Well Travelled Dead Kitty

Via was a calico I had for nearly 10 years. She became quite ill, and was put down in April of 2007. She was cremated in Yellowknife, and is the most well-travelled kitty I know, dead or alive. She was born in Newfoundland in 1997 and when she was just 5 days old, I moved to Ontario, and so she travelled with my daughter and I, and her mother, an older Calico named Pretty. Part of that journey was 2 days on Via Rail...hence her name. Her eyes didn't open until a couple of days after we arrived in Ontario. We lost her mother in Ontario, a year later.

After several years in Ontario where I was attending university, Via, my daughter and I moved back east, to Cape Breton. Some years later, Via and I moved to the Yukon, then moved to Fort Resolution in the NWT. It was there that she became ill. The crematory was not in commission for months, however, so they 'stored' her remains on-site until June when it was back up and running. They called to tell me her ashes were ready on the day I was leaving Yellowknife for the east coast. I told them to mail them to my parent’s place by xpresspost. I thought I would throw some of the ashes out there into the ocean. Via was born in Grand Bruit, in 1997. Unfortunately, the ashes came after I had been and gone, so I missed them. I was just expecting a pouch of ashes. It was just a kitty, after all. However Via's ashes had been sealed in a small wooden box, meant for display. I had my mother mail her back up to me in the north. Then I moved last year, and Via's remains travelled with me instead of travelling with Canada Post. I wouldn't want to travel with them either. I see what shape my parcels are in when they arrive.

So Via's remains travelled with me from the north in my, along with Stormy (who was not in a little wooden box) to southern British Columbia. I left Stormy there, but continued to Victoria, then south into the states as far as Tijuana border crossing. Via's remains were tucked into a Rubbermaid container in the back seat. We went through Arizona, Nevada, California, Washington, and Oregon. Then I headed east across the provinces of Canada, with Via's remains in the back seat. Now she is sitting in the bookshelves, just above the travel books.

She was certainly well travelled.

Weekends Rock

As much as I do not enjoy getting up early to go to work during the week, I truly enjoy getting up early on the weekend, watching the sunrise, listening to the birds. Stormy is in the window as well, watching the birds. He is also watching me, moving to and fro, unpacking boxes, mopping the floor, moving shit from one place to another. He's seen it all before. The birds are more entertaining than I am.

I've nearly unpacked all I care to at this point. Without a bookcase, desk, or dresser, I don't want to unpack the rest, only to pile the contents on the floor. I've several things on the walls now, which makes all the difference. These are photos of my place and certain elements I like the look of. I'm home. Life is good.

Eastern Progress

Well, I’ve been working for nearly 2 weeks now, have moved into my own apartment and begun the process of settling in. I’ve come to a few conclusions as well:

- folks in the HRM know how to take care of the snow…we can get a snowfall and within a few hours, the plows are out cleaning it up, the sidewalks are cleared, my steps are shoveled, etc. We had a fair amount of snow last night, and freezing rain on top of that, and yet this morning, the city is mostly cleaned up. What a refreshing change from living in the north, where cleanup happens WEEKS after any snowfall.
- I gave away my old microwave when I left the north (it was bought in 1991…) and now I don’t think I will be buying a new one. I don’t have the room to park a microwave in my new kitchen, and I think I would prefer just to go back to doing things the “old fashioned” way, such as warming cream cheese in a double boiler, and reheating things in the toaster oven. I did give away my old toaster oven (also bought in 1991) and bought a new one. I don’t much like the print on it, but it is another Black & Decker like my first one that never let me down.
- I have all my curtains up in the apartment except for the spare room aka the unpacking room. They look lovely, but I can still see into my bathroom, so need additional coverage there. The window is right next to the toilet, so anyone on the porcelain beauty will be in full silhouette at night. I cannot reach any of the curtain rods on my own, and have nothing I would like to stand on to get to them, so have been borrowing my mother’s step stool to get things done.
- I am SUPER glad I do not have to use my car to commute to work. I can walk to the ferry terminal in about 8-10 minutes from my house OR if I am super lazy or the weather is rotten, there is a bus stop across the street that takes me right to the ferry terminal. I took the bus last night as it was freezing rain and a complete mess out. My car is safe and sound in the parking lot.
- I have finally mounted my teepee lamp that was a gift when I left Ft Res. It sat around in my last apartment, not knowing its place. Now I found the perfect spot, right above my new pub table, where it looks quite smart.
- Air mattresses are noisy to sleep on…all that rubber/plastic. So I am sleeping on the sofa a neighbor of my parent’s gave me. Surprisingly it is quite comfortable to sleep on. In a few weeks, I hope to purchase a real bed, and pick up my bed frame from the furniture store, along with my other belongings.
- I didn’t pack my glass as well as I had hoped and came across a box with at least 5-6 things busted up in it. No huge losses, but some things I wish had made it, just blue glass glasses, an ugly pottery mug I attempted, a mug Amber made as a child, etc.
- my sand from the Carcross Desert in the Yukon leaked out of its bottle into a box making quite a MESS. There is still a bunch left in the bottle, but what a friggin mess the little bit that leaked out made.
- my neighbors are fairly quiet. Some loud talking and slamming of outside doors, but for the most part, quiet at night, which is the important thing. Stormy still jumps up when he hears the front door close, but no longer goes running. I think he has figured out it is our neighbors who are using the front door (we have a shared front door, with our own individual doors from the porch into our apartments).
- I need a mailbox outside my house. Currently the mail for my house comes into the porch downstairs through a slot, for both tenants. The downstairs tenants leave the door open all the time, and walk over the mail that isn’t theirs, so I would rather have it contained in a mailbox. I shall speak to the property manager today to find out if the owner will allow me to put one up. Or perhaps I shall just do it…sometimes it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission….

Photos of the new pad will be forthcoming…things are still bare bones yet, but I reckon by the weekend I will have things mostly ship shape, as much as they can be with the few bits of furniture I do have. Stay tuned!