Lilly Girl

I'm so bored with shopping lately that if I see something I like, I just buy it in multiple colours.  The Lilly Pulitzer online sale was last week, co-inciding with me identifying that I need some light casual Throw-On summer dresses.  So when I saw these at a good price, I hit Purchase.  I am delighted with them all, in particular I like the pattern on the first one - it is maps of Florida and various vacation spots with of course Key West being featured

 

Cole's Peace / The Restaurant Store is closing

Sometimes on a Monday, because I don't work on this day, I will go pick up something nice for Patrick and I for lunch together.  On other Monday's I get myself sushi from Fausto's and he looks after himself (generally a sandwich from Miami Grill).  Over the weekend I mentioned to him that we really should get back to Cole's Peace before it closed for good and that maybe I would get us the nice fancy sandwich we like from there.

While there I snapped a few photos for posterity.  The b&w photos and newspaper articles were pinned to the wall for as long as I remember.  It seems that before Cole's and The Restaurant Store was in this building it was a car dealershop in the 50's and 60's.

I also bought Patrick some wholegrain bread which he loves.  He is going to store it in the freezer and eat it a slice or two at a time over the next while.

Peace out to a great bakery and sandwich cafe.  We will miss you, Cole's Peace!

Photo taken September 18 2023

 

Weekend Eats

 While I try and keep my carbohydrate intake low, if I am going to throw caution to the wind, it is going to be the weekend...

Patrick and I had a lovely date Saturday early evening at Martin's - we shared tapas of shrimp on skewers, tuna takaki, lobster bisque and this beautiful pate country plate.  We both ordered a house wine - Patrick's Pinot Noir was nice but my Cabernet Sauvignon was just so so, I should have gone for the Merlot I think...

On Sunday I took myself and my Chiguana shirt out for a margarita mmmm!

And, ALL the carbs. Eeek.  Pretzel bites with a beer cheese dip.  Brisket mac and cheese to finish me off.

Nope.  I wasn't quite finished.  I came home and had a little slice of Key Lime Pie.

Funny story.  So they come with the little white chocolate disc shaped like a lime.  And for the past 4 years I have been taking off the pie immediately and eating it.  Last week I owned up to Patrick about this and he was just shocked with me.  He thought it was just a decoration/inedible.  Lol.  He said he was mad with me but he was just teasing - he doesn't like white chocolate anyway.

Hair cut...

Cut and Colour by my hairdresser extraordinaire, Lee from Ireland.  Yes, I got about 5 inches chopped off! Makes a difference

1964

On a pure whim I decided to go down to the Key West Theater on Sunday evening and that if they had tickets left for their show I would go! (Okay, so Sunday Night Football is back so I may or may not have been a little bored ahahahahahahaha!!!)

The show was 1964 The Beatles Tribute band and they were just wonderful. An impeccable sound, just like a Beatles record, and all round great entertainment.  Well worth the admission price, I had a lovely night of listening to one of my all time faovorites.

More info:  1964 The Tribute (1964web.com)

Saturday - a fabulous day

As usual, up early and out fishing.  We hit a spot early and hooked a mahi early but lost it just at the last moment before bringing on board.  Heartbreaking.  Looked big too!

Anyway 10 minutes later we caught this guy which we were very happy with.  Brought him home and filleted him for Sunday dinner.

I always get around Patrick by committing to getting up early for fishing (versus me laying in bed drinking coffee while I wake up), that in exchange he buys me a chicken sandwich for lunch.

Popeyes is back in Key West after some time being closed and I am so happy.  I get the spicy sandwich with EXTRA sauce. Mmmm.  Patrick gets the blackened (plain, not spicy)/

And then that evening we had the most beautiful evening in Bel Mare where we shared a bottle of one of our favourites (Orin Swift Locations - CA) and some fabulous food.

Wastin' away in Margaritaville

Jimmy Buffett RIP

Key West, to its credit, pulled out all stops to create a wonderful procession and celebration of Jimmy Buffett's life and legend within about 36 hours of hearing the news. I made plans to potter on downtown on my own and walk in the parade - knowing I was bound to meet with a friend(s) on the way.  Anyway as I was getting ready (putting on some colourful tropical gear), Patrick threw on a hawaiian shirt and said he was going down too.  We went to Halo Rooftop Lounge Bar where we had a great view of the parade.  I drank a margarita (lucky I have developed a taste, okay severe addiction to them, in the last couple of months) and Patrick had a rum runner.  Afterwards we went down to Garbo's Grill for a bite to eat.  Yes, of course, I had a cheeseburger in Paradise.  Then, it was back to Halo for me (Patrick headed on home) where I met up with Isabelle and Wyatt for one more margarita.  It was a lovely fun afternoon and I think a fitting way to spend it to mark the passing of a wonderful Key West troubadour.  

Rest in Paradise Jimmy!

Jimmy Buffett RIP

Key West, to its credit, pulled out all stops to create a wonderful procession and celebration of Jimmy Buffett's life and legend within about 36 hours of hearing the news. I made plans to potter on downtown on my own and walk in the parade - knowing I was bound to meet with a friend(s) on the way.  Anyway as I was getting ready (putting on some colourful tropical gear), Patrick threw on a hawaiian shirt and said he was going down too.  We went to Halo Rooftop Lounge Bar where we had a great view of the parade.  I drank a margarita (lucky I have developed a taste, okay severe addiction to them, in the last couple of months) and Patrick had a rum runner.  Afterwards we went down to Garbo's Grill for a bite to eat.  Yes, of course, I had a cheeseburger in Paradise.  Then, it was back to Halo for me (Patrick headed on home) where I met up with Isabelle and Wyatt for one more margarita.  It was a lovely fun afternoon and I think a fitting way to spend it to mark the passing of a wonderful Key West troubadour.  

Rest in Paradise Jimmy!

Brew Fest

Brew Fest 2023 was as awesome as ever!

This year I made pretzel necklaces with added Oktoberfest badges which went down well.  Because of the sad news about Jimmy Buffett, I wore my Margaritaville shirt

Chiguana

Got my new Chiguana shirt! Buttery soft and lovely & cool.  I love the coral colour....

Check their website out for Key West inspired (veteran designed & owned) leisure wear

www.chiguana.com

August/September specials

In the quiet off peak season, the locals deals continue.  I think I posted before about eating lobster roll in DJ's?  During August, it was half price on Thursdays.  Guess what - there were FIVE Thursday's in August.  Patrick went all 5 times, I went 3/5.

We also dined at Salute on the beach (half price entrees Sun-Thurs) and my girlfriend's and I ate at Santiago's Bodega (half price hot and cold tapas).   On the basis of Santiago's being so good Patrick and I have made a reservation to go there together. Bel Mare and their Summer Specials for Locals are also on our hit list.  Plus, we are very tempted by Atlas Izhakaya and their 25% off. It's early days, I am sure we get one or two more in.  I am also sure I will get at least one more in with the girls too.

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!