"Of droughts and flooding rains"...

Dorothea MacKellar said it so well in "A Sunburnt Country". What is happening with our weather? I know it's "change of season", but icy cold one day, burning hot the next?
It is Autumn, after all, and despite the heat, I can assure you it will definitely get cold, eventually. So that I can enjoy wearing my new winter jeans and coat that I bought two weeks ago in a cold snap!

Australians love to write and sing about the weather, as did Crowded House in their song lyrics "Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you". My dear DH knows this only too well. He travels interstate with his work, and is famous for taking our Sydney weather with him. (Sydney weather, lately, despite having had six years of drought, has been extremely wet, with torrential rains and flooding, which mainly occurs in our rumpus room but that's another story - there must be a lot of plumbers on BRW's Top 100 Rich List.)

DH went to Melbourne, 1 1/2 hours flight south, hadn't rained for ages, started pouring as soon as he got there and rained until he left. Then Perth, 4 hours flight west, same deal, except it hadn't rained for months. Yes, it's all his fault, now you know who to blame. And he's owning up to Brisbane as well. So if you need rain, let me know, I'll fly him to you for a reasonable fee.

Elephant on the Keys

When I was young, my aunt Barbara visited and played a rip-roaring rendition of this fantastic tune and I was awestruck. 2000 years later I finally got Dad to send me the sheet music and 300 years after that I'm finally working my way through it, slowly and when no-one else is home (though I do feel sorry for the neighbours). I never realised I have ten thumbs!
Sometimes, it's easier to play by ear and eye than read music (and I hardly ever play by ear). As with lots of Debussy's music. I need to learn the notes, then look at the patterns my hands are making, and listen at the same time. Even with music, I'm a visual learner.
And Dad, if you're reading this, stop rolling your eyes! LOL

a peek inside my sock drawer

Well, I do like to have comfortable and colourful feet! Even in the middle of our hot summer I wear woollen socks under my boots for walking around arenas, paddocks, gardening, etc. They are so comfy, and keep my feet healthy too as they breathe and cushion my tootsies.
These are not all the socks I've made, there are others lurking around, plus some very lucky people (my daughter and my dad) have some in their drawers too!

A new painting

Long time no see! My thumb has finally healed so I'm back to typing. I've been spending several hours on the road each day in my various duties, and I'm afraid to say I have missed yet another Life class (I go to Life Drawing and Life Painting at the Royal Art Society of NSW). So I will have to make up a class.
But it's a good opportunity to show you one of my recent efforts, in oil painting, almost finished this study in two 3-hour sessions. The model is a dancer, so quite lean and muscly. That's why I put her next to my tiny framed Degas picture!

It's a tricky pose, she is poised as if just rising from a seated position, she is 3/4 turned away but her face is almost profile. I plan to finish the drapery and the background, and clarify her face without adding too much detail. I thought I was using way too much green and blue, but from a distance it seems to work.
What do you think? Apart from the fact that yes, it is a nude, and nudes tend to polarize and embarrass non-artists. So if you're polarised and/or embarrassed, don't say anything! Thanks.
PS: I have found my camera and my long-lost memory stick! Yay - and thanks to the person who found it, love ya darlz. So I'll be posting more stuff in the next few days. I'll try to post everyday and be a bit more organised now I can use my thumb again!