And then it got cold again...

As concrete cures, it produces heat. So, when it got cold again (don't misunderstand me: 'get cold again' doesn't mean it ever really got warm, it's just that the temperature got above freezing), the newly poured slab got covered up with tarps and then with hay to keep the heat in:


You can see why a few people asked if we were going to start a petting zoo:


I thought it would be nice to get a couple of llamas and a goat to tie up outside for a few days....
(No, we didn't. The hay is gone now, too, and the slab looks beautiful.)

Adding On: Going Up!

While the weather held, the block went higher:

Caution: Wet Floor

The weather stayed warm, the concrete was poured, and the sun came out of hiding.

New Floor - Concrete, continued

Liquid flooring:

If you've never walked in wet concrete, you should try it if you ever get the opportunity.

Ick.

Here's the ramp that connects the existing front entry way with the new slab:

A couple of inches difference in elevation, it's a ramp instead of a step.

Construction Pictures, etc.

These pictures are about 2 weeks old (I told you in the last post that I was running behind. Again.); you can tell because the ground is not covered in snow and ice and the sun is shining.

Until today, there has been nothing but snow, more snow, ice, gloom, and more snow.
Today, while not sunny, the temperature is above freezing for the first time in at least a couple of weeks.

During this prior brief, sunny, but barely above freezing period, a few rows of block were laid.

Here's the site during preparation, before mixing mud:

Fortunately, this mess in the parking lot (Yes, PC, it is a mess. An understandable mess, and a temporary mess, but it is a mess.) doesn't effect the path to the front door:

Block laying:

This is what it looks like now, even two weeks later. There has been some other digging going on for plumbing, but that's been hard fought: the ground is frozen.

If this current run of above freezing weather holds for a few days, the ground can thaw enough to pour the concrete floor. After that, there will be more block and then the wood framing. At that point it will begin to look like something pretty quickly.

Let's hope the weather holds.

Making a Mess (Again)

After the asphalt came up, the diggers came in:

And then then comes the concrete:

Final grade on the footing:

Thanks to CJ Landscaping for their site preparation for the concrete pour.

I'll be posting about CJ Landscaping over at the Taylor County Blog Project in the next few days;

I'll come back and update links to their information, too.

*update:

Here's the link to the Taylor County Blog Project's Small Business Highlight of CJ Landscaping.

Pulling Up Asphalt

PC & PR pulled up the asphalt where the first floor of the new addition will sit:

As usual, I'm behind on blogging. The footings have already been dug and poured and the parking lot is a huge mess. A huge construction mess.

Another Snow picture

Christmas Lights!

Remember last year's Christmas light debacle? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can read about it here.)

We're slightly more together (as far as Christmas lights go, anyway) this year:


Merry Christmas!

Taylor Made

My Taylor Made pictures aren't the best.
I've got a couple here that are worth posting:




But I don't have pictures of the people dancing or the crowd spread out all the way across the parking lot and Main St and all the way over to the bank.
I don't have pictures of The 123 with a constant line out the front door.
I don't have pictures of the enjoyment of the day.
But it was a great day for Taylor County.
And the sun came out!

Thanks Taylor Made!
And Thank You to all the people who made this happen!

Taylor Made

Wow.
The Taylor Made concert on Saturday was magnificent!

The best part:
On such short notice, everyone pulled together to make it happen.
We had a great turnout (300-500 people) and the music was well worth it.

I'll post pictures soon.

Thank you!

Progress in Pictures

"Random Pictures" would be an appropriate title, too, but "Progress..." sounds much better, huh?

Up until last weekend, the toilet sat in the middle of the bathroom floor:


And then I snapped this glamorous shot of PC setting the toilet (yes, I said setting and not sitting; he's sitting on a bucket):

If you look closely, you'll see that he's eating an ice cream bar. Eating ice cream over a brand new toilet is just one of the many fun things we've been able to do in preparation for opening.
It's a very nice toilet, too; it's one of those 'whooshy' fast-flushers (that's the scientific term).

Here's the view from down the street:

The ubiquitous mess in the parking lot is fast approaching its final days; parking lot clean-up is scheduled at the end of the 'To-do to Open' List.

The sawhorses in the entryway are nearing an end, too. There's some final trim work to do that requires sawing and that's about it (finally).


However, we still have the occasional pile of miscellaneous tools/parts. Fortunately, these jumbles are mostly growing in the closets:


That's it for now.
More soon.

Concrete (hopefully this is the last post about concrete for quite a while), back door view, and fire

It has been 3-4 weeks since we poured this back patio:


This is at the rear of the building, a level up from the parking lot.
The concrete truck parked up in the alley and we carried the cement down in 5 gallon buckets. There were four of us (we could have used another person or two) and it was hard, sweaty work. This is, again, water control. And it's a nice shady resting spot, too, that will be the beginning of the hillside seating area.

See the small concrete pad here?


That's for the air conditioner:

It sure feel nice inside!

Walking over to the other corner of the building, still standing on the concrete, this is the view:


The roof is actually red now, and I'll get those pictures up soon, but here it's still tar paper.
You can see the door in the back of PC's truck. In the previous post there was a picture of the door after it was unloaded, so I'm chronologically upside down. Soon I'll post a picture of the door where it's supposed to be...


Just a few minutes later, the fire trucks screamed through town to put out this fire:


It must have been a huge fire because I could see flames from here!


But the fire department(s) had it under control pretty quickly, because it didn't last long.

Thank goodness.

Front Door, Bathroom Sink, Ceiling Fans, Water Heater, & More Kid Entertainment

Things are starting to come together!
As always, I have tons of pictures that need to be posted (yes, I'm back to snapping) and if you've driven down Main Street recently, you'll know that I'm far behind with posting (as usual).

Before I get to the miscellaneous pictures, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to stop by and see, or simply comment on, our progress. All comments about the new roof and door have been positive -except for one and I think it's safe to assume the guy who thought a green or purple front door would compliment the red roof was joking.

If you haven't driven by lately, the front door is where it's supposed to be now.
And I don't have a picture of it.
I do, however, have this picture of it when it was inside -before installation:



The bathroom sink is actually in the kitchen right now (until the plumbing is finished in the bathroom):



The ceiling fans are on the floor. Or at least in this next picture they are. We've made progress since this picture, too, and they are on the ceiling and functioning (and they look great)!



I hauled the water heater in my kid-mobile. It had to wear a seat belt just like everyone else:



And the kids are building a whole new family (complete with dog and gorilla, though the gorilla didn't make it into this picture):



We are still on track to open in September.
We feel the same anticipation as the person who, while driving past this morning, hollered out the window, "Where's my Coffee?"
We're getting very, very close!