28.09.21 - Pegar o bonde andando e querer sentar na janelinha

Halloooo,

Hope all well in Europe and petrol-starved UK! 

We have had a productive week, taking a day trip to the Dutch settlement and renowned flower capital of Holambra on Saturday to stock up on plants and seeds for the garden - which we've nicely asked our local gardener to plant properly for us tomorrow - and take lots of photos for the 'Gram, followed by a day of complete R&R on Sunday. 

We've been plotting our trip across the Atlantic too - we're yet to fully commit due to concerns over shifting restrictions and Gaby's status as a Brazilian pariah, but I personally don't think that's going to change any time soon, so we might as well take the plunge sooner rather than later. But we will keep you updated!

Elsewhere there's a new compilation in town, and my phrase of the day ("catching the streetcar mid-route and wanting to sit by the window") is a bit of a mouthful, and refers to people who turn up in the middle of a project and want to claim all the credit (or possibly people who turn up mid-conversation with no frame of reference, I'm not 100% sure). 

Speak soon!

Game, Fred & Match

21.09.21 - Mente vazia, oficina do diabo

Halloooo,

You join me from an absolutely sweltering Indaiatuba, where we're barricaded in our respective air-conditioned rooms to ward off the heat, and are still cat-proofing our house, as Berry continues to find new and inventive ways to run off into the street like some kind of dead-eyed, feline T1000.

At the weekend we went to São Paulo to sample the finer things of the big city and check in with a bunch of people, including Taynah, Rafa and their soon-to-be-born infant, then had an all-day barbeque on Sunday including my debut playing The Game of Life, in which I finished last. It was at this point that one of my silly videos went viral on TikTok. I've no idea why, or how it works, and found the whole experience deeply unsettling. Who would've thought, eh!

In other news I've made a new mixtape, and my phrase of the week means "an empty mind is the devil's workshop", and is roughly equivalent to "the devil makes work for idle hands". 

That's all for the noo, hope you're all well, and speak soon!

"Take the Fred pill... you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes"

14.09.21 - Wij van WC-eend adviseren WC-eend

Halloooo,

Hope all well with you! It's bloody scorching over here, good thing we got our garden into shape and the pool plumbed in before the heatwave hit (I say "heatwave", it'll probably be like this 'til March now). 

We had our anniversary lunch scuppered by Berry tunneling under the fence and disappearing for about four hours, but made up for it with a trip to O Caipirão (purveyors of Indaiatuba's finest beef parmigiana) on Friday instead - the fence has since been shored up and the cat restored to her rightful place. And at the weekend we had Gaby's long-time friends over for a two-day barbeque which was tremendous fun, and with enough leftovers to do it all again in São Paulo next weekend!

Elsewhere I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the week is from the Netherlands for a change. It means "we at Toilet-Duck recommend Toilet-Duck", it comes from a 1989 advert for a cleaning product called Toilet-Duck, and it's since become shorthand for anyone promoting their own interests under the guise of impartial advice or research (in the Netherlands, anyway) i.e. "It seems all political parties have their own news broadcast these days, but it's mostly "we of toilet-duck"

Ciao for now!

Fred End Street

07.09.21 - Passar a perna

Halloooo,

All good with you?  Over here we've basically skipped spring and gone straight into summer; luckily we had the foresight to set up a giant paddling pool in the garden just in time. 

We've also pulled off the impossible and contained Berry to the back garden - after the tradesmen of Indaiatuba tried to "passar a perna" ("pass the leg", or "pull a fast one") with their quote, we took matters into our own hands and crafted two fences, one for each side of the house, which are still standing at the time of writing.

We had Susy, Eduardo and the extended family over on Sunday to mark the occasion, which turned into an all-day barbeque with babies, giant dogs and grandparents in attendance - very fun but I took full advantage of an empty house the next day (with Gaby off in São Paulo) to do as little as possible. And today it's a public holiday so the plan is to do some life admin, have a nice anniversary lunch, then back to work tomorrow.

Elsewhere we've still got a lame bird on our hands that we don't really know what to do with; and I've made another mixtape for your listening pleasure. I think that just about covers it.

Speak soon!

Fred the Needle