It has been a quiet month for the blog, but leafing back through my current notebook reminds me that there has been no shortage of stationery-related activity. So here are a few glimpses into what has been happening.

The 5th of November 2021 marked the fifth anniversary of this blog. I spent the day at a school reunion lunch in Reading, where I enjoyed catching up with several of my near contemporaries, some of whom I had not seen in 44 years. It was quite extraordinary: it seemed like no time at all since we were all at school together and now suddenly the topic of conversation is retirement. I think about my old school often and being back in its familiar buildings brought back so many memories.

Perhaps another sign of my advancing years, is that I do appreciate a good magnifying glass. Recently, I bought myself a new jumbo-sized illuminated magnifier, with a huge main lens of more than 13cm diameter. It is a x2 lens, with a small area of x4 inset at the 9 o’clock position. There is even a x10 loupe inset in the handle which is useful occasionally, although it needs to be held very close to the eye. The main lens is comfortable and enjoyable to use. Being a plastic lens, it is not too heavy and unbalanced. The sight of my writing emerging in glossy-wet Serenity Blue ink on my Leuchtturm journal paper, enlarged and under the three bright LEDs, always lifts my spirits.

In a stationery shop not far from home, I came across some Pentel mechanical pencils recently that I had not seen before. I am a big fan of the P200 series, using them daily at home and in the office, but had not seen their cheaper “120 A3” series. Available in the same four lead sizes, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9mm as the P200, you still get a sturdy metal nose cone, but with a comfortable grippy rubber section. I bought a couple of them and have been enjoying them a lot.

As for most of us, there has been little in the way of travel this year, but we did recently spend a weekend in Reigate, visiting my Godmother, “aunty” Mary, (not my real aunt) and then staying over at the Reigate Manor Hotel to make a weekend break of it. Even such a modest trip provided an excuse to plan a few pens to bring.

I have written before about my late Godfather, uncle Brian, whose old Montblanc Mary once showed me on a previous visit. This time, she gave me Brian’s last bottle of Cross royal blue ink to use up, with the date 1-3-10 written inside the box lid. Mary hates waste and I shall try to use it wisely.

Later exploring Reigate’s town centre, I found a stationery shop with an attractive glass display counter of brightly lit fountain pens. These included a good selection of Sheaffer and Cross pens. I was almost tempted to support them by purchasing another Sheaffer 300 or a Sagaris as there were some attractive versions on display, but I already have almost identical models and managed to stop myself.

I did however succumb to purchasing a Companion notebook in the post-office, (as you can never have too many notebooks) with 240 pages of 80gsm paper. The texture of the cover was particularly pleasing and they were available in red, blue or yellow. I got a blue one but later kicked myself for not getting the red and yellow as well. The paper turned out to be very pleasant to write on with ink, although a bit prone to bleed through and so you need to chose your inks carefully. I am still yet to beat my Leuchtturm notebooks as the best all rounder, from what is readily available on the High Street. I use the Companion notebook with a humble Bic Easy-Clic cartridge pen, (which never hard starts!) as a bedside jotter.

Then, having a Sunday morning free in Surrey, with lovely autumn sunshine, we decided to drive to Box Hill in the Surrey Hills, and walk up to enjoy the view. Box Hill is immortalised in the Richard Thompson song “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” and is a favourite spot for bikers. We found ourselves in the Ryka’s Cafe Car Park, full of motorcyles, while their owners stood or sat around at the picnic tables, chatting in their leathers. I was reminded of happy times spent in the London Fountain Pen Club meets, but guessed that my latest pen and ink combination might not have been of much interest to these leather-clad gents (and a few ladies). Each to his own. I wrote in my notebook “We do not choose our addictions.” I am not a biker, to say the least, but if I was, then a Triumph Thruxton that I spotted in the car park stood out from the crowd.

Now the Black Friday feeding frenzy has subsided. I can report that I did not buy anything this time despite some attractive fountain pen bargains being there to tempt us. I was quite tempted by some of the Auroras on Iguanasell’s Black Friday offers, but am already as happy as can be with my Aurora 88 (Medium) and Aurora Optima (Oblique Broad), and buying any more would just mean using these two less.

Finally, this past weekend I found myself in just the right frame of mind to attempt some nib adjustments. I find that, for me, this needs a delicate balance of boldness and caution, of recklessness and restraint, of caring versus not caring. Just as I had transformed my Aurora 88 by easing the tine gap slightly with a craft knife blade, I tried the same technique with a pair of Cleo Skribents, taking a bit of a risk but going carefully. I was thrilled at the success in improving the flow a little and enjoyed inking both of these pens with Waterman Serenity Blue and bringing them back into circulation. I then had a fruitful afternoon of letter writing. Much as I would have enjoyed being at Sunday’s Birmingham Pen Show, I would undoubtedly have returned with yet more new pens. As it was, my Cleo Skribents were rejuvenated and there was satisfaction in using what I have. My aunty Mary would have approved.