March at last
March at last and Spring is in the air. It has been another busy week, although I had very few orders to send out at the beginning of the week. Orders generally come in over the weekend but you can never tell for sure. I Received my largest order ever this week. Those of you who check my tarantula stock regularly may have noticed how depleted it suddenly looks. However both bugs and spiders come in all the time so they will soon be replaced by others. I collected some more Imperial scorpions, millipedes and spiderlings on Monday and I am hoping to pop down to London this afternoon to pick up some African creatures. I'm not sure what? Hopefully Train millipedes, Bush crickets, scorpions and spiders but I'm not positive they are in yet. It could be a case of waiting until next week.
The 'open afternoon' went well last Saturday. I only had a few visitors but it was nice so I am planning another one soon. It will probably be Saturday 5th April (the next Saturday that I don't have something else planned!). When I know for sure I will put the details in my pink information box again. It certainly inspired me to clear and clean the bug room. I did buy a Vax steam cleaner for the floor (mentioned in my blog a couple of weeks ago). It is ok but not brilliant, I chose the one that only uses water as I really didn't want my bug house floor disinfected. There are always a few loose crickets, cockroaches and stick insects. I just scoop them up when I am tidying and put them back in their cages, I don't want them poisoned by chemicals! I hate working in a mess but it is difficult to keep the room clean and tidy when I am always so busy.
The guy came last Friday and chopped down some trees in our back garden. It pains me to have paid all that money to have trees chopped down that we planted for the stick insects and no longer need. Eucalyptus grows so fast and I don't have anything that feeds on it now. It is a shame that stick insects seem to have fallen out of favour. I do hope they become popular again, I really like them. I am actually waiting for a guy as I write this, he does have stick insects that require Eucalyptus so I told him he's welcome to some. The trouble is that the leaves are all at the top, I had to climb up to reach the branches and chop some off. It is certainly hubby's job (one of many) to lop off the tops of our remaining Eucalyptus trees. I'm not paying out again, this time I will keep an eye on them. He was supposed to trim them down at the weekend but ran out of time. He has finished erecting my greenhouse though and fixed the fencing that fell down in the recent storms.
I spent most of yesterday sorting out tanks and boxes for my new arrivals so fingers crossed that they come in today. Friday is my 'floating day', the day I don't post orders so I generally run all my errands. I was going to say 'free day' but I never have a free day. My whole life seems to be mapped out for me, my husband often says that if you look in my diary I it will probably tell you what I am doing this day next year.
Must get a move on now, I have to meet my dog's best friend in the park. I say 'must', it does make life a lot easier. Teddi is three now but she still behaves like a puppy and won't leave other dogs alone. When Ferdie is around she only has eyes for him and it is so much more relaxing for me.
Lastly I saw an article in "Practical Reptile Keeping" this week, it is called "Living in Harmony" (page 24) and is about keeping a communal tank for creepy crawly pets. I am often asked about communal tanks and do have a brief piece on my FAQ page. It looks really interesting (nice photos) but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I subscribe to this lovely magazine but I'm sure it is available in WH Smith, supermarkets and other shops.