A few typical moments..

I find the carrot I gave to Biryani to peel (at her request), is rather slim..

That metal thing on the cushion cover, what does it do? Oh, flips left and right. This fine motor skills business is lots of fun..My brothers are always fiddling with these bits of plastic, it must be something interesting...Yes, fascinating..

These children who live with me and those big people, they find these devices with wires equally enthralling. I must get a piece of the action..

My favourite teacher, H, who shows me how all these plastic items function..The arabic alphabet pieces....

and the elder two praying Isha (as its getting late now, so pray with maghrib before bed). Now alhamdulillah getting them to pray is not too hard, especially S who I rarely have to remind. It makes it a lot easier with DH home to gather them in a jammat. However, I'm not sure how to deal with Fajr, it's like waking the dead. How do other people get them up? and then back to sleep again so they can get up in time for school?

These pics are less than a month old..

but it was still woolly hats and snowsuit weather. But it was sunny enough to be a first picnic, joined by lots of ladybirds. (Which is what they are intently examining)
Hz doing the classic, playing with dust floating in the sunbeam..

and Biryani is now a computer addict since she's mastered the mouse..

and some more photos...

Here are the children having a go at crafting with metal. DH made a whisk and a ring for me. S made some decorative hooks, Biryani and I made a bracelet, and M, some glasses frames!

It had been a busy Sunday as S and DH had been on their first excursion with the Friluft club (outdoor activity(Scouts/ Duke of Edinburgh type thing). S especially likes it because he gets to use his knife to shape bits of wood along with other fellow 10/ 11 year olds.

Gradual recovery of photos..

Spot the difference:
(see 9th March post) Yes, we have no TV. It broke down and miraculously DH agreed to see how we manage without it until after the summer. The TV licence people are persistant, asking me several times, well what are you going to do with the TV set. They could hardly believe we would just let the repair shop throw it away andnot get a replacement.
Bonus points for rhose that spotted the neat bookshelf (a rare moment captured on film)



and my spring bulbs, and do I know it that I need Ramadhan to come around quickly.

Tomato plants have died (there may be hope for one or two (possibly, inshaAllah). They got frazzled on my balcony as I forgot to water them for 2 days and it has been exceptionally sunny. They didn't even get photographed. I think I'll get over it :(

Today the reality of my non-green fingeredness was heightened by a brief trip to a very pleasant herb garden to pick up S. He'd been staying with his friend tha last couple of days. Hz has been ill with a cold/ high temperature so couldn't stay out for long. (M too saw the illogicality of the name of the illness 'cold')

I have been wanting to blog more regularly..

but I've been making excuses as I can't access the photos I've taken recently. DH has done something to the computer (formatted?) so that he has had to reinstall programs which includes the photo editor. So here is one pic, pre-computer-probs: Hz in February

after some fun with Aba's pile of routers.

Life continues in a blur which is why I need my photos to remind me of things.

Err, Hz stood up for about 10 seconds a couple of days ago.

M commissioned S to write out a few mini 'books' for him the other day. They were mini in that they were about the size of a broadsheet newspaper for a lego man, and each had only 2 or 3 sentences in. But this was a self-initiated writing exercise with a bit of cooperation thrown in, as M dictated the stories for Suhayb to write out. Titles ranged from 'Rabbits' to 'Side-kicks'.

Some examples of spellings: S careful- carefull

vehicle- veichle

M had written some titles himself and his spelling also requies a bit more deciphering:

scissors - sizers

near - neer

However considering how little direct English work I do with them, I'm not (too) worried. I'm thinking M can get a bit up to speed when I start something (inshaAllah) with H.

Anyhow school is supposed to be teaching English as well, M has an equivalent of SATS next year in it.

Today it was one of M's friends over, trip to the library (with my usual rant 'We haven't come to the library to go on the computer) and supermarket.

Planted the tomato seeds out into bigger pots. I'm trying cherry tomatoes this year as they have a better chance of ripening inshAllah. I generally tidied up the balcony and it was a nice feeling to see one part of our abode looking neat and tidy, and in quite a short space of time to boot. The daffodils are out and the leaves are just starting to sprout throughout the park, I think a little later than the UK.

We went to a viewing of a flat to rent yesterday, but we are number 6 in the queue so it's unlikely we'd get it. It was very beautiful with 4 bedrooms, but the rent is a bit steep. This feeling of being in limbo is difficult, but I try to remind myself about being in this world as a traveller...