trying...

I'm trying to get back into a routine, but it's not easy, what with the hubby taking off random Fridays and the constant changes in personnel at work that result in changes in my schedule...

This week I DID get into my sewing room some and worked on cat carrier covers!  I finished the check fabric ones I showed last week...

(Sorry, all you get is the stack photo again!)

And I pressed and cut and started another batch of eight.  (The piece also had enough for eight.)

The design is actually on the diagonal, but with my kinda cockeyed photo here, it's hard to really tell.  That yellow is the facing for the handle hole - sewn down, but not yet turned inside and top-stitched in place.

I had intentions of getting more than this done on Friday, my second of three days in a row off, but the hubby took the day off and we ended up at the apple orchard.  It's okay, though, because that trip resulted in...

Applesauce!

The first batch (half a peck) I did without cinnamon.  The second batch (another half peck), the hubby wanted cinnamon added.  I ended up with eight pints, which is a nice measure for future reference.

The problem?  My canner holds seven jars.  So the last "pint" is actually in a container in the fridge and we'll eat it in the next few days.  The rest of these will go in the pantry for later.  They'll be so yummy on a cold day and way faster than starting from scratch (like I did on Tuesday)...

I finished just one book, but I'm nearly through a second.  What did I finish?

This one was recommended by a gal on Instagram who does a lot of reviews on more literary-type books, but I trusted her.  Hmmm...

It's a version of the Iliad (which I swear I read at least part of in high school, but do not remember it at all, even after asking the google for a synopsis), but told (mostly) through the eyes of the women.

Briseis, in particular, a former princess (?) who, when her city fell, was given to Achilles as a prize.

But a chunk of the story seems to also be told through the eyes of Achilles.

And for anyone who liked it and thought it was fabulous, I'm sorry, but I did not enjoy it.  I didn't feel like there was much depth to the women characters (perhaps the author was leaving that to the expectation that we'd read and dissected and remembered the Iliad?) and the flipping between viewpoints was sometimes difficult.

I wanted to like it.  Some of the storytelling was good.  But in general, I don't feel like I learned much more than women were treated as objects, often worse than dogs.  Their work went unseen but all the while expected.  And most of the men were basically feral.

It was a long time ago.  Maybe that was normal.  (The treatment of less-than-royal women, yes, probably.)  But it was just not...not what I wanted, I guess.  I think I was hoping for more of what the women actually did, day-to-day, with the war efforts as a side story.  Mostly I got Achilles being an ass.

The next book is quite good.  Another random pick from the used sales, but I do get lucky with those at times!  I have about 100 pages left, so I'm sure it will be finished by next week.

And with that, I must be off.  I logged on to quickly pay bills before work, but it seems my bank has chosen RIGHT NOW to do maintenance updates, which means I can't do THAT.  So instead of blogging after work, you get it now!  (And I'll pay bills tonight instead.  In case any of you were actually worried!)

Happy quilting and sewing and canning and reading!

Katie