We had a lovely time in London last weekend, thanks to my competition win. We stayed in a swish Mayfair hotel for three nights and got a glimpse of how the other half live. We did a lot of walking and although there was no rain, it was very cold and I ended up buying a new jacket and a vest! I could be turning cold blooded but it is probably just because I spend so much time in my tropical bug house, that I cannot tolerate the cold.
It has been a very busy week as I had a lot of catching up to do. I was panicking about the lack of orders last week but thankfully this week has been much better, I have received far more orders. I would really like to branch out further into Europe, I have a few European customers but not that many. Posting abroad is no problem, most parcels only take a couple of days and arrive in perfect condition. I probably need to find a way to advertise, I actually advertise very little these days. Most of my customers come to me via 'word of mouth' or an internet search. Gone are the days when I regularly placed an advert in the Exchange & Mart magazine. I think the only place that I regularly advertise now is in the British Tarantula Society journal. I spend an awful lot of my time feeding and cleaning the animals but it is only when I come to sell them that I make any money. I certainly have times when I think "why on earth am I doing this". I do occasionally feel that I don't have enough orders to carry on, if I could double the amount of orders that I take I might make a proper wage!
The bugs seemed ok upon my return, apart from the Tropical Leather Leaf slugs. I set them up in a larger box last week and didn't realise that they could escape through the 'tiny' air hole. I was amazed that they could squeeze through such a small hole but they managed it, I have just two left. I won't make that mistake again. I tried to order in more slugs but they were sadly sold out. My pair of South American Fishing spiders are still living happily together. The one that I 'think' is an adult female has spun a web and hidden in a small flower pot. I'm hoping that she will lay an egg sac but she could be preparing to moult and if that is the case then she could become 'he' as I really can't be sure. The adult male is quite different to the immature spiders but the adult female looks the same, only slightly larger.
The next few weeks will be difficult for me as we are finally getting a new kitchen fitted. This weekend we will be stripping out the old kitchen and then decorating in preparation for the new kitchen arriving on 21st March (first day of Spring, yippee). The kitchen will then take two weeks to fit. Working with all this going on around me will be a nightmare, thankfully I have a sink in the utility room off of my office but there is little space and I actually have a lot of boxes and cages that need regular cleaning. I think we will be relying on microwave meals and McDonalds. I'm still not quite sure what will happen to Teddi (our 14 week old puppy), she currently sleeps in the kitchen. It's a long story, I did buy a crate for her, I know the theory but I just cannot bring myself to lock my 'baby' in a cage for the entire night, or at all, for that matter. My pet Mexican Red Knee spider 'Simon' has been temporarily banished from my desk to the bug house. I need to make as much room as possible in my office because there is nowhere else to put all the kitchen stuff.
The plants in the garden are slowly coming to life but there is still no sign of any new leaves on my fern plants. I have lots of Peruvian Fern stick insects in two cages so I have had to resort to buying plants from the local garden centre at £6.99 each! I was assured by the manager that the plants I purchased have not been sprayed with insecticide. He couldn't guarantee the pretty, more bushy ferns but he said the ropey (my word not his) looking ones outside were fine. I put a plant in a cage with just 4 stick insects last night so fingers crossed they are still alive this morning. I know that I have mentioned before, the time when all my stick insects were killed by one sprayed fern plant.
Off to clear more kitchen cupboards now!
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