Welcome guests

A reasonably early start from Rio today to meet up with some young friends at the golf club in the hills. Like us, they were keen to get away from the suffocating heat at sea level. Recently ordained in the Anglican church, Mark has received quite a tough posting to a small town between here and Rio, with high crime levels. It’s also a long way from the sea breezes, so to say they are sweating it out would be an understatement.
 
Up here, the temperature has been delightful. Warm enough for Jess to swim, while Mark and HH bashed a few balls on the practice round, before we came back to the house for a somewhat chaotic late lunch. At which point another welcome visitor appeared - the Planalto Hermit, above, and stuck around long enough for me to get a few shots. He’s my favourite humming bird, I love his elegant buff and white and his curved shape – although usually the curve is downwards, not upwards.

Later, there was even some rain, which started as we were walking Kayla and surveying some of the damage done by the floods four years ago. A quiet evening by the fire – no, no fire tonight. Just a nice, quiet evening.