We have some special guests that stay with us and this is what makes the bed and breakfast so special. We have had a great adventure hosting medical students doing their rotation through the Ladysmith emergency care centre. Cindy is with us for two weeks and treated us to a fantastic dinner after a full day at the clinic – clam linguine in a white wine sauce. Delicious!!
Cindy & Lynda in the kitchen
Dinner is always an option at the Island Estuary. Paul and Annette enjoyed dinner after a busy day in Victoria savouring the sights and High Tea at the Empress Hotel. Even Paul had to admit that the tea was splendid.
Dinner at the Island Estuary
Our guests enjoyed the Ahi Tuna with a balsamic reduction over seaweed/calamari salad as an appetizer.
Ahi Tuna
The Main Course featured Spot Prawns, Qualicuum Bay Scallops, and Untamed Feasts Morels over Sundried Tomato Cream Pasta.
Scallops and Spot Prawns
Taking the ferry to Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring Island is a simple day trip from the Island Estuary – a 20 minute ride will get you to the ferry which is another 20 minute crossing. Janice (Lynda’s sister) and her friend Shelley came for a mini-vacation and explored some of the beautiful islands to visit wineries, artisans, markets and hiking trails.
Eco Adventure Tours is a great place to take a whale watching tour aboard a zodiac. We were so fortunate to see over 50 orca whales on our trip. They are absolutely magnificent to observe as they swim, play, tail and breach. After our adventure, we were ready for a simple meal of roasted tomato and garlic bruschetta, potato salad and Lynda’s famous Greek Ribs. Rumour has it she beat out her long time opponent John Thompson from St. John’s Newfoundland!!
Spare Rib Cook Off
What do you do on your birthday that you haven’t done before?!! Well, for me, I decided that a bungee jump off a bridge at 150 ft. was in order. Why not?!! Here I am getting “prepped” for the event. Should I or should’nt I????
Up on the bridge
In retrospect, the trick is not to think too long and hard about the decision. Hey – you are on the bridge, your legs are tied, spectators are waiting, so it really does become a “no-brainer”. JUMP, JUMP, JUMP!!!!!!!!
Going for it
What better way to celebrate your birthday – crab cakes, potato salad, greek salad and roasted tomatoe bruschetta while sitting on our deck overlooking the estuary. Fantastic night with balmy temperatures and beautiful sky light.
What a great way to celebrate your birthday
The nice surprise was Julia (Lynda’s daughter) and Luke( her boyfriend) coming around for a surprise visit. The drove up Victoria to surprise Lynda on her birthday. Tomorrow is the big day and Lynda is going to do a bungee jump as a celebration. Stay tuned for some photos (hopefully she won’t chicken out at the last minute). Actually, I am writing this and I promise I will do it.!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday Mom
Here we are in the bathroom, lighting up the candles on Nixie’s cake to surprise her.
Setting up the birthday cake
We had some help from Richard when sneaking up on Nixie Barton while she was in the Gallery. He managed to be holding a rather large painting so that Nixie could not see us and we suddenly popped up to sing “Happy Birthday” to her.
Catching Nixie by surprise with some carrot cake
So the surprise was complete. Hope you have a fantastic day and we will enjoy a glass of wine for you. Lynda’s birthday is tomorrow but for some reason we could not talk Nixie into doing a bungee jump as a celebration. Who is the smarter one here?!!! Until tomorrow……..!!!!
Check out Barton/Leier Gallery in Yellowpoint/Cedar. Amazing work from both Nixie Barton and Grant Leier. Everyone should own one of their unique, fun and inspirational pieces!!
Medical Students doing their internship in Ladysmith come and stay with us for a month at a time. While working at the Ladysmith urgent care centre and family practice clinic they become part of our family and have the opportunity to experience our local attractions.
Having a family brunch at the island estuary
Self serve brunch and all the local ingredients that we love, good food always makes a persons stay that much more memorable. Life is to short not to eat good food.
Looking forward to a good breakfast
Again with the good weather we are making the most use of our outside deck. This is just such a beautiful view on to the estuary and has a wonderfully relaxing feel to sit outside, eating simple but excellent meals. With the abundance of local ingredients it is very easy to eat well.
Summer BBQ at the Island Estuary
Tonight we enjoyed some rib eye steaks that had been marniating in soy sauce and fresh garlic. We grilled them along with asparagus that we finished with some local Balsamic vinegar from Venturi-Schultz vineyard here in Duncan (the only place in North America that makes authentic balsamic vinegar) and a Tuscan salad. It doesn’t get much better than this!! Oh, and the wine was also from Venturi Schultz – a 2007 Pinor Noir.
During your stay at the Island Estuary, you can sample your way through many vineyards throughout the Cowichan Valley. Also along the route is the opportunity to stop at Merridale Cidery to visit the cidery and sample their assortments of ciders. So much to do, so little time!!
Many people have not yet discovered the “gems” that are tucked away on the side streets of Ladysmith. Mary Fox is one of those “hidden gems”. She has an incredible studio stacked with both functional and decorative pottery in a wide range of colours, shapes, designs and prices. Her pieces are available at numerous stores in town including the “Old Town Bakery” and “Salamander Book Store”. And of course, her studio is open during the summer months, so you can wander down and have a chat with Mary and check out all the beautiful pieces she has for sale.
Mary Fox Gallery in Ladysmith
Most folks will visit the town center and never even see some of the hidden talent that is abundant in Ladysmith. This is another advantage of staying at the Island Estuary bed and breakfast because we share this information with our guests as we invite them into our home and our local community.
“Hello Pottery Aficionados
It’s a beautiful sunny day and the studio sale seems far off as I write this, but it will be here before you know it.
As usual there are more than a few things I want to get done for this year’s sale and on top of the list is some work in porcelain. I think it’s been about 5 years since I’ve worked in porcelain so it will be brand new for some of you and an old favourite for others. All the porcelain work will be functionware, including vases for you flower people.
To add to the fun Rocky Creek Winery will be here giving us a tasting of their award winning wines and Tracy Lewis will be back with her whimsical cards, folk art toys and books. Also added to this year’s fun is Lynda from Island Estuary Bed & Breakfast who will be here selling her gourmet antipastos, dips & butters.
Looking forward to seeing you,
Potterly yours,
Mary Fox”
Mary Fox Pottery,
321-3rd Avenue,
PO Box 35
Ladysmith,
Phone 2502453778
Open: – to the public 1-5pm. Tuesday through Saturday, or by chance
Well what do you do when you know that Nixie Bartons (Barton/Leier Gallery) birthday is coming up (the day after Lynda’s birthday – now there is a cosmic coincidence for talent, one in art, one in cooking). Using Mary Fox Pottery to make up the cake for Nixie is just a pretty neat way to tap into all the local talent we have in Ladysmith. We are surprising Nixie tomorrow with a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting – of course we had to go local, so we used carrots from Katies’s farm, hazlenuts from Foote’s Hazlenut Farm, Cream Cheese from Island Farms and lots of love from Lynda’s kitchen. Don’t tell Nixie – It’s a Surprise!!!!!
Cooking with Mary Fox Pottery
Visit Mary Fox Gallery in Ladysmith to see her wonderful array of functional and decorative pottery. Each year in Novemeber, Mary has an incredible sale featuring new works and a great blow out sale of older stock. This year her sale is the weekend of Nov. 06 – 08, 2010. Why not book into the Island Estuary, visit the artisans in Yellowpoint/Cedar and Ladysmith, take in her sale and relax in our ocean side rooms. You might even want to take a cooking class at our place.