Inside job

Yesterday we painted the outside of our wine prep room. Today we shifted to the inside. I did the corners, baseboard, and filled screw holes and cracks, while Alex rollered. They didn't give me nearly enough paint. We used the entire tin on just one coat for the ceiling and two walls. So it's back to the paint shop tomorrow. No way will we be able to install the linoleum until the paint is all done and two coats are on. We'll get the lads to help with the linoleum. 

It's a good day for it as it's been bucketing rain all day. It's less windy than yesterday, but the air feels tropical. Must be the remnants of what was Hurricane Don. 

We are installing Alex's mother's giant carvings as wall art on the outside. The lads are going to build a staircase to the top of the room where we plan to have a storage loft. Under the staircase, we'll mount a rack with hooks for hanging stuff. 

Alex revealed today that he's got the name of the winery and its labels figured out. The winery is Aleria, the same as our boat. The origin of the name is Alex and Daria, so it's quite fitting. The white  wines will be White Seahorse and the red will be Black Swan. White Seahorse has been one of our company names both in the States and here, and Alex designed a beautiful seahorse logo stylized from the pictograph on the wall of Clare Island Abbey. Black Swan is the crest of the Blackwell clan, so it all fits together beautifully. I love it!

Alex picked up the materials for the next phase of the build, which includes shelving and a workshop. The final phase will include a loft made up of the broken dock sections Alex brought over from Ross and telephone poles he acquired from AIB. This is quite the project. 

Ghost does not like the room. She's afraid of it and howls when we work inside it. The insulation is working, as the temperature inside the room is warmer than in the shed. We have a resident population of gulls who use the top of the shed as an observation platform. When they land on the roof, it's scary. They fly around and make lots of noise -- laughing and screeching up a storm, which also scares Ghostie. But she is a good inspector 12. 

I picked more stones from the field yesterday. It seems there is an endless supply. Alex has planted more trees behind the shed now so it will be shielded from all directions except west where the vineyard lies. 

Painting

I bought paint at Albany yesterday. Plain white for the outside and water resistant, mildew resistant for the inside. We decided it was important to seal the seams in the floor on the inside even though it will get paint and linoleum, so Alex siliconed the seams shut while I started on the edges and seams on the outside. 

We finished painting the outside today, except for the roof as we have to wait for the staircase to be built and sweep it clean. We did not start on the inside as the silicone had not yet cured. Tomorrow we paint that. 

We had a gale blow through today, the remnants of Hurricane Don. Good day to be working inside. 

I am really loving our place. 

Land sliding, thank goodness for the wall. 

Good polytunnel harvest today. 

Today's progress

 

The lads were in for 6 hours today. They laid the insulation in the floor and finished laying the floor. They also installed the door. Alex bought a knob and lock so we'll be able to open and close it. What beautiful work they have done so far.  And they are so nice and kind and good to work with. They were so keen to hear that we were pleased. They are so unsure of themselves, but so so so well qualified. I told them we would be references whenever they needed them. 

Meanwhile, Alex and I split up and sourced paint, linoleum and stainless steel sink and drain parts. Then Alex went back to buy the wood for the next phase -- the shelves and the workstation which the lads will take on next and they estimated needs for before they left this afternoon. 

I am just thinking about how I can put them in touch with my guys in Westport who are just dying to work. These guys could start a really good independent network, something we sorely need in Ireland.  

What a difference a day makes

These guys don't fool around. They are working away and doing a beautiful job. The insulation of the walls is in and the walls are almost finished. Next the roof and floor and then on to the shelving and workshop. 

Then the electricians have to come back and wire up lighting inside the clean room, and we have to order the equipment for the winery. This is all coming together. Just in the nick of time. 

Vineyard work

I spent several hours in the vineyard yesterday tying up the vines in advance of Hurricane Don's arrival in Ireland. The tropical storm spent several days meandering around the Atlantic before briefly becoming a Cat 1 hurricane, the first of the season. It's already dissipating but due to head toward Ireland, so I'm being cautious. 

I was delighted to see how the grapes are progressing and how many we are going to have this year if all goes well. Even the Albarino are coming on better. The young Solaris vines have large bunches of grapes, the way I expected them to look. 

Rondo

Solaris

Rondo

Pinot Noir

Young Solaris

Apples

Delivery

It is convenient to offload inside

Alex ordered the materials Dmytro spec'd from PJ Kelly's who delivered them first thing Monday morning because Friday's deluge caused them to beg off. It arrived just in time at 9:30 as we had the men scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM on the first day. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainians Dmytro and Alexander have started building our winery room in the shed. They made great progress in just one day. I can visualise it all now. It's going to be insulated and temperature controlled. A clean room within the shed. It's all perfectly proportioned now. I can't believe we actually had this built. 

EU wine sales are down

The EU has stepped up to help wine producers at a time when the 2022 harvest produced high yields, and the increasing inflation put a downward spin on wine sales. On top of that, exports were down, resulting in a significant loss of income.  If I read the notice correctly, they are subsidizing the distillation of wine into spirits not for consumption.