They're Gone!

So, I heard of the upcoming discontinuation of Google Friend Connect several months ago in passing - as it related to non-blogger blogs, I decided not to worry about it much.  Not being very tech-savvy anyway, I didn't give it another thought... till this morning.

I woke up to find my GFC followers widget had vanished forever!  Why?  Why?   First Blogger savagely eats 50 comments, then it annihilates my followers!  Ahhh!

I'm sure those of you who have blogs of your own can relate to how much followers subscribing to a blog means to the blogger.  It's the building of a network of readers who care enough to come back again and again to read what you have to say... and that is so encouraging to a lonely writer, sitting at her desk and staring at her blog, wondering "Does anyone really read this stuff anyways?"  Seeing the numbers swell, one caring person at a time, is such an exciting feeling.  And I have been extremely excited as we neared two hundred followers in my little GFC box, sitting there in the sidebar.

And that's where all this fiasco started - my little GFC widget was installed from the code brought over from my old blog, where I already had fifty seven followers.  Instead of activating the built-in GFC widget in the Blogger layout, I just entered the code I already had.  Simple, right?  And I had found a way to bring all of the followers already subscribed to my writings over to the new blog, Accordion to Kellie.

All of the custom GFC settings were updated to my new Blogger account, and everything looked set to go.

Till this morning.  

The little box that one hundred and ninety-one of you, my amazing readers, had opted to click on and join the bandwagon - had vanished, leaving me despondent and, I candidly admit, rather frantic.  

But after awhile, quite peaceful.

You all didn't disappear.  Only my precious little GFC number, which I had, in a way, been looking on as a judge of my merit as a blogger.

I'll still write, whether the little box in my sidebar reads five or five hundred.  And I've been reminded to place the  real value of my blogging in your wonderful comments, rather than how large a number shows up in my little followers box.  

Does that number really judge one's value as a blogger?  Twenty equals a tiny, insignificant little one, three hundred equals an up-and-coming one, and eight hundred or more means fame and popularity?  If, so, I'll gladly trade in my silly little number for feedback from all of you who really care enough to follow me on this creative adventure.  I want to share it all with you, and every time someone comes across this little blog and is blessed by something they find, my mission is accomplished.  

Now for the perfect irony.

After I removed the useless, discontinued GFC code from my template, I had an idea.

I looked in the list of Blogger gadgets.  Yes, there it was, the built-in followers gadget that I had never installed, not needing it because of my previous GFC code from the old blog. 

I clicked add, and there was the familiar little box... but with members already in it!  Somehow, part of those of you who had already subscribed in that method had gone into this uninstalled gadget, and were there, waiting in limbo;)  Go figure...

Fifty-seven.  The very same number that I originally started out this new blog with.  Well, let's try it again from the top, shall we?

Do I love it when somebody subscribes to this blog?  Yes, a thousand times!  Each time I give myself a little hug.  But whether that subscription come in the form of GFC, Feedburner/RSS, or simply a comment letting me know that someone has found my blog and enjoyed it, is all the same to me.  A little number in my sidebar ought to have nothing to do with it.

And if you made it all the way to the bottom here, I salute you.  Thanks for putting up with my little rant slash ramble in the world of hopeless computer illiteracy.

And if you were following my blog via Google Friend Connect previously, I humbly invite you re-follow in the method of your choice so we can stay in touch.  Your readership means so much to me!

Lots of love,

--Kellie

P.S. I hope the pictures generated a smile or two;)

I guess it wasn't meant to be...

Three years.

It's been that long since I  discovered Cath Kidston, and naturally, I've been longing for a CK handbag of my own ever since.

But let me show you the letter that came in the mail a few days ago - it completely and utterly made the day of the this little Idahoan Anglophile.

An Etsy money order from England!  I was quite wild over the stamp and Royal Mail inking.  The little note was simply marvelous with it's British phrasing - I read it to anyone who would listen in my best British style - but the five pound note was sublime.  I must sound ridiculous, but holding a fiver in my hand was like something out of a fairytale... and British currency is so much more beautiful than our dollar!  Right then and there I decided to keep my fiver till I somehow get to Great Britain.  I'll hand it over the counter in a Cath Kidston shop.  It's now a dream:)

 

With my precious Cath notebooks

Back to the Cath Story:

Last week, after having the page open for several days, pondering on the propriety and sense of actually hitting the add to cart link, I did.  That after-Christmas sale + the mini bird saddle bag was irresistible.  Was I ever thrilled...

...Yesterday, I received an email "To advise you that unfortunately your order has not copied across onto our systems due to a technical issue."  I was to call and replace my order.  

Second thrill!  I called the US Toll Free number three times till I caught them while they were open.  I stayed up late (early, rather) last night working on things, and I called around three in the morning.  A marvelous British voice answered... it was so unreal!  Here was I, sitting in my dark and chilly tent (ran out of wood:) in North Idaho, in the still, wee sma's, talking to someone in England - sun up, people hurrying, going, talking, living.  That very minute.  I loved it!

I had to force myself not to lapse into a British accent myself, for fear of being rude, while we got the account straightened out... I gave the product number.  

Silence.  Then, "I'm so sorry, but that item is sold out."

I was silently plunged into the depths of despair. The kind girl comforted me with the advisement to be on the lookout for the new spring line... I thanked her, and hung up.  

But happier thoughts came quickly, most prominently my Scottish side reminding me of my bank account, still intact...

One day, in just the right timing, I trust I will have a CK bag.

 But for now, it just wasn't meant to be.  

And you never know... something marvelous just might happen in result of this disappointment!

I wonder.