Virginia Cheeseman Blog

Happy Christmas Everyone! Only five sleeps to go until the big day. Thanks so much for your custom in 2013, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year (I'm sorry, you've guessed it, no time for the blog. I have been rushing around since first thing this morning, it is now time to start getting dinner and then I have a pile of presents to wrap this evening).

Almost Christmas! It's a good job that November was a busy month for me as I've received a very low number of orders in December. I hope some people will order and collect next week but I'm not holding my breath. Next Wednesday will be my last day to post orders before Christmas, I know it sounds early but it isn't only the weather that becomes a problem, postal deliveries tend to become more erratic and I worry that some orders may not arrive the next day. Having said that, I haven't had any orders not arrive the next day for ages, Special Delivery is generally a very good service but I don't want to push my luck! The weather is very mild for the time of year (here in Buckinghamshire) which is nice as I detest the cold. A new outer door was fitted in my bug room last Friday. I can't believe the difference it has made. The old wooden door was warped, difficult to open and very wet. The new door is thickly double glazed, simple to open and when a little ...

I'm writing this a day early or I just won't get a chance again this week! Tomorrow the new outer door is being fitted in my bug room. This is the coldest, frostiest morning that we have had this winter. I doubt if it will be any better tomorrow so we are going to have fun and games trying to cover the doorway and keep the heat in. Thankfully my hubby is off work tomorrow, so he will be here to help. We are hoping to rig up sheets of bubble wrap (must go out in the shed and check I have enough left). I will have to move everything away from the door so it will be chaotic in my bug room. I will have lots of feeding to do tomorrow as this week's cricket delivery will be arriving today. Probably this afternoon sometime, our postal deliveries are dire here. We seem to get mail later and later in the day and delivered by anyone who is available. We see our own postman about once a week these days (nothing to do with Christmas, it's permanent). I often get emails quite earl...

Sorry, no time for blogging, I will try harder next week! I have been out and about a lot and have a mountain of paperwork and feeding/cleaning of animals to do. I just cannot spare any time to write the blog, even though I have loads to say as usual. Just off to drop my daughter's car at the garage and then walk the dog. After that I will be staying in to catch up as much as possible today and tomorrow! I don't think I have ever had such a busy November, really pleased, it seems the recession is finally over.

Another busy week, no complaints here (that makes a change for me). Things are really moving and certainly in the right direction. I have sent out lots of orders and had no problems reported, even though the weather has turned much colder. The only thing that really stops me posting out orders is snow. Our village is perched on the top of a hill and when it snows everything grinds to a halt. I could probably get down to the post office but I would not get back up the hill again! All the bugs seem to be doing well. It is my first winter in the new bug room, I have moved a few things around but mostly I think everything is warm enough. I hope the new outer door will be fitted at the end of next week. The current door is wooden and seems to be permanently wet as the temperature is so much lower outside than inside. The new door will be metal (steel or aluminium?), anyway it will be much easier to wipe down and it will be double glazed. I had thought of just blocking up the doorway f...

Busy, busy November. Usually at this time of the year I am moaning about the lack of orders but this year I have plenty of orders and so far it's been a really good month. It is probably helped by the fact that I do have an awful lot of livestock. I actually think that by moving all the animals indoors earlier this year I have had more time to care for them. The result being that I have bred more creepy crawlies than ever. I wanted to breed as many millipede species as I could, millipedes are mostly imported as adults and often do not reproduce in captivity. I have been really successful with several species and now have many captive bred youngsters. At the beginning of the year I bought a number of adult Bumblebee millipedes. Although they are a small species, they are beautiful and brightly coloured. The adults were very expensive but I thought if I could breed them it would be worth the outlay. I'm very pleased to now have a thriving colony. The African Red Legged milli...

A bit tired, I got up at 5am to collect my husband from Heathrow airport this morning. He was out in Abu Dhabi this week and certainly has some tales to tell of how the other half live. Me, I have just been slogging on as usual. I have been really busy with orders, most unusual for this time of year but also most welcome. It is hard to keep up the hours of care that my 'mini zoo' needs when I have no orders coming in, I mean it is hard to keep up morale. It is difficult to explain how I am just as busy when I don't have any orders but I am, because everything still needs caring for and things just pile up on me. Despite having lots of orders I still have way too many bugs at the moment. I need to cut back NOW or I will be spending the entire Christmas break in my bug room. I am surprised that I still had several orders to send to countries outside the UK this week. I always worry during the winter but the animals seem to arrive fine so it seems I am worrying unnecessarily...

Better late than never. I didn't get a chance to write my blog yesterday as I had my nephew's girls. It has been a busy half term week with the kids and work. I am trying to cut down on stock for the winter but I just couldn't resist getting in some Imperial scorpions and Rhinoceros beetle larvae. Neither of these are available very often and both are stunning bugs. Halloween was fun on Thursday. We had a family party as it was also my niece's birthday. Sadly, real life bugs were banned but I did get to wear my various spider jewellery and took an inflatable tarantula with me that the kids enjoyed. I'm thinking of having a Halloween party of my own next year, real live bugs would be welcome. Perhaps I shouldn't let anyone in who hasn't brought along a creepy crawly pet! Finally got my Christmas cards sorted, they look so much better than my first attempt. The first ones were awful, I was most grateful to Snapfish for refunding my money. I love taking p...

Sunshine at last, we seem to have had permanent rain lately, both inside and out! I am being driven to distraction by the constant leaks in my office and bug room roof. The design of the roof is dreadful and although my nephew is a roofer, even he is finding it difficult to come up with an 'affordable' solution. He came over yesterday with a work colleague, they are trying to find a way to build a new drainage gully without stripping off the entire roof. The roof has already been replaced but now the metal gully has started to rust away. I have had buckets everywhere this week but the rain always seems to find a new spot to pour in Agggh! I should receive a quote for the new outer door for my bug room today. It is desperately needed but again it is more money and I am also concerned how long it will take to fit and just how I am going to keep the bug room warm when the work is carried out. I will have to move the cages and shelving that are close to the door and then I'm ...

Out of time! I know it is the story of my life. I have so much to say and no time to say it. I have a lot of running around to do today and intended to write my blog (or at least start it) yesterday but I ended up babysitting and doing various tasks with my nephew's kids. My husband, son and daughter all set off before the crack of dawn this morning (daughter's 21st birthday present, a day of racing sports cars) so I have no help. The AES show was good, lots of familiar faces to catch up with. I spent quite a bit but was very proud of myself as I stuck to the shopping list and didn't buy any new 'leaf eating' bugs. The range of tarantulas at the show was quite disappointing but it was after all an 'insect' show. There were lots of set specimens, they look beautiful but I have no interest in dead bugs, they must be much easier to look after though! I bought some more beetle larvae but I think that has to be it now until the new year. My bug room is trul...