Look what we made!
By Fleur
@Fleura (29236)
United Kingdom
October 17, 2019 5:53am CST
Ages ago Little One decided she wanted to make an old-fashioned quill pen. I can’t even remember now what sparked that idea!
So some time not long afterwards I was cycling past an open space near the river where large numbers of geese like to congregate, and I picked up a few nice goose feathers.
Fast forward several months and the feathers were still here, stuck in the pen pot. Just one of many ideas we never got around to following up. I was getting fed-up of looking at them so finally when we were at home at the weekend with no particular plans we actually did it.
We followed the clear instructions given by Will at ‘Storm the castle’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EIgYQZZIes
and with a sharp blade cut out the shape he described and voila! Rather to my surprise, it worked!
Not only could we draw a few lines but with a bit of practice could write quite neatly.
The girls got a quill each and with a pot of ink they have been keeping themselves occupied for hours writing notes and messages; Big One has even been writing stories in very neat hand-writing!
Who needs expensive toys and games when a feather and some scrap paper can provide such hours of entertainment?
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2019.
13 people like this
12 responses
@Hannihar (129609)
• Israel
4 Dec 19
@Fleura
That is great. If that is it in the picture it is really cool. That is great that it kept them very busy. I agree one does not need expensive toys. My cat is happy with a box, pieces of paper, to play with rather than buying her an expensive toy. I am still learning on that one.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
18 Oct 19
how awesome's that? most brilliant the young'uns 're so enthralled with those. heck, i'd like one myself :)
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
20 Oct 19
@Fleura i'm'n the lookout fer some good sized feathers, lol.
1 person likes this
@arunima25 (85690)
• Bangalore, India
6 Nov 19
That's wonderful! There are quite few projects lying unfinished in my house
I remember making quill pen and writing with them in childhood.
I remember making quill pen and writing with them in childhood.1 person likes this
@arunima25 (85690)
• Bangalore, India
9 Nov 19
@Fleura It must have been pleasant experience writing with it.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
17 Oct 19
When I were a lad (old owl's tales always start like that), nearly every boy had a folding pocket knife. We called them 'penknives' without thinking about why. There was an inkwell in every desk in most schools and we used dip pens but, of course, they were the new-fangled kind with a metal nib, so we never used our penknives for making and trimming our pens - they were used for all manner of other things like whittling whistles from willow twigs, cutting string and - inevitably - carving our initials in our desks!
My father once showed me how to make a quill pen and then I realised how important it was to have a razor-sharp penknife. The best feather is a goose quill (specifically the first primary feather from the tip of the right wing of a male goose) but swan's feathers were more readily available so we used those mostly. I did once make a rather small pen from a blackbird's feather that I found and I also tried using pheasant's feathers.
I was interested that, in the video, he uses the pen upside down (with the sloping cut upwards) to the way that I was taught to hold it.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (29236)
• United Kingdom
17 Oct 19
I also had (and still have) a penknife, though I didn't normally take it to school, and do you know I never really thought of why it had that name until you just mentioned it!
Yes a very sharp knife is needed, I actually used a scalpel in the end. And yes he uses it 'upside down' and that seems to be the way to make it work best.
It's funny you mention whittling because the next thing we want to try is little hand-carved things - again inspired by another YouTuber, Doug Linker - he makes little wood figures, here's one just for you : )
#woodcarving #whittling #owl wind aside ,i have a real fun one today.this is a tutorial that anyone can follow and carve a simple owl from a piece of Basswoo...
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
18 Oct 19
What a great idea to keep kids occupied and learning something at the same time.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
17 Oct 19
The simplest things often provide the best entertainment.
1 person likes this
@Writingghost (5196)
• United States
17 Oct 19
How fun and creative you are. Maybe I will do it with the grandsons and have them mail a note to Grandpa!
1 person likes this
