Escape to the Keys

 Going to the Keys is an exotic staycation in the world of Covid where we pretend we are somewhere exotic, but comfortable enough with our surroundings to relax. Key Largo was our island and vintage Rock Reef Resort (motel)our home base. Arriving on a Sunday ensured less traffic and few guests. The trip down was quiet and there were few people at any of our stops along the way. 

Sunset view from our bungalow

Our beachfront bungalow was rustic pine with no drywall or finishes. We had a full basic kitchen and outdoor grill, along with a front porch and swing. Steps away was our beach and tiki hut for watching sunsets, fish, boats, and the world go by.

Turk surveys the islands, drink in hand

We brought bikes and kayaks to play. Keys have a great bike trail throughout which is fun to ride. The Turk found fresh fish each night and prepared amazing dinners.

Chef is working it!

Scallops, snapper, grilled veggies

Informative!

 

One of the locals we should not feed

Biker Turk

Morning yoga

We do have a few favorite treats when we visit Key Largo area.  Keys Brewery in Islamorada is fun with their outdoor beer garden and great beer selections. Small boutiques and galleries sit around the corner. And we always must get chocolate and almond croissants from Cafe Moka. Really the best we've found in Florida.

What's in the box!?

Soooo good we ate there twice!

We found a local Cuban diner near Cafe Moka and HAD to get some Cuban coffee and black beans and rice (to carry around with us in case we got hungry). Lots of old Cuban men hanging out to show we were in for good Cuban food. And it was! 

Being Cuban - not hard for the Turk

 Morning was always fun. No one was around to 'disturb' our beach and tiki hut wakeup coffee.  Sunrise, on the other side of the Key, was still beautiful.

 

I see by the window light, the Turk is up

Sunrise is just as colorful as sunset!

ya, sun is up and so am I, kind of

Evening had its own set of activities every night starting with sunset. The moon was almost full and made sure we knew about it.

More sunsets

 

Moonlit Turk

hello moon!

ya, its a tiki bar boat!

 

Being in our 'private resort' was indeed a respite from Covid, elections and daily stress. I felt completely different than I have been feeling and I realized, it was the feeling of RELAXATION!!! 

Thank you Keys!!

What To Do With Our Covid Time....the YARD!

 It has been 7 months since our lives changed and daily infection/death counts became our norm. We now have masks for all occasions and they are a fun and appreciated gift for any reason. We have chosen to be careful with our lifestyle in the world of Covid while many others, including family members, are not.  I train clients and want to protect them. The parental units are in their mid 80s and are certainly vulnerable - no matter what Fox and Rush Limbaugh say. So we are safe for all of them first.

With the added time, and no travel this year, I've done almost daily outdoor workouts (through the summer). We've worked on our 'to do' list of fixes and updates in the house - though that list regenerates.  And I finally had time to figure out how to change the front yard landscape.  My goal was to reduce the amount of grass and maintenance, and even water consumption.

 

Sort of 'before' with some grass already removed

First I hired a landscape designer who created a plan around my requirements - must be able to put the Turk's fruit trees in the yard without looking weird, use as many edible plants as we can, have some color and a path from the front walk to the side gate since we'd worn that path already.

A design was drawn and of course I modified it as I discovered the Turk had more fruit trees than I thought, and as I realized the cost of plants.  The Turk got to work digging out the old shrubs and odd plants we'd stuck in the ground over the past 12 years.  Then he started digging up grass, which included mostly weeds in the area we were changing.  We hired a handyman to revise our sprinkler system so the new plantings could drink. The Turk jumped in to help in this process though I'm not sure it was requested.

 

 

 

 

 

Turk busy digging up plants and spreading dirt 

 

 

Some plants in, others milling around looking for a spot

Things are lining up

Then we addressed the sandy soil.  Lowe's had a big sale on planting soil and the Turk was on it.  There was a dirt shuffle between his vegetable garden and the front yard, and in the end every place got good dirt.

Then came the search for plants.  Because it was the end of the summer, and everyone else had spent their summer sequestered at their home doing projects, the available plants were few and small, or old and ragged.  No matter to me! Give me your tired, your leggy plants for reduced prices!  And that is how it went. 

The all-important planting of the fig tree! a gift from a client

 

Two weeks of laying a stone path, subdividing overgrown tired leftover plants, discovering amaryllis bulbs everywhere I dug, digging holes to plant and then changing locations, and spreading five cubic yards of pine bark mulch (2 1/2 pickup trucks full) was a full body workout.  We now have a fig tree, avocado tree and two papaya trees in our front yard, alongside pineapples, rosemary and maybe some renegade tomatoes who's seeds came with the dirt transfer. 

After - plants just starting their new lives

 

first month of growth - things grow FAST in Florida

I wondered how long it would take these mini plants to get to the size that the landscaper had recommended we purchase.  In just two weeks, most of these plants have grown significantly - probably happy to be out of their old pots.  It will be an adventure to see the changes over the next year or two and I'm sure I will have to move a few things around.  But in the meantime, I appreciate the fun and hard work we put into our outdoor Covid project!

 

 

 

One month of growth

Coreopsis full of bees!

Porch pots are blooming!

Go to Cape Breton and Find.....Family?

Main Street Pictou Nova Scotia

 I visited Cape Breton Island knowing that my Gr Grandmother Mary MacDonald, who brought the family to the US through Boston, was from there. My Grandfather Gus Shorten was born in nearby Pictou. Via some research on Ancestry, I found earlier generations were all from this area. Something was up and I wanted to find out. Why did we know so little?

While visiting the Judique area (south of Port Hood), we stopped in the local museum which is largely the central location for local family history.  The docent immediately sat down with me to look over my compiled family tree.  She listened intently and then jumped up and gathered several books. Opening each to specific pages, she showed me annotations of the very people I had described. She looked at me and said, "you are very much a part of this community. Even more than I am!". 

After much conversation, the docent suggested that our family could have come over from Isle of Eigg Scotland on the ship Dunkeld in 1700's as Angus MacDonald (1710's - 1818). This Angus is considered a 'Pioneer' meaning an original Scot settler to the area. 

the story of Pioneer Angus MacDonald

One of his children, Donald MacDonald (you can't make this stuff up) married Mary Sara MacMaster.  She brings in the family who built 'the' stone house on the hill.

Mary Sara MacMaster's brother Red John of Creignish built this house.

Recently renovated home is back in the MacMaster family

The museum docent introduced me to Peggy from the MacMaster clan as my cousin from this connection.  Peggy Burke from Creignish is a talented weaver and comes from a family of music and dance.  Her shop is the old community store that her father ran for his uncle when the uncle broke his legs falling from the barn.

cousin Peggy from MacMaster clan - a weaver who made this MacDonald tartan

writeup of the stone house with original photo

Peggy's store, the old community store

Donald and Mary Sara had children, one of whom was Angus MacDonald (1818-1909) who married Jane Cameron from Judique. Her father, Daniel Cameron, came from Lochaber Scotland.

Angus and Jane were married in Mabou Catholic Church 1843. 

The Mabou Catholic Church today

clan tartans at the alter

clan tartans on each column, the altar, and entrance of the church

signs in Gaelic and English

One of Angus and Jane's children was named, wait for it....Angus MacDonald (1852-1903), born and buried in Judique.  He married Mary Ann MacDonald -probably her maiden name (1866-1938).  She was the community's midwife and is so recognized on her modern gravestone.  Her husband Angus named their community Centennial. Today, the road where the community and school are located is called Centennial Road between Judique and Creignish.

Angus McD's hand carved stone in Judique

The Centennial MacDonalds had 7 children, one of whom is Great Grandma Mary Jane MacDonald (1889 - 1985). She was born in nearby Long Point, next to Creignish, and died in Buffalo. Her siblings: John (1890-1955?) Flora (1893-1964) Alexander (1894-1961) Daniel (1897-1953) Catherine (1898-1942) Malcolm Alexander/Sandy (19??-1994).

Mary Jane MacDonald's birthtown

In a book at the museum, we read about what it was like going to school in Centennial.

Mary Jane MacDonald married Frederick Charles Shorten (1884-1938) who was born in Gibraltar when his British Army father was stationed there. The father, John Charles Shorten (1851-1924) was born in London of Irish parents and immigrated to Canada, likely through Halifax where he met his wife Alice Walsh (1850-1914) who was born in Salmon River Nova Scotia. Alice's father Patrick was from Newfoundland. 

one of the plants in New Glasgow

Mary Jane and Frederick Charles Shorten probably lived in Pictou or New Glasgow next door.  Frederick Charles was a steelworker and the plants are/were in New Glasgow which is minutes away.  Angus Shorten (grandpa) was born in Pictou - perhaps this is where the hospital was if they didnt actually live there. 
Frederick Charles died young of typhoid and is buried in a New  Glasgow cemetery.

Frederick Charles Shorten's gravestone in New Glasgow Irish cemetery near St. John Baptist church.

Mary had six children: John (Jack), Angus, Alice, Florence, Mary (Mamie), Lillian.  Mary found herself without a husband to support them, so she moved the family back up to the Centennial area where family could care for her kids while she went to Boston to work as a maid for a doctor and his family in Back Bay.  As she made enough money to send for a child, she did, until all joined her. They moved to Buffalo, likely due to job opportunities for the boys in the factories.

the backbay home where Mary MacDonald Shorten worked as a housekeeper