Explorer Beastie – Page 7

Out and About With Explorer Beastie - CrawCrafts Beasties

Exploring Georgian Dublin

Posted on March 18, 2016June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie's Dublin

Hello there, Beastiebuddies, and happy Friday!

Today, Explorer Beastie and I want to take you to another part of Dublin you may not have seen before. Come and join us as we wander down the side of Merrion Square, and head towards the Grand Canal!

Around here, you can see some great examples of Georgian townhouses – a style of architecture which still dominates large areas of Dublin’s city centre, both north and south of the river. The first “Georgian-style” buildings date back to the 1720s, when many of Dublin’s narrow mediaeval streets were widened, and a property boom encouraged developers to build new houses on what were then the very edges of the city. It’s strange to think that what I consider to be the heart of Dublin was once almost the countryside!

Unlike modern-day developers, the Georgian builders were given pretty strict guidelines about how their houses should look. So in these areas, you can expect to see big, often brightly-coloured front doors, with a semi-circular “fanlight” window over them…
There are usually steps to raise them up above street level, and they tend to be tall (by Irish standards) with a basement underneath. To pick up extra Georgian status points, add an imposing door knocker…
… Or an elaborate iron boot scraper!
And of course there’s a prize if you spot a house with a famous former resident!

You can also find out more about what life was like inside these houses a little further down the street, at Number Twenty Nine – a faithfully restored Georgian-style house, which is open to visitors all year round. We didn’t go inside this time, but we’ve been before and it’s definitely worth a look!

Further down Mount Street, we stopped for a quick game of hide and seek…

…And then carried on to find one of Dublin’s lesser-known landmarks – St Stephen’s Church, affectionately known to Dubliners as “The Pepper Canister”!
Building work began on the church in 1821, as more people starting moving to this part of the city. It’s a perfect spot to stop for some photos…
… Before heading back home!
I wonder where Explorer Beastie will pop up next? Tune in next week to find out!

Spring Has Sprung in Dublin…

Posted on March 11, 2016June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie's Dublin

…So Explorer Beastie and I could hardly wait to get outside and enjoy some unexpected sun yesterday afternoon! And with St Patrick’s Day coming up next week, where better to hang out than in St Patrick’s Park? The park is right beside St Patrick’s Cathedral, so you really can’t miss it… The Cathedral’s tall spire dominates the skyline for miles around!
And once you get up close, it’s really striking.
The site of the Cathedral was chosen because St Patrick is said to have baptised people into Christianity here, back in 450AD. There has been a church dedicated to him in this area for more than a thousand years – its first documented mention was in 890! Although it has grown and changed a lot since then, most of what you see here today was built between 1220-60. The exterior is covered in interesting little details, for anyone with the time to take a closer look…
…Although only one of us was small enough to be able to sneak in for a full investigation!Once I’d managed to persuade Explorer Beastie to rejoin me on the right side of the fence, he had a great time tearing around the park. There were trees to climb…
… Steps to scale…
…And of course, he had to take a look at the fountain in the centre of the park!
They’ve also been busy filling the flowerbeds with brightly-coloured plants for Spring, as you can see.

“Check these out – they’re the same colours as me!”
All this left him pretty tuckered out, so we sat on one of the benches for a while and watched the world go by…
…Before heading off into the sunset!
If you should find yourself in Dublin, St Patrick’s Cathedral and Park are open year-round (although the park does close earlier in the winter). A visit to the Cathedral will set you back €6 (€5 for OAPs and students)… but access to the park is totally free! Although it’s a popular tourist spot, many locals also use the park as a place to relax, walk their dogs or enjoy a bit of greenery on their way to work.

And once you’re there, you’re well on your way to exploring the lesser-travelled paths of Dublin 8… But we’ll save that for another day!

Do any of you have a favourite local park? Let us know in the comments!

Explorer Beastie Special – Belfast Road Trip!

Posted on March 4, 2016June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie, Knitted Beasties

OK, so normally Explorer Beastie and I would be taking you to one of our favourite Dublin places today… But when a rare opportunity to visit Belfast presented itself, we could hardly say no!

Although I originally hail from this part of the world, I very seldom get to hang out in Belfast any more. Trips “Up Home” seem to skim by in an instant – by the time I’ve shared all my news, heard what my parents have been up to, said hello to the cat and sampled the latest batch of my Dad’s homemade wine, I almost need to pack up and head south again! So when we heard there was a Rembrandt self-portrait on loan to the Ulster Museum, it was a perfect excuse to take the bus from the family homestead and pay a visit to one of my favourite childhood stomping grounds. On the way, Explorer Beastie had a quick look around the historic Lanyon building at Queen’s University…

…Then we grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading into the museum!

It turns out that there are lots of monster-like things living in the Ulster Museum, if you know where to look!

Monster Montage - CrawCrafts Beasties — Clockwise from main image: Totem pole, gold salamander pendant from the wreck of the “Girona”, Bacchus jug spout from the “Girona”, Sri Lankan Kolam mask

And you really need to watch out for those dragons flying around the atrium too…
These incredible sculptures are made from woven willow, and they’re the handiwork of local master basketweaver Bob Johnston. They’re so lifelike that you could almost imagine them swooping down from the ceiling! Fortunately, they seem more interested in each other… for now!

This trip was a great opportunity for me to check in with some old favourites – the exhibits I’ve been coming here to see since I was a small, creepily-obsessed-with-Ancient-Egypt-and-vampires child. Even after a complete refurbishment a few years ago, many of them are still on display! That includes Takabuti, the Eygptian mummy who has been an important part of the museum’s collection since she was first introduced to the public in 1835.
Since long experience has taught me that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for mummies, I’ll just include this photo of a lock of Takabuti’s hair here instead… but you can find out more about her on the Museum’s website if you like!

Next, we went in search of some dinosaurs…
…And some prehistoric creatures that are still with us!
Explorer Beastie was pretty intriuged by this coelacanth – a fish that was thought to be extinct until a live one was captured off the coast of South Africa in 1938. Before this, it had only been seen in fossils – ones that were at least 80 million years old! The Ulster Museum’s own “living fossil” was caught in 1973 off the Comoros Islands, and has been here ever since.

Also high on Explorer Beastie’s must-see list were the finds from the “Girona”, a ship from the Spanish Armada that was wrecked off the coast of County Antrim in 1588. He examined one of the original cannons…
…And discovered the kind of treasure that would make Pirate Beastie’s one remaining knee go weak!
Then we had a go at building a Neolithic stone tomb…
Wait a second… Tomb? Shipwrecks? Mummies? This is all getting very morbid! I think it’s high time we headed off to find that Rembrandt!
Wow. The detail in the face is amazing – you can almost imagine him opening his mouth and launching into his life story. In fact, this is one of the last paintings Rembrandt completed… a final addition to the collection of 80 or so self-portraits he produced in his lifetime.

We could have stayed in the museum all day, but it really was time to head for home. At least we still had a few spare minutes for a leisurely stroll back into town through the Queen’s Quarter…
…And a quick hot chocolate on the way!
Thanks for joining us on our adventure north of the border! We’ll be back in Beastie Towers next week, bringing you monster news on Tuesday and another Dublin day out on Friday. In the meantime, have a super weekend!

Explorer Beastie Holding My Colouring Pencils - CrawCrafts Beasties

An Arty Day Out!

Posted on February 5, 2016June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie's Dublin, Ideas

In Ireland, it’s very tempting to hide yourself indoors at this time of the year… and remain there until dire necessity (buying food, going to work, zombie home invasion) forces you outside. I for one could happily spend February living on instant noodles and baked beans while binge-watching “Murder, She Wrote”, but fortunately Explorer Beastie is a more active fellow, who constantly demands entertainment, fresh air and brain food (surprising for one whose head is literally full of fluff). So yesterday, I put down my knitting needles and took the two of us off to another of our favourite destinations – the RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy) Gallery, a mere stone’s throw from St Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street in Dublin’s south city centre.

This great little gallery deserves more visitors than it seems to get – I suppose a lot of people overlook it, and head to the National Gallery a little further down the road instead. But while the majority of the National Gallery’s exhibitions remain static, the RHA always has something new on its walls. In fact, I’ve never seen the same thing there twice! It’s also small enough that you could see everything in a short visit, and it’s also FREE IN! What’s not to like?

When we were there yesterday, three artists had their work on display. We started out with Maeve McCarthy’s “The Return”, a collection of nightime landscapes in charcoal inspired by a visit to the farmhouse where she and her family spent summers as children.

The artist also collaborated with her brother, a filmmaker, to make a short film showing the decaying rooms of the abandoned house.

2016 is an important year for Ireland – it’s the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, which was one of the most significant events in setting Ireland on its way towards independence from Great Britain. The other two exhibitions we saw drew their inspiration from this – Mick O’Dea’s “The Foggy Dew” included portraits of some of the key figures in the Rising…

…And in a separate gallery upstairs…

… A combined installation of large-scale canvasses and sculptures.

Then our final port of call was “Before, During, After… Almost” – an exhibition of David Farrell’s photographs, which shows how much both Dublin and rural Ireland have changed since the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, in 1966.

And suitably inspired by our artistic wanderings, it seemed like a good time to tackle the first prompt in Tammie Painter’s Sketchbook Saturday. Yeah, I know I’m late. It’s my… um… artistic temperament.

Anyway, the theme was “Round and Around”, which made me think of all the circles and spheres that cropped up in my drawings and craftings when I was a kid.

…And in case you want to read the scribblings…

And of course, Crablet and Explorer Beastie were on hand to help out with the colouring in. Thanks, lads.

AND FINALLY… Eagle-eyed Noémie at FocalHeart spotted one of my knitting notebooks in the background of a photo I posted recently. Here it is up close!

I use these books to record patterns, jot down ideas, count off rows and (as you can probably guess) keep track of the yarns I’ve used. And I had a great time going through past books today, snapping some of my favourite pages to share! So, since this post is already MASSIVE, here’s a taster for today…

… And I’ll have more next week!

Hope you all enjoy the weekend – why not check out Sketchbook Saturday for yourself tomorrow?

Beastie Burgers!

Posted on January 22, 2016June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie, Explorer Beastie's Dublin

Happy Friday, everybody! And Explorer Beastie is back to share another of our favourite Dublin haunts with you all! Today, we’re going in search of Dublin’s best burger… A quest that has been an ongoing preoccupation of mine for the last couple of years.

Now, after countless hours of research, we can reveal that the burger that has most tickled our tastebuds (for at least the last twelve months) is made by… Bunsen!

But why? First of all, I appreciate the simplicity of their menu. Here it is.

So unfussy that it fits on a single side of a standard business card, this menu means that the chef can’t hide burger deficiencies behind fancy toppings or a crazy selection of different styles of bun. It HAS to be good. You will get a say in how your burger is cooked, though (I always go for well-done, but they entertain my friend Mike’s preference for ultra-pink insides as well) and you can take as many or as few of the toppings as you like.

Oh, and I have to get a chocolate milkshake. Sometimes I’ll even consider sharing it…

Hooray! The burgers are here! Unfortunately, excitement got the better of me and I ate half of mine before I remembered that I was supposed to be taking a picture of it.

For much better food photography than a hungry Beastiemaker can manage, I recommend visiting Bunsen’s own website or Facebook page. I’m afraid I couldn’t wait to put my camera away and polish off the second half of the burger! Oh, and I am absolutely one of those people who has to loudly slurp up the very last dregs of my milkshake…

I’m already looking forward to my next visit! And if you want to go yourself, Bunsen have two restaurants in Dublin city centre to choose from – the original one on Wexford Street is my local, and they added a second branch in Essex St East in Temple Bar last year. Both open at high noon (1pm on Sundays) and serve up burger deliciousness until 9.30 pm (Monday-Wednesday and Sunday) or 10.30pm Thursday-Saturday.

By the way, all opinions expressed here are 100% my own – no sneaky sponsorship deals afoot! Although if Bunsen were to offer me free burgers for life, I wouldn’t exactly turn them down! I also want to give Jo’Burger and Bobo’s a special honorary mention – especially since I realise that Bunsen is a little light on vegetarian options!

Explorer Beastie will be back with another Dublin gem in two weeks. In the meantime, don’t forget to enter our Great January Begone Giveaway! Oh, and to anyone who was good enough to click the “Share on Facebook” button at the end of my last post, could you please let me know so I can log your entry? Unfortunately WordPress has no way of telling me who you are! Thanks 🙂

A Sunny Stroll by the Grand Canal

Posted on January 8, 2016June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie's Dublin

New year, new feature… Welcome to the first instalment of Explorer Beastie’s Dublin!

Explorer Beastie had a bit of a quiet year in 2015…

… So we thought that it would be fun for both of us to get out a little more, and show you the hidden corners of our city from a Beastie’s-eye point of view!

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, so we scrapped our original plans for an indoor adventure and made for the canal instead. There are two canals in Dublin’s city centre, the Grand Canal in the south and the Royal Canal in the north, and both canals eventually link up with the River Shannon in the west, via a whole string of towns and villages throughout Ireland’s midlands. The Grand Canal is nearer Beastie Towers though, so that’s where we headed.

The first part of our route was along the side of a busy road (boooo!) but once you pass the top of Clanbrassil Street Upper there’s a pedestrian path along one side of the canal, which makes for a much more peaceful walk… and better photos!

There’s plenty of wildlife to see along the canal banks – we spotted mallard ducks, mute swans, moorhens and a couple of different species of gulls.

Explorer Beastie even tried to make friends with one of the swans…

… With limited success.

Never mind, there’s much more to see…

… And sunny streets to explore!

This canal is still in use, and the working lock gates along the way break the waterway into smaller sections, each with its own distinct character!

This stretch beside The Barge pub is especially popular – it looks quiet now, but you should see it in the summer! On a warm evening, you’d think half the city had turned out to enjoy a pint by the water’s edge!

And further along, this wall usually has some interesting graffiti to look at…

We carried on past the top of Leeson Street, right in the city centre. A perfect chance to sit on an old bench and admire the view…

…Before heading to one of our favourite cafés for a sandwich and a warming cup of tea!

Remind us to take you there sometime…

We’ll be back with another slice of Dublin life in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can find out more about the Grand Canal here – this site lists all kinds of interesting canal-based activities, including walking tours, food markets and dinner cruises. Or if there’s anywhere you think we should visit, let us know in the comments!

The Post-Holidays Post

Posted on November 3, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie, Info

Hello everybody! After a couple of weeks away (which seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye, by the way), we’re back in Beastie Towers and ready for more woolly monster fun! Our “holidays” actually ended up being pretty action-packed, so I’ll have lots to share with you over the next few posts.

First of all, let’s do the shameless plug… My first craft fair of the Christmas season is coming up this weekend! I’ve been busy assembling an elite squad of Beasties to bring along, and there will be some other new characters joining them at my stall as well. So if you should happen to be in Dublin, we’d love to see you… be sure to drop in and say hi!
And of course, the Beasties and I couldn’t let Hallowe’en pass without celebrating a little…

And with spookily apt timing, look who came to join the party…

Hey there, Gizmo! He was happy to strike a pose for the camera, as long as I made him an honorary Beastie for the day.

Later on, Explorer Beastie and I were looking for somewhere interesting to take a few seasonal photos. So Boyfriend suggested we take a trip to Lissonuffy Cemetery – perfect!

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Beasties and I spend all our time hanging out in graveyards, but Lissonuffy is really worth a look.

It’s small, and you could almost say it’s a close-knit community in its own right. You’ll see the same family names cropping up time and again on the headstones, and some of the grave markers are really, really old. I wonder what this one used to say?

It’s also incredibly peaceful out here, since the graveyard is surrounded on all sides by farmland.

There’s also a ruined church in the centre of Lissonuffy, which has some interesting tombs in its walls…

…Some of them perfectly suited to this time of year!

Then there was time for a quick break under the yew tree before we headed home to carve the pumpkin!

Hope you all had a super Hallowe’en! We’ll be back on Friday with news from Pirate Beastie, who set sail from Beastie Towers a couple of weeks ago in search of adventure. See you then!

Explorer Beastie's Jigsaw Angel - CrawCrafts Beasties

Teatime with Explorer Beastie!

Posted on September 25, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie

Poor Explorer Beastie hasn’t got out and about much recently. In fact, he’s been spending an unreasonable amount of time hanging out on my desk, watching me type up the adventures of other Beasties instead! So when I went out last Saturday to somewhere that wasn’t Other Work or the supermarket, it only seemed fair to bring him along.

First stop – the Canal Bank Market! We even met some of the local residents on the way there…

And there was plenty to see at the market itself too!

After a lot of wandering, and only a little bit of shopping, we decided to grab some tea at Wall & Keogh – one of my favourite Dublin tea emporiums! Well, it was just around the corner from the market… Even so, Explorer Beastie decided to hitch a lift in my bag for the journey!

At least I didn’t have to buy him lunch – as usual, he brought his own.

Hey, what’s that?

Oh, cool! Let’s do the jigsaw!

Um, not sure you’ve quite got the right idea here…

Nope. Definitely not.

Ah, now we’re getting somewhere!

…Or not.

Well, at least he’s having a good time!

More tea?

Yes please!

How are your weekend plans shaping up? Have a good one, wherever you are!

Summer in the Countryside

Posted on July 24, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie

It’s been a while since we last caught up with Explorer Beastie… with so many of his Beastie brothers and sisters sending reports of their travels to us, he hasn’t really got a look-in! So a trip out west to my boyfriend’s family farm was a perfect opportunity for him to take a wander, and for me to take some long-overdue photos.

First up – check in with the cows!
Cows in Roscommon - CrawCrafts Beasties Then a quick stop to smell the flowers… Explorer Beastie Stops to Smell the Flowers - CrawCrafts Beasties …And then off up the road!

I think this is the first chance I’ve had to share photos of the farm in high summer, and even I was surprised at how green everything was! Look at this… no filters, no fiddling, just nature doing its thing.

Next, we decided to head up onto the bog. The path was a bit overgrown… but that’s no problem for an adventurous little Beastie!

Even in summertime, the bog is noticeably less lush than the surrounding meadows – definitely easier terrain for those with slightly shorter legs!
Explorer Beastie with the Bog Plants - CrawCrafts Beasties
It’s also the perfect place to stop for a snooze in the sun! Explorer Beastie found himself a comfy place to rest for a minute in a patch of springy heather. I bet he’s glad he packed his sunscreen!

After a refreshing nap, there was more exploring to be done!
Explorer Beastie Makes a Botanical Discovery - CrawCrafts Beasties
But eventually Explorer Beastie decided he’d had enough of my paparazzi-ing, and made a break for it in the long grass!

Don’t worry, he made it home in time for dinner!

More Beastie adventures next week, wishing you all a monster weekend!

And Now For Something Completely Different…

Posted on May 7, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie, Knitted Beasties

In my last post, I introduced Dog Lover Beastie… my biggest, scariest and most challenging Beastie project to date! And although most of my special Beastie requests involve a certain amount of clichéd activities such as thinking outside the box, diversifying my skill set and exploring the potential of my raw materials, sometimes they’re as simple as, “Hey, I like that Beastie… but can I have them in these colours?”
So, Cosy Cuppa Beastie (on the left) was made for a friend at work who fell in love with Winter Warmer Beastie… but unfortunately after he’d moved to Canada.

Still, that meant that I was able to make her a Beastie of her very own, with sunny yellow stripes and a big ol’ cup of tea!

Meanwhile, my second monster request might look more than a little familiar to anyone who’s been following this blog for a while…

Explorer Beastie caught someone’s eye on Facebook, and although no two Beasties are exactly alike, sometimes there might be slight family resemblances! Bobble Hat Beastie was happy to leave Beastie Towers in search of adventure… Looks like these two monsters might share more than just the same colour scheme!

Stay tuned for more new Beasties over the next couple of weeks!

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