So far just sanded it semi down and started the wood burning. I was going to design the chess board into the top but she wants it with a full design. It has a drawer for holding the chess pieces since she's already learned that her kitty finds chess pieces irresistible

. But the drawer rails are warped so I'll try shaving it back to level and if that fails I'll replace the rails. Found a pretty drawer knob already.

I'll use different color stains and the wood burning to make the design pop out and add some wood hardener to the top right before I stain. And using marine spar varnish since it's for a young lady still prone to spilling beverages occasionally.

I won't have time to sand the varnish back to satin since it has to cure for a few months before that works well. But I can do that at a later date. Only a month to get it done so going to have to work on it at least some every day!
Your guitar time with the chickens sounds so enjoyable! Are your fingers getting sore or did you still have some callus left from before your year hiatus? Some lucky chickens you have there
If your feed store has all flock available...you can usually get that in a range of protein upto 22% I believe. Might be what your looking for.