Art from Japan

A few years ago, I discovered the Flickr stream of Kaori, a lady in Japan, who makes little clay figures of cute animals. On a whim, I asked if she ever did custom-made figures, and she said that she would be glad to. I sent her some pictures of our two cats and before long she sent me four adorable little hand-painted clay likenesses, two of each cat, that really captured their personality.

This year, I contacted her again, and asked if she might still be working in clay, and would she be able to do a matching figure of our dog. She replied that she'd be glad to, so I sent photos, and got these amazing little Minas in the mail just a few weeks later, beautifully packaged and carefully wrapped.

They even have separate little collar tags with Mina's name, and the year. They're the sweetest little things, and her price is just stunningly low (and as far as I can tell, she doesn't charge for shipping).

Looks just like her! 

I asked Kaori if she would mind if I told my friends about her work and she said that would be fine. I think these would make remarkable gifts for anyone with pets. She takes incredible, artful care with the wrapping and packaging, and is friendly and easy to communicate with.

You can see many more of her little figures here on Flickr, and can contact her through Flickr or at this email address.

In which I try yet another new medium.

Now what? you ask. Now: I have a Tumblr blog. Just because it's so lovely and image-oriented and I can post from my phone, and link it with my Twitter and my Facebook.

You're laughing now, aren't you?

Aren't you?

(Just go there and check it out.)

Not quite spring...

...but getting closer. Brett mowed the lawn today; first time this year, I think. Everything smells fresh; the mowed grass, the moist dirt. Because it was so mild, we didn't lose nearly as many plants as last year – none at all, actually, except the usual annuals and a few casualties caused by Mina's occasional digging. We had a long game of fetch in the back yard before the sun went down.

For Annie

For Annie
Originally uploaded by sonyaseattle

I love beetles. There are more species of beetle than any other insect. They live in almost every climate, and all told, make up about a quarter of known kinds of life on this planet.

Grasshopper

Grasshopper
Originally uploaded by sonyaseattle

For a postcard exchange - I started to do a painting each day, but ran out of time pretty quickly!

Rodent of Unusual Size

Caplin Rous is a capybara; he's huge and strange and interesting. I've become rather fascinated with his species.

Seattle-area food and beverage tweeters!

Hey there! For no particular reason, I've decided to make a list of the restaurants, beverage outlets, and other food-related Twitter accounts in the greater Seattle area. Why? Well, I love the way most of them use Twitter. They advertise happy hours, specials, sometimes promote themselves with coupons and other discounts; I just love food, and this is a fun way to get more out of Twitter. So here's that list. If you know others, please comment and I'll add them!


Salty's - Delish seafood
Tidbit Bistro - "where Madrid meets Napoli on Seattle's Capitol Hill"
Fado - Irish food and drink
Mobatta Crepes - Mmmm, crepes
Ivar's - You know who they are! A Seattle classic
Theo Chocolate - No lie: best chocolate in the world
Hale's Ales - awesome local brewery
Redhook - another great brewery
Normski Brewer - a guy who knows his beer
Cafe Rozella - White Center cafe with Twitter personality galore
Cupcake Royale - Tasty cakelettes
Monsoon East - Bellevue restaurant
Skillet - mobile food and damn good
Marination Mobile - a new mobile food truck with great promise
Takotruk - Eastlake street food
Wines of WA - speaks for itself. We have some great wines!
NW Wine Show - More local wines
Bricks of Wine - local wine blogger
Schultzy's - love their fries and great beer selection
Seattle Food Tours - food tours of Seattle? Yes, please!
Food Writer - local food blogger
The Food Life - local food blogger
Frantic Foodie - another local food blogger
Sweets Blog - Local sweets-specific blogger
Accidental Kate - "Food and travel diva"
Johnny Spuds - just opened in Montlake Terrace
Delancey Seattle - "A soon to open Wood-Fired Pizza Restaurant"
TOP Foods - Well, a grocery store, but they sell food!
PNW Cheese - Cheese. Is there a better food?
Blue Moon Burgers - Burger joint in Fremont and South Lake Union
Herb Guy - Proprietor of the famous Herbfarm restaurant
Maria Hines - Award-winning Chef at Tilth
Zeek's Pizza - You'll have seen them around town!
Elliott Bay Beer - Local brewmasters
Fresh Bistro - West Seattle restaurant
Skylark Cafe - Food, bevs and music in W. Seattle
Blue C Sushi - Local sushi chain
Hsiao Ching - Food blogger
Circle Alehouse - Grill and alehouse in W. Seattle
Tillamook Cheese - Oregon cheesery
Trader Joe's - The store with it all
Brouwer's Cafe - Best beer selection in town
97 Bottles - Beer, beer, beer!
Foodista - Local cooking encyclopedia site
Hotwire Coffee - One of our local coffeehouses
Boomnoodle - Noodle-y Japanese cuisine
KuKuRuZa Popcorn - Gourmet popcorn
Feelin Feasty - Restaurant & Bar news in Seattle
Isernio's Sausage - Northwest sausage maker

Edited to add more (and big thanks to Convergence Zone and others for the help!).

That's what I know! Got more? Let me know! And me: I'm @sonya on Twitter. (P.S. That's me with Skillet food in the pic. YUM.)