After five hours of steaming, I let the coiled tube cool, then brought it inside .  After unwrapping the bandages, I unwound the old sheet.  Lovely colour from the pomegranate and the brown onions but I was disappointed with the absence of any of the usual dark grey marks from the casuarina needles.

The still bandaged sheet out of the steamer after 5 hours

After removal of the bandages

Unrolled but still folded over the plant material

Close-up of the markings

So I microwaved t for a few short bursts then left it to cool in the microwave.

Next day spent a long time looking for it.  It was friend Liz Arnold who suggested I check the microwave.  Disappointing again as still no casuarina marks.

I washed it and, as expected, it paled considerably but was still attractive.

After washing and ironing…and still not casuarina

Close-up after washing

However, I’d wanted a look of the forest floor about it so I decided to go again with the casuarina needles, this time spraying with iron water rather than alum. The spray of iron water added grey tones immediately.  The solution was 5g ferrous sulphate to 500 ml of water. It’s pouring with rain here in Perth and I don’t want to have my extension cords in the wet so am using the oven!  I’ve no idea if it will work.

Sprayed with iron water and scattered with casuarina needles