Gramma's True Confessions, Page 9
Page 9
Meanwhile, in a land now far away, back at the ranch, when I was a little girl, soft sweet memories of my Gramma Bell remain locked in my heart and head. Her strong, southern, Gone With the Wind, attitudes governed her thinking. And, by the way, we must watch that memory movie where one of the characters is called, Mammy and another is her charge, Scarlett. In the story Mammy was locked in a contest with Scarlett so the girl could become a mature, southern lady. Needless to say, Scarlet was strong willed and determined, but Mammy was her equal just as my grandmother was equal to all the shenanigans of her grandchildren. Her discipline was practiced by teaching us the crafts of her ancestors, those Irish women who could do the most intricate and delicate handwork.
We started out with clumsy, awkward fingers to try for holding thread made from old Christmas string that had been tied around packages. Grandmother Bell saved this light weight cord which she had wound up into a ball. First she crocheted a round mat of the crinkly, sparkly, thread, and left one of those on the coffee table so we could touch and handle the small, imitation, faux, doily. After many attempts and much trying I was finally able to master a chain stitch. As I learned to hook the chains together into a circle I felt like a master craftsperson and so was built my self-confidence and self-esteem, not by tough love as is talked about today, but by my own hand, at the hand of my grandmother.
Years later, I learned to knit and the fun of knitting capes, sweater, leg-warmers, mittens and caps was only done for pleasure and for allowing the grandchildren to know how a garment is made. Of course, modern machines whip all these things out so easily and quickly really it can seem as if our slow efforts are hardly worth wasting time. Still, there are those garments made by hand in Ireland that are sold at prices one would pay for a piece of artwork, which is, indeed, what they are; artwork.
My own mother would say, Donna Colleen never gave me any trouble as a teen-ager, which was not totally true. However, the discipline of hand, and art work carried me through many a dark day, when I grieved over your aunt Rhondas birth injury that put her in the wheelchair. A person just cant be blue and miserable while creating lovely objects with your hands. It is sort of a mind over matter, thing.
Scripture:
Exodus 35, 25, 26, 31
25. And all the women who were wise of heart spun with their hands, and they kept bringing as yarn the blue thread and the wool dyed reddish purple, the coccus scarlet material and the fine linen.
26. And all the women whose hearts impelled them with wisdom spun the goats hair.
31. And he proceeded to fill him with the spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in every sort of craftsmanship.
Recipe:
Taco Sauce
½ onion
1 can tomato sauce
1 red bell pepper, whole including seeds
Juice of one lime
Dash of Italian seasoning
Put all the above ingredients in a blender and blend well. Include the seeds of the lime and Bell pepper, as well.
Gramma Bell taught my mother to can and prepare the seeds in her recipes. These give a bit of bitterness to food which is, today, lost, because of the farmer genetically producing foods by manipulating the growing of sweeter foods, which most people prefer, much to their own bodys detriment.
Words to consider:
Self-esteem: The dignity of being worthy of self respect to help us when under pressure
Genetically: heredity, or things passed down
Detriment: damage or loss
Faux: Imitation of a genuine article