It’s been go, go, go, this week!

It’s been go, go, go, this week! What a busy time, after the problems with the post before Christmas when Royal Mail were obviously too busy to deliver parcels! I decided to resume sending orders this week rather than directly after New Year’s Day as I generally do. I had such a back-log of orders to sort that it took me until Wednesday to get everything out but I’m pleased to say that all went well with no delays and no complaints. In fact, quite the opposite, I have received more 5 star reviews this week than the whole of December J

I can’t spend too long on the blog as I seem to have done nothing but process and pack orders, my feeding/cleaning regime has gone a bit to pot so the weekend will see me getting to grips with the nitty gritty of bug keeping, feeding, washing tanks and boxes, mopping the floor and as ever moving things around to make a bit more space. I did manage to sort an area of our loft out over Christmas and intend to store some of my bug things up there, rather than pile everything non-living in my office! It drives me crazy when I know I have something but can’t find it. I am writing down exactly what is stored in the loft as access is restricted (our house is a chalet bungalow) and the last thing I need is to shove things away and then not be able to find them either J

The bugs are all doing very well, lots of baby bugs and lots of bugs with fat tummies, hopefully to produce young in the Spring. It always surprises me that whatever I do in the bug room with heat and light and very little natural light, some animals still instinctively know when Spring arrives and start to give birth, be it a tarantula, scorpion, cockroach etc. I have sold a huge number of adult Hissing cockroaches in the last couple of months but I must make sure that I hold back some of the larger ones to keep the colony going for next year. They really are my “bread and butter” bug. I have always said that If I were to give up my business, I would always keep a tank of Hissing cockroaches. They are the ultimate pet insect in my opinion, large and showy, completely harmless, will eat practically anything, can be housed in any old tank and just require a bit of heat. Yes, I still love them after all these years! I have some great stories to tell about my Hissing cockroaches, losing them down my mum’s sofa when I worked at the London Butterfly House all those years ago, losing them behind a mirror on the wall in a television studio when filming was about to start for ‘Pets Win Prizes’, filming a pop video and the director thought it would be a good idea to throw my cockroaches down a deep stairwell for a spooky effect, I thought not!!

I must get a move on but while talking about looking back, I will just say that last week I had several people call to collect their orders, something I always appreciate. One of the people that called had driven all the way from Poole, he was a customer of mine about 30 plus years ago and regularly came to my open afternoons. It was great to see him again and reminisce about the ‘old days’, he brought his grandson along to choose a spider. Oh I do feel old, especially as my big birthday is just a couple of weeks away now, no I will not be 100! And no, I will not be retiring, I still have several years until I receive a pension and even then, I can’t imagine giving up my animals. I need to run my business to afford to keep them all! The heating bill alone is huge as our new Smart meter keeps reminding me J

This week’s photo – my newly moulted, beautiful, Cambodian Blue (Chilobrachys species) tarantula (a female at last, after having several males mature)