This was a consistent month in my planner life, which feels as I type it like the kind of comment you put on your child’s school report – Pamela has had a consistent month in her planner and we are pleased with the progress she has made. Which reminds me that I don’t know if I have ever covered here my attitude to my name. I have always used the full name Pamela and the shortened version Pam interchangeably and don’t care which I’m addressed by. I am quite frequently called Pamelaaaar (à la Gavin and Stacey) which also doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Anyway, a consistent month.

Consistency aside, though, I did make a change mid-month when I deconstructed my bound Stamford Notebook Company diary, laboriously trimmed and punched the pages, and inserted them into my A5 Filofax Original cover. I have to say I am much happier with this setup because it sits open at the current week when I’m at home, but fastens securely when it travels in my bag. I also like having my pen and ruler with me in the cover. I took the opportunity to change from the Filofax Indigo plastic dividers to their pastel Expressions version which I like better with the fuchsia leather cover. Whilst I have always wanted a blue planner cover, I don’t think I’d be disappointed if I never got to change my fuchsia covers (I have the A5 and the Personal size).

I’ve covered the pens and inks I used in a separate blog post, so I’ll just quickly say that for most of the month I was using Diamine Majestic Purple as my main ink colour and Graf von Faber-Castell Electric Pink as a contrast. I’m really happy with this combination of colours and I have no doubt I’ll revisit again frequently.

4-10 April 2022: Washi and stickers and a random Gulf Blue entry made at work. I particularly like my Kill Microsoft 365 comment – my personal subscription should finally end soon. I used a David Cassidy quote for the week and was stunned at how appropriate it was that I saw two partridges running around a local car park that week it’s not really a usual city sight, even in this fairly rural neck of the woods.

11-17 April: A sticker-free week, but I really like the double-lining I’ve used to break sections. This week’s quote from is from Blakes 7. I started to crave my A5 Filofax again and made the move over the weekend. I tried setting up a Filofax Week to View diary I’ve got on hand, but I prefer the paper and layout of the Stamford Notebook Company product.

18-24 April: This week I received the Expressions dividers and the Filofax felt quite settled. It seems a plain week, but I like the end result. It took me all week to find a quote, then at the weekend I happened across this line from a Gilbert O’Sullivan song and it seemed just the thing.

25-30 April: This is the week where my planner pen ran dry and I changed it up for my dad’s old Parker 51 filled with Graf von Faber-Castell Cobalt Blue, not that it’s easy to tell the difference in the photo. I’m definintely leaning towards a much cleaner look in my planner, just words in ink, and the two stickers I used feel unnecessary. The quote from Bread (the band, not the 1980s sitcom) felt right for the week in which we give a nod to my mum’s birthday.

As I say, consistent. The Filofax is a bit more cumbersome to carry back and forth to work. It feels like just a little too much on the days when I have my work laptop to carry, but that isn’t every day and I’m still experimenting with different bags from my collection to see which one has the best compromise between protection from the elements, accessibility, compactness and roominess. This coming week I’m going to be trying out my old bike rack pack which is a pretty solid contender and gets put to a lot of uses such as swimming bag and camera bag. It has good accessibility with three external pockets and a nice roomy main compartment. I do consistently carry my lovely red briefcase which is the perfect fit for the work laptop and the Things To Do Today pad.