Still rushing

Still rushing but for a different reason this week. I have the time to write the blog but I must get off the computer as my hubby needs to upgrade it. We bought the new hard drive weeks ago but there has never been a good day to sort it out as I am always working on it! Clearly today is not great but as my hubby starts a new job on Monday and will be around a lot less it is now or never. I am sick of the computer constantly crashing and me needing to climb under the desk and over some boxes to get to the plug, to then reset it. Thankfully my back is getting better but it was a real trial resetting the computer when it was very bad.

It has been a slow week for sales. What has happened to all my customers? Last week was busy, next week is half term so I'm sure it will be busy again. I will be sending out orders on Monday morning but then I will be at my dear friend Joyce's funeral in the afternoon. Sorry I don't think I will be able to answer the phones on Monday, I just won't have the time but obviously I will catch up on Tuesday.

The bugs are doing well, I thought my Madagascan Fishing spider had laid an egg sac a couple of weeks ago but when I checked I was disappointed to see that it was just thick webbing. I decided to re-house her and lo and behold a few days later I could see a 'proper' egg sac. It is hanging from silk threads and looks really bulbous and healthy so fingers crossed. They are such pretty spiders and have been very easy to rear. I need to consult Google though as I am not convinced that they like water, they seem to prefer drier conditions. I always try to give my bugs a large enough cage so that they have a gradient and can choose their preferred humidity/temperature. I was told they are fishing spiders and maybe they are but they don't seem to like sitting in damp conditions.

I have been having a sort out this week and have once again moved my gravid scorpions around. I have put some in bigger containers (again so that they can choose the dry warm areas or cooler moist areas). I have put some in boxes on my millipede shelving. My millipedes have done brilliantly this year, the shelves are cooler as they don't have heat mats underneath. I don't like to put heat mats under the millipedes as they burrow down and I would expect the eggs to dry out if they are laid too close to the mat. It seems a little cool for scorpions but I am giving it a go as I just can't get the damn things to give birth! I am so frustrated to see my beautiful, obviously pregnant scorpions just, eating and mooching around but not producing babies. I spoke to a guy at the recent AES exhibition, he was selling baby Flat Rock scorpions. I asked him how he managed to breed them and he said "it just happened". So why won't it "just happen" for me. I have a couple of Chile scorpions that look fit to burst but they are still hanging on. One day I will crack this and work out what conditions they need. I have a horrible feeling that it is seasonal and there are of course no seasons in my bug room, it is always summer, light, bright and hot (as I like it). I hate the Autumn as it just means Winter is coming and I really ,really hate the Winter and all that cold weather.

I am not actually going into hibernation but my recent health issues have made me take a good look at the way I work/live. I am always on the go, my life is utterly hectic. I went to collect leaves for the millipedes yesterday and a neighbour started talking to me. I had to cut him short as I needed to get down to the school for my great-nieces (who I always have on Thursdays). He said "so what's new, you are always in a rush" and it's true! I am doing my best to cut down on stock now and I will then re-stock in the new year. Christmas is never a good time for my work as most people buy pet bugs for themselves and they don't have the money to spend on themselves before Christmas. Schools and universities don't want anything new before the festive break and of course if the weather gets really bad I cannot post orders out. I certainly won't be running out of animals as I have a crazy amount of stock right now. It would be great to trim it down so that I get a bit of down time before the new year arrives and it all starts up again. It is really odd that January is generally busy and February is one of my best months of the year for sales.

Anyway I am 'trying' to cut down and be more sensible. I mentioned last week that I would have to put all my Kilimanjaro Baboon spiderlings into one cage and let them get on with it. Well that day has come, I have been trying to sell them at just £1 each but nobody wants them. It is such a shame but I cannot keep feeding 50+ individual pots each week. The spiders are several months old so they are also growing too big to be confined in pots.

That's it for another week. I do feel my back is much improved by exercising in the gym again, my mood is most definitely improved. The gym is my escape and I love it. My damaged eye does not seem to be improving so I may need to see a specialist. I will have to see what the optician says in two weeks time. I need a new pair of glasses whatever, I am sick of putting on pair after pair and none of them giving me proper vision. I just don't want to spend a fortune and then find that my eye actually decides to heel and I need yet another pair. Oh how I miss my contact lenses!

Halloween next Friday, I love all those spiders, snakes, bats and rats decorations. Our gym is having a Halloween party so I was thinking of taking some creatures along but my daughter has pleaded with me not to as she is also a member and doesn't want everyone to know what a nutcase her mum is (I think most of them already know!). Hope everyone has a good half term and it doesn't rain every day.