Post Office Fire

The last week has shot by and it's only two weeks until my holiday. I have had a busy week with lots of bugs coming in and going out. Unfortunately it turned out that my Post Office had an electrical fire last weekend, not too much damage but it needed rewiring and has been shut all week. I was nervous of taking my parcels with “live entomological specimens” printed on them, to another Post Office. However I sent them off from a very nice little Post Office, within a Tesco Metro. I had no problems, there was never a queue and I picked up some shopping while there! The people in my Post Office are lovely but I often have problems parking nearby and I spend a lot of time standing in a queue there. I'm not sure why the other Post Office is so under-used, perhaps it's because nobody knows that it's there? My husband has shopped at the Tesco Metro many times but never noticed it and I don't think I saw it either for quite some time.

The weather has certainly improved this week and there have been no problems with Special Delivery arriving on time. I have had a couple of customers moaning about receiving things dead from other suppliers. I have had no problems in the cold weather, the heat pads are great but I think some people don't use them properly and squash them against the bugs in transit. This can result in the animal being over heated, it is important to put the heat pad away from the animal boxes in the parcel. There are a few exceptions but I suppose that's what years of practice have taught me!

I am working hard to arrange my bug house so that it only needs spraying with water once a day instead of twice and I am setting things up as far as possible to look after themselves for two weeks. It is very difficult in the winter as the heaters are on most of the time and drying everything up. I have some beautiful adult Leaf insects that need to be moved to a larger cage but I would hate to upset them now, they are so temperamental to keep. I am taking lots of care of them but they won't get that same care while I'm away and my daughter is at college. I am thinking of putting them in with the Horse-head grasshoppers, these are doing very well in a tall tank, with a light. I think they would be ok together but I'm not sure if the Leaf insects would get mistaken for leaves and nibbled. They both feed on bramble so that bit is ok. The bramble is looking very ropey now that all the ice has melted, roll on March when it will start growing again. I think collecting the bramble will be the biggest challenge for our daughter Georgie, I may have to bribe her friend to go and get it with her. I cannot leave enough bramble in a bucket of water to last for two weeks and I can't see my mother in-law collecting it.

I got some great millipedes in this week, huge adults and baby, Giant Train millipedes and also some African Red Legged millipedes. It would be good to get the Red Legged breeding again. I had a colony going for years but it gradually died out some time ago. They are very nice millipedes and it's fascinating that the sexes are so different. The male is shiny and the female is matt. I bought in five pairs. I expect the Train millipedes will go fast, they are just so popular. Their huge size makes them great for exhibiting in zoos and colleges and showing to children in “mini beast” presentations.

I had better get a move on now. It's the end of the week and the bug house looks like a bomb has hit it, I hate working in a mess. It is brilliant to be in my newly decorated office at last. I still haven't got everything organised yet but I will in the end, there is never enough time.