Knits

I’m back in the UK and have been for almost two weeks. However, I’ve only just got phone service (they lost my order despite calling me about it) and have to wait 48 hours to even order internet access and then of course it’s another 7 days or something ridiculous. I’m at the library and thought I’d just pop in to say hi.

My flat has turned out to be totally crap. It’s in a great location albeit a bit noisy as it actually looks onto a major-ish road (didn’t expect this) and it has absolutely zero storage space. The rooms are a funky shape so it’s hard to put things in. Needless to say, I won’t be staying beyond my 6-month let which is sort of a shame since I hate moving. I guess the upside is that I can take my time a bit more in finding a place to live.

Trigger is fine although her cancer is showing more. She’s settled right in and is enjoying the sunny apartment. The sink is giving her a bit of trouble as it’s all modern and stupid so it’s difficult for her to get in and get her drinks.

I hired a car and drove myself and Trigger up. Having the car let me run a few errands, but I didn’t need it as long as I booked it for and it ended up causing a bit of anxiety for me since my flat has no parking. It’s gone now and I’m awaiting my car club package to come through so that if and when I need a car, I can hire it by the hour and not have to worry about all the trials and tribulations of car ownership.

I start my new job on Wednesday and am looking forward to it although as I’m sure I’ve said before, I’m not looking forward to commuting to work. Blah.

Anyway, I went up the coast a bit, sat on the beach, ate an ice cream, and knit. No knitting to show although I do have a lot of yarn that has come into my possession in the last couple of months. As soon as I get my own connection I’ll bore you with those highlights. Hope you’re all well. I’m as good as can be expected…

It’s almost 1130pm. I leave tomorrow afternoon back to the UK. The time here has both zoomed by and moved in slow motion. All that has happened and all that I have done has not really sunk in.

Today I had my haircut, bought a lot of new clothes and some chocolate, and stopped to see the sea otters in Moss Landing on my way home. There are always dozens of sea otters hanging out in the harbor there, but these otters seem to like to lounge on the beach like the seals and sea lions and I’ve never seen them do that before.

I’ll miss this little piece of California like I always do. I hope my new life in the north of England is good. I may take myself to Edinburgh at the end of May for a weekend since it’s so much closer to me now.

Thanks for sticking with me and I suspect once I’m back on British soil and settled, you’ll see some knitting content again.

We held a small memorial to Kristal in Big Sur. We spent a lot of time in Big Sur as children when we’d come up to visit family here in Monterey and once we relocated here, we went often. We had a picnic and afterwards my mom and I went and scattered some ashes in one of her favourite spots — a bench where she’d go and read. Don’t tell ’cause we aren’t supposed to be scattering them…

I’ve continued to be busy with family stuff and arrangements and now cleaning up Kristal’s room so my mom won’t have to deal with it. I am leaving on Wednesday and have so much stuff to coordinate. I won’t be returning to work until mid-May as I need some time to decompress, get organised, and get over the jet lag. It hasn’t really hit me completely that my sister is gone because I’ve been so busy. I know once I return to the UK and get resettled and back into a routine, it will hit me… hard.

Thanks for all the messages in the last post.

Below are some views from the bench…

The pictures were taken a couple days before scattering the ashes. We wanted to scope out the location since we’d never been there.

I even caught myself a little alligator lizard.

 
Kristal after visiting the glass beach in Fort Bragg in January 2005 and getting caught in a rain storm.

Kristal passed away peacefully with our mom and myself by her side along with her little cat Ushi. She was an amazing person and touched a lot of lives. She will be missed by more people than I know.

She’s left a huge void in many lives, but she was also an inspiration with her strength and courage, wit and wisdom. We know the grief will come in waves, but right now we’re still smiling and laughing and are relieved she’s no longer suffering.

That’s my sister’s beautiful cat Ushi. Ushi has taken to me in a big way. She comes and sits with me at night for a bit and purrs, seeks me out and has taken a few afternoon naps with me. She doesn’t behave this way with my mom. The cats are due for their annual shots so we’re going to start Ushi on the road of preparing to move abroad. If she doesn’t settle or my mom decides taking care of two cats is too much, she’ll come in the autumn and bring Ushi.

Ushi is the cat that never grew up. She’s almost 6.5 years old and all of 6 pounds (maybe). She’s so cute and wee.