Skip to main content

Happy New Year - almost

Happy New Year - almost. I cannot believe this weather! We have thick snow again and everything has ground to a halt. It is difficult to get around here and it is clearly too much trouble for Royal Mail who don't even try (the paperman and milkman have managed it). We had no mail deliveries or collections before Christmas and we have none again now. Thankfully I did manage to get some orders off on Monday and Tuesday before the snow descended but this was not without problems as several parcels were delayed. Some due to being held up in the post but others due to colleges being closed and people being sent home from work so that there was nobody there to receive the parcels. I am really hoping to post out some orders next week but the forecast is not looking great. Most of you will know by now that I really, really hate the cold. I don't care that snow is pretty, I just wish it would disappear. Once I have written this blog I am going out to the bug house and staying there!

I am actually really busy though, the bugs are cosy in their log cabin and all are doing well. I have lots of home grown spiderlings to house up (before they start eating each other). Thus I have some very good prices on the site for these, especially if you can come and collect them! It is a nightmare collecting bramble but the stick insects are breeding prolifically, especially the Giant Thorny. These stick insects are great, they are easy to keep and grow to a very good size. I have been cleaning out my cockroach colonies this week (well, made a start, I have a lot of cockroaches). I now sell a large number of cockroaches, I know a lot of them end up as live food (recycling as I like to call it) but they do make good pets too. They are easy to keep and feed and fun to watch as they are so much more active than a lot of pet bugs. My husband pointed out the other day that the Domino cockroach is my top selling item at the moment. This is shown under 'best sellers' on the right hand side of my website. I am still learning about the site even though it has been up and running since September. Thank goodness my website guy is so helpful and my husband is pretty good too. Computers are amazing but I just want it to work, I have no interest in how it gets there.

I do hope you all had a good Christmas, we had a very nice time. Sorry to moan quite so much but it has been a very trying first week back!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...

Retirement

Who am I? My bug room is cold, my bug room is quiet. I have lost my identity, they say we are defined by our job. Am I still “the bug lady”? I think so, I hope so, it’s all very weird and as someone who has always hated ‘change’, it’s difficult. I’m really glad I kept a tank of Hissing cockroaches, I always said that I would and I find it strangely grounding. The tank is now full of hissing cockroaches and anything else that I have found while emptying the room (odd cockroaches, cave crickets, a banded cricket   😂 ). One thing I love about this blog is that I can now use emojis, my old blog didn’t support them and I love emojis! I hear that I’m not supposed to use certain ones and that some may mean, “not what I intended” but ignorance is bliss so I won’t know unless you tell me   😊 I feel almost as busy as ever but with a lot less stress. The world has become busier and busier, people expect more and more and I needed to get off that crazy roundabout. I’m such a people plea...

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...