Down at the farm...

Yesterday we visited our city farm for some fresh cool air and some much needed inspiration to put a spring back in my step. We loved it, i couldn't believe how confident Little D was feeding the goats and sheep from his hand, chatting away to them, pulling a few ears (!) and giving lots of hugs and strokes. He really is most at home when he is surrounded by open land, flora and fauna, and beneath skies whether bright crisp blue or dark and heavy. If only i could share his smiles and excitable chatter with you.

The website for Gorse Hill City farm can be found here.

The life cycle of a poppy...

I mentioned yesterday a little book which i bought for 49 pence from one of our charity shops in the local town yesterday. Its called 'Flowers' and is from the 'Life - Cycle books' series written by 'Althea'. I love simple children's books with old style illustration - in this case its 70's bold colouring with humble yet accurate drawings.

I am definitely going to try and get the other 11 books in the series, many are on Amazon for just one pence each. The other titles are trees, frogs, birds, butterflies, swans, hedgehogs, foxes, fish, ladybirds, bats and snails.

You can buy the flowers book on Amazon here.

And you can read more about the author here (she is also a fused glass artist) and see a list of her other titles here (she has written so many books!)

And i just realised how terrible my photos are this post, but knew id never get around to redoing them! Sorry!

Half way through Ramadhan...

We are just past the half way mark in the month of Ramadhan now. Days feel like they are getting longer when really they are getting shorter. We are now down from 19 hour fasts to just over 17 hours. But alhamdulillah there is more food than we could eat waiting for us at sunset. And food is always so yummy during these evenings, but i will admit i over eat until my tummy is heavy enough to leave me slumped in my chair with not much enthusiasm for prayer!

I have been feeling more nauseous than usual during the day and have been using Sea-Bands to help to combat it, and they have worked!

They are a natural alternative to drugs and use acupressure to heal feelings of nausea, travel, sea and morning sickness. I have always suffered from travel sickness so although i wont be travelling anywhere far within the next couple of weeks, im certainly excited about the prospect of travelling in future with no faintness, stomach churning and suffocating feelings. Il be back at the start of September to let you know whether the days of sucking boiled sweets on buses and in cars are long behind me!

I also wanted to tell you about a lovely little book i bought today all about poppies. Its a children's book from the 70's with very simple illustrations but its just so lovely that i am going to try and track down other books in the series. I will be back with photos of it tomorrow insha'Allah, but i will leave you with some photos of the poppies (and the hover flies) in my garden right now.

I hope you are all happy and in the best of health and are enjoying the end of the Summer (and feeling excited about the Autumn to come insha'Alah) xx

Spring water for kids...

Little D has always been a big drinker (with sagging nappies and wet patches to show for it!) so quite often he will drink his whole bottle of juice whilst we are out leaving me needing to buy him some more. I'm often in a bit of a predicament as to what to buy him as everything available seems too artificial or sugary. The organic juices which I reviewed back here are perfect but not usually available, so we tend to share a bottle of spring water.

A big hit right now are bottles of Spring water aimed at kids! They feature children's cartoon characters on them to make them more fun than standard bottles of Spring water. We hadn’t discovered these before but now that we have i will say that its an excellent idea! He has never seemed more enthusiastic about drinking water, and now wants me to do constant YouTube searches for Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Fireman Sam episodes! (We've watched BtB before but not the other two which we both love now!) There are Angelina Ballerina ones for the girls too.

They are very easy for him to drink from, and the right size for him to hold. Its about time that there was a product like this to encourage children to drink water rather than sweetened fruit juices and fizzy pop. I don’t normally endorse products plastered with cartoon or TV characters but I think this particular brand chose respectable characters on a very worthy product. The water comes from the hills of Kent so for those of you who are into food miles that's probably a good thing. I think we should really encourage our children to chose water over other drinks, and promote its benefits to them. To be honest I need to do this more myself as Little D usually drinks fresh fruit juice (not from concentrate and with no additives, mixed with water), whereas I myself mostly drink water. Insha’Allah now that he has this enthusiasm I can start giving him water more often until fruit juice becomes a once in a while treat!

You can find out more about 'Silver Spring' who sell this water on their website here.

(I was given these three bottles of Spring water free of charge for the purpose of review, but i genuinely believe that they are a refreshing - pardon the pun! - product which i would and probably will buy again)

Passing time...

The days are long over here at the moment, there's not much sleep happening in between each cycle of day and night, but i am persevering with patience.

Toys become intense projects in which to focus the mind and hopefully while away some of my time.

Then this happens...

And we start all over again.

I found a very beautiful Ramadhan post here on one of my favorite blogs. The comments section makes for interesting reading too.

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.Inspired by Amanda at Soulemama.

Ramadhan...

On the 1st of this month Ramadhan started so we have a whole month of fasting from sunrise to sunset (about 19 hours per day), many more hours of extra prayers each day, and general tiredness to contend with. Its a month which i love and benefit from but its also a month which tests my faith, and my patience.

Most of you may know Ramadhan as the month of fasting so that we can feel the hunger of the poor and thus appreciate our blessings. Really this is just one small aspect of the month. The month is a chance for us to put aside our basic and worldly needs and turn our attentions to God, acknowledging that none besides him can provide for us. We increase our good deeds as God revealed that our good actions are rewarded tenfold in this month. We spend much more in charity and try to eat with friends and family more - sharing our food.

Fasting is exclusively for God: He states, "Fasting is for me and i shall give its reward. And good is rewarded with ten times its like." (Al-Bukhari)

"It is the month of patience; and of patience, its reward is Paradise. It is a month of consoling, and it is the month wherein a believers sustenance is increased" (Ibn Khuzaymah, Al-Bayhaqi)

Despite the difference in lifestyle during Ramadhan, it really does feel enjoyable. There is such community spirit, and i really feel like i improve on my relationship with God. The tiredness is hard for me and sometimes (such as today) i really feel sorry for myself and get rather miserable but then i am reminded of my blessings and that i have food in the kitchen waiting for me when others do not, and its uplifting. I feel so thankful!

So i guess what im trying to say is that blogging will be rather erratic for me this August! I will still be here and have 3 product reviews coming up too, but i think i will be otherwise focusing on more photos and less words, or sharing a few interesting links with you insha'Allah.

But for me, right now, bedtime!

(Photos are from my garden right now)

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.Inspired by Amanda at Soulemama

A handmade gift from a blogging friend...

I have been blogging for about four years now (i had a different blog before this one) and right at the start i came across a blog called 'Much ado about something' (Now called 'Come away with me') written by Sara, in the USA. Hers is one of the first blogs i ever commented on and she was most probably one of the first people to ever comment on mine. Since then we have commented and emailed plenty of times and i would certainly call her a friend even though we have never met.

The post man recently gave me a very pretty package all the way from America, it contained these wonderful hand made gifts from Sara and really put a spring in my step - it was such a delight to receive! Ive now hung my pretty denim heart opposite my seat at the dining room table so that i can see it every day, and my bookmark has been added to my collection on the bookcase, ready for when i start a new book.

I really am so touched by what Sara sent and by the fact that blogging has led to a friendship which would never have occured otherwise. Blogging really does have its benefits!