15.03.22 - Marido de aluguel

Hallooooo!

Hope all well. This week we've been busy hashing out our plan to get our building work back on track, so not a lot else to report, although we had some folks over at the weekend for homemade burgers and ice cream, including a small child, which was fun. 

In other news, I've made a cracking new compilation for your listening delight, and my phrase of the day means "husband for rent", which is an amusing local term for handymen who you can hire to come and fix stuff around the house. 

And that's all she wrote!

Fred Crumbs

08.03.22 - Véio da lancha

Halloooo,

Hope all well! We've been off having a jolly old time at Brunno's family house on Ilhabela, after nearly a year away. On Thursday we rented a boat and were whisked off to the beaches up north which can't be reached by car, which was very cool - they even threw in a portable barbeque into the bargain, which felt like the height of luxury. 

On Friday we decided it wasn't going to get any better than that, plus the heat and mosquitoes were all getting a bit much and our building work in São Paulo was thrown into crisis, so we decided to drive back for a quiet weekend at home. 

Yesterday we held crisis talks with our project manager, who has apparently been using the money we fronted her for everything but our project which is at an absolute standstill, and have decided to ditch her for someone else. So that should be a fun journey into the Brazilian small claims system, on top of the regular building admin.

I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day ("the old man of the yacht") is a synonym for "sugar daddy", and has become a catch-all term for Brazilians' get-rich-quick schemes along with "being born an heiress" and "winning the lottery". Unfortunately it's back to slumming it on the regular beaches of Ilhabela for us, but it was fun to be the yacht-man for a day!

Ciao for now,

The Freddler

02.03.22 - Acordar cedo para atrasar com calma

Hallooooo,

Hope all well with you, despite impending WWIII etc. It's Carnaval time here, which seems to be going ahead in some form or other, despite being officially cancelled for obvious reasons. Having put up anti-cat barbed wire around the garden, we had friends over for the weekend and spent most of it either in our pool (which is finally paying off!) or slaving over a hot barbeque. 

Yesterday we set off to Ilhabela, where we've been invited to stay at Brunno's family house for the week. We've already hit the beach this morning and are making plans to have a captain drive us around on his boat tomorrow, so watch this space!

I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day is a cracker which I recently came across, meaning "to get up early so I can run late in good time". Loses a lot in translation but captures something of the Brazilian essence, I feel.

Speak soon!

Fred-om of Information Act

22.02.22 - Tiozão do churrasco

Halloooo,

Hope all well over there. 

We've just had a mad few days hosting Edson, Edimeia and Jessica who were down from Minas for the week, plus Gaby's parents and grandma, and eventually Bill, Patricia, Luiza, Gabriela, Claudio and Marta as well for an all-weekend barbeque extravaganza. All this as Berry learnt how to scale our neighbour's fence, which is a new existential threat that we'll have to deal with ASAP. It was A Lot, and now we're back to work and keeping tabs on the demolition job going on in São Paulo. 

My phrase of the day, then, is "tiozão do churrasco", or "big uncle of the barbeque", who bears the responsibility of providing enough meat for everyone throughout the day. Edson started out as the designated "tiozão" on Saturday, but the backseat cooks got in his head and he soon handed the mantle to Bill, which was quite funny to watch. Oh, and new compilation!

Speak soon,

Fred

15.02.22 - Fogo no parquinho

Halloooo,

Hope all well, and a very happy birthday to mother!

Over here all is going swimmingly - after a rather hectic week of work we went to São Paulo on Saturday to discuss the smashing up of Ridaut & Adny's apartment with the head engineer (said smashing up has now begun), then had a rare day off on Sunday including a mini-barbeque. Next weekend the Minas Gerais crew will be descending on the house so we've been planning accordingly. 

Elsewhere I've been dashing off musical parodies left, right and centre, as well as my usual compilation; and my phrase of the day ("fogo no parquinho", or "fire in the playground") means things are kicking off in a particularly confusing and belligerent way, but it also applies to manufactured online drama, etc. I quite like the imagery...

Anyway, that's all for now - speak soon!

People Get Freddy

08.02.22 - Você que sabe

Halloooo,

Hope all well! Plenty of work to get through here, as well as the usual hand-wringing about the future, endless rain, and trying to renovate and sell Ridaut & Adny's flat from afar. The good news is we seem to have finally tamed the cat and confined her to the back garden, thanks to a strategically-placed wire mesh, but who knows what her next move will be.

On Saturday we went to Atibaia for the wedding of a college friend of Gabi's (who I had previously met in Newmarket, near where they live - small world!), set in an old train station full of old-timey carriages. One of them still worked, and drove the bride about 20 metres along the track so she could walk down the aisle. As a train fanatic I was very impressed, plus it was nice to be in party mode again, at the first wedding we've been to since our own one in 2019.

The next day we were up early to head to São Paulo and Ibirapuera Park, where Gabi gave a short talk about mindfulness as part of a general health drive by her dentist friend - again, nice to see people in real life and in a real park, plus we got some free guided meditation, fruit salad and pot plants. We then met up with some other friends for a pizza and a stroll around fashionable Pinheiros, which has us pining for a move back to the big city - although let's see how long that lasts - before heading back.

I've also made another compilation, and my phrase of the day ("você que sabe", or "you know best") is usually used as a pithy abdication of responsibility, which I sense will be used a lot as the building work gets underway...

Speak soon!

What If Frod Was One Of Us

01.02.22 - Lambe corrimão

Hallooooo,

Hope all well with you! 

Over here we've had non-stop rain all week, as more parts of the country are completely underwater. As a result we cancelled our trip to São Paulo, as an event in Ibirapuera Park which Gaby was going to take part in was called off, and spent the weekend loafing around indoors instead (except for an hour-long tour through our neighbours gardens looking for Berry, although to be fair I did forget to shut the front door, so must share some of the blame).

In other news, I've made another mixtapes (nay, two mixtapes!) and my phrase of the day refers to people with scant regard for their own physical well-being as "handrail-lickers" - it recently cropped up in a pro-vaccine ad drive by UNICEF Brazil, which I thought was terrific. 

Speak soon,

The Matrix: Fredsurrections