Building A Bunny

Good morning, my friends. We had another beautiful day of weather for most of the day yesterday. Late in the afternoon, it clouded up (as expected), and then rained a little. We were told there was a possibility of snow (Noooooooooooooooooo...!). At 39°F this morning, there's little chance of that. We're in a cooling trend, however, and so it could happen over the weekend.

My thrice-rescheduled and much-needed pedicure was yesterday. The weather was so nice when I arrived home, I needed to spend some time outside before heading into my dungeon sewing room. (Some people might call that a "basement," but on a sunny day, it's qualifies as dungeon-like.) Taking a walk around, not much was different from a few days ago. I noticed more mini iris blooming in a barrel where no one planted them. It has to be squirrels, right?

Some of the daffodils appear days away from blooming. We just need some warmth, and I expect they'll burst open.

I noticed a couple of volunteer tufts of catnip coming up. 

This is allowed to grow where it will, but I might try moving some of it to the Gracie Memorial Catnip Garden when we get a good day for it. Also, I want all danger of snow to pass. This is growing in a place where it's protected.

Also...check this out...it's the most annoying time of the year for boxelder beetles. 

They live in the cedar shake siding of our house through the winter. In spring, they leave in huge swarms. They tried to leave a little earlier this year, and there was a mass die off that ended up on our back deck. Now, they're trying again with the warmer temperatures, and they are congregating on every sunny surface of the house. This grouping is on the eves above the front porch. This is a twice-per-year event. In the fall, they move into the siding. In the spring, they move out. They're annoying, even if they are completely harmless.

Okay, well seeing all those bugs was enough to send me back inside the house. I'd left the bunny with his right ear laid out, and I started by sewing that together.

Sadie was my helper cat for this. She likes bunnies. Also, did someone mention catnip?

When that section was sewn together, I could sew the top one-third of the bunny together.

The next section included the bunny's left side.

The middle section included the nose, teeth, and part of the carrot.

When Smitty saw the pink nose, he thought this might be a quilt of him. But then he saw the carrot. Kitties do not like carrots, so never mind.

When those two sections were sewn together, it looked like this.

Next was the bunny's right side.

When all the sections were sewn together, it looked like this. The bunny is now two-thirds finished.

I was getting kind of tired of sewing by then, and so I laid out the seventh section, covered it with rulers, and left it there for the day. This section will include the bunny's left foot.

I'll pick it up there today. I'm hoping to have the whole of the bunny finished by the end of today. From there, I'll probably set it aside for a bit to build the next Tiny House. The baby I'm making the bunny quilt for hasn't even been born yet, so there's no hurry to finish it off. I do want to get all those pieces sewn together though. One can never be too careful when there are...you know...mice running around rearranging my carefully laid-out pieces.

For dinner last night, I tried a new recipe for this soup called Pasta e Piselle (Pasta and Peas). This was very easy to make...easy enough that I'd make it while we're traveling in the RV. I had a little trouble finding the diced pancetta. I was going to substitute bacon, but then I found some while I was out yesterday.

We enjoyed it with some crusty bread for dunking, and that was a nice dinner on a chilly evening. This is a recipe from America's Test Kitchens. I made one change, substituting parmesan for pecorino-romano cheese. The two cheeses are similar, and I always have parmesan on hand. I doubt anyone would know the difference. So here's my adapted recipe:

Pasta e Piselle

adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Serves 5

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 onion, chopped fine

2 ounces pancetta, chopped fine

½ teaspoon table salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2½ cups chicken broth

2½ cups water

7½ ounces (1½ cups) ditalini

1½ cup frozen petite peas

⅓ cup minced fresh parsley

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

2 tablespoons minced fresh mint

Directions:

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, pancetta, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, 7 to 10 minutes.

Add broth and water and bring to boil over high heat. Stir in pasta and cook, stirring frequently, until liquid returns to boil. Reduce heat to maintain simmer; cover; and cook until pasta is al dente, 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in peas and remove saucepan from heat. Stir in parsley, Parmesan, and mint. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, drizzling with extra oil and passing extra Parmesan separately.

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Okay, so after being gone from home two days in a row, I'm happy to not be going anywhere today. It's time for breakfast. It's my day on The Rack, and I have one housekeeping chore to do. (I'm not sure which is worse.) After that I'll get back to my sewing. It's looking like we have a wet and chilly day ahead, and so it'll be a good day to stay home and sew.