Back Into Place?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I’ve been away from cyberspace over the last few days and I feel a lot better for it. Everyone needs a bit of space to think things through and to get things done. So many of you take the time to visit my blogs and leave comments or send emails. It’s nice to know that you read me and gain something even if it’s a “Well, if she can do it, so can I!” Whatever it is you get from any of the blogs, I hope and pray that you keep getting something.

Some of you have noticed that little poll on the right. I appreciate all of the input, but what’s that all about? Well, over the last couple of months the balls have been up in the air and gradually each one is falling in to place. Some decisions are just so difficult to make. Especially those life changing ones! We ask our Lord for His Assistance. We pray the Istikhara prayer*. We might falter in faith a bit and give ourselves headaches, thinking a little too much. We might shed tears over losses we think we will have to deal with. Then we realise our errors and wait it out trusting that He will take care of us. Yes, we almost moved. And yes, we probably will still move but the “when” is a little uncertain, a little further away than we’d thought. Those are our plans but Allah is the best of planners.

So, in the meantime, we meet up with friends we haven’t seen in such a long a time, we bake, we memorise Qur’an, we cut and stick and colour, we read lovely books, we crochet (of course!), we get our eyes tested and order some kiddie glasses, we clean up our home, we stop and have hazlenut coffee and we get our skates and swim gear out because we’re ready for a fun afternoon today in sha Allah!

*For more information on Istikhara do have a look at this post by Umm Ibrahim.

Kid-Friendly Eats

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

My parents and youngest brother left for their travels today. So we got together for a meal yesterday at one of Jeddah's many restaurants. A lot of the eateries have lunch specials on weekdays and so many have a little kiddie fun too (which is great when you have 7 little peeps in total ma sha Allah).


Later we settled for a simpler edible delight: fresh figs with lightly sweetened yogurt.

Don't you love that sunset pink?

Trying To Make The Most Of The Summer Hols

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

It was brought to my attention that I might be giving readers of this humble blog the wrong impression. I might be giving you the impression that I am an organised, creative, motivated Mummy, ready and raring to go each morning with an activity-filled plan for the day. No, I'm sorry, I'm really not one of those. I have a very vague plan for the entire summer (which is a little something like this: finish Juz 'Amma properly and start Juz Tabaarak, get through as many English books as possible, read, swim, skate, make things, have fun ...). Things are a little up in the air for us at the moment, so it looks as though we're having a Jeddah summer. To get through a day without "What shall I do? I'm bored!" (times 10) and "Why can't we go anywhere for the summer!" (times 5) would be wishful thinking! So, I try to slot in one activity a day for the kids that involves the outdoors (Who said the balcony doesn't count?). We also try and do one creative activity (Of course colouring in is a great back-up for that). I don't blog about everything that we do or else I'd be blogging about the trip to the local Bagaala (little grocery shop) to get ice lollies and the little races we have to tidy up the home!

Having said all of this(!), a couple of days ago we took a trip to Stationery Fantasy. The kids had been there on a school trip and have wanted to go back with their cousins. So we did.

Stationery Fantasy is two floors of shop and two floors of fun for children. They also have a water park next to the building. But we stuck to dry section this time!


For the chilidren, they have attended rooms with a glass wall (not really window!) for parents to observe from, while they partake in their chosen activity.

The activities include: fun in the sand, soap-making, cooking and other crafts. On the top floor they have more physical activities, like a type of pedal-karting and ball-shooting gallery among a couple of others.

I had a traipse around the place while the little people were busy and my Bub was taken care of by his daddy. The stationery shop was a lot smaller than I'd expected and focused more on gift wraps, tags and ribbons. The bigger shop was one for houseware and gift items and on the first floor, there was a full on furniture shop that children were not allowed in!



Back on the child-friendly floors, we got some snacks at the cafeteria while groups of partying children were guided from one activity to another. They had a few of these party rooms where mothers sat and chatted.

My favourites for the afternoon were the mosaics on the floors, walls and everywhere!

Why Stay Indoors?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

They had been busy with indoor activites in the morning, with their cousin who was staying over, so I thought it was only right for the kids to spend the afternoon outdoors. It's not always an easy feat here, in July! But amazingly, there was a breeze and we decided to drive around looking for a park. I'm not talking big, leafy green park with rolling hills, lakes, park benches, etc. I'm talking, quiet square, some grass to sit on and some swings and slides to keep the Little People busy. We didn't have to drive too far when we found ourselves in between some villas.


The kids were happy to see this:


Since we always have a light, picnic rug in the boot of the car, I had to ensure we had some drinks, water, a thermos of coffee and ... Pumpkin Bread!


We had the park more or less to ourselves. And it was quiet. But even there, in the background, there was construction going on!


As the sun said goodbye for the day ...

... and Abu Hibaat took over with the supervision of the children, I closed my eyes and took it all in.


The rustling of the palm fronds in a light summer breeze, the chirping of various birds, children playing in the background and when I focused hard enough, I even heard the sound of machinery in action!

Some of the other things we've been doing:

Creamy Fish Soup

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Yesterday, I had some fish I'd kept aside (I'd used the rest in the fish pie) so I decided to make fish soup! This is a really easy recipe that I got from my other half(!) and it's a crowd-pleaser too! Oh and don't forget, Ramadan's not too far away. Who doesn't want a quick and easy, yummy soup for Iftar?


Creamy Fish Soup

About 1/2 kg of any white fish*
1 chopped onion
4-5 carrots (if we have pumpkin lying around we use that)
3-4 plum tomatoes (fresh, skinned tomatoes are fine too)
a little chopped ginger
2 bay leaves
green chillies or red chilli powder (or none if you can't take the heat :) )
salt to taste
a little oil to fry it all in

*You dont actually need so much. It's a good way of using up left over uncooked fish bits. Abu Hibaat has also made this with salmon bits and a few shrimps and that's yum ma sha Allah.


Fry all of the ingredients together in a big pot until it's a bit like this:


You need the heat high enough that it all browns but not too high that it burns!
Then add boiling water to the pot. You might need to add about 2 litres. I just go by the consistency. Let it boil and then leave to simmer until the fish and carrots are cooked through. All that's needed next is to remove the bay leaves and blend the whole thing. We use an electric hand blender to pulverise it all. That's it!

Am I forgetting a picture? Well, I did yesterday because I was in a rush as I had a minor accident involving my Bub (He is ok Alhamdulillah). So I'll cheat and show you the pic from another time that I'd made this soup.

بالصحة و العافية

Summer Fruits

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

You really know the summer is with you when you have lovely summery fruits at your disposal!


And you can always try new things with them.

That's the Saffron Bread with cream cheese and yummy fruits! A hit with the kids!

Fishy Friday

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Today was a Mummy and kiddies Friday.


So upon the request of my first-born, we made Fish Pie! What a lovely, simple dish to make.


Then I baked some bread!


Yes, that's saffron! It's Saffron Bread.


The finished product ...


I wish you could smell it! Would you like me to split one open?


There you go.

And this is how the little people liked it ...

More of Makkah

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I got in another trip Alhamdulillah. I was a little hesitant to go so soon, thinking that I needed to rest. But no, I didn't. I'd had enough rest. Actually, I was well-rested and ready to join Abu Hibaat on his 'Umrah. Ma sha Allah.


As lovely as it is to take the kids when it's not crowded, it can take away from the focus and concentration quite a bit. So three of my gang stayed with my parents jazaahum Allahu khayra and we went with Bub. This time we went earlier in the day. But as it wasn't hot as I'd expected it to be. And sure enough, today it's cooler and greyer. Not like the usual June heat. The crowds were not as heavy either, which is always a good thing.


While we were walking between the Mounts of Safa and Marwa, a man walked past us and handed Abu Hibaat a miswak (toothstick) from a bundle he was carrying. He carried on walking and kept stopping briefly to hand more of them out. I was so touched by this gesture. As simple as it seems, I started thinking about in more detail. The man was in ihram (wearing the 2 white towelling cloths) so he was also performing the 'Umrah. As well as the reward of that in sha Allah he was giving giving charity. "But it's just a miswak" you might think. Even if it was "just" a miswak, every little thing given in charity counts. As he will be rewarded for the steps he took to perform his 'Umrah, so too will he be rewarded for walking up to people and giving them the siwak, if Allah so Wills. And it isn't just a miswak. It is a blessed thing that Allah's Messenger (sall Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) strongly recommended us to use. So in sha Allah, this man will be rewarded for reviving a Sunnah. Perhaps there are other facets to this simple gesture, but I'll mention only one more that means a great deal to me. How do you feel when someone suprises you with a gift? Even if it isn't a surprise, doesn't it make you feel good when someone gifts you with something, no matter how small it is? Talk about optimising!

I'll leave you with pictures of some of the architectural detail of the mosque.

Makkah & Some Jeddah Construction

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Older children in Saudi schools were still in school last week, busy with exams. So with the expected increase in 'Umrah visitors coming to the kingdom during the summer holidays and then Ramadan too, we decided to take the kids to Makkah.


Along the highway between Jeddah and Makkah this is generally all you see.


There are a few service stops and sometimes camels and goats in the distance. The picture on the lower right shows how the mountains have been cut through to lay the roads down.

Masjid al Haram was not as crowded as it can be.

Now, here's something else. In March, a plot of land outside our building, looked like this:


Now it looks like this:


Buildings sprout up so fast around here!