Cèilidh Nam Freumhan

Tag: commonplacebook

  • Building a Commonplace Book

    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

  • 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.

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