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
The BTS Show was super
The BTS Show was super. The new venue was excellent. There was plenty of space to move around and see everything and everyone. Sometimes bug shows can be terribly crowded with not enough room to move between the stalls. It often feels like trying to get a drink on a busy night in a bar, you can see what you want but you can’t actually get near enough to place your order. I didn’t do too badly at the show (I was repeating my mantra to myself – no more pets), I mostly stuck to my shopping list but I still spent several hundred pounds on new animals, so as you can imagine, I have been chasing my tail all week. I got some lovely bugs, tarantulas, jumping spiders, stick insects, snails (including two of the biggest snails I have ever seen, perfect for my bug parties – I think working pets are ok?), millipedes, scorpions, etc. I was so tempted by these gorgeous little crabs that I saw, they were so cute and their eyes were looking at me. It took a lot of will power to walk away from them. I would actually have had a couple if I could have kept them with my Land Hermit crabs but they obviously needed damper conditions. I put a photo on Facebook and it reached over 1,000 people so I’m not the only one who thinks they are adorable. A guy kindly identified them for me, they are Magadapotamon humberti, a type of Fiddler crab from Madagascar. One day I would love to visit Madagascar, they have so many unique animals there. The millipedes that I got recently are from Madagascar, they are stunning, especially the Red Fire and Giant Pill ones.
Not enough of me to go around!
Not enough of me to go around! If I had a clone everything would be fine but as it is there are not enough hours in a day. The major problem this week is that I have hardly been here enough to get my work done. As you all know by now I love lists, I have a daily “must do” list (22 items – I’ve just counted) and I enjoy ticking off the jobs as I go about my day. This week I had full ticks on Monday and Tuesday, then it fell apart for the rest of the week. Wednesday I was asked to go into my great niece’s class to talk about and show some bugs, I actually visited two classes and the preparations before and the putting everything away afterwards took more or less the entire day. Yesterday I sent off my orders and then sadly had a funeral to attend in London. This afternoon I will yet again need to be elsewhere.
Friday 13th again,
Friday 13th again, is it me or do we have a lot of Friday 13th's? It has been a crazy week, I clearly have too many bugs as it actually took me until Tuesday to get everything fed after the holiday. I am now nicely set up for the weekend but come Monday it will all start again! I really could have done without another power failure yesterday morning.
I’m back!
I’m back! From a very relaxing, wonderful holiday in Cyprus. We returned on Wednesday night and I haven’t stopped running since, there is just so much to catch up on. It was lovely to go for ten days rather than the usual week but it’s surprising how much difference those extra couple of days make. I got quite into Facebook while I was there and posted lots of pictures, the post about the Wolf spider was by far my most successful post ever. I will put one of the photos of this super impressive spider on the blog this week.
Lucky me! Spa last week and Cyprus this week
Lucky me! Spa last week and Cyprus this week. However, in between is extremely hard work getting everything ready to leave for 10 days (we usually go away for only a week). I posted off my last orders yesterday and because we don’t return until the Wednesday night I won’t be able to post any orders again until Monday 9th May. I have cleaned out lots of cages this week and fed everything up but I will be going through it all again tomorrow before we set off Sunday morning.
I’m off on a two-day spa break with my daughter
I’m off on a two-day spa break with my daughter so no time to write the blog today. I still have to walk Teddi (in the rain) but then we are on our way. It was a Christmas present from my son and daughter in-law (it has taken us until now to organise it!). The bugs are doing well, no problems, it’s a busy time of year. Can’t wait for a bit of rest and relaxation.
A cold and wet start to Spring here
A cold and wet start to Spring here. I can’t wait for our trip to Cyprus in a couple of weeks, I’m really busy preparing everything. We are going for 10 days rather than the usual 6-7 days. Although my daughter and friend will be here looking after things I don’t let anyone else touch the spiders and scorpions so they will all need to be set up to look after themselves before I go. Hence my major tarantula sale! Things are going well but I still have many more than I would like, if you see a spider that you want but it is too expensive please do ask if I can reduce it. I certainly will if I can. I am doing my best to improve the information on my website and I do feel that it is getting better and better. My poor web guy Simon has a lot to put up with, I seem to be constantly on the phone to him. I have a list of about five questions to put to him today. He always answers the phone with “Hi Virginia” in a cheery voice, I’d hate to know what he really thinks, probably “oh no, it’s her again”.
Spring at last!
Spring at last! The bramble is beginning to grow again (very important if you keep stick insects), the birds are visiting my camera nesting box (on a tree in front of my window, linked to a screen in my office) and the pond in the garden is full of frogspawn. All wonderful but I’m still waiting for the good weather, I think Easter was a wash out for most of us and there was a frost here this morning.
Out most of yesterday
Out most of yesterday so lots to catch up on today. It’s been another busy week, lots of creatures going out, thankfully making room for more animals to fill their empty cages. Spring officially starts tomorrow and everything seems to be in an amorous state. My two male Corn snakes are constantly thrashing around their vivarium but I’m not letting them near my females. It was lovely to have beautiful baby snakes but I had a nightmare trying to find homes, nobody wanted them, I’m definitely sticking with the bugs!
Animals everywhere!
Animals everywhere! I received lots of new bugs and spiders from various places this week, they are now listed on the website but I haven’t got all the photos sorted yet. Hopefully I will get it done today. I am staying in and have a huge list of things to be done. Only problem is that I’m not sure the day will be long enough!