Thankyou my dear friends for being so kind and sensitive to my last post.
Here I have a video of my boys doing some Geocaching and Aiden playing with his drone.
I also have a fun little musical treat for those who listen to the end.
We have had/are having a super Christmas with many fun family times, lots of good food, and days of lying around doing not much except sleep and read. The best kind of holiday in my opinion. Mind you we are in the middle of a heat wave with most days over 35 deg C this week, so lying around is just about all we can do! I really feel Summer here is like Winter in the northern hemisphere with all the hibernation involved. We did manage a trip to the lake and a sunset picnic when the temps dropped under 30. We plan to do many more.
Our Christmas also contained the inaugural riding of Miles' custom built bike (self built vintage quirky design).
And Aiden's new folding bike which needed a few tweaks, but is now running beautifully thanks to the budding bike mechanics in our family. It is now sporting brand new lights for after sun adventures (when it is cool!)
Closed
Open
Winter scored a new bed this year after having eviscerated her last one.
Which Smart-Blue was never seen near or in...never! Why would I want to do such a gauche thing as that?
Hoping your Christmas or celebrations were just as fabulous.
Here we are after months with no action on my blog!
I am struggling to know what to write these days as I have no interest in my BeautyScopes and fashion.
I have done a video recently so thought that could make a blogpost.
Here we are with Miles' photography experiments (hopefully you won't get seasick), his latest building project, and Aiden's new electric scooter which has given him back the world.
(Due to his chronic illness his fitness has really dropped, so he was even having trouble walking. Now he has explored with his scooter, he has also started riding Cris' electric bike, and a teeny tiny bit on a normal bike. His fitness is coming back, and with it our sparkly eyed boy. Such a great investment, and something I think people should accept as a mobility aid. Currently they only accept wheelchair type vehicles which are cumbersome and not as cool for a teenager...or older person! OK, enough ranting.)
Here is the video:
Behind the scenes I have also started work on a book of poems. Don't hold your breath, but I write it here to keep me accountable :-)
I have a new video for you. A couple of years ago we visited Mossy Point and I made Mossy Point Part 1. And I never produced Pt 2. This niggled away at me because I do like to finish things. So a couple of months ago we revisited and shot this second video as an update.
Here is a link to the other video if you are interested. It is Spring, and Miles has been experimenting with some old lenses we converted to our new DSLR with a converter ring. Doesn't this just scream SPRING IS HERE!!?
Greetings my beauties! Here is another video to catch up with what we've been doing. Thanks so much to all who wrote such lovely comments answering my questionnaire before the break. I feel the need to change things up a little and trying to see what people respond to. However for now all I have the energy for is doing videos and Instagram posts. Yes, I'm back on Instagram, trying it out again. Maybe it will stick, who knows. Or maybe I just need a change. I've been exploring a lot of topics like flow, and autism and giftedness to see if I can get rid of my constant headaches and body tension. Yesterday I just stayed in bed apart from exercising, and cutting Miles' hair. It seemed to help and although seems obvious, is never that obvious to me! I always feel the need to do something to fix my tension. Crazy I know! Anyway, here is the video, and I'll talk to you soon hopefully.
Greetings gorgeous friends! Life has taken me away to thrash me around a bit. We have had too much fun since the beginning of the year, with birthdays and travel and performance. I am only now (maybe) groping my way through. I can't really decide where to start, but here is my latest video to update you a bit. Love you! Jazzy Jack
Well it's been a relaxing Christmas holiday time for us here in the Brack household. Just before Christmas we ventured to the Hunter Valley which you can see in the above video. If you persevere past the house tour which I included for our memory files, you will see guitar playing, Hunter Valley gardens at night, and even some pool gymnastics!
After Christmas we had a quiet week at home which included a lovely walk with Cris in the loooong grass, which Winter thoroughly enjoyed.
We also took in the New Year's Eve fireworks. This involves parking two hours beforehand at a vantage point on the lake with this stunning view.
And to pass the time we played our newly acquired Jenga (or its knock off cousin Jumbling Towers) in our handy campervan Brumhilda.
We also managed a little sparkler action...come on baby light my fire...
which included this combined effort. Is it a car or specs?
The fireworks were well worth waiting for.
And don't you think fireworks are almost nicer photographed by a bad photographer who blurs them? :-)
Aiden and I also managed a week away at the beach where we took this selfie. Do we look alike?
So we hope the New Year is treating you kindly
and I look forward to some creative adventures together!
I thought I'd catch you up on a few creative projects I've been working on lately.
Here is a youtube video I made with my new microphone. Prior to now I've not had a microphone that will record my singing without blowing out.
Finally I treated myself, and I'm very happy with it.
So I attempted to do a youtube video, but my miming skills leave a lot to be desired.
Instead of scrapping it I thought it would be funny to share it with some weird trying-to-be-cool graphics to suit!
This illustrates something I feel is important in creating, remember to play and give yourself the freedom to make mistakes. When you do, just laugh and move on. Creating should be fun, not a serious chore! After all, you are creating something new. Who says it's wrong? It's never been made before!
Another venture I've been involved in over the last couple of years is a photo shoot which turned into a book. Talk about embracing imperfections!
I was asked to pose for a exhibition of queer people in Canberra. They asked us to suggest a location where we felt at home. I chose the arboretum, because for some reason that is where I feel most Canberran, which is big for this nomad. I didn't like the photo that emerged due to my scowly expression. They had me staring into the setting sun...squint, squint!
However they said it looked "strong" and "elegant", so I stifled my objections and perfectionist tendencies and ran with it. What do you think?
A couple of years later they have come out with a book called "Queerberra" and recently had the book launch.
During that month the photos from the book were randomly projected on a wall high in the foyer of one of our hotels. It is a surreal experience seeing yourself this way.
Here is a photo Cris took at the book launch after waiting phone poised until my photo flashed up. Such dedication and arm pain!
Finally, here are a few photos of some other creations. This outfit started life as a wrap around dress which was too small. I picked it up secondhand of course, because I loved the quality of the fabrics. The top is a strong jersey and the bottom a thick linen. I removed the ties, added a button, enlarged the armholes (by cutting and leaving them raw!) and stitched down the front. I wear it with a singlet underneath to preserve my modesty and it all works really well!
Here is the detail of the scarf I knitted. It showcases the beautiful yarn so well and I feel very elegant in it. Do you see leaves or feathers?
The next outfit is a dress I made from a tablecloth and overdyed with eucalyptus and iron. It developed some holes due to the age of the tablecloth, and so I boro stitched some dyed silk on top. How to make something rubbish into something useful. Just have a go!
Close up of the patching.
Here is the scarf I am wearing in the above picture. It was a lovely pale pink silk which I couldn't resist at the op shop. But it really did nothing for me, so I dyed it with the above dyes and careful folding with bulldog clips. Didn't it come out well? And a much better colour for me!
Cris snapped this shot of me with the photographer of "Queerberra" getting her signature.
See my scarf?
Breaking news
Australia just voted for marriage equality and it passed into law a couple of days ago. We have joined the rest of the enlightened world. Go Australia!
So mainly I want to encourage you to 'av a go' as we say over here, and try something creative.
You never know, it might be great!
Do you have anything you would love to create but are hesitant about? Have you had a go and found it worked out?
Or not, and laughed about it? I'd love to hear about it.
Recently I've posted a lot of photos from our beach holiday cabin, which has led to people understandably assuming we live there. So this post is designed to correct that, and give you a glimpse of our play space in our day to day lives. We live 10 minutes walk away from a creek space which drops out of a dam holding up our local lake. Here are a few shots of the local area. It is the wildest space in our vicinity, and while I love the beach more, it is a good second best. The bird calls are really lovely.
Taken during Winter near our lake.
Such serene reflections
Plenty of birds
Cockatoos fly around in gangs shrieking and swooping
Green spring blossoms!
Trees and water...hard to beat
My favourite pond below the dam
And of course I have a video to share on this topic
Recently I made a YouTube video about our trip up the Moruya River on our tinnie
(small fishing boat). Here it is:
Although this was not a perfect video by any means, I released it anyway, as a snapshot in time. Showing our fun on the day, and my beginner skills with the camera.(Videoing from a moving boat requires rather a lot of skill!)
My theory is that we need to recognise and relish in our beginner mind.
I have too strong a tendency to judge myself and my work, and sometimes that is appropriate.
However over time I've found it is more useful for skill development, to allow the mistakes to occur, and sometimes in public! To make room for more understanding and ability.
Creative pursuits are rife with difficulties in this area, because we can so easily judge our poor attempts at painting or playing an instrument etc., and give up. How sad that is, if it is due to criticism, as opposed to a lack of desire.
'feel the beauty
of the origin of an idea.'
If we truly want to continue studying and growing in that area, we need to allow the mistakes, and the beginner mind to have its moment.
This can be challenging to our egos, especially when you are a person who usually performs at a high standard.
But there is a place there in the vulnerability and humbleness that can be a highly creative space.
We can allow more room for our ideas to flourish and our new thought patterns to develop, if we hold off on the judgement for a while.
Of course there is always a time to sit and reflect if we want to allow others to see this work.
But in this instance, after editing this video three times, and cutting it back by half (!), I decided to let you see the wobbles and wind gusts. To let you hear my silly singing, and include my son's beginner guitar playing, because we celebrate the attempt at creativity as much as the finished product.
I released this work so you can feel encouraged at my beginnings, and maybe have a go yourself.
We need to rejoice in our vulnerable starting points, and feel the beauty of the origin of an idea.
I think this mindset is why I love Unschooling so much. It is a space where we allow beginnings and endings. It is a place to explore our interests and desires. It makes room
for imperfections and creativity, and gives time to expand into ourselves.
I am finding as a parent who is Unschooling my mind is becoming more relaxed about "the way things should be". It is an expansion where we need to gently guide, be aware, but leave our hands off until absolutely needed or wanted. I am more able to trust that things will work out in time if we let them. My need for control of every little educational moment is releasing and I'm gaining such wonder of the naturally perfect learning my kids are creating in and around themselves.
We are creative people underneath, and if we can silence or ignore our critic long enough and open up to love and trust and play, we can find wells of new ideas just waiting to rise.
So do yourself a favour, and give it a go.
Open your hearts
to your simplicity
your beginnings
your humbleness
Celebrate the imperfect
the feebleness
the wobbly lines
the hesitancies
Smile anew
at the sweet joys
of vulnerability
of trembling tries
Let yourself laugh
at your playful
and inconsistent
ability
(I hope you like my playful creative examples above)
I had a few shots of my colour adventures left, so thought I'd share them with the world...as you do.
Above I am in pants made from old sheets dyed with eco dye colours. These are the very comfortablist pants I own. Come on...old sheets!
And now I present to you...da, da, da...my eye!
I took this closeup as best I could without studio conditions to see the colours therein.
I've been reading David Zyla's book about his colour system. All the colours that suit us best are located in our bodies. I really like the idea. Some find it hard to isolate their colours, but I didn't have too much trouble.
Here are my colours represented by the clothes in my wardrobe...colours as close as I could get them.
The peachy colour is my version of white (skin tones), the pink my version of red (blush tones), teal is my dramatic colour (vein colour), burnt orange is my energy colour (darkest colour in eye) , olive green my tranquil colour (lightest colour in eye), dark bluey grey my version of black (ring around iris), dark chocolate my version of brown (darkest colour in hair), and golden brown my version of khaki (lightest colour in hair - not sure if you count grey).
You should have seen me squinting in the hand mirror in the sun with my faulty eyesight, trying to identify that elusive hair colour! It must have been hilarious!
He also talks about identifying your style. I have become enamoured of the Sensual Backpacker category or Spicy Autumn. It speaks of wearing simple practical stylish shapes in interesting textures referencing the sensuous traveller. Sounds like me right?!
When I dyed these pants I must have spilt juice on them because there was a large dark splat right in the front, so I covered it with an embroidered patch. All adds to the character.
I can't believe I nearly left this shirt in the op shop. It has become a staple this Summer. Great for a little coverup or if I need to look a little more decent than the singlets I hang out in at home...hey, it's hot!
I also love this necklace which combines my first gift from Bushy...a chain, with a polished rock made by my maternal grandfather Poppi.
I leave you with our latest video featuring Aiden on flying fox, and Miles flying solo in the boat...oh and my singing. Bear with the uneven sound quality, we are working on improving it. Slowly learning :-)
I have a photo heavy post for you with a sum up of our holiday break in pictures.
Firstly we have the family portrait...
notice I made them wait for a photo shoot before eating!
And here is the more relaxed shot showing our presents in the poppers.
We are playing word games. A lot of fun!
So Christmas dinner was cooked by Cris on the barbecue and oven,
while I swanned around looking glamorous. So what else is new?!
Cutie patootie!
My Christmas outfit is shiny! All bought secondhand and worn with a gifted necklace.
I enjoyed exploring new colours. I think they look OK. Shock horror!
During our break the kids enjoyed more time with Dad.
Here they are teaching Dad to fly a plane.
He did better than I did...he got off the ground!
They also enjoyed freaking out Mum with a cicada shell!
A fun family time was had at Miles' home away from home...the Australian War Memorial.
Doesn't this plane have such a cute face, albeit worried or disapproving...?
Aiden takes some time out while waiting for Miles and Cris, to do some cartooning.
The mischievous trio.
The view from the front steps of the War Memorial, looking down Anzac Parade with all it's smaller memorial statues to Parliament House in the distance, across the lake.
And we all made it to the traditional fireworks for New Year's Eve.We've been a few years in a row to a far away vantage point that doesn't involve too many people.
We had fun with slow photography and sparklers.
(In the first photo we captured the little girl's efforts in the next family as well)
Can you see "Boi"?
And "Hi"?
So we had a fun family break, staying at home for a while.
It's been such a travelling year we enjoyed the change.
Gratuitous sunset photo from our back deck.
Please enjoy our latest video with bits and pieces from Leeway - our coast cabin.
Including an echidna, pelicans, pool acrobatics and my singing!
