You know Nanaimo News Bulletin’s Beefs & Bouquets, but what about the Gabriola Sounder Smiles & Snarls @magpie.tips? Smiles only!

Rest in peace, David Hockney. 😢

My latest #biodiversity story - any guesses about what Canada spends to assess 1,000+ species at risk of extinction? Spoiler alert: it's not very much. Canada's Endangered Species Watchdog Is Strapped for Cash via @thetyee.ca www.thetyee.ca/News/2026/06...

The previous edition is THE plant ID book for the region. An updated book is coming in fall! Plants of the Pacific Coast: From Alaska to Oregon. Heartened that ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph (Styawat), of the Skwxwú7mesh Nation is part of it. Please repost/ fund! www.kickstarter.com/projects/can...

Boosting to help Maya & her mom find a wheelchair accessible home to rent in Vancouver. Maya was the victim of a school shooting in Tumbler Ridge 💔

Food growing gardeners, am I too late to direct sow melon? Zone 8b/9a, east coast of Vancouver Island in BC. My seed packets say to have started indoors 5 weeks ago. 🤣 I’m not that organized.

Been chipping away at this for the past several years,+ proud to say that I’ve completed my Diploma in Organic Land Care. My areas of interest are native plants, food growing + urban biodiversity. I’m on the west coast of so-called British Columbia with focus on the East Coast of Vancouver Island.

‼️ We have good news! ‼️ We have confirmed that Novavax will be made available again in BC, for the fall vaccination campaign. Thank you to everyone who sent letters, called their officials, and advocated for this very important win!

Finding pockets of beauty at sunset in my very asphalted driveway. It’s been a long week, right? The golden flowers are Eriophyllum lanatum (Woolly Sunflower) a plant native to Van Isle; the purple flowers are Thymus pseudolanuginosus (Woolly Thyme) a charming non-native ground cover.

Canadian COVID Forecast May 9 - May 22, 2026 CANADA HIGH [no change] About 1 of every 188 people is infected. Compared to lowest point of pandemic in Canada: -Infections: 8.0 x higher -Long COVID: 6.0 x higher -Hospitalizations: 4.5 x higher -Deaths: 3.9 x higher

Canadian COVID Forecast May 9 - May 22, 2026 BRITISH COLUMBIA HIGH [increasing] About 1 of every 112 people is infected. Compared to lowest point of pandemic in Canada: -Infections: 6.2 x higher -Long COVID: 5.4 x higher -Hospitalizations: 5.5 x higher -Deaths: 5.6 x higher

Build a universal basic income floor. That's a true foundation that will pay off in spades. It is the best possible investment in the future of Canada that you could ever make.

I didn’t make this Reddit post but I could have. Woken with a start by an idle-happy neighbour firing up a rec vehicle by our place at 5:30 am. Idled for 10+ mins, including some revving and then turned it off. WHY?!?!!!

So many people panicking about hantavirus but stopped wearing masks to protect against much more transmissible covid. Ok.

Nanaimo! Covid shots are available to book by phone at Wallace Pharmacy in Old City Quarter. They had a range of dates and times available. Easy peasy!

Well well well looks like those art degrees aren't so useless after all

Jane Jacobs, author of the influential 1961 book The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Her criticism of so-called "urban renewal" projects helped cancel the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have levelled many NYC neighborhoods. #BicycleBirthday May 4 (1916-2006)

If I lived in NYC (I most definitely do not!) I would be headed to the @thehigh-line.bsky.social first plant sale on May 30. Looks like there’s a series of short talks about different site conditions and biodiversity considerations, too. Delightful! www.thehighline.org/events/high-...

Scenes from the yard. Some of my native plant landscape beds are really reaching their ‘leap’ years of ‘they sleep in their first year, creep in their second year and leap in their third year’ saying that is often used for perennial gardens.

Really great series of wildflower hikes at Harewood Plains in Nanaimo coming up. The plains are an extremely delicate and beautiful ecosystem (vernal pools!) with rare native plants, some found only in that small area. www.eventbrite.com/d/canada--br...

Was pleasantly surprised by self seeded Tall Oregon Grape in one of my native plant beds this spring. There were so many berries last fall + conditions were such that they germinated like wild. I’ve got a lot of seedlings on my hands! I’ll be potting these up over the next while. #nativeplants

BC spring Covid boosters are now available. You can call 1-833-838-2323 to book.

Bertie continues to make himself at home. Just the best guy!

“I asked ChatGPT”- ok well I asked the mycelium and it said to plant more trees and to tell you to return to the forest

Please admire my son. This was yesterday which also happened to be the two week anniversary of Bertie coming home with us! I think he’s settling in nicely. Photo by my person.

Gotta get my annual viewing in this weekend! 🪩

‘An Altadena landscape designer prepares to reseed her devastated town in the aftermath of the 2025 wildfires.’ lareviewofbooks.org/article/alta...

🚨 New friend alert 🚨 Meet Bertie! He’s about 5 y/o, full of affection, playfulness, vocalizations + purrs. We lost our old cat a couple of years ago (RIP Kaz) + are now ready to welcome a new guy. He’s settled in so well over the past week; we’re so pleased!

Ewwww. Ai slop image.

It’s International Long Covid Awareness Day. One of the best things you can do to support people with Long Covid is wear a mask (ideally a respirator like an N95). Masks break chains of transmission. They prevent infection. The only way to avoid Long Covid is to avoid Covid!

I went to the March class and it so fun- first in-person exercise class since early 2020. Masked, windows open, air filter running. Safe + friendly!

This Nanaimo project already destroyed a rare Garry oak ecosystem during site clearing afaik. The nearby area is slated for similar dvlpmt potentially wiping out pockets of rare native species. Vegetation surveys aren’t done or req’d so we just continue to lose beautiful + essential ecosystems. 🫠

Happy international women’s day to everyone who supports intersectional feminism.

Working in a pandemic world is just listening to colleagues say “there must be something going around” on a weekly basis for years and trying to decide if you wanna remind them it’s covid or silently scream into the void again.

Another interesting talk! Looks like some good stuff for those of us on Vancouver Island. 🌱

This webinar looks great! I just registered. 🌱

As a cyclist + walker I support trails but the way this was carried out was destructive + dismissive. Local ecosystem experts offered ideas on minimizing damage once they saw preliminary work. Their suggestions were not taken. A number of us scrambled to save native bulbs over a rainy weekend. 😥

Found some nice things in my yard last weekend. Fighting the horrors by tending to growing things + making plans to grow more things (plant more native plants!).

#Ontario #wastewater graph updated with February 15 data - London, Peel, Toronto updated: wwater.ca/Ontario - Also updated: AB, BC, MB, NB, PEI, QC, SK, YT wwater.ca Source: health-infobase.canada.ca/wastewater/

I don't know if she's on here, but Michelle Tsai's legendary pigeon sweater pattern was released on Ravelry today! Exciting times for knitters 🧶, bird enthusiasts 🦆, and Jeopardy fans ❕- aka 95% of Bluesky www.ravelry.com/patterns/lib...

Mushrooms turn dead wood into food and medicine which is better than anything any tech start up has ever done

This seems like a beautiful project that could be duplicated in my neck of the woods here in Nanaimo…

Verified Tumbler Ridge fundraiser organized by Parent Advisory Council

Canadian COVID Forecast: Jan 31 - Feb 13, 2026 SEVERE: AB, MB, NB, PEI, SK VERY HIGH: CAN, North, NS, ON, QC HIGH: BC, NL MODERATE: none About 1 in 122 people in Canada are CURRENTLY infected.

Mychal Threets @mychal3ts.bsky.social Happy Black History Month

Help Bailey raise funds to get to Winnipeg for the Indigiqueer Art Program!

it is not shameful to wear a respirator. frankly, it should be far more shameful to not take simple steps to prevent needless infection to community members. is keeping each other safe not the point?

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