You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2008.
it’s been a busy couple of weeks…with nothing to show for it on the crafting front really apart from a winter scarf i crocheted for the 8 year old on one of the hottest days of the year!!
Children are off to DZ in two weeks insha’allah so life has been a whirlwind of packing and as always lots of lovely sisters coming and going from my house…and meet ups at the park..which is something I will miss when we leave for sure…
for those who have tried to meet up with me over the past couple of weeks and failed I can only apologise…you have to catch me quick these day! my life is being hijacked on an almost daily basis by things that have to be done in order to get the kids off on time…
tomorrow a lovely sis is coming to show me how to make parantha..so i’m hoping i’ll have some pics to show by the end of it all
am i still tired ?…you betcha!!
can i see a light at the end of the tunnel ?….erm….just about
how’s my eeman coping with all of this ?….well…… 
it’s been difficult trying to find the time to keep my eeman afloat, but sometimes that’s the reality of this life…especially living here where a day seems to speed past at breakneck speed…..but this sumer is proving to be memorable for lots of reasons masha’allah….and when I get back to DZ I will insha’allah, look back on it with happiness and quite possibly a touch of sadness too…..life is fraught…..but life is goooooood…alhamdulillah!!
current fave pic…taken by DD16…who is becoming quite the photographer masha’allah……
so damn tired that you lose the ability to think rationally? I’ve hit the stage where I think i’m losing the will to try…. I’ve decided to let the children’s tutor go this week, they’ve hit a wall and need a break before they go to DZ, We all need some down time…some quality family “togetherness” before the younger children go off on their travels insha’allah.
Time to read an old favourite,
LOTS of realxing herbal tea
enjoying my last few weeks with my cat before we try to find him a new home
to intensly cold and dreary Algerian winters…. a scarf for the wee one…to ease the pain of all those pink hexagons…I tried a different colourway..this one makes me happy.. this one I like to look at….this one speaks volumes about ME… I wanted this scarf but ran out of wool by the time it was long enough to fit round the four year old’s neck… I will insha’allah spend the winter in Algeria looking wistfully on as the four year old flaunts it in front of my very eyes….cos four year olds ARE like that!!!
on theme of cous-cous….
we’re fasting, and cous-cous with sultanas was our suhoor of choice….with laban..the four year old came and asked me if i was “making Ramadhan” again…..
in fact the only reason we had this for suhoor is because i had made mesfouf for dinner..cous-cous with peas and broad beans..and we scavanged some cous cous from the steamer..I’m thinking of having an Algerian month..cooking wise..to get me into gear for Hijrah …whaddya think???
Ok so i know it was meant to be a ripple blnaket but my boredom threshold is really low!!
I’ve been trying to post for days..I have a backlog of pics…my days are bleeding into one another so fast there’s barely any distinction between them anymore..i mean it’s midweek already and mentally i’m still at Sunday Night!!
Anyone else ever feel like this?? please tell me I’m not the ONLY one
DD16 and i spent much of this evening being ruthless about books we are keeping and books that are defo going to the charity store…. It hurt..I mean REALLY hurt.. but I’m realistic enough to know that I can’t take every book I possess to Algeria with me (even though I’d really REALLY like to)
I’m so ready for bed now..it’s 12.20 and I am officially pooped!
insha’allah back tomorrow with some pics to brighten things up…..
I have a strange relationship with “stuff” it weighs me down, makes me nervous and consumes far to much of my energy in making sure its all clean and dust free, in the right places and that the members of my tribe are respecting each others right to their own stuff……apart from my books I dont really own much, but i realise that other people are different and I try to accomodate this in regards to my other household members without it slowly driving me to a point of madness I’m afraid I wont return from…
I managed to pack three boxes yesterday…boxes full of books…and I’m trying to force myself NOT to go back to them and purge a few more things so i have even less to take…you see how nervous “stuff” makes me…..Is it possible to travel lightly as family of eight??
It’s been an interesting process, writing list of things I need to take…the neccessities I know we really can’t do withoutand the neccessary luxuries that I know will help when we get a bit low or homesick… there’s nothing like uprooting your entire family to live in another continent to help focus the mind… 
and it’s living in MY HEAD…..
Day one of catch up fasting done and 21 more to go…..and it was good masha’allah..no more difficult than fasting a shorter day, except that by magrib time when i came to pray i had actually reached meltdown and my brain ceased to function for a while and no amount of nudging from DD16 who was praying with me could help me to remember the rest of the surah I should have been reciting….i struggled for about a minute then lamely resorted to surat-al-ikhlas….so body hasn’t suffered but mind most definately has…
We all helped make Shorba and brik for iftar, which the smaller kids were over the moon with…the four year old excitedly asked “Umi, are you making ramadhan???”
I’m tired now and struggling to keep my eyes open, but dh got me two new books today , one of which I’ve read before and the other one is completey new to me. I sometimes enjoy re-reading a book to see if I react to it in a different way, and I generally do!! So that is what i think I will go away and do insha’allah…. I’d love a herbal tea but after a bowl of shorba and a brik I feel too full and I had that two hours ago…subhanallah if only it could always be like that eh??….right off to pray, and read …you might get pics of new books tomorrow if I can kick start my brain… sorry no pics to pretty up the page today..I admit it..I’m a slacker with a bad attitude to blogging and actually nothing very interesting today to take pics of…although at one stage i did ALMOST take a pic of DD16 having her ears syringed, but then decided against it…in the presence of a medical professional it just might have been too easy to spot the line in my life that seperates eccentricity from full blown mental imbalance….
to re-evaluate, put life into perspective… work towards some much needed goals.
I need to nourish my eeman, and put some time and effort into my relationship with Allah ta’ala .
Having lost all but five days of Ramadhan last year to a hospital stay, recuperation and a catalogue of ill health since, I find myself with alot of days to be made up … and finally feeling fit and well enough I’m tackling them now insha’allah… which will be a good time to tackle my eeman too.
Sometimes we lose sight of what the important things are, and Ipersonallay feel I slowly start to lose sense of where I am in relation to my deen, so I’m looking forward to the opportunity to fast because It helps to heighten the sense of Allah conciousness masha’allah.
Apart from that. packing has been happening this weekend…. I’vemade a bit of a dent in it but theres plenty more to get sorted…. I need to get myself busy sewing clothes for girls too, which will hopefully take care of the fabric stash I cant take with me.. I don’t know anyone else here who sews either, so i’d better look smart and get it used up…
Busy day ahead tomorrow…appointment in the morning and then to take DD16 to the docs to have her ears syringed….will need to tackle some serious cooking too… I think the family is starting to feel a bit deprived
The very lovely artwork is by DD16 by the way…..
Masha’allah I woke up this morning and had to get out into the sunshine..the park is in full bloom…
