Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Dear, dear, dear. I haven’t posted anything for ages and no doubt half of my (6?) readers will have given up on me. My sincere apologies for my silence. The last month has not been a good one. My MIL died suddenly (but thankfully peacefully), then there was the funeral to arrange and the day after the funeral I went to Malawi for a week (10 days including travelling). And then tomorrow I am going away on holiday! It’s our 10^th wedding anniversary so we are spoiling ourselves in a posh hotel for 2 nights, then going on a walking holiday for 2 weeks afterwards.

So, what news in the Paper, Pens and Ink department?

Well, despite harbouring a belief that I don’t get on with Personal size filofaxes, I have just bought another… Why? Well, if I am being totally honest, it was because it was green leather and had two pen loops.

Um... filofax number... oh, let's stop counting!

Are those good reasons??

Um… probably not, but I got it from eBay and didn’t pay a lot for it. I was also curious because I had never seen another one like it.

It’s a Portland (anyone ever heard of it??) and a very dark green. Darker than any current colour. A bit like the dark green boards around the courts at Wimbledon.

Has anyone ever seen this type of FF before?

The interior is also a little different – the left-hand inside cover has a zipped pocket with ‘gusset’ (excellent word!) so coins would be held really easily.

Gusseted zipped pocket on the left

The back cover has credit-card slots, in curved leather slots.

Lovely curved card slots

The spine has the filofax F in the middle of the spine, quite unlike any of my other filofaxes.

When did they change the style of the spine?

The leather is butter soft (perhaps because it is quite old?) and perfectly plain – no embossing or patterning at all. It’s very neutral and would suit men well too I think. It’s all leather – interior as well as the exterior and I think it will wear really well. As I say, I think it might be quite old already, but I don’t know. Anyone any ideas?

I haven’t set it up yet (it only arrived this morning!) but I think it will be a Chimwemwe filofax. Chimwemwe is the name of a charity that I helped to set up in Malawi (and which I have just been able to visit whilst in Malawi on other business) and will help me to keep on track of contacts, projects and finances there. We’ll see. Early days! I will post about it once I have worked out what I’m using it for! [Post now available here]

Interestingly, there was an insert I’ve never seen before inside (perhaps indicating its vintage?) – one for shopping. I think that I will have to try and make my own for these and print them on plain filofax paper.

Interesting shopping list insert

I have also bought a Zebra Sharbo diary pen for the (very) skinny pen slot in my Baroque. So far, it’s working really well – ballpoint and propelling pencil, and very good value as it came with a refill set.

Well, that’s all folks… Sorry to have been so quiet for so long. I’ll try to write again soon (though will be without internet access for 2 weeks, so don’t hold your breath!).

Trying to wed TMI with Filofax (but expecting a divorce…)

I’m not sure if this is really about Paper, Pens or Ink and is verging away from filofaxes… but, after exchanging emails and ideas with a fellow Philofaxer, I have been trying to adapt the Time Manager International (TMI) system for use in a filofax, although so far, without massive success.

Whereas in hell at work, I am well-organised and achieve my goals etc, on the home/personal front, I do less well and I want to try and improve on it. Hence me trying to plan the other areas of my life a little more constructively.

The crux of the TMI system (as far as I can tell) is to think of all the things you aim to do as part of a tree – the goals are the trunk, then coming from those goals are key areas (branches) and then under the key areas are tasks to be achieved in those key areas (twigs) and under this are the activities needed to complete the task (leaves). The activities seem to translate to ‘to do’ although they are specifically linked to the tasks and key areas. Anything else is a ‘don’t forget’ (like – don’t forget to pick up your dry cleaning).

Well, I’ve tried to write out some key areas (writing; Chimwemwe work; the garden; etc), and underneath those key areas the tasks (finish novel #3; raise £1000 for Chimwemwe by autumn; finish re-organising the big border; etc). Then I did the activities (short-term and long-term) that are required to accomplish the tasks (and ultimately contribute towards the goal) but now I’m a bit stuck. My gut feeling has been to put them all together in one ‘to-do’ section which would also have my ‘don’t forget’ stuff in and then transcribe activities onto weekly and daily lists. However, the TMI system seems to have the sections separated (from my reading of it, though I am happy to be corrected), where the goals go together, then all the key areas for that goal and then all the tasks and then the activities, but that is way too much filing for someone like me where out of sight is most definitely out of mind! I think I must be blending other systems into the TMI system because what I have done is to put the activities for the key areas onto separate sheets (one for each key area) and then file them behind the ‘don’t forget’ page in the ‘to-do’ section. The trick appears to be, to turn over the page and read through all the activities when planning the week and the day.

I know – I am an educated woman who, amazingly, holds down a well paid job and who can at times make OCD look slapdash. So (you’d think!) turning the page wouldn’t be that taxing. Well, it’s taking a bit of getting used to, because my usual method is to put a star-rating next to each work-related task when I’m in hell at work, and to do the *** ones first and the * ones last and so when I’m planning my work day/week, I scan down the big to-do list looking for the ***.

Although at work, that makes compiling my daily/weekly lists pretty easy to sort out, at home it’s taking a bit of getting used to. The trouble is that I find it hard with several pretty equal strands to rate which activity is the most important. Consequently, nothing has a * and certainly nothing has *** so I stare at my list and feel a bit lost. Then I write out far too much stuff for the day and don’t get it done and then I feel like I’m unproductive…

Only time will tell how well I get on with this.

How do others sort their ‘key areas’ and task lists? I honestly feel like I’m making this way harder than it should be!

Help??

The Turquoise Baroque is here…

Well, Filofax France has delivered my new turquoise baroque sooner than expected (although without a world map… There wasn’t one in the pink one either. I pointed this out to them as it is described as containing one and they have sent two cartes du monde to me tout suite).

So, what’s it like?

It came in a slip-case (sadly, as they are nowhere near as useful as the boxes for keeping spare sheets etc. in). The diary is a week on two pages, horizontally arranged, with no lines. (This is the version.)

The other contents were fairly standard. There was a clear transparent sheet, six labelled dividers (surprisingly in English, considering I bought it from France), several sheets of coloured paper, to-do sheets, bank account sheets, personal expense sheets, business card holder, Today page marker/ruler, A-Z dividers and address sheets. As I said, a world map was listed on the site but not supplied.

It is an interesting colour. I’m not sure others would necessarily describe it as turquoise. It’s a blue with a hint of green in it, but perhaps not green enough to be truly turquoise. However, it is a beautiful colour and I am sorely tempted to move the contents of the pink (rose électrique!) version into it. The interior is glorious. In some ways, the embossing is more obvious because of the colour.

It's not as bright as this...

More this colour, though a bit greener

Isn't the embossing fabulous!

 

And am I also going to get a crimson Malden…?

No.

Despite Caribbean Princess’s impressive enabling skills, and despite the fact that they are a really good price at City Organiser, I don’t think that I will. I had been very tempted by the Malden because I was worried that the pink was too girly and not quite professional-looking enough, but the blue/turquoise/teal is just fine on that count. And taking a sensible view (ha ha ha ha ha!), I honestly can’t justify getting one! I can barely justify getting this one!

I know everyone adores their Maldens and it does look like a lovely filofax, but I will stay individual with my baroques. The interior is almost the same layout but the embossing on the inside makes it just that bit more special!

So, how will I use it? Well, I love it and I love the pink one too, but tempted as I am to shift everything into the new one immediately, I think I am going to try and save it until the autumn and move everything over on the equinox. Turquoise for autumn-winter and pink for spring-summer.

I know.

I see the flaw too.

Only two filofaxes???

Aye. Right.

As DH would say: “That’s an aspiration, not necessarily an outcome.”

Other posts on the Baroque:
In-the-bag test of the Baroque (part 1)
In-the-bag test of the Baroque (part 2)
The Personal Baroque (part 3)

The Personal Baroque (part 3)

Well, I am surprised!

I have tried to use a personal size filofax I don’t know how many times and failed. Every single time. Seriously. Left it on a desk and wished it would go away kind of failed.

But…

Maybe this is the one.

(Or maybe I’m still only a week in and haven’t got fed up yet?)

I’ve actually converted it to not only be my diary/notes/to do list thing, but incorporated the contents of the mini-baroque purse-o-fax. I have now shifted my business cards out of the zipped pocket and put my coins in there, put my commonly used bank cards/credit cards in the slots on the LHS, tucked some vouchers and stamps into the slots, put store cards and so on in a card holder in the back, and used the vertical full-height pocket to put money (notes) in. I have to say, the layout of the pockets and slots and things is currently working really well for me. The mini had the zipped pocket behind the cards and it didn't work at all.
My supermarket loyalty card (which is meant to go on a key-ring) has been transferred to the rings and my business cards are in the plastic pocket (along with the guinea-fowl card and a picture of me and DH).

Updated picture to show the wallet-function on the LHS

I still hate the diary (the one that I transferred from the city dweller pack) but not so much that I am going to use the WO2P version that came with it and transcribe things across. I’m one of those who is not a fan of the Dodo pads (sorry to those of you who are) and so even though they are practically giving them away on eBay, I won’t be getting one. I’ll struggle on with the current thing until I crack (and then resort to the WO2P probably). Assuming the love-affair with the Baroque is still going strong, I will get a lined WO2P for next year and insert a sheet of lined paper where needed for my daily-list.

Diary pages showing horrible city dweller greyness, miniscule writing and my 'daily bucket' on the RHS - scrap paper with 3 holes punched in it.

The pen-slot still seems extremely small (it holds a pencil just fine; anything any bigger… nah) but I have transferred a slimline ballpoint over. You can see it in the picture above. It really was too hard to get the filofax pen out (and I don’t like writing with it much anyway!).

I decided to personalise some of the dividers...

Personalised divider for the to-do lists section



Personalised divider for Diary - the expression on this cat epitomises my feelings some days!



Personalised info divider page

Anyway, I love it so much (and I always debated and debated over the colour – turquoise or pink? Turquoise or pink??) that I have now just ordered the turquoise from the French site too (since it really won’t be around forever!). Is that just utter madness? If you’re on the look-out for refills/dividers etc – check out the ‘for sale’ page on here. When the turquoise filofax arrives, most of its contents will be on there!

But... Caribbean Princess has also thrown a right royal spanner in the works, with her crimson Malden. Oh, what's a girl to do?? Get the Malden as well???

Either way of course, the question will be: which one to carry around with me?

Other posts on the Baroque:
In-the-bag test of the Baroque (part 1)
In-the-bag test of the Baroque (part 2)
The Turquoise Baroque is here…

In-the-bag test of the Baroque (part 2)

Well, how is it all turning out? A bit of a Curate’s Egg.

How have I set it up?

Largely as I thought I would.

Anatomy:

The Baroque looks smooth on the outside, but when you open it up – wow! There is this fabulous embossing (which is what made me buy it!). It is a decidedly pretty filofax.

On the left it has a full height, zipped pocket. This could be used for coins but I have my business cards in it. Behind that are 6 half-height pockets and one full height pocket. On the right-hand-side it has a slot for a notepad (though this could also be used as another pocket) and the thinnest pen-loop you can imagine! I have managed to get my slim Parker ball-point in there (Parker Sonnet) and there is no slack. The mini pen I got free from filofax with the Gourmet set just about goes in there as long as you don’t want it to go in as far as the clip. I’ve found the loops on my A5 Finchley (strangely, just the red one…) to be tight too. [The ones on my jade Finchley are quite roomy and I can easily get a Frixion pen in them.] Anyway, the Baroque has the mini FF pen in there but it looks a bit odd as it is only half in the slot. Maybe it will stretch a bit with use?

Set-up:

First up I have a pocket (sadly slightly opaque) with a card from Malawi in of guinea-fowl, made from feathers. These were being sold in aid of a school when I was there and I just adored them. I bought about 10 packs of the cards and everyone always likes them. Anyway, it’s in there to remind me of Malawi and to make me smile.

the little birds always make me smile

Behind it I have a clear plastic page and then a home-made organisation-sheet to indicate what’s behind the different tabs. These are three of the four buckets: to-do, diary and information. Immediately behind the home-made sheet are about 20 pages of note-paper to act as a landing pad. Some of this is filofax paper but most of it has been salvaged from old non-filofax organisers that were in the cupboard!

See what I mean about the pen!?

The to-do list is self-explanatory – it covers everything in my life I have to do, except the stuff from purgatory work. I have also put shopping lists in here on a separate page.

The diary – I am using up the city-dweller diary that came in the Gourmet filofax, but I’m glad I need it for nothing more than an aide-memoire as the unremitting grey and tiny font is already driving me crazy. If the in-the-bag trial works out, I will get a lined, WO2P for next year and insert notepaper between the pages to use for my daily-list. At the moment I am just writing the daily-list on the bit where I am supposed to note ‘life’ and ‘play’ things. My handwriting seems to have miniaturised itself too to fit on the diary bit! Not a long-term ideal.

TINY writing needed for the diary bit...

In the information section, I currently have a bit of a mish-mash of things – the personal info,  SOS, travel itinerary, dilemmas, commuter games, top takeaways, fitness plan (nice juxtaposition I thought…) and www pages (all from the city dweller pack). The rest of the guff in the city dweller pack is in a ‘top-up’ non-filofax organiser, along with spare sheets for everything else. Tucked behind this plethora is another home-made divider labelled notes and is the place where I have noted things to look out for (books, websites, blogs etc) and then an A-Z with contacts.

I love these calligraphy animals

Right at the very back (acting largely as a protector since it is empty) is a credit-card holder. In time, I may be so used to carrying this around that I combine my wallet with it. There’s plenty of credit-card space and the zipped pocket could get used for coins (or I could shift the purse-hack out of the mini into it).

Check back in a week to see whether it is still making it into the bag with me!

In-the-bag test of the Baroque (part 1)
The Personal Baroque (part 3)
The Turquoise Baroque is here…

In-the-bag test of the Baroque (part 1)

After I did a compare and contrast for an ‘in-the-handbag’ filofax (A5 or personal – see here) I have been bag-testing the Baroque personal.

As it was when it arrived...

I bought this gorgeous little thing from the French filofax site and I use its baby sister the mini as my wallet. When I bought it, I was thinking ‘Why?’ as I have tried to use a personal size filofax in the past and always given up (and just been disorganised. I don’t especially get on with electronic things either…). It always seemed too small to write in.

A personal has failed for me for one main reason. When I am out and about, I like to write. These could be blog ideas, character notes for a story, plot ideas, etc. The personal never worked for me because the rings got in the way. Someone on here suggested that I try a slimline filofax as the rings were smaller but the rest of my writing stuff is in an A5 binder and an A5 slimline (do they even exist?) would probably still be big.

But I think I have solved it.

If the journey is big/long enough to warrant taking my writing filofax with me, it goes on the trip. If it isn’t, then it stays at home and I take my Cartesio notebook with me. On short trips, I am probably just scribbling ideas that need fleshing out (which I can then do when I am at home and reunited with the A5 writing filofax) and so the smaller notebook isn’t a problem. The Cartesio, having sewn-in pages, has no problem with the rings getting in the way and although not a true hardback, is firm enough to write in with it balanced on your knee.

The Baroque then covers everything else that isn’t writing-related. I realise this isn’t ideal and that I’m carrying two things rather than managing to combine them, but I’m willing to give it a go as the combined weight of the Baroque and the Cartesio is still less than the A5 filofax.

I admit it... the A5 is a bit of a beast

I’ll post on how I finally set the Baroque up soon.

sneak preview...

Other posts on the Baroque:
In-the-bag test of the Baroque (part 2)
The Personal Baroque (part 3)
The Turquoise Baroque is here…

That old chestnut... A5 or personal?

I do love my filofaxes, but I am struggling to get one to work ‘in the handbag’ for me.

I keep wanting to get on with a personal size (and I keep on looking at the beautiful Baroque and sighing) but it still just doesn’t seem to be happening for me. It’s a shame because I have (um, several…) beautiful filofaxes without a use (yes… how did that happen??) But, I have the age-old dilemma of wanting to carry something small around with me, but feeling as though I need something larger to make it useable.

My work set-up (which I blogged about here) is still ticking all the boxes for me. It uses a modified four bucket system and so far, has not let me down. But, I only thankfully work part-time and the jade Finchley stays at work and I currently don’t have a home-filofax that travels. I have a writing filofax which makes the odd trip, but not something that I couldn’t leave the house without.

Since my work filofax set-up is going so well, a huge chunk of me wants to replicate it for a home version. The modified four-buckets system would still work well – diary, to-do (‘global’ but non-work), the daily plan, and information (addresses, personal info etc). I would always add a ‘notes’ section as a fifth bucket – basically a landing pad for jotting things down which then gets sorted more usefully. But, do I replicate it in the personal size or in the A5?

I’m generally an A5 girl (ahem… woman) – I like the ability to produce my own pages and I love the space to be creative, but is that what I need for my carry-around?

Let’s take each section/bucket and think about it.

Diary

Oh yes. Let’s start with the difficult one!

Now, those of you who follow my ramblings here and on Philofaxy will know that I have talked about the DO2P being my thing, since I like to have my daily To-Do list and so on to hand. But… I also like need to see my week to view and life is too short to write things out again and again. With a work diary, and a week to view and then also a daily one in a carry-around, this seems like too much effort and a chance for things to go wrong. I also only need a non-work filofax to plan half of my week since the work half is planned brilliantly in my jade Finch. So to my mind, a whole year of week on 2 pages diary when I only need it to plan about half the week (and then not really the weekends) is just too much. I also don’t have squillions of non-work appointments in a day and so I reckon a week on one page with notes would be the format to go for in a carry-around. Then I would know what was coming up at work (in a “am-I-lecturing-first-thing-tomorrow?” kind of panic way) and have space to write notes relating to the week . Since I don’t really care which side of the rings the diary is, I also reckon I could do a fix with the basic week on a page diary interleaved with notes or to-do pages, but we’ll see.

A5 or Personal? As long as it lies flat out of the box so I can have it open on my desk at home when I need to, to see both sides of the diary pages, the size isn’t important. I can handle taking the pages out to write the daily list in if the rings get in the way and probably don’t need the size of the A5 if I’m honest.

To-Do

Thankfully, life splits easily into work and not-work and this would be for everything ‘not work’. Again, I am happy to take the pages out of the filofax if I have to (but would prefer not to). I do like the big pages because to-do lists can run on a bit, but it wouldn’t be a deal-breaker. I often make a To-Do hack of drawing a line down the RHS of a normal lined sheet of paper (for ticking things off) and writing To-Do on the top of the page. In a personal size, this would give me more than enough space.

The daily plan

This is where I struggle on non-work days. I generally work better if I plan my days by putting things from the global to-do list into real time slots – i.e. scheduling the tasks. At work, I use scrap paper (A6 size), punched with three holes (to fit one set of rings on the A5) and I throw them away at the end of the day, which implies that the personal size would be okay and the A5 perhaps too big.

Information

Another area where I have found working out what to carry around more tricky than I expected. The filofax should be a repository for all the important information, like addresses and phone numbers of friends, contacts and services. I even have some ‘yellow-pages’ personal size address pages to put the details of essential companies on. So why are these still written on scraps of paper or just circled in the phone book? More because I haven’t put the effort in than because the size/format is wrong. Again, no need for the A5 size and I have plenty of personal-size inserts that would work (and the yellow-pages ones would be excellent).

Landing pad

I like my landing pad to be either a block of paper near the front or a pad of paper in the back cover in an A5 binder. In a personal, this would have to be a pad in the back because of the rings/large hands issues. Incidentally, my personal-size Baroque has a slot for a pad in the back…

Other stuff

Yes, I know, there isn’t an ‘other stuff’ bucket (and probably nor should there be) but this is about aesthetics and personal things, like, I want to carry around some cards or pictures with me to remind me of people/things etc. In an A5 this would be easy-peasy because I have splashed out on a hole-punch. For the personal, short of buying a personal-size punch this would be less easy-peasy. I find the filofax hole-punches a complete rip off, but there is probably a non-filofax hole-punch that would be the right size for the personal (whereas there just wasn’t for the A5). Maybe if it would make me carry a personal size filofax, the expense of a hole-punch would be worth it.

I’ve already said that I like to make my own inserts for the A5 and these are incredibly easy with A4 paper, booklet printing and a hole-punch. I even get them all to match using the same cream printer paper, which gives an extra point to the A5 size. However, in the personal size’s favour, you can get lots of other brands to fit in, as well as filofax’s own brands which makes less need for custom pages. In addition, I could buy a pack of plain filofax paper and print onto it for anything else that I needed.

Weight: A5-girl as I am, even I recognise that the personal has the edge when it comes to the sheer size if the thing!

You know, in writing this, I’ve just about persuaded myself to give the Baroque a spin and see how it goes… Keep you posted!

Cartesio - I take it all back...

DH is a keen photographer and while that is wonderful, it does also involve quite a lot of waiting around while the clouds become ‘just right’ and the light is in the right place and so on. During these times, I usually spend a few minutes gazing at the scenery and then I usually wander off into my own little world in my head, the product of which can be a blog idea, a character developing a personality, a plot development or other such thing. In my last post, I was bemoaning the fact that I wanted a notebook for jotting down these creative ideas, but that I wanted to be able to sort the pages and re-file them into different categories.

Well, since then, I’ve been away on vacation and I packed to take with me: my A5 writing filofax (Finchley), a personal size filofax (Domino) and my Cartesio notebook. And what did I write in the most and which did I carry around with me the most? The Cartesio.

So, were the others there just for a trip?

Hmm… kind of!

The A5 was a) a bit big to carry around (although, I did have a rucksack with me so that wasn’t the main problem) and b) not quite stiff enough to write on. I love that it lies flat on my desk, but it is a bit floppy for writing on whilst perched on a rock, somewhere halfway up a hill in Mull.

The Domino was taken on holiday because I am trying to record a food diary, although I did carry it around with me to use as a notebook after the A5 failed me. As ever, the rings got in the way for writing and it annoyed me, so although it was stiff enough to work well for scribbling in, I gave up on it pretty sharpish.

Which left me with my old friend the Cartesio, which is small enough and light enough to travel easily, has a stiff enough cover to write in it with it perched on my knees and lies flat enough (and has no rings) to make scribbling my ideas down easily.

Picture from The Journal Shop

But… my complaint was that you can’t re-file the pages when you get back from out and about.

It has turned out to be less of a problem than I thought it would be. I’ve started to do two things: 1) coding what the scribble is about (writing in corner of the page and circling it… yes I know. How original!) and 2) cutting the corner off when I have dealt with the scribble.

I found that when I came to deal with the scribble, I was generally using it as a spring-board for more detail. Rather than needing to file the notes as something that was ready and complete, I was tending to flesh out the notes and I could do that straight into the writing filofax.

So, my trusty old Cartesio is my steady travelling companion and we’re getting on just fine.

You can (and should) judge a book by its cover…

I’ve blogged earlier about different kinds of notebooks (see here) and about what makes a good notebook. I’m currently hunting for the perfect notebook for jotting down ideas – ideas about blogs, articles, stories, etc. These are not ‘remember to get the dry-cleaning’ kind of jottings, or ‘look for this book’ etc. For those, I use a mini filofax (the purse-o-fax – see earlier blog post here). The notebook is to capture creative ideas while I am out and about.

Why not just use a filofax? Instead of/as well as carrying the mini, carry a bigger one to write in? And I do love a nice filofax! I love a) the flexibility of the system and b) the tactile feel and luxury of them and I already have a good number to my name (some without uses at the moment!). So why don’t I just use a filofax for an ideas notebook?

Hmm… this is where size starts to matter. Whatever I use needs to be light enough for me to want to carry around, even on a small walk (as opposed to a proper walk with a rucksack), but not so small or awkward I won’t enjoy using it. If I carry a personal filofax, the rings annoy me and writing in it is a pain; anything bigger than that starts to be a bit too heavy.

Okay, so what’s wrong with my current notebook de jour – my Cartesio  in sea-green (large - 21cm x 13cm)? This is the perfect size, has a beautiful cover that makes me want to use it, and if needed, it tucks into the vertical pocket of my A5 Finchley filofaxes. Sounds perfect, no?

Well, on Monday I might have a thought about a blog and on Tuesday think of a great plot for a story and Wednesday think of an article… and then all the ideas will become jumbled up. I want to be able to file things and a sewn notebook like the Cartesio doesn’t let me do that.

So, I’m torn between the flexibility of being able to move pages around and the ability to write easily across the whole surface, without having to stop and take pages out (as I would with a filofax). And, whatever I decide on has to feel beautiful to use and be fabulous to look at.

What I really want is a notebook where I can pull the pages out to file them, has paper that is a delight to write on and which has a beautiful cover. (Otherwise I could use any one of a whole host of nasty little notebooks where you can pull the pages out).

Any suggestions??

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is possibly the epitome of ‘paper, pens and ink’. There is something glorious about the shapes, forms and expressions involved. You will have seen the calligraphy animals I have used on some of the divider pages in my filofax. I find these incredibly beautiful – a beauty I imagine is only increased if you also understand the words making the forms. They are created with nothing more complex than a pen and some paper and yet the animals are incredibly detailed, intricate and delicate. Two of my favourites are the elephant and the zebra. There is a good blog about the calligraphy - BibliOdyssey, although it hasn't been updated in a while.

My love of calligraphy goes back to early Christian texts and the fabulous illustrations in so many mediaeval books. Many years ago I bought a facsimile copy of the book of Kells and I can still marvel at both the writing and the illuminated pages. Like the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Book of Kells is a stunning example of Insular art (Wikipedia link). The style of writing used gives its name to the insular script or ‘hand’ in calligraphy and the style of the writing and especially the illustrations, is markedly different to other European manuscripts of the same era.

Dog from the Book of Kells

I have tried my hand at calligraphy, but not to any great success so far. It certainly is a case of practice, practice, practice! The time it must have taken to create the mediaeval books is phenomenal and when you think that the inks, the quills and the vellum all needed to be produced by hand, it is an extraordinary achievement.

My admiration goes out to those who are so much more skilled than I am ever likely to be.