My open afternoon is tomorrow

My open afternoon is tomorrow. So far I have one person coming, it's not looking like I will be rushed off my feet or people will be queuing to get in! If you are even thinking of coming along, I would love to know.

 Another busy week (when isn't it?), my new gym has opened and it's brilliant. The equipment is fantastic and the staff are great. I have managed to persuade both family and friends to join, which makes it even better. I have been in there most days this week, it really is a super escape from the stresses of life and with my work I need to stay fit and healthy. The older I get the more I worry what would happen to all my little animals if I were ill or needed even minor surgery. 'Not a lot' is the answer as I don't have a backup plan.

 Again I have had plenty of orders this week and thankfully I seem to be doing really well with my 'bug breeding'. I have lots of baby millipedes, scorpions and beetles. The adult beetles seem to be selling as soon as they hatch, I cannot keep up with demand. Yet again I needed more rotten wood and leaf mulch from the woods. This time I took my garden trolley with me. I may look a twit but with all this rain I just can't carry it all, I'm sure the leaves weigh about four times more now they are sodden. When I was en route to the woods I met a guy who does garden work. I was really pleased as we have wanted someone for ages, to take down and also trim some trees in our back garden. Hopefully he will be doing the work today but the forecast is rain again (surprise, surprise) so it may have to wait until next week. One of the trees that needs removing is a Eucalyptus, it pains me to pay for its removal, we planted it some years ago as a food plant for my Goliath stick insects. The trouble is that it has got away from us and is now about 30' tall. They grow amazingly fast, I thought we could tie a rope around it and as my husband chopped it down I could pull it the way I wanted it to land. Nobody else thought my plan was a good idea, hence paying for its removal. We have several other Eucalyptus trees but they are a different species and seem more controllable. My hubby has chopped the tops off several times and intends to do it again next week when he has a couple of days off. I don't have any bugs that particularly like Eucalyptus leaves now but I think they are pretty trees. I just wish they didn't grow so fast! 

It is March tomorrow and I was thinking of sending out another newsletter but I have decided not to bother. I can only imagine that people are worried about receiving junk emails because looking at my database I would say that at least 50% have chosen the 'no newsletter' option. This is a real shame as I only ever send out a couple each year and I have absolutely no intention of passing on my customers details to anyone (I wouldn't even know how to!). I have also noticed quite recently that more and more people put a series of zeros in the box for  telephone details, when registering on my website. This is really annoying as it's ridiculous not to have a phone number just in case anything goes wrong with the order. Yes, I can send an email but these are often not read immediately and there may be an important issue that needs addressing then and there. I thought it may be a fault with the database on my website but when I contacted my web guy for advice, he said it wasn't. I probably wouldn't notice there wasn't a phone number until there was a problem with the order. Oh well I can only do my best. On that note I have had some lovely emails recently, I do like being told how wonderful I am! There are some nice comments on my website but I still don't really understand the Disquis system (comments & suggestions). What I really want to see (if you are happy with your purchases and my service) is some more reviews on the website. I am still trying to come up with a way of inducing my customers to write them. It doesn't take a minute and I think it makes a great difference to my site. Thanks to all those of you who have written reviews, I always appreciate it.

 I have finally changed the write up on the home page of my website. It was very out of date, I realised it still mentioned my bugs being in a log cabin. It is almost a year now since we moved them indoors. I haven't changed it a lot, just tweaked it really. 

Well, out of time again. Hopefully the tree guy will be here soon and I have to pop next door and oversee the plumber. I thought Joyce would have moved weeks ago but there has been a hold up. At least she is still around to take in parcels for me! Goodness knows what I will do when she does finally move.

 I am hoping it will soon be warm enough that I won't need to put a heat pack in every order but I doubt that will be just yet. I'm trying to ignore the mention of snow and ice on the way - you must all know by now that I HATE the cold.