The Guild decided to spend some of our money and our project was to make and fill cosmetic bags for our women’s shelter. I’m not a fan of making bags and I’m certainly not a fan of zippers but it was for a good cause so I decided to participate.

We were working from a very old pattern and at some point it was decided that there needed to be a demo for those people who were having problems. I thought I should get a start on the bag before the demo and I was only at step 2 (the zipper) before I had issues. So off to the demo I went.

I took photos and when I tried again at home everything went reasonably well until it was time for the lining. My bag was about half the size of what it should be. I chatted with a guild member at one of our swims and she suggested I had perhaps sewn the zipper onto the wrong side. Another look at the pattern and my small bag and I realized that was the issue.

So I bought another zipper (two more actually just in case) and started again. Things worked better this time but I had major issues with the lining. It was much too large for the size my bag came to but I wasn’t about to start over so I stuffed it inside and sewed it by hand.

Never again! The pattern wasn’t very clear on directions, both of the ladies handling the demo had different methods and neither of them matched the pattern directions.

Done is done – not pretty and really not very well done but …

Needless to say my idea of making these as Christmas gifts for my granddaughters went out the window!

Author: Boyne, John

I downloaded this book for our recent Saskatchewan trip and completely forgot about it until I got a notice that it was due in a couple of days. I was able to renew it for three weeks but it only took a week to finish it.

As I started reading I thought it was more of a children’s story and I could see reading it aloud to someone about the same age as Noah. I had a bit of an insight into what the story was really about very close to the end when the second character in the story wishes he had never become a real boy. Yes, it is the story of Pinnocchio but long after Geppetto has died.

I’m not so sure it is a good kid’s story but I certainly enjoyed it.

Goodreads Rating: * * * *

Alex’s graduation ceremonies aren’t until June but he was looking to be fashionable for the big day so I contributed to his wardrobe. And doesn’t he look amazing?

Alex already has two scholarships and has been accepted into more than one university. No matter what he decides to do, or where he decides to go, I am very proud of his accomplishments.

Author: Ferrante, Elena

This was a recommend from a group I follow on Facebook. I didn’t realize that it was the first in a series of four.

The story follows two friends, Elena and Lila, from the early 1950’s before they started school until Lila’s marriage at age 16. They grew up in a poor neighbourhood in Naples and seldom left it. While Elena carried on her studies into high school,Lila was forced to end her schooling at Grade 5 because her family could not afford the books. It is an interesting story and there are hints at what is to come in their lives but I won’t bother reading the rest of the series.

Despite the same name as the author, I couldn’t find anything that said the book was a memoir.

Goodreads Rating: * * *