You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2008.
I spent most of yesterday aimlessly wandering through my house trying to find the inspiration to DO something….anything
I didn’t find it….we did some “schooly” type things though…
DD4 (“but I’m going to be 5 in March”) practised her letters and numbers…DD8 did some math and then copied the first chapter of the story she’s writing into her English book
DS10 spent a ouple of hours copying a lesson about adjectives into his copybook..well actually he spent most of the two hours groaning like the life was being sucked out of him…but he nearly got it finished!!
DS11 tackled graphs… and then woke this morning to tackle more of the same without even being asked…all I can presume is that he knocked his head on summat while he was sleeping..I’m sure normal service will resume promptly….
this morning I’m trying to concentrate on homely things..getting the house tidied and sorted after two weeks of sickly slovenliness…so up bright and early for a spot of Labneh making…. can’t show you the finished results today as it needs to drain till tomorrow and then rolled into balls and dried out before storing in a jar of olive oil…yum….
the teens have also started working on their studies again…so I’m not quite sure whats in the air…but I wish that someone would chuck some of it my way…..
I have to admit..that due a bout of illness coupled with a resurgence of the dreaded anxiety attacks….my 101 list has suffered a bit..in fact I haven’t applied myself to anything much other than trying to not to hyperventilate and pass out from panic….all is getting better (slightly) and so I’m feeling well enoughto get back on the crafting bandwagon and to take care of a few of those things on THAT list….firstly…because one of my intentions was to make and giveaway summat each week….I’m giving it away here…..
a lovely hand made (crocheted) set of 100% cotton coasters, in teal….if enough people are interested we’ll draw the name from a kufi 
(not a hat!! a kufi!!!) and announce the lucky recipient…and if only one person gets here to read this by the end of the week well then..nuff said matey….
wanna see what they look like….do ya???? doooo ya?????
there’s been little happening on the crafting front as I said..but this did happen…..
it’s the cosiest neckwarmer…just needs me to look lively and crochet some button holey type things and add the buttons…. I seem to have lost my mojo a bit on the crafting front..and home ed is destined to begin in earnest on Monday..we have been slothful for far too long….. so I’m off to create some kind of home ed schedule for us to try out….with the focus on book study in the mornings, handwork in the afternoons, and a daily dose of outside…..
tuna, sweetcorn, pasta bake..made from recycled pasta yesterday and which the five year old said she “needed” to eat for lunch today..and which she also declared we should eat for brekkie tomorrow too….
a touch of obsessive compulsion about the child methinks…. can’t think WHERE she gets it from (ahem)
amazing what some pasta and a bit of bechamel will do to a child…..
picture the scene..a harassed mother of six stands at an open refrigerator trying desperately to conjure up some idea of what she can feed her willful beasts… scrummy children, when she spies roti dough from the day before languishing from neglect and some cheddar cheese….. lo and behold! and emergency meal!!!
grated cheddar whazzed together with a raw egg, some salt and black pepper…just rolled out those roti as per usual and stuffed them with the cheese and cooked them …kids loved them……
Where we live there is a Turkish cafe and in the window sits a woman with a low, round table… rolling out what looks like a plain flour dough..she then fills them with a kind of feta cheese and paprika looking filling and cooks them on a flat pan.. a bit like mhadjeb…have no idea what they’re called but they look delicious….
I’m trying to find my cooking mojo… can you tell???
this time by a sister who has been MIA for far too long…. welcome back!!!
here we go then…
5 Things I was doing 10 years ago
- pacing the floor at night with a baby
- was the mother of four
- was adjusting to the pressures of homeschooling
- was probably going slowly demented!!
5 Snacks I Like
- choccie of course!!
- fried mozarella sandwiches..(yum!)
- doughtnuts…made fresh and eaten hot from the algerian’s doughnut stall
- hot chapatti’s with butter and a cup of hot choccy
- cold leftover merguez…
5 things I would do if I was a (multi-)millionaire
- take my family for hajj
- make my hijrah
- give plenty sadaqah
- pray that wealth wasn’t making me unjust
- give plenty more sadaqah
5 places I have lived ( for various lengths of times)
- have always live in the UK and more specifically London…
- did a brief 5 month stint in Algeria
- lived in a squat
- almost lived in the hari krishna temple off oxford st (don’t ask!)
- out of a suitcase for about a year….
5 Jobs I have had
- nanny
- selling watches in Petticoat Lane
- selling hand made choccies
- waitress
- managing a luggage shop
I’m not brave enough to tag anyone else…for all I know whoever I tag might just be so vexed they send a hitman out to get me
being slow on the uptake, it’s taken me a few days to deal with the wonderful itto’s tag…
here are the rules…
“When you receive the prize, you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in their content or design. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing that they were prized with ‘Honest Weblog’.
here’s my contribution…ten honest things about myself…
- I am incredibly outspoken…I will frequently, when miffed by another persons actions or when I feel an injustice has taken place…let whoever is close by have the misfortune of hearing me rattle on endlessly about why I feel that what they have done is wrong…. this sometimes causes non-related people I am with great anxiety…. but my children think I have a high amusement factor and secretly hope for those “ave a go” moments to happen….
- I find it hard to love my mother… far too many years of neglect and self obsession on her part….the scars are deep…..
- I love wind and rain…I love walking around in it..I love being indoors and looking out at it..my favourite two elements for sure…I have quite often been known to just go stand out in the garden in the rain…blows away the confusion and the cobwebs…
- I subconciously slip into different regional accents to suit my mood… I do it constantly…the family never know who they’re likely to get next….somekind of split personality syndrome do you think?
- my kids think I’m a MIPPY… a muslim with a hippy twist, most of them think it’s quirky….my eldest raises her eyebrows and baulks at my strangeness…
- My biggest dream is to have a smallholding… it won’t happen here, but maybe one day in Algeria…..
- Islam…has saved me from myself…..it grounds me…gives me structure…and stops me from going to extremes…
- I struggle to be domesticated…I yearn for ,and run from domesticity in equal measure…I’m learning to surrender myself to it..but it’s not easy…
- I suffer from panic attacks.. great huge spasms of inexplicable fear which overcome without warning…most of the time they are manageable…on occasion they are all consuming and terrifying…
- I have a passion for craft…and I sometimes wish that I had found it earlier, but secrectly know that if i had I wouldn’t have appreciated it as much as I do now…if I could I would spend all day crafting…and sometimes do….
so… mostly everyone I know is taking a break from blogging for one reason or another…so I’ll leave it to the discretion of people who visit me to take part in this….it probably won’t take the three days it took me..the thought process has slowed a little..I blame it on cold weather and a smallie with flu……
the weather is freezing in the U.K and wet too alot of the time lately… so we busy ourselves with early morning house chores and the days cooking, then we settle down to handcrafts and reading and anything else that helps to keep morale above water durng the long cold winter months..nightfall comes at about 4pm at the moment, but where we are it’s by about 3.30 in the afternoon that it becomes to dark to see and the curtains get pulled and the outside world shut out….at the moment we’re relishing it but give us another couple of months and we’ll be hankering after some spring sunshine and longer days…
my younger girls have become handstitchers this year, and so to celebrate their leap into the world of craft I made them each a pin cushion and a needle book, which they were thrilled with masha’allah..and to be honest it’s an easy enough craft for them to do for themselves in the future insha’allah
the lilac is for DD8 and the blue was chosen by DD(nearly)5
we’ve been indulging in home baked godness too masha’allah..old fashioned flapjack and a good wholesome carrot cake..and a nice pot of freshly brewed tea……
alhamdulillah that allah has placed us in a position to enjoy a few small home comforts, and insha’allah we remember how important it is to make dua for those who are less fortunate and to give thanks to allah for the blessings he bestows upon us…may allah preserve and assist our brothers and sisters accross the world who are not as fortunate…ameen
what can I say? I got swept up with life and all that happens in it…
the dh went for hajj masha’allah so I’m in sole control (haha) of six… I had a feeling it might be a long three weeks and i don’t think I’m going to be proved wrong….
it’s freezing cold at the moment and so we’ve been indoors alot drinking large quantities of hot choccy, reading anything we could get our hands on and doing lots of crafting (of course!)
all of my children are avid readers, and the house always has stacks of books lying here there and everywhere..there’s just one young man in my brood who believes that reading is THE most boring activity that could ever be foisted upon him…that was until..I made him his very own bookmark..and whaddya know…he hasn’t been seen without his book for a whole two days….it will be interesting to see how long it lasts…
the only trouble was, as soon as his was finished and in his grasp DS11 and DD(nearly5 wanted one too…DD8 very proudly declaring that she could make her own,which is what she’s been doing ever since masha’allah….
apart from that, mornings have been spent having late breakfasts, and just generally tending home and hearth…
also in the process of being made are a couple of old fashioned chicken scratch aprons for my small girls…because they love helping with house-chores and although it seems like a sucky thing to say..it’s important for them to get the home tending vibe from as early on as possible..that’s not to say that in my house the boys don’t get their own fair share of chores..following prophetic tradition they have to help around the house as much as possible too.
lots of jobs to be done in preperation for eid insha’allah..we’re here alone this year because dh of course is away..so a nice quiet family celebration is what we’re aiming for..let’s see if we can pull it off
