2 Ramadhan 1435 - Partaking in the blessings

In the name of Allah, Most gracious, Most merciful.

In Ramadhan there is much to do so I won’t be blogging for long, but I will try my best share. It is a blessing for me to witness this Ramadhan and to be present in it and I am gratified. In fact I think that in Ramadhan it is a boon that in Cape Town the blessings rain down on this city and on this country with all of the reciters of the Esteemed Qur’an by those who know it by memory and those who know it by heart and by script and those who recite it fluently and those who are still learning to recite. The one who struggles is loved by Allah SWT too.  Imagine that, thousands of women and men reciting the Qur’an cover to cover for 30 days, I am humbled.

I am elated at the “luidkeels” reciting of the Qur’an resounding here from dawn to the background of the birds singing. Taraweeg has been brought home, thank you Allah - because last year we walked to mosque but when it was raining we ended up a bietjie siekies and my daughter and I had to do the late night prayers at home. But even in that there was grace.

I make the most duah that I am able to savour every opportunity of worship, that I do not get distracted in my prayers by small thoughts that invade my mind of what to cook or how many samoosas to fold or whether there are enough towels that have dried. And thank you Allah that the geyser is fixed and I can now take wudhu with warm water! I have wonderful memories of Ramadhan – my Mom used to let the telephone ring just to check if we overslept. So when we are busy in the kitchen preparing for Suhur I almost expect a call. My kids abroad created a little group to exchange pics and I look forward to getting my Skype account sorted out. So ja, the family camaraderie is lekker though we miss Ramadhan together.

It always delights me looking around as everyone breaks fast, a light shines on flushed faces filled with a sense of achievement. “Pace yourselves, your stomachs are still a bit shy, moderation!”, but they just grin and lick their fingers, a re-appreciation of eating after good restrain. The younger ones really step up to the plate with help all round, but with the last tidying up and last few dishes I let them go off the hook - I can see they are a bit tired.

With the entire goings on, I have not neglected to plant and replenish beds – a new cabbage patch with cabbages red and green, more cauliflowers and some broccoli. We also planted the borage seedlings and another crop of danya as it is used on a daily basis. In the strawberry patches I have replenished the lettuce in the gaps. The chillis are a bit skrams with me picking everyday so best to give it a bit of miss and buy some. Alas, the spinach has almost all been picked to the bone and need to replenish itself.  And finally some weeding and picking off hairy worms by hand after the rains from the leafy plants.

And so I am signing off as I need to get things ready for tomorrow. So lekker pwasa, to those who are fasting and stay in the mercy of Allah.

Plant food and be joyous and giving.

Yasmine