I am very glad to have my blog back. I missed blabbing, ranting, explaining, just talking to whoever is out there.
{Alfie February 2016}
Anyone who has been a reader of my blog from before will remember my excellent web tech, Zac. He is still with me, we still do this together. He did get a much deserved promotion at work and I do offically work with another tech, the equally wonderful Ashton but still, Zac is watching over it all.
He & I made this web store, on March 1, 2016 it will be 8 full years ago not counting the year before when we worked on it, built it. In fact, I have known Zac through the birth of 2 of his three sons.
There have been so many variations of NewNeedlepoint.com, it still amazes me how much it has changed.
Anyway, I am digressing (as usual). Zac tells me that my blog is particually good for several reasons. The first is that I am a pretty good writer (forgive me for saying so about myself but I am told this enough that I almost believe it).
The second reason my blog is effective is that it is not just a cut-and-dried *store* blog. It is also not just a me, me, me blog. I could call it a hybrid (hubris) but I think I would prefer to call it a *melange*.
So, I have discussed (at boring length) the changes to my web store in the previous 2 blogs entries, the first 2 on my new web store *platform*.
What's new for me (lawd, lawd). Well, my 25 year relationship/marriage to my Okie is finally a dead duck (no more quacks here). We are divorced after a 3 year separation. It is so odd, most of my memories, good & bad, for so many years have him in them. We did so much together.
Now we rarely talk andmore, weeks, months go by. This is so different, at first it was difficult, we went from best friends to strangers in the blink of an eye.
Oh well.
After a year of separation I began to date. I spent a year dating Farmer Donald, the guy who lived in the 1802 log house in rural York County. It was not a happy relationship. I broke up with him 9 times before I fianlly managed to extract myself.
Then a few guys, a month here, a week here, 1 date there. It was pretty awful.
Then last October I met John. Something about him clicked with me from the beginning. Even before we met, face to face...just talking on the phone, I knew there was something here.
And there is, we drive each other crazy, we like each other a lot. We love to talk and we rarely agree but that does not stop us. I am attracted to him, Oh boy!.
More surprises. The new web store platform took so long to get up & running. We (Zac & I) had a horrendous time getting the company that Yahoo Small Business sold the domain names to, to release my domain name (newneedlepoint.com).
After so many years building it's presence & search engine rankings on the net, I could not abandon it.
So, I fought them tooth & nail to transfer it so I could run the new platform (store) under my established name.
This matters a lot. More then I knew, even.
In all that waiting time I kept busy listing & listing things. There were all my existing store listings which came over from the old store all garbled and out of category.
Then new listings. I had many new books and the whole big collection of out-of-print books I bought from Carol Korman (past Judge & President of EGA and past president of the ANG).
I got them all listed.
Although I have limted my kits & canvases to Laurel Burch, Pajamas & Chocolate and the perennial favorite Patt & Lee Designs, there have been new designs to add.
I made a small category for the few canvases (and kits) I just can't bear to part with.
I kept the Emperor & The Empress
Two Colorways of Melibnda McAra's lovely hydrangeas
and from my own Collection this wonderful large Crane Scroll canvas (or kit) from Lee Designs (the old Lee Design)
And afew more....The popular Boston Red Sox Ornament or Medallion will be back later this spring in a new design.
What else, I have expanded my tools and stuff category, calling it Needlepoint Miscellany.
Now that I am (gasp) caught up I think maybe I will get on with turning my Beginner's Booklet into a whole book. It is called
Very Beginner's Needlepoint: Stuff No One Told Me When I Knew Nothing or The Needlepoint Diet
I really have missed writing my blog.
