For Halley's Mommy.. another of my favourite places.

I just had a very nice comment from a lady called Halley's Mommey about the green Chinese cabinet that I showed you here .
So I thought I'd tell you a bit more about where it came from.

It comes from a Market called Goat's on the Roof in a tiny place called Coombs just north of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island..
It's an amazing venue that started as a fruit stall on the side of the road in the '70's but which over the years has grown into a huge business selling everything from: 

specialist hard to find imported foodstuffs.. 

   

to Chinese antiques, and all points in between.






 
They have quite simply the most fantastic deli and fresh bakery/patisserie section you have ever seen.. selling smoked salmon, artisan cheeses, 30 different types of freshly made bread, great pies and cakes.. and a dessert called a 'Bee Sting' which is like a fat round chocolate eclaire but with honey flavoured fondant icing and caramel cream inside.
Seriously... my husband would drive the 50 mins to get there from our house JUST for one of those.

There's a whole building dedicated to fresh Island produced fruit and Veg.

A fabulous Garden centre which has plants, pots, fencing and furniture that's quite different from the normal same old, same old that you see everywhere.

We bought a great bluey/green glazed ball for the garden this summer, which they had in all sorts of different sizes and colours.


There's a surf/skate shop with equipment and clothing, a gift shop with hundreds of inexpensive ideas for presents, a dedicated ice cream parlour with about 50 different flavours, a clothing boutique... and next year they'll be launching an Italian restaurant with a huge terrace at the back that looks down into the ravine where the goats hang out in the winter.

On top of all this.. in the area surrounding GOTR other businesses have sprung up to take advantage of the HUGE numbers of customers who flock to the area daily. There are probably 50 or 60 other businesses there now.
There is Fresh fudge making, art galleries, book shops, antique shops, clothing stores, eateries, gift shops... even this summer we noticed.. Helicopter rides !!
There was NOTHING here before. Coombs isn't a town with a high street and shops, this was just the road from Nanaimo north with a petrol station and a post office/general store, and since they built the main Island Highway it's now a road to nowhere.

So if any of you ever holiday on Vancouver Island it is well worth a visit.. and just to let you know all the photos above are courtesy of their website.
 
OK... so to get back to the specific piece of Chinese furniture in question..
Here it is again..

I photographed it last year KNOWING that I loved it and would want it at some point.. but unfortunately when we went home and measured the space for it, it was just a bit too big.
It was the colour I really fell for and I'm not usually a lover of green, but this was just too gorgeous.
We've been back several times and considered different pieces for different spaces, just to try and buy something.. ANYTHING, that colour...

I have a spot on my landing, that I thought might accomodate something.
For for ages was home to the little cabinet that I now plan to paint the same green as 'lovely Chinese cabinet'.
But I had to put that into the mauve bedroom because we recently we've had some 'built ins' installed in our Living Room and I had to find a new home for THIS.

I did say Nikki found her way into lots of my photos.

It's an antique wicker and bamboo cupboard that I 'borrowed' from my sister many many years ago.. but shussh ! I'm sure she won't remember.
So the soon to be painted cupboard got moved into the mauve bedroom and I'm now rather liking THIS piece here and THAT piece there.. so still no place for a Chinese cabinet. :o( .

Then a couple of months ago when hubby and I were having a day out at Coombs we saw this little fellow.

It's smaller than the original piece but that was a good thing because we had this tricky spot in the Dining Room that was causing us trouble.

I know it's not the original much loved green, but it's also a gorgeous saturated colour, and I have just chosen the paint for the Dining Room and its a very pale grey/blue from Benjamin Moore called Harbour Haze... so this is perfect.

It works because its only 11 inches deep but still provides just a touch of extra storage, without encroaching onto the dining space. [The piece I had here before was too deep and made it awkward for the person sitting in the closest chair to sit down.]

Once the new green cupboard and the dining room are painted I'll show you the results.. but in the meantime maybe Halley's Mommy will be able to find something like it near to where she lives.

I hope so. :o)

Jo xx