Rambling on...

I haven't been here much recently - I am sure that Twitter, Facebook and Orkut have been taking up too much of my time! The heat here in Brazil, more specifically Rio de Janeiro, has been torrid! The newspapers announced this week that we were the second hottest place on the planet, we only lost to some remote place in Ghana, south of the Sahara!!! This alone makes you want to melt, and sitting at the computer is the last thing in mind, try holding a "warm" laptop on your lap, when the "thermal sensation" around you is 50ºC! As much as I appreciate the heat, this is getting to be a bit much....
We are now entering carnival in Rio, lots of excitement and revelry on the streets, but also, a lot o f peace and quiet for those, like us, who have decided to hole up at home - a five day holiday is always welcome!!
The eldest has gone off to his friend's beach house, north of Rio and the two youngest have just come home from a 20 day sojourn in the south of Brazil - I think enjoying the fact that they are home! On the 22nd, Monday week, they will all be going back to school, so the year begins in earnest, woohoo!

A new friend

This is a picture of a new friend - I have had her about a month now, she  is just about getting used to us! She is six years old (and a bit) and beautiful!! Her name is PRETA - that is black in Portuguese and her nickname is "Pe-pe" She still doesn't enjoy being squeezed, but will accept kisses on her adorabe snout, kind of! We love this breed and firmly believe that it is the owners' who make and break a dog - therefore we are delighted to see her settling in with an older Rottie and a younger Lab and her puppy. 4 dogs! what was I thinking??!!!!