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
Competitions abound
Competitions abound, I have drawn the ‘monthly review’ winner and Teddi helped draw the ‘monthly mistakes’ winner. There were only 6 reviews this month (4 from the same person) but I do appreciate each and every one of them! The winner was Curtis and again this month the winner was fairly picked out of the hat and it just happened that he wrote a single review. The other winner was Hani (only 2 entries received L). Both will be sent their postage code in an email, this will entitle them to free postage on their next order. I too have won a competition today, a £100 Tesco gift card! It is actually the second I have won in this super Tesco competition (buy a pack of Plenty kitchen roll and enter the code online). With all my animals, I get through a great deal of kitchen roll, I use it for cleaning, drying cages, lining cages and packing bugs. I have though bought enough packs to keep me going for several months now.
Spring is in the air at last
Spring is in the air at last, only 24 days to go but who's counting J. My garden is full of snowdrops, crocuses and primroses (the weeds are also appearing unfortunately). The bugs are doing well, some will breed all year round but many seem to wait for the spring. I assume it is the longer, brighter, days that triggers them off as the bug room is hot all year round.
It’s all celebrations and presents this year
It’s all celebrations and presents this year and I’m certainly not complaining. Last Sunday was our Ruby wedding anniversary and instead of counting myself lucky if I get a card, my hubby bought me a beautiful pair of white gold earrings with diamonds and rubies. We went to Richmond park for lunch with our son and daughter in-law and came home to our daughter cooking dinner for us. A wonderful day and very restful, I even found time for my yoga class in the morning.
Another successful week
Another successful week with lots of orders placed and several new reviews received. I’m always full of ‘good ideas’ (as I see it) but some ideas work and some don’t. The monthly review competition has worked better than I could ever have hoped for, so I am now running a new monthly competition. I added the details to the slip of paper that I send out with each order, explaining how to enter but it looked too messy so I have given up on that, I am mentioning it here and I will put it on my Facebook page when I get a chance. Basically, I would like you to let me know if you find any mistakes on the website such as spellings, wrong dates, updated tarantula names (they seem to constantly change). It is very difficult to proof read your own work and there is an awful lot of information on my website.
What can I say?
What can I say? I knew it was going to be busy but this week has been crazy. I'm not complaining, it's great to have so many orders and enquiries. I have fed and watered all the new animals that I got last weekend but I am some way off having them labelled, housed up properly and added to my stock list. Most are now listed on my website but I do have a couple of tarantulas that I don't yet have a common name for. I might ask my Facebook friends but as yet I haven't found the time! Honestly I haven't stopped, I have been waking up early and going straight into my office (that’s after making a cup of tea and having a wee - too much information?).
A nice tidy bug room!
A nice tidy bug room! I'm having an open afternoon tomorrow so I have spent quite a bit of time tidying and cleaning this week. I'd love to say the bug room is sparkling clean but it just isn't possible with so many cages squashed into one room. I spend so much time looking after tarantula spiders but also plenty of time trying to irradiate British spiders from my bug room. They not only make a mess but they also eat my stock when they get the chance! I have so many bugs that feed on leaves, both fresh leaves and leaf litter, I think most of the spiders come in on leaves. It isn't practical to check all the leaves plus the fact that there are already so many enjoying the warmth and ready supply of food, I can only work to cut down on their numbers. It is especially upsetting when I find a big fat spider in with something like my Jungle Nymph stick insects. It always amazes me that a small spider can kill an animal many times its own size. I suppose that is the purpose of venom!
A busy week
A busy week, I was determined to catch up on everything and I have worked continually to that aim. I have made a real impact on my paperwork and cleaned a lot of the large plastic boxes out. I am gradually switching over from the big plastic boxes that I have used for years to the smaller Wilko plastic boxes that are actually sold as CD boxes. They are long and slender and fit perfectly on my shelving in the bug room. They also come with a purple lid which is a bonus for a purple freak like me. The large boxes are just so heavy and cumbersome when full of soil, damps leaves and of course the millipedes, cockroaches, beetles and all manner of creepy crawlies that require a dense substrate.
Rain or snow?
Rain or snow? That is the question. I'm writing this blog a day early as I may not have much time tomorrow. However, everything seems to rather depend on the weather. I have a couple of appointments tomorrow but I won't be venturing out in the car if it snows. I could walk to my afternoon appointment but my meeting in the morning would mean driving up an extremely steep hill. I suppose that's what you get when you move to a place called 'High' Wycombe.
Happy New Year everyone!
Happy New Year everyone! Last year was a terrible year for my family so I'm going with the resolution "new year - new start" and hoping to goodness that this year will be better. We spent the New Year in Luxembourg with my niece's family who live out there and family from the UK including my sister's 10 grandchildren. It was lovely to all be together but Luxembourg is way too cold for me! (it is now only 74 days until Spring – I wish I could use Emoji’s in my blog, this certainly warrants a sad face!)
Nearly Christmas, well it is certainly December
Nearly Christmas, well it is certainly December now, the weather has turned very cold but the sun is nice to see. We had a lovely couple days away in Brighton last week. I finally started some Christmas shopping (had no idea it was Black Friday when we booked the trip, hubby was not impressed). We actually spent several hours in Carphone Warehouse upgrading our phones! Sorry if you were trying to contact me, because I was changing providers I ended up without my number or emails until Monday. It was a pain but at least I am free of Vodafone at last yippee! (no signal in our house and when the booster box broke I had to stand out in the street to make a call). We were supposed to be collecting new stock (spiders, scorpions and millipedes) on the way home but unfortunately this did not work out. I heard yesterday that I won’t be receiving these animals now. This is a good example of why I never put anything on my website that I don't physically have, I ordered the animals weeks ago and certainly didn’t foresee this happening. I’m not happy about it but perhaps it’s for the best as I would probably have been left looking after most of them during the festive break and I am going away for a few days this year so it would have meant my daughter having more to care for while I’m not here. We heard yesterday that she has been successful in finding a place to live with her best friend, moving out at last! (she is 24). I will miss her (not when she wakes us up at 4am at the weekends) but she will still be in the village (I told her we wouldn’t help with the deposit if it wasn’t within walking distance – not that I’m a control freak – yes, you all know I am).