Planting

Ramadan is a time for refreshment and revival. It's a boost for the imaan, that should, inshAllah help us through the year. The extra ibaadah we do now can strengthen us in the months ahead, reminding us of the good habits we should maintain and helping us shed the bad habits for good, inshAllah.

So today we planted bulbs; crocuses and bluebells. Like a good deed planted in Ramadan, inshAllah the effects (on us) of those deeds will still be there in the early spring when the flowers will, inshAllah, show us their colours. And the flowers themselves will be a marker for that. When we see them we can remember that we planted them in Ramadan, and be reminded of the intentions made in this month. It is reported that the companions of the Prophet Muhammed (saw) used to pray to Allah during the six months before Ramadan to extend their lives so that they can fast Ramadan, and in the six months after Ramadan they would ask Allah to accept their fasting of Ramadan.

So Ramadan should not be forgotten straight after Eid!

The photo is of a tiny hazelnut sapling that I accidentally dug up whilst digging a hole for a rhododendron that I also planted today. When it came out we could see the hazelnut that it had grown from. There are no hazelnut trees in sight, so I guess a squirrel must have buried it there. I planted it back, nearby, inshAllah it will grow. I was thinking that it would be nice to have hawthorn, holly and hazelnut in the garden, and, alhamdulillah, I have uncovered all three.

Ia was very helpful in the garden today, maashAllah, she kept working for hours. The boys dropped in for the planting bits, and the Ramadan thoughts, but they prefer the garden for cricket!