Other Stuff

Ramadan is NEAR!

2011-07-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Mashallah Ramadan, the best month, is almost here! I am amazed how each year fasting gets easier. Alhumdulillah! So this year we will decorate purple, and gold (yellow). I have re organized nearly my how household getting ready! There is a new shadadah sister that lives just a couple blocks away and I am all prepared for school to start too, well almost. I need to pick up a few supplies and do some printing.
You can check out how my school preperation have been going at my homeschooling blog, Little Baba is Learning

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2011-06-15T01:27:00.001-07:00

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;We're sorry, your browser doesn't support IFrames. You can still &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.yudu.com/item/details/348889/Book-1---Lesson-1-3-Exercise--Workbook-2"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;visit this item.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;, however.&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
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The pathetic state of my backyard....

2011-06-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

So my backyard is over grown, almost up to my hips. It has rained so much mushrooms are becoming common around town. We live in the desert. It has been too cold to plant tomatoes. And The soil has been to soggy for the most part for me to plant anything anyway. My little city is greener than i have ever seen it. The pic is not mine but it helps illustrate my point.
So where are we as far as being earth friendly? Well We finally got a mower and it is a push mower, I like to say it is cookie powered because it has no motor.
I have ashes in the garage waiting to have the lye leeched out of them for soap making. Our car is an awful 88 gas guzzling ford thunderbird, but its not going anywhere at the moment because the throttle cable needs to be replaced.
We haven't watered the lawn yet this year. I have been walking lots of places on days the weather is conclusive. I haven't been buy locally because to do that would require more money and transportation to a place selling local goods. In fact all the grocers that are with in walking distance are little Mexican markets that import most of their goods. I like shopping there because people ignore me instead of saying rude things or staring. (Muslims are exotic where I live lol)
The weather is finally spring like even though its technically summer now, so I have stopped using the fireplace in the basement for the most part.
I purchased a lot of used books a couple of weeks ago for my son. A few were curriculum related.
I have traveled to SLC several times in the last month. Its about an hour away. We had meat 2x last month, excluding some eggs. Well thats all I have to say for now. i know this post is disorganized, sorry.

Russia

2011-06-05T19:43:00.001-07:00

So apparently my audience is primarily in Russia, who'da thunk! Mashallah thats cool.

I had completely fogotten about this blog....

2011-05-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Asalamulakum or Hi there
I decided i wanted to start a blog and rediscovered this one. We the dream is the same but our location is just slightly different, we moved from the northern end of town to the middle. We now have a beautiful big house with a front and back yard. Still cant do planting but when the weather clears up it will be time inshallah.
So the plan is 6 4x4 squares of garden. We need a mower and I'd like to get one of those cookie powered ones....did i say cookie powered i meant husband powered...or human powered. inshallah
We have a GIANT willow tree in the back, let me just say i do not recommend them. While they are pretty and because they get so big they are nice for shade, they are messy. It seems like you could barely breath on it and it sheds. Still it looks lovely.
I am kinda glad the weather is rainy, I am tired and don't want to do yard work.

I want a Yurt

2009-01-28T22:03:00.000-08:00

Ok so i want 5-10 acres of land and a yurt, or ger (rhymes with hair) I want to live completely off the grid, except for Internet, mail service and roads. I can imagine it:
Its late January and we wake to a cock crowing, time for farj. I dash off dizzily to our bathroom, a connected small yurt. I make wudu and the Man does his business then we make salat. After salat I dress and wake the Kid. "Wake up and get ready."
I put breakfast on, oats with raisins. The Kid gets up and dressed. He and the Man go outside and milk the goats, let the hens out and feed all the animals. By then I am dressed and breakfast is ready. We all eat and then I start the Kid on his school work. The Man goes back out to dig out necessary paths from last nights snow. I clean house and start lunch. The Kid takes a break and plays. I work on my weaving and the Man comes in to get warm. After lunch the Kid goes out to do chores under the Man's supervision and I go out too.
We have chickens, goats, sheep, 3 horses, a lama, ducks, fish in the pond or stream/river, a barn, a yurt, composting toilet, grey water recycling, rain water collection system, solar power, a mini orchard, pastures, kitchen garden and to pay for repairs, doctors visits, taxes and what not we sell organic felt, wool and woven products. In the summer we sell extra produce a the farmers market. All our dishes and what not are either hand spun earthen wear or other organic materials. We move to a more sheltered location as the climate cools each year and back to a warmer location close to the farming fields for the warmer seasons.
Our yurt is actually the main yurt where all the non bathroom and conscious activities are held. We have 2 small connected yurts, one is our bathroom fitted with a rain water shower, a composting toilet and storage. The other small yurt is divided into sections via curtained walls. We sleep in one section, the Kid in one and the rest is storage. Things like items to repair the yurt, kitchen equipment or what not, items for the business like records, shipping items and other such related items.
The walls of the yurt are covered with quilts rugs and other fabric items. This adds beauty, color and insulation to the yurt. In the center of the main room is the kitchen area. To the east is the office/school area to the west is the seating area, to the south is the entrance and to the north the bathroom yurt. Also on the western side is the sleeping quarters.
The only plastic or non biodegradable to be found is one or two toys and the computer related items. As well as few packing items like tape, plastic bags to protect items being shipped.
After dinner, we each settle into sedentary tasks. The Kid finishes school work for the day, the Man works on business related talks as do I. At Isha we make salat then the Kid gets ready for bed.
He brushes his teeth, with miswak of course, washes up, puts on pjs, reads a story and then says goodnight. I turn on the heat for the room and kiss him good night. .......
O the floor is compacted earth with adobe on top. On top of that is a layer of felt for padding and insulation and then rugs. Some huge, some not so much, but all hand made.

urban homesteading

2009-01-26T21:35:00.000-08:00

So the idea is to be as self sufficient as possible NOW. Why wait for that glorious day when we'll have 5 to 10 acres, solar panels and live stock?
What can I do to be as self sufficient as humanly possible NOW?
1) Plan and begin buying/collect materials for a bigger(last year's gardens were a. 2.5ftsq b. run over by the JERKS that lived down stairs, many, many, many, many times) better garden
2) since eletricity, water, garbage and heat are paid for in the rent build/buy/replace solar powered appliances, soory but I am SOOOO NOT going to tred through the snow to line dry my clothes, nope only in the non frozen months am I willing
3) buy local, ONLY local, easier said than done here in city next to Ben Lomand but where theres a will theres a way
4) learn, and this time REALLY learn what local wild plants are edible so when they begin growing i can just go pick them
5) buy a new bike, this one is about to break from all the rust
6) sew needed clothing

bras
socks
bike fiendly abayas.....mabey I could get a adult size scooter? hmm must invetigate of course you cant put a basket on a scooter or can you?
make homemade pads

the Kid

shorts
thobes
pjs
socks
underwear

the Man

socks
underwear
thobes
pants

everyone/household

hankeys
pee rags
rags (not really an sewing involved but i usually throw away rags used to clean the toilet....chemicals on top of excreations thats too much for even me)
napkins
sheets for the Kid

7) keep up with making detergents and cleaners
8) learn and make soap
9) make insta-food so I wont eat out or buy the chemical non local versions
10) actully walk (i dont have problems with this in the warmer seasons but in late fall through early spring I just don't want to)
11) go to bed by 10 or 11 so I use less eletricity (plus its a heck of a lot easier to get up for Farj if i went to bed a decent hour)
12) learn and use homemade moisturizer...apparently i should be using one everyday, I didn't know thatsomething about not looking 50 at 40
13) find and use only the most recycled paper
14) keep cooking mostly non meat meals
15) either bake my own darn bread or use up that rice! (i have aproxamatly 60 lbs or rices, brown, basmati, and some kind of "long grain" poor quality)
16) find a place that sells/refils vegtable based inks for my printer or ooooo make my own/grown the herbs to make my own
17)go to bed now!

I don't want to live in Egypt

2009-01-25T15:43:00.000-08:00

So here is the thing. I think that Egypt would be a wonderful transition to the middle east. I think It would help us acclimate. But I don't want to live there. It sounds so urban and crowded and dirty.
I want to have a farm. A self sufficient farm. 1 acre for growing vegetables, 1 acre for fruits, like trees. 2 for growing barley. 1 acres for 6 sheep, and a goat, for milk. sheep for food and wool. oo and 1 acre for chickens, starrage and misc. Then a half acre for the house or less even. The house would have to have enough rooms so my and mine got a room, the kid got one, a mens living room and a wemons, bigger because it would be multi puros. just need one bath room really. yep that would be dreamy......
We get up and get reay for fajr, feed the animals, and pray. Milk the goat, collect the eggs and make breakfast. After breakfast school time and Mine goes to work the fields and what not. I start lunch, send the kid does his chores and I clean the house work on my sewing and weaving. lunch, pray dthur and then back to work. the kid finishes school work and chores and goes off to play. I start dinner, get VERY fresh meat and then after dinner we all relax for a bit before bed. me with the web, the man with video games, and the kid legos......then bath and bed. yep that would be cool. my life wouldnt be a whole lot difrent but the food would be fresher.