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.

Random pix

Some random pix from the last few weeks.

Early June: super green fields.

Bumper sticker.

Extremely apt cartoon.

Quail on a fence post.

Morning sunshine on eggs and seedlings...

...and a cup of coffee.

Swallow. I think it's a barn swallow.

Rainbow through the trees.

Morning sunshine through the Virginia creeper leaves.

Younger Daughter returning from a walk.

Petunia, one week old.

Lydia being lazy.

More quail.

Eastern kingbird.

Dusty at two weeks of age.

A chickaree under our eaves.

Early morning in the barnyard.

Polly and Petunia. Petunia is about two weeks old here.

I think this might be a female Evening Grosbeak, but I'm not sure.

Evening traffic jam, country style: cows in the driveway.

Matilda with four calves (none of them hers).

Caught in a sunbeam. Can't... move...

Calves and tires. Symbols of our farm.

Zzzzzz.....

Thirsty chickens.

This weird insect landed on my glasses. Okay all you entomologists, what kind is it?

This weird insect landed on my shirt. Okay all you entomologists, what kind is it?

(It's about 1.25 inches in length.)

"You talkin' to ME?"

Cedar waxwing. A very handsome species.

A novel method of evangelizing.

Casual Friday.

Major in the yard.

This takes us through the first day of summer. I'll post more random pix later.

Taxes and random pix

I've been brain dead this week, since it's been the final push in getting our taxes done. Our appointment with the bookkeeper was actually last Wednesday, but since it was the same date as a massive article I had due for a magazine, I switched it to today instead.

So last night -- finally -- I got everything done. Phew! I do our taxes by hand (not on the computer) which amuses our tax preparer to no end. At the same time, she admires the fact that I have every possible scrap of paper or receipt or other documentation to back up every nickle we make or spend.

So, since I've been too muddled to post much on the blog, I'll just drop a few random pix from the last couple weeks instead. The weather hasn't been conducive to pretty pictures, so I don't have many.

An oil lamp on the windowsill on a gray day.

On the way to our county seat, we pass this broad marshy area. Depending on the time of year, it might be flooded, or marshy, or bone dry except for the deep-water channels. Right now it's dry, and if you look verrrry closely you'll see a whole bunch of deer grazing. Sometimes there are several hundred deer on this stretch.

They are certainly very well camouflaged!

A weird moment in the sky on a cloudy afternoon. The roundish dot in the dark band looks like it should be the sun, but in fact it's a dull rainbow reflection. The sun was in the bright spot below.

Amusing bumper sticker.

Tracks from our barn cat in fresh early-morning snow.

Waiting for the morning feeding.

Remember when Thor was born? This is what he looks like now. He's very sweet.

Sigh. I must accept reality. That's a long gray hair you see tangled in the hairbrush. I can't complain; at age fifty I'm still mostly brown...

Chicken condo?

The chickens discovered some feed that got spilled in the driveway.

Don's been cleaning his shop of some accumulated sawdust and waste, so he started a burn pile. It was a good day for it, with no wind. In Idaho during the winter, we don't need a burn permit to burn wood waste.

However someone saw the smoke, concluded it was a structure fire, and called the fire department!

The truck didn't even bother coming up our driveway. They could clearly see from the road that it was an attended burn pile, so they just turned around and drove off.

By nightfall, the fire gave a pretty glow. Pity we didn't have any marshmallows.

Younger Daughter's Bible, still open on the couch after her day's schoolwork was done.

The sky sure didn't look like it was going to do much last night as far as a sunset, but it kept getting prettier and prettier.