Old Chism Farm: Grundma's Birthday

Happy Birthday to my mama…Millie’s Grundma… and nana/grandma to a whole bunch of other kiddos.

Today Little Man, SJ, and I were blessed to be able to take mama out to IHOP to celebrate her birthday.  Then we spent a little time playing Legos, air hockey, and inspecting the turtle at grandma’s house. It was a sweet time to get to visit on this special day.

Some of you know my sweet mama, although you do not call her grandma.  My mama had me early in life and so we grew up together. My mama enjoys adventure, history, and loves to fix things.  We lived in 29 homes in my first 15 years.  Many of those were older homes that she could fix up and flip sale.  We often moved to different towns and once to a historical home in Kansas that had brick streets out front.  We moved from the city to the country and back…a few times.  

My mama loved sewing ponchos for the kids at school that did not have coats. She painted all our cabinets with flowers on them and then did my room with hand painted Strawberry Shortcake kids. When we lived in the country she designed and built our home.  We had a garden and farm animals. We milked our goats and raised chickens.  

She was always creative and with my birthday being at the end of October we often had fun dress up parties.  She once made me and my little brother costumes that resembled the “Fruit of the Loom” Grapes and an Apple.  Another year she made my costume into “Ms. Pacman”.  

Whether financially comfortable or dead broke, she made life fun.  She would tell elaborate stories about our food to convince us to eat it.  When she became a single mom, we would pick up aluminum cans on the roadside and cash them in to buy rice and a can of soup for dinner.  It took 6 cans to make a penny then, so we knew how many we needed to have enough. This became one of my favorite meals.

She loves genealogy and history.  She has researched many of the family stories, knows where everyone is buried, and can even tell you what family member came over on the Mayflower. She has amassed lots of family photos and enjoys the trinkets and special items passed down through the generations.  

She has worked at many different types of employment, never being afraid to try something new or something hard.  She can work in a “man’s field” just as easy as a woman’s.  She has knowledge on pretty much any subject or is willing to research it and gain the knowledge.  She loves to help others and has homeschooled various kiddos throughout the years.  She was the first person to tell me about Jesus and to teach me to sing “Amazing Grace” and “Pass it on”.

She enjoyed cooking eggs and having tea parties with Millie, who she called “Clementine #9”. That always brought a sweet little grin to Millie’s face.

If you know her, you are blessed by her. Mama, I pray your year is a blessing.  I love you!
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Around the farm, we have had the excitement of new calves the last few days.  Tonight, as I cooked dinner I watched out the kitchen window as a mama delivered her first baby. She was not sure what to do and I feared the calf might not make it.  David got home and checked the little bull.  He is strong and feisty trying to nurse after a little while, mama caught on about 30 minutes later and all seems to be good now.  That comes as a relief… I briefly thought, “We don’t need anymore death around here”.  

Our Llama Hope has been mysteriously down.  She is not sick, but something was going on.  The vet came and worked on her by administering de-wormer, steroids, and an antibiotic.  He could find nothing wrong at the time, no injury or sickness.  Slowly her hindquarters are getting stronger, and we hope she will recover.  My poor OLD hens are on their last leg…. literally!  My one that consistently lays hops on one foot and rarely uses the other.  The other two are down to laying every few days now.  It is time to stew them and start over with pullets.  

David and I are blessed to be going away for another Marriage Retreat weekend.  We always come away refreshed and renewed.  We will not have internet and not much cell service—it truly is a GET AWAY! We have a wonderful friend who comes to care for the children and the farm.  They look forward to it every single time!  

Until next week,
Blessings sweet friends…
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I still believe in Millie’s Miracle
｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ Hebrews 11:1 ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
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#MilliesMiracle