Travel and other things....

Tomorrow Camillo and I go to Houston for 10 days – together.   I can’t remember the last time we were there at the same time.  There are only a few hundred things on Camillo’s list to get done.  And he, not me, has a shopping list long enough to fill a couple suitcases.  I have two things I want to do, have lunch with the girls I used to work with downtown, and spend some hours with Marissa and Patty. 

I need to find a new point & shoot.  I bought the one I have now  less than a year ago, and its touch screen has stopped working.  I won’t make that mistake again.  The whole purpose of having a point-n-shoot is that I can carry it in a pocket or in my purse and pull it out when-Ever!.  What is the point if I have to carry it inside a padded, zippered case – by the time I have it out and ready – what-Ever has already come and gone. 

I wonder about everyone with a cell phone/iPad/blackberry, etc. with a touch screen, especially teenagers – is everyone having to send in for repair or replace their gadgets every 6 – 8 months.  They (no matter the brand) should come with a thin, handy little slide door to protect the touch pad .  Think anyone is listening?

So, okay, add to my list shopping for a new point & shoot.  - so three things I need to do.  That is how the list grows.    Okay add another – I am going to look for fabric to have formal table cloths made for Camillo’s birthday dinner in June.  Better quit now or my list will have 5 items on it....

It is spring in Houston so I am going to try and catch some walks in parks and neighborhoods – should be really close to azalea time.  Maybe I will get some nifty photos for the blog. 

Hugs from Brasil.

just in time for St. Pat’s day

All of December and most of January we had unusually warm temperatures and heavy rains.  Then the end of January through all of February we had little to no rain and almost hot weather up here in the mountains.  Just in time for carnival it started to rain again.  This means that I have been cooped up in the house, going only out the kitchen door and to the garage.  This week, on Monday, I went out in my small garden and found ....   in a large pot right outside my patio doors this beautiful Orchid.  Even if I’d not been paying attention Manuel has, this beauty was in a small pot in my green house, struggling to survive, and he put it into this large round pot and it now has 4 sprouts.  It should continue to bloom and to give me moment of pure joy for the next month.  My own Irish pot of gold.   Thank you Manuel.

   

Boca do Leon - Orchid 'mouth of the lion' VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After Carnival -

We arrived back in Friburgo yesterday at noon,  cool / whet / foggy  but nearly silent.  Of course, after spending 5 days in Rio during Carnival week, anyplace would seem silent.   

Ipanema is usually pretty quiet at night.  We get an occasional party going on, sometimes a group yelling and cheering their favorite soccer team until the wee hours, and for the past year we’ve had a new born baby downstairs – crying most days and nights, but generally Ipanema shuts down for the night around 10.  The busses quiet down, the cars thin out, and people from the neighborhood walk sedately to dinner and back.

This year for carnival there were three (seemed like more) ‘blocos’ just in our neighborhood.  A bloco is the closest to ‘old ‘ carnival as you will get.  They consist of a band – well really I’ve not seen a band as we think of them – but more of a drum core, and people from the neighborhood and anyone else who wants to act crazy – create some chaos – confusion – be loud – dress in costumes – and slop beer all over the street, can join the group.  They take place during the day and are a lot of fun.

Just to show you a little contrast – the first photo is on a regular night -  and the next three are from this past Monday evening - 

  

The blocos happen during the morning and the afternoon, I don’t know where these young people were from..... this corner is around on the other side of the block from us, and we could hear them until 2 or 3 in the morning.  

a few more photos – on the side streets, on the beach, vendors, drummers, and spectators.