I have turned into a Cyclops (a one eyed monster)! On Tuesday evening I took out my contact lenses and managed to rip a piece of skin from my right eye (I know it is a revolting thought). I am now not only typing with one finger (the only way I can type) but I have a patch, so I can only see out of one eye. It is truly agony, I cannot believe how painful it is. I can type this now because the pain killers have kicked in. I am so ratty as I cannot bear being ill, I am far too busy. My hubby has a few days off work and I had so many plans. I really need to get my newsletter sent out, my Christmas card photo sorted and it is extremely difficult to manage the bugs when my eyesight is so limited and I feel constantly sick with the pain. I saw the optician yesterday but ended up at the hospital this afternoon as it all became too much. I have new eye ointment, stronger pain killers and my eye taped shut now! (I think hubby would like my mouth to be taped shut too). I did manage to get some orders off this morning but I also got stung by an Assassin bug as I couldn't see what I was doing.
Apart from the eye, the bugs are going well, orders are flowing in and I have had positive feedback about a 'Spider Day' before Christmas. I have therefore decided to go ahead with Saturday 22nd December. I will work out the details soon, I'm not sure if it will be just drop in or by appointment and it may be all day or just in the afternoon. When I have sorted things out I will advertise it on my website. Although it will be to look at mainly spiders (I have some beautiful ones that deserve to be seen), it will also be a day when people can collect pre-ordered goods of anything. As Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year my last posting day will have to be the Thursday beforehand, which is a earlier than I would like.
Hallelujah! I wrote the above last night (it is now Friday morning) and the pain has gone. I still can't see very well because the eye ointment is like Vaseline but it is great to be free of the agony of the last couple of days. Now I need to catch up, I found myself worrying about feeding all my scorpions at 3.30am this morning. I really need to chill out a bit! Anyway back to life, I seem to be doing quite well with my tarantula breeding. I have had another couple of males mature and I'm pleased to have corresponding adult females. I hope to get around to introducing them to each other next week. I have a couple of spiders with egg sacs which I will check on today and I really must take the male New Mexican spider out of the female's container. They seemed so settled together that I thought I would leave them for a couple of days but it has now been a week and I think I may be pushing my luck by leaving them together any longer. I still haven't actually observed any mating which seems a bit odd, perhaps my 'female' will moult into another male? Or perhaps she isn't quite fully adult yet, although she looks adult and female?
It is nice to once again not be on display in my bug house. My hubby removed the old blinds about three weeks ago but it is only this week that we finally bought some new curtains and put up the curtain rails. I'm hoping lined curtains will keep in some of the heat, the windows are pretty large and we also have a curtain covering the door because I'm sure a lot of heat escapes from there. The bug house costs a fortune to keep warm during the winter so anything that keeps the heat in has to be good. My bug house is unfortunately set on a raised bed of concrete and therefore when it is dark everyone walking past the alleyway adjacent to next door's garden, can see straight in. It is great to once again be hidden, especially as it gets dark so early now. We had an absolute nightmare when we moved here and paid an idiot to construct the base for the bug house. Firstly we had an army of helpers to erect the log cabin and then discovered when everything was unpacked that the concrete slab was too small and then a few weeks later when we finally got it up, we realised just how high it was and we had to have steps built to get in! Thankfully the neighbours were very good but it is too high and there was nothing we could do by then.
I am still getting to grips with my iPhone5, it is amazing but I'm useless. I have taken loads of photos of friends and family so their picture now flashes up when they call. I love it but I am reliably informed that my old phone could probably have done that. The belt clip just doesn't work, the phone is too large to sit on my belt. I have resorted to putting it in a bum bag around my waist. I dare not put it in my pocket as I'm sure it will fall out. I think I need to get it insured, perhaps then I won't be so paranoid about losing it or breaking it.
The saga goes on with all my stick insects. I off loaded a huge number to my reptile supplier friend last week but I still have too many. I am sending out loads of extras with orders but I feel overwhelmed by them and disheartened that I sell so few these days. Years ago stick insects were my main sellers but times change and clearly I must too. I think the Christmas break will be the time to reflect and look at what I am keeping. Bramble collecting is constant and I cannot tell you how sorry I felt for myself yesterday, in agony, in the rain and in the Homebase car park, looking an idiot, cutting armfuls of bramble branches!
Must get on, it's nice and warm out there in the bug house. Hopefully nothing will sting me today, I will be far more careful when I feed all the scorpions, than I was with the Assassin bugs yesterday.
It's been a challenging few days dealing with the eye injury and the pain, but it's great to hear you're on the mend. Your passion for your work and dedication to your bug collection, despite the setbacks, is truly inspiring. The upcoming 'Spider Day' sounds exciting, and it's impressive how you're managing everything, even with one eye patched! Wishing you a speedy recovery and success with your projects.
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