In which I talk about the joys of painting, drawing, knitting, cats, music, living in London, and whatever else takes my fancy.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Gardening project 2009 day 4

I'm hoping to find some trade-size empty emulsion paint containers: they would be perfect for growing salad leaves!
My plan is to paint the outside of the containers with left over emulsion paint;  pierce drainage holes in the bottoms, and spray the outside with WD40. Apparently, this works to deter slugs and snails!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Gardening project 2009 day 3

I will be buying some small bags of potting compost (peat free, of course), to start the seeds off. It will be small bags because that's all I can carry on foot and the bus! Hopefully, I will be posting here regularly again from now on: I am still amazed at how having a nasty cold affected my ability to paint last week. It would appear that I do technical things when I am painting that I am no longer conscious of - assessing whether the painting is dry enough for the next layer, etc ; )

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Gardening project 2009 day 2

I need some large tubs/pots for the lettuce growing, and funds are tight, so I am keeping a weather eye on skips!  Today I am puzzling over why the cold which ambushed me on Monday afternoon has affected my ability to paint: in fact, I have been working on this picture for three days, and the paint, brushes, etc have not been behaving themselves properly. Mysterious.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Gardening project 2009

This is the first painting from my new blog project: gardening 2009! Over the Easter weekend I began tidying my tiny garden, with a particular eye to growing some vegetables and tomatoes this year. I eat vast quantities of salad leaves all year round, but have been previously deterred from growing my own by the way slugs demolish tasty plants in my garden, and my dislike of using poisons to control them because of the effect on the wildlife.  A friend passed on a tip she was given at the allotments: grow salad leaves in a tub which has had the sides sprayed with WD40! So, I am going to give this a try.