Hey there everyone! After a bit of a wild weekend (weather-wise, of course. We’re still confined to quarters here at Beastie Towers) the sun has returned… And so have a pair of familiar woolly faces! It’s been a while since we’ve seen Paddy and Plunkett, hasn’t it? Let’s drop in and see what they’re up to.
Aha! Looks like they’ve hopped on the gardening bandwagon and are getting into growing their own veggies.
Well, Plunkett is. Paddy has other ideas for what to do with the courgette seeds.
“Check it out, Plunkett! Sustainable jewellery!”
“Well… Yes. But they work better if you put them in a pot…”
“… Like this. Now, courgettes grow quickly – you might want to stand back a bit!”
Wow, that really WAS quick! And it’s not done yet.
“I think we’re going to need a bigger pot, Plunkett!”
“Don’t worry, I saw one outside… But we’d better move this plant now before it gets too big to go through the front door!”
So, much huffing and puffing later…
The plant looks much happier in its new home, doesn’t it? Plenty of space there to spread out its roots and keep on growing!
“Will we hop up for a closer look, Paddy?”
“Yeah! I want to see the courgettes – they must be nearly ready by now.”
“Ah, it’s a bit early for that yet, Paddy. But if you look veeeery closely…”
“… You can see the first flowers starting to appear under the leaves. We won’t have long to wait!”
And once those courgettes get started, they’ll keep the boys fed for the entire summer. Hopefully they’ll find a way to send some of the crop Dublinwards, because they’re so tasty and versatile! I love to slice ’em thinly and cook them with red peppers and tomatoes for a pasta sauce, or fry them with lemon juice and garlic and serve the mixture on toast for a quick lunch. Yum!
All this talk of vegetables is making me hungry… So if you have any favourite courgette/zucchini recipes to share with me and the lads, please tell us all about them in the comments!
Aaaand we’ll be back on Friday with a Beastie pet retrospective (Pet-rospective?), so be sure to join us then!
Hey there Cookie Beastie! Where did you spring from?
I do love a good cactus, and it seems Beasties are no different. That said, it’s pretty hard to relax with all those prickles around… How about we find somewhere else to put our paws up for a minute?
Can there be any better place to spend a tea break?
Um, you might have to put the cookie down if you’re to make any headway with those weights.
“Look, there’s still cherry blossom here!”
Hey, who’s that?
Yay! 
A little further up the hill, we wandered into the rose garden. And although there aren’t many roses in bloom yet, there was plenty of other greenery to explore!
We’ll definitely have to schedule another visit later in the year to catch it at its best!
And 
… 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?
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!
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!
“
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!
“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…”
“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!”