Tagged!

This drummer was part of one of many brass bands that regularly parade down our street and terrify the life out of our Old English Sheepdog, Dermott.

I'll give you the drum is Australian for I'll tell all.

Susan Borgas from Arts & Stuff has tagged me so now I'm supposed to tell you seven things about myself that most people don't know. I then tag seven other people to do the same and they mention in their blog who tagged them. It's not that simple. That's why I'm posting a photo today instead of a sketch.

Seven things most people don’t know about me? Goodness, I have more secrets than the CIA. But which can be divulged while still protecting the innocent – which is to say, me.

So, I'll give you the drum.

1. I didn’t finish High School. I completed my education at the University of Life and have had, to date, a most fortunate one.

2. While at High School I dropped out of Latin in favour of Domestic Science, which was a fancy title for cooking and cleaning. As a result I learned to make a fantastic Bechamel Sauce which has stood me in great stead. Now that I have a husband who is a superb cook, and I’m living in Italy battling to learn Italian, I wish I had stuck with Latin.

3. I’ve had four different surnames – which is hell when one has to produce I.D. How have I had four different surnames? You’ll have to work it out. This is an abridged version.

4. I have a terrible weakness for gadgets. Any new electronic or electrical device makes my heart pound and my eyes glaze over. I had the first Apple Mac portable computer. It cost as much as a small car and weighed around twenty pounds. It eventually made an excellent doorstop. It was more useful than the electric pasta machine that made spaghetti in three minutes and took two and a half hours to clean. I left an iron in Sydney that came attached to its own ironing board. The board blew up like a dirigible when I pressed the steam button. Since I’ve stopped working I have given up such nonsense. Art supplies could become a problem.

5. In another life, I toured a maximum security prison, observed brain surgery at close quarters and spent time in the city morgue – all in the name of research and, to be honest, insatiable curiosity.

6. I once smoked a funny cigarette under the moon on a lake in Kashmir – but I didn’t inhale.

7. I used to be a domestic goddess. I washed the clothes before they hit the floor, ironed our underpants and polished the copper bottoms of the saucepans. Then I discovered Art.

Now I'm going to tag seven people in the hope that they would like to play.

1. Ronell Van Wyk from African Tapestry who stirred the dormant domestic goddess in me when I learned she places fresh lavender under her pillows when she changes the linen. I also love her painting and musing.

2. Dave in Oxford from Dave's Blog is a quiet achiever exploring all the media I love.

3. JUJ from Everything is Contextual. Apart from her wonderful drawings, I love her quirky sense of humor.

4. Felicity Grace from Sketches by Fiz who delights with her beautiful graphite drawings and is now moving on to watercolours.

5. Stacy Rowan from Stop and Draw the Roses - a delightful young artist from Pennsylvania who manages to fit it all in around the demands of a young family and very limited studio space.

6. Judith Nijholt-Strong from Kats-in-Klompen a visual artist who maintains the blog for her two mischievous Dutch cats.

7. Anita Davies from Art by Anita, who lives and sketches on location around the beautiful Fens in the UK.

If any of you have already been tagged, I do apologise. Just let me know and I will amend my list.