Grandma Doesn't Feel Well

What to do when Grandma has a headache and it is pouring rain? 

This is exactly the situation we found ourselves this afternoon.  Ruth and Emily arrived at Grandma’s house expecting an afternoon of crafts, baking, or playing games to find a Grumpy Grandma, tired, short tempered and definitely not in a good space to start a craft project or supervisor cooking. 

What to do? 

Grandma could pretend to be her normal outgoing self and risk an emotional blowout directed at these two beautiful girls and no that would never do so honesty was the best course of action.

"Girls Grandma is not feeling well, she has a headache so no crafts or cooking today's". 

The expected disappointment and begging did not happen instead the girls talked among themselves and decided to play in the rain with the numerous umbrellas in Grandpa's umbrella stand and they made Grandma laugh despite her headache.

Next they suggested the McDonalds play area and Grandma had a nice cup of coffee and the air conditioning helped with the headache – Grandma was definitely feeling better.

Their final suggestion was movies in bed and so everyone is having a bath and into Grandma and Grandpa’s big bed we will crawl and watched Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief.

Grandma is having fun on a day that her granddaughters planned!

Never underestimate a child's ability to be empathic I believe it comes naturally to them if we give them the chance. 

Grandparents do not have to up and ready to play all the time and it is important that we let our grandchildren know when we are not.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Curried Eggplant

Our eggplant is now ready to pick so we went in search of a new recipe to try.  There were numerous recipes for curried eggplant, and each one either had ingredients we did not like or that we did not have on hand so we created our own.  We enjoy the earthy favour of our unique recipe please note there is no heat in our recipe by design.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil (we used coconut oil)
• 2 onions diced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 6 cups of tomatoes diced
• 6 cups of eggplant diced (we used three small eggplants)
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon chopped basil
• 156 ml can of tomato paste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large frying pan saute the onions and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent.
2. Add to this the vegetable broth, tomatoes, eggplant all the spices and the tomato paste
3. Simmer until the liquid has reduced.
4. Serve on rice.

Note: We were interrupted and had to leave the house before the liquid had reduced so we moved the curry to a slow cooker where it finished beautifully.  The slow cooker was on medium heat with the lid on a slight angle to let some of the moisture escape.

From Our Table To Yours

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Yellow Jackets a Ground Hive

Note: found this nest weeding the flowerbed just about had my hand in the nest!

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Thoughts are just thoughts

You wake up in the middle of the night and your mind is in overdrive!

And you run the same terrible thoughts through your mind over and over again.

Morning comes and the thoughts that kept you up most of the night seem absurd.

Thoughts are just thoughts!

Be mindful that we have control over our thoughts and take charge when thoughts are unhelpful, or produce worry.

Now when waking in the middle of the night with a worrying thought I literally tell my mind to go to sleep and stop worrying over nothing because all will be well in the morning.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls

Be doers of the word

What is the word that we are to live by,

 that word calls us to action as doers?

Christ provided us with many teachings on how to live and the one that consumed most of his time was Love!

Love complex, mystical and easy in its application.

Who are we to love?

God, Christ, ourselves, each other, stranger, enemies, mother, father, and children – there appears to be no one who is outside God, and Christ’s instruction to love.

Deuteronomy 4:2, tells us 

“do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”

So we are to be doers of love in all areas of our lives. 

It is easy to love our life partners, our children and grandchildren yet too often with no forethought we throw love to the wind in favour of angry words.

James 1:19 offers these words of wisdom 

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires”. 

Anger is not a doer of love.

Gossip is a form of anger, as it is spoken at the expense of someone else.  

A child was recently repeated a piece of gossip he heard in his home at church and was punished for this.  As the child was hustled off to the car he kept say but Daddy you said this.

Gossip is not a doer of love.

James 1:26 cautions all Christians with these words 

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.”

Be doers of love in everything you say!

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2015 twosnydergirls