PHOTO GALLERY

What a lovely ramble we had this morning, spelunking the Coast's highways and biways in search of treasure trove... and we found it! First we stopped in (heck it was the reason for the entire adventure) at the Film Set Costume Sale hosted by Sandra Buck in Gibsons. I drove up and thought 'Aw, that looks like regular flea market stuff,' but once we got to pawing through it... well, suffice to say we came away with two BOXES of items, all at $2 each. Watch for the video fashion show later on this evening. A plethora of pink, superpower shoes for moi, motorcycle shoes, bad Hawaiian shirts, a selection of ties for the Principal of West Sechelt Elementary (who wears a different tie every day), a swank white dress shirt and classic blazer for 8 year old Haley's upcoming Paris visit, the di rigeur gay wig. SCORE!

From there I tried driving immediately back to Sechelt, but the car took a hard right at Henry Road, heading for all things organically grown. Henry Reed Produce is very well-established, with large greenhousing and covered rows, and like most farm markets here, operates on the honour system. You drop your money in the welded aluminum box, mark anything you owe or are owed in change in the little honour book, and select from an abundance of field carrots, arugula, beets, lettuce mix, eggs etc.

Just down the road a spell back towards Hwy. 101 is The Green Room, with delightful signage and a stepped produce stand. Three lovely flags waved to the new green fingers of alder behind them and there was a homey little car wagon loaded with firewood against next year's winter.

Next on our list was Bob's Fishin' Barn in Roberts Creek, and I tried to stay on course, I really did! But when we saw the beautiful signage for Shadoblix Farms and The Art Barn we just had to stop in. Shadoblix sells herbs, eggs, local produce and teas, while the Art Barn, sells, well... art! And not just any art, but the fantastic work of Mardi Ahmed, who has an international reputation and sells all over the world. Her work ranges from acrylic on canvas and carved fibreboard to sculptures made of glass, metal... even trees and found objects. We were astonished into silence by the painting of the horse, completely in red, called 'Spirit'... and found out from Mardi's brother John that a collector just purchased it for $50,000!!! He 'just had to have it'. Limited edition prints, on museum quality canvas, are still available but put your name in fast, a Saudi Arabian sheik just bought two :)

Finally we ended up at Bob's. The Fishin Barn is located just off the highway in Roberts Creek down Flume Road. Very good signage takes you right into the cozy space where Bob - known as The Rod Doctor to some and the RodFather to me for his handmade salmon beachcasting rods (I am lucky enough to own one of the last ones he made) - displays all of his wares. This ranges from all the lures, flies, tackle and gear you would think would be in a fishing store, but that's not all. No, there's some real treasures here, like the original Fenwick fly rod my partner Diane purchased, bought by Bob and his wife Mary on one of their many winter RV trips around the US hitting up garage sales and flea markets for all the great stuff Coasters get to choose from! My eight year old positively drooled over the pink spincasting reel with flashing lights on the spin return, but alas, it was spoken for by Bob's granddaughter Brooklyn. We came out of there some cash lighter for sure, but the value for the money was incomparable. You can also meet Bob five days a week at the Chapman Creek Salmon Hatchery up Field Road, where he devotes his time to the Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society's work in rearing salmon for the terminal sportfishing that happens in Chapman Creek and Davis Bay every late summer/early fall.

Just as we were handing over our pooled funds to Bob, we noticed one of our bills was stamped with wording. On closer inspection it said: Suis Il Argent/Follow Your Money at www.whereswilly.com. So we grabbed a closeup shot of it just for fun.

Coffee was in order and it's great to have friends at midway points along the Coast. We stopped in to visit our friend Delaina-Lu Gamblin, retired stuntwoman and now sometimes-raccoon raising homebody. You might know her work from shows like TV's Tarzan series, or the X Files, or even movies like Jumanji. We just know she's always doing and saying something interesting, such as trying to trap rats humanely and instead having them run across her toes after springing the trap, chasing her old bulldog Lucy (so it's a slow chase) down the road, or working on the new fence to keep Lucy from mid-street wanderings. The fence is a cunning thing, and Diane is eagerly awaiting lessons on working with table saws and other dangerous woodworking tools. Delaina is hilarious, referring to another social networking site as 'FacePlant' and other such bonmots.

The rest of the afternoon consists of a bit of work, a couple of drop-bys at potluck's and house-moving parties, more photography and then the fashion show, where you will see the Webmaster decked out from head to toe in violent pink, including pink hoochie (fishing lure) earrings!

Another fabulous day on the Coast. Shed your city skin and come on out!

Oh, and it turns out our $20 bill was entered into www.whereswilly.com in Blainesville, Quebec on the 11th of September 2007 (it was printed in 2004). Here's the info on it: This bill has travelled 3,691 KM in 1 Yr, 261 Days, 21 Hrs, 17 Mins at an average of 5.9 KM per day. It is now 3,691 KM from its starting location. Over to you, Bob!


RELATED LINKS:
The Art Barn
Shadoblix Farm
Henry Reed Produce
The Green Room Organics
Bob's Fishin Barn
Delaina-Lu Gamblin
Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society
Bigpacific.com - Shed that City Skin