Christmas Around The Corner

Another month gone by and Christmas will soon be upon us. I'm working as hard as ever caring for all the bugs but unfortunately sales are down dramatically. I think we are certainly in recession. Most people would class pets are non-essential but I don't agree, when I am down I like my animals around me.

Everything in the bug house is going well but the same can't be said of my office! Last weekend, especially Saturday, was a wash out. My poor husband, son and nephew worked flat out re-roofing my office and the workshop on the side of our house. It was bitterly cold and very wet but they got most of it done. I supplied endless cups of coffee and hot bacon/sausage rolls. At one time my husband came in the kitchen with blood running down his arm, he had cut his thumb on some metal. I said that it might need stitches but he insisted that I bandage it tightly so that he could carry on! Hopefully, if the weather holds, my nephew and brother in-law (they are professional roofers) will finish the job on Monday. When the roof is 100% watertight my husband can finally insulate the ceiling, sort the electrics, plaster the walls, lay the flooring and lastly decorate. I was possibly a bit over optimistic that it would be finished by Christmas! My computer is now set up in the front room, it's a nightmare to get all my paperwork done as everything that I need is spread out around the house. I am gradually setting up things around me but it looks a tip. Every time anyone rings the doorbell I quickly shut the front room door.

We seem to have acquired a new pussy cat this week, he 'moved in' during the chaos over the weekend and has barely left the workshop ever since. My two cats aren't very keen and I'm bribing my very dominant Akita dog to accept the new arrival. He is a very sick looking cat, I took him to the vets at the beginning of the week, it cost £34.05 and she told me precisely nothing, she wasn't even sure of the sex (yes, I need a new vet). She said he could have kidney failure but it would mean blood tests and a lot of money to find out. I have decided to feed him well and keep him warm. I will most likely take him to another vet next week. The moral of the story is that you need a bug pet - they are much cheaper. They are generally alive or dead with no in between. Any problems are usually related to temperature or humidity and you can always ring me for a free consultation. If I don't have a clue, at least I won't charge you £34.05!

I had a panic this week when a parcel went missing. I sent the package on Monday and was informed Wednesday afternoon that it had not arrived. I always send anything live by Special Delivery, very occasionally it may take an extra day to arrive but it never takes two extra days. I immediately checked the Royal Mail website and it said that the parcel had been delivered! I didn't know what to do as my customer was telling me that it certainly hadn't arrived. I rang Royal Mail and their system confirmed delivery but they had no record of a signature (needed for all Special Delivery items). My customer checked with her neighbours to see if anyone had taken in a parcel for her but nobody knew anything. In desperation she went to see her postman who lived locally. He very kindly drove to the sorting office and low and behold found the parcel and delivered it. All the animals were fine but I was furious and complained to my Post Office the next morning. I was given all the information that they had and a complaints form but then all became clear (well clear-ish, the system should not have registered that it was delivered), unfortunately my customer had one digit of her post code wrong. This small error had caused chaos. Everything these days is automated and the post code is absolutely vital. I cannot believe how many people still don't put a post code on their letters. The only thing that is really needed these days is the house number and post code.

My daughter has a day off college today so we are going to Reading for some retail therapy. She is finding her college course very hard and stressful at the moment but she chose A level maths, physics, computing and economics!