After months of preparation, Fashionista’s wedding has finally arrived.  Today is her henna night insh’Allah and the last few days have seen us all busy preparing with much laughter and bickering.  Lots of preparation of favours, henna trays and displays has been taking place and I think my mum is sick of the sight of […]

My garden is very small but I love it to bits.  I love being creative with it, trying out new things, watching things grow and gardening with my children.  It’s a buzz to see things grow and then to bring them into your kitchen and use them. I have been looking for a small cherry […]

It seems to be big news right now to find your purpose, discover your joy and drop everything that’s making you miserable in your day to day life and head to Europe, or Bali or India and hang out in ashrams or outdoor cafes (if the title of this post doesn’t make sense it refers to the best-selling book Eat […]

This prompt for the Ramadan journaling challenge is quite apt at the moment and rather timely.  This time last year, hubby and a group of local brothers had just finished work on a new masjid in our neighbourhood.  They had found a gap in provision locally for good quality Quran and Islamic studies for their […]

I first wrote about Imran Khan in 2011, here, when I came across one of his speeches, unfortunately I can’t find it now, but it was unlike anything I had heard from a Pakistani politician and just blew me away.  I wrote again in 2013 of my disappointment when IK lost the elections in Pakistan, […]

I came across this poem and it moved me as a mother and reminded me of the healing power of nature: The Peace of Wild ThingsWhen despair for the world grows in meand I wake in the night at the least soundin fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,I go and […]

What about your body are you especially grateful for? I like this prompt, we spend so much time picking fault, seeing our imperfections and feeling self-conscious, that we forget what beautiful, useful, rewarding creations our bodies can be. When I was a size six with clear skin, I would still see faults. Now twenty years […]

It feels a bit late to post about our Eid party, seeing as Eid was four weeks ago now and the party was 2 weeks ago, but better late than never I guess. I decided the week before and told most people at short notice, I used to be very organised, but in the last […]

I picked up this book on Kooky Little Sisters recommendation when I saw it in the quick reads section at the library (I have just been allowed back in there after hubby paid off the latest hefty fine of £15 out of a series he keeps getting landed with every time I ask him to […]

I finally got round to using the new prayer/quiet room at work today. I have been rushing home to pray, but wanted to pray at the starting time and be able to relax on the way home instead of panicking that I might be late and miss the end of the period for Zoher (the […]

I will be away from my laptop for the next few days insh’Allah.  I will be going with a jamaat (group) for three days to spend some time in the path of Allah (SWT) insh’Allah. I wrote about this practice when I went in Ramadan 2017 here, the experience involves: “Taking time away from your […]

Whilst we were at Bournemouth I asked my husband to take me to the beach one morning after fajr (dawn prayers) without the kids.  Just the two of us.  He readily agreed as his dad was with us and would be home with the kids. We snuck out early and took the short drive to […]

We had great fun last night with our first family chand raat (night before Eid) celebration.  Technically, it was two nights before Eid, but we fugured everyone would be busy tomorrow night.  We swapped “Secret Mullah” presents (thanks girls!), got our henna done, ate pizza and watched old wedding video’s (one from 20 years ago, one […]

My best friend gave me this book some time ago knowing how much I loved books. I kept it for just the right occasion/purpose to use and the other day this presented itself. Mash’Allah, Little Lady is turning into a little bibliophile too and loves to talk about what she is reading. I suggested she […]