Friday, January 30, 2015

February - A Month of Letters


Photo via: education-portal.com

The joys of writing a letter with your favorite fountain pen! In February we celebrate the event known as a "Month of Letters". The point - write one letter each day of the month. To a family member, friend, acquaintance, whomever you choose! Maybe write a letter each day to your children or spouse. Keepsakes. Last summer my aunt in Montana passed away. When her daughters found a keepsake box, they discovered letters that she had written to them. Letters that she never sent; that were never meant to be sent. Letters to be discovered many years after the date in which she wrote them. I can only imagine what the letters contained. Words of wisdom, loving words of encouragement, knowledge to be shared, and possibly even personal experiences. Who knows! Personally, I have been thinking of doing something similar for my children. Writing letters  to them and putting them in a keepsake box. I could even go further in the look of the letter and have them sent back to myself (with their names addressed on the envelopes).

There is even a Facebook page/community dedicated to this Month of Letter writing called "A Month of Letters Challenge"

Over at the Well Appointed Desk, they also talk about Letter Writing Month. There are even some ideas to get you involved and started in writing some letters.





And why not add some style to your letters this month as well...with snazzy heart stamps.

A card to a friend telling them that they are in your thoughts, with some well wishes. A letter to the grandma whom you have not heard from in forever. A letter to a parent. Anyway that you can think of celebrating this event, do so in an enjoyable manner. Have fun with it!

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Baby Goat Pictures!!!

I finally was able to get some pictures! Yay! It is not easy to get good pictures of these little guys/gals since they rarely stay still.

Firefly, our first red boer cross girl

The above picture is of my favorite little girl! She is officially a week old today. Firefly is the name my husband chose. I absolutely LOVE her floppy ears! And she looks like her daddy too!

Firefly and her little yellow jacket
 She is such a cutie! And a little bundle of joy!

One of the twin boys that our other doe had.
This little guy was born only a day after Firefly way. He is one of two bucklings that our black headed doe Lemma had. She is such a great mom! Look at that healthy good looking buck! We are pretty sure that the father of this cutie and his brother is my favorite goat (and pet) Ice.

We still have two more does left to kidd out...and I am really looking forward to seeing what they look like.

Well, in other news, I have decided to go through my stash of fountain pens. I am thinking about selling a couple of them. They just do not get a lot of use, since you can only write with so many pens at one time! LOL.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Update and Future Reviews

Wow, it has been a while since my last post! Quiet honestly, I have been really busy here at our residence. As some of you many know, we breed goats and several of our does kidded last week! Cute babies. Sadly, one of them had to be put down a couple days ago due to intestinal complications/blockage. That was a say day indeed for not only myself and my husband but for our oldest son as well. I was pretty upset since I had to hand feed this baby goat. But, I suppose that is life and in the animal kingdom; the strong survive. The little guy had issues since day one when he was born. Thankfully his little sister is blessed to be living still. She is a cutie! I hope to post pictures in the near future of our little babies.

In the pen and journal world, I have some reviews of a new journal that I hope to finish real soon. Along with the addition several new ink samples and another pen or two. So, to my fellow writers and readers, I hope to have some new posts very soon! Thank you for keeping with me and for your patience! Have a good evening.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Conklin Duragraph Fountain Pen "Amber" - Review



Another lovely pen from Conklin that I purchased a while back. The Conklin Duragraph in "Amber". Gorgeous pen with lots of shimmer. I tried my best to capture (with the light I had) the best qualities of this pen. Now, onto the review...


Brand: Conklin
Model: Duragraph
Color: "Amber" edition
Nib Size: Stub nib
Price: $44 (average)
Other: Takes a cartridge or converter.
Twist cap
Chrome trim and resin body.




It definitely was a bit tricky to capture the beauty of this pen with the lighting I had. It is so much better in person than what I can photograph! A pen that is comfortable to use, easy to use, durable, and reliable for a reasonable price...who could ask for more?!


Black and Orange "Amber" swirls.

I love copper and burnt orange colors. Amber is actually my birthstone as well, so no wonder it is a favorite for me! And the best part is no pen is made exactly alike. So the swirl patters from one Duragraph pen to the next will be completely different. Elegance, beauty, artwork.... okay, ya get the point.



More swirls....


Stub nib (Different from an Italic nib)

A true stub nib... Smooth! I have a Lamy 1.1mm Italic nib pen...and this Conklin writes smoother than it ANY day. It can sit for days - a week - without being touched and starts right up (part of that has to do with the ink as well). There is a bit of feedback, however, but nothing compared to my other italic or stub pens. And much to my surprise, this pen is a decently wet writer. Now I did have to "prime" it, so to speak, to get a tad more ink flow when I first inked it. That has everything to do with preference. I like a nice wet writer in my stubs and calligraphy type pens. 




For weight, I would consider this a medium -heavy weight pen. Now it is not as heavy as say a Sheaffer 100 Chrome pen. However, it is definitely heavier in comparison to a Lamy Safari or Al-Star.







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