Belfast, Dublin and Kilkenny.... and The Cutest Felt Owls

Phase three of our trip to the UK brought us to Ireland.  We took a ferry from Scotland and arrived in Belfast within hours.  We expected the city to be grey and dismal - with many signs its former "troubles,"  but instead we found a cheerful, modern metropolis with a shiny disposition and lots of friendly people.  

We visited the Titantic memorial outside the city's main municipal buildings. Originally it had only the names of the shipbuilders who died when Titanic perished. But now, in behind, there is a memorial wall built to honour  all those who lost their lives 100 years ago.  

We also viewed the new Titanic Museum set to open next month.  Obviously, we could not enter the building, but we greatly enjoyed viewing the outer structure - meant to mimic the size and scale of the original ship (above). It was very impressive.  

After viewing all of that ship-building history, Kevin really needed re-hydrate.  We visited the oldest pub in Belfast where he sampled their Irish whiskey wares and I photographed the amazing decor.  

Eager to see more of Ireland, we journeyed onto Dublin. Here we viewed many of Dublin's colourful Georgian doors and sampled some REAL Irish music and dance in a downtown pub.  I LOVE Bulmer's cider!!

The following day, we stopped enroute in Kilkenny for lunch.  We spent a few minutes admiring the town's castle ( and I snapped some pics of my cute hubby!) 

I hope you are enjoying my trip pictures.  I took so many and I love sharing them with you all.  Still to come are the rest of my Ireland pics, then Wales and Southern England.     Thanks for bearing with me!!

Now onto the crafting!!

About a year ago, I found a lovely blog, Snowy Bliss, and instantly fell in love with the felt owls she had made for daughter's birthday party.  Lucky for me, she was selling the pattern PDF on Etsy.  I purchased one right away.  

 The pattern was clear and concise and gave lots of detailed descriptions on how to complete each step.  

I loved digging through my felt stash (I've got a bit of an obsession here!)......

.....and choosing just the right colour  to cut out each part of my feathered friend.  On this day, I cut enough for 3 more owls.   

I machine stitch all of the pieces together and   I match the thread to each new layer, adding each part on top of the former until  an adorable "owly" face appears.  

These three lovelies are destined to be part of three Christmas gifts.  

I hope the three little ones who receive them love them as much as my youngest boy does!!