Hello there Beastie friends! It’s been a wild and windy week here in the North Atlantic, with a couple more storms-with-names (so you know they mean business) battering Ireland and the UK over the last few days. So do you fancy taking it eeeeeasy, and looking at some awesome sculpture? Goody, because I’m excited to share a small percentage (I promise!) of the millions of photos I took of the Dale Chihuly glass pieces at Kew Gardens last autumn.
We were lucky enough to scrape in on the very last day of “Chihuly – Reflections on Nature”, which I was dying to see after reading about it on The Snail of Happiness’s blog over the summer. And of course, I had Beastie help as I did the tour of the grounds. They made sure I didn’t miss anything.
The Temperate House was absolutely packed with these incredible creations, some of them blending beautifully with their surroundings…
… While others were a lot less subtle.
I liked how some of the shapes echoed each other a little, like these two pieces. As above, so below!
Mind you, much as I loved the unearthly, ethereal shapes, there was something a little unsettling about this one… It looks like those white bulbs are poised for a global takeover, starting right here! It didn’t seem to bother the Beasties though – maybe they’re planning a takeover of their own?
But these are just the hothouse Chihuly sculptures! There were plenty more outside, in the wild… And even on a grey English day, they seemed to glow.
They fitted in especially well in the Japanese garden – I feel more Zen already.
And when the rain got a little too heavy, we went to check out the indoor exhibition in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. In the dark rooms, each of the carefully-lit sculptures took on a life of their own. They looked like flowers, or shells, or living things… But definitely not glass!
Did any of you visit this exhibition during its run? Or is there a Chihuly living in a gallery near you? Be sure to let us know in the comments!
We’ll be back next week with another new Beastie for you to meet – see you then!
That’s the 
But what a difference this time around! Look at all this greenery! It’s the perfect place for a pair of woolly monsters to hang out.
And while there were plenty of interesting things to see at ground level…
“Check us out! We’re flowers!”
… The Beasties couldn’t wait to climb up the spiral staircase to the balcony and feel tall!
From our high perch, you really see how huge the Temperate House is. It’s the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world today… And it needs to be big! Since “temperate” covers pretty much any part of the world outside of the tropics and the polar regions, 1500 species of plants from 5 continents and 16 islands call this giant greenhouse home.
But they were soon distracted by many more curious plants and idyllic quiet corners.
Eventually though…
But the weather outside the Temperate House is decidedly less temperate…
What now? Should the Beasties stay indoors, or risk getting their paws wet as they explore the rest of Kew? We’ll find out next time we catch up with them… But be sure to join us next week when I’ll have some new Beasties for you to meet!
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It’s our old buddy 
“Ooooh, check this out!”
It’s almost possible for Beasties to get lost in among all that colour. Can you spot them?
The treetop walkway is really spectacular… But the boys really had to hold on tight! It was a little breezy up there!
