Such a busy week, things have been coming and going constantly

Such a busy week, things have been coming and going constantly. I'm having trouble keeping track of everything. The automatic stock counter on my website is super but I need to keep an eye on it. I prefer to underestimate the bugs that I have bred myself and therefore I have to constantly check the site to make sure that something hasn't gone out of stock, that in reality I still have plenty of. The cockroaches often sell out and then I realise that I haven't checked the website and I should have done. It is very difficult to keep up to date with everything at such a busy time of the year. I seem to be constantly chasing my tail at the moment, I certainly never get a chance to be bored. It isn't all work, I have my great nephew coming later this morning. He is only seven months old, his parents are going to a 'child free' wedding. He is absolutely adorable but most of the day and all night will certainly be a challenge. Thankfully my daughter will be around for part of the day, it's just as well because I have some spiders arriving in the post later. I can't really see me sorting out spiders with a baby in tow. I was supposed to be going to the '50+ show' tomorrow with a friend. I'm far too busy now but as my daughter pointed out it would only depress me. It would be all about what to do with your leisure time. I have never worked so hard in my life as I do these days, leisure is a thing of the past. We have a large mortgage and I don't have a pension. I will clearly be working until I drop. Sadly it wasn't me that won the Euro Lottery this week!

I did the weekly feed of all the large tarantulas yesterday. It is always great to see the ones that have moulted. One of the Mexican Beauty spiders had moulted and it is now even more exquisite than before, another has a very bald abdomen so moulting is clearly imminent. I was told when I purchased these spiders last month that they were two females and a male but stupidly I muddled them up so I don't know which is which. It would be great to try and breed these spiders, they are so beautiful (as their name suggests). I did put my pair of Chile Beauty spiders together yesterday but I ran out of time to watch them so I will try again over the weekend. The male was more interested in exploring the bug house than locating the female. I looked up and found him sitting on the table next to me so I thought I had better put him back in his box before he got accidently squashed. Talking of tables, I finally got my husband to fill in the gap under my bug house table. It is a large metal topped table with a lip going all around the edge. There was a void of about 2cm underneath and I have lost countless spiders in this gap over the years. This week I decided that enough was enough, a beautiful but very fast moving tree spider leapt out of the box that I was trying to pack her in and hid under the table. It took me ages, with tweezers in one hand and a torch in the other to get her out. She was as ever, absolutely fine but I was frazzled. I bought a tube of foam and my hubby upended the table and filled the gap once and for all.

I am pleased to report that I have seen another two Stag Beetles, both female and one in my garden. I can only assume that it is a bumper year for British Stag beetles as I don't think I have never seen them 'up here' before. We have been living in Buckinghamshire for eight years. I will have to look out for a male now. Perhaps I should take Teddi for more evening walks, I always find it exciting to see a Stag beetle in flight. I am also keeping an eye on a huge hole that something has dug in the woods near my house. It looks like a badger den but there only seems to be one, perhaps it is a fox hole? It is just off the path so not a great place for any large animal to live really. My garden is alive with butterflies at the moment. I have several Buddleia bushes and I have seen Peacock, Comma, Red Admiral, Cabbage White and even a couple of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies this week. I was poking about in my wildlife garden last weekend and nearly came a cropper. I opened my hedgehog box and could see that the hay inside was moving slightly. I poked about with my fingers and then heard a strange noise. It wasn't until I pulled at the hay that I noticed I had my hand in a bumble bee's nest. I very carefully and slowly lowered the lid and retreated indoors. I was actually really pleased, I would love to have a bee hive but none of us eat honey and I couldn't be bothered with all that dressing up in safety gear. I would have a hive if I could just leave them to it but I'm told they would swarm and upset our neighbours.

I received my first Christmas gift catalogue this week, crazy, it is only July, I put it straight into the recycling box! Thankfully Vodafone have repaired their phone mast and we once again have full reception. It was a pain for a few days as I had to stand in the garden to speak on the phone and people calling were frequently getting the ringing tone when it wasn't ringing this end. Technology is great when it works but a nightmare when it doesn't. Whenever I have computer problems, I am completely lost as I have no way of contacting my customers. My hubby and daughter have been laughing at me, they fell about when Lord Sugar said on The Apprentice program that his wife thought 'pixels' lived at the bottom of the garden. They both shouted "that's you", how rude, I'm not quite that bad but I really wish I could understand technology and be able to use it properly. I do try but it just doesn't come naturally to me. I am still at the 'thinking' stage of all the great things I am going to do with my website, it has so many unused features.

Better get sorted out now for imminent arrival of baby!