No catnip, no consideration

Well, what can you expect if you plant basil and parsley instead of catnip? The painter moved the pot off the windowsill onto the bench, and She who has now been newly demoted to Cat-With-No-Name wasted no time in expressing her disapproval of my planting policy.

Hectic day - up early to finish a translation, lost track of time and suddenly realised I was very late leaving to pick up a friend at the airport. A bad choice of routes left me admiring views of the lagoon for nearly an hour as the traffic inched round it, so a half-an-hour drive took well over an hour. Road works at the airport so a long detour to get to the terminal. On arrival there, friend naturally nowhere to be seen. Now what? Does she have our phone number? Does she have any Brazilian money? Almost certainly not. What will she do, stay put or make a run for it? And works going on at the terminal too, total confusion everywhere (oh Boy, will we ever be ready for this World Cup)?

Long pow-wows with the information desk (very helpful girls, but in-house communications systems dicey) and shorter and unhelpful contact with the Avianca staff. Eventually, went down a level for another sweep through the arrival hall and spotted her reading her book on Mandela. What a relief! Might have recognised her earlier if I had paused to think that once a redhead, not always a redhead, so the blond lady with long hair pulled back in a bun was not what I was expecting.

Spent a good bit of the afternoon introducing her to the better side of Rio's public health care - some clinics that have been set up around the town - as she was a bit concerned about a swollen leg. We were well looked after and the doctor reassured her that it wasn't a thrombosis from long hours in a plane, but a less alarming circulation problem.

Meal at our local restaurant on the front in the evening. HH and friend stopped off for a gelato on the way home, and I actually forwent the opportunity and headed home to bed - except that I had to water the poor, gasping plants first, so was still doing that when they got back.

Anyway, that's why this blip is a day late - maybe I'll get today's in by midday tomorrow. Maybe.