Virginia Cheeseman Blog

Halloween is almost here. It's so great, bugs, bats, rats, snakes and spiders in all the shops, restaurants, garden centres, kid's attractions, everywhere!. I know the aim is to scare everyone but I love it, I am obviously more than a bit weird as these are truly the animals I like best. I would happily take a lie detector test to prove this, I know I would pass with flying colours but please don't sign me up for the Jeremy Kyle show! We are having a big family party tomorrow and as I have my nephew's kids today (half term) we will be making a "feely box". I have some good ideas that but I can't tell you just in case I give the game away (in reality I think it is very unlikely that any members of my family will read this blog). We will be visiting Pets At Home for some of the items required! My Apple Mac computer has arrived, my hubby has set it up on the dining room table and I really need to concentrate and learn how to use it this weekend (far scarier t...

Technology! Oh my goodness, I think my brain is overflowing with all this online stuff. I am slowly getting there, I realised long ago that Facebook was a pretty important place to be in the 21st century but it has taken until this year to really embrace it. Although I moan a lot (in general really), I can't imagine life without technology now. I love my iPhone and iPad, I love my sat-nav and Google is like a best friend who I speak to every day! I am actually looking forward to my Apple Mac computer arriving next week (it should have been this week but nobody told me that the cost was over my card limit so it had to be reordered for next week). What a difference a week makes, last Friday was great fun (the Friday before the "unfortunate incident" occurred, certainly not fun). My friend and I went up to London for the filming of a new television show. Thankfully I wasn't required in front of the camera, I just set up a scorpion for one of the rounds. The scorpion is n...

An unfortunate incident - I'm really not sure just how much I should reveal about what occurred last Friday but I can't write my weekly blog without mentioning it. I have always allowed visitors to call and by the very nature of my business some of these people have looked a little 'different'. I have no problem with tattoos, piercings and strange coloured hair, individuality is good as long as people are genuine. In my experience people who like animals are the sort of people I like! But I came a cropper last Friday and have been unable to just move on so I have now reported the incident to the police, I am telling my blog followers and then I shall try to forget it and get back to normal. The basic facts are that a young man arranged to call via Facebook, told me that he worked for a zoo and that he had cash to pay with. He took up two hours of my precious time and made me pack a very large number of my best tarantulas. He then started coughing and asked for a glass...

All go! What a busy week, sadly not with orders (moan, moan, I spent all that money on new stock, a new updated website and hardly an order in sight) but with housing up all the new stock, feeding, cleaning, sorting out the family (daughter returned from Lanzarote and is now in the New Forest, leaving me all her washing/ironing). We have decorators in the house (well one decorator, a friend of mine but the house stinks of paint). I have had customers popping in this week, which is always good. I think I need to stop talking about it and get on with sorting out the 'notes to visitors' on my website. Perhaps we will have a Halloween day where people can come in the evening and have a look at all my spiders and scorpions, out and about in the dark. Actually I bought a little ultraviolet torch from the recent exhibition, ideal for viewing the iridescent colours of scorpions. Many scorpions glow green, blue or purple when viewed by ultraviolet light (no, I haven't had a chance t...

All Change! My goodness, everything is different, the new and improved website went live last Thursday. It was necessary so that viewing and ordering on a mobile phone or tablet became a great deal easier, sadly the oldsite just wasn't compatible enough with modern technology, even though it wasonly a couple of years old. I certainly think it is a huge improvement and mycustomers have said the same. I'm really surprised that when I asked forcomments on Facebook I didn't get any! Facebook on the whole is going verywell, I am getting much better at it, both posting information and answering enquiries.I am nudging towards the 21st century but it's a slow process. I am in fact seriouslythinking of buying an Apple computer. I believe that I would find it mucheasier to use than my current Microsoft desk top. They are very expensive but Ineed a new computer so it seems like a sensible idea. I just hope to make somemoney soon, I cannot believe how few orders I received in Septe...