Nature – Page 9 – Beastie HQ

MiniBeastie at Wisley - LucyAnn and Luna Craft/CrawCrafts Beasties

Mini Beastie goes to Wisley

Posted on May 27, 2016June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Beastie Family, Knitted Beasties

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from LucyAnn at LucyAnn and Luna Craft. She told me that she’d finally had a chance to take her MiniBeastie for a trip to the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden at Wisley in Surrey, and the Beasties and I were so excited to see that she’d documented this micro-monster’s first day out in a post on her own blog! I thought it might be fun to share this with you all, so I’m going to take this opportunity to do my FIRST EVER REBLOG!
So, without further ado… Take it away, LucyAnn! And thanks again for taking the time and blog space to share your new little woolly buddy’s adventures with the world!

Paddy and Plunkett Were Here - H Crawford/CrawCrafts Beasties

Beach Beasties!

Posted on April 26, 2016June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Paddy and Plunkett

It’s been a while since we last caught up with Paddy and Plunkett! But it looks like they’ve been off adventuring again… Let’s see what they’ve been up to as they travel along Northern Ireland’s north coast!

Mussenden Temple was originally a private library, built by the 4th Earl of Bristol in memory of his cousin, Frideswide Mussenden. These days, it’s open as a visitor attraction – or you can book it as a wedding venue!

It looks like this holiday is off to a great start, despite Paddy’s motoring “skills”! We’ll be back to check up on the lads again soon… and next week tune in to find out where Antonello Beastie and Tiziana Beastie went for their Beaster break!

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!

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!

Helen's Bay Beach - H Crawford/CrawCrafts Beasties

Paddy and Plunkett’s Seaside Adventure!

Posted on October 16, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Beastie Family

Autumn may be in full swing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a day by the sea! And this isn’t any old seaside – Paddy and Plunkett took a day trip to my childhood stomping grounds, where I spent many happy hours (at all times of the year) clambering over the stones and poking around in rock pools. Come and see for yourself!

Our tour starts at the local railway station. Getting here from Belfast only takes about half an hour, and then it’s just a short walk to the beach!

See?

Plunkett’s certainly enjoying the view!

The next stop if you carry on along the coast is Crawfordsburn Country Park. Formerly a private house and grounds, the park is now open to the public year-round, and is great for walking, cycling and picnics! It’s also home to all kinds of wildlife, since it contains a variety of different habitats – you’ll find seashore, woodlands and meadows here. Paddy and Plunkett bumped into a couple of the local residents at the Countryside Centre when they dropped in for a quick cup of tea!

Since it was such a lovely sunny day (we’ve really been enjoying some very un-Irish weather these last few weeks), the boys decided to carry on walking. There’s a coastal route that takes you all the way around to Bangor, a seaside town which was a popular local holiday destination back in the day. Of course, there’s a proper human-sized path you can use to get there, but the lads thought it would be more fun to take the scenic route…

Much later (they do only have little short legs, after all) they arrived at journey’s end! They resisted the urge to set sail on one of the swan boats at Pickie Fun Park…

… But they were really kicking themselves when they found out that
they could have done part of their travelling on the Beastie-sized Pickie Puffer train!

Oh well, at least they still had time to enjoy the walled garden at Bangor Castle before they had to head for home!

All in all, a great day out! Where was your favourite childhood haunt?

Head West

Posted on October 11, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Weekly Photo Challenge

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Happy Place.”

Anyone who checks in with the BeastieBlog regularly will know that my favourite place to spend some downtime is at Boyfriend’s family farm, in County Roscommon. Roscommon is one of the semi-forgotten counties in the centre-west of Ireland, which makes it a great place to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet away from the hubbub of central Dublin. And the changing seasons mean that there’s always something new to enjoy, from springtime blossom in the fields…

… To new arrivals in the cattle shed!

Autumn here isn’t bad either! The hedgerows are loaded with free snacks…

… And a misty morning walk can make you feel like you’ve entered some forgotten magical country.

Explorer Beastie likes it here too, of course…

… But his favourite place to recharge his Beastie batteries is beside the fire at my parents’ house. Cosy!

Beasties Love Yew!

Posted on October 2, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Beastie Family

Those of you who regularly check in with the Beasties’ Facebook page might remember Explorer Beastie’s trip to the Bee Garden at Moneypenny’s Lock back in July. The awesome all-you-can-eat bee buffet is just one part of an ongoing project to restore this stretch of the Newry Canal…

But Moneypenny’s Lock is also home to another incredible plant – and this one has been around a lot longer. Meet Moneypenny’s Yew!

And exactly how long has this tree been standing guard over the Lock-Keeper’s Cottage? Well, here she is as a young lady, in 1886…

Imagine all the changes she’s witnessed in her lifetime – the busy canal becoming quieter, falling into neglect, then being given a new lease of life in the last few years by a group of enthusiastic volunteers.

Paddy and Plunkett are big fans of this special tree, too!

That’s why we’re all hoping you might take a minute to give Moneypenny’s Yew your vote in the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year Competition. She’s up against some stiff competition – including the celebrity trees of the Dark Hedges (as featured in Game of Thrones). But I think it’s high time this tree, in a quiet part of the country, got her moment in the sun!

You can cast your vote here, on the Woodland Trust’s website.

Good luck, Miss Moneypenny – the Beasties and I are rooting for yew!

Summer Colour Inspiration!

Posted on July 28, 2015June 19, 2021 by crawcraftsbeasties in Crafting, Ideas, Knitted Beasties

Summer in Ireland is a fleeting thing! Our unpredictable four-seasons-in-one-day climate means that a balmy evening can turn chilly in a heartbeat, and a day that starts out grey and drizzly can transform into a real scorcher by lunchtime. That’s why the very second we see a blink of sunshine here, we drop everything and rush outside to enjoy it… because in five minutes it could be pouring again!

So I’m sure you can understand why I was delighted to get a sunny morning while I was away in the west of Ireland with Explorer Beastie last week. And I brought my camera along to capture all the colours of the Irish countryside, which have inspired the colour palette for my latest round of Barróg Beasties. In case you’re new to the BeastieBlog, Barróg Beasties are a subspecies of Beastie native to Ireland. They’re made from Irish wool, and sport particularly Irish accessories! They get their name from the Irish word “Barróg”, which means “hug”.

These are the colours I chose:

I picked blue and white to represent our summer skies – there’s usually a cloud or two up there somewhere!

And these colours match a couple of the plants you see at this time of the year too! On my wanderings, I found tiny blue forget-me-nots and a few tufts of bog cotton that had survived the recent downpours.
Of course, including green was a bit of a no-brainer.

And as for that rich bronze-brown… That’s what the bog looks like in summer! You can see it a bit in this picture – unfortunately the bog is incredibly tricky to capture in photos!

And finally, I chose purple because it’s just about everywhere right now – tangled through the hedgerows, creeping along the ground and peeking out from among the tall grasses!

And after all that (plus a bit of knitting), some Beasties appeared!

I’ll be giving each of them a unique Irish-inspired accessory today… I wonder what they’ll be?

PS WordPress tells me that this is my 100th post! Thanks to all my readers, especially those of you who have been here from the very beginning!

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!

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!

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