23.09.25 - Galinha que anda com pato morre afogado

Halloooo,

Hope all well. Last week was pretty full-on, with a trip across town to an awards show at a fancy hotel with my Sherlock colleagues (the food was nice and the actual ceremony was, erm, efficient at least), then football, then a Sherlock band rehearsal on consecutive weeknights. On Saturday we had a kid's birthday party, which left Sunday to get our literal house in order, moving tiles around etc. 

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day translates as "the chicken who hangs out with ducks ends up drowning", which I guess contains a lesson about following your own path, if you're a chicken. 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

It's been no Fred of roses, no pleasure cruise

16.09.25 - Ver o sol nascer quadrado

Halloooo,

Hope all well. 

OVer here, we finally had a weekend without incident, meeting up with friends and going to get more jabs for Gaby's rabies (TBC). And this week I'm going to an awards ceremony with the Sherlock crew, plus we have a company band rehearsal on Thursday so it's all go. 

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day means "to see the sun rise square" - a euphemism for going to prison, just like our ex-President!

And that's about it for now - speak soon.

Fred Chem

09.09.25 - Falar como letra de médico

Halloooo,

Hope all well. 

We managed to get our impounded car back from the authorities, and were all set to spend a quiet weekend in, but then Gabi set up a lunch on Saturday with some psychology chums who were in town for a conference, and on the way we saw a stray cat almost get run over on a main road, and swerved across four lanes into a mechanics to see if it was OK, but it was so shook up that it bit Gabi and ran away, and now she has to go on an intensive, high-risk course of anti-rabies drugs that apparently might make her heart explode, and we eventually made the lunch bookended by hospital trips, and then spent Sunday refusing to leave the house until the universe forgets about us for a bit.

We also wrapped up the main part of the work on the flat, and this week we have some guys in "revitalising the floors", whatever that means, plus we have to get Gabi's grandpa's table and wardrobe up there somehow, then comes the cupboards-and-countertops part of the operation. Never a dull moment!

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day comes from a follower on Instagram: "falar como letra de médico", or "to speak like doctor's handwriting" (i.e. incomprehensibly). 

And that's about it - speak soon!

Man's Best Fred

02.09.25 - Dar o cano

Hallooooo,

How goes? We've had a relatively chilled out week work-wise, and even summoned the energy to go out on Saturday to the Festa da Achiropita (we even got backstage tour of the fogazza production line and jumped the queue courtesy of Gabi's volunteer friend), only to have our car impounded in a police "blitz" (spot-check) on the way back, because we'd forgotten to pay this year's road tax (and our online bank wouldn't let us pay it on the spot, for some reason). So now we have to go to a holding pen in the middle of nowhere to pick it up when/if they OK our paperwork, which is a bit annoying. 

We also had Gabi's parents round for a nice meal out to mark Adny's birthday, and stopped by Ridaut's dad's flat, which is in the process of being cleared out (I scored a cool 1950's briefcase and some nice Panama hats, plus a table and wardrobe for the new flat).

I also made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day - "dar um cano" or "to give a pipe" - means to stand someone up or stiff them on an earlier promise. Not to be confused with "dar um bolo" ("to give a cake") which means, er, the same thing. 

And that's about it - speak soon!

Kentucky Fred Chicken