Virginia Cheeseman Blog

The things I get myself into! I can't believe I signed up to do a stand at the AES exhibition, I just hope all this effort is worth it. I was working non-stop beforehand and all I have done is pile more work upon myself, I need a holiday but I have no chance of taking one at the moment. I am writing this blog a day early because tomorrow I will be packing bugs, labelling, printing care sheets and generally sorting out everything for the exhibition. The trouble is that I cannot compete on price when it comes to spiders as I don't import and there will be people at the exhibition who have imported spiders and other animals especially for the show (I spend my time caring for the animals that I keep, therefore ensuring that they go out in the best possible condition and judging by the super emails that I get each week, people are on the whole are very happy with that). I will be packing cockroaches, stick insects, beetles, millipedes, grasshoppers etc. but I will also be taking my ...

A busy week with lots of new orders. I have brought in quite a few spiders but I have also sent out a great deal, which is always good. I am busy preparing for the AES exhibition next week, it is several years since I manned a stall. I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. I intend to spend Friday packing up bugs for the show and then hopefully I will sell them all on the Saturday! In my dreams - sadly it is very difficult to know what will sell at an exhibition. I will mostly be taking animals that I have bred myself and plant eating bugs that I don't want to feed all winter. I doubt if I will take many spiders, although I think I should pack my multitude of adult males, in the hope that someone might want them! My daughter assures me that she will help pack things on Friday and then man the stall on Saturday. My husband will also be there to help but he has never been, and never will be keen on bugs. I certainly need time to mingle and pick up new stock. It is ...

I did it, I saw one! I went on the reptile walk last Saturday. It was a cool, overcast and windy day, my invitation had the wrong time on it so it took a while to join the group, as they were already off exploring but after a rocky start it was amazing. Thanks to the very knowledgeable local wildlife ranger, we saw lots of slow worms, several common lizards, a baby grass snake and last but not least an Adder! I actually only saw the tail end disappearing into the undergrowth but I was ecstatic, I have wanted to see an Adder in the wild for so long. As soon as the ranger said "there's one", I was over like a shot. Now that I know where to look I will certainly go back and search again. I learnt a lot on the walk, I'm amazed that British reptiles sometimes have their young in September, I cannot imagine that many survive the winter, especially the harsh winters that we have had over the last couple of years. That reminds me, I really must find time to look at four wheel...

Autumn is upon us and I don't like it! We have had nothing but rain and high winds this week, Teddi and I started a new dog training class and it was pitch black at 8.30pm. The summer seems a distant memory but I have been dreaming of next year's holiday. I say dreaming because between my work and the fact that my husband cannot have any time off during the London Olympics, I'm not sure when we can fit a holiday in next year. I was looking at Mexico (lots of bugs and reptiles) but it is hurricane season after the summer and we made that mistake before when we visited Mauritius. I will just have to look forward to Christmas and a bit of time off. There is certainly not enough of me to go around at the moment. My mother in-law came out of hospital on Monday, she is doing ok but after having a second hip operation she is pretty immobile. I was trying to get all my Monday morning posting done this week and I had non-stop phone calls about her care. I was tearing my hair out and...

Busy, busy, busy, week! I was delighted to receive a large number of orders over the Bank Holiday weekend. I'm assuming everyone has returned from their holidays and of course the schools and colleges are just about to begin a new term. My hubby and I had a good time in Brighton on Friday and Saturday. We visited our elderly ex-neighbours from way back and my cousin (who recently managed to break her leg at the same time as her German Shepherd dog, both are recovering nicely). I love Brighton, it is so vibrant and 'different' and it's got the only Debenhams store that I know with a sea view. My patient hubby also stood by and let me spend about an hour on the pier, playing the 2p slot machines (his job to go and get me another £1 of coins as I can't leave 'my' machine and it may have been a little over an hour!). I love them, it's such fun and I won three key rings! Yesterday was spent at the hospital with my poor mother in-law. She needed a second hip...