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Victoria has plenty to offer both visitors and residents; from gardens, beaches and parks to free concerts, museums and festivals. We’ve written a number of posts singing Victoria’s praises, and this is another one. Today we went to the Oldfield Farms Pumpkin Festival for the third straight year. Four years ago we went to the one at Galen farms, which was also very nice, but we seem to like the Oldfield festival more. The location itself is worth writing about. About halfway up Old W. Saanich road between W. Saanich and Keating, it is situated on a plain that is dotted with evergreens and elms, maples and other colourful trees that make it splendidly beautiful on a bright autumn day. The pumpkin fest starts with a tractor pulled carriage ride through the farm, up and down rows of kiwis, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and of course pumpkins. The ride ends in front of the cedar maze which is exactly where the kids went, giggling with excitement. There are a number of farm related games, mazes, attractions and booths, all of which we hit along the way until we found ourselves in front of a counter offering freshly baked pies. There were raspberry rhubarb, peach strawberry and good ol’ pumpkin pie with fresh whip cream. We found a spot at the picnic table under the big tent and tucked into our pies while listening to the band. Before the pies could be digested the kids were up in front on the stage dancing to the band (playing the Stones’ Brown Sugar) with Tickles the the clown. We took a pass on the haunted house as the kids found out the year before that it’s a really scary haunted house, with hands coming out of the dark to grab your ankles – boo! After face painting it was time to pick out a few perfectly shaped pumpkins to take home and carve up. Ther…

I guess it’s the hot summer weather, but recently we have received serveral requests to do power washing of various things like deck furniture, stone work, walkways, driveways. We were even asked to power wash soemone’s roof but I said I didn’t think that was a very good idea. It’s actually quite satisfying to see just how clean we can get something that is so dirty or moldy or both. Here are a couple of before and after shots of some hard wood deck chairs that had about 2mm of weather baked dirt and mold on them. Prior to the cleaning (power washing) you would not want to sit on them. Afterwards they looked almost new. With a little sanding and some stain they would look better than new. And, absolutely no toxins or harsh chemical cleaners are used. In fact in this case we only used water. That’s all that was necessary. Please contact us if you would like a free estimate on power washing your things clean. It really works. (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();…

We went exploring recently – always a fun and interesting thing to do. We ended up down at fisherman’s wharf. As we were getting out of the car the scent of deep fried haddock wafted over the bridge and suddenly we all got very hungry. After a short wait in line we got our pager (yeah it was that busy) and took the opportunity to tour the neighborhood houseboats. Some pretty interesting and well-decorated houses floating around down there. This one is the home of Fortune Teller Bella Sera. The pager paged and back to Barb’s Place we scurried to get our four 1-piece dinners; 1 piece of haddock, fries and coleslaw. We huddled into a warm corner of the tent out of the wind and tucked into our dinners. The batter was just light enough to keep the fish fresh and warm – not thick as an orange peel like you get at some places. Even the coleslaw was good which was completely unexpected. N ate all his coleslaw first. I?ve never known a kid that likes salad (any kind of salad) as much as he does. Hence all the lettuce we planted. In our travels around the houseboat community we came across this, neatly pasted to the inside of a houseboat window. The owner thought it important enough to use their tourist attraction to share this message, so I feel obliged to do what I can to help spread it. It’s called “A Village of 100 People”. I don?t know how accurate it is but it was just one more in a day of reminders, of how blessed and fortunate we all are. So I think I?ll have a good sleep, wake up tomorrow and do what I can to pay it back/forward/onward. There are many good things about Victoria BC. We seem to discover a new one every week. What have you discovered recently? Please share your story by clicking the “Add new comment” button below.…

We have been getting a number of inquires recently via our page on Facebook thanks to our small, but active, group of fans. As a token of our appreciation, from now until December 31, we are offering all existing and new Facebook fans your choice of either: 25% our Cleaning Naturally services a free bottle of wine wine with your personal chef booking If you are not already a Facebook fan you can become a fan by going to our Facebook page and clicking on the “Become a Fan” button. We look forward to the opportunity to serve you.…

Cruise Ship Specials You want to see the highlights of Victoria, but you don’t have much time and you’re not sure where to go.? No worries. We develop custom tour packages for Cruise Ship passengers based on your preferences. Choose up to 5 of the many tourist attractions available and we will create your custom 3-5 hour tour: Butchart Gardens Craigdarroch Castle IMax Theatre Royal BC Museum Legislative Buildings The Fairmont Empress Hotel Pacific Undersea Gardens Fishman’s Wharf Maritime Museum the shops on Government Street Something you would like to see that’s not on the list – just let us know and we’ll make it happen. Itinerary Pick up at your cruise ship. Start your custom tour based on the destinations you choose. Return to your hotel or cruise ship. Butchart Gardens Tour The Butchart Gardens is one of the world’s premier floral show gardens. Jennie Butchart began to shape this magnificent landscape in 1904. She established, in the style of the grand estates of the period, several distinct gardens to evoke a range of aesthetic experiences. Through successive generations of the Butchart family, The Gardens has retained much of its original design, and continues the Victorian tradition of seasonally changing the outstanding floral displays. Itinerary Pick up at your Victoria area hotel or cruise ship. Scenic drive to Butchart Gardens along the beautiful winding West Saanich road stopping to view local artisans work and organic baked goods. Or we can take the scenic marine drive along the coast with the Olympic Mountains perched majestically in the distance. Spend the day at Butchart Gardens. Enjoy a gourmet picnic lunch (optional $20/person) on the sprawling lawn of rose garden or in the shade of the courty…

We take the work out of eating well! Your personal chef will work with you to plan your menu, then shop, cook and clean up afterwards. We provide delectable dishes to you and your family, using only the finest organic* ingredients ? freeing you to tend to your other priorities. Your personal chef arrives at your door with the groceries required for the recipes you have chosen from our menu. Once your personal chef has finished filling your house with tempting aromas, the food you ordered is packaged, labeled and refrigerated or frozen to your specifications, and ready to go whenever you are. Simply slip a pre-made dish into the oven to bake or re-heat, et voila! Let?s Get Started! Select one of our service packages, or have us create a custom package for you. We offer a free telephone assessment, followed by an in-home consultation, during which your personal chef will meet with your family, take note of any food preferences, allergies or dietary requirements you may have, and assess your kitchen appliances, cookware and facilities. Introductory Offer For the month of June 2009 you will receive a FREE bottle of wine when you book one of our Personal Chef services. Contact us today for more information or a free consultation.…

On April 26th our family of four will run the Times Colonist 10K in beautiful Victoria BC. Actual runners will be myself, my husband and our 8-year old daughter. Our 4-year old son will be enjoying the race from the comfort of the jogging stroller, which we will take turns pushing. Kudos to Charriot for making a sturdy, lightweight stroller. We have definitely gotten our money’s worth. We have rigged up the stroller with a special pocket for the Blackberry which will be used to livestream the entire event. Yesterday we tested the video equipment we will use to livestream our run by driving the course in the car and streaming to our Qik account. It worked, but wasn’t as clear as we would have liked. We’re studying both the Blackberry and Qik.com websites to see if there’s anything we can do to optimize the video quality. If you have any advice please leave a comment below. Next we need to test the equipment on the jogging stroller to make sure it doesn’t vibrate too much and get the right line of site. The course is all road so it should be fine. The main reason for broadcasting the race is so family and friends in Japan and Ontario can see it live. I know there are many runners that would love to come to Victoria to participate in the race but for obvious reasons weren’t able to make it. We hope to enable them to at least see the course and the race and we would love to get them over here next year. If you are thinking of coming to Victoria for the TC10K, or any other race, marathon or triathlon, please contact us, we will be happy to help make arrangements.…

The Times Colonist (TC) 10K is coming up on April 26th. You can register here. A little over two years ago I decided on a whim to register for the TC 10K. I wasn’t in particulary good or bad shape. But I had never been a runner and hadn’t run more than about 100 metres. At the time I had no idea what effect that decision would have on the rest of my life (up to this point anyway). I joined a 10K clinic at the Running Room and started running, sloowwly. To my surpirse I soon discovered that I quite enjoyed running. After 12-weeks of training, the day finally came, and I ran my first 10K. Crossing the finish line I thought I was going to throw-up, but I felt great. I did it! I ran a couple more 5K and 8K races that year. I had caught the bug. The following year my husband joined me for the TC 10K. And we ran the 1.5K with our daughter. This year is going to be a family affair. Me, my husband and our 8-year old daughter are all registered for the TC 10K. And we’ll be pushing our 4-year old in the jogging stroller. We are also going to attempt to broadcast the entire run live to the Internet via our mobile phone at http://qik.com/victoriaconcierge Tune in on race day to see it live. In addition to enjoying my new passion for running, I am very fortunate to have the ability to integrate my passion with my business. Victoria Concierge has put together a package to help runners of all types enjoy their passion by leaving the details to us. Choose from a numer of pre-set packages including; race registration, transportation, accomodations, meals and side events. Or contact us and we’ll develop a custom package designed to suit your needs. If you’d like to come to Victoria to join the TC 10K or any one of a host of races, contact us and we’ll take care of all the details so you can focu…

If you run a Concierge business you will be interested in this. I recently tried doing some local search marketing using insights for local search from my interactive agency and am pretty happy with the results. Try doing a search for “concierge” Victoria BC…

Hike Mt. Finlayson Get your heart pumping and take in some breathtaking views. See the stunning panorama of Victoria from Saanich inlet to the Olympic Mountains to downtown Victoria from atop Mt. Finlayson. Itinerary: Pick up at your Victoria area hotel or crusie ship Drive to base of Mt. Finlayson (Goldstream Park) Hike Mt. Finlayson. Relax at the top with snacks and refreshments. Take in the stunning views. Hike back down to Goldstream Park or walk out the back way – less strenuous. Optional: walk around Goldstream Park and the ranger station. Return to your hotel or cruise ship. What’s Included: Transportation to and from Mt. Finlayson. Bottled water and energy bars for the climb. An online gallery of digital photos shot during the hike. Contact us for details or to book your tour. Around town Victoria tour See all that Victoria has to offer. Starting from your Victoria hotel or cruise ship, we’ll tour downtown Victoria including The Empress Hotel, the Legislature, Beacon Hill Park, and the shops on Government St. As we walk through town I’ll tell you about its history and architecture. No visit to Victoria is complete without seeing the Empress Hotel. Then we’ll hop a water taxi and take a trip around the inner harbour. Itinerary: Stroll through Beacon Hill Park Visit the Empress Hotel Tour the Legislature Stroll the shops of Government Street Finish with an optinoal water taxi around inner harbour What’s Included: Tour guide services All transportation costs – we use a private vehicle and the water taxi. A special memento of your stay in Victoria. What’s Extra: Food and beverages at the Empress Hotel (if applicable) Any shopping you decide to do along Government Street Contact us for details or to book your to…