Showing posts with label stationery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stationery. Show all posts

Monday, 20 October 2014

Precious Things (2)





I love stationery and the associated bits and bobs. I’m not really fussy, a beautifully fabric covered notebook, or a moleskine or even a plain Staples exercise book will do the trick…

One of the things I love about stationery are the pens or, more specifically, Fountain pens. I love the idea of the ink, the sound of the nib on the paper. The colours of ink available...I flirted with purple and turquoise and green.


My first fountain pen was bought by my Grandparents when I started Secondary school. It was a plain Parker fountain pen that could take ink cartridges or be used with an ink filler and a bottle of ink (not recommended for a clumsy 11 year old). You were expected to write in pen now not in pencil as you’re ‘grown up’ (times have changed they are encouraging children in BigR's school to use pens so they don’t have to press as hard to make a mark as you would with a pencil!). 

This pen saw me through my GCSEs and my A-Levels. Came to Uni with me and through my PhD. I had the nib and barrel replaced about 2 years ago when it had to be sent to the pen museum (oh the shame) for replacement parts (OK, it is 30 years old).


So when I finished my PhD, I was surprised but so pleased to be given a pen and pencil set by my PhD supervisor. This is the grown up Fountain pen – it signed the papers for our house, it signed my lectureship job contract, it’s signed hundreds of Christmas cards from us both not just me. 

Although on a daily basis I’m using whatever lidless ball point pen I happen to have at the bottom of my handbag, I love both my pens.
I‘m still using cartridges though - more than a bit clumsy at 41 too!

Joining in with:

Sarah at Mitenska
Leanne at Today’s Stuff
You’ll find their Precious Things there.

Thursday, 27 March 2014

101 days

It is 100 days until the Tour de France comes to Yorkshire.

The significance of this is that it’s 101 days until my birthday. 

I’m going to attempt to think of and document (at least) one happy thing every day for the next 101 days.

This calls for a new notebook I think. 

I might even try to take a photo of ‘it’ and post them all here.