I.B.H.Q. - February 2007

We’re planning a trip to the Northern Isles in the springtime. We’ll be spreading the word about Island Blogging and hope to meet a few current bloggers while we’re there too!

We’d like to reach as many people as possible on the trip and you could help with that. Are you a member of a community group? Would you like us to come along to one of your meetings to talk about Island Blogging? Perhaps we could visit your staffroom or canteen and speak to a group there? If you’d be interested in us popping by do get in touch.

Send me an email at islandblogging@bbc.co.uk - it’ll be great to hear from you.

Anne :)

Maureen McKendry, a journalist from the Sunday Times, has been in touch.
She’s writing an article on the number of women moving away from the Western Isles and would like to speak to those who’ve done so.

If you’d like to speak to Maureen email me at islandblogging@bbc.co.uk and I’ll pass on her details.

As Ruthodanort pointed out a few weeks ago, today sees the first of Unst’s two Up Helly Aa celebrations. If any of our Unst bloggers are heading along to Uyeasound to watch – or take part! – please don’t forget to let us know how it all goes and show us your photos.

If you’re going to be in the area but don’t blog with us already, you can still send in your snaps. Just email them to islandblogging@bbc.co.uk and I’ll post them on the site.

I hope you have a great night! :)

There’s much chat in the office today about a man in Shetland who’s breeding pink bunny rabbits in a bid to capitalise on the ‘pet as fashion accessory’ market. Apparently the colour is achieved by feeding the rabbits beetroot. Anyone know anything about it? And would you want to own one?!

My colleague says she heard it on Radio 2 - so it must be true! ;-)

Take a look at our brand new Island Blogging poster. Lovely, isn’t it? It features a photo from the Sanday Images blog.

I’ll be sending these out to various places over the next week or so, so you’ll hopefully see some in your area. If you know somewhere which would aesthetically improved by one of the posters - shop/hall/post office/staffroom/community centre etc. - get in touch!

Email me at islandblogging@bbc.co.uk with your address details and I’ll send one out to you.

We also have postcards of the same design - let me know if you can find a good home for them.

Anne

I received an email from avid Island Blogging user Jill from East Kilbride. It was such a nice message I thought I’d let you see it. She says,

“I am a big Island Blogging fan although I live in Lanarkshire and have no real island connection apart from a couple of brief visits. I just love to read about the bloggers' lives and see their photos. It's a different planet! Strange how you feel you are "friends" with people you've never met... Give my love to Flying Cat and that lovely dog Coco on Luing.”

Aw, doesn’t that put a smile on your face? ;-)

Hope you enjoy the weekend.

Anne

Hopefully by the end of this week you should start to see our new posters and postcards popping up all over the place. Keep an eye out for them in colleges, libraries, airports and on ferries. Do let me know if you spot them!

If there’s an A3 sized gap on a wall in your community that could accommodate a poster please email me at islandblogging@bbc.co.uk and I’ll happily send one out to you.