Return of the pen maker

On the 23rd I posted about a customer who is a penturner. He came back a couple of days ago and brought with him a rosewood fountain pen. We were a bit slow so I had a couple of minutes to chat with him and his wife and use the pen. Holy ink, Batman, I think I'm in love!

The pen was well balanced in my hand, wrote smoothly, and the Honduran rosewood had a lovely and rich color. I greatly admired it and Mr. Moore said something like, "Maybe I should hold on to this one for you, huh?" and I beamed and agreed. It isn't an expensive pen but a new fountain pen isn't in the budget right now so I hope he does hold onto it for me. I plan to get it as soon as finances allow.

He also told me that one of you readers had been in touch with him about his pens. I didn't know which of you it was then but I do now so thank you, Rusty! Mr. and Mrs. Moore are very nice people and from what I've been able to tell so far, the quality of their work is high.

I plan to go to their studio soon and hopefully they'll have time that day to help me make my own pen. I think having one I made would be awesome but I'll have to refrain from taking it to work as every pen or marker I've taken there has been "appropriated" by someone and never seen by me again.

Do you have a favorite pen? If so, please tell me about it.

Incoming for January 30th

After work today I went to the post office. I thought about asking if they have the new Sealed With Love stamp but the line was very long so I just checked my box. There were seven letters waiting for me, five from LetterMo participants. A woman about my age was checking a box near mine and saw all the letters I pulled out and said, "Wow, I can't tell you the last time I got one letter, much less a box full!" I told her about LetterMo and some of the letter writing blogs I read and finally whipped out a page from my notepad and wrote URLs and my email address on it for her. She was overjoyed at the possibility of writing and receiving letters and I practically skipped out to my vehicle!

I'm not sure if I'll start replies tonight but if not tonight, then tomorrow. Yesterday I mailed five letters but still have a few more to write to folks from whom I've recently received. I haven't forgotten! Some of the outgoing will most likely be sent on the first so I can count them for LetterMo. Yeah, I'm taking advantage of that.

But for now, here's today's incoming along with my cup of Colombian from a pour-over. Now that I've had some coffee I feel refreshed and think I'll do a bit of letter writing.

I hope your mail day was lovely!

Quiet days, no mail, and a visit by The Flying V

I haven't been to the post office since Friday and hope to get there tomorrow but might not. Unfortunately, I have vertigo and while it can leave me alone for weeks or months, when it decides to make an appearance it usually stops me in my tracks.

For those of you who only know Vertigo as a movie, consider yourself blessed! Some people think the condition means a person is just a bit dizzy but it's so much more than that. For most of us, it's a very strong sensation of spinning. Some people feel like their body is spinning and others feel like their surroundings are spinning. Remember those 'fun houses' in carnivals where the walls and floors moved, there were dizzying patterns all around, and getting through the rotating tunnels was almost impossible? I never liked those as a kid. I didn't find them to be "fun" at all but rather confusing, nauseating, and anxiety-inducing. My vertigo feels physically, mentally, and emotionally like I'm in one of those fun houses. It's so "fun" that right after it first appeared in 2009, I gave it a nickname: The Flying V.

If The Flying V is severe, I can't properly do my job at work, drive, cook, and can barely move around my apartment. I've been known to run into walls and even fall when it's very bad. Luckily for me, it's generally not that bad but even at its best it's miserable. I've tried medications, vestibular therapy, and a few other treatments with little to no success. By the way, mine seems to be at least partially related to hypertension but I've been on blood pressure medication since it first showed up and my hypertension is well controlled so I'm not sure why the vertigo shows up now and then.

Anyway, I've been struggling with it off and on for a few weeks and the last few days I've spent more time than I desired on the couch, trying not to move and staving off panic attacks caused by the feeling of helplessness. I did manage to get a few letters written over the weekend and plan to drop those in the outgoing box tomorrow. If I feel up to it, I'll check my post office box, also.

I hope The Flying V won't interfere with my participation in the Month of Letters challenge, but I have Plan B in the works just in case.

So there you have it - the reason why I've been a bit quiet. I'll get back to scanning things from the tin box and posting about incoming and outgoing mail and hopefully that will be tomorrow. If not, bear with me, please.

I promise I haven't forgotten any of you!

Fabulous mail Friday and an advance apology

I just got home from my errands and of course, one of the stops was at the post office. It takes strength to not go there every day but it's a bit out of my way so I aim for two or three times a week and try to go while I'm already out and about. Some weeks I succeed and others I fail. This week I've succeeded. Go me! Anyway, I only had three pieces of outgoing mail and two were to South Korea and Vietnam. I forgot to ask the clerk how long it will take those to arrive but hopefully they won't take too long.

Incoming mail for today is fabulous, y'all! Each piece is so wonderful that I'm going to show them individually. I should probably do that all the time but....

From Alice in Peculiar, MO (what a great town name!) I received a wonderfully informative letter and a big brown envelope with two hand stitched kitchen towels! How cute they are! And the envelopes have some very cool stamps on them, a few of which I'd not seen before.

From Beth in Oregon, I got a very neat looking note card (it just screams "Spring!") with a lovely letter written inside. She did pretty doodles on the envelope and I love it, especially the band on the left side of the envelope and the colors in my name. 

TMC, from Return to Rural, is gearing up for LetterMo and working on garland and such so she sent me a decorated postcard. T, I love this card, especially the color combination with that silver! Oh la la!

Limner, of Oh, Write Me!, sent a blank postcard of a kitteh and she colored said feline's eyes green like Sammy's. Swoon! She also included a very sweet little note. I absolutely love this postcard, in part because of the "Curb Your Dog" sign! And the "db" on the envelope made my heart pound a bit faster. I just love everything about this.

And last but definitely not least, I received a beautiful handmade card from a very dear personal friend of mine. She doesn't have much experience with letter writing but is joining in LetterMo this year. I recently sent her a little card and note and this is what I received in return. Wow, that's pretty wonderful for someone who "doesn't write letters and isn't creative"! Those are her words, not mine. You can't tell by the picture but the word "Love" on the front is cut out. 

Each of you has made today one absolutely marvelous mail day. Thank you so much!

Now for the apology. I've said before I'm not artistic and not creative and I mean that. I've spent hours looking at your blogs and photos and those of so many people who seem to have talent for this stuff. Some of what I see out there just makes me weak in the knees, it's so creative or beautiful or eye catching. I'm getting ideas here and there and have been practicing on plain paper. Today I graduated to real envelopes and postcard sized pieces of paper and some of you will soon be my guinea pigs. So, I apologize in advance for ugly envies and cards, paint that runs, edges that may be torn, and glitter that doesn't survive USPS. Please know my heart is in the right place. :)

Now I'm off to find ways to display some of these marvelous creations I've received!

How odd...I met a pen maker on National Handwriting Day!

Today, in honor of National Handwriting Day, I used my neatest and most elaborate penmanship to mark cups. Most of my customers were surprised to see the ornate script and more than a few asked where I learned to write in such a way. When I told them I learned it in elementary school they seemed a bit puzzled, even the older customers. It never entered my mind that the trend of lessening the importance of cursive writing isn't a new one but one that's been around awhile, at least in certain areas. Quite a few people around my age, 50, didn't learn cursive or if they did, it was a barely touched upon subject. They find printing to be easier and don't see the appeal of cursive. I confess that too often when I write a letter, especially a longer one, I don't take enough care to make my letters as well formed and graceful as I should. I get lazy and I'm going to try to improve that but it seems that I think in cursive and it comes quite naturally to me.

One of my customers today was an older gentleman who ordered a cup of brewed coffee and sat down at a table, pen and writing tablet before him. The morning was slow and as I cleaned the tables around him we got into a discussion about writing and how so many people don't send letters and cards now. It turns out he lives in a town not too far from me and makes pens! The pen he used was a bolt action bullet pen. It was very cool, indeed. We discussed his pen making shop and website and before long his wife showed up and let me try out the three pens she had in her purse. Each of them was nice and wrote well but I preferred the feel of the Art Deco pen as far as hand feel and weight. He even makes fountain pens and uses rosewood on request. Be still my rosewood fountain pen loving heart! I chatted with Mr. and Mrs. Moore for awhile and they invited me to visit their studio and said maybe when I visit they'll help me make my own pen. How cool is that, folks?? You can bet I plan to visit their studio soon. I really can't think of a lovelier way to spend a few hours. Mr. Moore told me that the prices for his pens are now lower than the website shows so if you find one there you like, I encourage you to contact him for current pricing.

Oh, and today I found some great deals in Target's One Spot. I bought several packages of note card sets for $1. Most contain 8 cards and envelopes but some have 10 of each. A couple of them are red and perfect for Valentine's Day and all are just plain every day cute! They also had packages of acid-free papers for $1 so I got a couple of those. With LetterMo right around the corner, it doesn't hurt to have a nice stash of inexpensive note card sets and papers so if you need some more note cards check your local Target.

I've decided to wait until Friday to go again to the post office but my home mail brought me some goodies. I received the copy of "Stolen Sharpie Revolution" I recently bought and my order of stationery, postcards, and a pen from Missive Maven's Etsy shop. The postcards are wonderful and now I wish I'd ordered more!

Have a wonderful evening and I wish you the best of mail tomorrow!

Incoming and outgoing for January 22

Not a great picture since it was taken with my phone but here's my incoming and stamps for today. Oh, and my work apron. ;-)

On the way to work I went by the post office to check my box. Yeehaw, three letters greeted me!

I was so excited to see a sassy looking envelope from Jan over at Of Bibles, books and letters, one of those way cool (what can I say, I'm easily impressed) transparent envelopes from Limner of Oh, Write Me!, and a letter from a new to me writer, Amber. Amber didn't say how she found me so I'm not sure if it was via this blog, the LetterMo site, or some other place. Regardless, I'm thrilled she contacted me.

I forgot (again!) to get pictures of today's outgoing but that pretty blue envelope with the smash tape went out today, along with the postcards I adopted from PostMuse. Those were the postcards I found buried on the table last night!

While I was at the post office I decided to see what stamps they had. I ended up with two sheets of the new .33 apple stamps (I'm the eternal optimist), a sheet of Emancipation Proclamation, another sheet of Earthscapes (I <3 those so hard), a sheet of Year of the Snake, and another sheet of Lady Bird Johnson. I'm good to go for LetterMo and then some. They didn't have the others I wanted so I'll either wait until they do or order them online.

Since I got to work almost an hour early (don't hate, I have a serious issue with being late and I like to get a drink, relax, and see how things are before I start my shift) I read the letters right there at a table. One of my young co-workers was very interested, particularly in Limner's neat little bundle. She ooohd and aaahd over the letters and finally, hands on hips, said "Where do you find these people?" so I told her. She looked quite surprised. I guess she's easily impressed, too. ;)

And a bit of good news! This afternoon one of my customers told me a place where she thinks I can get postcards. She isn't sure about the variety but said they had a decent stock of them a few days ago. I know where I'm going Friday morning!

I work a short shift tomorrow and am then off for two days so I plan to spend tomorrow afternoon composing replies to today's incoming and a couple of others that need my attention. With all that time off I should have plenty of time to play with card stock, smash tape, and markers.

I hope your Wednesday is lovely and full of mail happiness!

A desperate plea for organization ideas!

Okay, it's not really desperate but it is a plea. I need ideas for how to organize some things.

I think I have a handle on the stationery, envelopes, stickers, stamps, and such but it's the pens, cartridges, pencils, markers and massive amounts of paper that are making me nuts. The paper is the worst. You know, the pages torn from magazines because of the I might use this mentality, the scraps left from making an envelope or label, those little bits I don't seem to be able to throw away because they might come in handy soon.

Right now a good deal of it is sitting in a large box top on my pub table and the rest is in stacks around the living room but it's becoming an unsightly mess and I fear that if anyone sees it, they'll try to get me on Hoarders! I detest clutter and my little haven doesn't have much but if this continues, clutter will become a serious issue. I find myself trying to straighten it but as Flylady says, you can't clean clutter. I might not agree with everything Marla says but she's got that right!

I didn't think all of this was much of a problem until last night when I moved some papers and found a stack of letters and postcards I'd recently received! The letters were opened but I hadn't logged them and they got buried and forgotten. Gasp!

I don't have space for a shelf or cabinet of any sort. My apartment is less than 580 square feet so keep that in mind. I've considered giving away the love seat that gets used once or twice a year but haven't done that yet. If I do, that will free up space. In the meantime, I have to come up with solutions and I can't afford to spend much money on this problem. I'm thinking if I get some boxes from work, load them with stuff as neatly categorized as possible, and label them that might be sufficient for awhile. Meh, it isn't what I want but it would let me see the top of my table again!

How do you organize it all? Enquiring minds want to know!