Time out

Activity on the blog has slowed right down the last few weeks. It's the holiday season. The grandchildren have been staying and it has been very hot. My study is at the top of our house. It is like an oven during the day-too hot to occupy. Our large house is open plan-it even has a large atrium-like opening from the lower kitchen family area upto upper levels so airconditioning is not an option. We have installed an aircon unit in the master bedroom in the past 12 months and it has been earning its keep for January but the rest of the house has been getting very hot. We really have only had a couple of day's relief from the heat since Christmas Eve and more very high temperatures are forecast for next week. We are all adjusting. A forecast of 30ºC (86ºF) sounds like a cooler day now.
Our two old cats have not been enjoying the heat. I have been putting a fan on where they are sleeping and they appreciate that.
My photography has been restricted to my early morning walks although I did take some good photos of my granddaughters this week which I then accidentally deleted. 
So in the heat of a late evening I'm posting two portraits from the last two weeks. Above Phoebe. She is one of my favourite subjects and this is one of my favourite shots of her. Taken with the Leica Q by crawling on my belly towards her.
Below - The dawn surfer. I see this guy most mornings summer and winter. He always pulls up in his large local council truck at the same spot . He offloads his surfboard and he's soon into the waves. Then a quick shower and change and he's off to work. I took this one with the Leica XV which I took out with me last week because I thought that I was not using it enough. A surfeit of Leicas.