The Chickens Aren't Impressed...

Howdy, folks!

Well, to say that a lot has happened since our last blog might be an understatement. We hope you are all well and experiencing grace and togetherness during this time, despite the craziness. We have some awesome updates for you. AND for those of you bold enough (or bored enough...;) to participate, a special request for your input at the end.

First off, our granary home wasn't the only house undergoing updates this month. Early in March, Joe caught the spring bug and ordered 25 little chicks, for us to raise into laying hens.

In order for them to feel completely welcome at the farm, we decided to fix up the old brooder house with a fresh coat of paint before their arrival. Our fingers got cold, and our clothes got just about as much paint on them as the structure itself, but we had some good laughs, deep conversations, and a whole bunch of fun.

(FYI... we do not endorse the practice of licking your paintbrush, in fact we greatly discourage it. Also, I know that guy on the left has a friendly smile but watch out, he's also got a paint scraper and he's not afraid to use it.)

When they arrived, the chickens were so honored by our actions. Can't you tell? Just look deep into those cute little chicken faces and tell me they're not completely in awe of their cozy, freshly-painted home....

Ok actually the more I look at it, well, the more they seem just completely...

Disinterested...

Totally unimpressed...

Ouch.

Yep, sorry to burst that bubble, folks, but turns out they didn't actually care at all. They just started pecking at everything and pooping all over it.

I told Joe that my level of gratitude for our new granary house would be much higher than that of these little (floofy and adorable) meanies. Now...if God does bless us with children down the road, there's a good chance their reactions will be very similar to those of the chickens...but, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

In all seriousness, though, the chicks are doing really well, starting to feather out now, and explore more of their space. We are excited to get them outside once it warms up here, and add these beautiful egg-layers to the flock in about 6 months.

Until then, I suppose we can let their blatant disregard of our hospitality slide.

Now on to our own future home updates!

We officially painted the interior, thanks to help from Joe's sister, Ana. We slapped a vibrant blue on the walls upstairs and kept the ceiling, downstairs walls, and trim a soft white.

The carpet upstairs was donated by Joe's cousin, and was the perfect amount of square footage to cover everything. The shag is just the length to give it a soft and comfortable feel. The point where the two shades meet may eventually be where we build a wall to create two bedrooms. Joe also completed a sturdy and stylish railing, (that has since been painted white) and it feels a lot safer and cozier up there.

It looks so much like a real home now and Joe officially moved into the upstairs bedroom.

He also got trim done all around the house. For the downstairs windows we used beautiful old trim that was found in the barn's storage area.

And just yesterday, Joe updated the staircase to make it safer and more substantial.

Check it out!!

At the moment we are brainstorming paint/stain/and carpeting options for the stairs themselves, and how we might turn the back of the staircase into a closet or shelving unit for efficient storage.

To top off all this progress, I was so surprised when Joe told me his sister-in-law had found a FREE oven and fridge via an online garage sale last week. Turns out, they're in great condition! Just need a good old-fashioned deep cleaning and we'll be set.

On top of staining the wood and setting up electrical for the oven, the big next step on our granary improvement agenda at the moment is plumbing. Joe is hoping to get a bathroom and kitchen sink, a toilet, and a shower installed in the next couple months before our wedding.

Recently, as we started to worry about timeline and finances and all the little details involved, we were reminded to be grateful that for now, it's one less bathroom to stock with toilet paper during this crazy time. ;)

If you have any interest in joining our project, we have started a wedding registry "Granary Home Fund" at https://www.zola.com/wedding/kateandjoejune6/registry. We are also looking for any brilliant small-space-utilizing hacks you may have to share with us!

The following is a floor plan of our downstairs area. (It was made by some anonymous amateur so it is not verifiably to scale ;) The kitchen space and bathroom are set and the rest is relatively flexible, taking into account the wood-burning stove in the corner. We are hoping to include a mudroom space for comings and goings on the farm, a dining area, and a living room with a couch. But there's a lot of room for creativity!

So let us know in the comments any ideas you want to share! Creative pantries, shelving, under-the-stairs closets, secret passageways, game rooms, swinging tables, a wraparound porch, underground toilet paper storage bunker, we're open to pretty much anything!

Thank you all for the continued support and encouragement! Stay tuned for next blog post which will feature a video tour of the whole granary. Maybe we'll even introduce the chickens! If they've fixed their attitude problems of course...

God bless you all!