Skip to main content

Off to the Sealife Adventure centre in Southend today

Off to the Sealife Adventure centre in Southend today. They have a great bugs display, I haven't seen it yet but it must be great because they are mostly, if not all, my bugs. I'm really looking forward to it, my daughter is driving me, so even better. She works in aquatics and is looking forward to visiting the centre too. It's some years since I visited Southend-on-sea, it holds many happy memories of my childhood as my Nan, aunty and cousins lived there. We may even escape the rain as it is non-stop here but according to the weather forecast there won't be any rain further south today (seeing is believing).

The bugs are all going well. I was very pleased to see this week that my recently mated Trinidad Olive tarantula is carrying an egg sac around. I have been rearranging the bug house quite a bit as I need to get things organised for going away at the end of the month. My special offers have been a hit and I am cutting down slowly but surely on the amount of animals that I have to care for. I am only on holiday for a week but it isn't just about the time that I'm away. I need to feed and clean everything before I go and as soon as I return. I have learnt from past experience that if I don't cut down to a manageable number I end up so frazzled that I wish I hadn't booked a holiday at all! The biggest problem with my work is that I really don't have any back up. My family have very little to do with the bugs and wouldn't have a clue where to start when it comes to their care.

I hope everyone enjoyed the Jubilee weekend. Our family party went well on the Saturday and I'm very pleased that our street party on the Sunday was cancelled, it poured with rain all day. I spent the bank holiday Monday and Tuesday catching up on jobs and paperwork. My paperwork seems to be never ending, well I say paperwork but a lot of it is now on the computer rather than paper. I did sort out the 'Notes for Visitors' as promised. I just realised that I hadn't uploaded it but it's on there now in the information box, on the right hand side of the website. I hope it makes sense, I just cannot figure out how to put across that I welcome genuine customers but don't have the time for casual visitors.

I must just mention text messages. I am useless at sending texts, it takes me ages. You are welcome to send me a text but you will probably get my standard reply, which is 'ok'. You are far better off phoning me, it is much easier. When I get my iphone in August (contract renewal time) hopefully I will be far better at replying to text messages. My daughter is a little concerned how I will ever work it but she has good friends who run a mobile phone shop so I'm sure they will help. Especially since I have just won my daughter and these particular friends a camping trip to the V festival in August, they can't really refuse now! My competitions are going really well, I have won lots of nice things lately. Teddi has a pretty new collar thanks to a local magazine competition but when I came to send the company a photo of her wearing it, her fur completely covered the collar.

I had better get a move on now, I need to spray the bugs (a morning and evening job to keep up the humidity), walk Teddi and then collect my mother in-law who will be dog sitting for the day. I am also feeding my niece's cat while they are away so I will need to pop round there too. Hopefully we will get down to Southend around lunch time.


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