Soaked

That'll teach me for complaining. We had such a long period of super-dry. Now we have floods. Our house is on high ground, so it doesn't affect us, other than my very waterlogged flower pots.

This photo of a tiny portion of São Paulo wasn't taken by me. It is a Terra news photo:

It does give you a fairly good idea of what the city is like at the moment. I'd say its rather damp here, wouldn't you?

The photo at the top is mine though and is a photo of quebra pedra, a weed (or should that read 'volunteer plant'?) that I spent a very long time uprooting until one of the locals saw me and berated me for uprooting what is considered one of the 'sacred herbs'. 'Quebra pedra' translates literally to 'stone breaker' and is used as a remedy for kidney stones. The locals swear by it. It is a very pretty herb, the raindrops on its dainty leaves looking like tiny jewels.

This afternoon, we were meant to go into the village to enjoy the neighbourhood's 80'th birthday party. Vila Zelina is a Lithuanian community and was established in 1927. The celebration was to take place at the square. Pity it was a washout. This photo was taken at the square on a sunny day, the usual gathering of old (and not so old) men playing their dominoes. The dominoes table is always occupied, regardless of the time of day.