Sun at last, could this be it?

Sun at last, could this be it? The day that summer finally arrives, it has done nothing but rain here recently. Storm after storm and everywhere is completely sodden. My garden seriously looks like a rainforest, the plants have grown into giants and the weeds (wildflowers as I prefer to call them) seem to have taken over. Thankfully the bugs have stayed dry and the power has remained on while my husband has been away for the last ten days, he returns later today. We have had so much trouble with the roof on my bug room, there is the permanent leak in my office but a bucket solves that, I’m just pleased there were no break through floods in there, as we have had on numerous occasions. The power problems also seem to be linked to water and rewiring is high on my hubby’s ‘to do when he gets back’ list.

The beginning of the week was very busy with orders but they have tailed off over the couple of days (getting towards the end of the month). I have spent a lot of time 'potting up' this week. I've potted up umpteen praying mantis, scorpions and spiders. I have had more people call this week than I have had in ages. It is really nice to actually meet people face to face, I spend so much time with the animals but not seeing anyone. Unfortunately, the bug room is too small and the cages are packed in too tightly to really show anything but it is nice when people do come and collect their orders. I've said it many times before but it is a shame the open afternoons don't work anymore. I just can't arrange for people to call at the same time, it is not like when I was in London. The Saturday afternoon Open Afternoons are sadly a thing of the past. I am however thinking of arranging an open evening, for viewing arachnids. I have some super tarantulas and scorpions that come out to play in at night. I spoke about it before, I will look at my diary and try and sort something soon. Do let me know if you might be interested in coming along which evening would suit you best.

I have the leaflets for my bug parties now but there is still a lot of work to do. I have given a few out but I have decided that the time to launch my new venture is during the school holidays when my bug selling business always slows down. It seems like the natural time to get started in earnest. I have lots of ideas for advertising and I have lots of local contacts so fingers crossed it goes well. I thought it was really sweet yesterday when I collected my great nieces from school and we were chatting in the car. I mentioned a friend’s name and they said I have a friend for every name! I think that’s a slight exaggeration but yeah, I do have a lot of friends (probably another reason that I never have enough time). I then took them with me to vote. Thank goodness it is all over! I voted to remain, so if it all goes wrong, it’s not my fault!

I really intend to concentrate on the bugs that I have now and breed as many as possible. I am not getting anything new in unless it is something amazing or something that I know everybody wants – Imperial scorpions, Train millipedes and Goliath Bird-eating spiders (all impossible to get at the moment). I have way too many animals and I need to get a grip on my life, I will always love animals (especially little ones) but the amount of time that I spend in my bug room is driving my family nuts and I would love to be able to go away for a week without it being a major event that requires several weeks of planning, or even just a weekend away. That said, I am going up to London tomorrow for a ‘competitions club’ event and it will be a nice day off. I will leave hubby with his list of jobs and he can certainly be back in charge of dog walking. Teddi is an amazing dog but she is bonkers and on springs at all times (don’t say it, I know).

Hope you all have a happy, sunny weekend.

(this week's photo - strawberries from my garden - a sign of summer)