Tomorrow I will begin the final third of the Scottish island mum project and there is much to do with this third. The months leading to Christmas are some of the busiest of the year on the smallholding and this year we aim to launch Whimsical Wreaths on the island. It will be a relatively gentle start because our willow crop is in year one but we are all looking forward to getting underway. It is a new direction for the smallholding and it is not something that can be rushed. Mother Nature will dictate the pace and we shall do our best to follow. Wreath making has long been my passion so to be now able to make some of my own bases is a step in the right direction. Ultimately, we will be extending this business beyond the island but it always feels good to let the islanders give us feedback that will shape the future direction.
As well as the launch of Whimsical Wreaths we have the products from With Love from Arran to continue making as Christmas is our biggest selling time of the year. We have events already in the diary but we do not have any products. This will be a familiar story to regular readers. I always plan to get ahead but never quite manage it. It is not that I am disorganised it is that other ideas pop up and rather take over and I suspect I am not alone in this.
The most dominant distraction is, of course, my new site One soul many hearts which has finally got a lunch date. It will be launched on Friday October 11th so that gives me just 41 days to get it all ready. My gliding swan with the desperate paddling is looking less graceful as the days progress but I am buoyed up with the feedback I have already received and, most importantly, the generosity of spirit that has led to so many fine contributions for the site. I love what happened today. As a result of lots of feedback confirming that a book review page would be a welcome addition to the site I posted a call for reviews on facebook. I then head off to the delightful Co-op to do the shopping and on my return a review has already landed in my inbox. Tis magic! Magic or not it is incredibly impressive so a big thank you to the lovely lady concerned. I do want this page to be full of passionate reviews about books that have inspired us and so we are off to a great start. If readers will forgive me I am going to kick the page off with a review of the book Slow Time by Waverly Fitzgerald. This is the book that started it all as it made me stop and think more deeply than I had ever done before. It truly changed my life and set me along my current path and One soul many hearts would not exist without this book. I will consider it the greatest honour to do a review and I hope that it will set the tone for reviews to come. If you have a book that has inspired you greatly do consider doing a review as I think it is our way of giving back to the author something of what they have shared between the pages of their book.
Somebody called me an inspiration today and, although very kind, I think not very true. Perhaps what I am is someone who likes to take people with her on journeys that ultimately offer great rewards. For me success is only measured in the context of other people. Shared success is always such a joy and this is how I see One soul many hearts. This project has already attracted people to submit writing having never previously written before. Many contributors are telling me the last time they wrote something was when they were at school. For some of us that is rather a long time ago. So perhaps you can sense the thrill of this project and sense the place it could occupy. We all have moments when we feel a little low and to be able to click onto One soul many hearts and know that you will find something to lift you has to be a good thing. Perhaps, in the context of the modern world, it is more than a good thing; it is an essential thing. Our little virtual haven will be updated on a very regular basis bringing something new to refresh our minds and our souls. Will we be ready in 41 days? We have to be is the answer to that because the date has been announced. October belongs to my beloved father who died almost 16 years ago. It was his birth month so I always take time in October to record some more memories. He was a writer and I am aspiring to be one so I am dedicating the launch of One soul many hearts to him. We didn't always see the world the same way but I am who I am because of my father and my mother and it is important to remember that and pay appropriate tributes.
So as we turn to face September I have hydrangea heads drying all over the house for Christmas wreaths, writing filling my inbox and green tomato chutney to make for Boxing Day. Just a regular day in the life of Scottish island mum........
Until tomorrow. xx
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