The knitted bunnies are – finally – done

The day our women's group was supposed to get together for a bunny lesson turned out to be not a good day for travel, and that meeting was postponed. THANK YOU, WINTER!

My bunnies had not yet been assembled. The squares were knitted, but not the ears, so I took advantage of the recent NCAA basketball tournament games to finish those up and then began stitching and stuffing.

A knitted square looks like a washcloth, so I didn't take any before photos. But here's the after:

I have several other simple toy patterns to work on. All the toys will be distributed by the sheriff to children in domestic abuse cases.

The weather yesterday wasn't as wonderful as the forecast said it was going to be, and it was Monday – my rest day. I opted to work in the front flower bed for a little activity. I thought about walking, but it rained off and on most of the day. Not a heavy rain, but you never know when precipitation is going to change from a sprinkle to a deluge, and I felt better being a few steps from the front door rather than a few miles.

My flower bed looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. The leaves I raked away really did a good job of minimizing early-spring weed growth. It's great to look out and see all the newly sprouting plants – day lilies, baptisia, sedum and more. The lilacs are budding, too, even the one I thought didn't make it over the winter.

I also cut back all the dead asparagus. I didn't see any fresh green stalks popping up, but it's a little early, considering how long winter has hung on this year. Last year the first asparagus showed up mid-March-ish. Can't wait for the first asparagus of the season, which really and truly signals the end of winter. Maybe I'll make another Easter pizza. But of course we'll just call it spring pizza.

The sun is shining, the sky is clear, there's no rain in the forecast and so there will be walking this afternoon, once it warms up a bit.

So that's it. My boring yesterday, all wrapped up, and my boring today, anticipated. What's up with you?

March 23 - What you do for fun

I, um, knit. This looks really messy but it's the beginning of three little bunnies.

Mother Nature is conspiring against me

Well, she IS!

The forecast is for rain and rain and rain, today and tomorrow and maybe even Tuesday. Not only will the rivers rise, wreaking havoc on the garden center … again … but this kind of steady rain rarely offers a window of opportunity to get outside to walk.

Days like this are exactly why I have an elliptical.

I'll have to check today's movies to see what might keep me going for more than an hour. (Speaking of movies, I saw the very entertaining Oz the Great and Powerful yesterday at the theatre and my husband and I watched The Help [again] on television last night. I'm definitely in a movie mood.)

Enough of that. Happy St. Patrick's Day! My family is German, Irish and Welsh, and my husband's is Scottish, so we've got plenty of blarney to go around here. I'm making a traditional Irish feast today, carbs be damned. I've never made Irish soda bread before; I'm using Jenna's recipe for my first attempt. And we're even having dessert.

But, wait! This isn't a food-porn blog, it's a … knitting blog! Heh.

I've been working on a square – that's right, just a square – which will be sewn and stuffed to make a bunny. I can't remember when I began knitting it, but it's been more than a week. FOR A SQUARE! And then last night I finished it off and started and finished a second one, all while watching The Help. Not sure where that knitting mojo came from, but I'm glad it did. My Democratic women's group meets this Thursday, and I'm hoping we complete an armload of bunnies to donate to the sheriff's department, who will then take them on domestic violence calls for any children involved. In order to complete them, however, we need squares.

It's also a reaping (gardening) blog, from spring through fall, and spring arrives this week. My seeds have been ordered and I have a neighbor with a load of sawdust-and-manure ready to spread on the garden, if it ever dries up enough to do that. I still need to buy electric fence tape. The very bold deer have been grazing on the lawn like cattle this winter, and the thin wire I've been using didn't keep them out of the crops last year. The garlic has started coming up and I expect to see horseradish soon.

Even though the first day of spring isn't until Wednesday, today – St. Patrick's Day – has always seemed like the first day to me. So, kiss me, I'm Irish, and go plant a potato!