Virginia Cheeseman - Latest News Blog
I regularly post to my news blog when the number of readers hits a certain target and I get the time to do so :) I have been writing my blog for many years now and some of my posts have been read over 3,000 times! Feel free to check back every now and again to see what's happening at VirginiaCheeseman.co.uk
Rant, Rant, Rant
Rant, Rant, Rant – Nothing makes me feel as old as all the nastiness online. Honestly it didn’t exist before the internet came along. Obviously, there were still nasty people but they were isolated and didn’t have access to the world. Most of my customers are lovely but just occasionally I come across one who isn’t and it really upsets me, at times I just want to give up. I work so hard, far too hard, I drive my family nuts so I am trying to keep going but spend less time looking after the bugs and this means cutting down the number that I keep, something that I have been trying to achieve all year!
Wow, what a month July was....
Wow, what a month July was - the postal side of my business went crazy, Ginny’s Jungle saw real progress and we had some super, scorching hot weather!
Glad to see the back of ‘Flaming’ June
Glad to see the back of ‘Flaming’ June. It wasn’t ‘flaming’ hot (apart from the first and last couple of days) but it was flaming annoying, so much went wrong for me. Firstly, I had to cancel my talk at the local library due to a mishap with the advertising of the event and then my planned nose operation was cancelled. Not cancelled but postponed and probably until the winter as I can’t find a two-week gap in my diary to recuperate. Then last week, when it came to spider feeding day I looked at my newly moulted Goliath Birdeater spider and realised that she had died. I was very upset, I felt guilty because I think it was most likely due to being too damp (in my defence, it is well known that these spiders cannot tolerate dry conditions) and I must admit that she cost me a fortune and I was looking forward to watching her grow. Oh, and I forgot the IT problems, my husband went to Spain on his annual motorbike trip for ten days and the day after he had gone I went to add a new spider to the “Scientific Spider Names” on my site and realised that 50% of the list was missing. Panic set in as I had no back up but luckily it turned out that my website guy did, so we were able to restore it. That same day PayPal had ‘massive problems’ (their words), payment notification was not being sent out and I had no way of telling who had paid so I had to cease posting orders until it was resolved!
Mad May! Oh, what a busy month
Mad May! Oh, what a busy month, very productive, I’m going in the right direction. I have run a few Ginny’s Jungle events recently but mostly I have been busy with the website and postal side of my business. I had a fun day out at the BTS (British Tarantula Society) exhibition a couple of weeks ago and purchased plenty of new spiders and bugs. It was a very well attended show, there were a huge number of visitors but also a very large number of stalls too. I saw some people that I hadn’t seen for ages and had some enjoyable chats with everyone.
Life is good
Life is good, extremely busy but it’s paying dividends at last. My bug room is looking good (literally as I have had so many visitors recently that I have had to keep it tidy), I have cut down on many of my bugs but I still have way too many. I have been running lots of special offers and have also sold a lot of my surplus stock to a large reptile supplier.
Spring at last, the clocks have sprung
Spring at last, the clocks have sprung. I love the warmer weather and sunshine, the bugs certainly appreciate it too! Everything seems to be pregnant or having babies, spiders, scorpions, millipedes, cockroaches – the list goes on.
First monthly blog post!
First monthly blog post! If you have been reading my regular weekly blogs you will realise that I have had to make changes this year. Honestly, there just isn’t enough of me to go around and I’m not getting any younger but worse than that my relatives are definitely getting older and needing more care from me and therefore more precious time. I’m pleased with the progress that I have already made.
My birthday was lovely
My birthday was lovely, thanks for all your best wishes. I was thoroughly spoilt and really enjoyed it! My Costa Rican themed party was brilliant. I have posted several times on my Facebook page in the last few days, I consider the whole week to be my birthday week and tomorrow I have some girlfriends coming over for another get-together. I had many ‘bug themed’ presents. A beautiful charm bracelet and matching earrings from my hubby (amazingly crafted silver jewellery, with a vast range of bugs from Emma Keating – do look her up www.emmmakeatingjewellery.co.uk, we met Emma at the recent SEAS show in Kent), a fantastic sign for my bug room from my long-time friend Karen, a Laura Ashley blouse with bumble bees, a White Stuff top with Bumble bees, a pretty scarf with Bumble bees and exquisite Ted Baker Bumble bee earrings. There seems to bee a theme here (oh how I wish I could add emojis to this blog lol).
My big birthday is on Sunday
My big birthday is on Sunday, I can’t believe I will be 60! We will be having a Costa Rican themed birthday party (I think you all probably know by now that I love Costa Rica “voted happiest country on Earth”). I started off inviting a few family and friends over for a cream tea in the afternoon but over the last couple of weeks I seem to have mentioned it to more and more people, oops, I think there may be 100 or so people turn up. That’s a lot of cream scones but worse than that, how are we going to fit everyone in the house? Plus, we live in a cul-de-sac, it is Sunday afternoon, where is everyone going to park. Oh well, it’s my birthday, I shouldn’t have to worry about it!