We are heading towards the middle of the year and, somewhere out in the void, things are stirring. The year was nothing more than potential to start with: a cloud of dust, thick in places, almost transparent in others, swirling its way through space. Then, slowly, the dust coalesced and thin strips of thought shone out, all pink and green and violet. And the thoughts spun faster than the dust. One thought in a million collided with another, releasing a flash of heat and light as they melded into a glowing, molten idea. And the ideas, few and far between, spun faster than the thoughts. This process quickened into a chain of events as ideas clustered into the blue and green and rust and ivory of fully-formed plans. And the plans, rare moments of solidity in the tumultuous dance of dust, spun faster than the ideas. Thus, in the universal nursery of years, 2024 has been taking shape.

As years go, this one is a bit of a slow burner, and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in my relationship with the personal-sized Filofax Holborn. Every month so far, I have fixated on more glamourous options, planning strategies for some mythical future time or some mythical future me. Yet through it all, the Holborn has been sitting companionably by my side quietly doing what I need. It’s like those movies where the hero is hopelessly besotted with the town beauty whilst the quirky, homely girl-next-door gets on with being his perfect companion. It is only lately I have started to feel completely at home when I pick up the Holborn. The more I use it, the more everything falls into place.

As a companion, it isn’t quite there yet, but it’s edging closer every day. Since the beginning of June I have been chewing away at the old question of how to carry A5 paper, only to find the simple solution is to have some loose sheets folded in half in the back pocket of the planner. When I am out and about, in a café or on my lunch break at work, and I feel inspired to write some long-form notes, I can whip out the pages and start writing. When I return home any used sheets can be transferred to my choice of permanent storage (still working on that) and the paper replaced with some more blank sheets.

I’m in the process of using up some stationery from my stash which is a promise I made to myself at the start of the year. One item is the last few pages from a pad of decorative Filofax To Do sheets, and there are enough of these to see me through the rest of the year. The main content of the Filofax is split between the diary and the notes pages. Ruled notepaper is a must and I’m coming to the end of a pack which I feel sure I must have cut down at some point from the pages of a dismantled notebook. The paper is high quality with my preferred wide line spacing, and I shall be sad when this is used up. However, I have a good bundle of pages I’ve made from William Hannah’s paper, and as I’m currently craving dark blue ink on bright, white paper this fits the bill perfectly.

Speaking of dark blue ink, I’m on my final cartridge of Montblanc’s Midnight Blue. When I finish this I’ll move on to the box of their Amethyst Purple cartridges. I like the blue just marginally more than the purple, but both of them work equally well with the Holborn.

The most recent addition to my set-up is the inclusion of my monthly horoscope page. Up to now, I’ve written this in my journal, but I’ve been thinking about including it in my Filofax and so this month I am giving it a try. Anyone familiar with the current craze for the Plotter ring-planner system will instantly recognise the inspiration behind this page. The minute I saw their “Project Manager Folder” I thought it was a very clever idea and I adapted the style of folding to incorporate an A5 landscape page with my horoscope safely written inside. I’m very pleased with how it’s turned out and I’ll be doing this every month from now on. At the end of the month, the folder can tuck into my journal for posterity.

For my tastes, the binder is now full to capacity and it contains most of the elements I want to keep with me as I go about my everyday life. More importantly, it feels just right – good weight, lovely leather (I’ve heard disparaging remarks about the leather quality on the current Holborns but I disagree), and just the right level of rigidity so that it feels structured but will still sit open on a desk or in the hand.

The plan for June is to carry on as I am. It’s not quite time to be seriously contemplating the diary format for next year, though I am formulating some opinions about that. In the meantime, it’s always fun to browse the inserts in Jarrolds and dream about what could be.