gabriola: Native Plants on the Gulf Islands
- 05/26/10 10:04 AM
Tomorrow (May 27th), our Coast Realty Office on Gabriola will be closed and all the Realtors ® and staff will head over to the Gabriola Museum give back to the community by caring for the Native Plant garden at the Museum. I thought I would get a head start and do a little web research about a few of the native plants I've seen on walks and came across the Chocolate Lily (one of my favourites) on the The Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT) website. The website has great information on how to beautify your garden with native plants, removing invasive … (0 comments)
gabriola: It will be FULL DAY kindergarten on Gabriola in 2010 !
- 02/03/10 07:47 AM
I was with my kids at Gymnastics in Nanaimo tonight and there was a buzz going around about which schools were selected for full day kindergarten beginning in Fall 2010. I checked the School District 68 site when I got home and found a link to Full Day Kindergarten in the news. This sheet also contains answers to frequently asked questions and lists the schools selected.For parents with children attending kindergarten in Sept. 2010, you should enroll your child soon as registration opened on Jan 4. (Submitted by: Tina Lynch)
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gabriola: Groundhog Day
- 02/03/10 06:31 AM
The old folklore suggests that if the Groundhog sees his shadow today, we're in for 6 more weeks of winter, apparently it's a 39% chance of correctly predicting the weather. Well, I guess it's great news for the Winter Olympics that the groundhog saw his shadow today, although I was trying to dodge my shadow this morning in hopes that Spring would be here. Oh well, just more time to plan a low maintenance, draught tolerant garden on Gabriola. … (2 comments)
gabriola: New Tax Credit for Public Transportation (BC Ferries)
- 02/03/10 05:10 AM
A friend of mine just let me know about a new tax credit that the Federal Government has brought in for use of public transportation. The BC Ferries website has information about qualifying your ferry trips for a tax credit and it looks like you will need to have 16 round trips in a 31 day period, which will effect residents on Gabriola that commute to Nanaimo for work. These will need to be paid for using an electronic payment card. You will need to register your BC Ferries experience card online or by phoning the Customer Service Center (1 … (0 comments)
gabriola: Canada Home Renovation Tax Credit - Making the most of it.
- 01/19/10 05:03 AM
It's that time of year, when I'm rifling through my pockets, purses, drawers and files looking for every last receipt. This year, I'm making sure I set aside a stack that I can use towards the Home Renoation Tax Credit. I wanted to check what I could include towards it, and it was suprisingly more than I had realized.Canadian homeowners can get up to $1,350 in tax credits for home renovations made between January 27, 2009 and February 1, 2010 (so you have two weeks if you haven't done your home renovations yet).The HRTC allows families to claim 15 per cent … (2 comments)
gabriola: Coast Realty - Future Focus Group
- 10/19/09 06:50 AM
Last week, Jennifer and I went to Coast Realty's head office in Nanaimo to take part in a future focus group. This group included 17 Coast Realty Representatives from all of our offices. We're looking at helping our company to come up with a strategic plan and a clear vision for the future, and ensuring that we stay up with technology. We feel that by participating in this process we can help to ensure that our company continues to meet the expectations of our clients, and that our company can support us in the level of customer service we strive to … (0 comments)
gabriola: Beauty beneath the waves: Diving on Gabriola
- 10/16/09 10:27 AM
It’s a different view when you explore what lies under the surface, can you believe that another world exists so close to us ? It seems so easy to miss this, until you see photos of the beauty below. Shannon Poirier & Don Knowles came to the Island as dive enthusiasts, quickly they decided to buy property and began building their home. They now have a company called Ocean’s Blue Diving which offers diver training from beginner to Divemaster. As someone that’s a bit reluctant to learn all the technical components of diving, I was excited to see that they … (0 comments)
gabriola: Buy Local, what the heck !
- 06/10/09 08:54 AM
Well one of the perks of shopping at the road sidestand, versus something that you might pick up at the big box stores from half way around the world, is the character that goes with it. When I stopped by to check out the stand at the corner of Thompson and South Road, I found this sign. I would have been happy to pay 50 cents for my new Greek Oregano seedlings, but thought the marked down price of 25 cents was great. I wasn't really planning on any more herbs for the garden, but what the heck ! I got … (1 comments)
gabriola: Relocating Homes
- 03/05/09 06:49 AM
Over the years several homes to Gabriola have come as reclaimed homes from various areas. As real estate values have soared in parts of the Province, the land value is so great in some cases that it affords home owners the opportunity to build new. But with all the “green” and recycling initiatives, the idea of relocating homes, instead of demolishing them, has had a strong appeal. Many of our relocated homes to the island have come from the mainland, via a barge, allowing a home to be relocated a greater distance than by trucking it. It’s quite the site to … (0 comments)
gabriola: Greening your Title
- 03/05/09 06:40 AM
Kate Emmings of the Islands Trust Fund was on Gabriola this weekend, to provide information on, “The Natural Area Protection Tax Exemption Program,” which offers an incentive for island landowners to protect natural & geological features of your property while reducing taxes.Through the program NAPTEP, an island landowner can receive up to 65% property tax exemption on the portion of land of their property which is protected through covenants.Properties that are eligible may include; relatively undisturbed natural area that is a good example of an important ecosystem, important natural area that provides key habitat to rare native plant or animal species, … (0 comments)
gabriola: Gabriola Island - Holiday Shopping
- 11/26/08 05:35 AM
With the holiday season upon us, we wanted to share some of "island ideas" & showcase some island businesses, over the next couple of weeks, to help make your holiday shop easier....New Society Publishers http://www.newsociety.com/New Society Publishers, is now a 20 year old island company who's mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society. They employ approx. 12 island residents, including the two owners. They offer a wide variety of books & some fabulous green building books & cookbooks - that we have in our personal collection.Greenbeans http://www.greenbeans.ca/This relatively new island … (0 comments)
gabriola: Growing Beyond the Market Place...
- 11/19/08 09:47 AM
With the current situation in Real Estate we have decided to focus on marketing Gabriola Island in other areas and to investigate marketing tools and trends. Randi & Jennifer have just returned from attending NAR (National Association of Realtors) in Orlando. This 4 day event features key note speakers such as Lance Armstrong and Joe Theismann, provides numerous seminars in marketing, green sustainable living ideas and technology, and has an expo with over 500 exhibitors with leading edge products. We also plan to have Jennifer & myself attend the BANFF Western Connection from Jan 31- Feb.2, as we feel networking … (6 comments)
Tomorrow (May 27th), our Coast Realty Office on Gabriola will be closed and all the Realtors ® and staff will head over to the Gabriola Museum give back to the community by caring for the Native Plant garden at the Museum. I thought I would get a head start and do a little web research about a few of the native plants I've seen on walks and came across the Chocolate Lily (one of my favourites) on the The Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT) website. The website has great information on how to beautify your garden with native plants, removing invasive … (0 comments)
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