I got the yarn back the next morning. I’d left it in the shop like an idiot. As you can see, I’m not letting go of it again. It’s a Brigantia Luxury Yarn in double knit, not aran and it’s lovely.
So I’m settling into my new life in Lancaster pretty well. I have my course, which I love, a job (which I’ll come back to in a minute) and a knitting group. Yes, I lost my knitting group virginity (well, you can’t really count that beautiful but fleeting one-day-stand in Paris on WWKIP day). I found the group on Ravelry, and they meet here…
… an indian restaurant, which has a gorgeous cafe in the cellar (or should that be crypt?) that serves tasty pots of tea and ridiculously indulgent hot chocolates. There were a couple of members of University staff there - one visiting from Spain - and a woman from Hawaii. I’m so relieved I’m meeting people other than Freshers. Not that I haven’t been meeting some awesome students but I’m used to having friends who have a wide range of ages.
So - to the job. I’d just arrived in the Lancaster area and I was filling up my water tank at the marina. A guy stopped to chat to me for five minutes. Told me he was an animal behaviourist and had lectured at another university and stuff. A couple of days later I bumped into him on the towpath.
“I was just coming to look for you,” he said. “You said you were a student - I’ve got some work for you if you’re interested.”
“Go on…”
“I go around schools with something called the Creepy Crawly Roadshow…”
“Wait, I have a terrible phobia of butterflies and moths.”
“That’s ok. I just need a snake handler.”
“I’m your girl.”
And so, I shall be topping up my student grant by being a snake handler. I am going to be a snake handler. My job is snake handling. No, it never gets boring saying that.
It did make me briefly question the point of going to university for four years when someone can just walk up to you and offer you an interesting job just after a five minute conversation. But I love my lectures. It’s like live, interactive documentaries on your favourite subjects, and I only have 9 hours of ‘contact time’ a week. And I’ve signed up to the Labour Party Club and the Snowboard Society now to keep me out of trouble. Tout va bien.
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Snake handler? The mind boggles. Glad to read all is going well for you.
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Well, snake handler? What sort of an impression did you make that he actually came looking for you to offer you a job like that? Cool, though I couldn’t do it myself, eek!
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Oh, glad you got the yarn back BTW. Looks yummy.
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You are my hero! If I could design my ideal life, it would have a lot to do with Indian restaurants, coffee shops, universities, and wildlife.
Oh, and living on boats. Actually, that was more my dad’s dream than mine, but someone has to carry the flag.
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Sorry, what was it that you said you do again? LOL
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