Some upgrades to the lanai...

 Remember this photo?

Well, guess what..that carpet ended up getting wet from the rain and being a bit stinky and moldy. 

So! I have ordered a proper "outdoor" rug:

It is due to arrive this evening before 9pm so as soon as we have it set up I will post a pic here!

Oh and looking at that photo, we acually have some different furniture now also.  Our old landlady offered us this super comfortable and nice looking day bed which we gladly accepted.

There we go now!

Black algae and how to get rid of it

We recently had a bad outbreak of black algae in the pool. Black algae is unfortunately one of the hardest to get rid of and while we had done a treatment, just before we went to Islamorada recently, it had not impacted it at all.

With Patrick (the primary pool user) going to Chicago, we decided that those would be good days to really try the tackle the problem.

If you zoom in you can see some of the algae but these photos do not show the true story, it was so much worse than these pictures look like.

I bought this in our local pool shop. Based on the instructions on the internet and the back of it I decided I'd be using 1/2 - 3/4 of the container all in one go. A massive dose! The pool could not be used whatsoever during the period of treatment.

Saturday: we shocked the pool (one packet), added chlorine puck as normal and brushed the pool morning and evening.

Sunday: brushed the pool. Again, twice. And vigorously.

Monday: first swept the pool - really vigorously so as to agitate the algae. Then added the treatment (pictured). Brushed in the evening (vigorously).

Tuesday: Brushed the pool in the morning. Another vigorous brush in the evening and then added TWO packets of shock to the pool.

Wednesday: morning and evening brushing. One packet of shock

I have continued with the two brushings daily and this is the result now. I will however brush a little less vigorously going forward - I can see it is affecting the pool liner/I don't want to do more damage, just want to manage the algae! That being said, definitely we have an improvement.

 

Catch up

I've been remiss in my blog posts for two weeks or so :( Here is a little catch up of what I can remember!

 

Had a lovely Sunday morning brunch with our "Ladies who Brunch" gang.  One or two new people added so lots of good conversation.  Afterwards we went to Vino's on Duval Street (which is actually owned by one of the brunchers!) and had some bubbles so that was a really nice end to the day.

Patrick and I went out on a beautiful sunset sail with Barefoot Billy's.  I cannot recommend them enough!  A lovely friendly crew with nice food and drink offerings - they had the biggest BOAT OF SUSHI I'd ever seen in my life.

Oh dear :(((((((

Poor Buddy fell into the pool!  Patrick yelled and jumped in after her.  By the time I made it out all I caught was him scooping this little ball of wet black fur out.  She ran away and straight under the bed completely petrified and traumatised.  For a few days after she refused to go near the pool.  The only good outcome is that we know She Can Swim. 

Locals specials in August and September

Things have quieted down in Key West - it is very hot and we don't have as many visitors.  Many places are offering local incentives and thanks.  I had a half price lobster roll with Isabelle last week and with Patrick this week.  Patrick and I have made a date to have another one next week.  This offer is just for Thursdays and just for August. We also had a lovely half off entrees dinner on the beach at Salute. I will keep you posted as we go through the next few weeks.

That's it! That's all I can recall.  Bye for now!

Birthday visit for my mother

 It was my mam's birthday last week and Lydia went home to visit with the baby.  The baby lol! She is about 18 months old now.

 I requested this photo specifically of Leia standing in front of the family home.  This was the best Lyd could get.  Little grumpy face....

...because she just wanted to run!

She had a lovely time playing in the front and back garden.  And of course with the Phoenix Park being so close.  They visited Dublin Zoo in the park which she absolutely loved! 

Oppenheimer versus Barbie

 So funny, you wait ages for a good film and then two come along at once.  

First up! Oppenheimer.  I went to see this in the Tropic (yay!) with Patrick, and simply put, I thought it was exceptional.  Thought provoking and beautiful.  Entertaining, yet challenging.  And of course no surprise, I thought Cillian Murphy was just wonderful, I am tagging him now for the oscar.

Barbie.  Well, I have to say that I had the most wonderful evening going to see this with my Barbies, or "Squad" as we like to call ourselves.  We all dressed up and (see pic below) didn't we look great??? Afterwards we retired to The Saint for appetizers, cocktails and movie discussion.  I really, really enjoyed Barbie. But I guess I was not as wowed with it as a I thought it would be? Like it was really beautiful, stylistically and thematically.  I thought the mother daughter storyline was just gorgeous.  And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED America Ferrara's inspirational monologue.  And everything resonated with me (ugh! unfortunately).  But I came out of the cinema just  a little underwhelmed.  But....now as I type...I am feeling it more and more.  Hmmm.  Imagine that.

In summary, as you've guessed, my favoured film was Oppenheimer. 

....but my favourite photos are Barbie! Lol