Randomness

A tenuous peace exists. The blue and red 'box' - I promise, it used to be a box... a cat box, to be precise... until Romany claimed it - now has new interest for Specs. She used it, I think, about 5 times since we got it. Now that Romany has claimed it, mooshed it, flattened it and generally abused it, she has taken it back. I lie.... she just occupies anywhere he likes to lie, blankie included, just to thwart his comfort. He takes it in good spirits and generally hides out at my feet under the desk. 



A couple of days ago, we were outside and I decided to finally photograph our giant, man-eating ants. These things are huge, by ant standards anyway, at least 1cm in length... make that just under half an inch (I think). We love bees and encourage them as much as possible. When it's really dry outside, we put out honey water for them. That was a lid to a container with honey water. The bees fled. The ants moved in.



Strangely, it's the little ants that are violent here. We have some that calmly walk over you and bite... just because and it burns! They're so insignificant-looking too. Then there are the ones that aggressively attack other creatures. While I was out, I watched a pack of them attacking a maggot (don't ask... it was ugly). Today, there was a lady bug on Jurgis' arm, so we put it on our most aphid-ridden plant. The ants moved in and toppled the bug to the soil below and attacked it. I quickly lifted it out, shook the ants off and it flew away, no doubt cursing us for nearly getting it killed. Horrible things.

I've been busy cutting and sewing. Today, I rescued a dress I wear far too often - it's my only cool, summer dress for around home. It's neckline and arms were starting to fray badly. It looks more respectable now. I've added another season onto its life, I think. The neighbour has gone away for a time. He gave his keys to Jurgis, so he could open windows to air the place and such. He has a perfectly magnificent granite work surface in the kitchen at the perfect height - he's extremely short, so it's totally wasted on him... no fair. I've been cutting fabric on there for the past few days. Then I can sew at my leisure. So far, I have a pair of shorts for Jurgis, a blouse for myself and a pair of slacks. My plan is to use up all the fabric I've been stashing for so long.

I have a quandary though. This fabric is upholstery fabric. In my dreams, it is to go on dining room chairs. I can just see it. But... it's been many years since we've had a dining room, never mind dining room chairs. When we moved here, a room in our house, the big front room, was being rented by an upholsterer. We let him stay for a time, while we found our feet. The fabric was left over from a job he had. Anyhow, I need to do something with it. Jurgis suggested a bed cover. There isn't enough. It's a lot of fabric, but not enough to cover a double bed. Any ideas? I'm looking for inspiration. I was thinking a jacket or coat...



Here is a close up of the fabric. The texture is that of thick linen...




Then there's this other piece. Very textured, softer, thicker. You can see it falls differently. Also winter jacket potential. Also not big enough for the bed. In its original plan, it was meant to be throw pillows. Again, I have no couch, so that's a moot point. Hm... a pair of pants, I wonder.... ?



Here's a close up, so you can see the texture...




I need ideas... inspiration... anything going? What would YOU do?

A sequence of events

Photo taken by Jurgis. The butterfly landed on the soap bubbles as he was doing the dishes. He fished her out and she hung around a while. He then took photos before releasing her into the great outdoors.
I woke up completely and quickly. That, in itself, was unusual. I'm notoriously slow to surface. My first thought was... surely it's 4:30 already? I checked my cell phone, which doubles as an alarm clock - 4:37! I hadn't set the alarm! Strike one. Without an alarm, I'm usually incapable of surfacing on time.

I put the kettle on and turned on the pc. Ack! My internet wouldn't connect. An overwhelmingly sickly smell drew me to the kitchen. The gas had run out (the gas stinks just as the bin empties for some reason) - coffee would be delayed. I shook Jurgis awake. Luckily, he'd asked me to wake him early. He tackled the gas (we keep a spare bin) and internet while I got ready. With coffee and toast going down well, the morning was saved.

The first bus that came along was an inter-municipal (the elusive Santana bus, Tat! *poke*) The smiling lady sharing my stop got on, so I asked the driver if it went my way. Yep, it did. What a ride! Everyone was smiling!  I wish I could take this bus every day. It takes a grand tour of the city. The route was different and thus interesting. I wished I had a camera with me.

Because I took a bus instead of the usual metro, I ended up on the other end of Parque do Juventude, a large, concrete and wannabe-grass walking area. It has some funky buildings. I walked past the building and wadya know.... a library! An honest-to-goodness fancy-schmancy library here in São Paulo!! Sadly, it was only opening later, so I couldn't go in. Not sure when I'll get the chance to see it, as it's far from home and my hours are a little crazy.

I walked over to where my student usually meets me. I had nearly reached my spot when a scruffy man walked past. I think he was homeless, but who knows. What was special about him? The big red nose he was sporting! When he caught someone staring, he'd grin. He was  having a ball. He left many laughs and smiles in his wake.

I spent the rest of my time there being entertained by an impish (he looked like a little imp) hopelessly drunk man who was dancing and clowning around with a huge grin on his face. He was having a ball!

What was that they say about "Smile and the world smiles with you"? Today, the world seemed to be smiling. It was good : )  I felt as though a load had been taken off my shoulders.

And back to the ordinary world...

Romany was caught grinning in his sleep.


The flash woke him up. He stuck his tongue out.... kinda mid-lick, but too lazy to pull it off properly.


The sun was obviously too good and he dozed right off again.

Dry

Dogs! Argh! We're into day 2 of our regional water cut. The pleasant enough,but extreeeeemly slow chap at the water department said it was due to a burst water mains and water would be restored the same day. That was yesterday.

The air is dry. There are pollution warnings out. This photo is from our local news. The airport is on a 'fly only if necessary' due to the pollution.


This photo is from a different news agency. Apparently admissions to hospital have increased by 70% today due to respiratory issues.


Our water system is here complicated. We run off a cistern on the roof. This is because of the city's frequent water cuts. A storage box of water means that, during a cut, we still have water for a while. That's all good and well, but.... unless we go outside to the yard wash tank, which is fed directly from the street, we have no idea the water has been cut or if it's been restored.

Enter dog.

The son of a second-hand sea sausage used the standing space in front of the water tank as his personal WC! Let it be known that I leave home by torch light - It was dark when I checked the status of our water supply!

Apparently, I will have plenty of luck today, especially since I couldn't wash it off.


Does this look like the face of evil terrorism??

Lazy hazy Sunday

The sky is blue today, scattered with fluffs of clouds, drifting along. The air is warm and mellow. I doubt it will stay that way. Chasing the fluffy white clouds are some heavier ones, but we will enjoy this while it's here.

Jorge was outside finishing off my latest chopping board. The photo of him woodworking is from last year when he was making our biltong box, but the scene is virtually identical. Jorge is incredibly good at woodwork and he loves doing it. He's limited here because of the weather and having no under cover place to do it. I have often said he could make a living out of his woodwork, though it has brought in a fair amount of pocket money. The trouble with Jorge is that the moment his hobby starts earning, he loses interest. It's no longer fun then.

The chopping boards get bigger and more decorative with every one he makes. This board must weigh all of 5kg (11lb). It's huge! I'll sneak outside and take a photo in a minute.
The wood is Ipé fumaça, one of the Ipé family. Ipé is a protected tree here. It's rare to see one in the city. Isn't the tree beautiful? We seldom get our wood from dealers, though this piece was bought by Jorge. He usually finds his wood in hoppers or demolition sites.



I had a chuckle at Romany while I was out there. He likes nothing more than to sleep in the sawdust at the foot of Jorge's 'workbench', regardless of the noise of the machinery going on overhead. I went to take a photo and he had no intention of moving an inch. I prodded him with my foot and all I got was a yawn... so a yawn is just what you're getting. Tat said he looked like roadkill. I personally think he looks like he's having a laugh at our expense.



There! I have christened my new chopping board. The bread I baked came out beautifully. We miss 'real' bread here. We only get bread rolls that are crusty and pure air on the inside. This bread is sooo easy to bake. I have the recipe up. It didn't come out too badly considering I don't have bread pans. Excuse me now if you please... I'm off to steal another slice. I worked off a lot of calories kneading that lot, you know ; )

Gosh, this house is lined in sawdust!