IBR sheets, purlins, 6.5 cubes of 19mm, staaldraad, AbeCote 337, K3 tapered poles, stirkers, kickplates - and I could go on and on...
These are a few of the building supplies I've had to order over the last few months. The third part of my job is to source and procure all the materials needed for the many upgrade, revamp and restoration projects underway on the farm.
Most of these things I had never heard of before, and now I feel like I could apply for a job with a building company!
"Tertius, can you deliver 6.5 cubes of 19mm stone and 3 cubes of plaster sand before 2pm? Send the invoice and I'll get our accountant to pay ASAP." That would be a typical conversation that I would have with our local building supplier. Pretty much every day, things are being sourced, ordered and delivered so that we can upgrade and improve this beautiful wine farm.
Much has been done and much is still to be done.
The first upgrade project was our cottages - five in total - to raise them to a level that would increase occupancy.
A team of builders came down from PE and the work began. Like most building projects - it took longer than expected and we had to extend our closure period to six weeks. The rain brought its challenges and outside work had to be halted many times. Never-the-less, the project was completed and we were very happy with the results. There is a link below to check out our cottages website to see the end result.
The next project was to fix up the gravel road that leads to the cottages. Now this job took waaaaay longer than expected and a part of the road even washed away in the floods. We got there in the end though, and guests can now drive up to the cottages with relative ease as opposed to the donga dotted dirt road that they previously had to negotiate.
While these two major projects were underway, many other small upgrades were happening and much maintenance was being done. Neill continues to have his hands full with builders to keep happy, casuals to hire, quantities to be determined and a ton of hands-on, physical work.
In addition to all that - our first team of builders (the C Team as they were sometimes referred to!) required much babysitting. This involved Neill buying their groceries every couple of days (he's now the shopper in our family of two) organising airtime, drawing wages, listening to sob stories etc. Fortunately, our next team of builders, the A+Team, give us no hassles whatsoever. Such a pleasure dealing with this group of guys who have multiple skills and just get on with it - with a smile.
Next on the upgrade agenda was fencing the entire farm. A team of fencers came down from Humansdorp and stayed on the farm for about nine weeks doing the job. We now have a beautiful, neat and tidy fence with straight poles all the way around.
Numerous smaller projects continued - extending our laundry, building a lovely light and bright staff room, extending the cellar to accommodate wine-making equipment and an extension to the workshop.
The most stunning project to date has been the creation of a Barrel Cellar. This required breaking down old walls, levelling the floor, putting in a ceiling, adding lighting, painting, and some magical wood panelling. Racks were built for the barrels and a bespoke tasting lounge was created. The piece de resistence of this project was the arrival of Craig's new baby, a magnificent 2500l French oak foudre from Italian cooper, Mastro Bottaio. It arrived on the back of a flatbed truck and had to be winched off using a Pin Oak tree in the courtyard outside the cellar. Craig held his breath more than once. This cellar is going to be a stunning space that we look forward to moving into soon.
A sneak peak of what it looks like now with the foudre occupying pride of place
The entrance to to the farm has certainly been beautified with the painting of the gate wall, new signage, lovely new garden beds and an avenue of stones and lavender running next to the vines.
At the tasting room, we have started to lift the look and feel with new outside furniture in our tasting courtyard and stunning new chairs inside. More to come in this space soon.
A welcome addition to the farm implements shed was the TLB (tractor/ loader/ backhoe) that has been put to task by digging holes and moving rocks and sand, particularly useful after the floods.
On the vineyard front, two new blocks of vines have been planted - both Chardonnay - and our stok by paaltjie Cab Franc block has been expanded. (Stok by paaltjie, or vine by post in English and Sur Echelas in French, is a unique trellising system, where the vine grows upwards along an individual supportive pole).
On his quest for Kaizan (continuous improvement), Neill has been hard at work in changing mindsets around tidiness and orderliness. A lovely example of this is the placement of old wine barrels (varnished and with tops removed) in the vineyards, used as dustbins for old wire from the trellises and litter. Not only do they look pretty damn nice, but they are functional too.
The 2024 Stony Brook upgrade season starts soon with the return of our A+Team after their Christmas holidays. The Manor House is the next major project, which means we will be moving out of the home we have known for the last eight months and moving in to the Vineyard House for the start of a different season for us.
"My official title is Maintenance and Improvements Manager but I like to get stuck into the work myself too. I sat in front of the fire with a box and some tools and brushes and fixed a piece of equipment that was being used for carpentry work. Quite gratifying".
…"It’s a very different lifestyle. It’s a working lifestyle and we’re working longer hours than we ever have. After hours too. Different challenges and a different type of job. Supervising builders. Supplying the things that are needed. Dealing with the weather."
"It's quite tough. Being new in the job. Not having a project plan. It's a challenge. And I had to have an operation on my hands (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) - bad timing! The work is challenging but life is simple and I love it"
"The reality of life has set in. We are in jobs that are very different to what we are used it. It's exciting, it's challenging, learning new things..."
Check out our newly revamped cottages https://www.stonybrookcottages.co.za/