it took a while...

two days solid in fact. Negotiating my shonky connection to make a few changes around here was a true test of my sanity, but I did it and the place looks a bit brighter don't you think?

today, ALL of my schooly children have a full day of learning... well, I say learning which strictly speaking isn't what goes on in the Algerian school system but never mind. We've had two weeks of exams with some of the children only having school in the morning and some in the afternoon. I can't believe I home-schooled them all for so long without going completely and uttterly demented. They would have tested the patience of the most pious, and I'm not kidding you. Algerian children are wild. And my children are becoming seriously Algerian

I have nothing much planned today, beyond some mild menu planning....a tight-ish month lies ahead. Our shop has been closed for a month (most butchers close for at least that long after Eid) so I'm going right back to basics with my budget and cooking insha'allah.

I'm thinking of doing a post a day for December.... a budget and menu plan special.
It might keep me on track.. it could drive me madder, quicker!
Who knows?

Other than that, there's nothing much doing except some crochet catch up. DD7 needs to have the poncho I started sometime before the cold weather ends so I need to crack on with it insha'allah.

I have things to share later, so I might yet be back at the other end of this fine and sunny Algiers day....
yeah sunny!  We're almost dried out now mash'allah. Two rooms have stopped leaking and are now forming some decorative water bubbles that look like they want to burst.
Our store room is the one room that refuses to stop soaking up all available water and raining indoors. Which is a problem as fas as food storage goes, but there's nowt to be done if the room is insisting on being a sponge.

Me, I'm just getting on with it. Homesickness is behind me. Seven months of careful saving and a moderate amount of planning are ahead of me. There will be frustrations, and no doubt more bouts of longing for "home" but that's life, innit!

 The day after tomorrow is Eid. Tomorrow insha'allah will be spent, in part cleaning up the house, baking cakes and getting in some last minute shopping so that we're prepared for guests, and so we can spend some time just flaking out enjoying each others company.

This year though it also involves a great deal of sadness. A friend of my two youngest daughters died suddenly in her sleep on Wednesday night. She literally went to sleep and just didn't wake up. She was 11 years old. And so we're trying to help them cope with their grief, and also calm their fears. I don't want to say much more because it's not my story to tell. But life is so fragile and we lose one another with so little warning sometimes that it should make us wake up to how we behave to one another and how much care we show one another in our daily lives.

To look into the face of another woman who has lost a child is harrowing to say the least. To see the pain you know they feel is so hard. Love the people around you with purpose and with a clear heart. Hold your loved ones close and always part on a goodly word....
You just never know....

Eid and beyond...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food, dressmaking and cakes seem to have been at the forefront of everything we've done or thought about doing for the past month and a bit.

I don't usually enjoy sewing these days, most of my sewing is functional and not too inspiring, but I enjoyed making these masha'allah and the girls love wearing them too which always helps to boost the seamstresses ego.

We're concentrating now on getting the children ready for the start of a new school semester on Sunday. And praying that dh's long journey to the UK is a safe and fruitful one insha'allah. Our pace of life (and eating habits) change when he's not here and we consoled ourselves with his going away with some good old fashioned bangers and mash!

Tomorrow we're off on an early morning jaunt to the market to stock up on school supplies, and then home to bake for some guests we're hopefully having in the evening. We have days to fill.

xxx

2.15am

It's been a long day, full of cooking, guests... expected and unexpected.

Stressing over dresses that need to be made within the next couple of days

Making plans to create eid day goodies with friends...

and just the general flurry of activity that always seems to be part of our ramadhan days lately.

This ramadhan hasn't been the spiritual boost that I had planned for, but it's been a blessing in other ways alhamdulillah.

I come towards the end of ramadhan with a clearer vision of who I am and what I want my goals to be for the coming months ahead insha'allah.

Our sheikh said during one of his recent khutbahs that anyone going into ramadhan and coming out of it with the same (bad) character traits had wasted their month of fasting.

And thats a good lesson learned for me this year masha'allah.

Today {cos lets NOT kid ourselves that it's NOT morning already!} is sidelined for sewing...

two eid dresses for two young ladies in my life.

I have to be kind of desperate to get my sewing machine these days, and have put off this particular task for as long as I can, unfortunately there's no more time for procrastination...

a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do..and the machine is coming out!

To be honest I have to keep reminding myself what day it is... we've been pulling all nighters since the last ten nights of ramadhan kicked in,

to get those in our household who choose to pray qiyyam in the masjid out of the house on time,

, and the strain is beginning to tell somewhat...

So I'm off to my pit, to grab a bit of shut eye before they all come traipsing back in with the sound of the first adhan to eat suhoor before shuffling back out again to the sound of muaddhin calling the second insha'allah.

That is, if I can lure myself away from ravelry for five minutes, and the yummy new craft blogs I just found.....