Now, this should be entertaining, because tech is definitely not my area of expertise or comfort.

But slowly, slowly, catchy monkey has been my approach and it’s paying off – fingers crossed.

This greasy tech pole has had me climbing and sliding. But I’ve stuck in there and committed to learning what I need to know – not necessarily what people want to teach me, and it seems to be working.

That’s one of the biggest lessons learnt – collect and learn the information I need.  How?  My best move was to secure great tech-support – someone I can talk to and work with – and have a good laugh with along the way too.  I wouldn’t be doing what I do now without huge input from Jess Jones of Dot Jess.  Jess and her team keep me on the straight and narrow – and as soon as I have problems, I’m in touch.

Then, last week, I discovered an app which I’m simply in love with.  I’m doing a ton of reading and research for Stitch Safari – and I’m loving all the nooks and crannies I can’t help peering into.  But that means buying a plethora of books, which can be just a tad expensive and take up valuable real estate in a space-challenged apartment.

I also use a Kindle, mostly for books on business or self-improvement.  Previously, if I bought a creative or historical-based book with gorgeous images – they were shown in black and white on my Kindle.  But now Kindle has an app which I can use on my PC and the images are reproduced in colour as published.

Last week I bought ‘Silk and Cotton: Textiles from Central Asia,’ by Susan Meller.  I luxuriate in the coloured maps and images of these stunning textiles – and if I hook up to my monitor, they’re even bigger and better.

The other off-shoot to buying Kindle books is that many are usually a great deal cheaper.  As a result, I couldn’t resist another very-necessary purchase over the weekend of ‘Stitching the World: Embroidered Maps and Women’s Geographical Education,‘ by Judith A. Tyner – it was less than 2/3 the price of the hardcover edition.  My library has simply reached saturation level.

So between my computer and my amazing new Kindle app, I’m literally having a ball.  I certainly don’t profess to know everything, but I can do what I need to and have fun doing it.  Now to YouTube for some exercise before reading.

cathy jack coupland