Happy New Year 2026!

Happy New Year! For those of you wondering, why yes, I did mark the new year with my traditional oyster shooter at the Half Shell Raw Bar. It’s a pretty gruesome affair - an oyster, spicy vodka and spicy cocktail sauce. 

But so much fun!!! Recommendation 💯

 

Part Two of Fixing a Vintage WC

 You guys, I did it!!!

Saturday morning I woke up early 6.45/7am ish. I had coffee in bed while two cats and Patrick slept beside me. I then left them in bed (Monty snoring 🤣) and cycled to Strunk for their 8am open.

Above is the part I bought. It is a piece specific for an “Elijer” loo which is what I’ve got. Those two little wings on either side is what differentiates it from other gaskets.

I worked on it for an hour or so: emptying the tank of water, taking the whole thing apart and putting it all back together with this gasket. I also added in steps of testing along the way so I could see if there was a problem before I reached the very end. All tests were pointing in a good direction and I was feeling more and more optimistic.

Well I was so relieved when I was finished and all is good. I dread the day something big happens in that bathroom (for example new toilet required) because one of my fears is that at that point a plumber may need to strip right back to internal pipes and that might mean the end of my cute little 1950s bathroom.

Not much storage in this little bathroom. After doing the work I wondered about buying a little shelf or basket for storage, for the back/top of the toilet. I briefly looked on Amazon and saw nothing…and then I went poking around my closet and I found this little cute pink thing left by the previous owners lol. I think it’s just fine!

Lilly Pulitzer Archival Revival

I love my job! And never more so, than when I recently, got the opportunity to work an evening event for Lilly Pulitzer (yes! LILLY PULITZER) and saw first-hand the launch of their new Archival Revival collection for Spring Summer 2026.

A little (fabric) cocktail napkin from the night

Framed and looking beautiful in my mid 1950's vintage bathroom..

It will forever be a memento of one of the most magical nights I've ever encountered.

And yes, of course, the new collection with their vintage patterns is just perfection.  I cannot wait to try on in the store and choose something lovely for myself (I have some favourites picked already!)

More DIY…

 Maybe I just throw in the towel and rename this blog a home diy blog??

The latest project is the 1953 toilet in my bathroom has started leaking (and wasting) water from the tank into the bowl.

First issue became apparent pretty quickly..the screw and bolts holding the tank on were completely corroded. I tried some rust blaster on them over night: nothing. I moved on to trying to hacksaw them off - a futile exercise. So I brought in the big guns and borrowed an angle grinder from my old boss. This did the job in literal seconds, and boy, did I feel tough using the angle grinder. I also felt a little bit like the girl from Flashdance so that was fun.

In the middle of the hideousness…

You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs - my mantra

Ha! And I thought I could get through this screw with a hacksaw 🤣🤣

Well. As much as I could tell you I got it all back together and all is perfect now. Sadly there is still the leak. I think I need to put in a different kind of gasket - remember this is a vintage toilet!! So I have this ordered on Amazon and will take care of this at the weekend.

Fingers crossed for me please!! 🙏 

Home Repairs (Never Ending)

 Part ?/?? of the never ending story of "Things Always Break in Key West"  also entitled "Lol - you have to laugh or else you will cry".

1.Our shed roof has been slowly and steadily getting leakier over the last year or so.  We have had one or two roofing companies out to look at it, and they really were not keen on taking it on.  For two reasons.  Firstly, it is too small of a job.  These are companies that do big house roofing jobs. Secondly, our shed is too old and vintage (yay! Of course I love hearing that lol).

So! We took the job on ourselves.  Our good friend, Bill Who Knows Everything, advised us to look into elastomeric paint.  It wasn't cheap but we invested in enough for two coats.  We first did a layer of white paint (primer) and then the elastomeric paint.  It was a tough enough job but we got it done between us. I also used some crack and gap filler on the inside on any visible holes on the inside.  And now...now we wait for a big Key West rainy day.

2. One of the poles holding up the bimini cover on our boat became detached.  We went looking for a particular part in West Marine and it appears to not exist.  We managed to locate something that I thought might do and got in installed.  Miraculously, it appears to be holding.  Fingers crossed.

Amy hanging with Kenny Chesney

I MET KENNY CHESNEY!!

And he was so incredibly nice, that I need a new word for nice to describe him properly.  Famous, or not, I think he might just have been one of the most down to earth and genuine people, I have ever met.  So warm, and generous with his time in his conversation with me (I spoke with him about the book he has just written).  At one point he mentioned that "he was working" during the time he was writing the book, "so he wasn't writing the whole time".  "Working"!?!!- yes, we know, recording and touring as a C&W superstar!!! I just love his humility,

 

My sunglasses were really showing all the use they get and were looking very scratched up from the ocean sea salt.  I was going to just buy a new pair but then someone was telling me that I could order new lenses online and replace them myself.

I bought lenses for just $40 and watched a 45 second video on youtube explaining how to click them out and click them back in.  Et voila! Look at them!!!!! 

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Recent bloods showed I am mildly anaemic so I ordered a big load of supplements including this liquid iron and hopefully will see results soon.  Reason I got my bloods done was that last two times that I went to donate blood they would not take it because my iron was slightly low and my blood pressure was VERY low.  

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Vacation Time!

We went to Mexico with our friends!  It was a wonderful 6 days of relaxation, eating and drinking,  There are many vacations where I have "done a lot more" and "seen a lot more" but this was one where we all just needed to do nothing as much as possible. And it was fantastic!

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On the way home, Patrick bought a bottle of tequila in the airport.  I made a simple syrup and am enjoying a margarita once a week. Every time he sees me making the drink he says "best husband award to Patrick" ahahahahahahah