Virginia Cheeseman - Latest News Blog
I regularly post to my news blog when the number of readers hits a certain target and I get the time to do so :) I have been writing my blog for many years now and some of my posts have been read over 3,000 times! Feel free to check back every now and again to see what's happening at VirginiaCheeseman.co.uk
All going well
All going well. I have just re-read my last blog entry (I don’t usually). Wow, it was spot on! I wrote it when I was on holiday in Cyprus and it shows. Away from the chaos of home, I clearly had time to think and put it all down in words.
How honest should I be?
How honest should I be? Oh well, I always tell the truth so here goes. I am sitting on the terrace at our favourite hotel in Cyprus as I write this. It is boiling hot and the bright blue sea is calm and beautiful. Absolutely perfect :) But life at home is not perfect, it is chaotic and non-stop (I have the ulcer and insomnia to prove it). I love my bugs and my super customers but things have got to change. I have been trying to slow things down for a while now but come February, I finally get my pension and after Christmas I will be looking after my gorgeous grandson Milo when my daughter returns to work. It will only be one or two days a week but I am also carer to my mother in-law with dementia and there are others in the family who require my help (I cannot elaborate in an open blog).
Breeding successes
Making a start on the blog but not sure how long I have with my little grandson in his bouncy chair. Unfortunately, Milo’s dad had an accident at work this week and is back at the hospital this morning, having the wound assessed, yuk!
Busier than ever!
Honestly, I’m not getting any younger and I never seem to stop. I have such a huge number of bugs to look after (many are not shown on my website because I am trying to breed them or when it comes to tarantulas, I am keeping them until they moult and are ok to post out). I spend so much time feeding and cleaning. I am still learning all the time and doing really well with most of my breeding projects. It’s that time of year when everything is having babies, tarantulas, scorpions, cockroaches, millipedes etc. I can’t believe how well my idea of keeping only bugs that don’t need daily care is going. This means that I can lock up and go away for a weekend at last! Of course, I still have my wonderful daughter to check in but she too now has a baby. He is simply adorable and I love him taking up my time (: I’m really surprised that I don’t miss keeping stick insects but I honestly don’t. I really, really don’t miss collecting bramble (such an embarrassing part of my job, I could tell some stories about that – like when I was thrown out of Chiswick park!).
A new chapter in my life!
A new chapter in my life! You may have seen on my Facebook page that our wonderful daughter is now a mummy herself. It is all so exciting! Of course, I am already Nanna to Bob (my son’s son) and now I have another beautiful grandson called Milo. I will be pretty busy over the next few weeks in my new Mum/Nanna duties. I would never be able to go on holiday if it were not for Georgie looking after everything so it is only fair that I spend time looking after her now.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! The master plan is going well, I just need to stick to it. My work is ever changing, as is life. I’m not a fan of change but I need to continue streamlining my business in order to keep it going. I only have just over a year until I receive a pension but I don’t want to retire, I intend to just cut things down a bit.
Can’t believe how busy I am
Can’t believe how busy I am, this is generally my quiet time of year. It’s very welcome because December is always a short month for me. As Christmas approaches the post can be erratic or snow falls and I have to stop sending out orders until the New Year. Last Christmas we also had Royal Mail strikes to contend with so I gave up after a few days into December. Hopefully this year will be better!
One word 'Trustpilot'
One word ‘Trustpilot’. Wow, what a boost it has been to my business (and my ego). I have been saying for a very long time that many of the product reviews I receive sound more like a review of me than the product and that it would be good if people could submit a review of the business rather than an individual item and then I discovered Trustpilot. A customer wrote a lovely review on there and sometime later I spoke to my website guy about the possibility of adding this to my website. He said that it was possible and then began sorting it out. Unfortunately, at that time I lost my elder brother and didn’t feel able to concentrate on anything new so we shelved the idea. However, a few weeks later Trustpilot was set up as a widget on my website and the five star reviews starting appearing. It has been amazing and I am delighted with the amount of reviews I have received. I read and reply to each and every one, I have been told that I don’t need to but I want to! I am extremely grateful for them all. This month's photo - a tarantula waving
Long overdue as ever
Long overdue as ever J My life is changing, it always has but things are so very different now. Covid, leaving the EU, dare I say it ‘not being as young as I once was’ and last but not least, shifting priorities. The bug room is my very own sanctuary to escape to but I don’t want to spend all my time in there! The master plan is going well, I have stuck to my guns and now have a zillion tarantulas and plenty of other arachnids, plus various creepy crawlies but no more leaf eating bugs J (ok, just a couple of Horse-Head grasshoppers but they are so cute)
First day of spring! A good day to write a new blog post
First day of spring! A good day to write a new blog post. It’s a lovely time of year when everything comes to life. I was delighted to see the first clump of frogspawn in my pond yesterday (a nice