The hamper was amazing; inside I discovered some metallic sharpies, a selection of paper, a poster hook, fabric pens and a little tote bag to decorate using some letter stencils. I was surprised to find some tea. Literacy inspired, no less.
What instantly grabbed my attention was the beautifully presented calligraphy set, complete with an assortment of silver nibs and a little ink pot. The calligraphy has a feather quill too, which I stroked under my chin whilst I thought about how to get started. Blank pages can be a bit overwhelming, particularly if you have to up your handwriting game with actual pen nib and ink. I felt a little bit Shakespearean!
If you haven't heard of International Literacy Day, I will let you know a little more about it. Firstly, it is celebrated each September. This year it was on the 8th September. I personally believe that it is relatively understated. It certainly doesn't receive as much recognition as World Book Day, for example, despite it being declared by UNESCO over five decades ago. But nevertheless, it is an opportunity to celebrate literature of all kinds whilst bringing avid readers, communities, schools and more together.
à la Tolkien above my letter a's. As a mother of three children between the ages of 8 months and 5 years who works from home writing and blogging, I rarely have the opportunity to actively write much. I type everything. I long for notebooks but as soon as I begin to use one, the children descend with their colouring and once I have started tearing out sheets of paper I may as well hand it over. So, to transition from the biro (which I often have to find in the kitchen, despite owning so many pens) to a delicate silver nib which requires ink application, was an interesting change.
One of my favourite books is 'Cider with Rosie', by Laurie Lee. I even had a reading penned by Laurie Lee at my wedding which was apt as we got married in the Cotswold's in Gloucestershire which is where Lee was born and made it even more fitting.
The first chapter, 'First Light' is so descriptive and thought-provoking, detailing Lee's reaction as a young three-year old to arriving in his new village. In addition to trying to concentrate on my pen skills (or lack of), I also did some fairly simple botanical illustrations which kept in keeping with the extract I copied.
There are obviously so many fantastic and classic quotes to use, but I absolutely adore 'Cider with Rosie', so it was my first choice to copy an extract from.
If you could choose one favourite book and one favourite quote or extract, what would they be?
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