Yum.

Fresh mixed fruit cups, fresh berry cups, white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, tropical cheesecake, tiramisu, Granny cake, carrot cake, peanut butter truffle cheesecake....

The carrot cake was appropriately shaped with chocolate whiskers:

Excavation

Second Floor Beams

The 3 main beams for the second floor:


Off the ground where they belong:

In the News!

The Grafton 123 House of Coffee made the 'Good News' news on WBOY tonight!
Here's the link:

http://wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=56210

If I can figure out how to post the video over here, I will, but right now you can click over to the news story and read it or click to watch the video (video link is right underneath the coffee cup pciture).

Adding On: First First Floor Framing

PC builds sections of the wall on the floor and then lifts each piece into place.








It's almost starting to look like something.
Wait until I post pictures of the big dig on the hill! That got people curious, because all of a sudden it's apparent that this is no small addition....

Adding On: Progress

(As usual, I'm at least a couple of weeks behind with the pictures.)

Window framing, the first of the wood structure, from the inside looking out:




And from the outside looking in:

We will be closing 1 hour early today (6pm instead of the usual 7pm).

We'll be back at the regular time tomorrow (6:15am).

The 123's Guiding Principles

The Grafton 123 was founded on the belief that a business can be both ethical and profitable.

The idea which shapes The Grafton 123’s interactions with others is this:
What you give, you will ultimately receive.
Call it what you wish - karma, an eye-for-an-eye, the universal law of attraction –there are many names for the golden rule of ‘do unto others…’ but it all comes back to the individual: How do you want to be treated?

The Grafton 123…
…provides superior coffee in a gracious atmosphere.
Gracious is defined as “kind and polite,” “full of tact,” and “luxurious and elegant.”
These qualities are expressed in the cleanliness, the service, the coffee, and the attitudes of the people who represent The 123.
…provides a respite -- a haven -- for the people who visit. The 123 is both a shelter and an assemblage.
…supports information exchange as a means for development, both personal and communal.
…encourages and supports growth: individual growth for both customers and employees, economic growth for itself, surrounding businesses, and the local economy.
…enhances and supports Grafton’s and Taylor County’s efforts to become a popular destination for tourists by promoting our unique attractions.
.…promotes ‘thinking outside the box.’ Just because something has always been done in a certain way, does not doom us to the same forever. What can make the situation better? What can we do to improve? Think.

Live Music Tonight

Tonight beginning at 7pm.

Click here for more info.

See you tonight!

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.

More Room

Every time someone asks what we're building out there, the standard answer has become, "More room." And most of the time we're so busy it's obvious why we need it.

Here are some pictures of progress:

These first couple are picture before the floor was poured. Everything is prepped and ready, but the weather had to be above freezing for at least a few days to allow the ground to thaw and the concrete to cure.




In this picture, you can see we've got the front door propped open. That warm-ish air sure feels good after a long winter.


The concrete truck made it:


And the work area is caution-taped off:

The Giant Black Board

When we had our new menus printed, we erased the drink menu off the blackboard:

That was probably a bad idea.

Most people walk through the door looking up at the board and it's all changed!

We will post most of the drink menu back up there.

Soon.

[Disclaimer: If you've been reading this blog, you know soon is a term relative to busy-ness. Please be patient with us as we are getting busier by the day! Thanks for all your support! :) ]