I'm back at Bookcrossing!

Years ago I used to actively "bookcross". This means that I registered books on the bookcrossing website and then leave them in public places for other readers to find them and also track them on bookcrossing.com if they wanted to.

I'm clearing out my shelves of books at the moment. To my shame, I have loads of books sitting on my shelves that I have never read.

So......

I'm registering them on the bookcrossing website and then giving them to charity (thrift) shops or leaving them in cafes and other places.

So far I've got rid of 15 books with plenty more to go.  Nobody has registered that they have found any of my books......watch this space!

Click here if you would like to go hunting books in your neighbourhood. Happy Bookcrossing!

What I've been getting up to......

Saturday morning was chilled we took Bones out for a walk around Ranelagh and did a few chores along the way.

I saw Pigsy's latest piece in the flesh on the wall on Saturday.  OMG, this picture does not do it justice, the colours pop way more than in this photo. Click here to read all about the painting.

Sunday night was mid-Summer drinks for Barry & Elsie's house warming. What a house!

Have a look at their house being the feature of this FBD Insurance ad!

On Sunday, I kept it keto by doing brunch in Pot Bellied Pig - and Bones came along too......

Look how good he was!

Keto resources from the library

Since I returned from hols I have been back on a strict Keto diet. It was definitely needed as I think I would have turned in to a Key Lime Pie if I ate any more!!

As well as eating keto, I am drinking LOADS water. The minute I get up I drink 2 huge big glasses of water and this really sets me off on good drinking habits for the day.

Here's a selection of books that I got from the library. They have a huge selection on the online catalogue and this lot that I selected are really good with loads of excellent recipes.

If you are on the ketogenic diet, have a look in your library to see what you can borrow rather than buy!

 

 

"Keto Living Day by Day" has a foreward by Dr Andreas Eenfeldt of Diet Doctor.

Since starting back eating Keto, I've been having the most amazing sleeps. I am sleeping for 8 hrs solid and waking so refreshed for the day ahead.

If you are on keto, what benefits do you experience?!

What we did in Key West....

So aside from visiting the awesome bars and restaurants, chilling by the pool and hanging out at the beach here's what we got up to on our recent visit to Key West.

Hemingway House
I reckon I have visited Hemingway's House on Whitehead Street about 5 times and every time I visit I see or hear something different. And I love seeing those 6 toed cats!

This is where some of the the cat's live - in a cat size replica of the Hemingway House!

Truman's Little White House
President Truman seemed like a great character. He spent a lot of his presidency down in Key West, enjoyed the odd game of cards (every night) and started each day with a shot of Old Grandad, as per doctors orders to start his heart!
To hear lots more about President Truman, be sure and visit the Little White House.

Custom House Museum
Custom House has loads of great exhibitions (we especially enjoyed "You don't know Dick" which was running while we were there) and also has a really great gift shop. I bought bamboo reusable straws and also cute metal starfish food picks.

Butterfly Museum
I had heard how good the Butterfly museum was, so I was looking forward to visiting it. It was very relaxing and tranquil and I enjoyed seeing all of the butterflies and also the two resident flamingo's Scarlett and Rhett!!

Happy Pride month! 
I am delighted to present "Duval Flag" by Pigsy. “Duval Flag”  (410mm W x 920mm H)  (16” Wide x  36”) Mixed Media On Canvas Key West Business Guild are selling raffle tickets for a chance to win this piece "Duval Flag" which Pigsy painted on a recent trip to KW. It includes the famous sea to sea rainbow flag flying high and is painted in his usual expressionist style. It is an uplifting joyful piece that highlights the Key West motto of One Human Family. It will be on view during the week in the Key West Business Guild. Tickets are available, plus the painting is on display: *In the Business Guild, 808 Duval Street right now!

*At the Business Guild luncheon on Wednesday at the Marriott Beachside

*At the street fair on Saturday

Pigsy's curator Kemp has this to say about "Duval Flag": 

"While PIGSY was vacationing in Key West the overall vibe of the islands ethos of “One Human Family” compelled him to compulsively start painting. The result is an inspired flow of expressionism which helped him to subconsciously recall the sea to sea rainbow flag which was 1.25 miles long and ran along Duval Street from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean created by the designer Gilbert Baker (happy image on the bike exploring his creation) who passed away in 2017. The island created a sense of creative happiness which manifested itself in the positive message that,  all people are created equal.

The painting reflects the joyous pride that one can feel when prejudice and judgement of other people’s decisions are discarded and a free positive happy all for one, one for all approach to everyday life is embraced in a fair inclusive way, as it is with Key West which has embraced the motto “One Human Family”. The butterflies , flowers and smile on Gilbert’s Face show happiness and freedom along with pride and gives us a sense that the world is a brighter place with rainbows in it, along with an acceptance of diversity".

By Kemp

Farmer Browns with Alice

I love a good brunch and what I love even more at a brunch is a good natter with a great friend. So I was happy that Alice suggested we meet up.

We went to Rathmines with no plan of where we would go. I was thinking Pot Bellied Pig, Stella Diner or even Elephant & Castle for wings.

But then as I looked down the road, I hit upon it: "Farmer Browns". Alice was amenable to this so off we went to the restaurant where we got a table straight away.

Alice was driving so she had a Coke Zero. I was not driving so I ordered a prosecco......sure it was a Bank Holiday, so why not!

We both had burgers. Alice had the Massey with onion rings on it while mine had roasted red peppers. They were really tasty along with potato chips which were very good too.

 

A lovely fun morning and a nice meet up with a friend.

Happy Bank Holiday weekend from Dublin!

It's the "little" things that are special and make me happy. 

I made myself a cup of Little's Irish cream flavour coffee. What a gorgeous smell when I opened the jar and it tastes great too. Seemingly only 4 cals a cup...wonder how many carbs?!

Also using my new KW coasters which I got in the gift shop of the Custom House on the last day of my trip. I love them - don't they have a vintage look about them?

 

I bought my cute little jar of Little's coffee in Meadows and Byrne in Dun Laoghaire

Happy Hour in Key West

Alonzo's Happy Hour used to be a big favourite of mine, however, on my recent trip to Key West we didn't do happy hour there and actually ended up doing very few happy hours during the whole trip.

One place that we ended up doing happy hour at (twice) was Half Shell Raw Bar and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.  I've done HH at the bar here a good few times (sampled their 50c oysters - but I don't know if they still run this deal) and always enjoyed it - however that was before I liked Buffalo Shrimp.

Now I love Buffalo shrimp so I lapped up their HH while sitting at one of their bench tables in the super atmospheric main dining area which is right out at the water on the bight. We also ordered beer steamed shrimp, conch and lots more. With friendly staff, great food and good drinks there is nothing to not like this place!

A couple of afternoons we ended up at First Flight on Whitehead Street during HH as it was convenient to the attractions we had just visited (Little White House and Custom House museum). They do great HH drinks and Ciaran partook in tasty Margarita's both days. On one of the days we sampled a sliders option from the HH menu. Two beef sliders with cheese for $7. Tasty little bites but I think Ciaran may have eaten his in two bites and thought it was small. I thought it was perfect!

First Flight was where Kelly's formerly was (previously owned by actress Kelly McGillis) and it is a historical building as it was the original Pan Am office in Key West. See here for further info.

On this Key West trip I visited The Saint Hotel on Eaton Street for Happy Hour as I heard really good things about their cocktails and also their HH burger which is raved about. Their happy hour uniquely starts at 4.17pm as this their address! Very clever indeed!! 

The Burgundy Bar is to the right as you enter the lobby and it is very salubrious and darkly lit, the perfect place for a special date.

The cocktail list is very cool - it is based on the 7 deadly sins. I had the "Wrath" which was a rum based cocktail which was very good indeed and was 40% off for Happy Hour. The cocktails here are top notch as they use top shelf liquors which always makes me a fan!

After most Happy Hours we ended up back in The Green Parrot listening to brilliant live music. This is a great chilled out joint full of locals and tourists having a great time. I reckon it is my favourite bar......I think it may also have a happy hour but am not sure what time it is on for and because they don't do food it is just drinks specials.