Friday 8 March 2024

Nostalgia...

 

I have been feeling very nostalgic for certain periods of my life lately ranging from pre teen to teenage hood to early adulthood just after high school. The nostalgic feeling also goes back to a longing for certain neighbourhoods and cities I lived in or frequented thanks to friends and family. Like I have been waking up with songs I loved listening to back in the day in my head, such a crazy feeling. A yearning for a time long gone and places that are not quite the same anymore, a yearning for times when life was so much simpler than what it is today. I have also been thinking about loved ones no longer here with me who were a part of those times and places that are now but beautiful memories I will cherish forever. It’s interesting that as this has been happening I have also been reconnecting with old friends in the most unplanned of circumstances. I am grateful for these reconnections as some are definitely needed, others maybe to remind me of who I used to be and get myself back on that track again who knows... it’s also a time for transition in many aspects of my professional and personal life so maybe the two are connected. All in all I am embracing all these feelings and all that’s happening to and around me.

 

I am almost done with the granny square blanket I am crocheting and can’t wait to share the final product!!! Crotchet is therapy for me and I am glad that I currently have this project and can’t wait to start the next one.

 

I haven’t read a book in a while and that doesn’t sit right with me, I need to rectify that soon and buy some new ones because the ones I have I have read twice some thrice. I am a reader and if I don’t read for a while I feel like there is something missing in my life.

 

March feels like ABUNDANCE

March feels like PROGRESS

March feels like JOY

March feels like HAPPINESS

 

Here’s to an amazing month of March!!!

 

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Friday 9 February 2024

Hey...

 

Hope you all had a great start to the year. January for me was a month of rest, relaxation and taking it slow by easing myself slowly into the year. Professionally it’s a very quiet month for me because most of my industry goes back to work in mid January, so there was not much happening on the professional front which I was grateful for. I took it one day at a time, worked to my own deadline and just did me, which worked wonderfully for my peace of mind and mental health. I picked up the craft of crochet again which is something I did a lot a few years ago, and I am glad I did because it is therapy for me. I am currently making a granny square blanket which will take a couple of weeks to complete, but I am happy with the progress so far as I am quarter way done.

 

February feels like RESTORATION

February feels like BLOSSOMS

February feels like CONTENTMENT

February feels like LOVE

 

Side note: as a former Catholic schoolgirl Valentine’s Day to me is Saint Valentine’s Day that’s what we celebrated in school, so I struggled as an adult to understand the “romantic”  “lovers” aspect of commercialised Valentine’s Day.

 

Oh and here’s a quick hair update, been a minute since I did one of those. I had these twists installed in December just before Christmas, they are a mix of 70% my own hair and 30% soft kinky hair extensions twisted to the length of my own hair. When let down people can’t tell if it’s my own hair or extensions. I get asked “is that your hair?”...at least once a day when I am out and about. I had the perimeter redone yesterday and hope to keep them in at least until end of March. I wash and condition them every two weeks, leave in conditioner spray once a week and scalp oil once or twice a week depending on how my scalp feels. I also use a hair spray for shine when going out of the house occasionally as I am full time remote worker.



Here’s to an amazing month of February!!!

 

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Thursday 4 January 2024

Happy New Year!!!

To all and everyone still on these blogger streets. I miss what this community used to be I really do but I am also glad to see blogging being revived again. I have come across some new blogs and seen some old friends updating their blogs again which makes me VERY happy. Here’s to more blogging this year!!!

 

Random thoughts: as much as the block button on social media phones etc is god sent, I also think that blocking people who have done absolutely nothing to deserve it or did you no harm because of whatever difficult situation you are going through personally, is quite childish and immature especially when these people may be part of your story...

 

Imagine a scenario where one misses a lifetime opportunity because they blocked the person who would have recommended them for this opportunity. True story I currently know someone going through stuff that has been blocking people left right and centre, because they don’t want to deal with the concern and questions that are being thrown at them due to their current situation.  These concerns and questions come from a good place and are there to help alleviate the situation, but the person concerned out of shame (this particular story is a case of not heeding advice from those who’ve been there before and things turning out horribly) would rather block people than communicate the need for time or space to figure things out on their own first. If people don’t give them the space they asked for then absolutely they have every right to block them, but simply blocking people for showing you concern because you are ashamed or embarrassed of your situation is very immature.

 

I personally just delete numbers especially for people I am no longer cool with like that or no longer vibe with like that who have done me no wrong, (keyword: done me no wrong/harm) but I would rather not have their contact anymore. I would much rather delete their contact and leave open channels of communication should the need arise rather than block people...

 

Anyway what do I know...

 

May you have the spirit of discernment to know when to block and when to simply delete a contact in 2024.

 

Happy New Year!!!

 

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Thursday 27 April 2023

Life Lately...


I have been making my own jam for a few months now and I tell you once you start making your own jam or buying homemade jam you may never want to go back to mass factory produced commercial jams...I can assure you of that. So far I have made Pineapple jam, Mango jam, Apple jam...

Blueberry Jam

Red plum jam

And I mastered my absolute favourite marmalade which makes me sooo happy. You see I am not really a jam person like that but you see marmalade...you can kidnap me using marmalade as bait! I absolutely love love love marmalade and it gives me soooo much joy to finally be able to make my own.

Marmalade 

Oh and I even made another favourite mango chutney! Looking forward to making pineapple chutney next.

Mango chutney 

Don’t know what to call this era but I have been in the kitchen a whole lot rediscovering my love for baking, which I haven’t done in maybe three years and in a span of three weeks I have made chocolate cake, carrot cake, these two are my favourite, and banana bread. As a bonus I even made samosas (we call them sambusa) from scratch as in I made the pockets/sheets myself, something I haven’t done in a couple of years I usually just buy readymade sambusas. Whatever this era is I am loving it because I am rediscovering parts of myself that had been lost or hidden away maybe due to trauma and doing things that make me happy and I love that for me.

Not my best work but hey it had been a few years since I made these from scratch!
Sambusa 

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Variety...

I grew up in and still live in a pretty much multicultural society, I guess this is part of the reason why I find homogenous societies fascinating. Like what do you mean you grew up in or live around people who look like you, eat the same food as you, share the same religion, have the same culture I find it intriguing. Maybe because all I have ever known from young is variety, listen it was the norm in my neighbourhood, to get a tray of sweet treats during Diwali, tasty snacks during Ramadhan from our neighbours and go carolling at Christmas. The funny thing though is I hadn’t realised how multicultural I was until I realised that these foods have become a staple in my house they feature on the menu at least once a month;

Jollof rice

Jerk Chicken

Curry Goat

Filipino Adobo

Trinidadian Pelau

Afghan Pulao

Rice and peas

Festival

Fried dumplings

Egg fried rice

None of which are native to me....

 

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Sunday 1 January 2023

Of Traditions...

 

I got into a Christmas traditions rabbit hole this holiday season thanks to YouTube, and it was quite fascinating learning about the history of most of the staple Christmas traditions widely practiced worldwide, like the Christmas tree and its decorations and Christmas cards among others. Traditions some of which are quite recent most being just a little over a century old. In my learning and unlearning it was interesting to discover how these traditions were shipped from their native lands and on to other lands who now firmly hold on to these once “foreign” traditions. I mean you hear of statements such as “what is Christmas without XYZ” from people all the time around the festive period.

 

All this talk about traditions got me thinking about some of the traditions which some African people hold on to for dear life, and so I ask;

Dear African person, is it really your tradition or does it have its roots somewhere in Victorian England or medieval France? Is it really your tradition or can you trace it back to Arabia if you squinted hard enough?

It’s crazy to think that we are just a few generations removed from colonialism going by when the majority of African countries got their independence in the 60s, and we have lost quite a bit of our native customs and spiritual beliefs. Anyway what do I know I am just a girl relearning her African tribes’ traditions and spiritual beliefs and connecting with my ancestors.

Happy New Year People!

 

 

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