31.08.21 - Barato que sai caro

Halloooo,

Hope all is going swimmingly! It rained here over the weekend, and now everything is a lot prettier and less dusty and not as on fire all the time, so that was much appreciated.

We are inching closer to a fully liveable house here, having splashed out on some wooden pallets for an outdoor table, and PVC netting to make a fence - remains to be seen if it will be "barato que sai caro" ("cheap that turns out to be expensive"), but we got an outrageous quote from the local fence man so we've decided to do it our bloody selves.

We are also currently hosting a bird who flew into our glass doors and needs some time to chill out in the indoor garden - providing endless entertainment for the cats at the same time. And I've made another mixtape. And that will be all!

Speak soon,

If I Was Your Girlfred

24.08.21 - Subir nas tamancas

Hallooooo,

Hope you've been keeping well and the heatwave is holding off, 'cos it ain't here! 

We've been herding cats and getting to grips with our garden, in between work and other life admin stuff. On Friday we went in to São Paulo for Andreia's birthday drinks, stayed overnight at Bruna's bachelor pad and had an urban barbeque with the whole gang the next day, which was rather fun.

Elsewhere I've made a new mixtape, and my phrase of the day means "to climb up on one's clogs", or lose one's temper and start shouting indiscriminately. And that's the waaaay the news goes. 

Speak soon!

Fred-ding Water

17.08.21 - Todo dia é um 7x1 diferente

Hallooooo,

Hope well with you and you're keeping cool by the pool. All good here, we went to São Paulo on Saturday so Gabi could get a second pint of Pfizer (mine's not due 'til October) and a rather severe-sounding face peel from her face guy, then took Sunday off completely to lounge about under our tree. 

We've also signed up to our nearest gym and have been to a few spin classes, among other things (not easy with a mask on, but their reign of terror is surely near an end), and the cats are hatching increasingly bold escape plans, so I've had to climb a few trees to get them back.

Elsewhere I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day is often uttered over here when it all gets a bit too much: "every day is a different 7-1", a reference to Brazil's traumatic defeat against Germany in the 2014 World Cup.

Speak soon!

Fred, Amber, Green

10.08.21 - Quem não chora não mama

Hallooooo,

Hope all well and everyone is well rested, drinking lots of water, etc. 

Over here we've had a very productive week, and have covered at least some of our junkyard of a back garden with readymade grass and flowers, making it a bit more presentable. We now have plans to put up all sorts of poles and hammocks to distract from the debris either side of it, as well as some fences to keep the cats in, so watch this space!

I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day translates as "he who doesn't cry, doesn't get breastfed" - meaning you have to stomp your feet and make a scene to get what you want. I often think of it when we have to shut the cats inside to get on with our lives, and they start clamouring to be let out again. 

Speak soon!

Olympic Gold Fred-al

03.08.21 - Bom de garfo

Halloooo,

Hope all well! 

We had a few people over this weekend for fondue and drinks, followed by a trip into town for bottomless parmegiana, which made for a successful weekend all round, and now Gabi has the week off so we're going to do some serious life admin.

Elsewhere, I've made another mixtape, and my phrase of the week ("sou bom de garfo") means "I'm good with a fork", which is a rather amusing euphemism for eating a lot.

Speak soon!

Fredible

27.07.21 - Da minha vida cuido eu

Halloooo,

Glad to hear you made it back home after an eventful UK tour. We went to São Paulo at the weekend to visit Fernando's wee bairn, flex our 2-for-1 booklet credentials at one of the city's fine dining establishments, and pick up Zila for another week in the country (she's been put to work washing and sewing!). 

We also had Patricia & Bill round for a particularly scrumptious BBQ on Saturday, and have been bracing against historic drought and cold in quick succession (again, "historic" by Brazilian standards, but still pretty unwelcome). I've made another mixtape, and my phrase of the week literally translates as "I take care of my life", and is roughly equivalent to "I'll be the judge of that".

Speak soon!

Fredpool

20.07.21 - Falar é prata, mas calar é ouro

Helloooo, and a warm welcome to all new members of the Gringolândia SP mail-out ! You are receiving this because the blog compiling all these emails isn't getting any traffic; please reply "UNSUBSCRIBE" to unsubscribe.

Not much to report here this week - it's dreadfully chilly for Brazil at the moment, and our house is very much built for heat, so we're piling on the duvets and waiting for our torment to end, probably by the end of the day. There's plenty to be getting on with, and I've been summoned for jab #1, so will be doing that at some point this week, fingers crossed.

Elsewhere I've made another one of my weekly compilations, and my phrase of the day ("Falar é prata, mas calar é ouro") is a Brazilian riff on "silence is golden": "to speak is silver, but to shut up is gold". 

Hope all is well in the Land of the Free (as of yesterday), and speak/Zoom soon!

You've Got a Fred in Me