Key West Eats!

                                          Azure Restaurant
                                          425 Grinnell St.
                                          - Beef Carpaccio

                              - Whole Hogfish in Azure

                                          Santiago's Bodega
                                          207 Petronia St.
                                          - Delish Salad!

                                          Mathisons
                                          Duval St.
                                          - The $5 Cookie!!!!

                                          Schooner Wharf Bar
                                          Front St.
                                          Breakfast......

                              Poolside treats by Pam & Alan
            Gorgeous cheese and the amazing sweet bologna from
                                          Lancaster, PA.
              And a beautiful "cheese cake" (or Boursin to others!)

                                          915
                                          Duval Street
                                          - Steak & chips!

                       - Chicken and duck fat fried potatoes!

                                          Origami

                                          Duval Square

                                          - Sushi!

Weather is great in Florida - and not too bad in Ireland either!!!

We are currently on holiday in Key West, Florida. Unfortunately for Ciaran, even being in a different country doesn't mean he can't stop being involved in the build.   The following three photos were texted to Ciaran this morning and within minutes he was on the phone to the builder to reiterate certain building details that he needed done.  We are now in the Key West Library where he is sketching up some details which he will then send back to the builders so that they are fully up to speed with what needs to be done.

                          The new extension walls are being built up.                                                    

                                    Check out that blue sky!!!
                 December in Ireland and it is nearly as warm as Florida!

 The old brick wall will make a great contrast to the new extension!

If you are ever travelling to Key West we recommend that you stay with www.historichideaways.com.  They have great little cottages many with private decks and hot tubs, located really well - our place was a short stroll to the Southernmost Point in the USA.

Cinnamon

We had breakfast in Cinnamon this morning.  It is a new cafe/deli which opened about two weeks ago in Ranelagh.  Ciaran had French toast (made with brioche bread) and bacon while I had creamed oatmeal.  We both really enjoyed the food and the place as a whole.   Check out some photos that I took this morning.

                                                              Cute pink fascade!

                          Lots of lovely pastries and cakes!

              This was the breakfast menu which finished at midday.

   It's hard to see from this photo but among the tables and 

chairs there are shelves with lots of lovely food for sale.

Each time I write up a blog post I generally have a browse around blogger and read a few different blogs.  

This is one of my favourites:

Vintage Simple

I love this lady's style!

Wind, snow and we've got no windows. Eeek!

                                    Windows removed!

       Steel plate being welded to the structural steel.  After the
      under floor heating is laid concrete will then be poured on
           to the steel to create the floor in the bathroom.

Pinocchio's

Paolo Tullio reviews Pinocchio

We ate in Pinocchio's in Ranelagh after reading the above review by restaurant critic Paolo Tullio.  Ciaran had the bolognese while I had seafood pasta in tomato sauce.  My dish was a little salty but other then that delicious. Ciaran enjoyed his also.  After a main dish each we shared a tiramisu with coffee.  Dessert was lovely and the coffee was nice and strong.  You will find this restaurant housed under the Luas station and we certainly recommend it!

A quick visit today......

                           Fireplace in the second bedroom

                    Window boxes in the master bedroom - in the process
                of being salvaged in preparation for the installation of the
                                 new sash windows next week.

                         Back wall has been cleaned and exposed

                       Stairway down to the sitting room

              Bones sits on the dashboard when in the Smart Car!

Milano's

Milano's Restaurant is around the corner from our house. It is a casual place which does pizza and pasta. We've visited a few times on Sunday afternoons.  It has generally been relaxed and never too busy and it also has friendly staff.  It seems like the type place you could just drop in for a cup of coffee and a cake as well as for a pizza!     

Pizza!!!

A few pics....

The view out to the new steel from the master bedroom. The steel is the framework for the Artist's Studio. There will be a glass cantilevered stairs leading up to the glass floored room.

Original lime render removed and the brick fabric of the building exposed.  Ciaran has played with the idea of leaving it exposed but is conscious of sound proofing this wall which is shared between us and our neighbour.



Above are the new sash wooden sash windows which have been delivered to Ciaran's store room in his office.  They are an off white colour with brass latches.  The window details have been replicated from the original windows which were unsalvageable.

To the right is a picture of the back bedroom with the window removed.

My thoughts on building....

The other day I commented to Ciaran how stress free I was finding the rebuild.  He thought this was hilarious.


This got me thinking about why I wasn't feeling too stressed, given that it is an extremely complicated project and obviously something that I had never had experience of before.


I realised that it was because I had surrendered.  Now before you become alarmed and think that I have gone to the dark side and become a surrendered wife, I will tell you that it is stress free for me because I have surrendered to Ciaran's expertise.


I have liberated myself.  I have let go of all decision making.


At the beginning of the project I anticipated that my input may have been needed.  But as it progressed I began to see otherwise.


A way of explaining it is to imagine you are in the doctors office.  You would never tell the doctor how to do their job.  You would let them carry out the work needed on your body, knowing that they are fully skilled and trained to do so and that they also are doing the best for you and your health.


By involving myself in the rebuild I realised that I was undermining Ciaran's expertise.  I also realised that I could never learn quickly enough in order to be able to have all of the knowledge needed to begin to make the correct decisions or solutions for all of the problems posed in relation to the project.


Therefore by pulling back and putting all my trust and faith in Ciaran I know that the house will eventually turn out exactly to the brief that was planned in the early stages and I will be worry and stress free.  Ciaran's hair, however, is sure to start turning grey shortly.


I must add that although Ciaran makes most of the decisions, I am still involved in the decision making process.  Ciaran talks me through lots of the issues that he has to deal with.  He is interested in my thoughts and comments and takes this all onboard as a part of making the final decision.

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!

We have been making lots of decisions on certain finishing elements over the past few days and here is an update on what has been decided upon.

*Bench seats have been drawn up in detail after months of tweaking and sketching and drawings have been sent to the steel manufacturer.
*Samples of steel rod inserts for the polished concrete entrance way have been examined and a rod has been chosen for use.  A drawing of a random layout for the rods has been sent on to the steel supplier so that an order can be placed for the quantities required
*Manufacturing drawings have been approved for the inverted bi-folding courtyard window and has gone in to production
*Lighting procurement is progressing - there will a 6 metre long recessed ceiling light in the kitchen, a 4 metre long recessed light for illuminating the back wall and trimless twin and single downlighters in various locations throughout the house.

A new design for the front room!

Open plan front room, with a view back up to higher entrance hallway, which utilises the high floor to ceiling height space   The main feature of this space will be a built in wrap around seating area under the window and shutter boxes.

Here is a photo of me standing in the front room and how it currently looks!

                                                                Back garden

Scary scenes in LPA!

Not having visited the site for a few weeks I was quite shocked with what I saw this weekend.  Although I had been warned by Ciaran that buildings get a lot worse looking before they get better, I was really quite shocked by the level of destruction that needs to happen in order for a house to be restored.  Everything needs to be stripped right back and made good to ensure that the structure is safe.  At this point it can then be built back up.  Not having lived in this house, I can depersonalise and distance myself from the works, but, I think if I had lived here and then moved out in order for building works to commence, I would be very upset seeing the house in the current state.

Luckily I have Ciaran with me at every visit and he talks me through everything - why things have to be done they way they are at this point, etc.  He also reminds me of what it will be like when it is finished.  Likening building to cooking he says "You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs"!!!!

                                           Internal walls are all removed.

                    This where the Hot Tub is going to be positioned!

 Master bedroom with the ceiling removed - roof will come off shortly.....

 Looking out from the back room to where the new extension will be built.

                                                            What's left of the hallway!

Timber Floor has been taken up

Removed and stored the existing timber floor of the front room and hallway.  Dug out the subsoil and poured the ground floor slab to the sub slab in the main house.  We also tanked the existing walls and made them water tight.


Internal walls have all been removed at this stage.


The existing stairs remains until we can figure out how to dismantle it and then we need to find a place to store it until we can put it back in to place.

Young Cassidy - LPA on the silver screen!!!!!

Today we found out something really interesting about our house.

It was used as a location in the 1965 film "Young Cassidy" starring Maggie Smith & Rod Taylor.

The above movie still was photographed in our actual front garden!

If you get an opportunity to see this film  look out for the scene with Maggie Smith talking out an upstairs window - that's our house!!!!  

The previous owner said that the film company tidied the garden and added the planting as well as dressing the window with a lace curtain.  I wonder did the film company also paint the door cream?

The reason this house was used as a location in the movie was that it still had working original sash windows.

Here's the Trailer of Young Cassidy

Here is interesting blog with further information about the filming of Young Cassidy in the local area.

 The above is a photo of the back wall with the projection removed.

Old projection at the back has been knocked!!!!

We started building work on the 6th of September.  By the end of the first day the structurally unsound projection to the rear of the house was knocked.

The above photos shows the ground floor raft foundation preparatory work and service pipes, moments prior to the concrete pour.

Et voila! We have the foundation for our new extension.