Hello there Beastie friends! Please excuse us for being a little late this week… more on that later in the post. First of all, I believe we have a travelling lady Beastie to catch up with!
If you’re not entirely sure who this is, you can find out in last week’s post! We’ll wait for you here.
Ready? Good, because Paddy and Plunkett are about to reveal the secret of their globetrotting success!
“The best way to get anywhere is to hitch a lift in human luggage. Right, Paddy?”
“Right! And it’s your lucky day, because this bag here…”
“… Belongs to a guy who’s travelling to Washington DC tomorrow!”
What perfect timing! But our guest has some reservations.
“Sounds great – but how do I get in?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll help. One, two, three… UP!”
“Not quite there…”
“Plunkett! A little help, please?”
“Sorry! Is that any better?”
Let’s hope this is worth it… Oh, look! She seems to have found a safe foothold!
And after a slightly inelegant scramble…
“Eeek! My rolling pin has got stuck!”
“Why does she have a rolling pin, Paddy?”
“Well, Plunkett, you never know when you might need to make a pie on the go. I might start carrying one myself… Should we help her out?”
“No need, boys! Success! USA, here I come!”
“Bon voyage! Now, Paddy, I think you said something about dessert?”
Well, look at that! I think the lads might have found their true calling in life… As travel agents!
And now, some news – yes, it’s that time of year again when things start to get CRAZY. I’m seeing glittery Santa Clauses in shop windows, and here in Dublin we seemed to have jumped very abruptly into winter! So I’ll be putting the BeastieBlog on hold for a couple of weeks while I frantically make market stock, get some custom Beasties together and, for the first time, organise my own market!
In the meantime, I’ll still be dropping in to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, so please come on over and hang out with me and the Beasties there!
See you again soon, with tales of Beastie travels far and wide, plus some new monster friends to meet!
Paddy and Plunkett were just getting ready to tuck into a human-sized portion of their very favourite meal – honey mustard chicken.
“Hang on… When were you in Albania? Did you go without me?!”
“Sure thing… Shame to let it get cold, though. I’ll just have a bit. YUM!”
Meanwhile, at the door…
“And she’d like our guidan… WHERE’S MY LUNCH?!”
“Oh, you must be the intrepid Paddy Beastie! I’ve read all about you – what a pleasure to meet you at last!”
… Which is apparently hovering above us somewhere!
But how is he holding onto that thing?
Now he can grab all sorts of cool stuff.
A Beastie has to stay fit, after all! And since this little guy’s human counterpart works in a gym, he’ll fit right in there too. Especially in his cool shorts and muscle vest outfit…
Wait a sec, who’s that I hear?
It’s our Beastie’s trusty pup – a Beastie-sized Pekingese! (Or should that be Beastie-ngese?)
SUNGLASSES!
… Because this modelling malarkey is tougher than it looks!
“Oh yeah! Look at that!”
Then…
Alright, time to get back to the studio! We’re heading to the 
…But there’s still plenty left for curious Beasties to explore! Let’s join them as they’re taking a breather in the peaceful environs of the arboretum. What great, deep conversations are they having on that elegant stone bench, I wonder?
“Reminds me a bit of the scenes on Endor from Return of the Jedi, this place.”
Or how about a round of hide and seek? There must be millions of good hiding places in here!
“Found you, Paddy! Now it’s my turn to hide.”
“…I’ll be able to see everything!”
It originally graced the entrance of Bamberg Cathedral in Germany, and is 240 years old! It also recently had a facelift, and even the attendant eagles on the pillars got a shiny new coat of gold paint.
“Come on, Plunkett! Nearly there!”
“This had better be worth it… Oh, look at those statues!”
“And what’s that up on the hill?”
And, at journey’s end, they find themselves in a very peculiar place.
It’s the old family pet cemetery! Much less scary than the one in the Stephen King story, this one has memorials to faithful hounds and, if you look at the older headstone on the right, less conventional “pets” like cows get a look-in too.
“Greetings from Powerscourt House, everyone!”
Powerscourt House is in County Wicklow, and it’s only about half an hour south of Dublin. You wouldn’t think it, would you? The house is set in spectacular and varied gardens, and has made Lonely Planet’s list of the 
So, while Plunkett has been enjoying the spectacle of the house, Triton Lake and the Italian Gardens, all set against the backdrop of the Sugar Loaf Mountain, where has Paddy gone? I thought he’d at least be trying to persuade one of those winged horses to take off and give him an aerial view of the grounds… Oh wait, there he is.
… And wait by the stone lantern for Plunkett to catch up!
The Japanese Garden was created in 1908 by the 8th Viscount and Viscountess Powerscourt, making it one of the newer features of the grounds. But funnily enough, the boys stumbled on one of the oldest parts just around the corner – the grotto!
“Paddy, look at all this wonderful moss!”
“Paddy! It’s a Beastie-sized waterfall! I could stay and watch it all day…”
Admittedly, she doesn’t look very detective-y just yet. Let’s get ready for work!
Aha! That’s better. This might also be a good time to admire her lustrous red locks and sweet star print tunic!
I always knew this Beastie would be going to live in Texas, so this sweet fabric was the perfect nod to her new home in the Lone Star State.
A nice frothy felty cappucino is the best way to start the day. Yum!
Rockin’ it! Time to grab your bag and go!
Oh cool, Beastie-sized crochet! Just in case she has any downtime.
Every detective needs her badge! This Beastie-sized version is made of felt, with teeny embroidered details and a magnet inside to hold it in place.
“Hey, what’s that weird-looking building in among the rocks?”
Sold! As we know, 
Let’s go inside!
Aha! Nice one, Plunkett… You’ve found the fish pond!
What did he want a pool for? Well, in the dark days before the fridge-freezer, a “fish larder” like this one meant that the family could keep sea fish handy and fresh all year round!
“Smugglers! It has to be smugglers!”
In here, fish are raised from teeny fry to adult size… Then they can move to the main pool.
Wow, they’re friendly! They must love the camera… Or could it be that they know when John the guide is coming around with his bucket of fish food?
Is it the perfect Beastie-sized house? Not quite.
Luckily, the days of segregated sea bathing here are long gone, and Paddy can enjoy a view of the shallow pool without outraging anyone’s delicate sensibilities. He almost looks like he’d like to go for a dip himself!
Look! There’s even a fireplace inside, so getting dried off afterwards wouldn’t be a problem!
Plunkett likes it too, despite his initial reservations.
“Maybe we should stay here for the winter. I reckon they’d like a pair of resident Beasties!”
It seems the locals are pleasant, too. We all know about how well 
Then, on the horizon… Look, a lighthouse!
“Look, Paddy! It’s open!”
But alas, Paddy will have to stick to admiring the lighthouse from ground level. The Beasties’ small stature has 
Paddy is planning to take it a step further. He’s pretty sure everyone wants to hear his rendition of “Ode to Joy” blasted out over the sea at 120 decibels.
How could any adventurous Beastie resist a signpost like this one? So many possibilities!
I found Knitter Beastie hanging out among the plants in my studio, on the day I was going to meet one of my long-term knitting students for a goodbye coffee. This student had been a regular at the classes for a while, and we’d worked through some awesome and ambitious projects together. But alas, her time in Dublin was coming to an end, and she was moving home to Germany to continue her studies.
“Reeeeeally? I’ve always wanted to see Germany… And I could probably use a bit of help with this project, too.”
And with that, it was decided. Knitter Beastie hopped into my bag, and pretty much insisted on leaving the country with my student. I hope they’re getting on well… And that Knitter Beastie hasn’t been raiding all the local yarn shops in the hope of whipping up a few woolly monster friends!