Ring those bells!

Jubilation today - Hurricane Maria is back from her holiday and whisked through the house restoring order (in my defence, it was pretty tidy, though I may have skimped slightly on the cleaning). She also made lunch and even left a cottage pie for the weekend. What a  heroine!

This left me free to plough through a few administrative chores - everything takes so long here, the bureaucracy is crippling and gets worse every year. Brazil is awash with scandals about massive bribes paid, cartels formed and money laundered, with the amounts running into billions, and finally some people at a very high level are being arrested and put on trial. Meanwhile, however, the government makes up for cash shortages by squeezing the little people harder and harder - and their methods are extremely effective.

I just love the perfection of this hibiscus bud.