Ramadan Journal 2015: Day 9 – Inspired By

I go through phases of feeling inspired by everything with ideas coming at me left, right and centre and down periods where I just need to push myself to get through the day and get things done and nothing piques my interest. At the moment I am in one of my “inspired” phases, with inspiration coming in all sorts of fits and bursts: with iftar and suhoor meals, with children’s activities and with Eid preparation. I always find Ramadan and Eid particularly inspiring times for creativity anyway.

At the moment, I've become very interested in graphic design and I am loving all things colourful, harmonious colours and ombre, patterns like chevrons and quatrefoil, watercolour effects and bright colour washes.

This pattern encompasses a number of these and has me thinking about colour themes for Eid décor:

image source

I finally have a new desk where my sewing machine used to be, so that has inspired me to get my arts and crafts materials out and start playing again once I can free up some time after Ramadan.

Our home feels half empty without my husband here, despite five noisy kids and my mum-in-law being here, plus the normal procession of guests. So for iftar (the evening meal to break fast) we always say we’ll make something simple. My appetite gets the better of me and I am online on Facebook cooking groups, the menu page of restaurant sites and recipe websites looking for different things to try. This year I have made channa chaat, macaroni salad, potato pakora’s, aubergine pakora’s, fried chilli’s in batter, different types of rice, mini kebab roll, mini shawarma, baked chicken, home-made masala chips, pani puri, chicken and potato pasties, keema (leftover mince lamb curry) pasties, keema pasta, samosa chaat, date slices, mango milkshake, date milkshake and lime water. Plus the requisite fruit chaat (spicy fruit salad) everyday. That’s not to show off, but just to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed trying new things, experimenting in the kitchen and feeling inspired about cooking.




I am also enjoying all of the fashion and photography on Shutterbug Sisters and Harlequin’s blogs and Harlequins instagram, always lots of eye candy there.