We’re excited to say that things are finally beginning to take shape on the home front. The bones are in place and we are starting to get a real idea of what it will eventually end up as: a far, far cry from the dark and dingy offices it started off as! We had initially thought that we’d need to install skylights to provide more light, but the whole place is so light filled and airy, that there is absolutely no need! We’ve also brightened up the laundry room, one of two rooms with no natural light, by installing some polycarbonate, so it’s filled with light and a view of Devil’s Peak to boot.

The walls, windows and walk-in wardrobes are in; painting has started; solar geyser installed and the last of the mess should finish by Wednesday. We’re frustrated to report that despite a HUGE clean up exercise last week, complete with industrial vacuum cleaners and 2 fantastic helpers, the dust descended once again this week, as the painters decided to sand the walls and the electricians unearthed several bucket loads of rubble and dust in the ceiling boards of the “tea room” under the remaining mezzanine.

So a new clean up will commence on Wednesday, and then we’ll clean and sterilize all the equipment once again and start distilling again at the weekend. The plan is for the builders to be finished up by the end of the month, our kitchen to go in after that … and then we’ll finally be able to move upstairs.

We’ve also made progress on the business side, finalizing our bottles and label designs and we’ve put in our first bottles order. We’ve also had business cards printed, a URL reserved for the website and have been attending to all the admin associated with gearing up for trade, complete with visits to accountants and conversations with fire chiefs.

The weather has really started to warm up: over 30 degrees over the weekend; but the south easter has also started blowing , which we realize we’re going to have to get used to!

We visited the magnificent Cape Town stadium for the first time this weekend and ended up there both on Saturday, when we went to a World Design Capital craft event, where many of the crafters and designers on show were from neighbouring suburb Woodstock, and Sunday, when we watched the mighty Kaiser Chiefs take on AjaxCT: good football and an amazing, vuvuzela-filled atmosphere.