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.)

Finished my painting

My first all-acrylic work. I think I could get used to acrylics.

Back from Mazatlan

Brett and I were in Mazatlan for 7 days; it was overall a good time, and we got the chance to visit our friend Ernesto and his girlfriend Suri. We had a lot of relaxing days by the pool, ate a ton of good food, and generally relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. We did have a few less-than-perfect days, but nothing that lasted all that long.

There are some photos from the trip here.