Love in ink




Right now I am loving January. I know that in a few weeks time I will feel much less gracious towards this wintry month, especially as the spectre of February, a month still so very far from Spring, begins to loom.



However, right now, I am full of the joy of January. It starts with the clearing of the decks, taking down the cards and clearing away the decorations. Dusting the surfaces and vacuuming up the pine needles. It's such a very satisfying form
of housework. The results so immediate.




Then there is the new year's diary. Clean, crisp pages ready to be filled, the satisfaction of marking fresh pages with ink.



This year the pleasure is enhanced by the new love in my life. It's a pen.




I like to use a fountain pen, I feel this will not surprise you.

For Christmas this year I received the most excellent of fountain pens, a vintage Parker 51. I am not sure I have mentioned it before, but I should tell you that The Technical Advisor rather excels at present buying. I didn't even know I wanted this pen but now I have it I may never write with anything else. It feels so comfortable in my hand and writes with incredible fluidity, the forming of each word becomes a tactile and pleasurable experience. As with all things old I love to think of who may have owned it over the years, I like to wonder about the offices it may have worked in or the love letters penned.




To add to its charms, it doesn't even take dull old cartridges. It uses the thrillingly named Aerometric filling system (a refinement of the original Vacumatic system) and simply suctions up the ink straight from a glass bottle.

I can hardly wait until filling time.




Comments

Charity said…
That does look like a most excellent pen - enjoy every word! :)
Celia Hart said…
I think I may have to rummage in the draw for my fountain pens... or is that just a displacement activity - mmm?

Enjoy writing with your vintage pen.

Celia
Shelley in SC said…
I can just imagine the joy this pen, with it's history and charm can bring to you. What incredible fun to be married to someone that "rather excels at present buying"!!
Cybèle said…
I used to write with fountain pens all the time as a teenager. I have a beautiful old Parker one too, a green and black one. Your post has made me decide to go and buy some ink tomorrow and start using it again - there's nothing quite like it.
rachel said…
I love fountain pens too. They improve the handwriting no end!
Anonymous said…
Oh, your photos have me pining for paper, and I was being so good about not spending my non-existant cash on new notebooks.... Probably off to fill up my pens now.
Oh, serious pen envy going on here. My brother, who had the most beautiful handwriting, used to write with one of those, always with green ink.
Cornflower said…
Oh, I love a proper pen! As for bottles of ink, have you seen the wonderful selection at The Writing Desk? Have a look at Diamine: http://bit.ly/A3VdpK
Anonymous said…
Oh yes, and the choosing of the ink...
Elizabeth said…
Oh la la. I love a good fountain pen. I used one all through high school (often with turquoise ink!) but then got out of the habit. I should start up again because I know that no one else in the family would use it
Off to check this one out.
Frances said…
Well, here's another fountain pen fan checking in. I can see my two favorite pens from where I now sit, and realize that it's been a while since I've used either of them.

Thank you for the motivation to clean those two pens, try to buy some new ink (no cartridges for me, either) and remind myself of that lovely sensation of placing a perfectly balanced pen's inky nib on paper.

This is a way for this New Year to gather in pleasures from many years past. xo
This brings me back to when I was 9 years old. Graduated from using a pencil to using a fountain pen in school. I felt so grown up to write in ink. I also remember the ritual of filling the ink from a bottle of Pelikan ink. Oh such fun and I usually made quite a mess too :) I just realised that my kids never had this special growing up experience. Enjoy your beautiful pen!
That is stunning! I always remember the Dualit handwhisk the technical advisor got you ages ago. It inspired me to get one (or rather to get my husband to get me one!) too. And speaking of inspiration, as yours was the first blog I started reading all those years ago, I wanted to thank you and show you my blog, http://homespunhenry.blogspot.com/ , started today! Happy new year and thanks for all the ideas you've shared over the past few years. Caroline xxx
Annie said…
Another fountain pen geek here, and you are one lucky lady :D
Ali said…
I have a long overdue letter to write - perhaps I will dig out my fountain pen and enjoy the experience instead of putting it off (again).
Jane said…
I usually like January, but our's is off to bit of a rocky start. Maybe I need that pen!
nicole said…
What a lovely pen! I can't help feeling a tad bit envious...
Nina Fenner said…
Another fountain pen fan here. I have two, both inherited from my grandfathers,one engraved with his name. I had them both serviced by 'Penfriend' in London, not cheap, but cheaper than a new pen. LOVE writing with them,..and one is a 51 Vacumatic! Saw someone writing with brown ink recently, yum yum, I want some now, I only have black, red and blue at the moment!
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