Experiments with Rust, Veggies and Herbs

I mentioned the other day that I was going to experiment with the lovely powders Norman saved up for me.

First of all I took a piece of white cotton and stretched it over one of my wooden frames and secured it with silk pins. I then sprinked, very gently, some of the different powders onto the cotton.

I took a magnet and ran it underneath the cotton trying to get some design going. I have to say I did help it along the way with the end of a paint brush to get some spaces between the particles. This was all very random as I really am not sure how, or if, it will work.

I mixed some water/malt vinegar in a water bottle and gently soaked the fabric. I had to be careful not to spread the particles at this stage. It worked well. I then very carefully wrapped the whole thing in cling film to help keep it moist as I wanted to leave it outside. It would have been fine in the studio but I think it would have been too warm in there and may have dried out overnight.


I checked on it this morning and it's rusting beautifully. I am not sure if the intricacy of the design is showing but it doesn't matter as I can try something different.

This is the reverse of the piece - not much design as you can see but I won't know what it's like until I remove the particles and see what is underneath.

Now for something different:

I wish you could have sensed the smell in my kitchen yesterday. I am back making bread again and made a wholegrain loaf and a cinnamon and raisin loaf - hmmmm! gorgeous. I tried using the bread maker for making dough and baking bread in the oven and it was lovely as you can get some nice shapes and all sorts of different bread. I even made some donuts which were simply delicious - not good for the waist line but a treat nevertheless.

I am trying my hand at growing a small selection of vegetables and some strawberries for Norman. I bought this container of strawberry plants a while back and they are bearing fruit. He loves them.

As you can see there are more still to come.


I thought I would try planting potatoes in a container. I don't hold up much hope but they are certainly producing plenty green leaves. Time will tell if any little potatoes appear.

This is green beans. They have already flowered so it shouldn't be long before beans appear.

I have little pea plant dotted around the garden. I have some here directly in the ground but the majority are in pots. Having transplanted them from little pots they are a little behind the others that were left in their pots but that's good as these peas will appear a little later - if they do produce peas!

The rocket is flourishing and tastes absolutely gorgeous - peppery and lovely.

I have a lovely little collection of herbs as well. Some are flourishing, some are taking a little longer. The flavours are gorgeous. There is just nothing like growing your own herbs and you don't need a lot of space either - pots are wonderful.

I have planted some lettuce in grow bags in a small corner of the garden and they are coming along nicely too.


Carrots in a container? Well I am trying them to see what happens. I also have some planted directly into the ground.

Norman loves fuschia and I have grown lots of them this year. They have lots of buds at the moment. I will post pictures when they flower.

I have been tagged twice in the past few weeks - will post details later. I was asked to post a little more about myself so I hope I have given you a little more insight into my world which is not always fibre related!