A Healthy Autumn Bento and a Fashionable Lion

I guess I've been on a short, but unwilling hiatus from bento-ing, thanks in large part due to recent unusual work hours.  Necessary use of popular common use equipment forced me to arrive at work by 5 am each morning, which goes against everything my body believes in.  However, despite some uncomfortable effects on my circadian rhythms, I got through it relatively unscathed and was rewarded with some of the most beautiful data I've produced yet. 

Not everything has come to a complete halt as far as my crafting goes, however; I did manage a few nice things including my most recent bento:

(The tree is made of string cheese, salad mix, and carrots, and the mushrooms are made of broiled tofu! It actually didn't take long to prepare!)

and this "oshare na' (fashionable) lion.

This cutie was produced from this book: "Ehon no Kuni no Neigurumi," which I purchased from JapanLovelyCrafts' Etsy Shop.  This, as far as I can tell, is translated as "Stuffed toys from picture book land"  The book is actually full of instructions to make things from (assumedly popular) children's books.

This lion is from "Hadaka no Oosama," (the naked king) which is what I believe to be the Japanese version of "The Emperor's New Clothes." Stated in the instructions is the phrase:  Next to the king, there is always an "oshare na" lion.  So though he doesn't make an appearance in the American stories, one look at his stripey coat and I think his value is obvious :)