so...
A friend of mine stayed overnight on Friday, which meant we had all of Saturday for exploration and adventure. Now that I've been on this part of the Island for a few months, I've gotten to know a bit of the terrain and investigate a few of the interesting places. It's fun to hang out with a friend and do some exploring, checking out places neither of us had been to!
Our first stop was Cowichan Bay village. It's small and parking is hard to find even in the winter, but we managed. Cow Bay has lots of interesting little shops to offer, including True Grain Bread and Hilary's Cheese, as well as the Udder Guy Ice Cream. We popped into the Spinning Ninny and found the proprietress needle felting mustaches.
We had a lovely exchange with her about ideas for future moustaches. My friend is a creative, and she had lots of great ideas for themes and names of moustaches-on-sticks.
I didn't catch the gal's name but I strongly encouraged her to get on Twitter - if she was tweeting stuff like this and had an etsy shop, she would be making money hand over fist! (Maybe she is - her stock was almost completely different from when I was there last month - and that's in the winter.
Then we headed into Duncan. Duncan used to be this run down sleepy little town that wasn't very interesting, but over the years it has gotten to be a mecca of young families, new farmers, people wanting to live the organic and sustainable lifestyle. It's cheaper than the city (i.e. Victoria) and offers all services, located in the beautiful Cowichan Valley where there is a huge local food movement. Duncan has lots of neat little shops downtown, some of which I had never been to, and it was fun to explore.
Sadly I didn't think to take more photos on our blog-able adventure, but I will say we went into a few antique shops, a few second-hand stores, and the photos below show the pot of gold we found at The Celtic Connection. It was St. Patrick's Day, after all, we *had* to go in! They were serving tea & scones with jam and freshly hand-whipped cream. They were doing a good business that day, people buying hats and T-shirts for their later festive engagements. We entered the draw for prizes but I don't think we won. We had to guess how many gold-covered pieces of chocolate were in the pot (yes, regretting not taking a photo) - I guessed 187, my friend guessed two hundred something. O well.
It turns out that it was also the first day of the Duncan Farmer's Market!We rolled in ten minutes before closing, but it was good to see all the vendors full of cheer and glad to be back doing the market scene.
We then headed into Victoria, to have a growler of Hoyne Brewing's Dark Matter filled up. As we were about to enter, my friend ran into a couple she knows, who happen to live in Cowichan Bay. While we were inside, a couple I knew came in! There must have been something in the air... I dropped my friend off and headed back up Island.
After the overindulgence the night before, I was fine with not having a big St. Patty's day bash. I think we all even went to bed early that night. I had a great time with my dear friend, chatting about all sorts of things. When I got back to Backyard Feast, I was ravenous and delighted that we had so many leftovers from the night before! I reminded her to please send me the link for the recipe for the awesome salad that she brought - you all must try this! Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad It's SO good you'll want to eat it every day for a week!
A friend of mine stayed overnight on Friday, which meant we had all of Saturday for exploration and adventure. Now that I've been on this part of the Island for a few months, I've gotten to know a bit of the terrain and investigate a few of the interesting places. It's fun to hang out with a friend and do some exploring, checking out places neither of us had been to!
Our first stop was Cowichan Bay village. It's small and parking is hard to find even in the winter, but we managed. Cow Bay has lots of interesting little shops to offer, including True Grain Bread and Hilary's Cheese, as well as the Udder Guy Ice Cream. We popped into the Spinning Ninny and found the proprietress needle felting mustaches.
We had a lovely exchange with her about ideas for future moustaches. My friend is a creative, and she had lots of great ideas for themes and names of moustaches-on-sticks.
I didn't catch the gal's name but I strongly encouraged her to get on Twitter - if she was tweeting stuff like this and had an etsy shop, she would be making money hand over fist! (Maybe she is - her stock was almost completely different from when I was there last month - and that's in the winter.
Then we headed into Duncan. Duncan used to be this run down sleepy little town that wasn't very interesting, but over the years it has gotten to be a mecca of young families, new farmers, people wanting to live the organic and sustainable lifestyle. It's cheaper than the city (i.e. Victoria) and offers all services, located in the beautiful Cowichan Valley where there is a huge local food movement. Duncan has lots of neat little shops downtown, some of which I had never been to, and it was fun to explore.
Sadly I didn't think to take more photos on our blog-able adventure, but I will say we went into a few antique shops, a few second-hand stores, and the photos below show the pot of gold we found at The Celtic Connection. It was St. Patrick's Day, after all, we *had* to go in! They were serving tea & scones with jam and freshly hand-whipped cream. They were doing a good business that day, people buying hats and T-shirts for their later festive engagements. We entered the draw for prizes but I don't think we won. We had to guess how many gold-covered pieces of chocolate were in the pot (yes, regretting not taking a photo) - I guessed 187, my friend guessed two hundred something. O well.
We then headed into Victoria, to have a growler of Hoyne Brewing's Dark Matter filled up. As we were about to enter, my friend ran into a couple she knows, who happen to live in Cowichan Bay. While we were inside, a couple I knew came in! There must have been something in the air... I dropped my friend off and headed back up Island.
After the overindulgence the night before, I was fine with not having a big St. Patty's day bash. I think we all even went to bed early that night. I had a great time with my dear friend, chatting about all sorts of things. When I got back to Backyard Feast, I was ravenous and delighted that we had so many leftovers from the night before! I reminded her to please send me the link for the recipe for the awesome salad that she brought - you all must try this! Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad It's SO good you'll want to eat it every day for a week!
