Valued visitors

For the past couple of weeks, Don and I have spent every spare moment cleaning up and tidying the outside of the house, barn, and shop.

This is our normal fall routine when our busy season is over and we can attend to neglected projects and chores, and hopefully complete them before the snow flies. But this year we had an unexpected motivation. We were expecting valued visitors.

These visitors were Dave Duffy and his wife Ilene. Dave, for those unfamiliar with him, is the founder and publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine, which I write for on a routine basis.

When I learned Dave and Ilene planned to be at the Sustainable Preparedness Expo in Spokane on September 21, I immediately invited them to our place for a visit.

They graciously accepted... and then the rush was on to get the place tidied up. You know what it's like when you're expecting people you want to impress.

I should first explain that Dave and Ilene are among the most laid-back easy-going people we've ever met. I know for a fact they wouldn't care less if the place was a mess.

But WE cared. And so we organized, tidied, and cleaned.

Since the Duffys were driving from Oregon all day Saturday to attend the Sunday expo, we agreed to have them over on Monday morning for brunch, a farm tour, and a nice relaxed visit.

The girls and I attended the Expo on Sunday for a few hours. We hung at the BWH booth, chatted with some of the visitors, reviewed the vendors, and listened to what speakers we could (acoustics were bad to the point of inaudible).

Nonetheless every speaker spoke to a full audience, sometimes standing room only.

Here's Dave and Ilene.

The Expo was packed. I took this photo during a brief break in the crowds.

This is the booth for the event organizers, centrally located and very classy. They even had a seating area with videos for tired patrons.

Then it was home to continue tidying and preparing for our guests this morning.

One of the things we wanted to do was serve a brunch consisting of as much home-grown food as possible since, of course, we couldn't feed them just any food. Not the Duffys! So this morning at dawn (which these days is around 6:45 am) I went into the garden and dug up some potatoes.

The Duffys had their two youngest sons with them, strapping young men, so we needed a lot of food. I filled the bowl to capacity with potatoes which I then diced, spiced, and baked.

We had fresh eggs and a fruit salad made of fruit we had either grown or canned from outside sources. The only store-bought item served was pork sausage. I even put a tablecloth on the kitchen table to hide some of the stains and scratches.

Well my goodness, we had the loveliest visit. These people are a host's dream guests -- interested in everything, easygoing, fun to talk with. Between tours of the garden, barn, bull pen, and house, we yakked nonstop for two or three hours.

Younger Daughter's parrot, Lihn, was a big hit. Here's Sammy Duffy holding her.

Dave and Ilene toured (one at a time, since it's so narrow) my canning closet, which Don remodeled from an unused bathroom. (Don't worry, I'll be giving a Virtual Tour of the canning closet shortly.)

One thing I found heartwarming: As I toured Ilene around the upstairs, she looked at some wedding photos of Don and I hanging on our bedroom wall. Turns out she and Dave have been married only five months shorter than Don and I, and we'll both be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversaries this upcoming year. And we both agreed that we are lucky, lucky women to have the men we do.

The Duffys departed amidst a flurry of well-wishes. I look forward to seeing them at future events.

If you've ever wondered about what magazine founders are really like, rest assured the Duffys are the Real Deal. Great folks.

Attending the Sustainable Preparedness Expo

On Sunday, the girls and I attended the third annual Sustainable Preparedness Expo in Spokane.

We got there in the early afternoon. On the way into the building, we noticed this snappy bumper sticker...

...which, we were forced to admit, held a lot of truth.

The first thing we looked for at the expo was the booth for our friends Paratus Familia. It was impressively thronged, so we just stopped to say hello before walking around.

I bumped into another friend -- in fact, the woman who made my bra holster (and yes, I was packing heat, now that I'm legal to do so in Washington) -- and together we attended a workshop called The Plan to Plant, given by a West Virginia agriculturalist who outlined what was necessary to grow ALL one's own food.

Despite the fact that the acoustics were absolutely horrific in the large and echo-y exhibit hall, this seminar was jam-packed. Here's a portion of the audience.

The large attendance at this, and every other, workshop underscored a major thing I notice whenever I attend one of these expos: people are HUNGRY for knowledge. They know something's wrong -- with our government, with the economy, with their vulnerability when it comes to empty grocery store shelves after any disruption -- and they want to learn more about how to help themselves.

And let me tell you, every aisle was packed, every booth was thronged. There were a number of booths where I wanted to get some information, but I couldn't do much more than take a business card or brochure because the booth operators were far too busy talking with others. I was glad to see it.

This is Dave Westbrook who runs a business called Country Living University, which teaches people how to start an information-based rural business.

I heard him speak last year and was so impressed with his workshop that I approached him about interviewing for a Backwoods Home Magazine article. He agreed, but our respective schedules wouldn't permit us to get together (he lives several hours away). We touched base again at this expo and, since I have the go-ahead from the magazine for the article, I hope to interview him shortly.

There was a third workshop I wanted to attend -- about putting sustainability into preparedness, which I think is an important component -- but the girls were absolutely dragging. The little party animals had been out until 11 pm the night before attending a birthday party for a friend and were practically asleep on their feet, so we left before the seminar.

I really, really like the trend of putting on preparedness expos. More and more people are waking up to the fact that our economy is not as stable and trouble-free as they've been led to believe. It encourages me to see people actively seeking information on how to help themselves.

Preparedness Expo

Tomorrow (Sunday, Sept 22) is the Spokane Sustainable Preparedness Expo.

The girls and I attended last year and it was very interesting. This year it's being held in (I think) a better, more accessible location (the fairgrounds instead of the downtown convention center), so parking will be easier.

It promises to be a lively event, with a number of seminars I plan to attend. The vendors also look like they present an excellent mix. Our friends from Paratus Familia will have a booth again, as they did last year.

Sale on Jar Boxes

Have you ever heard of Jar Boxes?

In May 2012 when I attended the Self Reliance Expo in Colorado Springs, I met a lovely woman named Jeri McFarlane who invented something called a Jar Box.

Jar Boxes are designed for holding full canning jars. As an avid canner, I was immediately captivated by these gizmos and thought they were a wonderful concept.

The reason behind this invention, Jeri told me at the Expo, was a moment of intense frustration when she was carrying a full box of jars in a tight space... and tripped. The jars fell, the glass exploded into shrapnel, and the contents (mixed with glass shards) oozed everywhere. Arrrrggghh! So she invented Jar Boxes so this wouldn't happen again. The best revenge is success!

I've seen these things demonstrated, and let me tell you they're impressive. A Jar Box will hold a dozen jars, and you can flip them around, shake them from side to side, stack them practically to the ceiling, and the contents remain undamaged and in perfect condition. You can even trip, fall, and drop the whole thing... no problem.

Apparently people are discovering they're handy for endless other uses as well, such as for storing commercial jars or even for separating craft supplies. A nice bonus is that they're totally American-made.

The first Jar Boxes were for quart jars, but Jeri emailed to let me know there are now boxes for pint jars available. There was a two-day sale for these pint boxes, but unfortunately I didn't get to the email on time, so there's only one day left.

So... if you're interested in giving these Jar Boxes a try, the sale may be an excellent opportunity. The website is here, and it's got all sorts of info (FAQs, ordering info, etc.).

It's not doomsday, it's peace of mind

Here is a cool beans interview and article in the New York Times on preparedness expos, and specifically those sponsored by the Red Shed Media Group.

Red Shed is the group who sponsored the Colorado Springs Expo I attended last May, and what Ron Douglas (of Red Shed) discusses in the article is absolutely true: these self-reliance expos aren't all about tinfoil conspiracy theories or doomsday end-of-the-world scenarios; they're about sensible preparedness and increased self-sufficiency. As a result, the overall atmosphere at the expo I attended was positive, upbeat, and full of families with children who genuinely wanted to know how best to batten down hatches.

In the interview, Ron Douglas talked about "emergency preparedness, sustainable living and financial security — what he called the three pillars of self-reliance." Personally I would list supplies, knowledge, and community as the three pillars, but it doesn't matter -- they're ALL important. And what I like about Red Shed is they strive to make prepping both mainstream and apolitical. "It's not doomsday," said Ron Douglas. "We just want to teach people the lifestyle." To this end, they avoid vendors and speakers whose sole purpose is pushing anti-government conspiracy-theory tinfoil hat stuff. I say, more power to 'em.

The article quotes Scott Valencia (also with Red Shed) who instructs vendors "to avoid fear tactics and improve their displays while also making sure that the venues were welcoming and well lighted with wide aisles — the better to fit baby strollers and families. There was to be no more doom and gloom. 'We lost some vendors when we told them that we weren’t doing it anymore — and Ron worried about that,' Valencia says. 'But I said, ‘You’re going to pick up new ones.’ And we have.”

This would account for the optimistic, cheerful atmosphere I personally saw at the Colorado Springs expo. Believe me, people are hungry to learn about preparedness -- they simply and understandably don't want to be associated with radical conspiracy-laden tinfoil hat wearers.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, I'm astounded that anyone can still claim that being prepared is a bad idea. That's why I like what Red Shed Media is doing: putting on expos where people can connect with vendors and companies suitable for common-sense supplies and advice. It's a niche that desperately needed filling, and Red Shed does it admirably.

Go read the article. It's fascinating.

Preparedness Expo in Spokane

First and foremost, I must apologize for how little I've been posting in the last few days. We're in the final stretch of the busy season for our woodcraft business (one more week!!!) and we're stumbling around in a dim haze of work, work, work.

Poor Don is especially tired since so much of the shop work falls on him. Next Tuesday (Oct. 9) is our last ship date to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival (we're booth #400 -- if you're in the area, go say hello to our booth managers!) and after that we can take a deep breath and assume the identity of humans again, rather than zombies.

That said, yesterday the girls and I left poor Don in the shop while we played hooky for the afternoon and went to an event we'd been looking forward to for weeks: The Sustainable Expo in Spokane.

It was held downtown in the Convention Center, a modern, imposing-looking structure.

I'd never been in the Convention Center before. It was beautiful, with great views out its glass sides toward downtown.

Since we had to work in the morning, we didn't arrive until well after noon.

Besides our friends from Paratus Familia (blurry photo, sorry)...

...I was pleased to see two vendors I made friends with while attending the Self-Reliance Expo in Colorado last May.

One vendor was Pantry Paratus, run by Wilson and Chaya. Their booth is like a general store for self-sufficiency, and was certainly one of the most popular booths at the event. They carry a zillion products to help people take steps toward food independence, including lots of canning items.

The other is Jeri McFarlane, who invented something called the Jar Box for storing canning jars. I am SO impressed with this woman's entrepreneurship and was delighted to learn she'd sold out of her products and her husband had to take a fast run home for more. How cool is that?

There were quite a number of breakout sessions that were very well-attended. This woman was giving a demonstration on canning, which I thought was very brave (considering she has to supply a heat source, canners, etc. -- plus her demo could only last less than an hour).

The one main stage presentation I particularly wanted to hear was this fellow Dave Westbrook, who runs Country Living University.

His topic was "How I Built a Successful Business From My Country Home - and How You Can Too" which, as you can imagine, was of particular interest to me. Evidently it was of interest to many others as well, because the audience was packed.

Mr. Westbrook's talk was unfortunately shorter than it otherwise might be (all speakers and demonstrators were on a strict time limit), but his principles were so sound that I caught up with him afterward and exchanged contact info. I hope to do an interview with him in the future.

(By the way, all the main stage speakers were filmed.)

I had the happy fortune to meet several blog readers. Some were shy (they laughingly gave me permission to photograph the back of their heads)...

...and others were less so. (I did warn everyone that these photos would go up on the blog!) I adore putting names to faces, so meeting these groups of folks was a treat indeed.

It was very late afternoon by the time we left. I had to get home and help Don get more work done. But what a terrific afternoon meeting so many like-minded people!

I want your business questions!

Dear readers, I would like your input.

As you may or may not know, I write a monthly article for The Crafts Report Magazine. My specialty at this publication is “Beginning Business,” specifically home-based businesses. I’ve been writing for them for four years and enjoying it very much. But, well, I’m running a little dry about what kinds of information readers want to see.

Now fast-forward (or backward, as the case may be) to last May. Some time before my opportunity to join “The Women of Prepping” panel at the Self-Reliance Expo in Colorado Springs, the Expo producers sought questions from the public for the panel speakers which addressed our areas of specialty, in my case homeschooling and home businesses. Out of the questions submitted, six were selected for each speaker.

It occurred to me that I could ask you lovely folks to do something similar. What kinds of questions do you have about starting a home-based business? What topics would you like to see addressed in this magazine? Please let me know and I’ll compile them into a list for my editor, and he can decide which topics should be expanded into articles.

Thank you for any help!

Blog talk radio interview

When I was at the Self Reliance Expo in Colorado Springs last May, I had the pleasure of participating in a blog talk radio interview with Wilson of Pantry Paratus.

They just posted the podcast for this interview here. My computer is being persnickety this morning and won't let me listen to it, so hopefully I haven't made too big a fool of myself during the interview.

Derecho storm -- a taste of grid-down

Doubtless there are many of you who were (or still are) impacted by the massive super-dericho storm that slammed across the eastern United States this past week.

When I was at the Preparedness Expo in Colorado Springs last May, I met a delightful couple named Wilson and Chaya who run a spiffy online store called Pantry Paratus (really cool store, go check it out). Wilson happened to be in Washington D.C. on business when the storm hit. He sent pictures of some results:

I am traveling through DC at the moment (jealous?), and last night we had some kind of storm. You can see the tree down.

Cable (not that I care about TV, but internet and phone) was down, power in some areas and traffic signals were out for about 3/4's of the day. We are due to get another storm tonight, so the panic begins.

I attached a few photos so for your analysis: long lines at the pump...

...empty shelves for water, etc.

But my favorite is the other Exxon gas station (and you can read the sign for Washington in the distance) is the one that I like the best.

Why? Because that particular gas station is out of gas, and you will never guess who the neighbor is behind the chain link fence . . . wait for it . . . The Dept. of Energy. May be it is just my twisted sense of humor, but I thought that you would find that interesting too.

Wilson's observations were echoed and confirmed by endless news articles over the past week. And of course if you're one of the millions impacted by this storm, you know what he's talking about first-hand.

If there's a silver lining to the massive disruption, impact, and tragedy this storm jas wreaked, it's that the need for preparedness was underscored and illustrated in graphic terms. There are various articles (such as here) which highlight this.

There was also a letter on SurvivalBlog yesterday from another person in the trenches. Usually I provide a hyperlink directly to the article, but for some reason it wouldn't pull the specific permalink up, so here's the text in full (with credits to the July 4 edition of SurvivalBlog):

Letter Re: Lessons From The Derecho Storms
Mr. Rawles:

Today is Wednesday, July 4, 2012. I am writing from a small town in central West Virginia and I would like to share some thoughts, observations, and lessons from the recent Derecho windstorm experienced by the mid-west and east of our great country. As I sit here, we are in day six of total power outage caused by a freak storm that came with little or no warning. Power may not be on for another four days.

I have been a long time reader of your blog and have lots of lists and plans but sadly my preparations for hardship were found lacking. We here in West Virginia are used to disasters such as floods but the mountains tend to shield us from tornados and high winds are rare. Within an hour span power was knocked out to 50 of the 55 counties in the state. The towers of major transmission lines were twisted wrecks. And then the “fun” began. This incident has galvanized me and my neighbors. My observations will be preaching to the choir in this forum but here goes:
· Gasoline was gone within 24 hours. Lines were just like the 1970s fuel embargo.
· Ice became the chief commodity and was in short supply or no supply.
· Water was out for most people at least for the first two days.
· Most big box stores and gas stations were up on generator power by day three.
· A new shipment of 250 generators was sold in a few hours.
· Temperatures in the high 90s added another layer of difficulty.

Most people kept their cool and neighbors helped each other. Many are much better neighbors now. With all traffic lights out it was hectic but for the most part people were safe and courteous. We used to have a tourism commercial about West Virginia that showed four cars pulling up simultaneously to a four way stop and each driver motioning for the other to go first. The tag line was “Traffic jam, West Virginia style”. I am happy to say that was true in most cases.

The holes in my preparedness were:
· I needed good high quality kerosene lanterns with reflectors and extra wicks. The cheap Chinese red ones at Wal-Mart are toys.
· Batteries, Batteries, Batteries.
· Propane, Propane, Propane.
· I needed a good tough portable radio with multiple charging sources. I was reduced to listening to a car radio and risking battery and gas.
· I should have had several barrels of water on hand
· A couple of deep cycle marine batteries would have been nice.
· A generator and fuel reserve have moved from the nice-to-have list to the have-to-have list.

The local radio station stepped up to the plate and suspended normal programming and went live 24 hours on generator with news and call-ins giving information. The unpreparedness of some of the call-ins was instructive. On the second day several were screaming for FEMA to arrive. Well, in our recent primary election, Democratic voters supported a prison inmate in Texas with over 40% of the vote, so I do not expect FEMA anytime soon. It is obvious to me now that there will be a die-off in any major disaster. Those on medical oxygen or diabetic will not survive. There is also an element of just plain stupid out there. One lady drove 30 miles to a neighboring town to get water for her children when simply listening to the radio would have directed her to a fire station two blocks from her house.

Mr. Rawles, I know your feelings about areas anywhere east of the Mississippi but I must say that, in general, West Virginia enjoys some advantages as a retreat. Property prices and taxes are low, low population density, low crime rate, no urban problems, minimal gun laws, and a conservative and religious population. For the most part, it is “Almost Heaven”.

I have turned a corner on preparedness and I hope my neighbors have too. Bottom line: We must have three days of supplies at a minimum and build from there. Thanks for your blog.

Wavetalker in West Virginia


Just FYI, folks...