Concurrent events

With quite a bit still to do towards my Fair Trade event on Sunday, I've spent the day to-ing and fro-ing and getting things together. We're hoping to be outside, but the forecast is offering, frustratingly, a "chance of showers". So that could go either way. Ho hum.

We have loads of fair trade chocolate and ice cream to give away, and even, slightly unexpectedly, FT soap samples. We've got great craft activities lined up, and much else besides. It's all looking good, though what remains to be seen is how many volunteers will show up to help on the day - my other cause for mild anxiety.

Ah, event planning - fun but somewhat stressful, as I'm sure one or two friends back in Linton will agree. Good luck, Linton Bookfest team, as your great event gets rolling - and if you have the odd spare minute, keep me posted!

Not sew cosy

I was going to make egg-cosies with the sewing class today, but they weren't very taken with that concept (not sure most of them knew what a boiled egg was, never mind why you'd want to keep it cosy) and most of them chose to make little egg-cosy-sized bags instead. Fine by me. Some planned to give them to their moms for Mother's Day, which over here is the weekend after next.

I guess winter is now officially behind us: I took the kids to a favourite cafe and the air-conditioning was up so high that we were half-frozen before we'd finished our cookies. It's strange, this desire to bake customers through the winter and freeze them through the summer, and even through the milder spring. I wonder why they feel they have to do it? Is there no "temperate" setting on the thermostat?

Up before the Board

I wonder how nervous the Party leaders get ahead of those TV election debates? I wonder if I was more or less anxious than that this evening, getting up to address the Town Board to try and convince them they want to live in a Fair Trade Town?

The presentation went ok I think. Then one of the Board Members gave me quite a grilling (as it's his prerogative to do, I guess) and I don't know that I responded as strongly as I could have... to be honest I'm not entirely sure now what I said. But I think they're going to bring the resolution to the next meeting in two weeks time, and then we'll find out if we've pulled this thing off.

We gave them fair trade chocolate and brownies to sample while I made my speech. They were donated by a couple of local businesses who support our campaign. The most relaxed moment of the proceedings came at the end when the Supervisor proposed a motion to share the remaining brownies with the public attending the meeting - a proposal that was very well received.

Life mirrors art

More of the same today as yesterday. I'm busy putting together displays about fair trade and where chocolate comes from, and preparing craft activities for kids and generally having fun doing what I like doing, so that's all good.

The Man and I have lately been watching the last series of the West Wing, filmed in 2005-6. It's all about a presidential election campaign between a Latino Democrat and a maverick older Republican. It near enough spookily foretells the whole story we watched in real life in the lead up to the 2008 election. Except that in the fictionalised version the downfall of the Republican is caused by a nuclear accident, not by Sarah Palin...

The Comment box is standing by.

Those answers in full

I've had a home-based day today. Next weekend I'm running a fairly big event (as nothing to the mega event about to kick off in Linton, of course) and I still have much to prepare, not to mention endless emails to send.

I wasn't missing any fine weather by staying indoors. It has been raining on and off most of the day. Mind you, up in Vermont and the Adirondacks they're expecting up to 12" of snow, so I'm not complaining.

It occurs to me that we never gave you the answers to the Girl's riddles of several weeks ago. They are:

It was daytime.

A bee flew in.

This is my favourite code (after every colour you put a word from the message).

I hope this satisfies all of you who've been losing sleep for the last month trying to figure them out.

Car pool

The Man writes... while Albaniana and the Girl were doing their Fair Tradey thing yesterday, I took the Boy to the Auto Museum in Saratoga Springs.

Now I'm the last person in the world to review a car museum, but even I could see that the main exhibit - a collection of 1950s and 60s Corvettes - is pretty cool. There are also fine exhibits about the history of cars in New York State. The Boy enjoyed it all but inevitably spent most time in the computer area - designing his own sports car and driving around Daytona in a simulator.

The museum is housed in a stylish building - orginally a Bottling Plant - in Saratoga Spa State Park, and the walls still bear information about the alleged health benefits of the local water.

Opposite there was a line of more prosaic modern cars, as people queued to fill large plastic containers from spiggots fed by the natural springs. It was a hot day and I gulped down a handful from the one free spiggot before realising that unlike the others it was marked Mineral Water. "Be careful that's strong water!" someone remarked, a moment too late!

Spa day

The Girl and I spent the morning in Ballston Spa at the second annual Fair Trade conference there. It was an excellent chance to catch up with FT friends, meet new people, share ideas and generally get re-energised. A couple of the Girl's friends also attended and took part in some "For kids, by kids" FT activities. These included being filmed for a short movie, which may be aired at the next Ballston Spa Film Festival.

This evening we've been enjoying the company of our friends from Rhode Island, here on a whistle-stop visit, but it's good to see them again after more than a year.