Holiday approaching fast and it can't come soon enough, actually I have so much to get ready before we go that I'm at that panic stage and wish I had another week to prepare all the animals. It's amazing how it always gets done in the end! This will be my last blog before we jet off to Cyprus next weekend, I will be too busy packing and sorting out the bugs to write a blog on Friday.
Everything is thriving in the bug room and I am continuing in my crusade to make more time for worthwhile things and spend less time on the bugs that nobody wants. I still haven't plucked up the courage to get rid of my huge 'mixed stick insect' cage but I am getting closer as the holiday approaches. I'm sure it is the right thing to do but there will be tears (yes, honestly). I love stick insects but they take hours of care and make pennies! Another real problem is that I have always had a friend in the reptile trade (a large pet shop supplier) who would take my surplus stick insects off my hands but he has recently retired and that leaves me nowhere to sell off cheap stock. I cannot post large numbers of stick insects as the containers would cost money, postage would be expensive and yet again it would eat into my valuable time. I think that my son has finally got through to me that my time has a value and I must factor it into my business plans.
The pre-holiday special offers have been a hit and they will continue for the next few days. I sold a lot of spiders last week but also millipedes, scorpions, beetles and cockroaches. The bug room is looking a bit tidier and less cramped thank goodness. I keep looking at my huge Sri Lankan Ornamental with her egg sac, I am expecting it to hatch very soon. It's exciting as I have never bred Poecilotheria tarantulas before, I just hope the Exo Terra vivarium is spiderling proof. I don't want to come home from Cyprus to find a room full of spiderlings. I already have quite a few Madagascan Fishing spiders on the loose. I'm not really bothered, they are very cute but I need to catch them up or my daughter's boyfriend will have a fit when he sees one. He's 6'3" and terrified of anything creepy crawly. Although our daughter will be in charge of the bugs I'm sure she will drag him in there to help her.
I have spoken to a few people recently who have suggested that some of my more local customers may be happy to come and help me for free. This sounds great in theory but in practice the sort of help I need is not want anyone would want to do (certainly not for free). My life is just so complicated, home and work are in no way defined (another thing my son moans at me about). When you work from home everything just merges together, I would love someone to walk the dog, take the parcels to the post office, do the shopping (both mine and mother in-laws), gardening, washing, ironing, cleaning - the list is endless! I could manage all my bugs fine if everything else didn't constantly get in the way.
One thing that everyone can help with is letting me know when you find a mistake on my website. There is so much information and it is constantly changing. I do my best to keep on top of it but it is too big a task to get right all the time. I had an interesting email recently, a company had scanned my site and pointed out some of the spelling mistakes. The idea was that I should pay them to keep everything in check. I noticed last week that the information shown for the Florida Bush crickets said that they were newly matured in 2013! Clearly a mistake as they live for months rather than years but nobody had mentioned it despite the fact that I have had a real drive on selling them (you guessed it, they have to go, another "hours for pennies" animal). Anyway it's another thought, perhaps I should bribe people into checking my site for me, free bugs or half price postage maybe. I always appreciate it when someone does point out a mistake and even if it turns out not to be a mistake I am always very grateful for the input. I also appreciate people making the effort to write a review for my site. I hate the idea of bribing people for that but I don't have enough reviews so perhaps the time has come? I think I would prefer to reward the people who have already written reviews rather than coerce people into it. It's another thing on my never ending list of 'things to do'.
Lastly Facebook - sorry, sorry, sorry. I try but it doesn't come easily. Somehow my personal Facebook page and my work one became linked recently, I seemed to be able to get onto both with the same password, very odd as they are not in the same name but I obviously mucked it up on my iPad or iPhone. I posted about my niece's son Hugo helping me in the bug room and it came up on my private Facebook (used only for entering competitions and the Eurasier dog club). Perhaps I will get to grips with it when I am out in Cyprus but I wouldn't bank on it. I know there are messages on there but I haven't got a clue. I always reply to emails but I cannot say the same for Facebook, it is pot luck if I actually find them.
Oh how I need this holiday!!!
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