Virginia Cheeseman Blog

Panic! The theme of this week’s blog just has to be panic! Honestly, I do wish I could calm down a bit, just turn the dial down a few notches! I had already been thinking about this theme but yesterday was a day of going from one stressful event to the next. I constantly worry about things that might go wrong but they very rarely do and if they do, they are never as bad as I imagine. I worry that the animals will get too cold in the post, I worry that they may get held up, I worry that my customers will be disappointed and yet these are just a few of the emails that I have received recently. “ I just wanted to say a huge thanks for the tarantula. It's all settled in it's new home and it is an absolutely fantastic size. Thank you so very much. I have bought 3 other tarantulas from you in the past two years and they always come in the best health. You probably don't remember but I ordered an adult female Ceratogyrus darlingi and she's also doing fantastically well.” “That...

Running around, don’t know whether I’m coming or going this week. I had to make a choice ‘short blog’ or ‘no blog’, so I’ve gone for a shortened blog! Although you can’t see it, I have a counter placed on the blog page and can therefore see how many people read it. Unfortunately, I can’t see who reads it but I can see how many people view it and the statistics are fascinating (well I think they are). I was only saying to my hubby last night that I’m not really interested in how technology works but I absolutely love using it. I love my iPhone, Apple watch, ‘spy on the wall’ digital doorbell and all. I can’t imagine a life without it now. Many people of my age say “oh I don’t do computers or Facebook, I can’t see the point of it”, I just tell them “you don’t know what you’re missing”. Now that our daughter has moved back home and is only working part time, she is going to be helping me run the admin and planning side of things. I’ve said before that over the years I have needed to adapt...

A week since the last blog, I can’t believe it, seems like yesterday! But I’m going to try to write an entry every Friday in 2018. It actually takes quite some time but I know that a lot of people enjoy reading it and when asked, everyone who got back to me wanted the blog to be weekly, rather than bi-weekly or monthly. I’m not sure whether to put the blog on my Facebook page? It seems rather self-indulgent to me but it would be so much easier for people to comment and join in on any relevant topics, it is nice to get feedback. I often ask questions but rarely get answers. It was great last week when Graham replied to the blog and identified the super snake that I saw in Costa Rica. It was a Black-banded Cat-eyed Snake ( Leptodeira nigrofasciata ), endangered evidently, so a good find. I can’t say I have been inundated with orders this week but there has been a steady trickle and I’m sure things will pick up soon. I have started a “Featured Tarantulas” page on my site. I thought it was...

Happy New Year J My New Year’s Resolution – to try and ‘go with the flow’ and stop getting so stressed. I am trying but it has been a very ‘trying’ week, our daughter moved back in after a year of renting with a friend. She seems to have come back with literally half a house of ‘stuff’. It has been a week of trips to the dump and I have a huge pile of things for the charity shop (when I can find time to get down there). I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year’s Eve, we did. Just before Christmas we invited some neighbours in for drinks and nibbles. It was great fun but utterly chaotic and ended up with tours of the bug room and then snakes plus bugs being handled by some, while others cowered in the corner. Now that the festivities are over I will be re-stocking and you will gradually see more and more new bugs appearing on the website. I’m sourcing things now and expect most to come in towards the end of the month. To make room for everything I need to clear some of my cu...