After missing a lot of lessons and then returning to the sporadically, this week has been about getting down to business again with teaching Little Lady to read Quran.This was something I always ran away from as a child, seeing it as a chore and very boring. Although my dad taught me at home and […]

The kids have been trying the blo-art set I found them at a boot fair, so I came home from work to be presented with lots of artwork, which Little Lady had promptly decorated her bunkbed with, along with some curious instructions for her brothers. I have been having a difficult time with Little Lady […]

My first few days at the new office have been mixed, but I am glad to find that my experience there is improving alhamdulillah. The prayer room we were promised is still under construction, but the facilities people have been kind enough to point out various storage and utility rooms we can use in the […]

Assalam-alaikam everyone and Ramadan Kareem, Alhamdulillah, we are so blessed to find ourselves at the start of another Ramadan filled with blessings, forgiveness and mercy.  A chance to get rid of bad habits, start good habits and have our duas’ (supplications) answered. Even more, Allah (SWT) has blessed us with this opportunity to get closer […]

Yesterday morning I had a miserable time, made worse by an argument with a Dr’s receptionist that pushed me right to the edge.  I am a very honest and open person, I blog about how my real life is  – both the good times and the hard ones. I am by nature upbeat, positive and […]

The nice people at online beauty retailers Beauty Base recently sent me some products to try out, a new range called W7 Very Vegan (review to follow) and some items from the Himalaya Herbals range that they stock. I am a big fan of aloe vera and use it in gel form on y face […]

I booked two days off this week to help Little Man settle into nursery. He has been looking forward to this for a very long time. Every time we drop Little Lady off, he announces that it’s his school too. We potty-trained him with a promise of if you go to the loo like a […]

This is the second, much-awaited novel by the author of The Kite Runner. Longer and covering an even longer span of time in the history of Afghanistan, this book is different in the first instance from The Kite Runner due to the fact that it is written from the viewpoint of women. Where the semi-autobiographic […]

I read something interesting today: Education has a ripple effect… Educate a girl, and you educate her children and generations to follow. ~ John Wood in What Matters Now (free e-book here). I think a lot of people would agree with this.  It resonates with me on a very personal level though.  For me education does […]

I was pleased to see that the wonderful Neelu of Neelu’s Journal is hosting the Ramadan Journal 2017.  I have taken part over the last few years and enjoyed it.  In her own words, Neelu describes her the inspiration behind her Journal challenge: “I was inspired to keep a Ramadan Journal thanks to Ali Edwards’ December Daily and the idea […]

This is one of the first things that my mum taught me to cook. Rice is not as central to the Punjabi diet as it is to the Bengali or South Indian one, being as it is, largely based around wheat (in the form of chapatti’s with each meal), this is mainly because Punjab is […]

People often say to me they are impressed by the way I manage home, children, relatives, work and other things. I always smile and feel like a complete and utter fraud. Partly this is because my husband does his share and helps every chance he gets, also at the moment my in-laws are taking care […]

The weather is finally starting to feel cooler, although still warmer than it usually is this time of year.  The colours of autumn are making themselves visible and it is just the season to collect conkers, pine cones, red and golden leaves and clusters of sycamore seeds. We took the babies to the park to […]

I am sure I am not the only working Muslim that gets asked lots of questions about fasting as Ramadan approaches: Why do you fast? Can you not eat anything? Not even drink water? How many hours?!? So this year I organised a staff questions and answer session open to everyone in my organisation to […]