March was very much a workhorse month for me on the planning front. I used what I’ve got, got into the new archiving routine, and dreamed more than a little about the future.

My Filofax, the personal-sized Holborn, continues to do sterling work as my everyday companion. I worry that I haven’t entirely committed to it because I don’t use it as much as I could, or as I think that I should. The day to a page diary I have in it does seem too much space for most of the week, although there was only one day in March when I didn’t use the page at all. It’s good to have the space to be able to jot down notes when or if I need to and so, at the moment, I don’t feel any burning need to change to a different layout.

As to the paper, well it’s holding up incredibly well to fountain pen inks, though my preference for extra-fine nibs and well-behaved inks clearly plays a part in this performance. Speaking of pens, I used my new Lamy Safari for the first three weeks of the month, then swapped back to the Montblanc shortly before the Safari ran out of ink. I loved the way the Safari’s colour matched the Holborn’s leather, but hated the strain it put on the pen loop. When the Filofax was closed, the Safari didn’t seem quite the comfortable fit that the Montblanc Slimline pen is. It just feels like the Filofax and the Montblanc were made for each other, which makes sense as in some ways they both belong in the 1980s. As to the Safari, it will join my other pens in my regular rotation for journalling, note-taking, and work.

As I say, I don’t feel a need to change the diary layout in the Filofax, but I do want to increase the things I’m carrying in it. It is feeling a little “bare bones” at the moment; it lacks inspiration in two directions. Firstly, I haven’t been inspired in setting it up to be more than a purely functional area and, secondly, it doesn’t provide me with the inspiration that it could if I just put a little more effort into it. This is entirely my fault as I’ve spent time pondering other, far-future, planning options instead of zoning in on the here and now. So, for April, I think I will look at what I can do to optimise this Filofax’s insides and make it into a slightly more creative space, though I’m not entirely sure what that might involve.

For the past month, my creative moments have been captured within my William Hannah notebook with its more expansive A5 pages. It’s been my companion when I go out to cafés with the intention of doing a little observational writing and when I’m sitting at home in pondering mode. I’ve also been toying with using it for One Book July, but that’s a good way ahead and my thoughts may change significantly before that point.

I have a month of weekly archiving using William Hannah week to page diary inserts under my belt now, and it is working quite well. I do feel that re-writing my entries at the end of the week detracts something from the authenticity of the archive, so I’m in a bit of a watching and waiting phase with it. I perhaps haven’t quite decided whether or not I like it. This indecision is indicative of the general feeling I have that I am waiting for the next big life change to come along and make things fall into place. I would like to bring my focus back more to here and now because the future remains a little too far ahead, a little too nebulous, and there isn’t any planner in the world that is going to make it come any quicker!

My currently inked pens list for April consists of:
Waterman Hemisphere L’Essence du Bleu with Waterman Inspired Blue – Newly inked for the start of April, this continues my exploration of my lovely L’Essence du Bleu pen and my existing inks. I have a good feeling about this combination as Inspired Blue is one of my favourite ink colours. It’s bright and cheerful and should bring a hit of summer seas into my pen lineup. This pen is replacing the Kaweco in my 3-pen pouch for no other reason than that it fits better. It also means there are 2 Hemispheres in the pouch (or is that a whole sphere?).
Waterman Hemisphere Rose Cuivre with Pilot Iroshizuku Yu-Yake – This combination seems set to spend a significant part of the year in my pen pouch. Since I inked it up in early February I haven’t really wanted to change from this highlight colour.
Montblanc Slimline with Montblanc Midnight Blue – As I’ve already mentioned, I’m back to this combination for my Filofax. Don’t mess with the fates. I use Montblanc cartridges with this pen and currently have a Midnight Blue one in the pen. I have one more Midnight Blue cartridge in my collection then I’ll probably move on to the Amethyst Purple ones which should see me through the year.
Kaweco Collection Iguana Blue Al-Sport with Kaweco Caramel Brown – I inked this up in March when I finished the fills in the Namisu Orion and the Lamy Safari and there’s still half a cartridge of ink left to use. It’s been my main journal pen and has also travelled to work with me. I do enjoy writing with the extra-fine nib, especially on the slightly narrower lines of the Letts of London notebook.