Did you read my post, "The Ballad of Daisy and Goofy"?

Well, a couple of days ago, I saw Goofy's picture in a Japan Times article about animal adoption events!

You can see the article here. He's wearing the doggie sweater I crocheted for him in the 4th picture from the top. Awwww. I miss Daisy and Goofy, but I hope they're happily snuggled up with their new families!

Earlier this month I went to the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival. It was amazing!

I had a chance to walk around and look at the quilts with my friend Molly. Seeing the gorgeous works of art made both of us want to quilt!

Enjoy!




Molly and I at the end of the day. We both liked this whimsical quilt.






















This was one of the most gorgeous quilts I saw.

Last year I became totally obsessed with tawashi, or Japanese magic scrubbers.
I've made several for my mom, but she can't seem to bring herself to use them, because they're too cute! I've heard that same sentiment from others as well. And I've been asked if I really use mine to clean. My emphatic answer is: YES!
Tawashi work so great for scrubbing dried food off of dishes and pans. They clean counters and sinks like a dream. And best of all, they're cute and fun to use!
Below are some of the tawashi I regularly use in my kitchen. I keep my bathroom tawashi in a separate place.


These are all made by me, of course!

If you are a member of the crochet and knitting website Ravelry, check out the Tawashi Town group for more info.
You can also check out tawashi yarn and pattern books in my etsy store.

The Ballad of Daisy and Goofy

One day back in November, I passed by an animal rescue group that was fundraising outside Shinjuku station in Tokyo. I picked up one of their flyers and gave them a donation. Then in December, I started looking up information about animal rescue in Japan and...
I found out that Stan and I could foster an animal who is looking for their forever home!

I contacted ARK, an animal rescue/welfare organization about fostering a dog or cat over the holidays. And we were blessed to have a sweet miniature dachshund named Daisy come into out home! I didn't have any experience with small dogs, and Stan was new to pets all together.





Taking care of Daisy was a lot of fun and a lot of work. A few days into taking care of Daisy, we were asked to also foster her former breeding partner, Goofy (both were fixed after being rescued). We decided to take the plunge, and suddenly we had two snuggly, ridiculously sweet dachshunds running all over our apartment!

We had read up on dachshunds before Daisy's arrival, so we knew that they liked to burrow, and maybe even hide under covers. But we really weren't prepared for how hilarious a dachshund is in your bed! The first night Daisy was with us, she burrowed under the covers and then ran laps around the bed- while still under the covers! She spent the night spooning us and finding the warmest, softest spots on the bed. Once Goofy arrived, it was all-out snuggling mayhem come bedtime. Stan and I could no longer spoon each other, because the dogs were in charge!





A couple days after Goofy arrived, Daisy was adopted! I was an emotional wreck. Seriously. I was so sad! But I knew that things had happened as they should. Daisy had found a family to love and take care of her for the rest of her life! Goofy kept us busy, and I snuggled him even more. After about a week, we were able to see a picture of Daisy and her new family. It made me feel so happy to see her with them, and to know that she'd be loved.




After Daisy left, we continued enjoying our time with Goofy. I discovered all sorts of interesting things about my neighborhood while walking Goofy, like a "birds' forest" park, temples, shrines, and some interesting stairways and steep, windy roads.

Both Daisy and Goofy had severe separation anxiety, probably stemming from the traumatic years they spent with a breeder who taped their mouths shut. So, it worked out well that we fostered them at a time when we were able to spend most days at home with them. The couple of times we had to leave one of them alone, they panicked and barked for hours.

After three weeks, Goofy was scheduled to go to an adopotion event and...
He got adopted! I looooved Goofy, but it was a little easier to let go the second time. The important thing is knowing that a family had committed to love and care for little Goofy.



Our house has felt quite quiet without the little, fuzzy snugglers around. But with Stan and I both starting new jobs, the timing of Goofy's adoption was great. We are planning to foster a cat or two. So, there'll be more animal adoration pics coming in the future!