  And on a really nice day, the shower is hot again in 20-30 minutes. 

The laurel bushes offer privacy from any passers-by but there is still a lovely view of the garden and even a peek-a-boo view of the ocean from the shower. 

I have a little bit of research to do before I plant mint all around the shower, however. While the promise of crushing wet mint under my feet in a heavenly sort of aromatherapy is tempting, I believe this plant has a great tendency to spread, and I am battling a lot of invasive species already. So for now, guests can pluck a little from the container and crush it their hands for a tamer version of that experience.

A simple but effective set - up

Makes for a very pleasant rinse off in the garden . . .

With a lovely view . . .

And mint for garnish.

Greetings Gentle Readers

So sorry to have been silent so long. I have been having a long-ish holiday away from work, and the cottage and the computer. It has been very pleasant!  We took the Urchins to San Francisco, camping all along the way. Then we spent two weeks at the family cottage on Kootenay Lake.  Back to the city for just four days and we took ourselves off to Keats View Cottage for the weekend to enjoy the annual Sea Cavalcade festival in Gibsons.

Keats View was rented nearly all of the time we were away, and it all went swimmingly. Our guests treated the place gently, and we sincerely hope they had a nice time and will return next year. They certainly couldn’t complain about the weather!

The garden was rather shockingly overgrown after 5 weeks of neglect, but we whipped it into shape pretty quickly.  Then we spent the rest of the weekend swimming in the sea, enjoying the fireworks and Fraser Blues aerial demonstration team, flipping burgers for the Urchins and three of their friends, and dancing in the street in a ferocious electrical storm.  Sadly, the rain picked up to the point that the band had to quit or risk damage to their equipment.  Still, it was a very memorable night:  Once a year, even if it kills him, Cottager will have a dance or two. 

So, I’m re-invigorated and full of ideas. I’m finally going to give out my Mom’s guacamole recipe – no more false promises!

I also have an excellent recipe for an impressive looking and great tasting ice cream-based dessert that has 4 ingredients, feeds a crowd and can be assembled in about 10 minutes. Its a very kid-friendly recipe, so you can even turn the job over to your own urchins with some confidence.

Then I’ll tell you of our plans for an outdoor shower, new fencing and other projects we are planning to embark upon at the cottage once the summer is over. Oh yes, and I’ll tell you all about the fabulous yurts in Oregon State parks – a cottage for $30 a night!

So check back soon!

This past weekend we finally got to the bottom of The List. Yep.

The bottom. Of The List.

The List that we set for ourselves of things to finish before the rental season started. As of now, nothing (well, nothing major) shall be added to any New List until the fall. When we are fortunate enough to find ourselves at the cottage this summer, it will be for bonfires and gelato runs and no-holds barred Farkle matches.

Getting to the bottom of The List was more problematic than we expected. There were setbacks.

But this weekend we prevailed, thanks to our Super Urchins.

Little Urchin (Lu) took on the job of adding pickets to an unsafe railing around our back deck / tent platform.

He worked hard in the hot sun. The result is a deck that is miles safer for little guests, and actually looks better too.

 Meanwhile, Big Urchin (Bu) got up on the roof. We passed him a blower to see if that would remove some of the gunk on the shingles. But like so many jobs in life, there was no easy way to do it. In the end, it took a broom and a lot of effort to get the roof looking good. 

I still can’t get over it!  It was a long, hard job on a very hot day. He did not quit. He did not cut corners. He even put on a shirt when advised to do so. Could this really be true? 

These are the tears of a woman who may have just had a glimpse of the light at the end of at least one tunnel. 

And it was good.