Countryside – Page 6

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!

Beasties Head West…

Posted on April 2, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Beastie Family, Knitted Beasties

… Really far west! A couple of weeks ago, I received an update about how Reader Beastie is settling into his new ranch home in Canada… with photos! I really enjoyed looking through them, especially since we hardly got any snow here in Ireland this winter, so I thought I’d share them on the BeastieBlog!

It certainly looks like Reader Beastie is earning his keep with his new family, anyway… no staying in with a good book for him! Here he is setting out on the bale wagon to help deliver hay to some hungry livestock, for starters.

Of course, he takes his job seriously. So he supervised the feeding very closely…
… And watched his buddy Jiggs round up any stragglers!
Then there was just enough time to have a chat with the horses…

… Before shaking off all that snow and heading into the barn to share the day’s news with another new friend!

Thanks to Nicole for sending these super pictures! And if any other Beasties want to check in and share their adventures, I’d love to hear from them… you can email photos to me at crawcraftsbeasties@gmail.com, or post directly to the Beasties’ Facebook page!

Cheers for reading… more monster adventures coming soon! Who knows where they’ll end up next?

Meet Paddy & Plunkett!

Posted on March 24, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Knitted Beasties

Regular visitors to the Beasties’ Facebook page will recognise these handsome characters from my St Patrick’s Day post! For everyone else, allow me to introduce Paddy…

…and Plunkett!

Normally I let a Beastie’s adoptive parents choose their names, but my mum was quite taken with this pair when I brought them with me on a recent visit home. I left them sitting on the kitchen table while I went upstairs to fetch something, and by the time I came back down again, they had already been christened Paddy and Plunkett. And the names stuck, because they suit them perfectly. They’re also about as Irish as you can get, which is a good thing… because Paddy and Plunkett are about as Irish as Beasties get! They’re “Barróg Beasties” – a local subspecies of Beastie, grown from 100% Irish wool. They’re just as fond of humans as my other Beasties… in fact, “barróg” is the Irish word for “hug”, so you can be sure of a warm welcome if you come across one in their natural habitat!

Speaking of natural habitats, who better than these two to show you around some of the little-known corners of County Fermanagh?

Our tour begins in Tully Castle, an old fortified house whose Irish name means “castle on the hill”.

It was abandoned after an unpleasant incident during the Irish Rebellion of 1641 – you can read the full story here – and is now a State Care Historic Monument with a rather impressive knot garden.

Next stop is Correl Nature Reserve, the perfect place for a pair of Beasties to relax in some nice soft moss!
One of the biggest draws in Co. Fermanagh is the lakes. Upper and Lower Lough Erne link into the Shannon-Erne Waterway, which is part of a canal system that starts in the estuary of the River Shannon in south-west Ireland, runs through Co. Leitrim and Co. Cavan, before crossing the border into Northern Ireland. This makes the area incredibly popular for boating holidays… and Paddy and Plunkett couldn’t wait to join in the fun!

Back on dry land, there was just enough time for one last stop before they headed for home – Fardross Forest, a short hop away in Co. Tyrone! Paddy went on ahead to open the gate…

… Before tackling the stepping stones across the river!

Meanwhile, Plunkett took a stroll around the forest. He’s a more laid-back, long-walks-in-the-countryside kind of guy. Here he is posing with some pine cones he collected during his wanderings.

Ah, Paddy’s back!

Looks like he managed to cross the river without falling in! And now it’s time for these two to start the journey home – hopefully there will be a nice mug of tea and a big dinner waiting for them when they get back!

Explorer Beastie in Autumn

Posted on November 1, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie

A couple of weeks ago, Explorer Beastie and I had a chance to head out West and enjoy a little quiet time. Autumn is far and away my favourite season, and I’d argue that the Irish countryside looks its best at this time of year. We definitely got more than our fair share of “mists and mellow fruitfulness”, as you will see! Our first discovery was a toadstool among the fallen leaves in the garden…

Then we headed out into the fields to see what natural goodies we could harvest!

I was particularly keeping an eye out for sloes on this expedition, but I needn’t have worried. The blackthorn trees were weighed down with these super-bitter berries, which, like a lot of us, become a lot mellower and nicer to be around with the addition of a little gin. My sloe gin stocks have been sorely depleted after two consecutive bad years, so I was pleased (or relieved) to see such a bumper crop! Picking the sloes is usually an arduous task, involving multiple scrapes and jabs from the vicious thorns that give the trees their name, so it was good to have a little extra help this time around.

We were also on the lookout for more immediately edible treats – blackberries! We took these home and used them to make miniature apple and blackberry pies…

… Once Explorer Beastie had finished gadding about in the brambles.

There were plenty of other natural treats to be found along the way… unfortunately, I lack the equipment and expertise to make these beautiful hedgerow fruits into something tasty! Maybe next year…

After that, we had just enough time to say hello to the cows…

… And take a few artsy shots of glistening mist-spangled spiderwebs…

…Before heading home to toast our toes by the fire!

How do you spend a perfect autumn day? Let me know in the comments!

Oooh! New Beasties!

Posted on May 31, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Ideas, Knitted Beasties

For some time now, I’ve been wanting to make a range of Irish Beasties. Of course, my Beasties are already pretty Irish – they are born here, after all. But it always surprises me how little of the yarn we get in this country actually comes from here. And when you have a whole world of beautiful fibres to choose from – South American alpaca, merino wool from Down Under – it’s very easy to take what you have at home for granted.

Fortunately, I recently got a couple of timely wake-up calls. A while ago, some of my knitting friends and I started taking “Knit Days” – we’d hop on a train, or form a convoy of cars, and travel to another town or city to enjoy a crafty day out, usually fuelled by copious quantities of tea and cake. One of these Knit Days took us to the village of Graignamanagh in Co. Kilkenny, which is the home of Cushendale Woollen Mills. This family-owned mill has been producing yarn and finished woollen goods since the mid-1800s, and we were lucky enough to get a full tour during our visit. Since then, I’ve been looking out for a project that would allow me to use some of their products… even more so after I helped my friend with the annual stocktake at her wool shop, and I couldn’t stop admiring the beautiful colours of the Cushendale yarns. I realised that they reminded me of the countryside out in Roscommon, which is where my boyfriend comes from, and somewhere I never get tired of visiting…

Moss, Roscommon Peat Bog on a Cloudy Day

So, I picked out the four colours which I thought best summed up the peat-bog palette, and got knitting! Having completed my first full All-Irish Beastie, I had to give him an accessory… something really IRISH. I could have gone the obvious route – shamrock, leprechaun outfit – but I wanted something a little different, that still reflected everyday life in this part of the world. So he got…

A BIG MUG OF TEA!

Bet you didn’t see that coming… but, no matter who you consult, we Irish always make the top 3 in the world tea-drinking charts.

Our only challengers for the title are Morocco and Turkey, where people must be making cuppas 24-7 to hold us off the top spot. Truly “Irish” tea is made in a teapot, then put back on the range to stew into a viscous tar-like substance, before being thinned out with liberal doses of milk and sugar. But most of us settle for throwing a bag of Lyons or Barrys into a mug and just stirring it around a bit!

More All-Irish Beasties will be landing soon! Let me know in the comments if there are any you’d particularly like to see!

Postcard from Liverpool

Posted on May 24, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie

Hello there, Beastiebuddies! My Beastiesitter Helen is very busy at the minute, so I thought I’d share my latest adventures with you myself. As you know, I have spent the last week or so visiting the great human city of Liverpool, and I thought it would be interesting to travel out into the surrounding countryside too. Here I am looking at the river in a village called Ashford – I wish I’d brought my curragh with me for this!

Further down the road, I found this place!

A palace fit for a Beastie king! They had even set the table for my arrival!
Of course, I was very flattered… but I politely explained that I had brought my own sandwiches, and then made my way out into the gardens to find somewhere to eat them.

Success! I found this brilliant willow sculpture in the grounds of the house… perfect for a Beastie to hide in!

Suitably refreshed, I journeyed onwards to the Heights of Abraham. I couldn’t resist sneaking aboard the cable car… Look how high up I am!

Quite a novelty for a Beastie – normally we see everything from much closer to the ground!

Once I reached the top, I reckoned it was time for a cup of tea and a spot of birdwatching… perhaps I might be able to convince one of the birds to give me a lift back down the hill!

Well, that’s all my news for now. I’m off to do some more exploring! I’ll be back with more tales of adventure soon!

Monster hugs,

Explorer Beastie x

He’s Back!

Posted on April 25, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie

Ta-daaaaah! Explorer Beastie is back in Dublin. Well, for the moment, anyway. While I was away sunning myself in the West of Ireland (yes, that CAN happen) over Easter, he took a trip to the northern suburbs of the city to have a look around Glasnevin Cemetery.

Not everyone’s idea of a good time, perhaps, but Glasnevin Cemetery is actually a fascinating place. For starters, some of the monuments are beautiful – check out the knotwork design on this one!

There are over 1.5 million people buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. That’s more than currently live in the County Dublin region! Among them are significant figures from Ireland’s past – Daniel O’Connell, Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Collins, to name a few – as well as many of our most famous writers, artists and musicians. Glasnevin also makes an appearance in James Joyce’s Ulysses, and Explorer Beastie appears to have caught up with Mr Joyce himself in the gift shop…

Meanwhile, I have enjoyed a relaxing week away! I’ve been flexing my farming muscles, babysitting these little sweethearts…

…being inspired by the scenery…

…And most importantly, knitting like a fiend! I have a bunch of new Beastie bodies ready to be decorated – I wonder what they’ll be?

Exploring Out West

Posted on February 11, 2014June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Explorer Beastie

This weekend, Explorer Beastie took his first trip westwards, to Co. Roscommon.
Um, where?
Don’t worry, I didn’t know it existed myself until I met someone from there during my first week in college. Roscommon sits in the western midlands of Ireland, which means that it’s pretty far removed from any of the main tourist trails. It has no coastline, and is distant enough from Dublin that it was left relatively untroubled by the embarrassing “build just about anything just about anywhere” phase this country went through a few years back. It boasts the second lowest population density in Ireland, and 74% of the people live in rural areas (factoids courtesy of the 2011 Census report). It also happens to be where my boyfriend is from, and I consider myself pretty lucky to have an excuse to visit somewhere as beautiful as this!

Anyway, we got a brief spell of sunny weather on Sunday, so I made a beeline for the bog with Explorer Beastie, Boyfriend and Cooper the dog in tow. The main picture shows Explorer Beastie enjoying his first visit to a genuine Irish peat bog! It looks empty, but this bog has a lot going on. Local people still cut peat here on a small scale and use it to heat their homes, and in the late 1940’s a man discovered a hoard of Bronze Age gold jewellery while cutting turf! The pieces – a gold lunula (a crescent-shaped collar) and two gold discs – are now on display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.

Unfortunately, we didn’t come across any gold. But Explorer Beastie did find some vibrant neon-orange lichen:

In fact, the bog is surprisingly colourful at this time of year. We also found some deep crimson moss…

…And some fresh new gorse growing up between the charred stumps left by a fire last year.

We also found some cool bracket fungus on a fallen tree stump:

And there were opportunities to climb trees…

… Hack through the undergrowth…

…And stop for a sandwich in a soft mossy hollow.

But let’s not forget that this is Ireland, and it wasn’t long before the weather took a turn for the worse!

We had to dash for home and spend the rest of the afternoon toasting our toes by the range. Life’s tough…
Have a great week!

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