Jun
26
2009
Protein fibres can be dyed with many different natural materials. I didn’t have any Goldenrod kicking around, but I did have a large package of tumeric. Dying with tumeric is cheap and doesn’t require a mordant. And the colour. The colour is fabulous. So much better than I expected. The project is a secret one, at least, until tomorrow…
Below you can see a photo of the bale of straw I purchased in Cloverdale to use as mulch for my beloved potato crop. Perhaps a bit late for the 100lb yield, but no matter, the little guys are now all nicely covered up.

Our neighbours have converted two front yards into organic gardens. As thanks for getting them some straw, they gave us some of their crop. We have been gorging on yummy kale and garlic. Here’s a little stirfry we had for dinner:
Jun
03
2009
On Morgan’s advice, this one has no knoll.
Jun
02
2009
Bean turned four and with that a celebratory meal at Whitespot (her choice) and a crazee party with loads of screaming, balloon popping kiddies. Wish we cold invite more, but our home and our eardrums were not capable of more! Here are some of the party favours I made (but not all, because once again I managed to not photograph all of the them):



May
26
2009
Check out Artstarts with your kids on Saturday!
Saltybean is vending this Sunday at Portobello West!

Tags: jenhong, portabellowest, saltybean
May
12
2009
The 14th annual Stone Soup Festival at Britannia Community Centre was a great event, perhaps second only to The Vancouver Folk Festival. The marching band, the puppeteers, my fellow vendors, oodles of people traipsing by with baked good and green goodness to plant in their gardens, the free vegan soup delivered by lovely people in compostable bowls and, my personal favourite, the volunteers who watched booths while the vendors went to the washroom made the day a lot of fun.
I was thrilled to see friends, neighbours, people who have creatures we’ve made, and my mom, who comes to every event I have. This was the first event I did without Morgan and I missed her company, technical ability with tents, and her eye for setting up the table. Chris and Lena were troopers helping with set up and take down.Favourite shirts:”Alarm clocks kill dreams - the Work Less Party”"Decisions are made by those who show up - Vote May 12″”No Olympics on Stolen Native Land” Now, we’re just gearing up to see the Dead play at the Gorge this weekend!
Tags: festival, jenhong, saltybean, stonesoup, stonesoupfestival, vending
May
08
2009
Wanting to refresh your latrine? Needing a little throne room update? Tired of looking at the same-old while relieving yourself? Looking to pimp your tp? Grassy Knoll is the latest in toilet paper decoration. 

Hand sewn Grassy Knoll complete with house and a fresh roll. Made from bits of this and that, all once something else (mostly old sweaters). See in person at the Stone Soup Festival.
Inspired by a conversation with friends about what our grannies used to make to decorate their bathrooms. My mama’s mama knit & crocheted poodles and dollies, which, oddly, were the same designs she used to make tea pot cozies.