Back in May of '98 I asked the question, "How does one get a home page?" The rest, as they say, is history.
For the first few months after asking that question I was totally obsessed! I was such a neophyte I had no idea there were programs available that did the mind numbing code work for you! I did it the hard way�learned HTML and wrote each and every tag myself!

I spent hours searching the net for just the right graphics for each page and as the years advanced so did my site! Eventually I could whip up tag in no time but I became dissatisfied with it all and just left it alone. I realized my loss of interest came from the sense that the pages were not truly my own and as long as I was using 'found' graphics they never would be.

Paint Shop Pro to the rescue!
The program had been sitting on my pc for a long time, primarily used for little things like text on blank buttons. I finally decided to put my money where my mouth was and give it a go.
WOW!!
I only thought I'd been obsessed before�rotfl�I lose hours, days, weeks fly by without my knowledge!
Sit in front of the pc in the early morning hours with an idea�a vague sense of movement around me, perhaps it was Peter getting up and heading off to work�next thing I hear is a key in the lock and he's walking in the door. Walking in the door? Perhaps he came home for lunch? No! It's suppertime!!!!!
A lost day? Perhaps to the uninitiated but if it ends with a folder of completed graphics�well I was gonna say it's better then sex but hey, I'm not THAT obsessed! Speaking of which�I just came up with an analogy.
Designing your own graphics is like having a baby�lol�hang on, gimme a sec this will work!
First there's the conception phase�an idea, throw in the excitement, and of course there's the whole 'ya can't wait to get at it' thing! wink wink
Then the development stage�exhaustion, sleeplessness, not to mention the frustration, THAT gets you to thinking that perhaps it wasn't such a great idea after all!
Finally after all the pain and anguish you look to see something that brings a bright smile to your face�fills you with joy and endless possibilities.

Ok, maybe (maybe??) I took the whole baby thing a tad too far but I think you see what I'm talking about.

Back to the point at hand!
I have designed each and every graphic on this site and yes I'm feelin' rather pleased with myself�lol!
Ok, ok�not EVERY graphic, sheesh�there's a flying seagull on my family tree page and a great blinking cat on my diner page but other then that they're all mine! The gull came from Glori at Web Warriors�I had to use that gull, it is perfect!
The cat image came from Glenda Moore's CatStuff Graphics�again, simply perfect!

This all being said, I can't take all the credit!
I need to thank three very important people!
My best and nearest and dearest friends in the world, Mish, Peter, and Neil�poor Neil has been plagued with innumerable questions!
Without their support and encouragement it never would have been possible!!

I hope you enjoy looking at my pages even half as much as I enjoyed making them!

Oh and by the way, in case you get to wondering�Nimue is the name I am known by throughout the internet.
OK, enough with the explanations...