Yup, here I am again.  It has been a totally bizarre holiday season.

Remember my excellent Thanksgiving plans with my son in Boston.  We never got there, despite leaving Tuesday rather then the usual Wednesday, we found the roads clogged with drivers in the pouring rain.

The road rage level was terrible (not to exclude my own husband’s tendency to get that way himself, when incited).  Ok, it took us 2.5 hours to get to Allentown, PA (usually 45 minutes or so) and K was *enraged*

So practical me suggested we stay in a hotel for the night, leave early am next day.  It was a very sensible idea (not to mention that the Sands casino in Allentown recently opened a hotel).

So, the next morning we get up 4 am and go.  It was still bad, pouring rain and heavy traffic.  We made it to the NJ border (much longer ride than it should have been) and gave up.  We came home.

We cooked a solitary turkey the next day (Thanksgiving) and my son and his GF went to her parents in CN.

OK,  We were coming up to Christmas.  So far, it was good and we were planning a small New Years Eve party with our regular group of Saturday night poker players etc when my Dad called early one mornng.

My Mom had fallen & broke her arm.  Now, I need to give you a little background on my Mom.  She is 82 (had me at 20) and has never been really sick, never been in pain.

Back then they put women to sleep to have babies (3) and she has had no illnesses.  The only pill she takes is bone density.

So, she tripped and fell on the tile kitchen floor.  MY Dad (87 and with a really bad back) could not lift her so they called the EMTs.  It turns out she broker her right arm, up very near the shoulder.

This is bad but it could have been worse.  She is left handed.  I guess they do not put a cast on a break there, just gave her a sling and told her not to move it.

She is in extraordinary pain.

My Dad took care of her the best he could but it was not (and never will be) right, he gets it all wrong (according to her).

My brother & his wife flew in from Switzerland (where they live) and stayed 5 days.  They did for her, cooked & cleaned etc.  (yes, my folks have cleaning help but my mother wants the beds made every day ..tucked in even with wool blankets, does anybody do that anymore?)

They could not stay, my sister-in-law is a teacher in Switzerland (my brother organizes & runs ski races).

So…I flew down.  It was good but hard.  My mother is not an easy patient or a good patient either but I did my best and made her more comfortable.

I took over all my Dad was doing and more.  I was glad to do it.

I received a number of good  NewNeedlepoint orders while I was in Florida (I know, you think FL in winter, not too bad…but still…..)

K packaged them (not too badly either I am told by a customer. I apologized in advance to everyone for his packing) and the few orders that needed me there I asked the buyers if they could wait.  Everybody was very nice about it and sent my Mom best wishes.

So, I am home now but not sure for how long.  The therapist told my Mom it will hurt for 4-7 more weeks.  She finds it hurts even more after therapy (oh dear).

So, that was my Holiday season.  New Years Eve I made my folks & me Mom’s recipe Macaroni & Cheese (she can’t cut anything she is eating) and went to bed at 10pm.

This cartoon pretty much describes it all

I am working listing new stuff. First I am finishing up the replacement books (the ones I have anyway, you all keep buying them and I never catch up).

No word yet on when or if I have to go back to my folks in FL.

K is installing the backsplash in the kitchen, finally. It is thin pieces of what I guess you call a porous marble with a polished finish. I was going to do one of those wonderful glass tile etc designs but they are or will be trendy, in the end.

I went with a neutral and then ordered some smashing (if I don’t say so myself) outlet & switch covers for above the counter.

Of course, I am reading. I was a reader & fan of Christopher Hitchens work. I was sad to hear of his death on December 15, 2011. Not that I had not been expecting it, he has written about his mortal illness as it went.

In his last article for Vanity Fair he argued against the old saying “anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. He had come to believe that was not true. I am in agreement with him (as usual) since I also think that cliche’ is not true.

I had been reading his books on my iPad.

Look for some (finally) new stuff to (finally) show up on NewNeedlepoint…finally

Happy New Year

I do not know where my time goes, I do something, put something off, fragment off to something else.

And days go by.  I am handing you this philosopical (I know this is spelled wrong, I just can’t figure out why) pile of bull because it has been since before Thanksgiving since I wrote here.  Bad Dog.

The odd thing is I like writing here, for this…so why do I put it off?

Our big deal Thanksgiving trip to spend the holiday with my son & Polly was a washout, literally.

We left here Tuesday afternoon, around 1.  It was gray & raining.  We hoped to do the drive that night, get in 1-2am, had a hotel room waiting.

K likes night (or very early morning) driving, less dodderers & minivans.  It took us 2.5 hours to get to Allentown (should be 50 min to 1 hour).  OK, not good and K was having some anger issues at the terrible traffic.

I suggested we stay at a hotel and wait the rain & traffic out.  We did not really want to drive on the day before Thanksgiving but we figured to leave at 4am, get through NY early.  After that the Ma Pike is always (mostly) doable.

Ok, again.  We get up 4am and go.  Still raining and still very heavy traffic.  Takes us another 3 hours to get to the NJ state line.  K simmering, close to boiling over.

I said “enough” we turned around and went home.  Called son who was very upset, as were we.

Eric (son) made a quick change and they went to Polly’s family in CN.   That would have been a good solution, so they would not be alone however Eric had worked until 2am, closing the restaurant he works at (he is sous chef)the night before and was exhausted, it had been a very busy night.

He was nodding off driving to CN, fortunately Polly is a smart woman, she took no guff from him and she drove. Still, he was tied and draggy all day (he says).

We cooked a nice little turkey, had a fire and watched a movie.  Quiet OK day.

We did go up there the weekend after.  Easy drive.

NewNeedlepoint.com had a run on new books until a few days ago.  People with men’s names (oh gosh) were ordering many of the new books, even a few very rare used books.

I sold several copies A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery & Stumpwork by Di VanNiekerk.  I have just 1 left and then there are no more.  The stopped publishing this book and I believe I have bought up and sold most of the remaining new copies.

That keeps happening, as I have mentioned (ranted) about several times before.   A book get “moving” and people become aware of it and begin buying it, but it is too late and they stop printing the book (or the distributers stop carrying it….but when that happens I can usually find it elsewhere).

I have a question, or am soliciting opinions from my readers (all 2.5 of you).  I have a NewNeedlepoint.com dilemma.

For a long time now I have sold these very nice Mighty Bright L.E. D. Floor lights with Magnifers.

Each lamp has 4 groups of 3 lights (for a total of 12 LED lights) surrounding the magnifying area in the center.  The light can be used as just a magnifier, Just a light or both at once.  Versatile and at a good price.

I was asking $85.00 for it and a $10.00 shipping surcharge.  (Otherwise nn.com is free shipping but UPS ground for this is usually between 16 & 19 dollars).

I sold quite a few of them, once we got past the questions and complaints about the surcharge.  

According to my web site counters, this lamp was the second most looked at item on my web site.

Then UPS rates went up (as did USPS).  The last 2 Mighty Bright Lamps I sold cost me $24 and some change (I forget the exact amount and am too lazy to look through all my invoices).

At that amount of shipping I am not making enough to make it worth doing.  They are my only UPS ship item so it is a special trip & special packaging (I think I sold a lot of them because I sell them for less, DOH)

So, I have to either raise their price by $10.00, double the surcharge (from $10 to $20) or stop selling them permanently  (I am now out and have not yet ordered anymore).

I am not sure what to do.

Any ideas or advice?

Everything else is good, I love living in our new house, the renovation seems to be ok, no leaks or problems of course the main drain backed up but that was an delayed reaction, mostly from before us.  No harm or damage done.

I love the firplace but no one loves it as much as Jack The Cat does.  He is still right there anytime there is a fire.

I am still reading, reading, reading on my iPad.  I am mixing NewYork Times bestsellers & notable books with my regencies.  Re-visiting some of my Georgette Heyer (and buying them again for the iPad).

This is going to sound funny….I am pretty happy (more or less….is this enough qualifiers?)

Or perhaps I mean can’t get anywhere from here.  I am struggling to get all the little bits & pieces associated with this move all tucked up & stitched down (how’s that for a needlework reference?).

All these unlisted gems just sit here and glare at me, I think they think I am a laggard.  (now I am imagining what books & canvases think of me).  

Usually the issue is where to start but I know where to start.  Do the replacements first, for the books or canvases that sold, then begin with the new canvases, then the new books, then the other books.  See?  Simple.  

So why haven’t I gotten further?  Because every time I sit here in my lovely, bright and big new office I think of something else that I have forgotten to do.  Or a piece of forwarded mail that needs an address update arrives or the phone rings or Jack wants to be fed (he can be quite pushy) or something.  Then, once again, I am off on some tangent (and one tangent leads to another & another).

I think the best way to get past this hump is to list 1 book, just 1.  Break the ice, sort of or maybe part the fog or  substitute any confusion and distraction metaphor you are fond of.

What else?  I am reading, as always.  I finished my Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series reading project (up to date anyway).  I alternated them with nice gooey Regency Romances so all the elbow breaking & head butting did not get to me (Jack Reacher’s favorite strokes in a fight).

I still maintain that Tom Cruise is the absolutely wrong actor to play 6 foot 4 (ish) inch  cagey & laid-back Jack Reacher.  Besides, I dislike his smirk, all the way back to Risky Business, his first movie, I hated the smirk.

The only movie I really liked him in was Rainman, where he more or less stepped aside and let Dustin Hoffman do it all (and he did).

I have been reading all over the place since then.  I read Jeffrey Eugenides Middlesex which I found an odd book, indeed.  An even odder book was The Manicurist byPhillis Schieber.  it never really jelled for me.  Is it an extra sensory powers story, a family story, a coming to terms story or what?  I never did figure it out and finished the book feeling that it was somehow incomplete. (0r maybe I did not get it, which is always possible).

Then I read a reference to Madame Bovary somewhere or other and I barely remembered the story besides what everyone knows about Madame Bovary anyway, so with the easy magic of my iPad and the Kindle store (I love it) I DLed the book and re-read it.  The story was different from how I remembered it.  More and less, if you know what I mean.  I had much more sympathy for Emma Bovary this time.

That got me going into the whole re-reading books I remembered but did not remember.  I had read, many times each, the slightly supernatural mystery/romance novels of Barbara Michaels.  Then she began writing an Egyptian Archeology series as Elizabeth Peters (neither of which is her real name which is Barbara Mertz) featuring Amelia Peabody/Emerson.

I read many of them and enjoyed them until the focus of the book became mostly their son (Ramses) and his perfect, beautiful, rich, ex-goddess wife.  I just could not stand it anymore and stopped reading them…anyway I am drifiting here.

I could not remember much about the 1st book in the series, Crocodile on the Sandbank, except that I enjoyed it.  So I am re-reading that.  I have not yet been drawn in.  If the *magic* doesn’t happen soon I will move on.

So, look for some replacement titles for sold books to show up on NewNeedlepoint.com (remember it? ).

I have to compliment my web store (not myself, mind you, the store has a life of it’s own).  It has held up well during this move and renovation.  Despite my neglect, I have been getting (and filling) orders steadily all this time.

I want to thank everyone for this and apologize for my sometimes sloppy shipping during these (past) confusing weeks.  

As I said , I’m back.

I’m back.  The master (mistress?) of the tape gun is back in full force.

Remember her?  (or maybe you even remember me, been awhile since my last blog)

The renovation is almost done.  It is starting to look like a real home again.

Before I bore you to death with my renovation ramblings….NewNeedlepoint.com will close this Friday, for the move, and re-open 9/26.

Of course, you should feel free to place orders (LOL) and I will fill them after 9/26.

Some pictures?

Please ignore the construction mess.  As you can see, the new Counter-Depth refrigerator  makes a huge difference.  Before, when you walked in the front door (on the left side of the picture) all you saw was this big hulking black fridge, sticking out into the room and only 1/2 covered by the surround.

Now, when you walk in you see a maple real wood surround, with panels like the Shaker panels on the cabinets.

The dishwasher is not in yet.  When I bought all the appliances, together, at the beginning of July I purposely bought all GE Profile.  The color & tone of stainless steel varies manufacturer to manufacturer. (yes, really).

I paid for them in full and they had to order most of them, promised they would hold them for me.

Well, they sold my dishwasher.  It has been discontinued and they sold mine.  Great.  After pitching a hissy fit at them, I managed to find one on-line (it is all out there, if you know where to look).  It arrives Friday (and costs less for the same model).

Below are 2 virews of the family room

There is a 60 X 30 inch ledge under the window, I am going to have a cushion made and use it as a window seat.

I did not re-carpet the room, I continued the tile, from the front hall, through the kitchen and into the family room.  I also took it around the back halls.  They had off-white carpet  at the door leading in from the garage (and in the powder room).  There is tile now.

The master bedroom is not that far along yet (these pictures were 10 days ago) and looks like nothing.  The carpet goes in Monday.   But look at the custom vanity my cabinet maker made for me.  it is Tiger Maple & Bird’s Eye Maple with a granite top and amber glass knobs.

I was/am a little disappointed that the stain is so dark but he tells me he had trouble with it. One kind of maple was absorbing the stain much more then the other and he had to find a point were they were the same.  Sadly, for me, that point is dark.

Again, please ignore construction mess.

K has pulled out both the nasty molded plastic shower units and made us tiled showers.  One in his bath, one in mine (YES, I will have my own bath again).

I insisted on solid Swanstone bases, he is not experienced enough to do a leakfree base.  This is is 1st ever big tiling job  (he did a small backsplash years ago).

Needless to say, his bath is much further along then mine (doh).

amazing, isn’t it?

In my bath, I am working around some existing beige tile on the floor and around the jacuzzi tub.  It is not bad tile just boring and nothing special.   I have paired it with a pinky/beigey marble tile from China, full size tiles not like K’s small ones).  I will tile the shower and the small area in front of the sink (where they had carpet).

It is an odd set-up.  The sink & vanity are in this little “antechamber” just outside the bathroom.  One of the 2 closets opens up from this tiny room.  They had door on both doorways and the closet.  You had to step way in to the sink area and close the door to open the closet door.  Odd indeed.   There is a door on the rest of the bathroom (the places where you want a door) so I had the 1st door taken off.  Now the vanity area is a little alcove off the bedroom.  It works better this way.

The real prize here, for me anyway, is my new office.   I am currently working out of a very small 9 X 9  foot bedroom with one window.

I know I have been saying it is 9X9 a lot, so I just measured it to be sure.  It is 9 X 9.  It is jammed with stuff, my whole business is in here (except for the new books which are in the family room now).

This is my new office

It has a wood burning fireplace.

On the original plans, this room was called the Formal Living Room or Formal Dining Room.  Many of the others living here, in the 3 bedroom units, use this as a dining room.  The people I bought from did not use it for much or anything.

They also closed in the opening between the kitchen and the family room making the kitchen a dark dismal cave.  We opened it back up.

So, NewNeedlepoint.com (remember it?) has been chugging along, I am filling orders as they come in but the move & renovation take all my other energy.

I am closing my web store this Friday, September 16.  It will re-open, most likely, 9/26.  I will still be unpacking but I can take orders again then.

I still have all the Baltimore show canvases to list and piles of new and new used/rare books.

There is still much to do.  None of the doors and much of the woodwork is not painted (my contractor left it for last).  There are no toilets installed yet and the powder room is completely empty.   The carpets go in next Monday.

No blinds up yet, they are in boxes in the garage.  So are the shelves for the office.

Sunday, a bunch of friends are coming over to help me pack.  This is the only day they could help and I appreciate it but with my move still 5 days after that, there is much I can’t pack yet.

Still, the help is great.  I am giving away a lot of extra furniture.  My last houses were much bigger.  I have 5 couches (need 2, maybe 3 if I put the flowered chintz one in the MB).   I think of it as my own way of recycling.  Many of the people I know here are younger, just starting out and need everything.  I have everything (and then some)

We move Friday September 23.   Wish me luck, please (and hope I have toilets by then)

Whew.

OK, This is so typical marianne..

Business has been booming on NewNeadlepoint.com recently. It has been great, selling lots of books. Selling some Kits & Canvases too. All good.

I had 10 copies of Stitch Landscape by Elaine Olivero & Stacey Tombros of Little Shoppe Canvas Co. I sold them fast for $33.00 each, with free shipping which costs me $2.30 each (within a penny or 2, the weight of each shipping bag is different).

Ok, I kept them on backorder and ordered 15 more. I had so many pre-orders I upped my order to 20.

They came in and I mailed them out but then I got to thinking (always a mistake) Why was I selling so many of them? Did anyone else have them for sale?

So I looked. I found them mentioned all over the place on Google, mostly by me. A few blogs and one other store (I never went past the 1st google page).

The other store had Stitch Landscape for $40.00

DOH, no wonder….although it has been good for business over all. Sort of a *loss leader* (how & why do I know these things?).

So, to not feel like a total moron, I upped my price to $35.00 (still with free shipping).

Now, this is hardly a huge profit, even at this price but the other was ridiculous. I was so impatient to list them that I did not wait, I was the first and the author/publisher did not really have a suggested price.

So, everyone who got Stitch Landscape for $33.00, it is with the compliments of NewNeedlepoint.com (Zac, my links still do not work).

Everyone else, $35. is still a great price.

I am reading Mary Jo Pultney at the moment, it is handy timing. If I was reading Lee Child’s Jack Reacher right now it would not be that good.

I don’t know how many of you are Janet Evanovitch fans? I am, I was, then wasn’t, now am again.

After she came “back” with the BBQ one (Sizzling 16) I re-read them all, from the beginning with the exception of the Uncle Moe’s Candy Store one. I just couldn’t.

I realized that, while she did have a slump there for a few books, it was not nearly as bad as all of us complainers on amazon said in our scathing reviews.

Anyway, as usual I am off point. She publishs a new Stephanie Plum novel each June. I have been buying and reading the first editions for a lot of numbers now.

1 day in June, I do nothing else, spend the day with Janet & Stephanie.

I know writing is not that easy, takes me forever to do this blog and the listings, but I wish, today, that there was more then 1 Stephanie Day a year.