Summer 2008 in Lahore: The Local Baghbanpura Bazaar

These pictures are of the market local to my in-laws house. As Lahore's population has exploded over the last ten years and outlying villages have been swallowed up by the city, this bazaar has gone from being a small local market to one of Lahore's busiest. The photo's don't really give you an indication of the sheer volume of noise - motorbikes, haggling women, street vendors hawking their goods, animals, horse-drawn buggies, donkey carts and truanting schoolboys.

This shop was an absolute crafters/hoarders delight with walls full of row after row of beads, crystals, sequins, diamantes and embroidery gems.

Gold is traditionally given in Pakistan during weddings, but the price is now so high that ordinary people cannot afford this tradition. What jewellers do instead is use a little gold and a lot of beads, glass, semi-precious stones and coloured cord to make up the set. The shop above had beautiful designs.

Summer 2008 in Lahore: The Wedding

I didn't manage to get as many pictures of the wedding as I would have liked, mainly because I was too busy enjoying it and because most of them have family members whose privacy I would like to protect.

The wedding took place over three evenings as it was too hot during the day. The first was the mehndi ceremony which the bride and groom hold seperately. For the grooms side, the poor man sits on a stage (erected on the house's flat roof) while his guests take turns to annoint him with oil and stuff his face with sweets. I asked Little Lady to do all those things for me whilst I sat nearby as although the groom was my brother-in-law, he was still non-mahram. We didn't do this for long, before the groom got a chance to leg it to a neighbouring rooftop where the men were situated. Not sure what they did there, but it sounded very raucous and like they were having fun.

The second day is the day of the wedding: the nikah. We met the beautiful bride, my new sister-in-law for the first time and had a very nice meal provided by the brides family. This is usually the most stressful and busy day of the wedding, it was also one of the hottest nights of our trip. Being Lahore, the wedding meal was planned for 10pm and ended up being served at about 2am (again on the roof of the hall). We finally got to bed at 5am in the morning.

Little Man with a wad of 10 rupee notes (about 10p in English money)

The third day was the "Walimah", the reception organised by the grooms party. This was my favourite day. The hall was decorated with enormous colourful lanterns and had no roof to let the air through. The meal was wonderful and the whole event was generally laid-back and relaxed. I decided to play the role of "lady of the house" (as the oldest daughter-in-law I am supposed to be responsible for the welfare of the family) and went round the ladies part of the hall and socialised. ("Salaam! How are you? How are the kids? Have you had enough to eat? Here have more"). It was actually quite fun pretending to be grown-up!

The whole event might have been very different, if not for my husband. He insisted on keeping it as halal as possible mash'Allah and this meant that all three days were segregated (sometimes moreso than others - Asian's will know how the barriers start disentegrating about half-way through the wedding as people start hunting for spouses and other relatives). There was also no music (I widh I had brought some nasheed tapes) , no dhol-player (drummer) which I kind of missed and no grooms party dancing all the way to the brides house. He tried to stop my mother-in-law doin some of the odd little ceremonies like pouring oil at the door when the bride enters which he deemed unislamic, but didn't get very far as she just ignored him!

Because he took care of these little things, it was kind of good to have fun guilt-free.

Bracelets made of roses and jasmine which mother-in-law put on the new bride. She did the same for me, so now whenever we visit, my better half buys me some and the scent takes me straight back to my wedding.

Summer 2008 in Lahore - Home Sweet Home.

Got back from Pakistan yesterday and still getting over the jet lag and difference in time, weather, quietness, light etc. Feels a bit surreal. The trip for the most part was lovely, although far from easy because of the heat, lack of time and culture difference. Apart from the mozzie bites we are all glowing, although I am losing my tan already. London has very hard water, so spending a little time anywhere else does wonders for your hair and skin.

Will start to unpack my bags and unload the goodies in a bit, have slept half the day and my dopeyness is still not wearing off. I think it rained non-stop whilst I was away and so the weather feels so cool and comfortable, it also meant I got a lovely surpise when I saw my garden - it has exploded into a riot of greenery and flowers which are spilling over the borders and pots.

At the moment I just can't stop sleeping.

Lahori Summer

I’ve been in Pakistan for four days now and it already feels like a lifetime, not because I am bored, but because of the sheer intensity of the experience. I think the words “sensory overload” would be an understatement. From the moment we left Allama Iqbal International Airport to travel home to Shalimar in Lahore to this moment my senses have been barraged by all kinds of noise, smells and images and interesting new tastes. The heat is making me very, very lazy (35C) and just heightens whatever I experience. I have always thought that I live life the rest of the time, but in Pakistan I truly come alive and on this occasion this is proving to be the case.

The moment we turned up at my in-laws house unannounced was amazing. My brother-in-law opened the door did a double take then ran back inside. Then he came back out to see if he was seeing things. The house was full of guests and as soon as we stepped through the door everyone went crazy. Hugs and kisses all round and although they got a surprise, it was my legs that wouldn’t stop shaking for a very long time afterwards. I feel very loved right now.

The wedding was interesting (lots of Lahori custom’s which I had not heard of and my husband tried to put a stop to – unsuccessfully) and also lots of fun. I had to struggle with keeping it all halal (music, dress, mixing with men), I hope I didn’t engage in anything that would displease Allah (SWT). I’ll do a full write-up when I can and get my brother-in-law to upload some pictures.

The kids are well alhamdulillah apart from Little Man’s accident with a swing which just missed his eye but left a cut in his head and Gorgeous’s laziness which is bothering me. We’ll visit the doctor later today insh’Allah. I am just relieved this is the longest I’ve been in Pakistan without getting a bad stomach. I am also getting the most sleep I have had in a long time and the bags under my eyes are receding (plus I have lost some weight without even trying)

I’ll try and get pictures of one of my favourite places, Anarkali bazaar (shoes, bags, clothes, bangles, jewellery ad infinitum) and a few other places insh’Allah. Hopefully I’ll be able to post again before I go home, otherwise it will be then (18th July)

Wedding Shopping

I don't usually enjoy shopping much, but yesterday evening I had a blast. My jilbab's for the wedding turned up. I ordered from Al-Hijaab who do next day delivery. They didn't have much in my size, so I ordered this for the wedding and this to arrive in Pakistan in. (What I really hankered after was this, which wasn't in stock).

I only had that day to get the kids stuff and ended up getting beige suits for my boys and my nephew (£25 each from East Ham - very reasonable). I wanted (as Kooky Sis put it) Little Lady to be the belle of the ball, so I chased round my local shopping centre looking for the perfect dress. I couldn't find anything under £50, so decided to spend the money and get her something special. I ended up in Debenhams where the ankle-length dress marked £50 turned up at £13 at the till, so I bought this one too for £13. I found a nice tiara to go with it at Claires. Will pick up a nice dress for my neice, a turquoise shayla and some shoes for myself this morning.

I have butterflies now and Little Man loves planes so can't wait to show him a real one. Just have to get all of our luggage through check-in somehow including the humungous generator better half is insisting on taking with him.

Will post pics if I can, please keep us in your dua's.

Frugal Crafts – Turning To Your Imagination Instead Of Your Purse

I think I have touched on this topic before, but crafting and taking care not to be wasteful are two of my favourite things. Also, it’s a great way to bring creativity into our lives without buying it in – which you can’t really do anyway. My favourite way to craft is to salvage things you would throw away otherwise and creating something old from new. Some of the materials I have used are:

Cards and Postcards - I save pretty cards and cut out any hand-made/3D parts or any nice pictures on the front to re-use on my cards, any I don’t need get given to
Paper – I keep paper from good quality wrapping paper or parts of gift bags. Often boxed gift’s and packaging will have good-quality coloured card used which can be saved. I also use bits/pages cut from magazines and brochures. There is a wedding card on the left side-bar with bells which has a blue background cut from a magazine.

Buttons – I always save the spare buttons you get inside clothes and have picked up a jar of colourful ones at a boot-sale for 50p. My sister used different coloured and sized ones to decorate a black cord across-body bag and a friend has a very pretty plain beige cropped cardigan with different coloured giant buttons on the front.

Old or Broken Jewellery – I have taken apart jewellery that I wouldn’t normally wear to salvage beads, charms, clasps. My exception is if it’s far better than anything I could make, then it gets passed to family or friends.

Boxes – sturdy shoe boxes, gift boxes, perfume boxes. I use these for storage and as jewellery boxes. Card toppers and gems are great to decorate. Better still hand them over to the kids and their toys won’t get a second look.

Other items of interest - Fake tattoo’s or body gems (used on cards), sequins (often a little pack comes inside clothing), broken hair bobbles embellishments (stars, hearts, flowers, little people and animals, usually have a nice flat back so easy to use)

Resources

Boot Sales: We have these across England and I am sure there is something similar in the US too, if not, I would definitely recommend someone start one. The biggest one we visit at Dunton has over a thousand "stalls" and many thousands of visitors, so the farmer who holds it on his field (£10 for sellers, 20p for visitors) must be a very rich man by now. This being the case, the chances of a bargain are endless. You very often find crafters who are having a clear out so will get your hands on beads, ribbon, card, paper, embellishments, peel-offs and stickers for next to nothing.

Pound Shops (Dollar Stores): I have found card-making packs, topper stickers and boxes of bead (which cost £5.99 at Hobbycraft) at these shops. They also sell scrap-booking materials and art supplies. Very hit and miss, but I have a look every now and again when I go by in case something new is in.

Thrift/Charity Shops: Or what we call the good old second-hand shop. The only thing of use I have picked up here are some nice crafting books. The jewellery is usually junk and not always much cheaper than the shops.

Ebay: Most of the stuff is cheaper than in the shops and the variety is infinitely greater, but there is the potential to overspend. I look for people having a craft room clear-out which occasionally yields a bargain and a host of new materials. However I keep this to a minimum as the purchase/spend is only a click away and this is a slippery slope to go down.
It’s good to save money and use your noggin instead, but it’s also good to know when to spend what you have saved. My own exception’s are Happy Eid/Eid Mubarak peel-offs and elasticated jewellery cord which I buy new.

What I like most is that you are creating something that you like from stuff you would normally throw away, you end up with lots of materials for your kids to play about with and you’re tapping into your creativity and ingenuity which spills over. I don’t like clutter in the house, so I try to keep sifting through the stuff and give away or selling anything I won’t use. My only issue is one of storage and I will do a post for that once my craft corner is re-established (if my beloved leaves the house standing).

"Lack of money is no obstacle, lack of an idea is an obstacle" (Ken Hakuta).

Thank You

After all that fussing, stressing, tears this morning and being at the peak of giving up – Gorgeous’s passport has arrived. My poor husband drove over 100 miles to stage a sit-in at the Petersborough Passport Office (I’m not joking he has a terrible anarchist streak), when I got the call from the Passport Office and had to call him to come back and get a letter from me giving him permission to collect the passport and go back again. He is not happy….hee hee never mind.

So now I’ve got Fashionista Sister and Long-Suffering Sister running around in their lunch breaks doing my shopping for me and I have got my appetite back after a nauseous few days.
Still worried about baby as he is not 100%, but he is much better, will just have to keep a close eye on him.

I am sure that some kind person’s prayer for us has been answered. I wonder which of you has caused this kindness to happen for me, I am deeply grateful.

It sounds very shallow to care so much about a wedding, but my husband’s family are very close and many of them have not seen him for four long years. His brother has kept putting his marriage off because of us, until his parents have finally had enough and railroaded him into setting a very short date (hence the panic on our part). A few days ago my father-in-law called and asked if there was any way we could come for the wedding. My husband was a little abrupt in saying no and listing all the reasons (work, school, weather) why we couldn’t go. His reason for being abrupt was because he wanted to heighten the sense of surprise when we turned up unannounced, but the thought of not being able to go made me think that that NO was going to haunt us.

My mother-in-law misses her son and says she hears his voice everywhere and keep’s mistaking other people for him at a distance. I have a new sister in law and two nephews (1 a week old) and a niece (plus numerous little new cousins) I have not seen. Two weeks will fly by and I look forward to the look of shock on everyone’s faces, meeting the new babies and welcoming the new bride. As it’s Lahore, there will also be the shopping, eating out (you’d think I’d learn after getting food poisoning the last time) and leaving the kids with the in-laws while hubby tales me out on his motorbike till the early hours of the morning.