Qur'an 20200427

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

27.  Say, "Show me those who you have joined with God as partners... by no means!  No, God is Allah, the Exalted in Power, the Wise."

28.  We have not sent you but as a universalist to men, giving them glad tidings, and warning them, but most men understand not.

29.  They say,"When is this promise, if you are telling the truth?"

30.  Say, "The appointment to you is for a Day, which you cannot put back for an hour, nor put forward."

31.  The unbelievers say, "We shall neither believe in this scripture nor in that before it."  Could you but see when the wrongdoers will be made to stand before their Lord, throwing back the word on one another!  Those who had been despised will say to the arrogant ones, "Had it not been for you, we should certainly have been believers!"

Sheba 34:27-31

It's beef jerky time!

Hi Natty!  How are you?  I hope you are feeling great and are healthy.  It's a busy day for me!  Rush rush rush from one task to another, and trying to take short breaks in between.  I have my dinner on the stove top, I hope the cats won't get at it.  I'm also cooking beef jerky, which takes a couple of days to complete.  I may have to keep the pot in my bedroom overnight.  Floofy is the clever one: she can open lids and covers.  When I hear a clatter in the kitchen, that's the clatter of dread.

I love you!  Gotta go!

Qur'an 20200426

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

22.  Say, "Call upon others whom you fancy besides Allah.  They have no power, not the weight of an atom, in the heavens or on earth.  No share have they therein, nor is any of them a helper to Allah."

23.  No intercession can avail in God's Presence, except for those whom God has granted permission.  So far that, when terror is removed from their hearts will they say, "What is it that your Lord commanded?"  They will say, "That which is true and just, and God is the Most High, Most Great."

24.  Say, "Who gives you sustenance, from the heavens and on earth?"  Say, "It is Allah, and certain it is that either we or you are on right guidance, or in manifest error!"

25.  Say, "You shall not be questioned as to our sins, nor shall we be questioned as to what you do."

26.  Say, "Our Lord will gather us together, and will in the end decide the matter between us in truth and justice, and God is the One to decide, the One Who Knows all."

Sheba  34:22-26

More shopping

Hi Natty!  How's it going over there?  You must be in paradise: I wish I were with you.  But wherever you go, there you are, huh?  Eat some strawberries for me!  The big, sweet, juicy ones!  I'm sitting here waiting for sunset again, and writing this my letter to you.  I went grocery shopping today.  I didn't really need to go, but my mother needed some stuff.  So I got more cat food: can't have too much of this cat food, because I can eat it too if I want.  I also got some bleach!  Popular item these days.  Then I drove to the frozen goods store downtown to pick up some beef, burgers, and ketchup.  Chili is on the menu today.  I got some raw red beans the other day.  I could have used the canned baked beans, but chili from the raw beans is the best I think.  I let them slow cook for most of the day yesterday, and they look like they were ready to be made into chili today.  If you make chili from raw beans, let them soak over night, then slow cook them until they break.  Don't throw out the water!  That's where most of the flavor is!  I have to cook without tasting anything but I'm used to that.  I used to cook like that when I was at the restaurant. I think I'll take a short nap.

Waiting

Hi Natty!  How's it going?  I hope you are having a fabulous time in your mountain getaway.  I'm sitting here waiting for sunset so I can break fast.  When they call the prayer, I'll chug down some colored sugar water then pray first before I eat my dinner.  Dinner today is pita bread and hummus with a couple of eggs sunny side up.  Hey, my eggs turned out all right today!  I'm getting a system down.  I've been eating a lot of eggs since the movement control order began, it's just more convenient to buy eggs to go with all the rice I have right now.  You've had hummus before, right?  I usually cook them in circle molds in a pan, so it has a crispy skin.  Today I couldn't be bothered with the mold, so I just shaped it like a pancake.  The food is waiting for me and getting cold, and sunset is half an hour away.  I'll cook my pita bread fresh though, that shouldn't take too long inshaAllah.  Now I'm just waiting for the Jap kids to put up their video before I post this blog.

Happy Earth Day!

Hi Natty!  Happy Earth Day!  Oh, I remember those snapshots.  That was when you did your epic trek along the West Coast.  At first I thought it was USA, now it looks like Canada.  What I recall most is that you looked so tired at the end of it, I felt so bad!  Happy Earth Day.  I'm glad you are here to remind me.  What did I do today?  I cut the grass!  Oh, don't worry about the grass.  There's plenty more where that came from.

The fasting month of Ramadan begins tomorrow.  It is a mandatory task for all Muslims to fast during the month of Ramadan, just like it is a mandatory task for all Muslims to pray 5 times a day.  We go without food, drink, sexual activity and vulgar language from dawn to sunset.  A female on her period is exempt from fasting, but she must make up the days she missed before the next Ramadan.  A lot of people dread the fasting month, but I quite enjoy the month.  I guess if you were a glutton, drug addict or chain smoker, you would dread the fasting month.  For the rest of us it's business as usual, other than our eating times change.  I will be eating at 4 am and after the sunset prayer.  I don't what time I will be posting my letter to you each day during Ramadan.  Last year it was before sunset, but nowadays I have to regard the Jap kids and their TikTok video, which I have to watch before posting.

Just another average day

Hi Natty!  How are you?  It must be warming up over there.  Oh, the mountains must be gorgeous this time of year.  What a wonderful feeling it must be to warm up to the sun in spring!  Enjoy yourself, Sweetie.  I hope you are feeling great and having a marvelous time.  It's just another average day here for me.  I did my laundry in the morning.  I had a mushroom omelet for lunch.  I have so much rice right now, I have to eat it, and I have been eating it everyday.  But today I didn't want rice, so I opted for fried rice vermicelli.  Yeah, it's made from rice but it's a different dining experience.  It comes dried, so you have to soak it for a bit before using it.  Not so if you're making soup though, you can just chuck it into the broth and it will work out fine.  I chopped up garlic and ginger for the fond, with some "sambal tumis" (blended onions, chillies and "belacan" (fermented shrimp paste) fried in oil until saturated), then some slices of cat food (raw chicken breast), added the noodles and mixed it up with soy sauce.  I made some space in the middle of the mix to put in a little oil to fry up an egg, let it harden a little, then mix it up again.  I shut the heat off then added then fresh sliced chillies and chopped chives, plus dried onions, salted radish, and plankton shrimp.  This is the first time I tried the plankton shrimp (dried shrimp the size of plankton): tastes like squid.  Mix it up one last time, and it's ready.  Anyway, I think dinner was a success.  Alhamdulillah.  Want some?



Check out that armpit!  Digital armpit!