A nice tidy bug room!

A nice tidy bug room! I'm having an open afternoon tomorrow so I have spent quite a bit of time tidying and cleaning this week. I'd love to say the bug room is sparkling clean but it just isn't possible with so many cages squashed into one room. I spend so much time looking after tarantula spiders but also plenty of time trying to irradiate British spiders from my bug room. They not only make a mess but they also eat my stock when they get the chance! I have so many bugs that feed on leaves, both fresh leaves and leaf litter, I think most of the spiders come in on leaves. It isn't practical to check all the leaves plus the fact that there are already so many enjoying the warmth and ready supply of food, I can only work to cut down on their numbers. It is especially upsetting when I find a big fat spider in with something like my Jungle Nymph stick insects. It always amazes me that a small spider can kill an animal many times its own size. I suppose that is the purpose of venom!

I have high hopes for tomorrow but I just never know who, if anyone will come along. I would like to make them a regular feature so fingers crossed. That said I do worry about putting my 'open afternoon' on Facebook, what if hordes of people turn up? I doubt I need to worry, it's more likely that I will end up as "Billy no mates" again. At least I know that I have a couple coming to collect a spider that they have ordered and my new neighbours will be calling with their girls who are very interested in bugs. Their mum worked in Costa Rica for a couple of years doing conservation work. I hope to get to Costa Rica at the end of this year but it depends on several factors. I am however optimistic and have been learning a little Spanish every day on my iPad with Duo-lingo. This week it says I am 2% fluent ‘woohoo’. It also says I am 39% fluent in French now (after about two years daily on the iPad). Clearly languages are not what I do best but I'm trying and my mum always said it was important to try!

The second reason for cleaning and clearing my bug room was to make room for all the new stock that is coming in this weekend. I am off to the Kent tarantula show on Sunday. It is sure to be a good show again this year. The people running it are very friendly (the Invicta tarantula society), the venue is lovely and there is always plenty to see and buy. It is close to the Eurostar which means that several European traders attend and they often have different animals to show (I say show, they are sometimes very expensive but nice to look at). I am planning to purchase new tarantulas, scorpions, stick insects, beetles and whatever else may be there. 

Next week will of course be extremely busy. Orders are on the up (thank goodness) and I will need to house, feed and label all the new animals as well as sort out prices and enter them on my website. Obviously, I can't sell them until I get them onto the site but feeding and housing is paramount to their wellbeing.

It has been extremely cold here this week, very icy and we even had a smattering of snow yesterday. I have been using bigger boxes and plenty of insulation as well as heat packs in my parcels and thankfully have had no problems reported. Royal Mail Special Delivery is expensive but incredibly reliable these days. It is a very rare occurrence for a parcel to be delayed, which certainly wasn’t the case only a couple of years ago.

I am really hoping to get some Ginny’s Jungle bug parties booked soon, realistically I don’t expect them to take off until the spring but it would be good to get some booked up. This week there is a very nice article in a Buckinghamshire magazine about my life as the “bug lady”, it is a good article and mentions both my online shop and parties. The magazine is called Elite, it is a glossy magazine, well produced with beautiful photographs, so I am very pleased with it. This week I also have a party advert in another local magazine called Hiya Bucks (placed for free this month by the very nice editor Debra). I just need to get the time to be more consistent with my Ginny’s Jungle Facebook. I can almost hear my daughter saying “social media is very important these days you know”, well I do know but what she doesn’t appreciate is that I work alone (she works as part of a team)and there really is only so much I can get done in a day. I must say that since she moved out at the beginning of the month I definitely have a bit more time. There is far less washing, cooking, cleaning, ironing and generally tidying up. 

Ok, it’s nice to sit here and ‘chat’ but I need to walk Teddi and then catch up on paperwork, it’s getting to the stage where I can’t see my desk again! I have now removed the wasps nest from the garden shed but it hasn’t got further than the breakfast bar. I need to carefully take it out of its box and clean it up before lacquering. I love wasps and I think the nest is a real work of art. I’m sure it will come in handy or be useful for something? Family and friends do seem to be a bit worried that it may still be full of wasps but if it is I’m sure they will be dead as it is freezing in the shed now. I suppose there could be a queen hibernating in there but if there is I will put her in a nice dry box with straw and hibernate her like a tortoise or hedgehog.

This weeks photo: My giant wasps nest