Day 183 - It is all in the strawberry jam. xx

Tuesday 2nd July

There are good days and then there are very good days and today was a very good day.  I have spent it with a very dear friend, Di, who I had not actually seen for 13 years!  Shocking.  For various reasons our paths failed to cross although we always kept in contact at Christmas and the like.  When Arran lost all its power earlier in the year Di went online to catch up with the news and stumbled across Scottish island mum with the response 'I know that woman!' 

Di is now one of my most diligent tulle butterfly makers and we chat all the time online.  Today she drove to Portsmouth and we had lunch etc.  The 13 years melted away in a second and it was one of the most uplifting moments of my entire life.  Back in the day Di and I were very close and I don't think that closeness ever leaves you.  So, now we are back on track and I could not be more thrilled. 

The plan was to have coffee and shop but we got a bit stuck chatting because we had 13 years to catch up on.  That is completely fine because we will shop next time.  Our paths, I feel, are about to run side by side now as Di is going to do some writing for One soul many hearts.  There is a lot of humour in 'Di land' and I have persuaded her to share it with us.  Something tells me that there are some very good times ahead.  My time with Di today was off the back of all your amazing feedback to the questions I raised in yesterdays post.  It felt very good to have some time to discuss that with Di as I would instinctively trust her judgement.  More than that though, I quickly realised that we were in alignment in our thinking about the future direction of Scottish island mum and also One soul many hearts.  Over the years I have learnt to trust my instincts and rarely deviate from them.  My instincts tell me that Di will, in time, play a major part in the development of One soul many hearts.  Watch that space.

Speaking of space watching I have now set up the facebook page for One soul many hearts so do pop over and hit the like button.  That way you will be the first to hear of all the steps between now and the launch of the new website in October.  The facebook page allows for continual communication and I will be posting opportunities on there for people to get involved. 

I promised some thoughts on your feedback on the future direction of Scottish island mum.  As you might imagine there is now a lot of buzz surrounding the site following the article in the Sunday Post last weekend.  I have had hundreds of emails and can now group them in my mind.  There are lots from fellow bloggers asking me to look at their sites and advising them how to generate more interest.  A little bonkers, I feel.  Then there are a whole bunch that have asked questions about our lives on the island.  These tend to be from people who want to step off the rat race a little.  The final group are from people who want to involve Scottish island mum in their projects or offers to help move this little blog in a new direction. 

In yesterdays post I deliberately created a final bunch of emails by asking you guys what you thought about the recent developments and what that might mean for the future of Scottish island mum.  Last night and this morning was spent replying to all of you who messaged me.  In the end the obvious answer placed itself in the front of my mind.  I was in the middle of a response when I suddenly realised that, by the time I get home on Saturday, I will be in the right time to make strawberry jam with the glut of the harvest.  The thought then shoved everything else out of the way as I realised that my instincts were kicking in.  Scottish island mum is a year long project that aims to reflect on my life as a mum of four beautiful children living on the Isle of Arran.  It is no more or less than that and that is how it will stay. 

The feedback from you guys was pretty split down the middle.  There were those that wanted to stay focused on what it is and has always been and those that want it to turn into something else in due course.  I can see both points of view and, indeed, value both.  But, for me, one comes before the other.  Scottish island mum must run its year as that is integral to the project.  Only at that stage can thoughts turn to what next.  So my concession to all the fuss out there is that I will consider the option of turning Scottish island mum into a book or the like but only after the 31st December. 

Many of you asked what will happen on the 31st December.  Some of you showed real concern by the thought that it will just suddenly stop.  I share your concern because I might be a bit lost!  I have a strong commitment to One soul many hearts and I know that will take up a lot of my time but that is a space for sharing.  Essentially (apart from the odd guest post) Scottish island mum is my space so a very different project.  The honest answer would be to say that I don't know what will happen on the 31st December.  Time will tell me thinks. 

I am now beginning to turn my head towards Arran again and thinking though what needs to be done on my return.  The answer to that would be 'lots'.  I am assured that strawberries and sweet peas are being harvested daily and the plants are well watered.  My mother is keeping an eye on proceedings.  I have several courses in the diary for the following week but two tennis finals to watch with George first.  I have my kitten to make friends with again and my children to hug and I think I owe Pete a meal out to thank him for holding the fort so well.  And, of course, I have this years batch of strawberry jam to make.  My most regular of readers will know that I am also going to try drying slices of strawberries for very welcome treats.  I have not done this before so if any of you have managed it successful do please message me with advice.  See, nothing has changed with Scottish island mum so look out for the recipe sometime next week.

Until tomorrow.  xx