Cèilidh Nam Freumhan

Category: Study & Commonplace Books

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.

April 23, 2026
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.

April 23, 2026
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.

April 23, 2026
Building a Commonplace Book

I don’t have any pictures to share yet, but I have been building a commonplace book for this endeavor. I have sections for gardening, recipes, and crafts. I have a separate one for learning Gaelic, so that is not included here. So far, I have a monthly task list for my garden (which I included because those are the ingredients I’ll be using in many of my recipes) and a vegan bannock recipe. One of these days, I will post photos, but right now I am shy about how messy it is. Which shouldn’t be a barrier, but it can take me a while to feel comfortable with that.

I was going to highlight the sides of the pages in the colors I chose for the sections, but I quickly realized that won’t work if I have, say, one page of garden plans and then one page of recipes, and so on. No one would be able to see the differentiation. I will likely try washi tape next, even though the thought of putting a strip of washi tape on every page sounds tedious. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

I do struggle with boring pages…there are people out there who are amazing artists and I love that they share that with the rest of us. I do not expect my pages to look like that, but I grow tired of just writing linearly down the page. So with my monthly garden tasks, I at least color-coded the months to break up the monotony. I also drew a couple strands of wheat on the bannock page and included a quote regarding bannocks by Robert Burns. That’s about the best I can come up with right now, but I am happy the pages are more interesting now.

I’m currently using an Amazon Basics grid notebook. I have TONS of notebooks and I have to use them before I can justify buying more. I find the grids difficult to use though, because they are visually loud, and the substance of my information can get lost. I have decided that the next time I need a notebook, I will buy A5 paper and print out dotted pages. After that, I will bind them. This need became apparent when I was looking for notebooks with more pages; I found many with 50-100 sheets, but I’m looking for 200+ sheets (not pages). I don’t want dozens of books hiding around the house. As it stands, I have a few old planners, an old commonplace book, two black paper journals that I found near impossible to use, several notebooks of certification studying, etc. I don’t mind having a separate notebook for something like a network security certification, but I don’t need four of them to talk about one thing.

Ugh, I just remembered the 8 brand-new engineering pads I bought before I changed my major to computer science.

Creative desk camera notebook by Markus Spiske is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

April 23, 2026
How to Get Started With Your Highland Adventure

I have dedicated a commonplace book to this topic, in order to have everything in one place. So far, it is divided into: gardening plans, 18th century history, and recipes.

Here are some steps you can try:

Tip #1 – Figure out what aspect of Highland culture you’d like to dig into

Do you like history? Food? How to wear various types of tartans? All of the above?

Tip #2 – Find a way to organize your notes and thoughts

I like to keep as much as possible analog; I find that the act of writing things down helps me remember. I have also used my bujo, but the bujo fills up quickly and I don’t care to make a new one every month. Digital note-taking apps are available as well: Goodnotes, Microsoft OneNote, Evernote, and Notion, among others. I haven’t found one that works for me, but use whatever you need to to keep everything straight.

There is scarcely anything to which I am so feelingly alive as the honour and welfare of my country, and, as a poet, I have no higher enjoyment than singing her sons and daughters.

Robert Burns

Tip #3 – After finding your note-taking method, make a list of what you think you might need (yarn, food ingredients, etc.)

Google will be your friend here; there are lots of great resources that will help you find exactly what you need for your project.

Tip #4 – Give something a try

After finding out what you need, and getting all of it, try it out! If you want to crochet or knit, there are sites with free Outlander patterns (if that’s what you are looking for, otherwise there are free patterns all over). If you want to cook, there are plenty of Scottish recipe sites, both vegan and non-vegan. The best way to improve at something is to just do it.

Tip #5 – Share your work

This last tip is purely optional; I know I have trouble showing people anything I am working on, though I can share my cooking results with my spouse at any time. Even if it looks weird.

Make this project work for you!

If you want to research and/or just enjoy Highland culture, do what makes you happy in the way that makes you happy. And feel free to contact me, whether you have a question, want to share something you made, or just want to express your thoughts.

April 23, 2026