I have been following what has happened in the masjid in Christchurch very quietly, unable to speak about it or find words to make sense of it. I haven’t been able to discuss what has happened with my children or family, just to watch as events unfold. My office organised a vigil with our community […]

AS it was the last weekend before Ramadan, we decided to make the most of it by taking the children strawberry-picking.  We visit Hewitts Farm in Kent every year usually during May or early June for strawberries and peas and in late August for the orchards (apples, pears and very sweet, juicy plums).  I realised yesterday that I […]

I was invited by a freind to her sisters henna this week, so wanted to make a card to take along. This picture was from a beautician’s advert which had come through my letterbox a few days before. This was an easy card, because I had to put something together quickly before the henna. Green […]

I did start trying to update my Ramadan Planner for 2015 sometime in February, I lost momentum, my laptop died, I got overwhelmed and it just didn’t happen. So today I finally managed to edit it and finish it off.  There are not many changes from last year, except the calenders have been updated.  I […]

There are days when the boys are just too much for me. I have no idea how my mother-in-law raised five boys without any help at all. Today has been one for those days and I have told my two boys to stay well away from me because I just cannot take any more. My […]

Things came to a strange impasse with me today. I realised that I am not too bothered anymore. I seem to have lost my ambition regarding my career and my aspirations regarding life in general. I wonder if I should be upset at this, but I’m not. I feel like I don’t want to chase […]

As there are no boot markets during winter I have been putting my spare change in a little purse that Long-Suffering Sister gave me. This morning I woke up to March and asked the other half nicely if we can go see if any of the markets are on yet.We left the kids asleep with […]

I have posted this before, but the last sermon of our beloved Prophet (Sallahu Alaihi Wassalam), delivered on the 9th day of Hajj at the plain of Arafat, never fails to move me to tears. Every time I read it, I find something new in it and every time I read it, I marvel at the […]

I got about halfway through yesterday, when long-suffering sister e-mailed me to wish me happy anniversary. I nearly jumped off my seat; we had both forgotten again (we do so every year). It was too late to plan anything because we had a wedding to go to (who has a wedding at 4pm on a […]

I wanted to spend the afternoon with my gran as she likes company, but sitting in her room makes me dopey so I took my card-making stuff with me as I know she would like to have a look. I’ve run out of a lot of stuff I uses so these cards were experimental with […]

You might be wondering what I mean by Asian Mean Time. It’s what one of my African friends also calls “African Time”. Partly, this is the inability of people to get to a place at an agreed time, but it’s more than that, it’s the idea that if you agree a time, you actually mean […]

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 […]

Last week I was lucky enough to attend a talk by a scholar from Pakistan called Maulana Tariq Jameel.  He is very popular in Pakistan and his talks are usually very well attended.  This time was no exception. I attended two of his lectures in London before and there were some specific take-away’s which have stayed with me.  From […]

This year I reconciled myself to the fact that I wouldn’t have any time to do lots of extra crafts for Eid or think up special activities, so I pulled out the most colourful things I had made in previous years. Hopefully will be able to get my better half to work his magic and […]