Dear me what a day! We have been completely battered by very strong winds all day and the new week doesn't look much better. I hear a whisper that the boat is about to try and cross shortly but that will be the first of the day. You really know you are living on an island on days like today. Nothing was getting on and nobody was getting off. I am hoping that this gave islanders an extra reason to shop locally but I fear many will have stayed indoors today.
After a gentle morning of boxing up pressies to go in the post we ventured out to the village to make our purchases in the village shops and assess the full scale of the weather. It is a southerly storm so we are hoping that the smallholding will cope better than last week. It is lovely to have the whole family under the same roof and it was obviously a good decision for Molly to come a little earlier than originally planned. This is such a lovely time when I am officially on holiday and can focus on the family. Of course, I never really stop but I have scaled right back to recharge.
This afternoon we went to Corrie which is a beautiful village towards the north end of the island as it was their turn to have a Christmas market. It is a lovely wee hall and it was beautifully decorated. I am sure we are all well and truly in festive mode now. We bought some lovely handmade cards and a couple of small presents for our next postal box. On our way back we called in at the island's chocolate shop and completed our shopping for things we need to post out. Whether we will get them off the island is another story.
I am a huge fan of shopping locally and this is even more important on an island. The shops on the island all look so lovely for Christmas and I do hope they are getting the trade they deserve. I would be in favour of an Arran currency in order to trap as much money on the island as possible. If a city the size of Bristol can do it I am sure we could. I am delighted to see that a new venture will be opening at Easter in the form of a community shop which is to focus on upcycling. I have dabbled with this concept this year but I really hope that I can help this new shop become established. If you want ideas for upcycling I have a super little Pinterest board.
In 2014 I want to push the boundaries of the way we live even further by increasing the amount of bartering we do. We already barter with a few islanders but I am sure this economy could be pushed much further. I am also going to extend something that I have just recently started but it came from my beloved Grandmother, Ella. Ella and her husband owned a shop for many years and I think this is were her 'goodwill' boxes idea began. When you work in a shop you get to hear of individuals or families that are facing difficult times. Ella kept a beautifully decorated shoe box that I discovered one day. On asking her about it she said that she fills it with bits and pieces that she either made or bought as she saw them. That way she can fill a goodwill box as soon as she hears of someone who would benefit from it. It was her way of helping others and I loved it. I loved it even more when she said that she sent Grandpa out to deliver it by just leaving it on the doorstep with a wee note saying from someone who cares. How beautiful is that?
In the last few weeks I have pulled together a modified version of her goodwill boxes and, with help from others, we have made a difference. I want to get closer to Ella's idea though so I have decorated a shoe box and already started to put a few bits and pieces in there. I am going to operate goodwill boxes from both word of mouth and also online. Using Scottish island mum and One soul many hearts I hope to get little tip offs of people who might need a goodwill box and then post them out from the island. To ensure I have a running start at this I am going to put a request out for unwanted Christmas gifts early in the new year. I hate the idea of unwanted presents but I hate the idea of unused presents even more. So, if you do get given anything you don't want and it isn't too much bother to post let me know and I can give you my address. If you know of anyone who would welcome a goodwill box let me know their details and we shall see what we can do.
It is quite sad when I go to my inbox at the moment as so many people are emailing me to let me know how much they will miss Scottish island mum. That is incredibly humbling and I am sure that kind of feedback will stay with me forever. If it helps I will be sad as well when the 31st December rocks up. I am committed to continuing Scottish island mum is a new form and I hope to launch a new site as early into 2014 as possible. Meantime I will be updating followers on my facebook page so if you haven't hit the like button on that page yet now might be the time to do just that.
Scottish island mum could never have imagined that so many opportunities would open up from a simple daily blog. I am hoping to find time to write my own ebook which will contain the highlights from 2013. Call it a souvenir..... let me know if you think it is a good idea. Thanks so much.
Until tomorrow. xx
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