It is now officially Spring!
It is now officially Spring! I only wish the weather reflected that fact. Evidently it has been the coldest March for 50 years, oh I hate it!!! My new bug room is finished, well almost, the outer door repair didn't go to plan so it needs replacing but we will be moving the bugs in over the long Easter weekend. It will be stressful and hard work but I know it is the right thing to do in the long run. As I have said from the start, my only real worry is how we will fit everything in. I keep planning where the shelving will go and cannot figure out how to get it right. Let's hope that the old saying "where there's a will there's a way" is true. I certainly have the will, I am so looking forward to having everything in one place. No more trips up and down the garden, no more running in to answer the doorbell, no more traipsing through the house with armfuls of bramble and no more talking to customers in the porch when they come to collect an order. In all honesty I can't see people being able to look around my bug room much (unless they are very small and flexible to get around the shelving) but they can come into my office and I can get things off the shelves to show people. It will all be so much easier and just 'perhaps' it isn't as small as it looks!
I have so much new stock, there are bugs and beasties everywhere. I brought in some beetle larvae, stick insects and Leaf insects this week and later on today I am expecting beautiful Indonesian Jumping spiders and brightly coloured flat millipedes. The Jumping spiders will be in pairs, the males and females look really different, they are completely different colours. It would be great to get them breeding. I'm told that it is breeding season for the millipedes too, so fingers crossed. The bugs that I already have are breeding well, despite the rotten weather. I now have lots of cockroaches, stick insects, millipedes (just need to sort out which types they are) and as usual pregnant scorpions that hopefully will produce babies soon. I have a couple of spiders with egg sacs. I 'think' the New Mexican tarantulas should hatch very soon.
I haven't heard anything about the African bugs that I have on order but I expect they will arrive soon after Easter. I really hope they don't come in before we move everything. I have two lots of Giant Train millipedes on order, I will be glad when they arrive as people are crying out for them. There are a lot of animal exhibitions that open over Easter so I have been very busy this month. I am certainly not complaining as it wasn't too long ago that I had very few orders indeed. I like being busy, I don't remember the last time I was bored! If I am not looking after the animals I am caring for kids, elderly friends and relatives and yes, our son's two cats are still here! My lovely next door neighbour is having a second operation today, I just hope she will recover ok and come home soon. I miss our chats and cups of tea but on a practical level, not having her there to take in my parcels is a nightmare. Our postal deliveries are completely erratic, it just isn't possible to stay in listening for the bell all day. I am having to plan when I receive parcels and it is proving quite difficult.
Due to the continuing cold weather I gave up and bought some new heat packs. I just couldn't bear my stocks being so low and the thought of actually running out before the weather finally improves (surely it cannot be too far off now). If I don't need them that's fine, I can put them away until the Autumn.
I really do need to carry out some work on my website. My web guy is so lovely and really patient but I know he wants me to add some photos and more information to improve the look of the site. It is the story of my life "I just never have the time" but I really must get on with it. He sent me an email yesterday that he has removed my 'pink information box' and replaced it with a new improved version. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, I liked my pink box but evidently it was ugly and had to go (my husband's words). I know that photos, videos and YouTube links are important but I much prefer playing with the bugs. I am learning but it is a slow process when it comes to technology. I have had some success taking photos on my iPhone and putting them on the site. I was doing this the other day but kept getting stuck as I went through the different steps, my hubby was working on the bug room next door and in the end he snapped and told me in rather rude terms what an idiot I am. Oh well, I was trying (very trying according to him).
I get regular Giga alerts (was called Google alerts) by email and don't generally look at them but I did notice this one the other day and I thought it was rather nice: For the UK keepers who don't have a large selection of choice here's another great option.
Reliable and great communication via email.
Has a large collection she maintains from home.
Prices ok, look out for her special deals or clearance offers.
I don't know who wrote it but I do have some lovely customers who often go out of their way to put positive comments about me on the internet and send me really nice emails of thanks and compliments about my work. I always appreciate it and it is really helpful when customers write a product review for the website. There are quite a number now and I'm sure they improve sales when an item has a good review or two. Thankfully I haven't received any bad reviews, I doubt they would do much for sales!
When my new website was being created last year I told my web guy that I needed to provide a facility for credit accounts so that educational establishments e.g. schools, colleges and universities could place an order by invoice and pay later. I was told over and over that some local authorities will not allow an order to be placed other than in this way. However after six months I have not had a single school or university apply to set up an account!
That's it for another week. I need to get on and sort out all the containers and labels for the new arrivals and find somewhere to put them. I collected this week's crickets yesterday so I have plenty of food for the spiders and I have a large bag of leaf litter collected from the woods and fresh bananas from the local greengrocers for the millipedes. People are always saying that bugs like rotten fruit and vegetables but I think given the choice they prefer it fresh!
No blog next week as it will be Good Friday and we will be busy moving the bugs. Due to the Friday bank holiday I can only post out orders on Monday and Tuesday, so please get your orders in ASAP or they will be held over until the following week, where there is another bank holiday on the Monday. Happy Easter everyone.