Lots of sunshine this week

Lots of sunshine this week and much warmer weather too - long may it last! I'm dreaming of my holiday in a couple of weeks time and very pleased with the way the stock clearance is going. It's been a busy week and I have sent out a large number of orders. I've had some really positive feedback about the direction that my business is going in. It seems arachnids are the future. I have been running various special offers and will continue up until I leave for Cyprus (only going for six days so don't worry too much). When I return I will be restocking but not the leaf eating/labour intensive bugs. I will be sticking to the creatures that can be left for a few days without special care. It is our daughter's 23rd birthday next month and I can't rely on her to be living at home forever to look after the bugs. Mind you when she has children I think regular babysitting would be more than fair for a couple of weeks 'bug sitting' a year.

Everything in the bug room seems to be going extremely well. I was delighted this week to discover that my Sri Lankan Ornamental (Poecilotheria fasciata) has a 'huge' egg sac (I wasn't sure if they had mated or not). I was about to evict her from the large Exo Terra vivarium that she currently resides in as I needed to house up my Whip scorpions. They have now been moved into a rather boring but roomy plastic box, I did have them in the dining room but they made a lousy exhibit as they just hid away day and night. I have now put some of my beautiful green Florida Katydids in the dining room tank (left over from the snakes). I don't think the family have noticed the Katydids yet but they can get quite noisy when they chirp, I think it's a really pretty sound but I am waiting for the moans (which I will of course ignore).

On Tuesday this week I had my niece's 12 year old over to help me. He was here for Easter and stayed a bit longer as his school doesn't go back until next week. He really is the only member of my family with any interest in bugs and it was nice to have him here for the day. We got a surprising lot of things done. It makes such a change to have someone to discuss things with and he came up with some good ideas. The very worst thing about my bug room is the lack of space but it isn't going to grow so I have just got to fit it all in somehow. I was very sad on Monday but decided that the entire cage of Indian stick insects needed to go. There is no market for them and constantly collecting food plants is just a waste of my time and energy. I am seriously thinking of ditching my entire cage of mixed stick insects before I go away. They are a real hassle for my daughter to look after and what is the point when nobody wants them?

Anyway back to Hugo (it's a popular name in Luxembourg where he lives - I'm told). I decided that he was so good and helpful that we would take a break and go 'snake hunting'. I found a great local area for Grass snakes last year but perhaps it is a bit early. We searched and searched but sadly didn't find any, with each piece of corrugated iron we came across (it is a small nature reserve) our hopes were raised and then dashed. We didn't even find a slow-worm, just a toad, a frog and a pair of nesting swans (that we stayed well away from). I've said it before, corrugated iron is my favourite metal, much better than silver or gold. My nephew is a builder, I must remember to ask him if he can get me some. I have a nice wildlife area at the bottom of our garden and we are next to some woods so you never know it may attract reptiles. We have had loads of beautiful butterflies flying around this week.

I have failed miserably with Facebook but I will try harder, I really will (just not sure when as I have a lot on with my mother in-law next week). I am still adding information to the website on a regular basis and I am updating my customer records. I have a notes section on the database and it makes for interesting reading. It is very useful to keep notes and almost all of them are positive. I have some lovely customers, only this week a guy actually apologised to me for the fact that Royal Mail had delivered his parcel a day late and the hassle it caused me. It was so nice that he didn't hold me responsible (delays don't happen very often but there is little I can do when it does occur). Still I feel awful when it does happen and I always try to track it down and do what I can. I just thought the guy was so sweet as it was him who was obviously put out and had to wait in another day for the delivery.

Hope you all have a good weekend. The weather here is looking nice, everyone seems to be planning an outdoor activity (including me) so let's hope the good weather lasts (sorry if you are in a different part of the UK and are not having a warm spell!).