The sun is shining at last

The sun is shining at last and for the first time this year I didn't feel the need to use any heat packs when sending out orders this morning. It has been really pleasant here, in fact the bug house was a little too hot this afternoon.

I am off to a health spa with my daughter, sister and nieces tomorrow. We will return on Saturday evening and then Sunday I will be attending a bug fair and hopefully buying lots of new stock. It has been an incredibly busy week, I have spent hours packing up orders and feeding / cleaning everything. I seem to get up earlier and earlier to sort out paperwork before I go out to the bug house. I really do need this two day break but I must admit that when we booked it I hadn't realised that the show was this weekend too and unfortunately it is about 150 miles away. Next week will be very challenging. I often get asked if I worry about somebody else doing what I do and taking my customers. I can honestly say that I have no fears on that score. Who on earth would want to work the hours that I do for the money I make? It's a good job I love my bugs!

I got a nice surprise this week when I was contacted by my old boss from the London Butterfly House. He is opening a fantastic new 'Butterfly World' at St Albans, Hertfordshire at the end of the month and would like me to be involved. My daughter and I are travelling up there next Wednesday to have a look around and check out the bug cages and general set up for the bugs. I'm really looking forward to it. It seems no time at all since my days at the butterfly house in Syon park but it was in fact a lifetime ago. I loved working at the London Butterfly House but I don't know how it ever got built with no toilet! We had to traipse across the entire car park and believe me it was a fair walk in the rain and I recall snow too.

My husband has been trying to fix the 'doorbell situation' this week. I have bought numerous cordless door bell systems and none of them have worked consistently. They work intermittently, when they feel like it basically. He spent an entire day wiring in three bells, two indoors and one in the bug house. The two indoors work fine but we were dismayed to find that the bell in my bug house doesn't chime at all. It isn't that far from the house but clearly there isn't enough power so the saga goes on. We now have two door bell pushes on the door with a note saying try both. The problem is that my elderly neighbours are lovely but I really do feel that we are putting on them by the amount of post and parcels that they now take in for me. It is one thing when I'm out but it's ridiculous when I'm actually here but don't hear the bell. I wish people would not send items that need a signature without contacting me first and arranging a day. I waited in on Wednesday for some Jumping spiders and mantids which never arrived. People can be so unreliable, that's why I never put anything on my website that I don't physically have in my possession.

Everything continues to breed well, cockroaches, millipedes, mantids (well I have egg cases but they haven't hatched yet). My second Imperial scorpion has had babies and the babies from the previous mum are just leaving her back now to live independently. They are generally very good mums, it's amazing how gentle they are with those huge claws.

That's it for another week. I really need to go and pack for tomorrow. I think I could probably sleep for the next two days but the trip cost way too much for that!