Skip to main content

I'm back from sunny Rhodes

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.


Comments

Post a Comment

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...
3 comments
Read more

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...
7 comments
Read more

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...
1 comment
Read more