Day Trip To Harrods

This will have to be a short blog as I had a rare day off yesterday and I'm now inundated with emails to answer, plus messages on both the landline phone and mobile. I went to Harrods with a friend, it was a day trip organised by one of the local schools. We had a lovely day out and a good look around the pet department, sadly no stick insects or other bugs but they did have some nice furry animals at very 'nice' prices. I got my first ever stick insects from Harrods when I was about ten years old.

Everything in the bug house is ticking over nicely. I have to collect more bramble this morning (nothing new there) and feed the baby snakes (bramble for stick insects, not snakes!). They really are beautiful but I think they have proved that selling reptiles is not a great idea for me. I bought nine Corn snakes weeks ago now and I have only managed to sell three. They really do make great pets so hopefully people will be more interested nearer Christmas. My office is in tatters but I'm assured it will get better! My poor hubby has been spending every spare minute plastering this week and hopefully he will finish that job this weekend. Plaster dust seems to get everywhere. My brother in-law will be back next week so hopefully the roof will be finished soon.

I seem to be very busy with enquiries and of course caring for my 'mini zoo' but the credit crunch is certainly hitting. My sales are very low at the moment, I still have plenty of orders but the value of those orders is much less than usual. I probably shouldn't moan as lots of people are losing their jobs and even their homes. Mind you, I always need to have something to moan about!

Christmas is fast approaching and I am trying to work out my last posting day. I know that Royal Mail say the 23 rd December is the last day for Special Delivery but in reality I wouldn't dream of posting that late. If the parcel didn't arrive the next day it wouldn't arrive until the Saturday or even worse the following Monday. I may play safe and have my last posting day on the Thursday prior to Christmas or I may post on Monday 22 nd. The trouble is that many people leave things until the last minute and I don't want everyone expecting me to post their order on the Monday, I wouldn't be able to cope. I'm not sure at the moment, what do you think? Whatever I decide I will be spending quite a bit of time in the post office queue during December. My little post office is great but often very understaffed.

Comments

A surreal week indeed!

A surreal week indeed! I sent off my last orders on Monday and the remainder of my bugs will be leaving me on Friday. So many people are congratulating me on my retirement but I prefer the good luck messages. I didn’t think I would ever retire but it all became too much, not just for me but my family too. Our home was taken over by my work. The bug room was my domain but the rest of the house had gradually filled up with ‘stuff’, plastic boxes, cardboard boxes, tanks etc. and I never ever had any time. Whatever task I was doing, I was always thinking of the next job on the list. People keep asking what I am going to do with my time now. In the short term I will be clearing everything out, especially the loft which is full to the brim. I’m a bit of a hoarder so that really doesn’t help 😄 Lack of time was indeed the main factor for finishing my business but there was also the constant “I only want a female tarantula” 😤, leaving Europe was a big blow, Covid, the animal welfare licensin...

My biggest announcement ever!

My biggest announcement ever! It is with a heavy heart that I am informing everyone of my impending retirement as “The Bug Lady”. I have been running my business for approximately 45 years so it has been pretty good J Things change over the years, I was one of the only bug dealers in the early days and possibly the only woman but these days, every man and his dog is selling tarantulas and “proper bugs” seem to have fallen out of favour. I have been cutting down on stock for some time and had hoped to keep going without the tarantulas but it hasn’t worked out. I expect to fully retire by the end of this year but a lot depends on my wonderful customers (you!) as I need to sell off a large number of little creatures. I still have 24 species of tarantula (multiple numbers of most), millipedes, cockroaches, isopods, scorpions, slugs etc. Do take a look on my website, once they are gone, they are gone! If you want to help me, please spread the word to all your bug mad friends. I have lots of...

Getting there!

Getting there! My plans for retirement are going pretty well, I cannot believe all the wonderful messages that I have received over the last few weeks, many of them have had me in tears. It is very emotional to give up my little friends after a lifetime of keeping them and my human friends too but the time is right so I will keep plodding on until everything has gone. I won’t be changing my phone number and I hope to keep my email address, therefore, those who want to, can stay in touch. I had planned for a big sale on September 1st but orders are still going strong so an all-out clearance sale doesn’t sound such a great idea. I have decided instead to reduce items individually but I do keep changing my mind J It is really difficult to retire over a period of time, I couldn’t make the decision and then stop, like most people are able to. I can’t set a date in the future because I simply don’t know when sales will dry up. The idea of an open day sadly became unworkable, I just don’t hav...

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