Art during Quarantine

During these crazy pandemic times I am turning to lots of things to help me through.  You know, important things like wine, vodka, key lime pie :)
And art.

I am seeing and hearing about lots of wonderful things people are doing here in Key West.  Even simple things like facemasks (we are all wearing them!), local artists are doing fantastically creative things with them.

How simply beautiful are these masks hand-painted by Rick Worth.

Back home in Ireland I am hearing about an AWESOME project in the works, by a woman, for women, in the Gaeltacht area of Connemara.  I can't say too much about it right now, but watch this space, as soon as I can share more with you I will!

And then of course there is my guy, Irish artist Pigsy.  

He just never stops.  He has just sold this amaaaazing large piece to a couple in Dublin who I am going to assume have a very big wall and house to showcase it.  It is large in size and large in expression.  "Phoenix Rising" it is called and I just adore it.

And then he also has been working on this fun little commission of a dinosaur head.  

Such a wonderful energy to his work...

"Rex the protector" is a work in progress and I am looking forward to seeing the final piece.

Support Art!

If you would like a piece from Pigsy in YOUR LIFE but your budget doesn't quite align with his :) Then how about a print?  They are available from designyard.ie aaaaaand during these pandemic times if you use the code "SupportArtists" you get 10% off.

And finally! If you have 10 minutes spare sit yourself down with the family and check out this thought invoking, yet feel good little film about Pigsy, some of his struggles in the past, and where he is now.

Featured at the London Irish, Bristol, Galway and Cork film festivals.
Click here to view this award winning documentary film.

Letter from Key West, May 23 2020

1,635,836 covid cases in USA
96,370 covid deaths in USA

Key West continues to open up - restaurants are now at 50% capacity, the check point will be lifted on June 1 and tourists can come and stay in accomodations at 50% capacity.

We had neighbours over last night, and amongst lots of other things the virus in Key West was a topic.  The general consensus was to enjoy the next week and a half and be prepared to bunker back in again when the visitors come.

It is hard to see how the spread of the virus can be controlled in a tourist/partying area like Duval Street.  People come to Key West to socialize in the bars, enjoy great alcoholic drinks, listen to music, make new friends, talk into ears, congregate in groups etc etc etc....how do you get drunk people to practice proper social distancing?? Although, the bars are not open yet, only those that serve food.  Maybe that is the answer - no standing-only type of establishments, table service only.  Maybe that sets the tone and the parameters??

On a nicer note, it was a really lovely evening.  Our neighbours are the best and have been beyond helpful to us recently with flat tyres on the jeep!!! Yes flat tyres - two!! B and his young sons are car crazy and always tinkering on their own, but still, what they did for us was above and beyond.  So this little get together was a thank you for that.

Not pictured is the hummus, guac, salsa and chips. And key lime pie! And beer.

We started with rum and coconuts (from the garden, cut down by Patrick).  How cute do they look with a bamboo straw?!

And then Ciproskas by moi.  Which co-incidentally was one of my very first blog posts back in March 2012! A recipe of how to make a "caiproska" - spelling seems to have changed in my mind over the last 8 years lol!

Letter from Key West, May 19 2020 - June 1 reopening

Well it is official.  The checkpoints are being removed, and The Keys will be open on June 1.  Which means that come June 1, Key West is open for non residents i.e. tourists to come visit.

Restaurants are allowed serve diners inhouse at 50% capacity.  Bars - if you are also a fully functioning kitchen/restaurant then you are allowed open as per the restaurant rule.  If no food, bars are not mandated to open (yet?).  Hotel rooms/accommodations/lodgings are allowed open and have guests stay, at 50% capacity.

What can I say?  Like my previous post, I'm nervous. I'm anxious that just one asymptomatic carrier will kickstart the spread of the virus through our little community.  We have been incredibly lucky and our numbers are so, so low currently.  I am worried that is about to change.

But what is the alternative?  We cannot stay holed up forever. Would it be any better in another month?  I cannot say.  What I can say is that in one month the tourist season is practically over for Key West and unemployed service industry workers would then be looking at a lean few months until October for Fantasy Fest.  IF Fantasy Fest goes ahead?  Who knows at this point what is going to happen.

What I do know is what I can control.
Practice excellent social distancing, wear my mask at all times in public, wash my hands, wash my hands, wash my hands.

Stay well friends.

Just a perfect day....

Yesterday (Saturday) was a day, that will make my heart sing for many days and weeks to come

- We were on the boat at 9.15am and I ate a breakfast of English muffin and coffee on the water.  Is there anything better
- Patrick had an amazing morning of fishing.  Including the fish monster pictured below!
- We enjoyed a really lovely early afternoon in the back yard and the house.  We had a fab cold lunch of Norwegian smoked salmon, Italian prosciutto, Spanish sausage and Irish cheese.
- I may or may not have had a vodka screwdriver with my lunch (of course I did). And we had some squares of key lime pie chocolate for dessert.
- Patrick went grocery shopping and came back with 4 bottles of our favourite Cabernet Sauvignon that were on special
- We faffed around and had fun in the house and yard for the afternoon
- I had an outdoor shower.  Yes, I know, an every day occurrence.  And one, that will never not be, an awesome novelty experience
- Back we headed to the boat at around 4pm.  We went for a massive spin all around the island and I had my famous "goofy [aka really happy]" smile on my face the whole way
- We went for dinner in Dante's and it was fabulous - had the seafood sampler of oysters, shrimp and crab claws
- Went back out on the boat and did some evening fishing.  Patrick caught another fish monster.  Saw a beautiful sunset
- Home and chilled for the evening.
- Ate some key lime pie for a late night treat
- Went to bed absolutely exhausted but so happy.  Slept amazing!

Letter from Key West, May 11 2020

Key West continues to open up.  For residents only! The road blocks are still in place and no tourists can come...yet.

There is talk of non residents from June 1.  I am conflicted.  I get it has to happen. Life on the island as is, is not sustainable, but on the other hand is life itself sustainable by bringing the virus into our midst?

Am I being dramatic?  All I can say, is that after an initial few weeks of anxiety, based on the current numbers of cases in Key West and up the keys (Monroe County) I feel safe.  Looking at the numbers up North (Miami eek) scares me.

Anyway, on a nicer note, as noted, Key West continues to open up.  Today Shanna Key reopened.  So guess where we went for dinner!

I had the chilli as I ALWAYS do

Patrick got chicken wings which is unusual for him.  He also had two pints of Guinness which is not unusual.

It was a really lovely evening actually.  We must have told our server eleventy seventy times that it was great they were back open.

From there, to here...a post to bring you up to speed

I haven't been blogging much at all in 2020, something that I was slightly regretting and now with the Coronavirus Pandemic, something I am very much regretting.  My twin sister over on her blog has been doing a great job documenting what is going on in Ireland over the last month or so, and I do wish I had been doing the same.

So! This blog post is to record my thoughts and what has been happening for me, over the last few weeks, and then let's see where I go from there - I would hope I would be better at recording things as they happen.  I need to get the sequence of events down in text because honestly, even now, it is all turning into a bit of a blur really.  So this is really just what I "remember", I cannot unfortunately swear to the accuracy of it!

Ok, well first of all let me assure you I was aware of the coronavirus from early January.  I don't live in a total bubble! And I do read a million newspapers online daily, and peruse another million discussion forums etc.  Oh and I get the New Yorker delivered every fortnight lol. And that is not to mention what I pick up from facebook and twitter.

An easy marker for me is St Patrick's day.  Probably about 10 days to two weeks out from the 17th of March, Ireland was starting their fight against coronavirus and as part of that the St Patrick's day weekend celebrations were cancelled (all over Ireland - the biggest parades being Dublin and Cork).  A smart thing to do - a large gathering of people is clearly a magnet for the virus to be spread.  It should be noted that nowhere in the UK (e.g. Manchester) cancelled their Paddy's day parades.  Also the Irish Government cancelled (or banned?) the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland.  They say this was done a little late and still a lot of Italians travelled to Ireland, but at a minimum it did stop the large crowd of spectators crammed in together in the Aviva stadium.

At this point in Key West we really were not feeling, or seeing any impact.  Life was going on as usual and business was as usual.  Town was full, and all bars, restaurants and hotels were all open and operating as normal.

Now moving forward to closer to the 17th of March.  Things still "as usual" in Key West, people talking about coronavirus but very much in the context of "how it was affecting elsewhere".  Me talking about places like Ireland, Italy and Spain.  Other places in the USA being discussed e.g. the nursing home in Washington where there was just utter decimation of the poor resident's lives. RIP. But still nothing about Key West, and at this point no discussion about it even arriving at our door.  I know, I sound naïve, I can't capture in words how insulated one feels down here - one feels very remote to the real world at the best of times, and clearly the same at the worst of times. 

We hosted a St Patrick's day party on the 15th of March.  With hindsight, the optics of that don't look great.  At the time I had no concerns.  Well actually, I did post one post on the facebook post on the party invite page saying if anyone had symptoms to stay away (different wording lol!!)...but important to note that at this point the "the asymptomatic carrier" did not even enter my consciousness.  I tapped elbows with everyone who arrived but there were other people who hugged each other, and definitely we did not stand 6ft/2 metres apart. The coronavirus was one of the biggest topics of conversation, but it was by no means the only one.  One or two people did mention that they were planning to hunker down and stop going out after the party.

So then, this is where things began to ramp up.  I believe on the 16th of March, by order of the Governor of Florida all bars were ordered to be closed and restaurants were to reduce their seating capacity by 50% in order to allow patrons to socially distance while eating.  The city of Key West went one further and ordered all bars and restaurants to close completely on 17th of March (17th of March!! St Patrick's day! Traditionally a BIG day and big holiday period in Key West).  Later during the week it was further ordered that all lodgings/rentals/hotels were to close on the 21st of March.  Thus meaning that by Sunday 22nd March the island should be inhabited by locals only.

Since then everyone has pretty much started and continued to "stay at home" and I think my previous blog post takes up from that point onwards...

Onwards and upwards!  Stay well, stay healthy, and stay positive.  We will get through this.  It is going to take time, how long I do not know, but what I do know is that if we all play our part the quicker it will be.

Oh! On that note about everyone playing their part - yesterday it was widely reported around the world about Ireland's Taoiseach (Prime Minister/leader) Leo Varadkar, who has re-registered with the Irish Medical Council and will be working as a doctor (his previous occupation) for one day a week during this crisis.  Talk about leading by example and being unafraid to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in.  Good man Leo!  I have been the first to criticize our Government in the past but I am extremely proud of how they have managed and guided Ireland during these unprecedented times.