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
Bye bye blog!
Bye bye blog! After 12 years of writing my regular blog I have finally decided to stop and the last month of the year seems like the right time. I think Facebook has taken over, it is seen by more people and takes far less time than the blog, it is also a lot less personal. I started writing my blog in 2007. It was more or less weekly until earlier this year when I switched to monthly. Over the years I have asked people what they thought of the blog and how often I should write it. I have always received super supportive feedback and the reply “every week” but it takes too much time and energy and has never been truly compatible with my website. I don’t fully understand the workings of my site, my web guy “Super Simon’ has always done his best. The blog is an ‘add on’ and doesn’t support word (I only know how to use word) so every time I come to upload the blog something is missing or part of the text is scrambled or a different font appears or several other problems occur. It also doesn’t support emojis. I love emojis and find it very difficult to write anything these days without using them (text, email, Facebook, I even draw my own on written notes and cards). They convey an emotion so well and so easily. If you look at my Facebook page you will see how much I love them! Facebook is fun, the blog has become a chore. I am sad for the people who are not on Facebook and enjoy reading my blog but you can always call me for a chat!
Happy Days!
Happy Days! I’m a Nanna at last, I have waited a long time for this to happen. I had my son at 18 and he had his son last week at 42! Of course, he is gorgeous beyond belief and the family are all doing well. I want to be called Nanna but all the family have christened me Nannie bugs!
Rant, Rant, Rant
Rant, Rant, Rant – Nothing makes me feel as old as all the nastiness online. Honestly it didn’t exist before the internet came along. Obviously, there were still nasty people but they were isolated and didn’t have access to the world. Most of my customers are lovely but just occasionally I come across one who isn’t and it really upsets me, at times I just want to give up. I work so hard, far too hard, I drive my family nuts so I am trying to keep going but spend less time looking after the bugs and this means cutting down the number that I keep, something that I have been trying to achieve all year!
Wow, what a month July was....
Wow, what a month July was - the postal side of my business went crazy, Ginny’s Jungle saw real progress and we had some super, scorching hot weather!
Glad to see the back of ‘Flaming’ June
Glad to see the back of ‘Flaming’ June. It wasn’t ‘flaming’ hot (apart from the first and last couple of days) but it was flaming annoying, so much went wrong for me. Firstly, I had to cancel my talk at the local library due to a mishap with the advertising of the event and then my planned nose operation was cancelled. Not cancelled but postponed and probably until the winter as I can’t find a two-week gap in my diary to recuperate. Then last week, when it came to spider feeding day I looked at my newly moulted Goliath Birdeater spider and realised that she had died. I was very upset, I felt guilty because I think it was most likely due to being too damp (in my defence, it is well known that these spiders cannot tolerate dry conditions) and I must admit that she cost me a fortune and I was looking forward to watching her grow. Oh, and I forgot the IT problems, my husband went to Spain on his annual motorbike trip for ten days and the day after he had gone I went to add a new spider to the “Scientific Spider Names” on my site and realised that 50% of the list was missing. Panic set in as I had no back up but luckily it turned out that my website guy did, so we were able to restore it. That same day PayPal had ‘massive problems’ (their words), payment notification was not being sent out and I had no way of telling who had paid so I had to cease posting orders until it was resolved!
Mad May! Oh, what a busy month
Mad May! Oh, what a busy month, very productive, I’m going in the right direction. I have run a few Ginny’s Jungle events recently but mostly I have been busy with the website and postal side of my business. I had a fun day out at the BTS (British Tarantula Society) exhibition a couple of weeks ago and purchased plenty of new spiders and bugs. It was a very well attended show, there were a huge number of visitors but also a very large number of stalls too. I saw some people that I hadn’t seen for ages and had some enjoyable chats with everyone.
Life is good
Life is good, extremely busy but it’s paying dividends at last. My bug room is looking good (literally as I have had so many visitors recently that I have had to keep it tidy), I have cut down on many of my bugs but I still have way too many. I have been running lots of special offers and have also sold a lot of my surplus stock to a large reptile supplier.
Spring at last, the clocks have sprung
Spring at last, the clocks have sprung. I love the warmer weather and sunshine, the bugs certainly appreciate it too! Everything seems to be pregnant or having babies, spiders, scorpions, millipedes, cockroaches – the list goes on.
First monthly blog post!
First monthly blog post! If you have been reading my regular weekly blogs you will realise that I have had to make changes this year. Honestly, there just isn’t enough of me to go around and I’m not getting any younger but worse than that my relatives are definitely getting older and needing more care from me and therefore more precious time. I’m pleased with the progress that I have already made.
