I might have mentioned it already (once or twice) but May has been a SUPER-busy month here at Beastie Towers! With multiple commissions on the go, our stint at Woollinn last week, and a bit of extra time spent at our local yarn shop, it’s a miracle I’ve had time for anything else!
But May has also been the month of visitors, and one of the people I’ve been looking forward to meeting the most is long-time Beastie-and-blogging buddy, Tammie Painter! She and her husband first told me of their plans to visit Ireland waaaaay back towards the end of last year, and I have to admit that the excitement of maybe meeting one of my virtual friends in the real world has had me bombarding them with suggestions for must-visit places ever since.
Fortunately, this didn’t deter them.
But hey, what happens when two camera-shy blogesses meet up? Well, you let your Beasties take centre stage, of course!
In the mix here, we have Explorer Beastie and the famous Finn McSpool… Plus a couple of new Beastie faces!
The turquoise-complexioned Beastie lady enjoying a bottle of Hop Monster IPA is Tammie Beastie, while the yellow fellow clutching the cookie is the monster counterpart of Tammie’s own “Mr Husband”. Human Mr Husband got in touch with me well ahead of their travel date, asking if I could create this woolly pair as a surprise birthday gift for Tammie – so of course I jumped at the chance! You’ll be able to meet them (and their extensive collection of Irish travel essentials) in my next post this coming Friday.
So, on with the tour… Although honestly, I was so busy playing guide that I kinda forgot to take pictures. And when I did, they ended up looking waaaaay better on the phone screen than they did once I saw them on my computer. OOOOPS.
Our first port of call was the Book of Kells and the Long Room Library. You’re not allowed to take pictures in the room where the Book of Kells is kept, but it’s so dark in there that I doubt my phone camera would have coped anyway! Fortunately, it’s a different story in the Long Room – and it’s every book lover’s idea of HEAVEN!
Each one of those alcoves on the left and right sides is lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves, and their lovely neat arrangement is down to the fact that they’re arranged by height, rather than alphabetically.
As is the norm at this time of the year, the library was packed with visitors from all over the world… But Explorer Beastie still found a quiet corner to pose with this regal-looking bust!
I was also eager to take Tammie and Mr Husband to the home of the Black Stuff – but as the main Guinness visitor experience is pretty touristy (and also scarily expensive), I thought their experimental Open Gate Brewery might make for a better evening’s entertainment.
Once we’d chosen which of their extensive selection of brews we’d like to try, it was time for a little Beastie magic…
Abracadabra! One humble bottle cap becomes several Beastie-sized glasses of beer. Nice one, Explorer Beastie!
Now, the good news is that Tammie has been much more diligent in documenting her travels than I was. You can catch up with Finn McSpool’s first reportage from the Emerald Isle here!
Oh, and speaking of holiday plans… It’s almost time for a new calendar page! I’m doing something different this time around, and doubling up June and July as one download.
It’s still free, of course! But at this time of year, there’s so much to keep track of… And this way, you can get going with those holiday plans right now! You can download your copy now from the Beastie HQ store, here.
Are any of you thinking of travelling to far-flung places? Be sure to tell us all about it in the comments! And I’ll be back on Friday with some new Beasties to share… See you then!
PS Over the last couple of weeks, the BeastieBlog has apparently been snacking on some of your comments! I’m really sorry about this, and I’ve been fishing them out of the spam folder as promptly as I can. Hopefully this glitch will be sorted out soon, and thanks to all of you who have persevered and left comments anyway! You’re the best!
