Friday 25 January 2019

Coming up: Baking, Crocheting and more

Assalamu Alaikum!
This post is a sneak peek of some of the up coming posts we hope to be sharing with you all soon. We have been working on some projects and will hopefully have them completed within the next month, insha'Allah.

Baking
The recipe we have planned for February is our Spicy Apple Crumble recipe which is a family favourite. Sometimes when we were young we would come home from school and our mum would have it waiting for us as a surprise treat, masha'Allah. One of the best things to come home to after a tiring day!

Crocheting
Maryam has a crochet craft planned which we hope to post next week, insha'Allah. We will say no more about it so as not to spoil the surprise!

Art Journaling
We have all been pretty busy with studies and really hope that we can find the time to unwind and do something creative. Insha'Allah, we will do some artwork and share photos of what we come up with.

Childhood Memories
Lastly, we will be sharing more photos from our childhood home - maybe this time our old bedroom? Our bedroom walls had a beach scene painted by our mum so it was quite unique, masha'Allah.

Hope you are looking forward to seeing these projects! See you next weekend.

Love and Wassalam,

Wednesday 23 January 2019

Gardening Update: Potatoes

Assalamu Alaykum everyone!
This quick post is on my potato plants. During the first week of January the plant's leaves started turning yellow, then very quickly brown, until it died in the space of 2 or 3 days. I researched and found it was because of the sudden change in hot temperatures.
"... potato plants and tubers that are exposed to hot sun and winds after cloudy weather can suffer damage and die..."
So I let the soil dry, and because January has been pretty cloudy, it took a while. Four days ago I emptied the pot of soil, and to be honest I didn't expect to find any potatoes, and then subhanAllah! there they were, three small potatoes and one really tiny one I almost missed!
Today I fried them and put them in a homemade Falafil Wrap. (Falafil is a mixture of ground spiced chickpeas or fava beans that is shaped into balls and deep-fried.)
Masha'Allah it was delicious and the whole family liked it. Well that's all for this short post. See you on Friday insha'Allah.

Love and wasalaam,

Maryam.
 

Friday 18 January 2019

DIY Toilet-roll Birdfeeder

Assalamu Alaikum everyone!
If you are looking for an easy way to recycle your old toilet rolls then this is the perfect craft for you. It is so simple and quite fun to make, so let's get started!

You will need:-
toilet rolls
string
scissors
a pencil or an awl
honey
birdseeds

First you will need to poke four evenly-spaced holes along the length of the toilet roll tube.
Then fill two shallow trays; one with honey and one with birdseeds.
Next roll the toilet roll tube in the honey. Make sure you don't coat the holes in honey, though.
Then roll the honey-covered toilet roll in the birdseed tray.
After that, attach the string as shown below.
Then hang the birdfeeder outside and you are done!
Of course, you're not really done. You'll probably want to make a few more - we made five and hung them all around the garden.
Have fun!

Love and Wassalam,



Friday 11 January 2019

An Update on Cata

Assalamu Alaikum!
We are sorry we don't have a proper post today but we have been quite busy this week. This post is an update on our cat who has had two major visits to the vet since we last wrote about her. The first was some weeks before Ramadan and the second was just a couple of weeks ago.
The first visit was because Cata got into a fight(which very rarely happens, alhamdulillah). She was scratched on her side and the area swelled up with pus. She went off her food and became very tired and weak.
We took her to the vet and they had to put her to sleep to remove it. Sedation is not usually dangerous for healthy animals but obviously it should be avoided when possible. When she returned she was groggy and unlike her usual self. She was also wearing an e-collar to stop her from licking and getting at the wound. We don't have a photo of her wearing it but it was made of plastic and looked a lot like the photos below.
Cata had never worn the "cone of shame" before and found it extremely uncomfortable. She kept knocking into things, found it hard to eat and couldn't lie down comfortably. She kept trying to lick her wound and then we realised that there was a big problem. The edge of the cone was scraping at her wound, causing it to bleed again!
Hanifah and Maryam decided to make her an e-collar out of felt. We thought it would be more comfortable but would still serve it's purpose of preventing her from licking her wound. So we carefully measured her neck and made her a new one that same day.
By the way, the felt we used was stiff and thick - the regular kind would have been too floppy. You could immediately see how much she preferred the handmade e-collar. It meant that she could lie in any position she wanted and didn't get stuck as often because it was quite flexible. We showed it to the vet and they thought it was a good idea, alhamdulillah, so she was allowed to wear it!
The above photos are not of the e-collar's final look. Maryam tidied it up a bit: made it a little smaller and prettier. So after some trial and error it was done, alhamdulillah! She recovered and the "cone of shame" came off.
Then two weeks ago she had to have some teeth pulled out as they were hurting her. We mentioned in a previous post that she has always had trouble with her teeth. However, it got so bad that she would cry out in pain every time she tried to eat. Eventually, she stopped eating completely and we were obviously very worried.
We took her to the vet again and they removed around 9 teeth. Alhamdulillah, it went well and a rather drowsy Cata came home. The vet let her wear our handmade "cone of shame". This time, it was to stop her from scratching at the stitches in her mouth.
We have been busy looking after her, making sure she has her medicine(which she hates), being careful she doesn't manage to pull off her e-collar, etc.
Alhamdulillah, she is better now although we still need to keep an eye on her. She no longer has to wear the e-collar, which she is pleased about! Because after all, even if it's handmade, it is still a "cone of shame"!
Well, that is all! Taking care of a pet can sometimes be a handful but it is worth the reward, insha'Allah.

Take care and Wassalam,

Friday 4 January 2019

Easy Peasy Orange Cake

Assalamu Alaykum everyone!
Maryam here. This week I've got a very easy recipe for you. Baking a cake doesn't get any easier than this!
Ingredients:

(Cake)
90g Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Self Raising Flour
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
finely grated rind from one Orange

Method:
1. Melt the butter.
2. Pop all the rest of the ingredients into a bowl.
3. Pour the mixture into a Pyrex dish and cook in a moderate oven (180 degrees Celsius) for about 35 - 40 minutes.
(Icing)
1 cup Icing Sugar
1 tbsp. Butter
juice from the Orange

1. Mix the ingredients together and pour over the warm cake.
2. Serve and enjoy! 
And that is it! I hope you liked this simple post and that you give this recipe a go. Until next Friday, insha'Allah.

Wasalaam,

Maryam.