Hubby’s job as a removal man means he comes home with all sorts of things; some valuable, beautiful or useful and others random junk I have to decide what to do with or lug down to the charity shop. This week he came home with an ironing board, a TV stand, a big bag full […]

This week me and my sisters have been busy with planning our Eid party. One of the themes that comes up often on this blog is that of frugal living and finding ways of using less, wasting less, re-using and spending less. We managed to get things together for the party whilst keeping costs fairly […]

This weekend my mum-in-law is flying back to Pakistan after staying with us for the last five months. She is here for about six months every year and her coming and going usually means lots of change in our home and family routine. I have written before (in The Art of Living With Your In-Laws) […]

Abu Bakrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “The year is twelve months of which four are sacred, the three consecutive months of Dhu’l-Qa’dah, Dhu’l-Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab Mudar which comes between Jumada and Sha’ban.” [Bukhari, 2958]Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger […]

I got an interesting e-mail a few weeks ago, rebuking me for being a bad Muslim because my family have big weddings and for wasting money when people are suffering across the world. Basically, saying I have no shame and should set a better example. I haven’t got around to replying yet…but where do I […]

One of my sisters (or sister-in-law) had a brainwave for us all to go bowling together. This isn’t something we have done as a family, the last time I went was when my high school took me. I was more than up for it and we decided to make a day of it with lunch […]

I recently came across something called 100 Days of Productivity Challenge, I really liked the concept. It requires you to do something productive every day and capture it.  The challenge is mainly found on students Tumblr accounts.  Being a grown adult and usually quite productive, I shouldn’t need a productivity challenge.  However, I seem to have […]

My maternity leave started officially yesterday, although I have been on leave for the last two weeks.   I have been trying to keep myself occupied so that I don’t go crazy.  Thankfully nesting has hit like crazy and I have been dragging out furniture and cleaning corners that I previously pretended didn’t exist and rearranging every cupboard […]

Something I have always struggled with is my sense of identity. More amd more I recognise how strongly this affects the way I have lived my life and some of the decisions I have made. I got to thinking about it today during one of my marathon e-mail navel-gazing sessions with my bestest (who is […]

I am currently 36 weeks along with my baby due at the very end of this month. This is my last week at work and after two weeks off, I’m impressed I managed to get up early and make it in. I always find at the best of times that any significant time off work […]

Usually we wait for the kids to go sleep before we put decorations up during the night, but being so sleep deprived I didn’t fancy staying up so late and let the kids join in this time.  It turned out to be a great idea, they had a blast and we got our decorations up […]

I attended Sheikh Alaa Elsayed’s seminar on marriage at the Twins of Faith conference and it gave me lots of food for thought. The seminar was engaging and very funny and I came away with some clear information. The seminar listed things that men and women should look for in a spouse and what things […]

I got a call early this morning from a friend who had found out last night that she had lost her mother. This is always devastating, but what was different for this sister was that she was here with her husband and small children, whereas her mother was in Pakistan.This has always been a problem […]

I was happy to see that Neelu of Neelu’s Journal, a very pretty blog, is hosting the Ramadan Journal Challenge again this year, a list of daily prompts to blog or journal your Ramadan. Last year she decided to skip a list of prompts and set goals to share with readers instead. In previous years […]