In February we got around to cleaning out the larger room on the top floor. This will eventually become the movement studio.

It was packed with stuff. Even more than you see here.

But one skip (dumpster) later:

Movement Studio (pre-renovated)

These are some of the treasures we uncovered: 

Jameson Whiskey Ashtray

For Holy Water

Violin, Top Hat, Bolwer

Headless St. Martin

Lampshades

The Virgin

Ledgers

Open Ledger

A fabulous Beard

Sewing Patterns

Old Adding Maching

The walls are beautiful upstairs, and we are planning to expose them

Done Deal is the Craigslist of Ireland. You can buy and sell just about anything. There’s also Adverts.ie, which is like a cross between Done Deal and Ebay. And because we are on a TIGHT budget for renovating the house and preparing it to become a residency space, I have been scouring these sites like a fiend.

I thought I’d share my best recent finds:

Antique French Wood Burning Stove

Supposedly this is from the 1920s, but could actually be a little older based on the style. This will likely replace our inset stove in the kitchen.

Three Antique Plaster Ceiling Medallions

These came from an incredible townhouse in Dublin. Townhouse might be an understatement. Semi-detached mansion on embassy row might be more apt – the property was bought for 4.5 million euro during the boom (though it sold for “just” 2.5 million after the crash, needing an estimated 1m in repairs!)

Four Belfast Sinks @ 20e Each
These aren’t the actual ones I bought, but it’s pretty much what they look like (photo from www.reclamation-yard.co.uk)

These were such a deal, though I did have to drive to Dundalk for them. That’s 3.5 hours away, almost in Northern Ireland. In the U.S., this won’t get you across most states, but to the Irish I seem mad for making the effort.

It was worth the drive, as I got to scope out an excellent second hand furnishings shop in Drogheda and pick up a flooring sample at an architectural salvage spot in Dublin. They have some reclaimed pine flooring for super cheap, but we need to find out if it is suitable for underfloor heating.

Anyone have opinions on underfloor heating (radiant heat)? We’re planing to go with an Air to Water Heat Pump. It’s like a refrigerator in reverse – it pulls heat out of the air and uses it to heat water to heat the house. Super cool, and very green. It works really well with underfloor heating, which we are considering for the ground floor. The upstairs will have radiators. You can share your thoughts in the comments!

Things I’m currently hunting for on the cheap, in case someone has any leads:

• Antique light fixtures (ceiling & wall)
• Double-ended clawfoot bath tub
• Chesterfield sofa
• Upright piano
• Rugs, large and medium sized
• Bricks or patio pavers

And if you’re feeling generous, we’d love donations of:

• Good condition white sheets (double or single), duvets and towels for our guests.
• Tools and gardening equipment
• Books by Irish writers or visual/performing arts books for the library

In need of restoration, but it has loads of character. We love that it says “Cork” on the face. We do have the missing wood detail on the right side.

Everything I know about clocks I learned from John Joe on the Late Late Toy Show: https://youtu.be/tRMYdzREgAM

November marked the best news we’ve had in ages: We sold my grandparent’s house in CT! This means we have the funds in hand to begin renovating this year. And we’re off to a great start.

We’ve been working with Anthony Kenneally, our engineer, to determine the most functional and cost effective solutions to the multi-faceted renovation-puzzle. It turns out the more walls you move, the more expensive it gets! Of course, our budget isn’t large enough to do everything we would like to just yet, but certainly we should be open by 2017 (fingers crossed)!

Elevations Survey

Anthony had us begin by writing down what our goals were. This first time I did this I missed the mark. I told him what we were planning to do with each room. But what he really wanted us to do was to figure out what we need from the space, functionally, in order to live here happily and for the residency to be a success. As with any creative process, it’s good not to get stuck in one way of seeing things, or be too precious about an idea. Stepping back from the details allowed me to try new configurations that I hadn’t thought of before.

These are some of the points we came up with:

• Big kitchen & cozy living space for us.
• Major upgrade of master bath (clawfoot tub a must!)
• At least four guest rooms and two guest bathrooms (or separate toilet/shower rooms.) One guest room has to be close to our room, in case we have a kid someday.
• A movement studio, visual arts studio, and a space for writers that would overlook the river.
• A dining room that could convert to a classroom or meeting space
• A library and a music room, which in the end are being combined.
• Guest kitchenette
• A private office

Here are our best ideas after inhabiting the space for 6 months:

We are also working on budget allocations. I have spent a lot of time pricing kitchens, appliances, flooring, wallpaper and most recently, windows. Anthony is helping us allocate for plumbing, electricity and the builders. We are looking at installing an air to water heating system, which draws heat from the air outside and uses it to heat water. While more expensive to install, your heating costs are quite low.

The kitchen is planned with the most detail. I think it may even deserve its own post, so that’s all I’ll say for now.

Over the last two weeks I’ve spoken with a few different window joiners. I knew the figures would be shocking – we have 14 windows across the front of the house alone – and have 33 total in the parts of the house we are renovating!!! We may have to wait to replace the third story windows, as the quotes are nearly one-fifth of our total budget…

In the front section, built 1767, we want to honor the heritage of the house by replacing like for like. I love the wood sash windows. They have these little horns on the frame called joggles that originally had something to do with weight and balance, but now are more of a decorative feature. In the rest of the house we will probably use PVC windows to keep costs down.

Typically, a Georgian building would have had 6 over 6 windows (I’m talking number of panes of glass.) In the Victorian era, 1 over 1 (non-bar) became popular as a way of showcasing wealth because the larger sheets of glass cost more than the tiny ones. In our world of double & triple glazing (layers of glass filled with gas for insulation), the opposite holds true. The multiple panes require more work for the joiner, are harder to paint, and the glass for small panes isn’t cheaper.

The Georgian-style 6 over 6 windows are unfortunately off the table, but should we stick with 1 over 1s or maybe do 2 over 2 (centre bar)? The benefit to the 1-over-1s is that if we can’t change all the windows at once, everything will still match

Here are some older photos of the house, along with a more recent one. What do you think?

Victorian times? Looks like 9 panes with the top row blocked out

Still from the Killeagh history video

From the Inventory of National Architectural Heritage

Early December marked our first trip to a live auction. I followed the advice of my cousin Deb, who owns an estate sale company in Connecticut:

1. Know before you go what you are going to bid on and how much you are willing to pay. Don’t go over that amount in the heat of the moment!

2. Don’t bid straight away because if there are no takers the auctioneer may lower the starting price.

While I didn’t get the amazing laundry/kitchen table from Cork’s Presentation Convent, I did come away with a Victorian roll top desk where I sit writing this post. According to the brass plaque on the front, it was presented to the Reverend Mother Teresa on her Golden Jubilee in 1909. I also got a painting of a woman from the 1960s. I’d love to decorate a wall with quirky portraits. As the auction house is only 20 minutes away, I’m sure we’ll be back for more!

We had a lovely, quiet Christmas with Hughie’s family in Wicklow. It was hard to be away from my family in the states, and I’m used to a much more raucous Christmas Eve. In Ireland, Christmas Eve is usually mass, followed by the pub, which closes at midnight. It’s a great time to celebrate briefly with friends, and hopefully you see them again on St. Stephen’s day (the 26^th) which is a holiday here, as well as a big night out in the pubs. Think the night before Thanksgiving in the U.S.

Just after Christmas we got hit hard by Storm Frank. I give him a resounding F*@&! YOU for the flooding we got. We had about two inches of water accumulate quite quickly on the ground floor. Thankfully, our kitchen (aka base of operations) somehow stayed dry. Because we are prepping to renovate, there was no flooring or finished walls to be destroyed. We had to act fast to move some furniture up and out of the water, but largely it was just a big dirty mess. All of the plaster rubble we’ve taken off the walls was on the floor, and is now sodden. The empty boxes and packing materials from unpacking our shipping container got soaked, too.

Water above my ankles in the back garden

The river raging

After getting most of the water out

Water nearly breaching the back door

This was an unprecedented amount of rain and the river rose above its banks, enough to potentially cover the drainpipe from the front of the house. The top of the pipe was blocked as well. The back garden flooded about 8 inches, and no one in Killeagh can imagine that ever happening before. A section of the main road to Cork was closed for two weeks as massive pumps tried to clear the water.

That night I was grateful for good neighbors, who helped bail the water out and unblock the drain. Our neighbor Andrew literally came out from behind the bar, armed with his headlamp, a shovel & a broom to give us a hand. He later hopped in his car and returned with sandbags. I was grateful that this happened before renovations, so we can be prepared should this ever happen again. I was grateful that nothing major was damaged. My heart was breaking for the people in neighboring areas who weren’t so fortunate, who had up to three feet of water destroying their homes and businesses.

I continue to be impressed with the dance community in Ireland. I have been attending an improvisation class at Firkin Crane, in Cork City. Everyone has been warm, but Associate Artist in Residence Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín has been especially welcoming. So has choreographer Amy Prendergast, whom I’m hoping to have some performative adventures with in the future. It feels great to engage with other dancers without the exclusivity of the New York City scene (of course, that’s a blanket statement, but in my personal experience people here just seem so much more approachable – though part of that could be where I am in my life, too.)

Firkin Crane is the major dance presenter in Cork, and I fell in love with Junk Ensemble’s Dusk Ahead when I saw it there in November. Created by twin sisters Megan and Jessica Kennedy, it has just the right amount of mystery, golden lighting, curious song, and intricate movements that combine to make me excited about live performance.

Also in November, I attended the Light Moves Festival of Screendance at Dance Limerick, and got to participate in a brilliant workshop on dance for the camera with instructors Lucy Cash and Marisa Zanotti. I loved being back in an academic frame of mind and the festival did a great job of combining art, practice, and scholarship. Thoughts are percolating now about making a film in the house before we renovate. I’d love to create a dance film installation where the footage is projected onto objects found inside the house. I’d better get going on it, though! More about plans for the house in Thursday’s blog post!

I’m looking forward to learning more about Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh. This Must Be The Place / The Great Island, five weeks of programming from January 26-February 26^th, raises a lot of questions we can relate to:

What is the role of an arts centre in a small town? Is it a place where art can be seen? Or experienced? Or made? Or discussed? Or bought and sold? Is it a community centre? Is it a place for participation? Education? Social interaction? Social development? Is it a civic building? Is it part of the academy? Is it autonomous? Is it inclusive? Exclusive? To whom? Is it part of a community? What community?

I feel like multiplicity is the answer to sustainability for us. We will be an artist’s residency and _______________????

This is at the crux of my New Year’s resolutions. It’s actually always in the back of my mind, regarding both creating a daily routine and art-making. Finding balance is, for me, connected to functioning within some sort of structure. But it’s something I struggle with. Especially when that structure is self-imposed. And if the structure is too strict, I get frustrated. Conversely, if I am not self-disciplined enough, I get annoyed with myself. So hopefully this is the year I figure out how to tailor my day-to-day life into a rhythm that works.

November and December disrupted my rhythm. I was busy. The days grew shorter. My sleep pattern was wonky. But lots of great things happened. And other things – like this blog — fell by the wayside. So I’ll use the next few posts to update you all on what went on, and what we’re looking forward to in 2016.

Hughie started working for Apple in October. He’s on a French speaking team in the Fraud Prevention department. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? So far, Apple has been a great company to work for and we both have health insurance, yay! Hughie is delighted to be using his French on a daily basis, though he has had some excessively early mornings, like a 6am shift on Sundays, ugh! We’re looking forward to this changing soon.

Gareth, our writer-in-residence, was working away this autumn, both on the house and on his writing. He removed the plaster in the library and most of the hallway, and submitted stories to a number of publications. Not to mention kept us in “Dirty Coffees” aka instant cappuccinos spiked with Baileys Irish Cream. He recently received word that some of his work will be published in 2016 – congratulations Gareth! We’ll be sure to let you know where you can find it when they come out.

In sad news, we experienced an unexpected tragedy this autumn. Over the course of two weeks, all four of the outdoor cats went missing. We aren’t sure what happened to them – poison? River weasels? Drowning? I was especially devastated to lose Fred, who was always climbing into my arms or perched on my shoulder. The worst part was feeling somehow responsible, putting the cats in unknown danger when we thought we were giving them great life. Cashel & Spy are strictly indoor cats for the time being, especially as we don’t know what the outside cats got into.

We haven’t given up on the animals, though.

We are getting a goat soon. She’s currently accompanying a mare whose her foal was taken away. Their trial separation didn’t go so well, so we’re not sure when exactly we’ll be getting her. She will be so busy keeping down the briars and brambles in the back garden.

The week before Christmas we adopted Elvis, a 5-month old English Setter. He is gorgeous and has amazing hunting instincts. He goes nuts for the birds, and is constantly pointing on our walks. He is also a total klutz and cuddle bug, so keeps us laughing. He has an enormous amount of energy and I’ve been taking him on hour-long walks up Glenbower Wood when the weather is decent. I think the wood is even more beautiful in winter when you can see the sculptural silhouettes of the trees.

Adding Elvis to our family has been a great way to find a new rhythm for 2016 (though the cats are not impressed.) Getting up to let him out keeps me from sleeping in, and daily walks make sure I get some fresh air and exercise. I’m hoping 2016 is the year I add meditation and morning pages (a daily free-write from the book The Artist’s Way) to my weekly routine. I’m also trying to jot down something I’m grateful for each day. And I might even be learning not to be too hard on myself!

What do you hope your 2016 rhythm is like?

xo,
Jess

Where has January gone already?!? And November and December for that matter…

Apologies for the radio silence in the final months of 2015. This week I will try to recap what you missed and share some of our plans for the new year.

We also want to know what YOU want to hear more about. Of course we will keep you updated on progress of the house and residency, but if there’s something else you’d like to hear about, let us know in the comments. Maybe the arts scene in Ireland? The people in our village? Our day to day lives? Objects from the house? A tour of Glenbower Wood? More photos? More recipes? Do you like posts that are shorter, but more frequent? Or do you prefer to read something more substantial less often?

Last week, New York Magazine published an article about Cork in their travel section. So many of the spots they mention are easily accessible from here, as if you needed any more incentive to visit!

We LOVE the Greenroom at Sage in Midleton. It’s a favorite stop for a coffee or a craft cider and lunch, and as much as possible of their food comes from within a 12-mile radius. Farmgate rocks, too. Both restaurants are just 15 minutes away.

Ballymaloe, Ireland’s famous cooking school and restaurant, is about 20 minutes away (and we got a gift voucher for Christmas, wahoo!)  We also received a voucher for Elbow Lane Brew & Smokehouse in Cork city and I can’t wait to try it. Cork city is only 40 minutes away, and we are right on the bus line. The English Market is overwhelming, packed to the brim with stalls of delicious, fresh food.

We were delighted that NY Mag mentioned Glenbower Wood:
A visit to Glenbower Woods, situated in the village of Killeagh in East Cork, is definitely worth the trip. Every spring, these woodlands are scented with the distinctive smell of wild garlic as the waxy leaves and white belled flowers burst from the hedgerows. It’s a forager’s dream.

The wood is literally steps outside our door. We walk the dog there almost daily but didn’t know about the garlic. Between the wood and our proximity to the beach (about 15 min), we are thinking we may be able to build in foraging trips as part of some workshops or programming. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Graph paper is my friend! I’ve been spending a lot of time figuring out potential ground floor layouts for the house. We want to avoid a lot of structural changes to keep costs down, so the focus has been on flow and function. With our double use – home and artist’s residency – it’s important that rooms are multi-functional, and that there is a clear concept of private and public space.

For instance, the kitchen and sitting room will be our personal home, while the dining room and library will be multi-purpose shared spaces. We see the library as also being a music room. Depending on who is in residence it could be a quiet reading, writing or reflecting space, or it could be a cozy place for a band to compose and collaborate. The dining room, while fulfilling my dreams of dinner parties, will also serve as a meeting room or classroom. I’d love to find one of those vintage school blackboards on wheels to keep in there. It’s also the dining room for groups or retreats with a meal package. We are planning to have a kitchenette for self-catering guests, too.

I thought I’d share some of my sketches with you. The kitchen planing has been the most intense! I’ve had to get pretty detailed on appliances and design in order to determine our budget for the space. I’ve really enjoyed it!

Kitchen:
  

Sitting Room:

Dining Room:
Last week the surveyors were here. It was fascinating to watch them take measurements with their instruments. It took three and a half days to plot all of the points! Next, those go into a computer program and essentially they connect the dots to make an accurate plan of the house. I’ll share some of the blueprints when we get them.

What do you think of our plans? Nothing is set in stone (except, literally, the walls) and we’d love your feedback. Share your ideas & suggestions in the comments!