Secrets Out (Farmhouse Update)

So I a couple of months ago, after Mr. Terry moved out of The Farmhouse, I shared with you how we were dreaming of all we could do with the house.

We toyed with a few ideas; a man cave house, a bonafide school house, a party type house.  A few ideas got us excited, but most were pipe dreams that faded just as quick as they came.  Truth was, the house wanted to be a working farm again.

Yea, the house wanted it.  It told me.  

Not in a creepy "I'm Hearing Voices" kind of way, but more in a "A Friend Called Asking If We'd Thought of Turning It Into A Farm" kind of way.  

The idea made sense.  Maw Maw and Paw Paw built this house to be a farm.  As an adult who works hard to make my house a home, I can appreciate all the hard work Maw Maw must have done to make this house a home.  And I felt like we owed it to her to bring that dream back.

Trouble was, it's not our dream.

We aren't farmers, nor are we manual labor type people.  We tend to lean towards lazy and turning this house into a home was going to require the exact opposite of lazy.

Lucky for us, through Josie's failed attempt at a soccer career, we met Marc and Christy.

Meet our new neighbors:

Seriously.  Aren't they adorable!?!  Bonus: built in playmates for Josie and Gabe!

While Andrew is helping when he can, these amazing people are the ones putting in long, hard, sweaty hours to turn this place around.  Not only are their plans for the house worthy of a spread in Better Homes & Gardens, they are bringing with them goats, bees, chickens, and the most adorable puppy ever.  And that's just the start.  There's talk of a mini dairy cow.  And her garden?  I'm gonna just throw the towel in on mine and start stealing from her's while they are sleeping.

Ignore that last line Christy.

So let's get to the good stuff, pictures of the progress.

First things first.  There's a toilet in the front yard.  Nothing screams home renovation like a toilet in the front yard.  

Or maybe it screams country?  I know it screams Hampton.

Moving right along:

I left you last with the cleaned up barn.  Now the party has moved inside and it's getting good!  The sinking floor has been fixed, walls have come down, cabinets torn out and moved around, trim has been painted, windows cleaned, shrubs cut back, and a bathroom has been demolished.  Praise the good Lord above.

That wall behind the semi disgusting, highly flammable (I watched that sucker burn in less then a minute) sofa, has been removed.  And it let in an insane amount of natural light.

These window sills hadn't been cleaned in, ummm, let's go with 9 years.  

A lot of yuck gets on a window sill in 9 years.  Christy worked some voodoo on them and slapped some white paint on.  Now they look good as new.  This project sparked a mass window and trim cleaning at my own house.  Did y'all know that junk needs to get wiped down every few years?  Me neither.

The other big project of the month has been the cramped, condemnable bathroom.

The door wasn't big enough to get the tub in and out, plus it was just too small for normal humans.  So the contractor widened it.  They also removed the big cabinet that was taking up a lot of space.  Just taking that out added 3 square feet to the bathroom.  Crazy how cabinet placement can mess with the flow of a room.

The flooring has all been removed.  And so has the nasty tub and I can't even think of an adjective appropriate for the toilet.  Terry, what did you do to that toilet?!?!  Nevermind.  I don't want the answer to that.  It's gone and we can move forward with little to no therapy.

Behind the scenes and not as fun to photograph, has been the insulation removal.  Andrew and a small entourage have been working up there at night.  It's hot and they only have a few feet of head room to move in.  The insulation was super gross.  And not very effective.  One more night and that beast of a project should be done.

Christy keeps saying it's a long time before they are able to move in, but I'm holding out hope that we are getting closer.  I cannot wait to have them next door!  It is like a dream come true to have a friend living right next door!  I'm going to try not to wear out my welcome, but I've got dreams of spontaneous joint dinners and bonfires and morning chats over coffee.

And weed pulling.  I have a feeling there will be weed pulling.

If you're into home renovation and want to read about it first hand, check out Christy's blog, Blessed Little Thistle.  Not only is she pretty funny, she's showing the nitty gritty of what this little dream is actually taking.