Public Spaces

We had forgotten how important public spaces are to a community and in our case to grandparents travelling with grandchildren.

They provide shade trees to sit under, climbing equipment for children to run and play on, and spaces for parents to gather and interact together face to face.

Through our travels we can assess how important families are to a community by how well they care for their green spaces.

Communities that are growing and nurturing family life have the most amazing parks.

What does the park in your community look it?

What is it saying about your community?

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Summer Pasta Salad

Once again today’s recipe was inspired by a meal that we had.  This time is was the end of season Sewing Club’s banquet at the Grey Rose.  On the salad bar was a vinaigrette pasta salad and I knew just the vinaigrette vegetables to add to our Summer Pasta Salad.

Go Go Quinoa pasta is one of our favourite (this is not a paid endorsement).  You can achieve a very nice al dente pasta what will hold up in a cold salad and not go tough overnight in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of your favourite pasta  
• 2 cups of Summer Vegetable Salad (click here for recipe)
• 1 cup chopped olives, we used a mix of black and green chopped

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta as per the directions
2. Add the Summer Vegetable Salad and olives stir and serve.

This is a great way to use up leftover Summer Vegetable Salad

From Our Table To Yours

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Granddaughters Travel with Stuffed Animals

You can pack one suitcase each and so they did, what we failed to realize was that each grandchild would also travel with a bag full of stuffed animals or stuffies as they are called.

So once in our hotel room their bed was covered with animals who were glad to be freed from their plastic bag prisons.  With different voices they each jumped from the bags onto the bed, landing with glee to roll and romp joyfully, very much like our granddaughter acted when freed from their back seat restraints in the car.

Now Grandpa and I are left wondering where our granddaughter’s will sleep tonight.

Will the stuffies be willing to share the bed with their human owners?

And I have question for you

How many stuffed animals do your (grand)children sleep with each night?

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Daisy

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Mindfulness Wisdom

Our world is full of intelligent people, yet wisdom is often hard to find.  

Wisdom requires that we see people where they are. 

That we understand their position in life, their hopes, their fears and their motivations. 

That we understand the world through their eyes and then and only then does a wise person offer their opinion.

Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength

 Dalai Lama

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

The Storms of Life

I was reminded of Charles Albert Tindley’s 1905 hymn “Stand by Me” with this weeks reading specifically the refrain 

“when the storms of life are raging stand by me”. 

Many Christians lament when bad things happen to them.

“Why God, why me”

The inference is that somehow we do not deserve to have life happen to us, while it should happen to other people who deserve it.

Tindley has it right in my opinion.  Life happens to us all, we are born through pain and we live our lives through the decisions humanity makes and we all die.  

Our Lord commanded the water to come no further defining ocean and land, the water obeyed.

Our Lord whispered to the waves to be still and they did. 

In each case the water remained present both life giving and dangerous at the same time.  And obeying the voice of God.   Just as all human being must live each day moving ever forward from birth to death – we all travel through the same water.

“When the storms of life are raging stand by me” always present, always patient always near our cry to our Lord should not be “Why me?”  - it should be “Stand by me!”

I want my children and grandchildren to know the love of their God holding them up when the storms of life is upon them.  

To know they are loved and not alone or abandoned by their God.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls