“You, boy! What day is it?” cried Scrooge.

“Why, it’s World Stationery Day!” the boy replied.

Scrooge threw down a sovereign into the snow. “Quick,” he called, “hurry to the stationer’s and buy the biggest pen in the whole shop!”

Well, I shan’t be celebrating World Stationery Day in quite such lavish style, but I’ve been doing my bit to prepare for it.

In the spirit of the ghost of Stationery Days past, I spent more time than I can justify this weekend deconstructing my Stamford Notebook Company bound diary and punching the pages to put in my A5 Filofax Original. This is the very antithesis of lightening my daily load, but glancing at the page obediently lying open beside me makes it all worthwhile. I like this planner, and it does tend to call to me when I use something else for too long.

I’m still using my trust Waterman Hemisphere, though the Diamine Majestic Purple ink is getting low. I have a yen to fill Dad’s old Parker 51 next, but I have an even stronger yen to empty the bottle of Majestic Purple so I’ll be sticking with pens I can fill with a syringe for a little while yet.

In some ways, I find Stationery Eve is the most exciting time – like the night before Christmas it is all about quiet contemplation before the bustle of the day arrives. Hunkering down with candles and the plans of years gone by, gleaning ideas to revisit, enjoying ink colours and page layouts and all manner of forgotten happiness.

Now all that is left is to wish you a very merry Stationery Day, one and all.