What do we leave out?

This is the colour of my daughter's hair. I have to share. I simply love it.

It was an accidental colour but it suits her so much. The only other person I have ever known to pull of this particular shade is the character Lilu (Scarlett Johansson) in the fifth element,

 My daughter can wear just about any colour. She has that pale pale vampire skin, the kind that used to be referred to as alabaster (like the statues).

She has been colouring her hair since grade five in primary school(equivalent of grade four elementary-USA) when she landed a role in a play called The Seal Wife. She had the softest blondest hair imaginable before that and then changed to a brassy red to fit the role. All the females characters were Celtic and red headed in the play.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/03/26/2200016.htm 

Next year she went black to be a pirate. That was henna and it never seemed to come out of her hair.

Since then her hair has been every colour under the rainbow. For plays and cosplay. Sometimes dye and sometimes wigs. Often for charity.
Two years in a row the school she attend refused to allow her to have her photograph taken because her hair was coloured, regardless of the fact that she was raising money by colouring her hair for a cause. The message the school was sending was very clear. Uniformity is more important than good citizenship.
I think My daughter has light brown/dark blonde hair as her natural colour but it never stays undyed long enough to be sure.

Generally when I discuss my family on my blog it is in very broad and vague terms because I have limited control over who does and doesn't read my blog and I wish to preserve their privacy. I leave out details. I generally leave out many of the small daily challenges of my life such as estrangement from sons, dying parents, illness, babies, being a grandparent along with all the usual mundane things like my dishwasher making the most abominable noises or the foibles of my washing machine or the huge amount of money my car repairs are costing my budget. Everyone has little quirks and  challenges in their daily lives and it would become very boring and dull to be reading about them unless written by a very good story teller. Hmm there is an idea in that...

A tin foil hat is a hat made from one or more sheets of aluminium foil, or a piece of conventional headgear lined with foil, worn in the belief it shields the brain from threats such as electromagnetic fields, mind control, and mind reading. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_foil_hat

I will share this though. Some time ago my landlord reacted to my tin foil hat neighbour who was worried about twigs falling on his two four wheel drives, two station wagons, two boats, trailers and various other wheeled assets in his front yard. He was concerned the once a year visits from the fruit bats would ruin his paint by dropping half eaten fruit and what if the 30 year old tree suddenly fell on his house.

 These are the old trees.

So the neighbour squealed and whined and the knee jerk reaction of the landlord was to remove not only the tree beside the neighbours fence but the one on the other side of the front lawn, no where near the tinfoil hat neighbour or his precious assets. I  offered to make my neighbour a tin foil hat to protect him from alien invasion and falling elephants which were more likely than the trees falling.I had begged and pleaded and even became angry that they would destroy two perfectly healthy trees filled with nests, birds, insects and life. Trees that provided shade and cleaned the air around us. Trees that cooled the temperature and protected the house from the fierce winds we experience. No they were cut down and turned into wood chips. So I planted new trees and shrubs. Sixteen of them.  Here they are.

 The pots lined up on the front lawns. selecting placement is an important step.

 They are all native species which will be wonderful for encouraging insects and birds.

 They look like mere twigs now but I can imagine the magnificence of these plants in a few years time in full bloom. The scarlet and gold of their flowers will be such a delight.

 I could not get this one to stand in place until it was planted.

Look at those lovely red leaves. This little beauty will be tall and shady and fill the space where a canopy should be.

 A native grass with an added self seeded prickly acacia hiding in the fronds.

 Look at this sweet little flower peeping out of my garden. I have some very learned friends who could spout off the technical and common names of all these plants but I don't care so much about the paper work I just care that they grow.

 another little stick almost camouflaged by the twigs around it.

 Just wait until this little stick is forty meters high.

 and this lovely frond with the golden flower fills me with delight

each mound of dirt is a future patch of shade and colour.   I am so happy they are all in and well watered with plenty of mulch from what was left of the previous trees. They don't look like much now but in a few years time it will be lovely to sit on the grass for a picnic in the cool shade.









My little act of rebellion. One score for mother nature!



So what of my writing and art? I am writing every day. I am on the eighth draft of a picture book and have had some very good feedback from my critique group and the 'first 250 words' forum in the 12 x 12 group. The story has become much better since the original idea and changed a lot.

This weeks theme for the 52 week challenge is TOY. I am yet to produce a piece for the theme.

I am booked in for a class in using Illustrator. I am looking forward to that and seeing what I can achieve in the digital art world. There is a big difference between cutting and pasting someone else's work and coming up with original concepts and art and I want to be able to make original work.
I recieved my membership card for the F project and I am keen to explore what my options are for studio space at the Artery. So many good things coming up for me I can hardly turn around without another opportunity.
I spent a great afternoon talking writing and story ideas with a friend of a friend which was such a buzz and I have been reading and reviewing other writers work. I like encouraging other writers and artists.

So some things I leave out and others I share, I think we all do that to varying degrees and depending on who we are sharing with.


I like your new fence palings Shirley and your green fairy is part way done. :)


On that note it is time for me to find a good book and curl up to read. Hugs and warm fuzzies.