Snap!

Not sure if it was the food, the late night or, just possibly, the beer, but we slept like logs last night. Ronaldo went off to work at 6 a.m. but told Marcia to wait till we woke up. Poor girl, she twiddled her thumbs for quite a while, as I woke so much later than usual (and HH emerged long after she'd gone). Then she didn't want breakfast, or even coffee, but went off to sor tout problems with her car.
We've just sold our old stove and later I went off to deliver it. It was great to be out, the air was so clear, amazing how quickly we've gone from oppressive summer heat and haze to much cooler autumn temperatures. The route was lovely too, up over an old road, still heavily wooded and with big old mansions tucked away among the trees. Once I would have loved to live here, now I wouldn't feel safe, it's too isolated and there's an air of sadness about it, but it's a beautiful drive. Near the top, right opposite a look-out point with wonderful views, stands an abandoned restaurant once owned by a friend of ours. He didn't have it for long and I don't recall why it failed, whether due to its out-of-the-way position or his lack of experience, but fail it did and it has stood empty now for well over twenty years.
I lingered for some photos on the way back, then again at a viewpoint near Leblon and Ipanema, and had fun snapping a photographer filming a young model. There were lots of chores I should probably have been doing at home, but everyone needs a break sometime. In the evening, we had the first rehearsal for readings during a talk on Shakespeare and A Midsummer's Night Dream. I'm a bit sad, because I've been given the voice-over  links between the different sections, rather than any of the excerpts from the play.  Sorry to miss a chance to roll some of those lines off my tongue.