What a busy week
What a busy week and thank goodness after a disastrous December. The weather is very mild here at the moment, we actually have double digits, i.e. 12c. It makes me think of Spring but there are still 66 days to go (oh I wish I hadn't counted!).
All is well with the bugs, the baby Rock scorpions have left their mother's back and seem to be fine living independently. I have more Barking Birdeater spiderlings than I know what to do with. The Giant Huntsman spiders are growing well and they will happily devour anything that I drop into their container. It is amazing to see the speed they move at, when hunting an active fly or cricket. I have a horrible feeling that my two remaining Fishing spiders are both female. They look absolutely identical to me but I think they still have one more moult to go so there is a still a glimmer of hope that I will end up with a breeding pair. I noticed this week that some of my Ethiopian crickets were looking a little tatty. On further inspection I realised why. When I moved the bark in their tank I discovered a multitude of Pallid cockroaches, they were obviously hiding during the day and then coming out at night to eat the cricket food and have a nibble of the cricket's wings at the same time! Luckily I noticed before too much damage was done. The crickets are still breeding well and I have now removed 'most' of the offenders. I haven't seen any Surinam cockroaches in my bug house for quite a while now so I am hoping that I have finally eradicated them but I obviously haven't got on top of the Pallid species yet.
I am hoping to do some restocking soon but realistically I don't think it will be for a couple of weeks as my desk is covered in paperwork and there just don't seem to be enough hours in a day to get through it. I do hope to get a better work / life balance this year, I know I am always saying that but it is just so difficult when you work from home. I try not to work on a Sunday but I very often end up replying to emails and processing orders to send out on Monday. I do wish people wouldn't ring my mobile on a Sunday, I don't like to sound rude but I don't think it is ever something that can't wait until Monday. I can't really ignore calls as it is my only mobile phone and it could be a friend or family member calling. The phone won't show a name unless the number is stored in my phone. Talking of communication! I have finally decided that enough is enough and removed myself from Facebook. I was only on there to enter competitions but I was deluged with requests to be my friend. I got so confused, clicking yes to some people and having no idea who they were and not replying to people who I really should have said ok to. It was such a muddle and I didn't have a clue so that's the end of that! Mind you I am now missing out on Facebook competitions, perhaps I should start again under a false name but then I might not get my prize!
It will be very exciting in our house next week as we will be collecting our Eurasier puppy. I say 'our', officially she will be our daughter's. She is called Teddi, I will get my hubby to put a photo of her on the blog (I would do it myself if I knew how). I'm not sure she will be much of a deterrent to burglars at the moment but we have had someone round and our burglar alarm will be fitted very soon. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned. I took our cat for a check up at the local vets on Monday and they had been burgled only the night before!
I have just ordered some more heat packs for my parcels, I cannot believe how much they cost now. Gone are the days when I could buy them for a few pence each, they now add £1.00 to each order that requires one (and most orders do at this time of year). I may have to seriously consider a summer and winter rate for posting out parcels?