Eatonia Electric Sewing Machine

You would be surprised how much fun a family can have with a $7.99 thrift store find.  

After visiting our youngest son Grandpa and I decided to travel to Newmarket Ontario and check out the Thrift stores.  We believe in recycling our clothing and purchasing used clothing whenever possible.  

We were at the last store the Salvation Army Thrift store when we came across and an old black suit case with a leather handle.  It caught our attention because earlier in the day we were impressed by a coffee table that had been made with an old shipping truck.

Opening the box we found an antique Eatonia Sewing Machine cira 1900's.  There was no price on either the machine or the box and when we inquired as to the price the clerk tags the box at $7.99.  

Sold!

Driving home we knew regardless if the machined worked our son-in-law would have a great time finding out.

After carefully reading the manual that came with the machine and borrowing an O ring from his antique Singer machine our Eatonia was sewing through denim, thus I have a travelling sewing machine and for $7.99 we had a laughter filled evening as Grandpa and Rob brought the machine back to life.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2016 twosnydergirls 

Spaghetti Sauce

Some of best recipes are born out of necessity and just as this tomatoes paste recipe did.  Christmas Day was to have been a spaghetti dinner at the request of my mother and as life will have instead my sister and her husband drove up from the city to spend Christmas Day with her, she has such a nice visit with them. 

Having Mother and Great John for Sunday dinner has become a wonderful family routine and when we asked what she wanted for dinner she said spaghetti. 

2015 produced an abundant tomato crop to the point that we had given up on canning them and resorted to freezing them whole and so we set about making our own spaghetti sauce.  The result was a full flavoured tomato sauce and the end to us purchasing spaghetti sauce at the store!

We used gluten free paste making this a gluten free meal without anyone knowing but me :) 

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• One large onion chopped
• 8 garlic pressed garlic cloves
• 2 quart jars of whole tomatoes or 24 fresh tomatoes, skins removed.
• 2 5.5 ounce cans of tomato paste
• 3 Tablespoons of fresh basil chopped fine
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon of sweetener we used blue Agave syrup
• 3 Tablespoons of your favourite Italian spice mix - we use Epicure Bolognese

Directions:

1. In a large sauce pan sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are translucent
2. Add to this the tomatoes coarsely chopped, tomato paste, basil, sweetener, lemon juice and spice mix.
3. Simmer for three hours if the sauce becomes too thick add water or vegetable broth – stir frequently.

From Our Table To Yours

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2016 twosnydergirls

Crochet the December 2015 Sky

December 2015

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

Blow, blow, thou winter wind.

Thou art not so unkind

As man's ingratitude;

Thy tooth is not so keen,

Because thou art not seen,

Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:

Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:

Then, heigho-ho, the holly!

This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

That dost not bite so nigh

As benefits forgot:

Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp

As friend remember'd not.

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! ...

~William Shakespeare 

With this crocheting the 2015 sky comes to an end, however the project is not finished as I am left with 52 granny squares that now need to be used in either a single or multiple projects and with 2016 a new project begins where I am incorporating both the sky and daily temperature into a single granny square.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2016 twosnydergirls

The Library

A child's hobby made with modeling clay and scraps of paper and cardboard.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2016 twosnydergirls

Just Start

If things start happening.

Don’t worry. Don’t stew.

Just go right along and you’ll start happening too.

~Dr. Seuss

No matter how old you are 50 or 100 your children, grandchildren and if you are lucky great grandchildren are watching you.  The question you need to ask yourself is what do they see? 

What are they learning from you?

Grandparents are in a unique situation they have time that their children as the parents don’t, to mentor through example how to become success people.

The success being spoken of here is not about making money, or being successful in a career, it is being successful in living your life. 

As a child we went to visit my grandfather, he was physically disabled yet I do not remember him that way.  The legacy he left was one of starting and seeing where the path leads him.  He mentored us in living life through your abilities not being defined by a disability and having fun along the way - he taught me that anytime is a good time for ice cream!

Yet many grandparents sit in their chairs, watching life go by waiting for – I am not quite should what.  This attitude is all too often accompanied by bitterness and regret.  Which in turn lead to withdrawal from family and friends. 

There are so many things that your grandchildren can do with you, looking at old picture albums, listening to you tell stories, washing dishes, going for walks, dancing, cooking, eating ice cream, the list is endless.

Do something, anything with your grandchildren, make a start with them and “you’ll start happening too”

Teach your children and grandchildren how to be successful at life, by living your life no matter how old or able bodied you are.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2016 twosnydergirls

The Pictures In Our Heads

How many times in all the planning, imagining, and wanting has an important event in life disappointed because it was not supposed to be the way it turned out?

Perfect is not achievable in life because our imagined perfect moment, that picture we create in our heads is impossible to replicated in real life. 

Much of my life I lived with someone who spent great amounts of time planning for the perfect (fill in any life event), and upon the arrival of that moment was disappointed, so moved on very quickly in planning the next perfect moment.

And when they were not planning they were worrying over the terrible things that might happen. 

They spent time we could have been laughing, playing or just being together as a family consumed by a future that would never come true and always disappointed.

They screwed up their now with pictures of what should in their head.

Experience each moment for the joy that only it can bring. 

If it rains on your party dance with abandon in the rain. 

Find your place of happiness where you are now not in some future place and don’t fear what is yet to happen it comes at the expense of your safety now.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2016 twosnydergirls

Your Righteousness Is Like The Mighty Mountain

Everything in creation is unique, there is no duplication!

By design the Creator God has attended to the creation of all living things on earth ensuring diversity.

This includes all of humanity from the beginning to the end of time.

Each person is known to God by name and through their uniqueness.

God does not desire that we be like anyone but ourselves.

I Corinthians 12:4-7
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."

God expresses his love in unique ways to each of us as our need dictates.  Just as a good parent loves all their children and changes their parenting style to meet the needs and temperaments of each child. 

Such is the righteousness of our Father that he can up hold each of us, loving our uniqueness, knowing each of us by name, and providing for us as our needs and temperaments require - just as a mighty mountain holds upon it's hillsides and summit all that would live and travel there.

It is our uniqueness that makes us precious in God's eyes for this is how he made us.

Grandma Snyder

©2013-2016 twosnydergirls

Lectionary Readings Isaiah 62:1-5 Psalm 36:5-10 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 John 2:1-11