French Lady's Desk and a special ink well

I told you that I would share more about the pretties in my new desk, and since I have actually been using it this week, it is the perfect time. I have been sick with a fever (luckily not the flu!), and so I have had to stay pretty calm as to not faint and fall on my head...

And writing is a very calm activity. Especially after you have a high fever and are cold already, then realize you need to go out and bottle feed calves. After that you definitely need hot cocoa and something soothing.

 Here is the picture of the lovely insides again. Swoon! It makes me so happy.

 I have regular black India ink in the back, along with an Absinthe green. The front two are gold and silver, but they just look like milky liquid until they are shaken. Beside it are my wax seals.

 One of my last initial, a rose, a fleur de lis, and a cupid.

 Here is what the cupid looks like when set into gold wax.

 My Grandma Tommy had a clear glass stamp holder that kept a whole roll of stamps at the ready. I always admired it and thought, "Every real lady should have a stamp holder!" ;) I found this one years ago from Victorian Papers and loved that it is porcelain and could be mistaken for an antique.

 And what have I been writing? My life story? The great American novel? Beautiful letters? No, but something very lovely and romantic anyway. I have been planning our itinerary for Paris! I know that lots of people would just wing it, being sure that simply arriving in the City of Love would make everything fall into place. But what if you try to go to the Louvre on the day it is closed, then you attempt the Musee de Orsay and find the lines too long to bear because they are taking on that day's Louvre crowd? It is important to know closing days and times, as well as places to eat along the way. And no, I am not one of those regimented souls, hustling you about hither and thither type of people. If you have read any of my posts titled Paris Trip, you will see that I like to walk everywhere and gawk along the way. But without a good plan in place, you might miss seeing a true gem by running out of time!

 If you have read The Year of Paris Planning, or Paris Trip Preparations from my last trip in 2018, you know how much time and thought I put into our plans. Below is the small travel journal I took with me. It was half-filled with all the info and planning I prepared for the trip. Then the other half was filled with journaling and mementos as the trip went on. And so I have a new notebook begun that I am excited to take along with me this time.

 And the best for last! Here is my very special ink well. My father had her for sale in Grandma's antique shop, and I adored her. When I was a senior I began working at the local bakery factory. It was lots of physical labor (which you should know I don't mind) and required lots of dexterity. I was actually the person who caught the individual Little Debbie Snack Cakes and placed them in the box, as both cakes and boxes rushed by. Think the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel try to make it at the candy factory. Lots of "grown" folks came to work and left within the week because it was too fast paced for them. I loved it! Dad was very proud of me and gifted me with the beautiful ink well.

 Here it is with better view of the well cap, and with an agate handled quill pen he gave me.

 And all these years I have kept the note he gave me, taped to the bottom. He said he was very proud of me, and loved me. And not to expect presents just anytime ;)

A very sentimental item that I love so much. Do you have things that have been given to you by a loved one, and they just warm your heart each time you see them?