Welcome, Ramadan!

To all the Muslims of the world,

Happy Ramadan! 

Today happens to be the first roza,or fast, in Pakistan. I must admit I am very excited. A mysterious peace has settled over everything ever since the moon was sighted yesterday, marking the beginning of the holy month.

Sehri ended at about 3:45 am today and our Iftari will, InshAllah, be at around 7:15 pm. At our place, we usually open our fasts with dates and have some fruit chaat (my mouth waters at the very word) Then after reading our Maghrib  prayers, we have our main dish which can be something fancy like pasta or the traditional roti salan (err...bread and gravy)

Ramadan is an ideal time to improve ourselves by giving up bad habits and taking up good ones. A teacher of mine told us to make honest lists of all the negative things that we do and find in ourselves and promise to give up atleast one of them. I thought that was a really good idea.

I hope that all of you have a blessed Ramadan. May we all earn the favour of Allah this month. InshAllah.

Salam.

Hnia

Back from the Mountains!

Peace and salutations,

I am going to dedicate this post in relaying to you some of the details of a wonderful trip to Bhurban I took with my family last week.

Bhurban is close to a very popular (and hence unbearably crowded)  hill station, Murree, whose name surely no Pakistani can not have heard. Bhurban is much less crowded though. It's also located at a lower height than Murree so it is slightly less cold. The weather there was very pleasant, with cool breezes flowing all day long. It even drizzled one morning but ,thankfully, not enough to hinder our outdoor exploits.

The start of the hiking track

The main attraction for me there was the hiking track. We usually went there early in the morning so there was often not a soul around. Just my family and I happily trudging along. Coming from a busy city where the blaring of car horns are the main sounds that can be heard, the peace, quiet and solitude there was amazingly refreshing. It inspired me and awed me. I listened to the birds calling out to each other, saw the thin, almost feathery leaves that silently fell from the branches. The crunch of old leaves underneath my feet and the beams of sunlight forcing their way through the canopy overhead filled me with admiration for nature. At many times, I halted in my tracks, took out my poem diary and jotted down my thoughts in a few sentences. Descriptions from the many books I had read were swimming around in my head and for once, I could understand and experience what authors meant when they described forest scenes using various phrases.

THE SQUIRREL BENCH!

I saw some really curious species of butterflies there (unfortunately, I seem to have deleted the pictures I took of them) and some particularly large and hairy crows and funny looking toadstools. The benches there were very cute, with squirrels for support.  There was also an old man who gave rides on a beautiful white horse.

The huts.

I was also able to catch up on my reading. I finished Castle in the Air there and started Sense and Sensibility. 

On the whole, it was a very enjoyable family trip. I hope I haven't bored you with all these long descriptions though. I'd love to hear where you went in your summer vacations in the comment box.

I'm planning to post a bunch of reviews on books I've read this summer and change my blog's layout. I've just realized that I've hardly written anything about my great love for books. I shall provide some evidence soon, InshAllah, if laziness does not strike me again.

Until then.

☮ 
Hnia 

The Smell Of Baking...

Hello again,

©http://heathercameronstylist.blogspot.com

I haven't had much progress with the dress but I've had a lovely day baking cookies.I'm sure that counts as creativity!

I made two different types. Thumbprint cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies. Both turned out to be big successes, Alhamdulillah. Even the picky eaters couldn't resist seconds(and thirds)!


I got the recipe for the Thumbprint cookies from another blog. I used Blackcurrant jam for the centre and that proved to be a good choice. The end result was very similar to the cookie in the picture minus the nuts. 


The second recipe was from a website too. (Ah, the marvels of the internet) We were kind of short on peanut butter so I ended up using 1/4 cup of peanut butter rather than 1/2 cups, like it says in the recipe. That didn't affect the consistency at all, thank goodness! We didn't even refrigerate the dough. He he.
The cookies turned out to be moist and chewy, just the way I like it. Although, I wasn't very happy with the way they looked. Hopefully, I'll fix that next time. Oh, and the cookies swell a LOT when they're in the oven so make sure you put enough space between them. The recipe says 3 inches.

 Today turned out to be a very productive day, Alhamdulillah. I'm sure I've improved my cooking skills a bit.  Now I also know where my mom keeps most of her ingredients. Doubtless, I will be using this information to fulfill my own nefarious objectives. Muahahahaha. *coughs and regains composure*
 That's it for now. I'll be back again with some thing soon, InshAllah.


☮Hnia

The End of AS Level Examinations

Hey everyone!

I'm back, and after quite a long absence too if I do say so myself. I had my last exam today: Physics P1. It's basically an MCQ paper. I wasn't feeling very well today but the exam managed to go well Alhamdulillah. 

©Hellolace.net

Anyway, now that the summer vacation has officially started I can carry out all the plans that I've made. I intend to buy loads of books (and read them of course) I'm also going to be preparing for A2 as well as various entrance exams and tests. On top of that, I've had a random spark of creativity and I've decided to try out my skills as a seamstress by making one of these gorgeous Gothic Lolita dresses. They're extremely complicated to make and the beauty of the entire dress depends upon the puffiness of the skirt which requires a decent petticoat. And from what I
have read so far on the internet, they take a considerable time to make. 

I suppose I should mention here that the only fancy dresses I've ever made have been for Barbie dolls and even that was years ago. My mom is a little skeptical about this venture of mine but I'm really eager to try. At the very least, I'll end up learning something.

So basically, I've got some busy months ahead. I hope I manage to use this time constructively. I need to study a lot too as the following academic year will practically affect my whole future professional life so wish me luck. 

Hnia

Wondering about the weather

 

   ╰☆╮Will it rain? ╰☆╮

Later: It did

Blue and White

~The sound of the sea is blue and the sound of the wind is white~

© 2006 Kozue Amano/MAG Garden

I was just watching episode 14 of Aria the Natural, a beautifully stirring anime, and I got inspired to do some blogging.

© 2006 Kozue Amano/MAG Garden

Isn't it amazing how our memories can be preserved in so many different wonderful ways? A place maybe, an email or a letter. It could be a song or just a sentence, a nostalgic smell or an item of some sort. There are so many things around us that can bring in an influx of emotions, flashbacks, reflections, hopes and dreams. We'll find that such treasures are scattered all around us if only we'd be just that little bit more observant.

New Beginnings

There is no tomorrow, only the present and today.

                                                                     Here and Now

Hello folks,

               Well, this happens to be my very first post on my blog. To be honest, I had never really thought that I would ever start my own blog but after reading fellow Shelfari-ite, Anat's amazing blog, I got inspired to start my own. Plus, I am suffering from a bout of the flu with a sore throat and occasional attacks of fever and there's nothing better than a project of starting up a blog to divert your attention. Just after an hour of wrestling with HTML codes, I feel better already. 


Tomorrow's a public holiday and I'm hoping the day off will help me get my voice back, InshAllah (presently, all I can do is croak) I have to meet up with our school's principal on Friday to discuss the upcoming Elocution Gala (I'm a member of our school's literary society) and it won't help my cause if the principal can't even understand what I'm saying. *sigh*


My Mocks are in one month and I really need to get started on my revision. My CIE AS Level examination start in early May. I've got a busy time ahead, Wish me luck.

☮
Peace.