Cèilidh Nam Freumhan

Category: Handmade & Creative Projects

  • A Weekend of Making Things

    A Weekend of Making Things

    Some weekends are for errands. Some are for recovery.

    This one feels like a weekend for making things.

    I’ll be in the garden, watching baseball, and practicing bookbinding with simple materials.

    Nothing glamorous—just the satisfying work of learning by doing.

    I ordered cardstock that should arrive tomorrow, and I plan to try Coptic binding for the first time. With luck, I’ll end the weekend with a notebook worthy of gifting to a friend. Realistically, it may take a few attempts—but who’s counting?

    I chose black cardstock along with a few shades of gray. Even if the work is simple, it suits my minimalist nature.

    There is plenty of gardening to do as well, assuming the weather cooperates. Some starts may be ready for larger containers, which feels like a small victory after I had to replant several when my cat decided to have a snack.

    Weeding is inevitable. So far, nothing I direct-sowed has germinated enough to distinguish itself confidently from the weeds.

    Baseball is inevitable too.

    If I can’t watch, I’ll listen while working outside. If I can watch, I can bind books at the same time. Either way, the game will be part of the weekend rhythm.

    And after baseball?

    Obviously, one turns to a Doctor Who binge.

  • I Don’t Need Form – I Need Function

    I Don’t Need Form – I Need Function

    When I first wrote about my commonplace book, it was mostly a place to gather notes and ideas. Since then, it has become something much more useful: part reference library, part creative workshop, and part record of what I’m learning now.

    Like most good tools, it changed as I changed.

    Commonplace books are often used to collect interesting information across many subjects. In my case, that has turned into several notebooks for several passions.

    I have one dedicated to Highland culture, where I once half-seriously decided I should write a dissertation. I have another for Torah study and Jewish learning. I even bought matching notebooks for continuity and built a reusable Traveler’s Notebook-style hardcover, which I turned into a replica of River Song’s diary from Doctor Who.

    My gardening notebook is one of the most practical. I drew the herbs I planted for easy identification, gave each herb and vegetable its own page with planting instructions and uses, and sketched a not-to-scale map of the garden with beds organized by water needs, height, and invasiveness.

    All of this eventually led me to planners.

    When I first discovered bullet journaling, planners, and sticker culture, I fell down the rabbit hole and bought far too much. Eventually I realized I am simply too minimalist for that world.

    I tried the much-loved Hobonichi Cousin. It had many good features, but the pages felt too busy and included sections I knew I would never use. I looked at other planners and couldn’t justify paying premium prices for branding.

    Then I found Wonderland222: clean, functional, and refreshingly minimal.

    Even so, it still wasn’t exactly what I wanted.

    So now I’m designing my own planner in Scribus. So far I have a daily page template and a calendar spread, but my goal is to arrange monthly, weekly, and daily pages in a way that makes sense to me. I’m also creating a custom baseball tracking section.

    I’ll print it myself, bind it myself, and design the cover myself.

    If it turns out well, I may even make a few for others someday.

    The real lesson in all of this is simple: use what works for you.

    Stickers didn’t work for me. Trend-driven planner culture didn’t work for me. Buying things because everyone else loved them didn’t work for me.

    What did work was learning my own preferences.

    I buy tools I can use for years. I choose quality over clutter. I build systems that support my actual life.

    I don’t need form.

    I need function.

  • I Thought This Was a Highland Blog

    I Thought This Was a Highland Blog

    Sometimes we begin with one interest and discover it was really a doorway.

    When I first created this site, I imagined it as a place to explore Highland culture, heritage, and plant-based recipes inspired by Scotland. That still matters to me. But over time, curiosity has a way of wandering.

    The deeper I looked into roots and tradition, the more I found myself drawn to gardens, language study, handmade books, seasonal rhythms, and the quiet satisfaction of learning for its own sake.

    So perhaps this was never only a Highland blog.

    Perhaps it was always meant to be a place for roots, research, and everyday beauty.

    Since beginning this endeavor, I’ve branched into many interests that may not seem connected at first glance—but I love finding the threads between them.

    Right now, I’m exploring gardening, canning, Torah study, language learning, baseball stat apps, planners and journals, designing my own planner, and crafting useful paper goods such as reusable notebook covers and hand-bound notebooks. I also enjoy finding creative ways to use what I already own.

    Future projects include learning to knit and experimenting with making fountain pen ink.

    As a neurodivergent person, I’m proud of learning how to nurture many interests at once rather than feeling pressured to choose only one.

    I hope you’ll keep reading and join me in learning along the way.

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