Nayu's Craft Time #261 Beauty and the Beast audiobooks + Cadbury's Chocolate Roundies

Best B&B retelling EVER!!!!

I will be doing some crochet tonight to yet another retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This weekend I relistened to the audio version of Beauty by a brilliant fairytale reteller Robyn McKinley, and I've just started her newest one (again a B&B retelling), made 20 years after her original one.

 Rose Daughter is so far very different, to Beauty, but it's a bit too early to tell how much I like it yet. I don't dislike it, magic is more prominent than in Beauty (which I adore so much!), and yes, give me a few more chapters before I form an opinion on it. 

Whatever you do, be it craft, audiobook listening, actual book/ebook reading, watching TV, listening to music - at some point you will need a snack, and today I'm talking about a new Cadbury biscuit - the Roundie! 

Here it is in all it's glory! (not my picture)

The name makes me smile - it is accurate - but my family discovered it this week. It is currently on offer in Sainsbury's - I'm hoping the half price discount will last until I go shopping on Friday. I tried one yesterday (or was it the day before)....oh my word it is amazing!!!! It's chocolate and wafer layers and what tastes like a caramel slash fudge, one that's similar to fudge pieces I've had from a luxury hot chocolate. 

I like loads of types of chocolate, but this is definitely high on my favourite chocolate bar lists! My family has mixed reaction, one vote for it's ok but not amazing, another saying it's rather good (translate as very good). I'd love to know what you think if you've tried them! 

Ribbit!

Nayu's Craft Time #202 Audiobooking

Cute pic found on - I love audiobooks!

It's late in the day, I'm tired and couldn't think of a title longer than one word. I'm pretty much over the immediate side-effects of taking my mega strong meds (that was on Weds night) - it takes a good 4 days to get through my system, but mercifully works almost instantly. I've been resting lots with dvds and gaming. Today has been a quiet day, filled with finishing book 1 and starting book  of the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot, the audiobook versions. I've read them before so know what happens which makes them relaxing to listen to as I don't have to focus on a new to me story. 

Saw this pretty pink tiara online!

Tomorrow I'm visiting a friend (& doing craft!) so I probably won't blog as I'll be tired when I get back (happy though, as it's fun catching up). I hope you've had a great weekend and have a good start to the week! 

Nayu's Craft Time #143 Necessary Tasks Take Time!

I love this nifty paperwork storage idea from Pinterest!

I'm writing this post as I sort some paperwork, which includes scanning it into my laptop and printing several copies. If you've done anything using 3 aspects you know just how time consuming it is. I'm convinced it always takes way longer than you expect, especially when you forget to add in topping up the printer with paper, rescanning an item because you accidentally delete it before saving it etc. That's why I saved this task for another day, today, as I knew it would take time and I was already tired from filling in said paperwork. 

Tick tock! Time passing would be cuter if I had this adorable rose clock!

When I've got dull/pointless but necessary tasks like this I do try and do them in the morning, as that's when I usually have vaguely more energy and motivation too. Somehow knowing that once I reach lunch time I can then relax makes me feel so much better about putting the effort in, even if I'm sluggish. I'd like to head to the post office today, but that depends what time I finish this. If I don't make it in time then it'll be a trip for Monday. Oh and I've manage to schedule a few book reviews for Nayu's Reading Corner inbetween button clicks and paper changes - go me!

Due to the time and energy this takes I won't be doing any sewing today - I may however do some crochet later, as I've got several audiobooks to review! It depends how I feel after relaxing with anime. So craft is still happening! I hope I can do a bit of editing my novel later too. 

Whatever the weather, and whatever you're up to today I hope you smile lots and have some fun! 

Some of you may be soaking up the sun with a picnic in the park!

Nayu's Craft Time #136 Ramadan 2016 explained

As promised a few days ago I thought I'd explain about the extremely blessed holy month of Ramadan which Muslims like me celebrate each year. 

I say it all in a nutshell with a further look on various aspects in a post from last year on Nayu's Reading Corner. 

Some versions are tremdendously ornate, mine is extremely plain.

For those who don't want to read further it means fasting from dawn to dusk from food/bad habits/romance & other things. I can't fast for health reasons, but I absolutely love the spiritual buzz from this month. Although I'm listening to audiobooks without romance in while I do my craft, I also listen to a lot of the Quran, with English translation after the Arabic verses. 

I listen to this one

Sorry for not the best image, it was the best I could find online. The one I listen to is recited by Qari Wahid Zafar Qasmi, with the Marmaduke Pickthall translation. It's kind of an old sounding one, but it's what I like so I'm sticking with it! Unless I'm short on time I put it on a continuous setting so it will flow from one track to the next. A sentence is called an ayah, and a chapter is called a surah.

Again I advise reading my previous posts on it because I explain a lot there. If you've got any questions please do ask and I'll do my best to answer them! 

This is a Russian mosque, Qolsharif - isn't it gorgeous!!! I love the contrasting blue and white.