Key West Jeep Adventures

We had a fun day of adventuring in the Jeep which is officially the best Key West Vehicle Ever.

Okay, so if you read my previous post you will know that Enid was over.  Well, there is nothing that Enid likes more on her last vacation day than going to a yard sale/estate sale before going to the airport for her flight.  On this basis, we got up nice and early and went for our Cuban Coffee and then hit an estate sale on the way home.

And that's where I saw THIS and instantly fell in love with it.  A simple enough, Keysey, rattan/cane/bamboo sofa ......with HAND PAINTED slip covers by the artist Sandford Birdsey.  Just so beautiful.  When I came back home I was telling Patrick all about it and he said to me "you really want it don't you".  I said I really did like it, but I would want him to like it too.  So the two of us jumped into the car and zipped down.  He liked it as well! Woohoo.  We loaded it in to the jeep and away we went.  So happy!

Back home we put our old couch out on the curb and I put free alerts on facebook etc.  It was still there today so I was getting worried that it might not go....but Patrick has JUST texted me to say it is gone so I am thrilled to hear that.

After dropping Enid to the airport we drove out to Mama's Garden Center where we bought this 18 ft MacArthur Palm for our back yard.  It's really tall!!!!  Look at the trunk I am holding to see the height!

Driving home through Key West, Patrick said to me that all these cute girls were smiling at him as he drove past.  Ehh, maybe because you look like a crazy looper with this big yoke hanging out of your jeep???

Flying visit!

About two or three months ago, Alice told me that she would be (relatively) near me in Anna Maria Island/Bradenton and hoped we could meet.  We immediately made arrangements that she would fly down on a Sunday morning during her holiday and back on Tuesday morning.  

The plot thickens when with literally about 24 hours to go before seeing Alice, I suggested to Enid, that she look at flights and "just come".  Well, we knew she was in trouble when she saw the price of flights, there were amaaazing, no getting out of it now!

So Enid came over.  That's pretty much it tbh.  Can't polish it up more than that. Lol.  And we went to the airport to pick up Alice - dressed in the same clothes, Enid standing with Patrick and me hiding (badly) behind a pillar.  And all of us laughing hysterically.  I won't go into details but our little airport prank, while funny, failed miserably!

We packed a ton of activities in over the day and a half/two days.  Went out on the boat to check the crab traps, ate stone crab, drank prosecco while chatting in the pool, key lime pie, beach time, cocktails and lovely food.  We did it all!  And while it was too short of a time before Alice went back to her AM island we were delighted with how much we did and the time spent together.

And that left Enid and I.  What a lovely time we had.  I was going to take some time off work but in the end I just left Enid to her own devices during the day and we got together in the evening.  She went fishing one day and caught a TON which we cooked in the house one evening.  We went to Martin's for wine and tapas which was just great.  And of course Half Shell Raw Bar and Alonzos.  And during the day she did lovely things like museums and the beach.

Oh! We also met every morning before my work for a coffee and chat in Cuban Coffee Queen.  Was so nice!

The time came around too quick too for her leaving too.  But wow.  What a great time spent here.

A few small photos which capture things nicely.

Butter

 Well.  I've been saying it for years and I guess, finally, the world is listening.  Butter is AWESOME. And it appears to be having a moment on twitter - it is currently trending like nobody's business.

Not just any butter mind you.  Specifically, IRISH BUTTER.

When people ask me about Ireland, they also always say to me "rains a lot though doesn't it".  And when I hear this I say two things back to them:

1. Well, yes, but it is a very light rain, a constant drizzle if you will

2. And you know, all that rain, well that is why our grass is so green.  And then the cows eat that lovely green grass and that is why our dairy is so good. 

Dairy i.e. BUTTER!!!!

I just love about butter is that it is so natural, very unprocessed.  It is made of just two ingredients: cream and salt.  You take these two ingredients and you blend/beat/churn them until you get butter.  That's it! Oh and you also get buttermilk when you strain off the liquid around the butter.

Give yourself a treat this weekend! When you are doing your grocery shopping get yourself some pure Irish butter and then for Sunday morning breakfast/lunch have yourself either toast with butter or an english muffin with butter.  And some scrambled eggs with wild (Irish) smoked salmon to really make a meal of it. Heaven on a plate! Heck, why not have a Baileys coffee while you're at it!

Cold, windy weather

There is a small craft weather advisory in place so we won't be going out on the boat this weekend.  Add to that that it is cold and windy, it would be quite miserable out there anyway.  We did nip out at 7am earlier this week to check the crab traps and got a nice little haul of 5 good size ones (one a monster!) so good to have got that done.

So, we have had to arrange other activities for this weekend in place of boating and fishing.  Last night we went to the Tropic Cinema to see a nice little double feature of two 1970s films:  Tarpon and The Key West Picture Show.  Tarpon was lovely and atmospheric with great music (composed by Jimmy Buffett).  It didn't want me to take up Tarpon fishing but it did get me excited to go trolling again and catch a big mahi mahi or Spanish Mackeral or Tuna etc!  The KW Picture Show was as lovely as ever aside from crazy lady behind us with big attention seeking phony laugh....laughing constantly, really loud, at parts that were not funny included.  Lovely.  Lol.  Ah well.

Oh! I should mention, before the movie we went for dinner (ramen) in the newly opened Koijin on Eaton Street. It was excellent! Dinner and a movie. Check us out #grownups 

And today and tomorrow we have the Key West Seafood Festival.  Held in Bayview Park, really near us, it is one of our favourites.  We are going to have our neighbours over at about 5pm for an appetizer of stone crab claws and then walk over to the park.  We will then have dinner there and check out the stalls and the bands playing.  Tomorrow we will probably potter back for lunch,

Monday is MLK day so Patrick is off.  Hopefully we will get out for a spot of fishing in the morning on that day if the weather is better behaved,.

Have a great weekend friends!

New Years Resolutions 2023

 1. Buy secondhand or on sale only (I'm looking at you, Lily Pulitzer)

2. Drink two pints of water every morning when I wake up. And then continue drinking water throughout the day

3.  Eat low (to no) carb

4. Eat quinoa instead of rice

5. Read more

6. Blog more (last year's stats were deplorable!)

7. Beach more 

Bono, Surrender

 Am about 3/4 ways through. I just can't recommend this book enough.

His writing. In just two lines, or one paragraph; the stories he tells/what he captures and conveys, with his words alone, is extraordinary.

Reading it slowly because I keep putting it down.

- Sometimes there's just too much emotion, to feel or read, in one sitting

- I don't want it to end

10/10

Maith thú Bono

Strunk, Ace Hardware, Key West - my saviour!

Remember my tree and my cute little Peanuts characters that I was so delighted with?

Oops!

Well when these little guys were taken down, I am sad to report that they pulled chunks of the paint down with them too. Eek!

Am happy to report that these photos are "afters": after I fixed the problem!!! 

I really wish I had taken a photo before I patched things up....it was rather quite bad!!

And how did I sort this debacle out? 

I took a tiny sample/chip of the pain colour to my local Ace Hardware (Strunk on Eaton) and they matched it for me and gave me a little sample pot for just $6.