03/09/10 Summer Holiday - I'm back but very busy (see blog below). I will resume posting orders next week and will be tackling my emails this afternoon and over the weekend. Many people have asked if I will be getting specific animals, I really don't know what is coming in next but I will be re-stocking over the next few weeks so please keep checking the website.

Enquiries - Feel free to call me, it is often easier to answer questions on the phone rather than by email 07971 838724 (9am-4pm Monday-Friday).

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I thought it was about time that I updated my home page information! It is now July 2010 and my ‘new’ automated website has been up and running for several months. I am still the original 'Bug Lady', breeding and supplying many types of creepy crawlies for more than 30 years but in the last few months I have found myself becoming more and more the ‘Spider Lady’. Trends seem to be changing and arachnids are far more popular than they have ever been before. I have a large log cabin in my garden where I keep a multitude of creatures. My work is mainly postal but I do have occasional visitors by appointment. I am not keen on change and it took me a long time to actually reach the 21^st century and see the potential of customers ordering online. I am now fully convinced, business has increased tremendously over the last few months. I am still easily accessible by email and telephone and I strive to maintain my position as the most friendly and reliable bug supplier!

In years gone by I bred lepidoptera for schools and private individuals, I manufactured a range of net cages and visited primary schools with my mini-beast show. I now concentrate on breeding and supplying live bugs within the UK and Europe. I appeared on television quite frequently in the past (the Big Breakfast and various children's TV shows), these days I am generally behind the scenes, supplying the bugs to be filmed and acting as a media consultant. I supply many schools, universities, butterfly farms, zoos and private individuals. Associated equipment is also stocked e.g. heat mats, books, containers, thermometers and hygrometers. I do not import any animals, consequently the vast majority of my creatures are captive bred.

You can arrange to call and collect your order at any time (within reason!). If you would like to come and look around, I am generally available on Saturdays, please email / telephone well in advance to arrange an appointment. If you are coming by train, I am happy to deliver your order to Bourne End station. If you are arriving at the station and would like to visit, A1 Cabs 01628 851466 are a local taxi company (both High Wycombe and Beaconsfield stations are also only a short cab ride away)

I’m back from sunny Rhodes and very pleased to see that it is still sunny and quite warm in the UK. The holiday was lovely, not the most relaxing with 8 children under 8 in our family party of 20 but great fun. I did a lot of bug hunting with the kids, we went out around the hotel and surrounding areas with our torches most evenings (my evening bag will never be the same again with half a dozen torches stuffed into it). We found several praying mantids, I’m not sure of the species but the males were much smaller than the females (I will do a Google search later). We found various grasshoppers, bugs, crickets and some beautiful Swallowtail butterflies, plus there were lots of Humming Bird hawk moths around the flower pots in the hotel. I tried to take some photos but they certainly move fast as they dart from one flower to the next. We also saw lots of lizards but sadly no snakes. My hubby and I hired a car for three days and went out on regular ‘snake hunts’, we walked miles along almost dried up river beds and turned over umpteen rocks, we saw a beautiful, large, bright green lizard (also to be Googled later) and an eel. My hubby was so pleased when he found the eel, he thought it was a snake and that would mean going back to the hotel and not being dragged through the undergrowth anymore. I was most upset when my daughter saw a snake on an evening out, she wasn’t even looking! It just slithered across in front of her and then my nephew and wife saw a snake crossing the road, their taxi had to swerve to avoid it. I don’t think they were that interested at the time as they were rushing to hospital with my great niece (almost 2), she had fallen and hit her chin. She will be fine but she now has 3 stitches and couldn’t go in the water for the last few days of the holiday.

Anyway back to England (3am return to Gatwick airport). The bug house looks pretty good, no major problems, lots to clean and feed so it will be a busy weekend. I have a huge number of emails to get through and I will be posting out orders again on Monday. I will make a start on the emails later today but a large number are simply asking if I will be getting any of this spider or that spider in. I can’t reply to them all as I simply don’t know. I already have plans to pick up some new stock today and I have several emails offering bugs and spiders for sale. I will be re-stocking loads over the next few weeks so just keep checking my website. If it is on there I’ve got it, if it isn’t then I haven’t but I may well be trying to get it!

I went to the Kempton park reptile show before my holiday. I’m sure a lot of you went too! Thousands of people turned up and after queuing for a couple of hours, we had to give up and go home. It was very disappointing, I heard it was great but the hall was just too small for the volume of people who turned up. I had friends inside who were exhibiting there but I thought if I went to the front of the queue I might be lynched.

Anyway I had better get a move on now, where to start? I forgot – there were plenty of mosquitoes, my bites are itching like mad. Our daughter had infected bites on her legs, we had to call the doctor which cost €130, we were worried about blood poisoning as the infection was spreading out from the original bites. The holiday was certainly not without it’s dramas.