it's Over!

Dear Reader

So basically today's blog post is nothing more than a simple catch up of all the things that have happened in these last few hectic weeks.

When I wrote to you last, it was still Ramadan, or more specifically, the last ten days (during which  we seek Layla-tul-Qadr, the Night of Decree). That in itself kept me so busy that I did not have time to finish writing my final Ramadan Reverie post, which I had planned. Then of course, with the end of Ramadan came Eid-ul-Fitr, which me and my cousins celebrated by spending a week at Skegness (a small coastal town in East England). It was a little holiday that was well deserved, at least on my part.

While there, I prayed Salah on the sandy beach; an absolutely wonderful experience, you should try it too. It really brings one closer to God (swt), when praying to Him (swt) surrounded by His most beautiful creations:   

We also saw some children flying kites (it's England, so even the sunniest days are windy enough for kites). At the time I thought of many metaphors relating to kites. I'd share them with you now, dear reader, but unfortunately I can't remember them any more :-s. 

As soon  as we got back from Skegness, it was back to work, work, work for me. The final draft of my dissertation/thesis was due in the week after and I found out from my Professor/supervisor that I had many changes still to make. I think that in the seven days before the deadline, I only slept for a grand total of 8 hours. It was really tough. But I'm proud to say that, despite everything, I stuck to it, and came through in 1 piece. And now my MSc in Preventive Cardiology IS OVER!!!!!!! It's finished. The End!

There aren't words to describe the physical, intellectual and emotional exhaustion I felt at the day I handed everything in.  

But, since handing in all my work last week, my creative juices have been swirling in my mind. It's as if these past few months as I was working hard on my MSc, creative inspiration had been pouring into my brain's bucket, collecting and building until it reached the brim. Now that I've finally allowed it to flow through my finger tips, it feels like the pressure in my mind has been released. As a result, I've actually spent most of last week painting and sketching. Like I said before, I'm not an amazing artist, haven't ever taken any classes and I don't actually know how to paint properly. But all the same, I thought I'd give you, my loyal reader, some examples of what I've been doing:

So it started off this little doodle using infinity circles, an idea I got from Vihart:

Then I thought, wouldn't it be cool to do a Fibonacci style conch shell using infinity circles:

My friend, Codename: Peachy, liked this so much she told me that I should make a bigger version:

One thing lead to another and I ended up making this last night: 

For those who can't read Arabic, it says La illaha ilallah, Muhammadur rasulallah, meaning: There is no god but God and Muhammad (saw) is His messenger. This is the basis of Islam and the declaration of faith, the Shahada.    

And that's it. Now you know all that's happened in the last 3 weeks.
Nida

flower Photography

Dear Reader,

This absolutely excellent weather we had last week was like a testament from God, that summer was finally setting it's foot in the UK. As if in celebration of this wondrous feat, gardens all over England burst to life in a spectrum of greens and a rainbow of flowers. My own garden was no exception to this. So in between writing up assignments and preparing presentations, I was spending as much time as I could in my garden, absorbing England's limited supply of natural vitamin D. 

While I was doing this, my multi-talented mother, who happens to be quite handy with a camera, took photos aplenty of our garden, over which her love's labours are not lost. She has given my permission to post those amazing pictures on my blog, so that I can give you, dear reader, a tour of our garden through my mother's eyes.      

This is the view you will see when you step out the kitchen door:

Ever since we got rid of our two plum trees 2 years ago, me and mum have focused our efforts on growing a whole range of berries.

The first thing you see, the Gooseberries - they still have to ripen and become red. 

Strawberries in flower

The strawberries have already begun to grow on this one. You can even see that one has already begun to blush, hidden beneath the leaves. 

The grapes and red currents are currently small green dots at the moment and not very visible in all the foliage. They'll probably ripen in August most likely, so I'll add pictures of them then. Neither I nor my mum have taken any pictures of my herb pots (oregano, tarragon, sage and mint) or my cherry tomatoes because, honestly, they're not very impressive at the moment. But here are some things that are much more pretty and impressive:

Such pretty snapdragons. There are more in different colours but I  don't have  pictures of those.

This rose we gave to my mother quite a few years ago for her birthday. Since then we've called it "the Birthday rose"

And even more flowers!

But this one is my favourite:

You, dear reader, can't tell how wonderful and strong it's scent is from the pictures, but believe me when I tell you, it's really really really strong and intoxicatingly sweet.   

As you can probably tell by now, my mother and I are unreasonably fond of roses. There are, in fact, a lot more in our front garden:

Again, you won't believe this, but these actually smell like an odd combination of rose and lemon blossom.

When the buds of this one are just open, they look like little fists of snow balls.  

Okay, so these aren't roses but geraniums. But they're pretty and smelly all the same.

And this is what I found in my bedroom this morning.

I know this has little to do with gardens but, honestly, that is the biggest moth I've ever seen. It's half the size of my palm!!! I suppose I should have seen this coming, what with leaving my windows fully open over night.  Not that I have a problem with this. It's a rather graceful moth and fits in with the flowery theme of my bedroom. I wonder if it mistook my wall boarder for real flowers?

Nida

Summer Yey! Oh....it's raining Again

Dear Reader,

Image courtesy of
Fix My Slow Computer

Sorry for the blogging dry spell. Due to the not-so-summerie weather we've been having here, my time this past two weeks has been quite thoroughly divided between my uni friends and writing Life in Conversations. 

I would like to say that I've written thousands upon thousands of words that go towards my summer goal, but the sad truth is that I made an awful blunder last night. The entirety of Chapter 3 was, somehow, accidentally deleted.  And now my unfortunate word count is even less then what I had started off with. I was awake until 4 this morning, rewriting all that I remembered. I still have the ending section of the chapter to go, which is about another 1,500 words. But Alhumdulillah, I think this new Chapter 3 is actually better than the one I wrote before. All I can say is that everything happens for a reason. 

Anyway, sitting here in my bedroom in a sweater, it doesn't actually feel like summer has started yet. But my calender tells me other wise. So I guess it's time for another sampling of my current reading list. 

1. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
2. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
3. The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti 
4. The Biography of  Abu-Bakr as-Siddeeq by Dr. Muhammad as-Sallaabee
5. The Biography of  Ummar ibn Al-Khattaab by Dr. Muhammad as-Sallaabee
6. The Biography of  Uthman Ibn Affan by Dr. Muhammad as-Sallaabee
7. The Black Tulip by Alexander Dumas 
8. Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli
9. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - there is still a whole month before it's release!
10. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - also not yet released (ugh!)

Instructions: click on the picture to see all the book titles properly 

I've also incorporated those books I intend to read during Ramadaan as it will Inshallah begin at the beginning of August. But, currently I'm reading Rebecca. I'm about 88 pages in, and though the pace so far is quite slow and the plot is slightly cliché, this book has reminded me of why I love writing and literature so much. The prose and descriptive pieces hold this marvellous poetic resonance that is often scarce in modern literature. In this hectic and fast paced time, even writers just want to hurry along with the thrill of the plot and not pause by the roadside to describe how the "nettles were everywhere, the vanguard of the army. They choked the terrace, they sprawled about the paths, they lent, vulgar and lanky against the very windows of the house."  It's the metaphors, similes, symbols, literary paradoxes and oxymorons that I miss most. 

In Rebecca, there is also this one quote  I came across that really made me think and which I thought I should share with you, dear reader:

"Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind."      

Anyway, during the week of my absence, I read three little books that left me smiling and laughing: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, all by J. K. Rowling. Now I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan, but after The Deathly Hallows I really wanted to read The Tales of Beedle the Bard and I must admit, I like it far more than any of the Harry Potter books. I can't help it, I just have a thing for fairy tales, parables and short-stories-with-morals. I can even see myself reading it to my own children 15 years from now. 

The other two I just sort of stumbled across and, being a compulsive completionist, well I just had to read them. They're pretty good and really make it hit home how large the detailed the Harry Potter universe is.  


So, that's all I have to say for now. I know that this post is quite dull and lifeless, but I'm quite exhausted to be honest. I promise, next time the post will be much livelier, Inshallah. Until next time, take care.
Nida 

I'm FREE and I'm BACK!!!!!!

Dear Reader,

I'm sorry. I know I promised to write a blog on the 20th of May, the day after my last exam, but what happened was that I was too busy enjoying my new-found-freedom to remember to turn on my laptop. I slept a lot, Allhumdulillah. I spent the entirety of Friday with my university friends and then Saturday was devoted to spending time with my family and helping my not-so-little-brother-any-more with his GCSE English revision.     

Image courtesy of Toronto Public Library

So now that I'm back and free of exams, being the compulsive list-maker that I am, I've made a list of things I want to do:

1. Blog regularly again (1 per week at least)
2. Prepare for the month of Ramadaan - I can't wait to start fasting again. 
3. Re-read the Noble Qur'an with Tafsir 
4. Spend at least a week with my university friends before results come out (plans for this are under process and the dates have been set).
5. Give my final "Sisters' Circle" talk at uni before the younger years break off for summer.  
6. Finish my applications for Masters. 
7. Write at least another 40,000 words of my novel Life in Conversations. 
8. Begin doing research for my new top-secret-novel-idea.  
9. Go to the Lake District, Cumbria with my family.
10. Read at least 30 more novels for the charity Reading Challenge. 
11. Watch the last Harry Potter movie with my Sixth Form friends.  
12. Cook at least once a week and garden a lot more.
13. Attend my convocation ceremony. 
14. Learn to drive and pass my driving test.
15. Get a job? maybe, if I have time. 

I think that these points are an achievable target for the next four months, InshAllah. I'll keep you updated as I check them off my list. I've also been writing a lot of poetry lately, but that's a post for another time, InshAllah. 

My brother Codename: The Monkey, suggested that I start asking you, my dear reader, a question once a week. Question of the Week: what will you do in your summer holidays? (if you are still in education. If not then what will you like to do in your next vacation?) Leave your answers in the comment section below. 

So that's all for now. I'll write to you next week InshAllah. Until then, take care.

Nida 

A single Summary of my Summer

Dear Reader,

I must apologise for being so late. Anyway, with the beginning of September and university, the weather here in the UK also seemed to realise that Summer is over: the clouds have clung to the sky with great resolution to make my mornings misrable. Subhanallah. So I decided to post a single post that conviniently summerises my summer, rather than lots of long posts with plently of perfectly tedious details.

So first things first.Yes, it happened. I finally went to watch "Wicked: The Musical". As you might I know (if you don't then click here) I been wanting to watch this ever since I finshed reading Gregory Maguire's wickedly wonderful book. So as a treat, on the wednesday after my birthday, my friends took me to Apollo Theatre, Victoria (in London, U.K).

All I can say is that it was absolutely amazing/awesome. I've been to the theatre several times now, but being the first ever musical that I've ever seen, I was gob-smacked at the perfomers' stamina. They were singing and dancing and acting all at once; the actress who played Glinda (the Good Witch of the North) had no scruples in making a fool out of herself, just to make us laugh. It was truly wonderful. I don't want to give too much away, in case you might want to go out and watch it for yourself, but I have to admit I'm quite glad they didn't stick to Gregory Maguire's original ending. The ending of the book, though brilliant and worthy in it's own right, had left me feeling sad but thoughtful. That day I walked out of the Apollo Victoria, a huge grin on my face, laughter in my eyes and a lightness in my heart. I really owe my friends, Codenames: Pixie and Beauty, for such a wonderful day out.  

On a minor - but no less important - note, my two monkey-for-brothers were at a loss for what sort of present I'd like for my birthday (I mean having lived with them for some twenty-odd years now, you'd think they'd know me better) so they ended up giving me £130 worth of Debnehams' gift cards, which of course I didn't mind at all. So me and my  mum went on a little shopping spree. I ended up buying two bags, a frilly-peacock-print top, a practical-(but stylish)-grey-cardigan and brought my mum a lovely-but-classy pair of peach and white shoes. Aside: I felt sort-of selfish spending all that money on my self. We also popped into WH Smith on my insistence and I brought quite a number of books , one of which happened to be Linger, for which I shortly thereafter wrote a little review, right on this very blog.

Aside: of course I already owned Shiver, but I thought it would look nice in the photo 

So that was July. August brought with it lots of work and writing, but I granted five days of reprieve when I went to Snowdonia, north Wales, in a ginormous group of 15 people. (This group consisited of the five members my family. The rest were two sets of cousin-families, five members each as well - we seem to have a thing for the number five!) Here are some 'Life: as I see it' pictures from my trip, taken by me especially for you. Make sure you click on them to see them bigger!

A view of my lap during the car rides. (This bag is in fact one of the two that I bought at Debnehams)

Wales is absolutely littered every where by breathtakingly beautiful rivers and lakes.

                                                                                                                                       

As it turns out, most of the mountains and cliffs in the area we went to were made of slate!

I have to say, Snowdon is one of the most beautiful places in the U.K., and thats coming from a person who has traveled through every inch of the it (well, other than Scotland and Northern Island, that is). It was one heaven-of-a-Road-Trip, with the 15 of us all packed in to 3 cars, along with masses of food, clothes and plenty of play things (from cricket bats to Monopoly). We caravaned for a day or two, camped, picniced, went hiking and did so, so much in those few days. I could probably go on and on about the amazing time I had but I don't think it'll be too interesting for you, so here are just the key events: (these event didn't exactly happen in this order but they are in the order of most memorableness).

• I got my first ever driving lesson on this flat, spectacular, beach called Black Rock Sand (which sounds like a cool rock band name if you ask me):

• After about fourteen years, we finally beat my oldest cousin (codename: Ray-Man) in a game of Monopoly. It took six of us on one team against one of him.

• We went hiking along countless streams/rivers/lakes in Snowdonia...
• ...and then I badly injured my shoulder and knee after slipping off a rock and falling into the most sceneic river I've ever seen. I walked away from it partly in awe, mostly laughing, and didn't actually realise the seriousness of my injury until the day after. But don't worry over me, my dear reader, I'm perfectly fine now, with both arms still attached.

The big pointy rock on the right side, in the foreground, was the evil rock which I slipped off ;-) 

• We also drove around on the these minor A-roads that took us up and down and around the glorious sheep-covered mountains of Gwynedd. (Sometimes we were a bit more adventurous and followed random single-lane roads through desserted and mysterious forests and we once ended up finding a hall/hotel where my brother decided he will host his wedding someday - can't wait!).

Now I wish I had taken a picture of all the sheep!

• After a night's stay in Tremadog bay, we went walking around in this medieval ruined castle in Criccieth, which reminded me strongly of the legends of Kings Arthur.

That's our whole group minus 1 (the photographer) standing at the gate of the castle - ready to invade and conquer. Let's see if you can guess which one I am!

That's my little cousin, codename: Mini-Me, sitting in the place where archers use to sit, always on guard and ready to pierce arrow-holes through any invading army.   

• And finally, while we were half-way between London and Wales, we stopped at a fancy restaurant in Manchester for dinner, but most of us, including me, ended up getting food poisoning instead. Yet I still went into to work the next day (injured shoulder and all). My supervisor took one look at me and sent me straight to the on site walk-in-clinic. They, in turn, sent me packing home with instructions to take painkiller, drink plenty of water and have lots of bed-rest - I had no problem complying with that!

Nevertheless and on the whole, the bout of the 24-hour-vomiting-bug aside, I had a brilliant-but-busy shiny summer which, to tell the truth, is just how I like them to be.

I hope you enjoyed your Summer as much as I did. Let me know about all the thing that you got up to as well, in the comments section. Live life and take care,

Nida