A much better week all round

A much better week all round. The weather has improved throughout the week and there have been no problems with the post. We did have snow again on Monday though. I couldn't believe it, one minute it was raining and then the cotton wool ball snow came down and started settling. Thankfully it had disappeared by the afternoon. The spider collection that I was waiting for last Friday did arrive and all spiders were fit and healthy. Within the collection was a huge Goliath Birdeater, I do find that the 'hairs' on the Goliath spiders are far more itchy than all the other species of tarantula. I am quite glad that she is being picked up from me tomorrow.

I received a large number of spiderlings from a European contact on Wednesday. I have just about finished housing and feeding them all. They went up on the website yesterday and overnight I have already received several orders for them. Oh the power of the internet! I cannot believe how the website has transformed my business since last September. It is very difficult not to overstretch myself at times, there is only so much that one person can do. I have been feeling completely overwhelmed by everything recently but I am a little calmer this week and as usual I have had some really nice emails to keep my spirits up. I honestly do think that we would all feel a little better with some sunshine and warmth. My mother in-law returns from Spain tomorrow, she has been away for three weeks but I don't think Spain has been very warm and sunny either. I'm glad that I have a summer holiday booked but it is still 25 weeks away!

The Hissing cockroaches certainly seem to think that spring is on it's way as the first babies of the year have appeared. It always seems odd that they are locked away in my bug house with artificial lighting and yet they always seem to produce their young at this time of year and not in the depths of winter. No spiderlings have hatched this week but I do now have an adult female Cobalt Blue to go with my male. They are extremely unfriendly spiders but very beautiful. I will have to introduce them slowly and carefully. The male was given to me by a very nice young man. I am hoping that he survives his 'visit' to the female's tank. Talking of male spiders, I only have one left on my website. This is amazing and really good as it means that people have bought them to have a go at breeding their spiders. There are far more captive bred spiders around these days. I can remember a time when most tarantulas offered for sale were wild caught. Hopefully there will be some Goliath Birdeater spiderlings around soon. I am asked for them on an almost daily basis but haven't seen any for ages. This week two people have told me that they have an egg sac.

Bramble is still proving to be a problem for me, or lack of it. The deer really have eaten just about every leaf around here and despite my efforts to cut down on stick insects, I still have way too many and most of them will only eat bramble. I have now found a supply at the edge of my local Homebase car park. I feel a bit of a twit getting out of the car with my secateurs and gloves and then filling the boot with shrubbery but nobody has approached me yet.

Lastly a little moan - why do people keep emailing me instructions about delivering their parcels? The parcels are delivered by Royal Mail, I cannot instruct them to deliver to another house number if there is nobody in, leave in the porch (Special Delivery needs to be signed for) or 'not give the parcel to anyone other than the addressee'. I can only suggest that you put a note on your door. I will always notify you by email, when your parcel has been despatched and then you should expect delivery the next day before 1pm. If the parcel does not arrive before 1pm please contact me ASAP as all Special Delivery parcels have a tracking number and I can then check on it's location with Royal Mail. Generally this is a very good service but when a delay does occasionally occur, I am often not contacted until the evening. This means that I cannot do anything until the next day.