What a busy week and thank goodness for that

What a busy week and thank goodness for that. All those people who said that they would place an order when they got paid at the end of the month, were clearly telling the truth. It's rather a shame that the influx of orders has come at the same time as the coldest weather this winter but I am happy to say that I have had no problems with the post this week. Everything has arrived on time and in good order. I have spent a lot longer packing each parcel, using larger boxes, long lasting heat packs and plenty of insulation but it has certainly been worth the effort. Schools, colleges and zoos are getting organised for the coming Spring season - so all is good with the world, well my little world anyway. I had a lovely birthday last Friday, thanks for your best wishes and Happy Birthdays.

I have customers calling tomorrow so I will need to clear up the bug house today. I have been busy out there this week, when one cage is emptied there is always something else coming along to fill it. Hissing cockroaches are ever popular and I have sold lots in the last few weeks, I took 200 along to the recent spider show (I swapped them for some millipedes). I spent ages cleaning out my large tank yesterday, it was a hard job. Those pesky little Pallid cockroaches had completely colonised the tank. They weren't doing any harm to the Hissing cockroaches but they were eating a fair amount of food and making a mess of everything. I had to pick out every single cockroach but I know the damn things will get back in and breed again. I put Giant Spiny stick insect nymphs in the old Horse-Head grasshopper tank but it proved to be too dry so I have had to move them back into a large plastic box. I cannot understand why these lovely large stick insects have not sold? I haven't sold one since I got them in last month. I bought them at a very reasonable price and put them on special offer at only £1.50 each. It sounds ridiculous but I actually wonder if that may be the problem. I have noticed before that when something is 'cheap' people don't buy it and then when it goes up to full price the item sells. Most odd I think, one of my customers said that they are suspicious of anything going too cheaply. Personally I love a bargain! The Giant Spiny nymphs are really pretty and growing well (hence wanting to move them into a larger cage) so I will have to throw logic aside and put the price up today!

I have been manically watching the weather forecast this week. Obviously I have been worried for the bugs but also it is difficult to get out of our village when it snows as we are perched on a hill and whichever road I take, they are all steep. My hubby is working in London today so he set off in the dark this morning to negotiate the roads. I'm beginning to wish we had bought that four wheel drive car we looked at in the summer! Each day I get a daily email update from Royal Mail, it is extremely useful. I think all is well with the bugs so long as they arrive the next day after posting. I don't think the parcels ever get too cold because they are never far from people and people don't like to get cold. Just remember it is Spring next month, that thought keeps me going.

This Sunday it is our 35th wedding anniversary, quite an achievement for this day and age. Few people would have seen us together this long after marrying a week after my 18th birthday and my husband needing permission from his parent's to marry, as he was still only 17. To celebrate we are having a couple of nights away in Brighton. Sadly as our anniversary is so close to Valentine's Day hotel rates rise steeply at the weekends so we are going on a midweek break from Wednesday until Friday. This will impact on my work as I won't be around to post orders on Thursday and will only be able to post a few on Wednesday before we set off. It will be the usual chaos of preparing all the animals before I go. My mother in-law will be staying, neighbours are roped into walk Teddi and of course our daughter will be on general maintenance duties before and after work. The bugs actually need a good spray of water in the morning and evening as the radiators are on full and the air becomes way too dry. I have to move everything together that needs spraying as some animals must not get too damp. It is all so complicated, I need a break but I hate leaving the animals. I got up early with hubby and it has only just got light. I have been typing away and only just looked up to see how much snow has fallen overnight! The garden is covered in inches of new snow. Yuk, I hate snow and I hate the cold - roll on Spring.

After looking out of the window I'm glad I was intending to mainly stay in and catch up on paperwork today. I spent the whole of last Sunday on paperwork, it had really got out of hand since Christmas. My New Year's resolution of having Sundays off hasn't worked too well over the last couple of weeks as the Sunday before that I was at a spider show all day. Don't they say that most New Year's resolutions are broken by February? I picked up lots of info and business cards at the spider show, a few new bug companies seem to be setting up and I was checking them out online. One company caught my eye, they are selling various cockroaches in large numbers as live food. They appear to be getting a great price for 100 cockroaches. It has got me thinking about selling cockroaches as a set number (what fun that sounds after sorting all those Hissing cockroaches yesterday) but it could be very profitable and times are hard. I sell a lot of my cockroaches per tub but I don't specify how many as for a couple of quid it doesn't seem worth the effort. However yesterday when I was packing up some tubs of Red Runner cockroaches I realised that there must have been far in excess of 100 in each tub. I was selling the tubs for £2.00 each but if I sold them as a guaranteed number they would be worth way more than £2.00. I also thought that perhaps I would set a lower postal charge as they could go first class and wouldn't require a heat pack as cockroaches generally slow down in the cold and bounce back once they are warmed up. It's another one of my great ideas but if I could ever find the time to set it up it could work? My website is mostly great but it doesn't allow me the flexibility of my old site. I have no idea how or even if a different postal charge could be implemented.

Oh well onwards we go into the snow. I love the way my husband shouted out "be careful you don't slip" when I was on my way out to the bug house yesterday. The garden has been iced over for the entire week and I must have been up and down that path hundreds of times. Why he thought it was necessary to warn me only yesterday I don't know!