I've fixed it!

Hurrah and huzzah! I finally managed to sort the website out without having to pull the computer's innards out! It was, as I suspected, due to my ill-advised attempt to tidy up. Wehehehehell, I won't be making that mistake again!
So, what else is going on... the Chrimbo sale is up and running, and the BOGOFF bumGenius! is going as well a expected. I have big discounts on Tots Bots and Mother-ease too, which is pretty good, but the bumGenius! is definitely the winning horse in generating interest.

Aside from the nappies, I am feverishly knitting up a storm for Christmas presents, desperately trying to get them all done before the big day. I did consider buying a load of scarves and pretending they were my own work, but I resisted. I just couldn't have lived with myself- I would have been a fraud! :)

I've killed it

My website, that is... I've killed it dead.
B*****ks
I made the dreadful mistake of tidying up my files for the site and must have hidden everything by accident because all I can see now is files....
AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!
Ok, calmly I will go back and try and figure this out... just because everything I've tried so far has failed doesn't mean that I will continue in that vein.

Oh, and if I don't post again, you (dear reader :)) will know that I CANNOT, due to the fact that I have killed the computer too.

One more unto the breach dear friends!

BUMGENIUS Buy one get one free WOW

Well this is quite exciting, for 2 reasons
1: I've never had the chance to do a BOGOFF thing before, and
2: It's an amazing opportunity for anyone interested in getting these nappies at an incredible price!

Everyone knows how these deals work, you have to get 2 of them in order to qualify. It doesn't exactly mean they are half price, but that is essentially what it amounts to- if you buy 2 :)

So, if you were unsure about them, or put off by the full price then now's the time to give them a go!

BTW if you are fast off the mark and there's no sale buttons anywhere then it just means that I haven't finished them yet. So either drop me a line and I can send you a special invoice, or visit again in a few hours!

Dundee Baby Fair 2008

The Dundee Real Nappy Network has decided to host a Baby Fair on 19/01/08 . We are in the process of inviting exhibitors, doing the advertising and making up a website.

I've taken on the task of doing the website, and have also chosen to use one of these template packages to do it. It's not too bad, actually, you can edit quite a lot of them. I thought the point of them was that they were quick and easy, and all you have to do is put in the data, but finding the perfect template isn't easy! To be fair it's not that difficult to get something online quickly so I'll just have to come here and whinge it it gets too annoying.

The thing I'm annoyed about at the moment was that the best template I could find has pyramids in the banner. Pyramids! What's the connection there? None, it was the closest I could get to abstract but now I'm going to have to get rid of the pyramids somehow... You can check out how successful I am at http://www.dundeebabyfair.co.uk

Daft on Nappies is finally here!

As it turned out attaching Daft On Nappies to the Bonnie Babies website was an easy process. All I had to do was type "webtapestry" into the box and in 24 hours it should be done! The annoying thing (and there must always be an annoying thing, apparently) is that it costs £10 for web tapestry to do the attaching, whilst heart internet don't charge to let it go. "Free transfers" is a bit of a BIG FAT RED HERRING. Yes, it's free, but only on one end. I don't know if everyone charges for this but I'm assuming its a standard thing. If anyone knows different then please let me know.

I had asked for all the relevant information from all parties and at no point was I told I'd have to pay anything for this. So there's the lesson for today, you may think your saving a couple of quid by going to "A" for a domain registration, but if you don't want them to host it then make sure you ask the right questions- of everyone.

Harrumph

Name change

Imagine me, the night before the Baby Show in the SECC, all excited and nervous having just set up the stall. I then get a phone call from another business with a very similar name who has had customers contact her about the Baby Show in the SECC, looking forward to seeing her there... Obviously she was a bit surprised as she had no intention of going, but quickly found out that they thought I was her... if you understand...
She was concerned about this, naturally, even though we sell different things customer confusion is no good for either of us. And as she actually owns the trademark the onus was on me to find a new name!
So, after a lot of humming and haaing I finally settled on Daft On Nappies. As well as insinuating a certain light hearted obsession, daft also stands for Dundee, Angus, Fife and Tayside... clever, eh? I can see you all now, nodding your head in appreciation of my cleverness :)
Ah well, I think it's ok, and since I've been putting things off until I came up with a new name (there was no point in promoting a name that I was going to loose any minute, after all) the nappy selling has kinda ground to a halt, which has been painful in the financial district.
I still own bonnie-babies.com though, and I'll have both names directed to the same website until bonnie-babies.com runs out.
The only problem now is that I need Heart Internet to let me transfer daftonnappies.co.uk to Web Tapestry as they host my website, but they haven't replied to my inquiry for a couple of weeks now, grrrrr.

I can slice!

I have decided to revamp the bonnie-babies.com website. In fact I've decided to rename it DAFTonNappies.co.uk and change the website, since I don't like to do anything in small measures :)

I had to change the name, actually, but more on that another time.

So I've been trying to come up with a slightly more sophisticated website that is still easy to navigate for everyone. One thing I have just learned is how to slice images up so bits of them can be used as different links. In the past if I wanted an image to be linked the whole image had to be one big link to one place... but no more!

I'm a genius, but more on that later too... I've got to buzz off and pick up J from nursery school.

:P
Tara

What's going on?

Seriously, why am I not a tycoon yet? I've been plugging away at this www stuff for over a year now and no sign at all of the expected riches.

It's enough to make me mad.


Ok, once again, I want a castle in the country, a butler/driver, a cook/housekeeper and a minion to do odd jobs, like warm the toilet seat for any wintertime middle of the night visits.

I think you'll find that I've been quite modest in my expectations- I could demand a butler AND driver, as well as a cook AND housekeeper, but I don't want to appear greedy.

So, let's give it another go...shall we?

To Steam Or Not To Steam...

I have always had to juggle the twin stresses of making sure my house is clean and avaoiding that bleach/cleaner smell- it gives my the dry boak, always has. Then, in addition to this, with a little one about, I was always worried about the amount of chemicals littered about the house, especially where my tiny baby may come into contact with it (like the bath/toys etc- not under the sink!) With the increased choice of steam cleaners I thought I had found the ideal solution... AND they can clean your windows too!

BUT just how environmentally friendly can they be? The lack of chemicals in your home, being absorbed into our bodies, or going down the plughole and into the environment, is a big bonus, obviously. However, it takes electricity to make the steamers work. I know there are gizmos out the that work out the energy consumption and cost of any electrical equipment, but how on earth can you measure the greenness of the 2 methods against each other?
Is it better to have less chemicals, but add to greenhouse emmissions?

Answers on a post card please... :D

BTW I have yet to get my windows completely clean with the steamer, maybe I should go back to the vinegar. :)

Midsummer eve

It's after 11pm and it's still pretty light outside. From tomorrow the nights begin to draw in, and the days slowley get shorter. For tonight, I feel a strange hush. We have reached the apex of the year, and we are about to head on back down the rollercoaster.
Slow roller coaster, eh?

You'd never get that in Alton Towers...

I must be ready for my bed :-)

Bum Genius take over the world!

Well after the bust that was the Baby Show bumGenius sales are saving me from the brink of disaster!
It's great really, bumGenius are fantastic nappies, and, if you ever looked at reviews on the forums, there was rarely a negative word about them. I don't know what has happened in the last month, but demand has just soared! It's almost as if a critical mass of popular opinion has been reached, and its now overflowing- kind of like a bath starting to overflow. I'm just a wee trader, but even I have been inundated. I've had a few phone calls from ladies buying up whatever shops have left in order to get a good number!
Unfortunately I'm now down to my last few pink ones and it'll take weeks for the next order to arrive. Fortunately most of the orders I've had are from very organised mummies, who can wait, so I haven't lost out on too many. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

It's the pox!

Chicken pox, that is!
TBH I would have been surprised if he'd escaped this round of chicken pox, as every kid we come into contact with has had it in the last couple of months. Apparently it's up 70% from this time last year- and I'm not surprised.
On a purely selfish note, it had to appear on my busy day, his one and only session at nursery. Aside from all the daytime tv I was going to watch, I was going to do most of the prep for the Baby Show...

I have had loads of fabulous advertising opportunities in the last week too. I don't know if the season for the advertising folk to cast their nets is deliberately in synch with the home insurance callers, or is just one of these weird happenings, but there sure is a lot to wade through on a daily basis!

Sigh

Comic Relief- The Big One

Don't know about anyone else, but whilst I usually tune into the Red Nose Day I rarely really enjoy it. I'll often pop in and out of it hoping to see whatever the big event they've been hyping for weeks (remember the Harry Potter spoof??) More often than not the whole thing was a bit rubbish on the comedy side but this year has been really good! And I actually thought Tony Blair was funny!
Controversial?

Comedy aside... this night has broken my heart at least half a dozen times. You see the stories of babies dying from... well, poverty really, and you know that despite sending in all you can afford you can't make it right for all of them. Maybe it's a parenthood thing, but since I had J I can't bare to watch kids in pain. Don't get me wrong, I never liked it! But the thought of him going through what some of these kids go through... breaks my heart.

The Baby Show is coming

The leaflets have arrived, so everyone should be seeing the publicity around and about soon. And Bonnie Babies is on it! Woo hoo! Well in tiny type in a huge list of all the other stalls, but still there nonetheless!

It looks as if my great plan of keeping spending down to the bare minimum is in trouble. Well the plan holds, but the minimum is getting pretty high. Most of the things I'm hopefully going to sell have a wait time of a couple of weeks at least so I'm going to have to order them well in advance. Then I'll just have to hope that I can actually sell them! If I don't then it is going to take me a loooong time to pay off my credit card!

Please, please, please let me sell them!

Gosh, the exciting life of a high spending businesswoman :)

What to do with an energetic toddler.

Get a whole load of membership cards!
And I don't mean for Gala bingo.
I have membership for a couple of child friendly places downtown in Dundee, and it is fantastic to know I have somewhere to go that is safe, interesting and "free" at the point of entry.
Obviously finding the cash up front can be a problem- a bit like the real nappy issue, but on a smaller scale- but if it can be done it will save me money, and give me choices of somewhere indoor to go in the cold weather.
(Talking about cold weather, I am relieved to see snow today, after the summer weather we've been having. I noticed some plants budding in mid January! That can't be good)
So now we have Sensation, the local science museum, and under 4's go free with mum's membership. £26 for a year. Science sounds a bit much for a 2 year old, I know, and a lot is way over his head, but they have a preschool area with noisy lights and flashing boxes, and all the exhibits are interactive, so he can play with them anyway. He loves the robot exhibit, especially the one where he can move the cogs as they look like Thomas' train wheels :-)
The new place in town is a soft play called Junglee, and they have a £15 for 3 months membership. They do a whole year for something like £55 but that was a bit out of my league, and I wanted to make sure it was worth it before investing that much. It's not a big place, but it's fine for little ones like J. The only problem is that I don't quite fit down the slide :-D I manage with a squeeze, but that means I don't go shooting down it- unlike the one in Jungle Kids. Man, that was a scary ride!
In fact, I think I may go there this afternoon!