Had an exhausting weekend. Have been tired and stressed from not knowing if we’ll go Pakistan, from all the kids being under the weather, from running out of money, from lack of sleep, from the house being in a state of transit and from too much to do at work. I really need all the […]

I heard an interesting story from my husband (who knows I am a sucker for a good story), who in turn heard the story during a Ramadan talk at his masjid. It involved one of the imam’s hifz (Quran memorization) student’s who spent months and months learning and still had not memorized one chapter. Eventually […]

I try to complete at least one reading of the Quran every Ramadan, but in the last few years I have struggled to complete even one full reading.  This is something I always feel a little ashamed and disappointed about. This year I really wanted to read all the way through at least once.  I attended a lecture where […]

Spent yesterday and today at my mum’s. My parents got back from Pakistan utterly exhausted after a nine hour flight to a house full of noise and guests so had to spend the next five or six hours entertaining guests much to our chagrin (at one point my dad’s best friend was chatting away to […]

It probably sounds a bit pathetic, but neither my family, nor my in-laws, nor my parents family have ever had a barbeque before, so we thought we would start a tradition. Also, noticing the fun we seem to have at our ladies only Eid parties, my husband has been threatening for ages to have a […]

These cards are ones I made over the past few weeks from bits and peices.The small flowers in the two cards below are punched flowers layered up with a gem at the centre. Green is my favourite colours and I love the juicy green shade in the card below. The swirl below is chipboard, a […]

I have been thinking about crafting and realised I often feel guilty about the time and money spent on my card-making and jewellery making (although most of the materials are recycled or second-hand). I often think that the time and money would be better spent in ibadah (worship) and charity. But then I think our […]

With the Eid party in the afternoon, I thought it would be good to whiz round and put the house in order and get things ready (you know I like to be prepared). I had the food cooked by 9am.  Chicken pasta, chickpea and potato rice and the mix for the pakora’s (my mum-in-laws recipe […]

When I was a little girl I lived in a big old house in Upton Park near the famous Green Street with my parents, grandparents and two uncles (Dad’s younger brothers). The younger of these two was a student, sporting the adidas bag and giant sunglasses of that time. He was also and still is […]

Our social lives seem to revolve around food at the moment, especially with Mum- and Dad-in-law going to Pakistan this week.  We’ve had numerous dinner invites from friends and family to say goodbye, five in the last two weeks and the odd occasion where we have invited people to dinner. In itself this is rather lovely. […]

I recently wrote an article for Aaila magazine about gender prejudice amongst parents: I grew up in a loving home, but one that did not escape the South-Asian cultural preference for boys. As one of four sisters to a lone brother, this did none of us any favours. People would commiserate with my mother for […]

I have been trying to sit down and write something and upload some pictures for days, but have not had any luck until now due to my volatile work situation.Due to the threat of redundancy (which likely won’t happen now) and complete and utter boredom with certain parts of my work I have been job-hunting. […]

Although my grandmother has passed away now, caring for her was one of the most demanding, yet most satisfying experiences of my life. Gran came to live with me for two years when she got fed up of all of her daughters-in-law squabbling amongst themselves. I think part of her also enjoyed the company of […]

The sad deaths in Sydney following a hostage situation were bad enough, the horror that is unfolding in Iraq and Syria was horrific enough and then the devastating news today of over a hundred children killed in an attack on a school in Peshawar in Pakistan by the Taliban.I have been thinking of the children […]