No blog for a couple of weeks

No blog for a couple of weeks after this one as I will be in sunny Mexico! This week has been pretty quiet, as I said in last week's blog the 'make me an offer on a tarantula' promotion ended on Tuesday. It was very successful and certainly something that I will run again in the future. My last posting day before the holiday will be Monday but I will have limited time to spend on packing bugs as we are off late Tuesday. I hope to get all orders sent but it really depends on how many come in over the weekend. Last Monday was very busy and some orders had to be held over until Tuesday but obviously that isn't an option next week. I will send everything out in the order that I receive them.

I will be clearing up, cleaning out and feeding my mini zoo this weekend. I placed an order for crickets yesterday morning so hopefully they will arrive today. Our postal deliveries are always erratic, we rarely receive anything before lunch time. My lovely next door neighbour is in poor health so I don't want to rely on her to take in parcels for me if I can help it. We have now lived in Flackwell Heath (the largest village in England, I am reliably informed) for ten years. The anniversary of our move was last week, my neighbour is very used to taking in parcels for me. She knows that they need to be kept warm but not too hot and isn't worried if she hears scratching coming from the boxes or indeed chirping from the crickets. However since her husband died last year her health has declined and she may possibly move shortly. I dread to think what new neighbours would make of my bugs but hopefully they will meet me before they hear about any bugs and I am pretty normal (well to look at anyway).

I am still despairing with Vodafone, it is almost three weeks since the major power cut that damaged the phone mast. The engineers seem unable to fix it and when I call, the oversees call centre staff just tell me that it is being worked on. Really - for how long! I can barely use my iPhone at all when I am at home. Goodness knows how much custom this has cost me. I haven't managed to speak to anyone involved in the UK so it is a case of fingers crossed. I did join the Vodafone forum as advised and other people are as unhappy as I am. I really hope it is fixed by the time we get back.

All the bugs seem fine, I have cut back a fair bit for the holiday and it does make life somewhat easier. I have had another tarantula egg sac hatch this week but they are Cameroon Baboons again! I certainly have plenty of spiderlings now but I will leave these ones together (with lots of food) until I get back. I have housed up all my Ornamental Baboon and New Mexican spiderlings in individual tubs, I don't have a lot left after my tarantula sale. The beautiful Florida Katydids are gradually reaching adulthood. They are amazing and a gorgeous lime green colour, they also make a very pleasant chirping sound. I have lots of beetle grubs pupating at this time so I hope to have adult beetles soon and start the lifecycle all over again. I was offered some new beetle species a few days ago. Thankfully the breeder is happy to hang onto them until I return from holiday. I was also offered some nice new millipedes. I was very tempted to take them but I thought "no, be sensible". Hopefully they will still be available when I get back but it is too bad if they are not. I am doing well with my millipedes, lots of babies, not all on the website as they are tiny when they hatch. I just wish I could get my scorpions to give birth. I know I keep going on about it but it drives me mad. Several are fit to burst and not one has given birth to any babies. I know they need something to induce them but I don't know what? I have written myself a note to research this when I get back. Moving them around can 'start them off' so I may need to load the scorpions into the car and take them out on day trips in the summer (hubby would be delighted). I am worried that they will either reabsorb the babies or die if they don't give birth soon. If you have any tips please let me know. Seriously, any help would be appreciated.

Sorry, must have a quick moan. I cannot contact people without their correct email address. I am getting a fair number of people filling in the contact form on my website and misspelling their address. Twice this week I have had people misspell Hotmail (hotmai and hoymail) this results in the emails either bouncing back immediately or being returned to me after a day or more. I'm not sure what can be done about this. I will need to speak to my website guy (if Vodafone ever get the mast fixed). I think people will need to put their address on the contact form twice or we will have to scrap the contact form altogether and just put a link directly to my email address.

Ok, that's it, a long day ahead with a list of jobs that need doing. It is great to see the sun shining at last (I bet the weather is good while we are away). I took some photos of my half male / half female Jungle Nymph stick insect in the week. I will try to attach one to the blog (if I fail I will get hubby to do it this evening).

Thanks for all your lovely emails wishing me well for my holiday, I do have some lovely customers. Must just mention Tommy, who wrote a review for every item that he bought off me this week! How super of him, I really think the reviews help my website, I certainly appreciate them. I can't really work out the 'comments and suggestions' section (Disqus) but there are some very nice comments and lovely photos on there so that's great too.

My next blog will be telling you all about the amazing bugs and beasts in Mexico! (hopefully they don't spray insecticide around an eco hotel)