This past Saturday morning we decided to go uptown, to go for a walk around town ~ which is something we like to do every so often ~ with no particular agenda other than to have a coffee and enjoy our community. How happy were we after a couple of hours? Let me tell you and show you a few photos!
It started with a great parking spot, which turned out to be right on the edge of the parking lot that the Farmers Market happened to be on ~ at this time of year they are normally in the smaller community hall but an annual Christmas Faire was being held there this weekend ~ as you can see in the photo below they were really lucky because it was a bright sunny day!
Sunny, but chilly in the shade ~ where many of the tents were. The vendors feeling the chill were staying warm with coffee’s & hot chocolate and visiting amongst each other as they were not terribly busy at that later point of the morning and because this weekend in November is the busiest craft fair weekend, in both Qualicum Beach and Parksville.
The first person we came across that we were so happy to see was our granddaughter, who was selling Christmas door swags with her friend for a Dry Grad fundraiser. We can hardly believe she is graduating this year…..where DO the years go??
You can see how cold they were, even all bundled up with layers of coats, warm gloves, boots and a blanket! Soon after this photo they joined us in the sunshine and warmed right up. Moments later, we turned around and there was our daughter chatting & laughing with a friend and admiring her friend’s newborn baby ~ so, more happy surprises for us!
One of our grandsons was there too but in all of the excitement I missed taking his picture ~ he was busy keeping Rick entertained watching him with his skateboard. We all put a quick halt to Rick trying to learn how to use it! Once we all had realized we should be on to the rest of the day, we looked over most of the other stalls. Foods of all kinds were represented ~ fresh pasta noodles, homemade sausages, 3 fresh baked goods stalls, preserves, home packaged bean/ lentil soup mixes, ling cod & salmon, farm fresh chicken, vegetables, locally gathered chantrelle mushrooms, free range eggs, home grown grains turned into flour and locally roasted coffee (both beans and brewed) ~ a few photos will show you some of the selections.
Couldn’t resist a shot of the cute little truck that Bodhi’s Artisan Bakery brings their products to the market in ~ their table was pretty much depleted of breads and their other delicious goodies. We did manage to buy a sourdough loaf and a cream cheese filled croissant that was topped with grilled red peppers & onions…. made for a yummy lunch! Over the weekend we also enjoyed smoked cajun andouille sausages, chantrelle mushrooms, extra large eggs & we shared a large butter tart and now can look forward to cooking the ling cod, eating the smoked salmon, using the GMO free flour and the arrival of the door swag!
A very satisfying morning to this point and we hadn’t even begun our walk ~ so we bought a coffee from the Qualicum Roasting Company stall and headed off…
but I think I will break this post into a few separate posts ~ I took so many photos and have little bits of information on some of the buildings, that I think it would be too much for one day ~ hoping that you will enjoy seeing and hearing more about our community ~ Qualicum Beach!