tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53986119431155967932024-03-16T18:53:02.520+00:00Happy Muslim MamaOne mama, five kids and a heck of a to-do list...Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.comBlogger2313125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-55412031675289769152022-04-24T23:26:00.000+01:002022-04-24T23:26:06.137+01:00L’Occitane Ramadan Mubarak Beauty Calendar<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A rather thoughtful soul gifted me the
Ramadan calendar from L’Occitane at the start of Ramadan. I am a fan of their
hand creams and was curious about their skincare range, but it was a little
outside of my price range, so it was nice to get a range of products to try
out.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7RaCkRL0XAhhV_BRDetmyu7R1T6UTPSXFZ6sL1syJ_SpIKa5rbWWAPNMMRCDodXjacyhgk5o2u2RptvqDf7wsBqnoSoB0xdvHUI-UYAFlprbtKxk8dXNfy6uDAtCgszAbnrJ_3U8384uby-6_8MnRCsnrDz95wmO_u2r19oLMYkAZgEdKs6CXECldg/s2048/LOccitane%20Ramadan%20Mubarak%20Beauty%20Calendar%201.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7RaCkRL0XAhhV_BRDetmyu7R1T6UTPSXFZ6sL1syJ_SpIKa5rbWWAPNMMRCDodXjacyhgk5o2u2RptvqDf7wsBqnoSoB0xdvHUI-UYAFlprbtKxk8dXNfy6uDAtCgszAbnrJ_3U8384uby-6_8MnRCsnrDz95wmO_u2r19oLMYkAZgEdKs6CXECldg/w300-h400/LOccitane%20Ramadan%20Mubarak%20Beauty%20Calendar%201.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The box itself feels sturdy and beautifully
put together. Split into ten sections covering three days each, each section
slides out and is itself split into three boxes. Each box contains a little treat.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEign-b5QHN8UY23kom35OknCIRK9OUFQt0bbt1V4ghspp8dUo89iJhOOhEpsNkU-_pEslcrqW0A4cdWup2ly1mL6l8FHcIETlWoEfxs_JgzrXZloqE9Wb6hrt6bibEDSr4Xk2GFLIZOf0jLxIH2YMjCf7U1UKP69Xga3mNLCQBVOwO98tjEuP_9oLM7sg/s2048/LOccitane%20Ramadan%20Mubarak%20Beauty%20Calendar%202.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEign-b5QHN8UY23kom35OknCIRK9OUFQt0bbt1V4ghspp8dUo89iJhOOhEpsNkU-_pEslcrqW0A4cdWup2ly1mL6l8FHcIETlWoEfxs_JgzrXZloqE9Wb6hrt6bibEDSr4Xk2GFLIZOf0jLxIH2YMjCf7U1UKP69Xga3mNLCQBVOwO98tjEuP_9oLM7sg/w300-h400/LOccitane%20Ramadan%20Mubarak%20Beauty%20Calendar%202.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I opened the first few and found a mix
of classic, instantly recognisable products and newer skincare offerings. The
classic, shea butter hand cream, the cherry blossom hand cream (my favourite)
and the verbena range. I was surprised to find they do perfume too, including a
perfume version of the cherry blossom scent. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LUs756JzGz__SyqGcFHxOLd4oYi35SFrXL5Hl1nVhF-OInHnFbGFCGw1AZqEkZ-0uiNc5m4CkafuzhzGfWcybXpzYmDg7FoPbBXHWRGmtpqOJ6B6NCaaDPgJYXJelg0pQ2xkBEql_0HIjy9BDn5MJB2rxiXjSiIvW3kFTWD78R9NsNyLcs_5-zTgxg/s2048/LOccitane%20Ramadan%20Mubarak%20Beauty%20Calendar%203.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LUs756JzGz__SyqGcFHxOLd4oYi35SFrXL5Hl1nVhF-OInHnFbGFCGw1AZqEkZ-0uiNc5m4CkafuzhzGfWcybXpzYmDg7FoPbBXHWRGmtpqOJ6B6NCaaDPgJYXJelg0pQ2xkBEql_0HIjy9BDn5MJB2rxiXjSiIvW3kFTWD78R9NsNyLcs_5-zTgxg/w300-h400/LOccitane%20Ramadan%20Mubarak%20Beauty%20Calendar%203.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Some of the products were a good size,
like this toner which is 30ml. I have been using the Clarins green Purifying
Toner for the last twenty years and love it, but I am curious enough to try
this product from the Immortelle range. I visited the L’Occitane shop in the Ashford
(Kent) shopping outlet last week and saw the whole Immortelle range showcased
in the most gorgeous packaging and left with them on my mental wish list (the
Immortelle night serum was also in the calendar).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4HaE7QFsK4Ul-XGcJFPMZN0d-Ofotwf0BDPJy5HP7zD_IS28pp3H3ijc2FMgP8FzzbHi5mg_wKWGlvJAUnvud8qULKY0gaYp0DLW3wuP77y1r80taEaqmeLuGYSJ5tJ890FC-fXcvl0WTzmzy1Mx7Y0QM7wPM0qiJpWyfhmvK3U6GI414Kox-sPE5YA/s2048/LOccitane%20Calender%20Immortelle%20Precieuse%20Toner%20.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4HaE7QFsK4Ul-XGcJFPMZN0d-Ofotwf0BDPJy5HP7zD_IS28pp3H3ijc2FMgP8FzzbHi5mg_wKWGlvJAUnvud8qULKY0gaYp0DLW3wuP77y1r80taEaqmeLuGYSJ5tJ890FC-fXcvl0WTzmzy1Mx7Y0QM7wPM0qiJpWyfhmvK3U6GI414Kox-sPE5YA/w300-h400/LOccitane%20Calender%20Immortelle%20Precieuse%20Toner%20.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I love a good skin oil, and this Almond
Supple Skin Oil was also a good size (15ml). It was the first product I tried
and smells amazing. A few drops in the palm of my hand and then massaged into
my face left my whole face feeling moisturised and dewy, but not greasy.
I could smell the scent for ages afterwards (I still can as I write this). You
only need a few drops at a time, so this
should last ages.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhC_72HA2M4yX1zvcUI01U1yXHTuZ3iMJ1J9s4la5ex3mR7Xd9FQJibKGuzSiDd9X9weDtut53Gwrs7cC4JaLG8u9fe4oV_r5PW2FwZmJaCA6I1xbP55X_ZFrqI8FQao1PjglAkMT_Q51HmNGeauxhCHRpktlAy_VCCsIsncHUBAH4676wUW0nKd3zuw/s2048/LOccitane%20Calendar%20Almond%20Supple%20Skin%20Oil.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhC_72HA2M4yX1zvcUI01U1yXHTuZ3iMJ1J9s4la5ex3mR7Xd9FQJibKGuzSiDd9X9weDtut53Gwrs7cC4JaLG8u9fe4oV_r5PW2FwZmJaCA6I1xbP55X_ZFrqI8FQao1PjglAkMT_Q51HmNGeauxhCHRpktlAy_VCCsIsncHUBAH4676wUW0nKd3zuw/w300-h400/LOccitane%20Calendar%20Almond%20Supple%20Skin%20Oil.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I didn’t take pictures of all of the products
as I didn’t want to spoil the surprise for anyone else that has bought, been gifted,
or wants to buy this. There were 30 products in total, split into seven body (hand
and body creams), eight face (my favourites and the ones I can’t wait to try),
eleven bath and hair and four scents (the most generous I thought). The sizes
are great to try the products or for travel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The L’Occitane Ramadan Mubarak Beauty calendar
costs £99 (with a product value given as £130) and is available from their <a href="https://uk.loccitane.com/celebrating-ramadan-eid,83,1,79913,1637368.htm">website</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><i>Is this something you would buy? Do you
use or have you tried L’Occitane products and what do you think of them?<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jazkah’Allah khairun to the kind soul
who gifted me this, I will enjoy trying out the different products and creating
little moments of self-care for myself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-87721668660290445582022-04-23T23:45:00.002+01:002022-04-24T23:35:10.129+01:00Eid Shopping the Hard Way<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">It was a loooong day today. I had made
plans to get lots done today and I asked Allah SWT to put barakah (blessing) in my time
and help me to get all of my tasks done. I usually do my Eid shopping before
Ramadan so that it is out of the way and there is no last-minute panic and I can focus on my worship during Ramadan. This year
that just didn’t happen. So I made plans with the kids to get it done today. I
got up early and did the housework and laundry first thing to get them out of
the way and then dragged the kids out of bed at 9am.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">We started off at the shopping mall
(Westfield Stratford City) for the boys to pick tracksuits and new trainers.
Gone are the days when I would pick them preppy little chinos and cute shirts.
Now we have to sit and discuss the pro’s and cons of rows of trainers that all
look the same to me. That’s before we start on the technical points of football
trainers (Astro, soft/hard surface, metal vs plastic studs, sock boot) and I just
want to go “eeny, meeny, miney, mo – just pick one!” I tried to bring the price
range down, they both tried to bamboozle me with reasons to get the more expensive
ones. My older son managed to get a pair of football boots in too. When the
younger one tried to get a Liverpool shirt and goalkeeper gloves I drew the
line – this was definitely not Eid shopping.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpmmRmP1Z0utHON4bnoN9dnerTAYf9MVdYmWtFUp1j3AotKejapz2VmW_7xex8E_LGx7oZeqW22UNg-YWYAV9qpuW-wuTOkLWDEiw6hbSuF2Stv02Nfwxcnukg7VPnjzZlA-LVDrw4VZT5sJ3Lr3uqNH1ruHNiK22hw7QzOT60ux_XUwTw-X7E1f4vw/s1600/Westfield.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="856" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpmmRmP1Z0utHON4bnoN9dnerTAYf9MVdYmWtFUp1j3AotKejapz2VmW_7xex8E_LGx7oZeqW22UNg-YWYAV9qpuW-wuTOkLWDEiw6hbSuF2Stv02Nfwxcnukg7VPnjzZlA-LVDrw4VZT5sJ3Lr3uqNH1ruHNiK22hw7QzOT60ux_XUwTw-X7E1f4vw/w342-h640/Westfield.jpg" width="342" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">(First stop: Westfield Stratford City)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">We sent both boys home on the bus and
Little Lady (19) and I made our way to Green Street in East London to look at Asian
clothes. I wouldn’t recommend doing both places while you are fasting and in a
rush to get back home. We started at East Mall and I found lots of hijabs and abaya’s
I liked but I decided to leave them and focus on Eid shopping. We saw quite a
few nice outfits, but didn’t end up settling on any. Instead, we made the trek
up and down the length of Green Street and made our way methodically through
the shops. There was a lot of the same
type of thing: bling long after it has fallen out of fashion, dresses too heavy
for little girls, fabrics that are too delicate for the embroidery on them and probably
wouldn’t last many wears because the beads or gems catch and create pulls in
the delicate fabric. But in between the
shops full of samey things, we found a few gems: Chiffonz stood out for their styles
and prices, also Imaani and Maahir. I had to check the receipts for the names of the shops where we made purchases from - UR Boutique and Fashion Designer, bith independent little shops tucked away amongst the larger stores.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhS1qKwXeEhX2ZCD5BL8DEE-Yi7atzBtxRDojD_eSrUVOq9aUcoc4MXUowUgO4lAOBJ-r5ygT5qiEC4suDgrEbUcJ5nLFZJ02KASCyUO7WXXTQ5MuiEO93-ZEO_r71DKXoOaG8kjaKxTQDUJb9unkkxQf5U5PBl4m_MplciUCwAQ2-SJtIhl5DrlpXew/s1600/East%20Shopping%20Mall.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="856" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhS1qKwXeEhX2ZCD5BL8DEE-Yi7atzBtxRDojD_eSrUVOq9aUcoc4MXUowUgO4lAOBJ-r5ygT5qiEC4suDgrEbUcJ5nLFZJ02KASCyUO7WXXTQ5MuiEO93-ZEO_r71DKXoOaG8kjaKxTQDUJb9unkkxQf5U5PBl4m_MplciUCwAQ2-SJtIhl5DrlpXew/w342-h640/East%20Shopping%20Mall.jpg" width="342" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">(Second stop: East Mall, Green Street)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The other thing about Green Street is
the throng. It was a Saturday and two weeks from Eid, so there were crowds
along most of the length of the street (about one and a half miles long), in
some places too thick to easily get past. I also find that there is often a lot
of barging through people and people blocking the way (shop entrances, the
road, passageways in shops), completely oblivious to anyone else. I tend to try
and be polite and say excuse me to people, my daughter decided to say excuse me
in the most aggressive way she could, tell people off for trying to barge past
without saying excuse me and generally not put up with the usual behaviours I
find when I go to Green Street.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">On the plus side, the good thing about
Green Street is everything is cheaper than my local shops and the variety for Asian
clothes is crazy. We managed to find sharara suits for the little girls, although
not in the colours we wanted as the style had sold out except for the last few
sizes. My daughter bought a very pretty pink and white salwar kameez with elegant
thread embroidery and unexpectedly, picked a sari. I was planning to wear something
I already had, but spotted a dark sea green suit in a window and fell in love,
so treated myself.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifcTOnx8rSUYv46A4sA5pHOLsETuALQv_7Cl7fS5jKs7kRjZysYusTrMv0VylR-oDd4RfMi6VEPpqkmlKRfNM7F2o8cVIlj9tMlzmcjmVfa4w8LMgOSGyKTqnWaT4bY4WDKh4eliNQoTb1Dpa8JaYoGwrR0DVEKZlJQhcC6gXL_WCL0apZu_e_VIy-tQ/s1925/Girls%20Sharara%20Eid%20Fitr%202022.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1925" data-original-width="1634" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifcTOnx8rSUYv46A4sA5pHOLsETuALQv_7Cl7fS5jKs7kRjZysYusTrMv0VylR-oDd4RfMi6VEPpqkmlKRfNM7F2o8cVIlj9tMlzmcjmVfa4w8LMgOSGyKTqnWaT4bY4WDKh4eliNQoTb1Dpa8JaYoGwrR0DVEKZlJQhcC6gXL_WCL0apZu_e_VIy-tQ/w340-h400/Girls%20Sharara%20Eid%20Fitr%202022.jpeg" width="340" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkKTuh3M5P9hz7LBrw6LAR6PNT4ot6ygCrDhZSO8IO2BN9UUPs4GRRaB2FpI7V9MWB8jRnWfY176cikoZtjOMbSHJSG4oRZIm3rgVE1OHT_COkL8flZMWhKL5T2viz3sIdsje8JCxY-hQa8WSLRWGD7nqap1YSwHtIQzzJtegN3dKs_v5eQ6qZiCfbA/s2048/Sea%20Green%20Kameez%20Eid%20Fitr%202022.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkKTuh3M5P9hz7LBrw6LAR6PNT4ot6ygCrDhZSO8IO2BN9UUPs4GRRaB2FpI7V9MWB8jRnWfY176cikoZtjOMbSHJSG4oRZIm3rgVE1OHT_COkL8flZMWhKL5T2viz3sIdsje8JCxY-hQa8WSLRWGD7nqap1YSwHtIQzzJtegN3dKs_v5eQ6qZiCfbA/w300-h400/Sea%20Green%20Kameez%20Eid%20Fitr%202022.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">My daughter was luckily keeping one eye
on the clock, so as soon as I had my suit, she pushed me to make my way home.
By this point my feet were aching and the bus journey home was a welcome sit
down. I was in a rush because my youngest daughter (Baby, 7) had an invite to a
birthday party – at a trampoline park miles away. I didn’t fancy making the
trek on the bus while I was fasting and so close to iftar time (4:45 to 7pm and
fast opens at 8pm), but she rarely gets invited to parties and her friends mum
had made a special effort – and the little Wildling has my heart and there was
no chance I was going to say no to her. So on getting home I did my prayers and my
oldest got her little sister changed, hair done and helped her write out the
birthday card.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKREKnHsaSUteeTDdfnc703O5HQM-dZMyTgH3xI6oEG2ZT7MagfGsGRekzu_BjwK4d51gAetw-qUTSowwLkxXCg0rxa3OY2ltsp4OxSBBnbpHZhWX6-n_2mbuBtgFNtrPxu3XU7dLJf7HFxizpvGGRZ4GJsL9TAg4BUYeFeWtU-udlJg-CYwiw1uf1A/s2048/Trampoline%20Park.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKREKnHsaSUteeTDdfnc703O5HQM-dZMyTgH3xI6oEG2ZT7MagfGsGRekzu_BjwK4d51gAetw-qUTSowwLkxXCg0rxa3OY2ltsp4OxSBBnbpHZhWX6-n_2mbuBtgFNtrPxu3XU7dLJf7HFxizpvGGRZ4GJsL9TAg4BUYeFeWtU-udlJg-CYwiw1uf1A/w300-h400/Trampoline%20Park.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Then we were straight out of the door. I
have to admit, I struggled through the two hours or so we were there and had
hoped to leave earlier, but she was having fun, the guests were gracious and sometimes
you just have to suck it up. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">As soon as they finished the trampoline
session and the cake was eaten, we were out of the door. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I got back home, prayed and then set off
to parents for iftar. I brought fried masala fish and a Turkish platter with me. Mum
made kebabs and prepared lots of fruit (there is something extra yum about the
fruit my mum cuts for us alhamdulillah).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5e0IL2wyjpvY4J7HTlsXb82sId4zT-roAaAD1v9yMhI7UAq5yRAc1hBNtH2ynG7IT0uZV7CcYShT25-JC5ASNqRJ5XAD4da4MlGKX4QZshUQsFIiqREmjkNeHEPcisGVBrkioeC-vr84Eem3r8STZz9zpjK7lDxTR7XFi0x-Js0gQ7QlGeSteCPCptw/s2048/Turkish%20Iftar%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5e0IL2wyjpvY4J7HTlsXb82sId4zT-roAaAD1v9yMhI7UAq5yRAc1hBNtH2ynG7IT0uZV7CcYShT25-JC5ASNqRJ5XAD4da4MlGKX4QZshUQsFIiqREmjkNeHEPcisGVBrkioeC-vr84Eem3r8STZz9zpjK7lDxTR7XFi0x-Js0gQ7QlGeSteCPCptw/w300-h400/Turkish%20Iftar%201.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FuGIAhZ-OSwvuUtXhsdgm_ukfWIr_0fMsxCS3MM8lu39amgPKJxSmjYT_xnIyEo8h2K-FwsnhGqlfoy1qIxqSPQVr1ZXGhPfv1HXo5UA87WD1q8JxgGLtoozjMOCG-L7qhi3N8NPk_4GamEA5VBucpXJFE6Y7iFaRr71w4fNqEuiFHLmxZ_hpq2UnQ/s2048/Fruit.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FuGIAhZ-OSwvuUtXhsdgm_ukfWIr_0fMsxCS3MM8lu39amgPKJxSmjYT_xnIyEo8h2K-FwsnhGqlfoy1qIxqSPQVr1ZXGhPfv1HXo5UA87WD1q8JxgGLtoozjMOCG-L7qhi3N8NPk_4GamEA5VBucpXJFE6Y7iFaRr71w4fNqEuiFHLmxZ_hpq2UnQ/w300-h400/Fruit.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">After we had eaten and prayed, I
vegetated for a little while, while my sisters cleared up and played games with
my children. Once I had a little energy back, I gathered my kids and led them
back home and to bed. The girls wanted to read in bed with me for a while, but the
Wildling couldn’t fall asleep fast enough after all that jumping and
excitement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">It was a long, busy, exhausting and
fulfilling day alhamdulillah. I have been praying to Allah SWT to place barakah
in my time so that I can fulfil all of my responsibilities and do everything I
need to do as a mother, wife, daughter and Muslimah. Today felt like a day that
I got a lot done alhamdulillah.</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NUcWIigo0au3i0AznQaWhjdkg9dC7m_1K1eed4CiWvb4e8GrnBULJmw8kdsnFYgHjIsON7IZ4jqK6j5JoiUqi_82TmsDSsv36TGw-G50ga4Ru5TML-f7kZNNFCGiSKAvFPx4YWzP6k3XfErDzH3tXi3BfZPMiqz02Gb1zcP3D7Bb7aAGIlq5cJIX2w/s1170/Fitbit%2023k.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1170" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NUcWIigo0au3i0AznQaWhjdkg9dC7m_1K1eed4CiWvb4e8GrnBULJmw8kdsnFYgHjIsON7IZ4jqK6j5JoiUqi_82TmsDSsv36TGw-G50ga4Ru5TML-f7kZNNFCGiSKAvFPx4YWzP6k3XfErDzH3tXi3BfZPMiqz02Gb1zcP3D7Bb7aAGIlq5cJIX2w/s320/Fitbit%2023k.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I think I might go a bit slower and move a bit less tomorrow </span><span face=""Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-char-type: symbol-ext; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😊</span></span></div><br />Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-4424695345724855982022-04-18T23:17:00.000+01:002022-04-18T23:17:19.135+01:00Ramadan Sleepover<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Growing up, I used to listen to my
school friends tell me about how they spent their holidays in towns far from London
(Leicester, Preston, Blackburn, Manchester) spending weeks with cousins, at
family wedding, having sleepovers. I felt like I missed out because we had such
little family here and none my age, being the oldest of my generation in the
UK.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">My oldest three were the first children grandchildren in my family, so also didn’t have peers, but had my sisters to treat them and
take them places. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">In contrast my youngest two (Darling 9
and Baby 7) find themselves with a squad of little cousins around the same age -
all girls, all sassy attitude and all good friends (most of the time). I’ve treasured
the fact that they are growing up with so many wonderful, shared memories like
family trips, holidays and special occasions together and sleepovers. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">They have had a few sleepovers together
and I have hosted once or twice, but not the whole squad of five girls. So when
my sister Fashionista mentioned she was coming to stay at my (nearby) parents
for Easter break, I thought it would be nice for her oldest girl to stay at
mine. As Ramadan started at the beginning of the two week holidays, we hadn’t really
had the chance to do much with the girls, so this was a chance for them to have
some fun as the break drew to an end. I invited my brother’s daughter (aged 9) and
my little cousin who is the same age too. No one needed to be asked twice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Various parents dropped their girls off
through the day with growing chaos and excitement. Gorgeous (aged 15 and old
enough to know better), decided that this was a good opportunity to cause mischief
and teased the girls at every turn. By the time it was time to break our fasts,
there had been various arguments and sulks and Darling had already thrown
herself at me in the kitchen and declared she couldn’t cope with so many people
in the house and that no one was listening to her. I explained she was the host
and the girls were her guests so she had to look after them and listen to them
too.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">As soon as the dished were cleared, we got
some of my husband’s sleeping bag collection out and started making up beds on
the living room floor. It took me about two hours to get everyone to lie down
and try and sleep. Ten minutes after I left them, they were all up again and complaining.
Gorgeous had stuck his head in the corner and told them a story about a family
that was apparently murdered in the house and that at night the ghosts would
come out of the storage cupboard at one end of the living room and kill them
all. What followed was half an hour of trying to find an acceptable order for
everyone to lie down so that no one was nearest to the cupboard. In the end
Little Lady had to come down and tell them off and make them lie down again.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Next morning, I woke them up early and
got them all ready to leave the house. I figured, if I got them out, the rest
of the household who were fasting could sleep a bit longer in peace. We headed
to the park to meet with the gardening group I volunteer with on Saturday
mornings. We gave them a tour of the spaces we had created, including a nature
trail with bird feeders, a stag beetle and bug hotels the group had created. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GnovOL_FZaVa7O243xbsZZg9v5dekafHLYAArGl5CzOA9mFdQEhBYVCW9GPt70MEEKYGn4N_kIl8lspr_ZIC0JqFYkopw3CU6ibY2SMm7FKuCzTf7B2UpZ5E5lEhaBBai3QSnCpaOUAVUNN_I21JJEtm5t1porD81HWsdjwySRwePuvErY3ukx0Wvg/s2048/Sleepover%201%20Nature%20trail.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GnovOL_FZaVa7O243xbsZZg9v5dekafHLYAArGl5CzOA9mFdQEhBYVCW9GPt70MEEKYGn4N_kIl8lspr_ZIC0JqFYkopw3CU6ibY2SMm7FKuCzTf7B2UpZ5E5lEhaBBai3QSnCpaOUAVUNN_I21JJEtm5t1porD81HWsdjwySRwePuvErY3ukx0Wvg/w300-h400/Sleepover%201%20Nature%20trail.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Then I equipped them with litter-pickers
and I got them to pick rubbish across the park on their way to the playground.
They seemed to really enjoy it. We filled a bag of rubbish, got lots of nice comments
from park users and then had the park ranger come over to say thank you to the
girls for helping to take care of the park. I was holding the rubbish bag open
and I think I spent most of the time telling hem to point the pickers downwards
and trying not to get hit in the face by one.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8d3ip-QD2cAKJ067lX-tFJwy7A-o21jrXE3UWXtheSaULd_xLfHvYv41ci15CbY7eyYZha0vsgvmvS6TDcco_zpeis6_9HbDEIhdXL74XMjfy_kYvnIbkasOTeFK3etDNvQEYugfGK29LOhCCdCT1kQqGuS3NrY9OS9VCKyl2arEnvKxH4-DDW9VUQ/s2048/Sleepover%202%20Litter%20picking%20.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8d3ip-QD2cAKJ067lX-tFJwy7A-o21jrXE3UWXtheSaULd_xLfHvYv41ci15CbY7eyYZha0vsgvmvS6TDcco_zpeis6_9HbDEIhdXL74XMjfy_kYvnIbkasOTeFK3etDNvQEYugfGK29LOhCCdCT1kQqGuS3NrY9OS9VCKyl2arEnvKxH4-DDW9VUQ/w300-h400/Sleepover%202%20Litter%20picking%20.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaOJVp46oxwHNCUIiip3WuEzNsz3Et7yeGXjCMe3aNPKpv6rKDCfHzDa5b-bGo2TMv3R-UhGIgzgVzWWPfdcnPIpH8pIngnP7Y8mE66yMhy-nMu4cuDQjgD1AsnH3WSrUOrbjLUseBEWbGCfZ4Hdx-j4fFX1kxfO4yMGL5XRWDUQUCSxg-XZdz63ZjcA/s2048/Sleepover%203%20Perfect%20spring%20day%20.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaOJVp46oxwHNCUIiip3WuEzNsz3Et7yeGXjCMe3aNPKpv6rKDCfHzDa5b-bGo2TMv3R-UhGIgzgVzWWPfdcnPIpH8pIngnP7Y8mE66yMhy-nMu4cuDQjgD1AsnH3WSrUOrbjLUseBEWbGCfZ4Hdx-j4fFX1kxfO4yMGL5XRWDUQUCSxg-XZdz63ZjcA/w300-h400/Sleepover%203%20Perfect%20spring%20day%20.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">After a good play in the park and taking
lots of pictures under the gorgeous blossom trees I took them home to rest, get
cleaned up and get ready to go out again. We headed to one of my favourite
places in my area – our local library.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">They had a mini art exhibition that the
girls enjoyed giving their opinions on – they thought the painting of the horse
was particularly impressive.</span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iyuUPtDEGbAcpYJV1IEdxn49QpkxD3cPU2kPEJB_LfLVZ_-aWByVavLqh552oLUSJG1CJNT_E_AHB3etyUkg3E6GwfAYCIpNQQNg4ERj7usi79ayAH0QyzrbbjnRpXchGc1dnXwzmudLG0nxZpj4L2R9i0ZKuXAIO7seHbf2q6a0D1uMT4um11gRxA/s2048/Sleepover%207%20Exhibition.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iyuUPtDEGbAcpYJV1IEdxn49QpkxD3cPU2kPEJB_LfLVZ_-aWByVavLqh552oLUSJG1CJNT_E_AHB3etyUkg3E6GwfAYCIpNQQNg4ERj7usi79ayAH0QyzrbbjnRpXchGc1dnXwzmudLG0nxZpj4L2R9i0ZKuXAIO7seHbf2q6a0D1uMT4um11gRxA/w300-h400/Sleepover%207%20Exhibition.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">I got them to pick books and let them read
for a while, until one of the librarians invited them to join in a dinosaur
hunt game which they loved. On completion they got stickers, activity sheets and
a medal. So that just made everyone’s day.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPMmzXmLN1sMyu9xHYFizQT3s0N6nXTCpZaLoktYd6FfBHg9ru932fXfIXRy10w_yrsoFWdJTaqGpa_umiEMoXamd5mCoyarL1Y3BkwuYYqz_501W2rHIZViTQ6iPEk_D4Pc51vZuwARKLGDUeCgz-rFt2fHA15l02b-71OAm2ObP6uJHv0zWMbiQzA/s2048/Sleepover%208%20Library.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPMmzXmLN1sMyu9xHYFizQT3s0N6nXTCpZaLoktYd6FfBHg9ru932fXfIXRy10w_yrsoFWdJTaqGpa_umiEMoXamd5mCoyarL1Y3BkwuYYqz_501W2rHIZViTQ6iPEk_D4Pc51vZuwARKLGDUeCgz-rFt2fHA15l02b-71OAm2ObP6uJHv0zWMbiQzA/w400-h300/Sleepover%208%20Library.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">After an hour in the library, I took
them shopping and let them choose a jigsaw to so together and a toy each to
take home. They were all fasting, so I let them choose some snacks for after
iftar (fast breaking) as well. They were super excited by their toys and snacks
and took lets of pictures posing with their toys. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">By this point they were starting to
tire, so we took the bus home and I encouraged them to rest. They decided to
build a den to play their jigsaw in. How can I describe the number of arguments,
sulks and tantrums that this led to – everyone was the expert in den making and
wanted to do it their own way. After an hour of squabbling, I suggested they did
some painting in the garden instead.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeCatv9sDbH2noUX7Tsv4jSV_cvNoXTyujVN1XZqux8HredWx2n7C1QC4urnOc4dVFlftc87CzC48r40vnTI14EECQZ-m_rxX3n0Fg6-gLfk97We7x64o8ycAlsmh-mojgjnSzh0Dqigu9X462TDASM_2dI0V1sR8-ZxbGnKleLfBLHjlMdWKzDRXwA/s2048/Sleepover%204%20Building%20a%20den.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeCatv9sDbH2noUX7Tsv4jSV_cvNoXTyujVN1XZqux8HredWx2n7C1QC4urnOc4dVFlftc87CzC48r40vnTI14EECQZ-m_rxX3n0Fg6-gLfk97We7x64o8ycAlsmh-mojgjnSzh0Dqigu9X462TDASM_2dI0V1sR8-ZxbGnKleLfBLHjlMdWKzDRXwA/w400-h300/Sleepover%204%20Building%20a%20den.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3wd7OvNz_9ugYO7zAX05NGdnP_94F0NAoIDmdMBvj1M5fPII9yZ4CHAruXniWqElGxVNh0fpL2Iyajyeas5DueyY_D_9LdKSNjJw89IPcswqLFL_FtUp5wyvdVeSvAsGkRoRb15ZvNySD73_G0pIExPf_dPa5RIF_lk786wG5eDCLiG2lgI_egjbVw/s2048/Sleepover%205%20Painting%20%20.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3wd7OvNz_9ugYO7zAX05NGdnP_94F0NAoIDmdMBvj1M5fPII9yZ4CHAruXniWqElGxVNh0fpL2Iyajyeas5DueyY_D_9LdKSNjJw89IPcswqLFL_FtUp5wyvdVeSvAsGkRoRb15ZvNySD73_G0pIExPf_dPa5RIF_lk786wG5eDCLiG2lgI_egjbVw/w300-h400/Sleepover%205%20Painting%20%20.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizH3kKle3i2gXAOU9no6l5S3MOR1Nz-hhNQCc7KI49yrfhTKKUlhdqDaw5lBEgB1tOYo3tYtoUJEkpL9SWfDWckVMU5o0g2K-YBR8rKO-z_oKdMC-yh1cgAucmYZXhgFveNkAp_vqntB0gdR_NRD0gr92QMu0B0jc9MYyGyE-MmsRlAxAg54vlRGKaOA/s2048/Sleepover%206%20Painting%20%20.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizH3kKle3i2gXAOU9no6l5S3MOR1Nz-hhNQCc7KI49yrfhTKKUlhdqDaw5lBEgB1tOYo3tYtoUJEkpL9SWfDWckVMU5o0g2K-YBR8rKO-z_oKdMC-yh1cgAucmYZXhgFveNkAp_vqntB0gdR_NRD0gr92QMu0B0jc9MYyGyE-MmsRlAxAg54vlRGKaOA/w300-h400/Sleepover%206%20Painting%20%20.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiick8qBH5hlpc1qA3GNWUmdZaoolQLX0ZuCxHPOd3sFv8R73DwUlRV3-kq8TtSENGHP45p7yH4jGZuUTMnt6yyWuXNM-JRByQKKuJGxn0wmgHEE8xdeI6nXV7pw1Sv0MrkTv0JqyDfusU0cZmMrnh5j1IR--T84CCwtUMB4_HTU7lVmIn8zC1-kKFpPw/s1297/Kids%20Iftar.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="1297" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiick8qBH5hlpc1qA3GNWUmdZaoolQLX0ZuCxHPOd3sFv8R73DwUlRV3-kq8TtSENGHP45p7yH4jGZuUTMnt6yyWuXNM-JRByQKKuJGxn0wmgHEE8xdeI6nXV7pw1Sv0MrkTv0JqyDfusU0cZmMrnh5j1IR--T84CCwtUMB4_HTU7lVmIn8zC1-kKFpPw/w400-h225/Kids%20Iftar.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">The painting and doing the jigsaw got us
to almost the end of the day and iftar. With half an hour to go, I got them to
help get the table spread ready and the sit down to make dua for their parents.
They were flagging a little by this point as they were hungry and a little
tired, so iftar time was very welcome. Of course, as soon as they had eaten and
then attacked their snacks, they were full of energy again and ready for
another sleepover. Maybe next holidays.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><br /></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-4809875468097111812022-04-18T23:15:00.005+01:002022-04-18T23:15:51.186+01:00Spring Blossom and Joy<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I am sure I am not the only one whose
spirit is raised by the greenery, new flowers and better weather of
spring.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I am loving the blossoms
everywhere on trees, the flower bulbs pushing through including the ones I planted
with my youngest two with our gardening group in various spots across the park
and public green spaces.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6i3YEs0DlUDIaBIfBRCk4L6KL2AS_O6hPdZwdOIDgg6iuaqKFtOgGUtpBpSR-9S2VkQ_gJfm3l29GGeOfw-hM0jlHDUUZdCNeV2PqpjHGDXIXJftukpuZWxgMpeWpCwXAE1DkQFQu0D2EMhghEQYdsvb838CxhMnX4NvzycEQ0_4MjyGau4fwOiYTw/s2048/IMG_1910.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6i3YEs0DlUDIaBIfBRCk4L6KL2AS_O6hPdZwdOIDgg6iuaqKFtOgGUtpBpSR-9S2VkQ_gJfm3l29GGeOfw-hM0jlHDUUZdCNeV2PqpjHGDXIXJftukpuZWxgMpeWpCwXAE1DkQFQu0D2EMhghEQYdsvb838CxhMnX4NvzycEQ0_4MjyGau4fwOiYTw/w300-h400/IMG_1910.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ42-kRNr2BlAZkXJuJcW5TDOAw2NF_2AGhYnWfeXBYOc-cbXZwIbUWckKAaHWKf_i0MunniR4KiQcNsh6X37PYyixjQ5YgHbO5wU9qMEfbd2GIK4houxMRxGYtIA1RBh35R-mlJ-YYEXNF_Ma_Jqx1V3ggC_LKhwayyGNhX8jeU6VibWSeUj2eoP1Xw/s2048/IMG_1912.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ42-kRNr2BlAZkXJuJcW5TDOAw2NF_2AGhYnWfeXBYOc-cbXZwIbUWckKAaHWKf_i0MunniR4KiQcNsh6X37PYyixjQ5YgHbO5wU9qMEfbd2GIK4houxMRxGYtIA1RBh35R-mlJ-YYEXNF_Ma_Jqx1V3ggC_LKhwayyGNhX8jeU6VibWSeUj2eoP1Xw/w300-h400/IMG_1912.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CnrVlvtA3mEBRcOqJbXKJ51ZX4fOIDcpzDbF1C7-5_D0JEYQoaHiFO_QRu3TO05-F-bHL7DvJL7ISTUSRjle1D1pu9-xdwoHl0Q42VRZuGRv7MkfuJjCwRxyYomESizSexSXyV6sH2U8-dQ1Nk00NbIsBB0xH9ZVnJZnYJEubbu2l8affM0dKdQuPQ/s2048/IMG_1913.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CnrVlvtA3mEBRcOqJbXKJ51ZX4fOIDcpzDbF1C7-5_D0JEYQoaHiFO_QRu3TO05-F-bHL7DvJL7ISTUSRjle1D1pu9-xdwoHl0Q42VRZuGRv7MkfuJjCwRxyYomESizSexSXyV6sH2U8-dQ1Nk00NbIsBB0xH9ZVnJZnYJEubbu2l8affM0dKdQuPQ/w300-h400/IMG_1913.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I love gardening and watching things
grow and I love to go out first thing every morning to check how the plants are
growing in my garden and enjoy the new flowers coming through. I make a point
of getting up early, going outside and taking a few minutes before waking the
kids or logging onto my laptop for work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHmeliQrNeRA92gPy525L58dt0Bm_FQp39eBF7ruGeOfGuiddwtUfoDLTgDE1RPF48fICJE8K4Y9qozXyPfOZBMilmef6ak-dsz04j_Pca04pxENAuxHpoAZGO-hGRSAwI4-ojg_m2N6kFWHXopJiw_PvJsgPBLxqUOkGwIIPLE-c1gLb9Utu0l8v0Q/s2048/IMG_9043.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHmeliQrNeRA92gPy525L58dt0Bm_FQp39eBF7ruGeOfGuiddwtUfoDLTgDE1RPF48fICJE8K4Y9qozXyPfOZBMilmef6ak-dsz04j_Pca04pxENAuxHpoAZGO-hGRSAwI4-ojg_m2N6kFWHXopJiw_PvJsgPBLxqUOkGwIIPLE-c1gLb9Utu0l8v0Q/w300-h400/IMG_9043.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><p><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSr6LJ1cqI7k4xyesAGN5LHFnIL_27k_UryUOvUE0Su2swZ9J0fhtVE1Rsy8-P_AXiwPNfGUDDd70XSTf4NJumF5Wxc0gj0zXiHCuyJiy2V_d3KKbBCIBRUZFgiSm4pAidWsUT06ZyQ_CrCm9PvryWii_h3br1_VrKF4xvRtwAym3muyBKL1n46rgGuw/s2048/IMG_1994.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSr6LJ1cqI7k4xyesAGN5LHFnIL_27k_UryUOvUE0Su2swZ9J0fhtVE1Rsy8-P_AXiwPNfGUDDd70XSTf4NJumF5Wxc0gj0zXiHCuyJiy2V_d3KKbBCIBRUZFgiSm4pAidWsUT06ZyQ_CrCm9PvryWii_h3br1_VrKF4xvRtwAym3muyBKL1n46rgGuw/w300-h400/IMG_1994.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvhDknpEGQzCLR3XK1QZwhDZvh2DHbdrf0lwGVTzlDCs24Ily6V7nMz4s1oCayNVRkeF6zAzVnOvihSEMq3qBDdCUULoBkw__-m1PtBQMah3AubL3NqMZT6xETuh1y85dwFQDSWETiXrJIPoidBZPz5GKr-tvrfUbEL_zLt_n_d87qM14OGH1Dz1dF3Q/s2048/IMG_1928.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvhDknpEGQzCLR3XK1QZwhDZvh2DHbdrf0lwGVTzlDCs24Ily6V7nMz4s1oCayNVRkeF6zAzVnOvihSEMq3qBDdCUULoBkw__-m1PtBQMah3AubL3NqMZT6xETuh1y85dwFQDSWETiXrJIPoidBZPz5GKr-tvrfUbEL_zLt_n_d87qM14OGH1Dz1dF3Q/w300-h400/IMG_1928.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I can’t wait to plant more flowers in my
garden and enjoy watching them grow. I look forward to the longer, warmer days of
summer, and the warm, bright evenings alhamdulillah.<o:p></o:p></span></p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-53788785704341120892022-04-14T22:52:00.001+01:002022-04-14T22:54:33.908+01:00Edible Blessings <p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">One of the many things I love about
Ramadan is the sense of community, including the way many of us express this
through food and feeding others. We tend to pick a day or two in Ramadan and
then cook multiple dishes in bulk to send out to friends and family. When my
teens were little they would look forward to those days with excitement at the thought of being allowed to
take platters to various houses on the street. Now they are older, I have to
threaten and cajole them to get them to do it.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">In turn, I love the days when neighbours
and family members send us snacks, platters or meals. It means that I don’t have
to cook as much, there is variety at our iftar table, I get to try something cooked
by someone else and I feel the love and sisterhood that goes into these gifts of food.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Today my lovely sister-in-law called and
told me not to cook, she was bringing iftar. She freed up my time normally spent
in the kitchen cooking so that I could read Quran. May Allah give her all of
the reward and blessing of the extra reading. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">While we waited, my neighbours daughter came
by with a platter of pilau rice, aubergine fritters and shammi kebabs:</span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyN8OhMez9A7oe8wCWqkirWHg36stsqoQB9YxgiLrFi6qSH7kMfcQsdm70n7-kzrzuQLO0e46my_Y62n7HgWltd23QNrsc1mqsbmYgRSgF10-GWI3lxIeBFOdjE79TSh0p6N3eZ8YA47RHxT12MsOSuwnEPquaMHu5y55AQG9AcNvLYV0Bc1lqjOzg4A/s2048/IMG_1729.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyN8OhMez9A7oe8wCWqkirWHg36stsqoQB9YxgiLrFi6qSH7kMfcQsdm70n7-kzrzuQLO0e46my_Y62n7HgWltd23QNrsc1mqsbmYgRSgF10-GWI3lxIeBFOdjE79TSh0p6N3eZ8YA47RHxT12MsOSuwnEPquaMHu5y55AQG9AcNvLYV0Bc1lqjOzg4A/w300-h400/IMG_1729.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">She is an amazing cook and her food is
always a treat and guaranteed to satisfy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">My sister-in-law got stuck in crazy traffic
and tuned up exactly as we were opening our fast, with the most amazing box of food:</span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlKrlmj0WLp-NH-7mRbCdIhJ1sAsMEfj7iBcRAbsXjrhCm6i9uQQ7-byGt3u1LEmYQszZeVZJlJAJa_5Yv6twen-2v3WCmLIEEx9jiTdp4TVQiC7sAeCn9MFwmkJrr9APUZwsJEh7xleN9Lp4V5OG3XplR9FWBC30gs8EPJ60gQFrisFRnGkqZwcKtg/s2048/IMG_1734.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlKrlmj0WLp-NH-7mRbCdIhJ1sAsMEfj7iBcRAbsXjrhCm6i9uQQ7-byGt3u1LEmYQszZeVZJlJAJa_5Yv6twen-2v3WCmLIEEx9jiTdp4TVQiC7sAeCn9MFwmkJrr9APUZwsJEh7xleN9Lp4V5OG3XplR9FWBC30gs8EPJ60gQFrisFRnGkqZwcKtg/w300-h400/IMG_1734.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">She had made chicken biryani, chicken
wraps, kebabs, channa chaat, raita and added lots of fruit. But the way she had
presented her food made me feel like she put in a lot of care and effort for us
(not to mention crossing the river to get it to us). I enjoyed feasting my eyes
as much as my taste buds.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipI6-Eig8urYW4V4CmDk664DpMpFhCgtJI9K3ZbVUpSQs8jsAlzQRsIq2qkbsg6vxjLhWOffUnkTQ0c41IntnGyeeqsKnFtTOAZdQKu40KdLv7-Y7TnZ1NCbdn2KCWmGz06hXDxPNJE4D-tFvM-iyw_B32mYRHll9Qauj5XKvx7fPfvvEjuDeP2QUpGg/s2048/IMG_1735.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipI6-Eig8urYW4V4CmDk664DpMpFhCgtJI9K3ZbVUpSQs8jsAlzQRsIq2qkbsg6vxjLhWOffUnkTQ0c41IntnGyeeqsKnFtTOAZdQKu40KdLv7-Y7TnZ1NCbdn2KCWmGz06hXDxPNJE4D-tFvM-iyw_B32mYRHll9Qauj5XKvx7fPfvvEjuDeP2QUpGg/w300-h400/IMG_1735.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Another neighbour who I am good friends
with dropped by with various desserts – defo feeding hubby these, he stays
behind at the masjid after taraweeh for a little while and usually takes a
thermos of herbal tea and snacks to share. He can take this with him.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBA53obkBPyGZ9IMWJXzf6GPgj27TFv7n7QFmfgQQuk5I4Q8bKqgWV86FvYe_Voww1gbhytTfuvEdVSSkylHvKykFvCg_aRMIb2g-01vcO_nLdxV8cxXv2u45-6WKylAs0kvvc0tNltDLcWTe4zNZfCExliKM6O9GR9RVcZWsr2CR-7uNNMT3Ykfbb3w/s2048/IMG_1740.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBA53obkBPyGZ9IMWJXzf6GPgj27TFv7n7QFmfgQQuk5I4Q8bKqgWV86FvYe_Voww1gbhytTfuvEdVSSkylHvKykFvCg_aRMIb2g-01vcO_nLdxV8cxXv2u45-6WKylAs0kvvc0tNltDLcWTe4zNZfCExliKM6O9GR9RVcZWsr2CR-7uNNMT3Ykfbb3w/w400-h300/IMG_1740.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKA4hoFt6QiGg9urtTNcyynwpgVSEWDq4fahYEnWC_-0iVAq4eYHPWyWxh_gwnWXWmFXpmJdpf0GfGgC-kDfyTXSWwLi5LF-Hlaj25i3qcgqRr_Gx19AtXs8nMEea0pIrnJAM8O2qaru1NVFGhE33qsLd3M5AAAhSiKWpiaB2BwRVli9qmAllSVsiA3A/s2048/IMG_1741.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKA4hoFt6QiGg9urtTNcyynwpgVSEWDq4fahYEnWC_-0iVAq4eYHPWyWxh_gwnWXWmFXpmJdpf0GfGgC-kDfyTXSWwLi5LF-Hlaj25i3qcgqRr_Gx19AtXs8nMEea0pIrnJAM8O2qaru1NVFGhE33qsLd3M5AAAhSiKWpiaB2BwRVli9qmAllSVsiA3A/w400-h300/IMG_1741.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I usually try to minimise sugar during
Ramadan, but today I bought myself some chocolate cheesecake to share as a
treat for myself and the kids:</span></p></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIoAyPDTms4V_VjEPE16o4K4QzZOPBlN80Qvor5e1tamA7MK9QW_bU8Hh7EgMnPyJLKYfj_vn-DCKhC3yP9NnOqkhSnrJQt3mx74PBaWcXWxRKtR8KEQfM0KeI5YCHg4TnN44yva9MVXJja1MW5psnYXm33Wd_gMKsu56iZsyAdSVnUHM1ppb4trjQg/s542/choc%20cheese%20cake.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="427" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIoAyPDTms4V_VjEPE16o4K4QzZOPBlN80Qvor5e1tamA7MK9QW_bU8Hh7EgMnPyJLKYfj_vn-DCKhC3yP9NnOqkhSnrJQt3mx74PBaWcXWxRKtR8KEQfM0KeI5YCHg4TnN44yva9MVXJja1MW5psnYXm33Wd_gMKsu56iZsyAdSVnUHM1ppb4trjQg/w315-h400/choc%20cheese%20cake.PNG" width="315" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The gifts of food have left me feeling
super blessed and grateful this evening. May Allah SWT bless all of those that
think of us and share their rizq with us with every good thing, perfect health,
closeness to Allah SWT and the acceptance of all of their dua’s.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><i>It was narrated that Zayd ibn Khaalid
al-Juhani said: The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
“Whoever gives iftaar to one who is fasting will have a reward like his,
without that detracting from the reward of the fasting person in the
slightest.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi,
807)</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-9136352570355918272022-04-11T22:59:00.001+01:002022-04-11T22:59:44.318+01:00My Little Hijabi’s <p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A few month ago my second youngest child,
Darling, aged 9, asked me if she could wear her hijab to school. I asked her if
she was sure, and on hearing that she was, I said of course she could.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I can’t lie, I hesitated for a few
moments. Not because I don’t love the hijab and am proud of her, but because I
know that perhaps people might treat her differently because of it. They may
see her as a Muslim before they see her as a child. Some will assume that I and
her dad made her wear it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Of course, I said yes and told her I was
very proud of her. Of course, the first day she wore it to school, someone told
her she “looked like an Indian” and of course it being Darling she happily told
of them and had them missing playtime for a week, much to her glee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">She has taken it quite seriously, both
making sure she wears it every day and making sure she matches it to her
outfit. My youngest seems to have decided she likes the idea as well and asked if
she can wear it too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has adopted it
in her own wild and dishevelled way, in contrast to Darlings meticulous
neatness. On more than one occasion she has gotten half way to school and
realised she has forgotten it. Most days most of her hair is sticking out of
the front and her little hijab is lopsided.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I think a big part of their decision to
wear hijab is linked to their going back to the masjid for Quran classes after
two years of online lessons. They are in a class for two hours every day with
other little Muslimah’s and two lovely young teachers who have recently
graduated as Islamic scholars. These two teachers have been phenomenal positive
role models for them, bringing them closer to the faith and bringing it to life
for them, complementing teaching with stories, time to play, crafts and little
gifts for the girls.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I pray that they love wearing hijab as
much as their mum does for the rest of their lives and that Allah (SWT) is
pleased with them, their teachers and accepts it from them and us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4lm_0p9NG2ShkFmrBkxjlhgVYZMPZGvjdrsIJ60M2sKV7oWMYe0QPmz9SYuSk3-Ww39Fe69nOAWmC5PYYGuoUXngsMInzVrKtEyvMFnFPgmqR4An8-ZrOFqNx9gljOaWzJWBazSmCaBiUhwfQUfvd-6AJLVI354BXTBS57fwwTjrLmfxDUi-BOoeeg/s640/Little%20Suffragette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4lm_0p9NG2ShkFmrBkxjlhgVYZMPZGvjdrsIJ60M2sKV7oWMYe0QPmz9SYuSk3-Ww39Fe69nOAWmC5PYYGuoUXngsMInzVrKtEyvMFnFPgmqR4An8-ZrOFqNx9gljOaWzJWBazSmCaBiUhwfQUfvd-6AJLVI354BXTBS57fwwTjrLmfxDUi-BOoeeg/w300-h400/Little%20Suffragette.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Darling as a Sufragette (school dress up)</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72N9-JcRdEvx2frPK3MfjEVgeTRLeQn1LLxEJujEANpsrl7cC6mBex3f3X-J6NLMwov1s_CEVnzgCtY-wzUQNFM-AKzuMN5cN1b1y7AGgl6auAX9-S5xi6Vy_04MMyk95mJ740NatiC9WQ5Hk9pYYAH4ujkMp_wUZAXdqdQs2mS7IMP4LjNwzZT1Jbg/s640/World%20Book%20Day%20HIjabis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72N9-JcRdEvx2frPK3MfjEVgeTRLeQn1LLxEJujEANpsrl7cC6mBex3f3X-J6NLMwov1s_CEVnzgCtY-wzUQNFM-AKzuMN5cN1b1y7AGgl6auAX9-S5xi6Vy_04MMyk95mJ740NatiC9WQ5Hk9pYYAH4ujkMp_wUZAXdqdQs2mS7IMP4LjNwzZT1Jbg/w300-h400/World%20Book%20Day%20HIjabis.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The girls dressed up for World Book Day (as Cinderella and Enid, a character from The Worst Witch book series - yes thats an abaya)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94CLx9iafTz9zo95FvOlFWFcF83s1csAeTxvdtNRZVl_m8xGsapONS8XPfu9Ym7aa4nBgI7dKUc4tBFrDz_oZdXpoA5NpUd_Erg6_RYEB049eRDZtqTeUTCLzs5CgPa_pGeZZn3e9rAr4iSDym1eyNePKKJuYLytzS_--eyuOmRtQ0uSmePxBBYTVYQ/s640/Messy%20Little%20Hijabi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94CLx9iafTz9zo95FvOlFWFcF83s1csAeTxvdtNRZVl_m8xGsapONS8XPfu9Ym7aa4nBgI7dKUc4tBFrDz_oZdXpoA5NpUd_Erg6_RYEB049eRDZtqTeUTCLzs5CgPa_pGeZZn3e9rAr4iSDym1eyNePKKJuYLytzS_--eyuOmRtQ0uSmePxBBYTVYQ/w300-h400/Messy%20Little%20Hijabi.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My messy little one rocking her matching purple hijab and fave kitten socks </span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-35394583671839754352022-04-11T22:16:00.002+01:002022-04-11T22:16:48.773+01:00Ramadan Treats<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">One of the things I love in Ramadan is
sending iftar to neighbours, family and friends and people sending back treats
my way. I like that we just make a little extra and send it out and Allah (SWT)
blesses it and it is enough for quite a few others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Over the last 10 days, I have been sent pakora’s,
potato samosa’s, mince samosa’s, two lots of biryani, a Bengali platter (with
rice, channa and sweet pua pitha), dhai bhallay and lots of dates.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Today we got a knock on the door and
someone handed my son a bag telling us it was from a house number down the road:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgih8usv8MyiKKr4KIXBAJHrTNrknLnB9px7ayX_XV9VegkaZ_E-p94mbGzS81andx81ckqGJ-axvUFgmreP5aZGH48XSvRVWIrcIdHiUziUIGtIFCxsNGyYiwjxmN3PNNoslAJVDzqbEYslG4T0XjPyQ2qmfSnr3oVu23q7yxuQdppPcqgfoCbx9tp7g/s2048/IMG_1500.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgih8usv8MyiKKr4KIXBAJHrTNrknLnB9px7ayX_XV9VegkaZ_E-p94mbGzS81andx81ckqGJ-axvUFgmreP5aZGH48XSvRVWIrcIdHiUziUIGtIFCxsNGyYiwjxmN3PNNoslAJVDzqbEYslG4T0XjPyQ2qmfSnr3oVu23q7yxuQdppPcqgfoCbx9tp7g/w300-h400/IMG_1500.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I recognised it as the house of an elderly
widow and realised she had sent her daughter in law to houses down the street.
The bag contained dates and a little scented tea light.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuygh3qtbbBj_TQMqmRxhzEbInNyGpCUWJMckvWyrfQqOCHczMu1NKEulDE1W5WBzH7Mm7IglL6NkCCCuci1wtkhgi99Cw70WeWjy7uz-CuaOszXZN0MZm_Yl8zFbhBVwwmfMIgBARU_4zdHPB6kxDvSkaTEvW1rgtfZwifIDr8EMvVC63rSaD3IHLA/s2048/IMG_1501.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuygh3qtbbBj_TQMqmRxhzEbInNyGpCUWJMckvWyrfQqOCHczMu1NKEulDE1W5WBzH7Mm7IglL6NkCCCuci1wtkhgi99Cw70WeWjy7uz-CuaOszXZN0MZm_Yl8zFbhBVwwmfMIgBARU_4zdHPB6kxDvSkaTEvW1rgtfZwifIDr8EMvVC63rSaD3IHLA/w300-h400/IMG_1501.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I think this aunty has the right idea. You
could slave over a three course meal, or send a single date with sincerity and
the intention to please Allah (SWT) and the reward is the same – that of the fasting
person who broke their fast with your food.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">May Allah (SWT) accept this Aunty’s
efforts and be pleased with her insha’Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-56462093883195845282022-04-09T23:09:00.004+01:002022-04-09T23:09:57.972+01:00Turning Complaints into Gratitude<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Alhamdulillah, a week into Ramadan and I
have found this Ramadan and fasting an interesting experience. The nights are
longer and the days shorter, so these fasts are a little easier than previous
years. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Working from home also means I
can start work later, so for once I am not feeling lightheaded with sleep
deprivation (although I did have a nice little nap in the middle of a lecture
in the masjid this week, I heard someone let out a loud snore, so I wasn’t the
only one).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">My parents’ in-laws are not here this
year, so that means a little less work and thinking of someone else, but also
less good company, especially from my mum in law who is a bit of a cheerleader
for me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Despite not feeling sleepy, hungry or thirsty,
I have found fasting difficult. The first few days were accompanied by sugar
and caffeine withdrawal headaches, subsequent days have been filled with
intense muscle pain that have disrupted my sleep and made it difficult to get
through the day. I suspect this is caused by the loss of nutrients and sodium,
so I am trying to manage it through my diet until I see a doctor. After a week
of trying to work and manage home through the pain, I felt exhausted by it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sat on my prayer mat in the quiet time after
taraweeh prayer and mulled over how I felt. It struck me that Allah (SWT)
forgives our sins for the smallest discomfort, even the prick of a thorn. From
that perspective, the aches and pains are a blessing, a means of forgiveness
and with patience (sabr), also a means of reward. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I have been praying recently for a
grateful heart and contentment with what Allah (SWT) decrees for me. I realised
one way was to take my complaints and turn them into gratitude:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I am tired becomes I am grateful for a
full day <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">My back hurts becomes alhamdulillah for
my mobility<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The kids misbehaving becomes gratitude for
your children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The shift in perspective got me thinking
about the challenges I have had with my children through their teen years and how
that sometimes left me feeling so low.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I remember when they were babies praying
to Allah (SWT) that if He tests me, to make it with my wealth, but not my
children. Now I realise that He could test me <i>with</i> my children (through
loss of some kind) or <i>through</i> my children with the challenges parenting
them brought up for me. It made me think that Allah (SWT) accepted my prayers –
my children are healthy and whole Alhamdulillah, but they are also a handful.
In being so they have forced me to grow, become more understanding, more patient
and turn to Allah (SWT) more often. I never had the strength for tahajjud until
my children drove me to despair on occasion and I needed to seek solace and
help from Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Once again my complaint turned out not really to be a
complaint, but as challenging as parenting three strong-willed, irreverent, quick-witted
teens is, this challenge is part of a journey to becoming a better person insh’Allah and turn back to Allah (SWT).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I am trying to hold onto this way of
thinking, so that it becomes my default. It has made me feel more peaceful and
happier and helped m to cope with all sorts of situations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6TBr8PI3gTDs23m9uzSCS-ev_32hmBDxmX5k9K3MoKMJRz7XLo8_fXiexneEwSSw2VKE_coJaDyKlbz8W8AFC896c1KXJHUfxDZFlB9cwhmmO5mm7ZygdmwfVX4cl6O09PsOtpFhL_5OglPgx_NBVK5bWnnN9bczvTDb1hHuR3YnSBnRPWcEPdydS0Q/s979/Gratitude%2014%207.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="979" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6TBr8PI3gTDs23m9uzSCS-ev_32hmBDxmX5k9K3MoKMJRz7XLo8_fXiexneEwSSw2VKE_coJaDyKlbz8W8AFC896c1KXJHUfxDZFlB9cwhmmO5mm7ZygdmwfVX4cl6O09PsOtpFhL_5OglPgx_NBVK5bWnnN9bczvTDb1hHuR3YnSBnRPWcEPdydS0Q/w400-h264/Gratitude%2014%207.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-49037172657677138612022-04-08T23:08:00.001+01:002022-04-14T17:52:23.440+01:00A Year On (2022)<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Assalam-alaikam,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">I realise it’s been a year since I last
wrote and in that time I have had moments when I yearned to write and others when
I wondered if I ever would again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Then today I realised I have this little pocket
of time for myself every day between clearing up after Iftar and before
taraweeh prayer, and maybe writing is a better use of my time than scrolling through
various social media feeds full of nonsense.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">The last year has been intense, exhausting,
rewarding and often deeply overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My mind is stretched in every direction, leaving me with no mental capacity
or energy to do anything creative like write.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">The children have settled back into a
routine with school following two lockdowns, during key school years for the
oldest two (GCSE’s and A’Levels). Little Lady is now an adult (19
alhamdulillah) and in her first year of her law degree (never was there someone
more born to be a lawyer subhan’Allah). Little Man (17) seems to have come
through the worst of his angry young man phase (most of the time) and is going to
a football academy, having turned into a gym bunny. Gorgeous (15) is well into
his angry young man phase, although tempered by his very irreverent sense of
humour, He is in the first year of his GCSE’s and is adamant he doesn’t need to
study – he can just turn up and pass them. I am inclined to believe him, but I am
not telling him that. Between the three of them there are days when I am in awe
of the people they are turning out to be and days when I want to knock some
sense into them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">The babies (Darling 9 and Baby 7) are
enjoying primary school, and enjoying the fact that I work from home and can do
the school run every day or spend all of the holidays at home with them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am grateful every single day for these two,
their chatter, their hugs, their unconditional love. I love the fact that they
are still at that age when they think mum is the best. A beautiful counter-balance
to the acerbic tongues, mean jokes and cynical attitude of teenagers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">The pandemic took its toll on various members
of my family. Alhamdulillah, I cannot find words to express my gratitude that I
didn’t lose a close family member when so many around me did. Despite this it
took it’s toll on many of the older generation. I can see a change in my
parents with my mum having gained weight and slowed down a little and my dad
developing an irregular heartbeat and diabetes. I think for both of them this
was the result of two very active people having to be fairly sedentary during lockdown,
I pray for their long life and good health, but I feel more protective than ever
of them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Work took my life over for much of the
last year, seeping into my evenings and never fully letting me fully clear my
mind. It affected my health, my clarity and I started to think it would affect
my iman (faith) and the quality of my worship. Much as I loved my job, I knew
it was time for change. Last week I took a promotion into another department with
much higher pay and a clearer remit, which means handing over all of the work
that was overwhelming me, delegating more and the ability to say no to anything
outside of my remit. A week into the role I feel calmer, clearer, I have more
of my time back and feel much happier. I think that may be one of the reasons I
am wiring again, because a week in the fog caused by overwhelm has lifted and I
feel able to do something more than just sit there looking at social media
mindlessly. I am super excited by the new role and the chance to make it my own.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">I am in the second and final year of my
Masters, with less than six months to complete my dissertation and my portfolio
of work. I am really excited an inspired by my dissertation subject – I just
struggle to find the time to study and properly conduct research. I feel these last
few months will be the making or breaking of me!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">I am enjoying being involved in my
community. I litter pick and do gardening once a week with a local group along
with my youngest two and sometimes hubby and I was honoured to be invited to
join the board of an anti-racism charity. Once a week I host the sisters halaqah
for the masjid (they have a Urdu, Bengali and English circle, the English circle
is held at my home). Every now and again my husband volunteers us to cook for
guests or events at the masjid, which I am grateful for the chance to do.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCYwL--0js0WwlA96tzQBBI0_MxcPoEC916Du1RAJ7W6Hzo76EyD99XvdbqJCPmMd6rdh9aaaAHL_SXfCd_EM-izgKTMvJmlDcSI5o4U-bJWVgIPa9WzTNRgpf7TJde-97DgTrrcWCVB8TwtWFq8Tf4AKk2KbtuyOuxMJAY46xWD7IVi2yKg2mnfKH7Q/s1024/58792df0-6b4c-4f8b-b752-e99ffbc299da.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCYwL--0js0WwlA96tzQBBI0_MxcPoEC916Du1RAJ7W6Hzo76EyD99XvdbqJCPmMd6rdh9aaaAHL_SXfCd_EM-izgKTMvJmlDcSI5o4U-bJWVgIPa9WzTNRgpf7TJde-97DgTrrcWCVB8TwtWFq8Tf4AKk2KbtuyOuxMJAY46xWD7IVi2yKg2mnfKH7Q/w300-h400/58792df0-6b4c-4f8b-b752-e99ffbc299da.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Planting flower bulbs</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">In all life is full – full of good things.
They are often hard things (the days when the teens are more than I can
manage), exhausting things (days when I am running from school run, to meeting,
to madrassah to grocery shop, to kitchen), but they are blessed things – the things
that make up a life worth living.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><i>Did you miss me? Shall I write more
often? What kind of things should I write about? </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-88920761302818085732022-04-08T22:08:00.002+01:002022-04-08T22:08:32.475+01:00Ramadan Kareem 2022/1443<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Assalam-alaikam</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Ramadan Kareem,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I hope this Ramadan has started well for
all of my brothers and sisters and that you are making the most of it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I am deeply grateful to see this blessed
month again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I find Ramadan is always the month I
find myself again – it takes me back to my purpose, my self and my Creator Insha’Allah.
This year has been no exception. Once again I find myself having to pare back
to essentials so that I can manage fasting, worship, family, home, work and
community. Everything non-essential falls away just so that I can manage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I was speaking to my bestie about goals
for Ramadan and hers was to get closer to Allah (SWT), she encouraged me to set
a goal for myself too. I reflected on how I was managing and what I needed to
make the most of this month. I have found that I have struggled to get through
each day of Ramadan, struggling with painful, cramping muscles. I have been
obsessing with my weight for the last few months too. So I decided that my
intention during Ramadan would be to get healthy with the intention of being a
better Muslimah. Better health would allow me to worship better, serve better
and generally fulfil my duties better. I have been trying to eat well, move
more and move my focus off of my weight and onto feeling good in myself and taking
the best care I can of myself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Another part of me understands that
discomfort, illness, personal challenge are all things that help us turn back
to Allah (SWT), seeking His help and finding comfort in His faith:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><i>“Strange are the ways of a believer for
there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else
except in the case of a believer for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he
thanks (God), thus there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble
and shows resignation (and endures it patiently), there is a good for him in it”.
(Muslim)</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">That leaves me feeling grateful and positive
alhamdulillah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I hope that my Muslim sisters and
brothers are making the most of this beautiful month and finding that opportunities
for personal and spiritual growth. May Allah (SWT) bless you all with the best
of health, perfect iman, an abundance of halal rizq and the acceptance of all
your dua’s.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I make dua especially for those of my
family, this ummah, that are suffering or struggling with injustice, war,
illness, debt and doubt. May Allah (SWT) relieve your hardship and send you
joyful days insh’Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Do you set Ramadan goals? What are they?
How are you finding this Ramadan?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhABXBMeIRAZNyyOtpWiQoJMahrW5J5MwuNSVxIzf0XQSUvLvTHSLVTLmizTWtV8O0TiAbsF5bdJUOUjWZrq2eockMF-pPuaqXcxTRx9WdlwXfXixrjgYzVPqIYy4cTDF7x-v1D4crpWVwAsH09GotCXA-lekWaz4hQktdjONPTmRkcfTMH0v-ObBNG-g/s640/Ramadan%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhABXBMeIRAZNyyOtpWiQoJMahrW5J5MwuNSVxIzf0XQSUvLvTHSLVTLmizTWtV8O0TiAbsF5bdJUOUjWZrq2eockMF-pPuaqXcxTRx9WdlwXfXixrjgYzVPqIYy4cTDF7x-v1D4crpWVwAsH09GotCXA-lekWaz4hQktdjONPTmRkcfTMH0v-ObBNG-g/w300-h400/Ramadan%202022.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNN_MErqDO_mt7svkGA13nWmfYtqEqMYfaSoam3sIvfahbvUy9uElhnEbBLGvT1WlyEB4wnwfMSgsrlVpMalxxlUDPgTdZD987-ecs4-easMotRvQXgfDuVdZ6-wcae4YLQEKoefE0rUDhkqMbE0KqcK2NUMIBYGcd5qqraUqVdahAlYQenJIyV9MCA/s437/Ramadan%20Kareem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="437" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNN_MErqDO_mt7svkGA13nWmfYtqEqMYfaSoam3sIvfahbvUy9uElhnEbBLGvT1WlyEB4wnwfMSgsrlVpMalxxlUDPgTdZD987-ecs4-easMotRvQXgfDuVdZ6-wcae4YLQEKoefE0rUDhkqMbE0KqcK2NUMIBYGcd5qqraUqVdahAlYQenJIyV9MCA/w400-h255/Ramadan%20Kareem.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-88976808139643349332021-05-12T21:13:00.002+01:002021-05-12T21:13:49.416+01:00Eid ul Fitr 2021:1442 - Chand Raat<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Assalam-alaikam all,</span></span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">I hope this Ramadan has been truly blessed for you and that you have grown in faith and nearness to Allah (SWT) and that your store of good deeds has grown exponentially insh’Allah:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“When it is the last night [of Ramadan], they are forgiven, all of them.” So a man from the people said, “Is it the Night of Power?” And the Prophet <span style="color: black;">ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>replied, “No, do you not see that if laborers work, when they finish their tasks, they are given their wages?” (Bayhaqi)</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Please don’t forget, that this night preceding Eid day (Chaand raat, or the night of the new moon) is a night of ibadat (worship) full of rewards and we should try to gain a little of that reward if we can. From "<a href="http://albalagh.net/general/shawwal.shtml">Shawwal: What to Do On Eid Night, Eid Day, and During the Month" by Mufti Taqi Usmani:</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><b>The Night Preceding 'Eid-ul-Fitr'</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">It had been the practice of the Prophet, ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam, that he would not sleep in the night preceding the day of Eid-ul-fitr. This night has been named in a Hadith as the Night of Reward (Lailatul Jaiza). Almighty bestows his rewards on those who have spent the month of Ramadan abiding by the dictates of Shari'ah, and all their prayers in this night are accepted. Therefore, it is desirable to perform nafl prayers in this night. The Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, is reported to have said:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">“Whoever stands up (in worship) in the nights preceding the two Eids expecting rewards from his Lord, his heart will not die when the other hearts will die.” (Ibn Majah)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">To benefit from this opportunity, one should perform as much worship in this night as he can and should pray for all his needs and desires. Right now many of us are anguished and sore hearted at the horrific events that have unfolded in Palestine and Masjid Al-Aqsa. These are the hours to make intense dua for our brothers and sisters around the world facing oppression and hardship, may Allah (SWT) rectify their affairs, accept their sacrifices and bless them with ease insha'Allah.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1n30S_VLZgAgEDne4i073WZPi-hoJXRz6Ta5BzQOblNHKmfLXYvoclWGNQFP3nPU30_Fz8EIn1BrWSUz-9wceUO5UV4iK2l97hUnkGiliZZQxroVi5FrSIxS0ymmgSewhQFawb_G1ats9/s1600/eid+night+1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="670" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1n30S_VLZgAgEDne4i073WZPi-hoJXRz6Ta5BzQOblNHKmfLXYvoclWGNQFP3nPU30_Fz8EIn1BrWSUz-9wceUO5UV4iK2l97hUnkGiliZZQxroVi5FrSIxS0ymmgSewhQFawb_G1ats9/s400/eid+night+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The Messenger of Allah <span style="color: black;">ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) </span>said, ‘There are five nights on which du`a is not rejected: the first night of Rajab, the fifteenth night of Sha’ban, Thursday night, the night before Eid al-Fitr and the night before Eid al-Nahr (al-Adha)’. (As-Suyuti)</span></i><br /><i><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span face=""arial" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Ibn Abbas <span style="color: black;">(radhiallahu‘anh)</span> narrated, ’When the day of Eid-ul-Fitr [begins], the angels descend on earth, where they take their positions at access points of roads, calling out with a voice that is heard by the whole creation of Allah, except men and Jin, “O Ummah of Muhammad (saw)! Come out to your most Noble and Gracious Lord, who grants much, and pardons the major sins”. When they proceed to their places of prayer, Allah, Exalted is He, says to His angels, ”O My angels! What is the reward of a worker when he has done his work?” So they say, ”Our Lord and Our Master! To receive his reward [for the work, in full]“. So He says, ”I call you to witness that, for their fasts [during Ramadan], and for their standing in prayer at night, I have made their reward My Pleasure, and my Forgiveness. Depart [from here], you are forgiven”’. (Lataif al-Ma’arif)</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHVrBhFV1-3QrrvuX8AUX1nn5yk67QLHeggTu48J0UPh3gk2QYucJjkaK-qUFLFdjqGDutGzvcbp-VzK8OzRBdHs3biUkuKRsCREge-xZAw53Ol7v1_wEw89PHi__zEe4seQZ4rvxUzf_z/s1600/eid+night+2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="669" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHVrBhFV1-3QrrvuX8AUX1nn5yk67QLHeggTu48J0UPh3gk2QYucJjkaK-qUFLFdjqGDutGzvcbp-VzK8OzRBdHs3biUkuKRsCREge-xZAw53Ol7v1_wEw89PHi__zEe4seQZ4rvxUzf_z/s400/eid+night+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-40925588766592042922021-04-12T20:55:00.001+01:002021-04-12T20:55:17.970+01:00Ramadan 2021/1442: Ramadan Kareem<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Assalam
alaikam all my dear readers,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I pray
that this message finds you healthy, happy and that Allah (SWT) is pleased with
you and accepts your good deeds.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This beautiful
month is with us again, a month of opportunity and blessing. I can’t remember a
time I felt less prepared to welcome this honoured guest into my home, but more
keen to see it. After a year of worry, anxiety, and confusion and after seeing
the grief of so many around me, this Ramadan feels like healing medicine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">After
a year when so many faced such hardship, and I managed to keep working, school
my child and keep my health, Ramadan feels like a time of deep thanksgiving and
an opportunity to make intense dua for my brothers and sisters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I pray
this Ramadan, the Muslim community <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/21/muslims-give-most_n_3630830.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADiu5KaeBkIkVBZjqWAZZ4ZP-s3mYunSbn-yCBmjDZ3QfcZnc0q0QRCtZlO6V6XcYz7YaDWb1HroSDsmPJWXZxGpTP-8JlBfHkH6T4ir8ZfSk0YrI1enTfleSxVr_pNS1_7rHGQ51P4bk-8_6eyCfcgsyGyLVM9wKndzwDe4KKRV">step
up as always</a> to serve, to help and to pray for others. But I also pray that
the future is not too harsh for us, that we get through this time with our
health, wellbeing, and livelihoods intact and with our iman (faith) in a better
state than before.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">If
Allah (SWT) has tested us, he has sent us this blessed month full of
opportunities to raise our taqwa (consciousness), to try and better ourselves
and to turn to him for help and sustenance insh’Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This
Ramadan be gentle with yourself and kind to those around you, please remember
me and my family in your dua’s and may Allah (SWT) have mercy on every brother
and sister and all of humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Y1GEJ6cc8ECrbOmuWKShsGhlc5Fw9CZDY75YLEAQjv0hqbvv0IYvXEWBAz_EcscFc8osjFzVKWwS7DJrtN1JqMmNUvth-sex1KEovTnve9t8nt9QY3OMC4ge7FLzripoo1hS6DXXT02-/s487/Ramadan+Kareem+2021+HMM.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="486" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Y1GEJ6cc8ECrbOmuWKShsGhlc5Fw9CZDY75YLEAQjv0hqbvv0IYvXEWBAz_EcscFc8osjFzVKWwS7DJrtN1JqMmNUvth-sex1KEovTnve9t8nt9QY3OMC4ge7FLzripoo1hS6DXXT02-/s320/Ramadan+Kareem+2021+HMM.PNG" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">"Oh you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to
you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you many learn piety and
righteousness" ~ Qur'an 2:183</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle (peace be upon him) said, “When
the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates
of Hell are closed and the devils are chained.” ~ Bukhari - 31:123</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Prophet (peace be upon him) declared, 'Three men whose dua is never
rejected (by Allah) are: the fasting person until he breaks his fast (in
another narration, when he breaks fast), the just ruler and the one who is
oppressed.' ~Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi – Hasan.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChlXGpAa6qBoxaLzloNxqCNOCPNp7bRkdXPks55Si17SFbzaL7tFhP0Wogkpk-qegh46rItjGose-4eeRW-QPNJS4jGfScinSs2VMEKoGIcAZ-NWc05JmsWRVANm17cydPLZtFDchyphenhyphenRWw/s1600/Ramadan+kareem+2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChlXGpAa6qBoxaLzloNxqCNOCPNp7bRkdXPks55Si17SFbzaL7tFhP0Wogkpk-qegh46rItjGose-4eeRW-QPNJS4jGfScinSs2VMEKoGIcAZ-NWc05JmsWRVANm17cydPLZtFDchyphenhyphenRWw/s320/Ramadan+kareem+2019.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></i><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-55143450692422023182021-04-12T20:03:00.001+01:002021-04-12T20:03:29.513+01:00Ramadan 2021/1442: The Prophets Sermon on Ramadan<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Alhamdulillah,
every time I read the Prophet's (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) sermon on Ramadan
I find something new and moving in it.
It never fails to inspire me, remind me how blessed Ramadan really is
for us and take me back to why we fast and what we should be doing during this
special month:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Baihaqi
reported on the authority of Salman Al-Farsi (Radhi Allah ‘Anh) that Prophet (sallallahu
alayhi wasallam) delivered a sermon on the last day of the month of Sha’ban. In
it he (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">“O
People! The month of Allah (Ramadan) has come with its mercies, blessings and
forgivenesses. Allah has decreed this month the best of all months. The days of
this month are the best among the days and the nights are the best among the
nights and the hours during Ramadan are the best among the hours. This is a
month in which you have been invited by Him (to fast and pray). Allah has honoured
you in it. In every breath you take is a reward of Allah, your sleep is
worship, your good deeds are accepted and your invocations are answered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Therefore,
you must invoke your Lord in all earnestness with hearts free from sin and
evil, and pray that Allah may help you to keep fast, and to recite the Holy
Qur’an. Indeed!, miserable is the one who is deprived of Allah’s forgiveness
in this great month. While fasting remember the hunger and thirst on the Day
of Judgement. Give alms to the poor and needy. Pay respect to your elders, have
sympathy for your youngsters and be kind towards your relatives and kinsmen.
Guard your tongue against unworthy words, and your eyes from scenes that are
not worth seeing (forbidden) and your ears from sounds that should not be
heard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Be
kind to orphans so that if your children may become orphans they will also be
treated with kindness. Do repent to Allah for your sins and supplicate with
raised hands at the times of prayer as these are the best times, during which
Allah Almighty looks at His servants with mercy. Allah Answers if they
supplicate, Responds if they call, Grants if He is asked, and Accepts if they
entreat. O people! you have made your conscience the slave of your desires.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Make
it free by invoking Allah for forgiveness. Your back may break from the heavy
load of your sins, so prostrate yourself before Allah for long intervals, and
make this load lighter. Understand fully that Allah has promised in His Honour
and Majesty that, people who perform salat and sajda (prostration) will be
guarded from Hell-fire on the Day of Judgement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">O
people!, if anyone amongst you arranges for iftar (meal at sunset) for any
believer, Allah will reward him as if he had freed a slave, and Allah will
forgive him his sins. A companion asked: “but not all of us have the means to
do so” The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) replied: Keep yourself away
from Hell-fire though it may consist of half a date or even some water if you
have nothing else.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">O
people!, anyone who during this month cultivates good manners, will walk over
the Sirat (bridge to Paradise) on the day when feet will tend to slip. For
anyone who during this month eases the workload of his servants, Allah will
make easy his accounting, and for anyone who doesn’t hurt others during this
month, Allah will safeguard him from His Wrath on the Day of Judgement. Anyone
who respects and treats an orphan with kindness during this month, Allah shall
look at him with kindness on that Day. Anyone who treats his kinsmen well
during this month, Allah will bestow His Mercy on him on that Day, while
anyone who mistreats his kinsmen during this month, Allah will keep away from
His Mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Whomever
offers the recommended prayers during this month, Allah will save him from
Hell, and whomever observes his obligations during this month, his reward will
be seventy times the reward during other months. Whomever repeatedly invokes
Allah’s blessings on me, Allah will keep his scale of good deeds heavy, while
the scales of others will be tending to lightness. Whomever recites during this
month an ayat (verse) of the Holy Quran, will get the reward of reciting the
whole Quran in other months.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">O
people!, the gates of Paradise remain open during this month. Pray to your Lord
that they may not be closed for you. While the gates of Hell are closed, pray
to your Lord that they never open for you. Satan has been chained, invoke your
Lord not to let him dominate you.”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTPh1HdSUy42wuz-mmZyTU7VZZV0SSN1BASrDMKhoJ8sq0BshyvmGtmogfDdQqAxX0n7JHlaiFaQ8mKt3PwlNIL8jtr9aHXDkaQJJbp0MrlQd1hv4fcvweIpOwMFTFJ3fRyZE5Sbj9d0S/s873/Ramadan+Kareem+sermon+png+2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="866" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTPh1HdSUy42wuz-mmZyTU7VZZV0SSN1BASrDMKhoJ8sq0BshyvmGtmogfDdQqAxX0n7JHlaiFaQ8mKt3PwlNIL8jtr9aHXDkaQJJbp0MrlQd1hv4fcvweIpOwMFTFJ3fRyZE5Sbj9d0S/s320/Ramadan+Kareem+sermon+png+2.PNG" /></a></span></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-62897883838214169792021-02-22T21:33:00.003+00:002021-04-13T21:34:09.765+01:00Yearning <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">Almost a
year into the epidemic and lockdown, I feel like both I and my family and the
people around me have changed in so many ways. I have lost interest to shopping
and new clothes, there is nothing I can order that would make me feel much
different. Work and home-schooling fill my time, my main contact with family is
over the phone and evenings spent journaling have got me unpicking all parts of
my brain. So, we work, we wait, we hope for the best…and I find myself yearning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">I’ve been
thinking about Pakistan these last few days – Lahore, my village near Jhelum,
the stunningly beautiful northern areas - I wonder if I will ever see them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeiTsIs9eMZx6FQhrymRjPpFOrbyeAx8PG2VFSqB2iGp5PI2cFJ0Rw8BNjKteq2SPNvsENMRTxkfxfY4AI1wjSS4oePu3_9WF9Y2hByo_iTyZ63nQs3v7LC_RLmw1qKnVFt7ASXqGHQ7z/s800/lakesaif-ul-malook-.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="800" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdeiTsIs9eMZx6FQhrymRjPpFOrbyeAx8PG2VFSqB2iGp5PI2cFJ0Rw8BNjKteq2SPNvsENMRTxkfxfY4AI1wjSS4oePu3_9WF9Y2hByo_iTyZ63nQs3v7LC_RLmw1qKnVFt7ASXqGHQ7z/w400-h265/lakesaif-ul-malook-.webp" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">Lake Saif-ul-Malook, Pakistan (<a href="https://www.blizin.com/articles/saif-ul-malook-lake-telling-the-tales-of-fairies">image source</a>)</div></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">I have a
hankering to see the sea. I was mulling about our twentieth anniversary last
year and how the two of us sat on a high grassy cliff full of flowers, picnicking
and whiling away a day in the sunshine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">I would
love to spend a day on a green hill or by a lake, with the sun on my face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">I pray to
sit with my family again, all of us in one room, sharing food, laughing, joking
and telling the kids to stop screaming and racing around the house. I miss the
stories, the teasing and everyone complimenting my mum on her food. Insha’Allah
those days will come soon.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLv2hq1TX_lXtlMrEwxcgxmDnL7FPStMMbIVLG5Z1gxo9Q_UDZoYiL_v-52bz-pwT9_BE6OAoqubBbPrs-Kuw8Hdwwb4ZQ3Ux2fIOylugW6G1imaJEghcbIN6V2-5aKTzPKlDtlKfQy0Ke/s1600/mums+eid+food.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLv2hq1TX_lXtlMrEwxcgxmDnL7FPStMMbIVLG5Z1gxo9Q_UDZoYiL_v-52bz-pwT9_BE6OAoqubBbPrs-Kuw8Hdwwb4ZQ3Ux2fIOylugW6G1imaJEghcbIN6V2-5aKTzPKlDtlKfQy0Ke/w300-h400/mums+eid+food.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzYqNTSWo2koDd906A7Dk5e-rV5o9-NLOjnR3UOIIb6BrQBytU6b_Q7DxOD1iHQvETGJhvgETCgGDMZDKVbyhb0lXZAw-_Z-G9Ehv4EggZ3ff8k9gWgZSjP-_IIQhdWD3hPeLyhyphenhyphenVcVhy/s1599/eid+games.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1599" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzYqNTSWo2koDd906A7Dk5e-rV5o9-NLOjnR3UOIIb6BrQBytU6b_Q7DxOD1iHQvETGJhvgETCgGDMZDKVbyhb0lXZAw-_Z-G9Ehv4EggZ3ff8k9gWgZSjP-_IIQhdWD3hPeLyhyphenhyphenVcVhy/w400-h300/eid+games.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">I miss
meeting my friends for coffee and cake, we used to skip dinner, feed the kids
and then meet up to eat cake guilt free. Every time I meet them, we chat, laugh
and unwind. I feel the stress falling away as we catch up, I always come away
feeling sleepy and contented.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">I miss my
bestie and her loving words and big heart. She has been through so much this last year and I could not be properly there for her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">I yearn
for a time when the wanderlust gets me and I can walk out the house and go
where I want.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">I look
forward to spring blossom season, which will be here soon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am taking pleasure in the longer, warmer
days. I am enjoying taking a few stolen moments here and there in the garden,
clearing away weeds and dead plants, wondering what the garden will be like
this year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #3c4043;">When I
yearn, it means my spirit is still lively, a bit too much in love with this
world still perhaps, but refreshed and joyful by Allah SWT’s beautiful creation
of nature.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-16217318628769203182021-02-08T20:49:00.000+00:002021-02-08T20:49:16.597+00:00Quarantine Stories: Schooling and Wellbeing.<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">We are now well into the
third lockdown in London and the second stint of home-schooling. I remember how
relieved I was when the children went back to school, thinking to myself: “I am
never doing this again”, only to find myself there again less than six months
later:</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Home schooling five
children</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Navigating GCSE’s, A
‘levels, University application, a last minute sixth form application and GCSE
options for next year.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Trying to support an
eight your old that cried every morning during online lessons for weeks. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">With one eye on a six-year-old
little wildling that has no intention of sitting through a whole lesson.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Checking every hour
between meetings on the boys to make sure they are not falling asleep mid class.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Trying to keep everyone
talking to try and gauge how they are feeling.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Work with tasks piling
up and meetings through the day (with various interruptions from various people,
I have mastered the art of dirty looks and a viciously whispered “go away” now
and again)</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Trying to find a way to
manage meals for five children and two adults, three times per day.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Studying for my Masters
degree with online classes and research and reading for two assignments.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">But something is
different this time around. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">At Christmas I took two
weeks leave from work to coincide with the children winter holidays. I spent
the time in rest, reflection, and to clear my head from work, study and
home-school. It made a world of difference. It allowed me to get some
perspective and set some boundaries:</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">No working long hours </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Being clear on my
priorities – worship and children </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Weekly planning for
things like meals, meetings and housework.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Protecting my “me time”
for journaling, blogging.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Committing to learn to
rest and not feeling guilty about it.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">It takes me daily reflection
and review of my day to try and stick to these principles, to stop myself working
into the evening, stressing about home school and constantly overthink.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">I have found
doing less make me more peaceful and less stressed out, but also funnily, more productive.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">I am still counting the
days till they can go back to school. I am still very worried about my sons
GCSEs and I still wonder how I am supposed to do everything I want at work and
with my personal projects. But I am peace with the idea of imperfection, not
finishing things, of a messy house and the art and practice of keeping my heart
full of gratitude.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZ6JTUkYwc763SOn_GgtLFGeVcuYaINN7SmuYYEBCHlnU0G4Y50-s5il2CQClXO0lBI8_cCELfMI6lTlpeDtNe6pGr6X9dGJLA4KjU4r-a-NW2jrkc_eOIpYeoWNc7EYqF_fXsmDhXRDU/s778/work+less+do+more+.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="778" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZ6JTUkYwc763SOn_GgtLFGeVcuYaINN7SmuYYEBCHlnU0G4Y50-s5il2CQClXO0lBI8_cCELfMI6lTlpeDtNe6pGr6X9dGJLA4KjU4r-a-NW2jrkc_eOIpYeoWNc7EYqF_fXsmDhXRDU/w400-h231/work+less+do+more+.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://steemit.com/life/@kazmii/it-is-magically-possible-to-work-less-and-still-do-more">image source</a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-58293157962349871642021-01-03T22:59:00.001+00:002021-01-03T22:59:26.161+00:00Word of the Year 2021: Simplicity <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">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 <a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/search/label/Word%20of%20the%20Year">here</a>
about recognising the need to have greater self-belief in myself:</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">“Belief in my good
intentions, in my capability, in my competence. Belief that I can achieve
anything I set my will to. Belief that I do enough, have enough and am
completely enough.”</span></i><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">In the past I have done
better some years than others in using the Word of the Year to motivate or
improve myself. During 2020, my self-belief grew exponentially. It was a year
of hard work, at work, at home, with my children, in my community, alone for
the last two months of the year. The hard work was accompanied by growth in my
confidence and knowledge of my work. </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">I ended the year with
recognition at work and having learned lots of new things. I managed to network
and start working with various community groups and finally I made sure my
children had everything they needed while we remained in lock down on and off
through the year: access to online learning and devices, continuous
encouragement and some monitoring, and most importantly routine and support to make
sure things didn’t get to much for them. I think this has been the first year
in 17 years of being a mum, I could put the mum guilt to one side and say I did
my best in the circumstances we were in.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">By the end of the year,
I was full of self-belief and confidence but also overloaded with a feeling of
stress and burnout. I realised I had been so busy “doing” all the time, that I
had neglected my spiritual health and my relationship with Allah (SWT). I
learned the hard way that if you don’t nurture your faith and connection to
Allah (SWT), for instance through the quality if your salah, dhikr or
reflection, everything else in life starts to feel meaningless and you start to
feel aimless and even sad.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Because I felt so sad by
the end of the year and had to work my way back to feeling more motivated and positive
(with great difficulty), I committed going forward to prioritise my faith over everything
else insh’Allah. I also realised I had to stop trying to do everything. At work
I need to say no more, delegate more and raise problems without trying to
deliver the solution to all of them. At home, I need to set boundaries with
family and friends and again delegate chores and be more specific and firmer in
asking for help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know how this
will fit with the million goals I have set for 2021, but it did make me think I
need to simplify what is going on in my life.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">So words that I considered
for this year included <b>ambition</b> (the next step after self-belief, to act
on it), <b>fearless</b> (again setting big goals and continuously moving beyond
my comfort zone) and <b>purpose</b> (making sure everything I do goes back to trying
to please Allah SWT). But in the end the one I want to hold onto is <b>simplicity</b>:</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Simplicity means
identifying what’s essential, then eliminating the rest. ~ Leo Babuta.</span></i><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">That means cutting down
on e-mail especially, screen time, finding ways to filter and minimise the
deluge of information, content, tweets, Instagram posts, Facebook posts, WhatsApp’s
that we get all day. All of these are other people’s noise and other people’s
priorities, not mine.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">It also means being
clear on what benefits me and my goals going forward and saying no to most of
the rest, especially at work. I am not sure how I will reconcile my goals for 2021
with my desire for simplicity, something to test and play around with in the coming
year I suppose.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Do you have a word for
the year? What would yours be and why?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAE2MOJYms1Qjdl8_rkISCtDPQTTYfTMhmutjaNZWWFmBjKbM64qq4FlF41H-BkSgO-Ls73NlT1EBiL43CY17_YmSTvKPWHPr-qpT-BcUGYtps1QzYWCwH9LCDlWUegzcttOIs6IbITe4/s615/WOTY+2021.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="614" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAE2MOJYms1Qjdl8_rkISCtDPQTTYfTMhmutjaNZWWFmBjKbM64qq4FlF41H-BkSgO-Ls73NlT1EBiL43CY17_YmSTvKPWHPr-qpT-BcUGYtps1QzYWCwH9LCDlWUegzcttOIs6IbITe4/w319-h320/WOTY+2021.JPG" width="319" /></a></b></div><b><br /></b><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/2011/01/word-for-2011.html"><b><span style="color: #9d1760; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Word for 2011:
Courage</span></b></a><u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/2013/01/word-for-2013-discipline.html"><b><span style="color: #9d1760; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Word for 2013:
Discipline </span></b></a><u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/2014/01/word-of-year-2014-focus.html"><b><span style="color: #9d1760; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Word for 2014:
Focus</span></b></a><u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/2015/01/word-of-year-2015-shukr.html"><b><span style="color: #9d1760; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Word for 2015:
Shukr </span></b></a><u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/2016/01/word-for-2016-health.html"><b><span style="color: #9d1760; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Word for 2016:
Health</span></b></a><u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/2017/01/word-of-year-2017-salah.html"><b><span style="color: #9d1760; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Word for 2017:
Salah</span></b></a><u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/2018/01/words-of-year-2018-quran-and-khidmat.html"><span style="color: #9d1760; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Words of the
Year 2018: Quran and Khidmat (Service)</span></a><u1:p></u1:p></span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/2019/01/word-for-2019-acceptance_12.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9d1760; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Word of the Year 2019: Acceptance</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.happymuslimah.com/search/label/Word%20of%20the%20Year">Word of
the Year 2020: Belief</a> </span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"></span></b><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-81499773046869596112020-12-29T22:32:00.001+00:002020-12-29T22:33:39.415+00:00End of Year Reflection and Goal Setting 2020-2021 <p style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;"></p><p style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I usually spend some time at the end of the year undertaking some
kind of planning process. Some years this has been about setting a few clear
goals, other years this has involved a detailed process of planning goals and
actions for thee coming year. This year I decided to take it slowly and
allocate one week to reflecting back on the year and one week to do some planning
for the year ahead. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I have found that there is
real power in taking time to think about worked and didn’t work and then
articulating what it is you want going forward. I have often looked back at
previous years plans and been surprised at the things that have been achieved
even when they felt unrealistic or out of reach. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Over the years one of the
things that as shifted in my planning process is that I have dropped many
things that I think I should achieve and become more honest with myself about
the things that I genuinely want - a more heart-centred approach that has me
feeling more inspired and motivated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This year, although I gave
myself two weeks, in reality it was a few hours dotted here and there over the
fortnight. For me the magic happens in the late hours at the end of the day.
Once the kids are in bed and I have had a chance to rest and clear my head a
little, I can start to think about things sensibly, or maybe daydream a little.
For others the best time will be first thing in the morning before the day gets
busy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I break the process down
into some key areas of my life to provide focus: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Faith <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Family and relationships
(including parenting and marriage) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Health <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Self-development <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Home <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Career/Business/Work <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Money/Finance <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Community <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Travel, Fun and Creative <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">These are the categories
that make sense for me, but you may wish to include others or have a smaller
number. For instance "home" may not be something included in the
past, but with lockdowns and working from home, the way we feel about the
spaces we live in and how they support us to function may be much more at the
front of our minds in the coming year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">For each area I spent a
little time thinking about what went well, what didn’t in the last year. I used
my mini journal (about A6) and gave each theme a page each. This was enough to
get some thoughts down and didn’t feel too daunting or like too much work, but
in hindsight, it is worth spending more time and giving this process more space
to really get to the heart of where you feel you are with each area. This gives
you a really good understanding of the situation and creates a better
foundation for deciding what you want to do next. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXz4RWUxEcjDzNLmCE31CUyyv44yPwhyo5ew_NbY7Tm7sqN9BWz-KDYUbu9Ep12EhsB6t3rIUa-C4Wsv76CppHO4twtEV_dE2y5VtySN9Cd2m3xaaZKwT8JSKbQv80OHuQWqoEhAsY0AT/s640/IMG_6136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXz4RWUxEcjDzNLmCE31CUyyv44yPwhyo5ew_NbY7Tm7sqN9BWz-KDYUbu9Ep12EhsB6t3rIUa-C4Wsv76CppHO4twtEV_dE2y5VtySN9Cd2m3xaaZKwT8JSKbQv80OHuQWqoEhAsY0AT/w300-h400/IMG_6136.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Once I had finished with
looking back at 2020, I set aside a page for each theme going forward, using
the following format: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Big Goal</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> - your priority for this
area in the coming year, this should be what really matters and what you want
the most. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Example: Faith - improve
concentration and devotion in Sabah (prayer) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Habits </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">- list the daily habits in
this area, especially the ones that will help you achieve your goal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Example: Faith - pray on
time, make effort to pray your nawafil (non obligatory) prayers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Goals </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">- list your other goals for
this area that you would like to work towards <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Example: Faith - undertake
Umrah (pilgrimage) this year, learn Quran in Arabic) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Long Term</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> - Outline here briefly what
the big picture is, where you want to be in 20 years, by the end of your life,
or in the next life. This will help you make sure your goals are always aligned
with your long term vision. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Example: Faith - Jannah,
good death, closeness to Allah (SWT). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGH395jQBh8M4peeh0JbvdiA_jEAhVpmOOurUMsVWj7tlupdQzSySQK8S7qJZIbbCB6fv5qHi7ZbsroxjyJByiPXKnDDCuNqMr2dQxS4Uoj98wu7t7ww_5GTYaKmsU36R4fQ7wM1vKrOe/s640/IMG_6138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGH395jQBh8M4peeh0JbvdiA_jEAhVpmOOurUMsVWj7tlupdQzSySQK8S7qJZIbbCB6fv5qHi7ZbsroxjyJByiPXKnDDCuNqMr2dQxS4Uoj98wu7t7ww_5GTYaKmsU36R4fQ7wM1vKrOe/w300-h400/IMG_6138.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I’ve worked through this
process and come to the end feeling inspired and motivated. I liked the
simplicity of one main goal, giving you a sense of focus - the rest are a
bonus. I like also that you can defer or let go of some things and clear your
head of them. I have often felt down or aimless in the last year. Sometimes
being busy doing stuff is not the same as being focussed and doing the right
stuff. I intend to work less hours and less intensely this year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">to bring some balance back
into my life and hopefully having one goal or area for improvement for each
area of my life will help me with this. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">One of the things I have
committed to is to write in my mini journal every day, whether a chance to
create some mixed media art, reflect on my day and capture learning or record
something I find inspiring. This means I will have to hand the goal pages and I
can look back every day and ask myself if I am working towards the right things
in the right balance insh’Allah. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Do you have a process to
reflect on your year? Do you set goals, what do you find helps you to
internalise and achieve your goals?</span></b></p><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-86012265437692578212020-12-27T19:43:00.008+00:002020-12-27T19:43:57.243+00:00Live Online Shopping <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I had
fun today online shopping, but not how you think. My husband is in Pakistan at
the moment spending time with his parents and is due to fly back next week. I
spent the whole day with hubby sending me pictures of clothes from different
shopping centres in Lahore and asking me if I like anything.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The
whole clan have insisted on accompanying him, so with elderly dad, mum in
wheelchair and various siblings and kids in tow he has been traipsing around
the shops looking for cloths for the girls and me. I am not sure if he just has
really bad taste or can’t find the shops with the good stuff or I am too fussy,
but I haven’t liked almost anything he has sent me:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkApOSdSp2Iu4kQNu_oNR2hYPWRO0zI-g0ibtBOwfUugZ6iF0emK_z6H9tABFX9QSZzVAW29ZY9oXIPQvCamhy5ZMQ4Zh0ZXLcGWQwEGGprx3jvkzNiwAgUXq_Jm4jjjkEHa2DSRkfHRp0/s640/shopping+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="382" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkApOSdSp2Iu4kQNu_oNR2hYPWRO0zI-g0ibtBOwfUugZ6iF0emK_z6H9tABFX9QSZzVAW29ZY9oXIPQvCamhy5ZMQ4Zh0ZXLcGWQwEGGprx3jvkzNiwAgUXq_Jm4jjjkEHa2DSRkfHRp0/w239-h400/shopping+1.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">So, so
far, my response to each pic has been:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">No<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Not
really<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Not
keen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">A bit
bright<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">A bit
short<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">No <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">In the
end he video called and walked around shopping mall showing me stuff and I
found a simple maxi dress I liked. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">I
enjoyed seeing the kids getting in the way, shopkeepers pulling things out, my
brother-in-law giving advice and the general chaos.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Made
me think of two things:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Shopping
is wasted on him<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">I
really want to go to Pakistan myself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Who
knows, maybe next year if the world is a little less crazy and it feels safe insh’Allah <o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-90859482670590207642020-12-23T18:10:00.004+00:002020-12-23T18:10:39.302+00:002020 Stories: Corona, Tier 4, Exhaustion and Gratitude<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Assalam-alaikam
to anyone reading this and especially to those who make an effort to stop by
and read despite my inconsistency in writing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I have
taken two weeks off work and a quarter of the way in, my head has cleared
enough that I am motivated to write again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It’s a
curious time with Tier 4 Lockdown, winter solstices and the “Great' Conjunction”
of the planets. I am off work; the kids are home from school and hubby is on
his travels in Pakistan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I hope
sisters and brothers reading this are keeping well and are not suffering too
much from the physical or mental effects of corona virus or a year of lockdowns
and isolation insh’Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It has
been a curious time for the children, my oldest two have A ‘levels and GCSE’s in
the coming year and so have been studying without knowing if they will have
exams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My younger son has missed a lot
of school between lockdown and bouts of an ear inflammation that made him too
dizzy and nauseous to go school. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully
after multiple doctor’s consultations and finally a trip to emergency, he is now
well and managed to get back to school before the holidays started. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can tell he is well because he is back to
annoying his little sisters until they scream and teasing me non-stop. The
youngest two have been playing catch up at school, with their teachers making sure
they know how to use google classroom in case schools can’t open in January. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">All of
them have been inundated with homework and tests, but alhamdulillah have just
got on with it. I have tried to focus on how they are getting on emotionally as
much as on their studies and just make sure they have what they need. My work
has really made me realise how many children are going to fall so far behind
that they won’t be able to catch up. For reasons as varied as not having devices,
or enough data, having to help with taking care of siblings when they are home,
parents that don’t understand how to get their children online, or just the
stress of households that have lost income or are dealing with sickness, mental
health issues or domestic violence. I noticed when Darling’s class had to go
online for the first time, only 6 children showed up (one spent the entire time
shouting “I CAN’T HEAR YOU” and had to be put on mute by the teacher). Lots of
the children in her school are from newly immigrated families, I suspect a good
number from families that don’t have a right to stay in the UK yet or much
income to provide a phone or tablet for the children to use.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Hubby
left for Pakistan in early November, he worked throughout the pandemic but by
that point in the year I could see how down he was and how much he needed some
time to focus on his faith. He travels for dawah for six weeks every year, this
year there are no dawah groups (or jamaats), so he stayed in one part of Pakistan
in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. He has finished his six weeks stay and is
spending a few days with his parents before he flies back (if flights are still
running…). We have the annual list of things we have broken ready for him </span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol-ext; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😊</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Mum
and dad-in-law didn’t come to stay this year due to the Covid situation being
worse here than in Pakistan. That was until things got really bad there too,
but by then the flights were grounded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We will have to see about next year, it is always good to have them, but
it was also a break for me from caring duties and the constant squabbling between
my opinionated oldest child and her equally opinionated grandmother.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Work
has been a non-stop fiesta of long hours, new projects, intense learning and
often just sensory overload. It has left me fit for nothing for months but evenings
of binge-watching rubbish or scrolling through social media. All of my focus, creativity
and mental space has been used up working on projects as varied as youth participation,
community engagement, sourcing translations for covid information, looking at
how we support people with no status to be here (no recourse to public funds)
during the pandemic, improving access for people with disabilities, work around
racism and women’s experiences – you get the picture…lots of things to fill my
brain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I kept
going full speed with work, home and the kids until about autumn and then
started to lose sight of why I was bothering to do any of it. I found myself
waking up every day sad and then spending the day sad and then starting to feel
ok by about the time I got to bed. This went on for weeks and weeks of me
feeling miserable and telling myself I have everything to be grateful for, to
be positive, to pull myself out of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the end, it took to the end of November and lots of prayer and being still
and allowing myself to feel the misery, for me to find my mojo again. I slowly
found my heart lifting and seeing the good in the day again alhamdulillah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">At the
moment I am taking it easy, going through my to-do list of things I have been
putting off (what I call “life admin”) and organising the corners of the house
where bits and pieces have been accumulating. I am cooking whatever the kids
want, having way too many movie nights with the youngest two and have started journaling
after a very long time. I intend to spend these two weeks running in the morning,
going for walks, filling out my Filofax like a geek, journaling and reading.
More importantly, I want to spend the next two weeks reflecting on the lessons
from 2020 and dreaming up my plans and intentions (Allah SWT willing) for 2021
insh’Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>How
has the last year been for you? What has helped you cope? Do you have an intentional
end of year process? </b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HjvvBPXqbPWo1LPmMD2wRRFfO7O4qAx0B8Ob3kK0Lb-vOWVYurh9UP8o09Mh7f2Q58wBBHEN0x2YtDuiNTrfyU1OHVvfw4uAfYoUCuVd3qmwbGGaAyCiTgKPmuVPBhkqcpYgR6OMGfL1/s624/corona+quote+2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="624" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HjvvBPXqbPWo1LPmMD2wRRFfO7O4qAx0B8Ob3kK0Lb-vOWVYurh9UP8o09Mh7f2Q58wBBHEN0x2YtDuiNTrfyU1OHVvfw4uAfYoUCuVd3qmwbGGaAyCiTgKPmuVPBhkqcpYgR6OMGfL1/w400-h385/corona+quote+2020.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://kristijojedlickiblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/29/healthy-at-home/" target="_blank">image source</a></div><p></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-78389061385771448702020-08-06T18:19:00.001+01:002020-08-06T18:19:58.451+01:00You’re Fat! Unhelpful Comments and Some Helpful Advice Back<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I received
two interesting comments yesterday that made me think.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The first
was from one of my husband’s “auntie” - a lady who calls him her son and who he
helps out on occasion with chores and DIY. She sees me as her daughter-in-law;
because we all need more than one mum-in-law…. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">She came
to see us yesterday and commented “you must be sitting a lot for work, you’ve
gotten fat”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I get
these kinds of comments from older ladies every now and again – I’m not quite
sure what bothers them so much about my weight and body, but they don’t hold
back in letting me know about it. I have to say it stung – not because I have
hang ups about my body – I love this body that carried me through seven
pregnancies and five children, that serves me day in day out to serve my family
and community, that belies a strength and stamina that people don’t realise is
there and that I genuinely believe to be a beautiful body. I don’t walk about
thinking “poor me, I’m fat”, I tell myself “Damn you look good, thank you
Allah”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It stung
because once more someone felt the need to point it out. That this is what she
could see before she could see any other good quality I might have. That’s all
we come down to: thin and youthful and disciplined (implying good), or fat and
lazy and greedy (implying we need to fix ourselves).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">When she
left my poor husband had to hear about it. I told him if there were no aunties,
no husbands, no neighbours and no rude relatives then I would never have to
hear comments like this or worry about what they were thinking or going to say.
I told him I am happy as I am and I seem to be the only one that is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had the good sense to listen and make no
comment at this point.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMAxdxX6oL0kIER3CoPjL7UpGMRmqg8MHAJVAlcJrL_1X5mzs4c-gIHTHkOGK98vWuqQyxJJmE67kui_4OzxIFl9dbIFDWjhEOdYGI1L7GY8F_JFjAcNEP4x1Imebao-tQiQFuHE3u7IPK/s690/weight+loss.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="580" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMAxdxX6oL0kIER3CoPjL7UpGMRmqg8MHAJVAlcJrL_1X5mzs4c-gIHTHkOGK98vWuqQyxJJmE67kui_4OzxIFl9dbIFDWjhEOdYGI1L7GY8F_JFjAcNEP4x1Imebao-tQiQFuHE3u7IPK/w344-h410/weight+loss.JPG" width="344" /></a><span style="display: block; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-top: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDOzVCvHdqp/?igshid=ommestiv5xm7" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">image source</span></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
second comment was from my daughter, she overheard the conversation with my
husband and later mentioned to me that she could never remember a time when I
was slim (it was up until baby number four, when she was 10 years old). That
surprised me, as it didn’t feel so long ago.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The thing
is, if all these well-meaning people who needed to help me see myself as the
fat flawed creature I supposedly am, were genuinely well-meaning they could do
better than make comments or offer useless advice. They could do the things
that make a difference:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Offer
your time</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> – when I started walking after work, I found it made me late for the
rest of the evening – cooking, evening routines, children’s bedtimes. By the
time my children’s evening routines were done, it was dark and I didn’t feel
safe to go out (the number of prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, drunk people
and aggressive beggars, including drug users desperate for their next fix, in
our neighbourhood at night is crazy).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">So, any
help with watching the kids or getting things done, will help free up time to
exercise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Eat out
healthier</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> – every time we eat out its somewhere that has burgers, chips or oily
curries. Healthy options are so limited locally – mainly grilled chicken or a
basic salad with chicken in. So, when you look at options to eat out, look for
somewhere that has better, tastier, and more healthy options.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Stop
giving sweet stuff</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> – every time there is a family gathering, or
dinner, or visit, we bring chocolates, cake, mithai (Indian sweets) and all
manners of unhealthy, sugary sweet stuff. I have stuff still piled up in my
kitchen cupboard from Eid. Replace it with fruit, or something else useful
(don’t give me a crappy candle). The only exception is Krispy Kreme donuts on
Eid – my two guilt-free, eat whatever you want days of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Offer
your company</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> – I always struggled to find a walking partner,
none of my friends, family or neighbours have ever been able to commit to a
regular, brisk walk, esp. when I am available - early in the morning. I find
exercising with a partner that is good company helps the time go more quickly
and with greater ease.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This all
sounds a bit demanding and entitled, but if you are really concerned enough
about my weight to point it out or give me unwanted advice, perhaps you can
concern yourself in ways that are useful and effective. If this sounds like too
much effort, then you may wish to consider if your concern is genuine or just
superficial and more about you than me – in which case, <b>shove your advice
and your comments!!</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-35209576069275716442020-08-06T16:43:00.002+01:002020-08-06T16:43:33.161+01:00Getting Organised: Our Mini Pantry <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">My husband has been saying for years that he needs
to clear out the storage cupboards under our stairs and create some organised
storage. I have been asking him if I can have the smaller of the two cupboards to
use as a mini pantry to free up some space in our kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He finally got round to tackling his project.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This is the smaller of the two spaces after we
cleared it out and he set me to stripping off the old wallpaper from the walls
and ceilings.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6xbcVSlFe-HTBOynlcw4Fu_SMcbPMkcc6C7wBCmkckIUpGwbM_-YtguaV7klw5XrBtz8YATNAqoteyai_Mz6NmB_Z39IgodmdX6ZZfJak_RPLendD_-jmVt7EV7z83uZS3m5YRGdHgTL/s2048/IMG_6676.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6xbcVSlFe-HTBOynlcw4Fu_SMcbPMkcc6C7wBCmkckIUpGwbM_-YtguaV7klw5XrBtz8YATNAqoteyai_Mz6NmB_Z39IgodmdX6ZZfJak_RPLendD_-jmVt7EV7z83uZS3m5YRGdHgTL/w307-h410/IMG_6676.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2u2I1YHzlDZJH4rkGkXd75j26p8i0NaoPCWNcmx5xwEn4ivE-W5Vt5yiMfGjmXrT9_iCwEt7XBttbnj89ESYyJPefK9lvXDS9mGihq7hcV6kAOBZ2If2BHnVjLHz6UXWEXJt42B8lGZPj/s2048/IMG_6677.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2u2I1YHzlDZJH4rkGkXd75j26p8i0NaoPCWNcmx5xwEn4ivE-W5Vt5yiMfGjmXrT9_iCwEt7XBttbnj89ESYyJPefK9lvXDS9mGihq7hcV6kAOBZ2If2BHnVjLHz6UXWEXJt42B8lGZPj/w307-h410/IMG_6677.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I found a little friend to help me…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vK11P-_cRYDnwWpO1HEFYgDveJwk7pYGwY4Pm-tEyhK5RtaysBKgl7BAsMFioFfj4OFF6kksMBC3vPBVH1QRIPFjDMnl9vADUNuWDNHkSsSa_GGLFFPwGixlCJ7Pdi7IiK1MvjZs47O-/s2048/IMG_6678.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vK11P-_cRYDnwWpO1HEFYgDveJwk7pYGwY4Pm-tEyhK5RtaysBKgl7BAsMFioFfj4OFF6kksMBC3vPBVH1QRIPFjDMnl9vADUNuWDNHkSsSa_GGLFFPwGixlCJ7Pdi7IiK1MvjZs47O-/w307-h410/IMG_6678.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He filled the various holes and dips in the walls, sanded
it all smooth (creating a big mess in the rest of the living room), painted the
walls and ceiling and tiled and grouted the floor. He then cute, painted and
installed all of the shelving from planks of wood.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This is a pic of it done, but not yet cleaned out.
He finished it and left his tools on my shelves for the next two days as he was
busy working.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1RiKihrbyfdE3iUUZ_5-p_aVLMV1xx3DR61x7MMeKK9t_3WXEuVRHHxN9Zt2U84v8RsSjV1HSThbXqKkbxiXNlsO8qL3TyX7nt89d6lFOaphIZYVraIQLM7xH4JNORLV0SQnHmNWoR7Li/s2048/IMG_7180.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1RiKihrbyfdE3iUUZ_5-p_aVLMV1xx3DR61x7MMeKK9t_3WXEuVRHHxN9Zt2U84v8RsSjV1HSThbXqKkbxiXNlsO8qL3TyX7nt89d6lFOaphIZYVraIQLM7xH4JNORLV0SQnHmNWoR7Li/w307-h410/IMG_7180.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Moving in some of my bigger items: flour bin, rice
bin, big pots and the hotpots that are mainly used during Ramadan (these are getting old now and damaged and need to be replaced, any suggestions for a good long-lasting replacement are welcome)</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">:</span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmR_PmtO7Uq5A6ik3IH9umMttmpIPtIKuSIl0aDZmxKSZHFMY-iWhwp9aQ8_J3Yt9jCRBvciInWeTpNMBagMCceRC08AHIspxsuRTOojq9Rm_dOLzhTNhYxqaqa7abPY4JkPQUnoLgZVp/s2048/IMG_7328.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmR_PmtO7Uq5A6ik3IH9umMttmpIPtIKuSIl0aDZmxKSZHFMY-iWhwp9aQ8_J3Yt9jCRBvciInWeTpNMBagMCceRC08AHIspxsuRTOojq9Rm_dOLzhTNhYxqaqa7abPY4JkPQUnoLgZVp/w307-h410/IMG_7328.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I also moved in multiples of items - like pasta
sauce and spaghetti. We are a big family, so I always have one or two extra of things.
This space is a life saver when I am cooking after work and have to keep
sending the kids to the shop across the road for the one missing ingredient. This
way I just have to walk over to the pantry. I can add items to our shopping
list as I move them from the pantry to the kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWUDlZzfM5IhECyJ9ZLX_a8iMT6Ykgifdq-Z8jLxTgU2dEbJkrmEBtxRlrVfvKx8q0CjFQVg_0C3uIoifi4t7GvmJfpjnjfViT4ySwvN6gDoBe68Tiw4v-twDDwM4oUGLfD3pT6dJesyt/s2048/IMG_7330.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWUDlZzfM5IhECyJ9ZLX_a8iMT6Ykgifdq-Z8jLxTgU2dEbJkrmEBtxRlrVfvKx8q0CjFQVg_0C3uIoifi4t7GvmJfpjnjfViT4ySwvN6gDoBe68Tiw4v-twDDwM4oUGLfD3pT6dJesyt/w307-h410/IMG_7330.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I’m really happy with this space, and really
grateful to my other half for doing all of the work himself alhamdulillah.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ASO4BYwpFEstA7cTbesc3Ra34ohbkLB1Ev_prsji2mE18qBoIz658lWDSewYGDe7MeFIgVHcKE2p32U_weL2E0Ei793ms1xKmT5vy3UKPb-mTgofaXR3zmoRaclv9kgjgXy5IWzKa19h/s2048/IMG_7620.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ASO4BYwpFEstA7cTbesc3Ra34ohbkLB1Ev_prsji2mE18qBoIz658lWDSewYGDe7MeFIgVHcKE2p32U_weL2E0Ei793ms1xKmT5vy3UKPb-mTgofaXR3zmoRaclv9kgjgXy5IWzKa19h/w307-h410/IMG_7620.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="" style="background: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">For the latest updates and stories please do follow me on my </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/umm_salihah/"><span face="" style="background: white; color: #9d1760; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; text-decoration-line: none;">Instagram</span></a><span face="" style="background: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> account and Insta-stories. Also let me know
if you are on Instagram, so I can follow readers there insh’Allah.</span></p></div>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-79792040721354089092020-08-05T18:29:00.001+01:002020-08-05T18:29:20.532+01:00Handmade Girls Bracelets <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I recently bought this chain of glass crystal beads
(details here) and wanted to make something for the little girls in our family
with it. The beads have an AB (Aurora Borealis) finish which gives them the
sparkly, rainbows that catches the light so beautifully.</span></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DX9BSSEcvi9_5MJzgy8oyIRsL99v4ochRG6ruq4kRimQbBt0lrRWoH4SNUNOLKernJ-z34QQe3BugQJ5q30_z9J6RoD-jI48ApDALxWlAoKsu7hlTefhDU_jLteABFqFCKG0grMIrcGM/s2048/IMG_7617.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DX9BSSEcvi9_5MJzgy8oyIRsL99v4ochRG6ruq4kRimQbBt0lrRWoH4SNUNOLKernJ-z34QQe3BugQJ5q30_z9J6RoD-jI48ApDALxWlAoKsu7hlTefhDU_jLteABFqFCKG0grMIrcGM/w307-h410/IMG_7617.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I took the necklace apart, setting aside the smaller
thinner spacer beds and setting out the round beads with some coloured glass
rondelle beads – these are not perfectly round, but slightly flattened into a
faceted doughnut shape which I really like.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdwUE5TqfzF4bjSwIey7QEf0D5L_fxSZRXXFfoKH6jOwJ5VDAGDOH3O5pK1Iw2My6i4FpciGe01FoFI_rqPY6cGIC-YnM33IrDXTc-7hOMEyFZnpVAAjjqHur2gQ07tBHROm3Ov2LOPDo/s2048/IMG_7859.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdwUE5TqfzF4bjSwIey7QEf0D5L_fxSZRXXFfoKH6jOwJ5VDAGDOH3O5pK1Iw2My6i4FpciGe01FoFI_rqPY6cGIC-YnM33IrDXTc-7hOMEyFZnpVAAjjqHur2gQ07tBHROm3Ov2LOPDo/w307-h410/IMG_7859.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGPI1FjKDPIcGJao397UR1U2Ai6rGs3c0KBo9cKlkGJp7MtdhXoc4BzLJR_x1ztUdSlXrmHsEY5jz2FyeEsxx1ubwRSsWI4TqPf4sKd0VToQ7ZVYGeUeQIyeztZdDwiSlGGEOnJggOYDYO/s2048/IMG_7860.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGPI1FjKDPIcGJao397UR1U2Ai6rGs3c0KBo9cKlkGJp7MtdhXoc4BzLJR_x1ztUdSlXrmHsEY5jz2FyeEsxx1ubwRSsWI4TqPf4sKd0VToQ7ZVYGeUeQIyeztZdDwiSlGGEOnJggOYDYO/w410-h307/IMG_7860.jpeg" width="410" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I created a pattern with two clear white beads and a
coloured bead from each colour. In hindsight I should have used one white bead
for every coloured bead, as that would have saved me enough white beads to make
one or two matching necklaces. The positive thing about using a greater ratio
of the white beads is that it made the bracelets lighter, brighter and
sparklier.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9Lyep_821DSezSPqyuGM8EUUHyrUk0TAGwmg7W4b3C2M5iiIy4ywNMc-BK-Tlb0gzJuWtmWFAuEhIhed0p85SXQjUxNysS5U2u-9TYkI5NCWLRkYhM9y6b5AuTiobDPpOhdZSRTZiUbC/s2048/IMG_7861.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9Lyep_821DSezSPqyuGM8EUUHyrUk0TAGwmg7W4b3C2M5iiIy4ywNMc-BK-Tlb0gzJuWtmWFAuEhIhed0p85SXQjUxNysS5U2u-9TYkI5NCWLRkYhM9y6b5AuTiobDPpOhdZSRTZiUbC/w307-h410/IMG_7861.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I ended up making five little bracelets as Eid gifts – one each for
my two girls who loved them and three for little girls in my family. I hope they enjoy wearing them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsMgG3TXSENqlHvMtkVbu78TnycVSeA1pKK4VzhP9nOXdraYHLPwuWjOdGIp2tU-uq7UG9yqAJilr_S4yAMzFRzywKKfl4qM6b1u2K-qZxK2YTby5iJKvyRN_UYXJrIsl1IenuFgesKJR5/s2048/IMG_7958.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsMgG3TXSENqlHvMtkVbu78TnycVSeA1pKK4VzhP9nOXdraYHLPwuWjOdGIp2tU-uq7UG9yqAJilr_S4yAMzFRzywKKfl4qM6b1u2K-qZxK2YTby5iJKvyRN_UYXJrIsl1IenuFgesKJR5/w307-h410/IMG_7958.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bracelets ready for the knots to be sealed and the stretchy
thread to be cut.</span></p></div>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-34407817093370818022020-08-05T18:27:00.003+01:002020-08-05T18:27:47.914+01:00Frugal Muslimah: Boot Fair Bargains July 2020<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We managed to make it to one or two boot fairs in July.
The best one being <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BorehamCarBootsale">Boreham boot fair</a> in Essex. On this occasion there were a
lot of sellers, not many buyers and a lot of bargains to be had. We went late
and before long people started packing up, so we grabbed a few bits:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This was only £1, but I knew it wasn’t a good idea as
soon as I bought it. I got it home and the kids argued over it then managed to
get tiny sweets all over the place before I had to confiscate and hide it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMz8F35u0JPUDZzFUrbFOBwj9T32XeVbIzYTDKJRDkyKQzf7h9h2yXd9kPBItLqZYaAa9GFnPRjcjGr9vmceWuOr4K61T2Bu6Q9l3R3zgq0Xusb57hYhvrL0YReMO_Jt0fhvgIuEJHh2at/s2048/IMG_7601.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMz8F35u0JPUDZzFUrbFOBwj9T32XeVbIzYTDKJRDkyKQzf7h9h2yXd9kPBItLqZYaAa9GFnPRjcjGr9vmceWuOr4K61T2Bu6Q9l3R3zgq0Xusb57hYhvrL0YReMO_Jt0fhvgIuEJHh2at/w307-h410/IMG_7601.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Horrible Science books were 50p for the whole
stack and the two at the bottom (picked by the Babies) were 20p each. My
younger son loved the Horrible series and learned a lot from them.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-btRv4tBWhNwuZxnIzZkWfC00ZrDuMewQSWzK8ZE0cFesyoGucmelwKaDAqCkTVQgT-UDXOEfJKtn9IT1Az-WQ15GZaCyawxBBvMN62H8q52gDmMHMju50GenTc7cQhg3iMM3Au2zrNDR/s2048/IMG_7602.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-btRv4tBWhNwuZxnIzZkWfC00ZrDuMewQSWzK8ZE0cFesyoGucmelwKaDAqCkTVQgT-UDXOEfJKtn9IT1Az-WQ15GZaCyawxBBvMN62H8q52gDmMHMju50GenTc7cQhg3iMM3Au2zrNDR/w307-h410/IMG_7602.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">These learning books were around 50p each, with the
Crayola handwriting practice board £1</span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaByJSU7cjY9ATyut-QNt5ZilJjKOx8HHCCkPNqClDPqCP8Qp5DeDmhj_jrMs5ncfY0jgst68Rh-bLrJXXfR11rIa-iM94bxa0lMvltjQs_R8yz3DZTPXI-6QbfoFo93uz2niABy1wOuOE/s2048/IMG_7603.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaByJSU7cjY9ATyut-QNt5ZilJjKOx8HHCCkPNqClDPqCP8Qp5DeDmhj_jrMs5ncfY0jgst68Rh-bLrJXXfR11rIa-iM94bxa0lMvltjQs_R8yz3DZTPXI-6QbfoFo93uz2niABy1wOuOE/w410-h307/IMG_7603.jpeg" width="410" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">GCSE practice books for £1, my older son has missed
so much school, hopefully these will be some help for his GCSE exams next year insh'Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9JBGUnQzZ5qtxRsr3zYvyzoHv7ImwCp-RIDqQ2i6dcsf9RbwAJi2Rjx7D1lheVqNB5kAmrZjJ3Sq3mGTWFT8TYcdF41orPnE0e12wFkmWmMfHGAaC-_DIdFknhPkovBs8O0QZ1DYG0Xn/s2048/IMG_7605.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1537" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9JBGUnQzZ5qtxRsr3zYvyzoHv7ImwCp-RIDqQ2i6dcsf9RbwAJi2Rjx7D1lheVqNB5kAmrZjJ3Sq3mGTWFT8TYcdF41orPnE0e12wFkmWmMfHGAaC-_DIdFknhPkovBs8O0QZ1DYG0Xn/w307-h410/IMG_7605.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">These books were for me and were 50p each, except for The
Bone Clocks which was £2. I really love this writers first book (Cloud Atlas),
so was keen to try another by him. I’ve just started reading We Are All
Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler and have heard good things
about it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRHwKx1UpxMs4lFaQWcJPna-ieFTnQ96fYzUmHgfwViZkzsTGOTen5So-G_X9Ml-c154O8K7e2egkWmKut81ZfQcffs4w80FC3rmcmTY3I0J2IfPbDPhjWkYcNvwSDb0m9zAMzH5s8AJ6t/s2048/IMG_7606.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRHwKx1UpxMs4lFaQWcJPna-ieFTnQ96fYzUmHgfwViZkzsTGOTen5So-G_X9Ml-c154O8K7e2egkWmKut81ZfQcffs4w80FC3rmcmTY3I0J2IfPbDPhjWkYcNvwSDb0m9zAMzH5s8AJ6t/w307-h410/IMG_7606.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Somebody kindly gave these to me for free. I may not
keep them and will either pass them on or donate to a charity shop, as I use the
internet for recipes. But I think I’ll have a quick flick through for
inspiration.</span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHaxtLGoXRl8_fpRF4DCQB6GVhdy86iiq6kIKIN11Gt1NsOpV-nVzvuSlv8PVjvFi943TrgCMLteq_tPF9FhUlabEjnaVhVLJfHUOLws-OwLjxxbfMIbKkSOnjMAg_TLsgt37fssZ_AqkL/s2048/IMG_7607.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHaxtLGoXRl8_fpRF4DCQB6GVhdy86iiq6kIKIN11Gt1NsOpV-nVzvuSlv8PVjvFi943TrgCMLteq_tPF9FhUlabEjnaVhVLJfHUOLws-OwLjxxbfMIbKkSOnjMAg_TLsgt37fssZ_AqkL/w307-h410/IMG_7607.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This was my fave bargain: a rope of glass crystal
with a sparkly, rainbow AB (Aurora Borealis) finish for 50p. I have a project in mind
for these (see next post </span><span style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-char-type: symbol-ext; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😊</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtF-V8evqwQPp_50CBRfJvyG0L_6XWqh33j2PitoqXDIiJFb_w6KBKxC3oysOcc2LgWFpy-2YuaBgsvLu76ICGGWlzwJ2zPeBo2ul0hzHlhLm0DHm-tOjvsXwh80f0JTs5iiQgb6jMIKj4/s2048/IMG_7617.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtF-V8evqwQPp_50CBRfJvyG0L_6XWqh33j2PitoqXDIiJFb_w6KBKxC3oysOcc2LgWFpy-2YuaBgsvLu76ICGGWlzwJ2zPeBo2ul0hzHlhLm0DHm-tOjvsXwh80f0JTs5iiQgb6jMIKj4/w307-h410/IMG_7617.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I really enjoyed bargain hunting. I hope to do one
more boot fair before the summer is out.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-82786560434378812392020-08-05T18:24:00.003+01:002020-08-05T18:25:29.869+01:00Days Out: Weald Country Park<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We haven’t been out too much due to quarantine and our
youngest two have been out the least. Between lockdown, both of us working and
schools being shut they have been out very little. We wanted to take them out
for some fresh air, to run around and to spend a few enjoyable hours. </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We picked </span><a href="https://www.explore-essex.com/places-to-go/find-whats-near-me/weald-country-park" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weald
County Park</a><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> as it was less than an hour away and we’d never heard of it
before.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We got there to find parking was ample and fairly reasonable.
The first thing the girls saw was the play area which is based on the much-loved
Stick Man book by Julia Donaldson. The park and woods are so big that even though
it was quite busy, people were far from each other. The exception was the playground
which felt crowded.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikn0VAuVLWPO56_MJTF7C1y5lna2W900Y-4v3nRnh5wJQePQadtSn-GI7AMdrU9p5Tb16yK1DcTLucNjvU_U-H7zHgEN5Maq9NKfPw1NwoEw6XOmPHJdIqf2aYnt-Owuj0oIUwicIDbpnA/s2048/IMG_7532.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikn0VAuVLWPO56_MJTF7C1y5lna2W900Y-4v3nRnh5wJQePQadtSn-GI7AMdrU9p5Tb16yK1DcTLucNjvU_U-H7zHgEN5Maq9NKfPw1NwoEw6XOmPHJdIqf2aYnt-Owuj0oIUwicIDbpnA/w307-h410/IMG_7532.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One of the loveliest things about the park, was the
deer (the park was originally a medieval deer park during the 12th century). They
are truly beautiful and there are chutes for visitors to feed them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsw7fJtHC6gsa8FxIDqq43e1poclqJnFHD2PVnk5kD14bgk_eSWYdubPce6Xd_A8PYI9MT9NwBCyZiEtpzWv8Sj5Wm7WY13LZC1Mw7kps_IMEf9uAPK3ti3IzuNjZNyh-Du9nNktqNcuws/s2048/IMG_7534.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsw7fJtHC6gsa8FxIDqq43e1poclqJnFHD2PVnk5kD14bgk_eSWYdubPce6Xd_A8PYI9MT9NwBCyZiEtpzWv8Sj5Wm7WY13LZC1Mw7kps_IMEf9uAPK3ti3IzuNjZNyh-Du9nNktqNcuws/w307-h410/IMG_7534.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Pm3cBAqnfLz217ZjGAebMvPk5k05k1jca6kXnuhe-xlOWi0wv5atCynPoQhVUw4nMK67082NFoz7L5iTXHt8PzxGB6Sj1QdCoY5y9I2fNuKsMZ6Hj4ZCMY2UcTE1XRTRTsJYrA8-rmBc/s1689/IMG_7538.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1689" data-original-width="1267" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Pm3cBAqnfLz217ZjGAebMvPk5k05k1jca6kXnuhe-xlOWi0wv5atCynPoQhVUw4nMK67082NFoz7L5iTXHt8PzxGB6Sj1QdCoY5y9I2fNuKsMZ6Hj4ZCMY2UcTE1XRTRTsJYrA8-rmBc/w307-h410/IMG_7538.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKbp8ODn0dlWU1kY0OLZa6f_mm4IwheqGtghPpRhQUKEhMHQNjn9c9FxOOrZhs1fPRQTzVUsj71A-2BP7YpEtmD3hUjyUao-bTz4sgGKsOnyX_vWuR6lwwNzusK5MbT3yyjvJTp_tsdse2/s2048/IMG_7547.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKbp8ODn0dlWU1kY0OLZa6f_mm4IwheqGtghPpRhQUKEhMHQNjn9c9FxOOrZhs1fPRQTzVUsj71A-2BP7YpEtmD3hUjyUao-bTz4sgGKsOnyX_vWuR6lwwNzusK5MbT3yyjvJTp_tsdse2/w410-h307/IMG_7547.jpeg" width="410" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GzrXJRz1boIIpJKjhmDU8S6qnmd3N0AtQr2jZDGGXJQsj2NOmqcy2P0tZ2WxFjqO1JP4z12fQTz_bXZfFT8K4BvG9OwMFqRv9awfCnN6utDyjJj4smkyzgaY_LyGv0uB-iPgX9n2kM6q/s4032/IMG_7552.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GzrXJRz1boIIpJKjhmDU8S6qnmd3N0AtQr2jZDGGXJQsj2NOmqcy2P0tZ2WxFjqO1JP4z12fQTz_bXZfFT8K4BvG9OwMFqRv9awfCnN6utDyjJj4smkyzgaY_LyGv0uB-iPgX9n2kM6q/w307-h410/IMG_7552.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We had a good wonder around the wooded area despite
the gentle rain that had started. The trees were dense enough to protect us
from the rain when we were under them.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhml-eGwPJD7BK0d3cgu3AD_qtKIQrb8tkQz603dldwX2232HiDaEaycwy9ir8o4O2ZJ7EThKn8uzdWFezwH0LRfRdlPDnjAtgBrlNxuDNMyxOQX7L0sp1erGiH4wVmNoZ5a64rpzcs7YKW/w307-h410/IMG_7551.jpeg" /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For once I didn’t make lots of food for a picnic,
just some sandwiches and whatever was in the cupboard. I think we might be
having simpler picnics more often </span><span style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-char-type: symbol-ext; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😊</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDZ-fYRvVRhgBCxE37aMosiZIDay7Rjcl_pklP9n0_rcUxrKiyrxMhaey0-fdK-TD7-0-pyUaj2zUEyv2ojARdYPjOxNAYw1354pZgojDOMGsFilKBX85OM97N3q2B4zSiM36KWWHBFdj/s2048/IMG_7557.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDZ-fYRvVRhgBCxE37aMosiZIDay7Rjcl_pklP9n0_rcUxrKiyrxMhaey0-fdK-TD7-0-pyUaj2zUEyv2ojARdYPjOxNAYw1354pZgojDOMGsFilKBX85OM97N3q2B4zSiM36KWWHBFdj/w307-h410/IMG_7557.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">These conkers were everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nacS7qyYkHuhzYRo5tcz9TyiF2eZHqLcN_VXc3QQyzggKJPZu9K-qe0W1VE-HDRfAABHoVV4KXDNf7jRXz5aKzZYR6wLE0mBrKQN0bPaHDguOxbKkucUS-60XcvKVQ-Zhhhi5tZJfFec/s2048/IMG_7562.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nacS7qyYkHuhzYRo5tcz9TyiF2eZHqLcN_VXc3QQyzggKJPZu9K-qe0W1VE-HDRfAABHoVV4KXDNf7jRXz5aKzZYR6wLE0mBrKQN0bPaHDguOxbKkucUS-60XcvKVQ-Zhhhi5tZJfFec/w307-h410/IMG_7562.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGeWbikRQ2socDAoSISjHc8Xe9VwKtzm_l35bSfzWyNkQCFmSbNZ4Rp3qz6SPNueCAuYpt4DTPCij6uNCNTkIS8lceUzLu3R4yKSeohAhibEarL8Mwm_eIAaKNPhoS2JOjCoWOl2Eu_ZzQ/s2048/IMG_7564.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGeWbikRQ2socDAoSISjHc8Xe9VwKtzm_l35bSfzWyNkQCFmSbNZ4Rp3qz6SPNueCAuYpt4DTPCij6uNCNTkIS8lceUzLu3R4yKSeohAhibEarL8Mwm_eIAaKNPhoS2JOjCoWOl2Eu_ZzQ/w307-h410/IMG_7564.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There was lots to see and explore and we only got to
explore a small part before the rain got too heavy and we had to find cover.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqX6XrBuzkINGTpQVFNqWvt92LWFXiEJCQObiDktjPDCMLpPewE7jva5JfTZNfxvafNkVHU7yN6PnkucaLZOiWqFL190URVfVr4lWB9sA2O5OatFh5ljGy0mstQNSwEt20Vd8hRIXevzJ/s2048/IMG_7571.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqX6XrBuzkINGTpQVFNqWvt92LWFXiEJCQObiDktjPDCMLpPewE7jva5JfTZNfxvafNkVHU7yN6PnkucaLZOiWqFL190URVfVr4lWB9sA2O5OatFh5ljGy0mstQNSwEt20Vd8hRIXevzJ/w307-h410/IMG_7571.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We found this vine of blue passion flowers growing by
the ticket office. It looks a bit exotic
for leafy, green Essex.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3ZHYX_RMX-d6JovMIcLztPRYV1IiOLE_Z0rt0DZ37Mv8cQqmtw5sFlFd57MQdhs7dczDSFD6F7RRvUq-M2YsPH5ld1cyyn1DOX-0iYS-cXg1k_OyVtuOF463-OftSFAeIDOuagVCDvkR/s2048/IMG_7576.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3ZHYX_RMX-d6JovMIcLztPRYV1IiOLE_Z0rt0DZ37Mv8cQqmtw5sFlFd57MQdhs7dczDSFD6F7RRvUq-M2YsPH5ld1cyyn1DOX-0iYS-cXg1k_OyVtuOF463-OftSFAeIDOuagVCDvkR/w307-h410/IMG_7576.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We found this picnic hut right next to where we had
parked and decided to relax in here and watch the rain instead of making a run
for it.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoq3ax1EdAMXE43qEB6GH8ltDixWbaGk4NGB4dGx4ptgsQ1An7nbaIIH9UAkdtFqn52K9qP_xePsymFjZFiKBv7Kb-eyE9_55B12UMeTg59XwjrmKABww7kPgWNL7JnvUbj9HVK7wb1mJG/s2048/IMG_7586.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoq3ax1EdAMXE43qEB6GH8ltDixWbaGk4NGB4dGx4ptgsQ1An7nbaIIH9UAkdtFqn52K9qP_xePsymFjZFiKBv7Kb-eyE9_55B12UMeTg59XwjrmKABww7kPgWNL7JnvUbj9HVK7wb1mJG/w307-h410/IMG_7586.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Our green treasure back home in our nature basket.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mgGX06Rhu-st6nLoTl70TTuZwQ7qfisYGj87hdHJztKEIY37MxGlObQTjzn8AE85UclkmSyCnimD2E_9RGksOmOjbOs1_0ePZ6iXEeSkusTEzUD_gEs_NVYtYSiS-_k9BttmYJ0EdG2e/s2048/IMG_7671.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mgGX06Rhu-st6nLoTl70TTuZwQ7qfisYGj87hdHJztKEIY37MxGlObQTjzn8AE85UclkmSyCnimD2E_9RGksOmOjbOs1_0ePZ6iXEeSkusTEzUD_gEs_NVYtYSiS-_k9BttmYJ0EdG2e/w307-h410/IMG_7671.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We are always on the look out for interesting places
to visit, especially for day trips that we can travel to from London. Please do
share any suggestions, especially places that are not so busy during the
Covid19 epidemic.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">For the latest updates and stories (including the
places we have been visiting) please do follow me on my </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/umm_salihah/"><span style="background: white; color: #9d1760; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Instagram</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> account and Insta-stories. Also let me know
if you are on Instagram, so I can follow readers there insh’Allah.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398611943115596793.post-6536841752939936902020-08-04T15:16:00.002+01:002020-08-04T15:16:35.801+01:00Eid ul Adha 2020:1441 - Eid Mubarak<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A belated Eid Mubarak everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><font color="#2b00fe">Taqabbal Allahu Minna Wa Minkum (May Allah accept it from you and
us).</font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I hope your Eid was a blessed and happy one insh’Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Ours was simple and quiet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Lunch at my mums, dinner at mine with the first day spent mostly
cooking and the remaining two eating leftovers and resting and making the most
of my days off.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I didn’t get as many pictures as I should have, make as many plans
or even as many decorations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But I was grateful to see my parent and siblings, to share good
food and to enjoy the days with my husband and children alhamdulillah.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kD5AUGo-rdnCUw0z2RkTkSb7Nbqkwiqy5lTcfqiZBgd56D-jw_HU9FNSjFeMQ7AxuRSqJMBkk24Hbjxaa25yQY7PW-_8s0z7blsezU73Cj8PR3Ztr9rdEclXb7TrA8PqCTTzXKcEzDN0/s2048/IMG_7913.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kD5AUGo-rdnCUw0z2RkTkSb7Nbqkwiqy5lTcfqiZBgd56D-jw_HU9FNSjFeMQ7AxuRSqJMBkk24Hbjxaa25yQY7PW-_8s0z7blsezU73Cj8PR3Ztr9rdEclXb7TrA8PqCTTzXKcEzDN0/w410-h307/IMG_7913.JPEG" width="410" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu6Wsqe7ff-xRETm7SK5NiPqDQMY_KBfz1V-I458XPw9wcaH87HasNHj7rFwLORekV1I7nDaLor5CtOk_jdMnnLsE7r0HkRrn-npCDOXn0inkT_0tInRHj04dG7L2uaKrh9V0Dt2Ukxiwu/s1325/IMG_8036.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1325" data-original-width="760" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu6Wsqe7ff-xRETm7SK5NiPqDQMY_KBfz1V-I458XPw9wcaH87HasNHj7rFwLORekV1I7nDaLor5CtOk_jdMnnLsE7r0HkRrn-npCDOXn0inkT_0tInRHj04dG7L2uaKrh9V0Dt2Ukxiwu/w235-h410/IMG_8036.jpeg" width="235" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3D_rwgLm3dVxSZxD_O3e7Ko3SBUlp-bABHq16VrwEOtCsCpfTeHwlocqPNsVAEv-CpmFPmcMwV9_7CQfLBC9FFocgXO30HwGOPvd-MpF2OUlA21LLT5crc_ubzEtx4tubpCWe9N_K2eA2/s2048/IMG_8082.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3D_rwgLm3dVxSZxD_O3e7Ko3SBUlp-bABHq16VrwEOtCsCpfTeHwlocqPNsVAEv-CpmFPmcMwV9_7CQfLBC9FFocgXO30HwGOPvd-MpF2OUlA21LLT5crc_ubzEtx4tubpCWe9N_K2eA2/w410-h307/IMG_8082.jpeg" width="410" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8djDgd3AZ4WIXhCySAmDYYnqG5hfcrzYB1RicgmGHtLU8dTDfaLlh3Hg48P9j0pDNiJAJ6R_GIoUZadSFI6D75wzw5szBIc8J7j0bjCw96KEVSTF-b_l01EXRKoJLIJpo4NN0bibp-pIW/s2048/IMG_8168.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8djDgd3AZ4WIXhCySAmDYYnqG5hfcrzYB1RicgmGHtLU8dTDfaLlh3Hg48P9j0pDNiJAJ6R_GIoUZadSFI6D75wzw5szBIc8J7j0bjCw96KEVSTF-b_l01EXRKoJLIJpo4NN0bibp-pIW/w307-h410/IMG_8168.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hF7lKrwNqSZaKRIC-NKxoBZ1JenqgBrW27QRyCEH5Xm0bI0nZE7FPN_guuR1aU-b0pCIRPMyKeB3N6cge6m6QZ-Mf2pVFlxbGX3vnkq3OD8l6Z2_Y49vAq6GUQ-4Kgz-3GjHFyryS_TZ/s2048/IMG_8178.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hF7lKrwNqSZaKRIC-NKxoBZ1JenqgBrW27QRyCEH5Xm0bI0nZE7FPN_guuR1aU-b0pCIRPMyKeB3N6cge6m6QZ-Mf2pVFlxbGX3vnkq3OD8l6Z2_Y49vAq6GUQ-4Kgz-3GjHFyryS_TZ/w307-h410/IMG_8178.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font face="arial"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">For the latest updates and stories (including
what we were up to on Eid) please do follow me on my </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/umm_salihah/"><span style="color: #9d1760; text-decoration-line: none;">Instagram</span></a> account
and Insta-stories. Also let me know if you are on Instagram, so I can follow
readers there insh’Allah.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font face="arial"><br /></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The days of (Eid) are days of
eating and drinking and of remembering God, the Exalted." (Fiqh-us-Sunnah,
Volume 2, Number 153)<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Happy Muslim Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16144849663355612169noreply@blogger.com0