I remember being a teen and sometimes getting unwanted attention, probably at a younger age than was appropriate.  I remember being a teen and being aware of my many perceived flaws alongside a cocky arrogance about my youth and how skinny I was.  Despite these things, I would rather have been a teen then than […]

Mohammed M. Mahdi, Mohammed A. Mahdi, and Anthony Duncan are the Soapy Soap Guys, the entrepreneurs behind the artisanal soap business: the Soapy Soap Company. Their brand came about through a desire to create a more natural, functional bar of soap.  They have recently launched their new website: DesignMySoap.com, the world’s first online soap-making studio […]

Late last year I picked up the habit of morning journaling again.  I have done this on and off for the last fifteen years or so.  I have my paper journals which I fill with thoughts and ideas and bits of wisdom that resonate.  These are left out where anyone can read them and I […]

My youngest is a handful at the best off times, but recently Baby seems to have gotten more bolshy, more rebellious and even a bit meaner.  I wonder if it is the result of being the youngest and having to fight to hold her own.  Or perhaps she just inherited some of the spite that […]

I have been getting a bit more involved in my community recently, something I have wanted for a long time.  There are two big reasons for this: Firstly, when my family moved into this neighbourhood 33 years ago, it was considered a nice area, somewhere we could be proud to call home. Over the years […]

I often get asked to review apps, so when a friend asked me to recommend some good app, especially Islamic themed Apps, I thought I would start reviewing them now and again.  The first one is Muslim Quiz & Games PRO – Islamic Academy by Tentacle Solutions. I don’t have an ipad or tablet and […]

My family is not very big here and we very rarely have weddings, so have never had the wedding season experience of one wedding after another that many Asians experience. So the fact that my young cousin is getting married soon is a source of excitement and outfit planning activity in my family. As the […]

Last weekend was the date of our annual Eid party.  This year I kept it small to make life easier, with family and neighbours invited. I had my decorations from Eid which let me indulge shamelessly in my love for colour and rainbows: I found some rainbow roses and mixed them with these creatively named […]

I have so many sets of Eid décor from previous years that rather than make more, I thought I would use some I already had.  One set comprises of one or two posters for an A4 frame, a banner, a mini banner for the dessert table and sometimes labels for sweet tubs or gifts. I […]

I turned 40 this year alhamdulillah, a number that in my earlier years would have felt very old and unimaginably distant.  But now having arrived at it, I still feel myself – human, flawed, youthful, enthusiastic about life, perhaps comfortable in myself and my body, if a little battered by life.  This feels like a […]

For weeks I have wanted to get my beads out, but every time I get a minute Darling is wide awake and ready to help me out.  Yesterday, the urge to play got too much and I got my box of beads out and handed Darling a reel of elastic to play with. I manage […]

I and Little Lady sneaked out early on the weekend whilst the other children and their gran were still in bed. I thought it would be nice to have some for just us two and to have breakfast together. We headed into town and did some chores (bank, library) and then decided to do some […]

I turned 40 this year alhamdulillah, a number that in my earlier years would have felt very old and unimaginably distant.  But now having arrived at it, I still feel myself – human, flawed, youthful, enthusiastic about life, perhaps comfortable in myself and my body, if a little battered by life.  This feels like a […]

I have been toying with my Word of the Year for 2021 for the last few day and struggling to settle on one word. My word for 2020 was belief – I wrote here about recognising the need to have greater self-belief in myself: “Belief in my good intentions, in my capability, in my competence. […]