Some late introductions

I got a few more models while in the UK, but didn't get around to taking their pictures until now. And yes - I did bring all these Breyer horses back in my suitcase! It was a miracle none of them got broken, though I packed them very carefully between my clothes.

I'd wanted Banjo for a while - after I got my first Breyer in Christmas 2008, I circled his picture in my catalogue, only to discover that he'd been retired the year after. I don't know why I fell in love with this model - compared to other Breyers, he's very ordinary, not showing any flashy paces nor painted on a shiny new mold. Maybe that is exactly why - he's got a very calm, kind look about him.

I found him for sale on Ebay, and quickly bid on him - and was very happy to win the auction! He's obviously second-hand, and has a few rubs, but I might repair him someday. They don't bother me too much, though.

Valentine & Heartbreaker - because Eberl models are beautiful, and apparently I have a thing for bays. Valentine has the sweetest, tiniest snip, and Heartbreaker is so delicate and has such a pretty face 😍

I got Frankel because he was cheap - for some reason they're really cheap in the UK, and you can get one for less than  £15. But he's a really pretty model, too, with lots of movement and a really nice, deep colour.

Close to Easter, Copperfox Model Horses put up a contest of sorts on their Facebook - all you had to do was comment on the post, and you could win a Marble model, in the Connemara pony mold. Well, imagine my surprise when my name was drawn as the winner!! :D

This is a lovely model, with beautiful shading and a lot of detail. Their masking could use a bit of improvement - there are places where the markings fade, where the paint was too thick and bubbled, or where the markings end abruptly and unnaturally. But it doesn't detract from his overall beauty, and for such a young company, CF are creating really good pieces.

The eyes are particularly detailed.

  

The documents in his box (COA, catalogue, and a photo of the model) came wrapped with a green ribbon, and a suggestion to make it into a headcollar, which I did. This sort of olive green really suits him.

These four, I got from Maja-Maus on STS, along with the guinea pig. :) I still love the old Schleich horses, and these were missing from my collection. I'm still not sure whether I will paint them or not, even though they have some scuffs - I will think about it when my painting muse comes back, heh.

And, not exactly a model, but I got this little ceramic guinea pig at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh, here shown next to the Schleich GP. It was so cute that I couldn't resist, and my friends weren't exactly helpful, telling me to buy it! 😂

Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens

I've been meaning to make this post for a while, but my laptop managed to completely disorganise my photos when I transferred them from my SD card, and it's taken me a bit to gather the patience to sort through them and sort of get them in order. These still aren't in chronological order, it's been so long I've kinda forgotten what we saw first, but at least all the animals of the same species are sort of grouped together, now.

We visited the CWP back in May - I had a day off from work, and took the chance to meet up with a friend (whom I'd only known online thus far!!) who was super excited to go, too.

According to its website, the Cotswolds Wildlife Park has one of the UK's largest zoological collections, with over 260 different species of animals spread over 160 acres of land. It's huge - we got there at noon and didn't finish exploring until 5, an hour from closing time, and I'm quite sure we still missed a couple of things.



It was a cold and rainy day, which was great because there weren't many people about and the animals were fairly active, but not so great because we got a bit soaked. 😁



The ring-tailed lemurs had a walk-in enclosure, which was pretty cool!



I didn't touch any of them because I was a bit scared of being bitten (they're still wild animals, after all) but they all swarmed me and started licking my shoes. No idea what that was about, but I could feel their little tongues on my feet!



The slender-tailed meerkats are always fun to watch 😁













We got to the Humboldt penguins right as feeding time was happening, which was pretty good timing. The keepers were explaining the penguins' names, the meaning of their arm bands, and their relationships.






(the one jumping down from the step kinda looks like he's just hovering in mid-air!)

A kookaburra:



Capybaras! Honestly, they were one of the main reasons I wanted to visit the park. I love capybaras, and I'd never seen one in the flesh.







Giraffe:







Parma wallaby:



African openbill stork:



African crested porcupine:



Chapman's zebras! (they didn't come any closer, sadly...)



White-faced owl:



Siamang. Very blurry, because he kept moving around and being silly! This was the best one I managed to get.



Sleepy, beautiful lions.






(they were following a plane, here!)

The disappearance of a tawny frogmouth 😁 He wasn't very happy to see us!








Sleeping red panda:



Yellow mongoose: (mongeese? what's the plural for them, anyway?)





Prairie dog:



One of the Park's main attractions are its Southern white rhinos, which can be seen happily grazing on the manor's lawn. Sadly we only spotted them while we were taking the train tour, and when we came back for better pictures, they'd retired for the night.









Snowy owl:



Rock Hyrax. Can you believe they're related to elephants?:



Oriental small-clawed otters:











There was also a bit with some farm animals, as zoos usually have. I can't remember what these guys were called, but they were some Very Short Cows.



A turkey, showing off:









Show-offs!:



Mangalica pig:











We could actually go in the pygmy goat's enclosure, and this guy decided to block the exit as we were going to leave!




(thankfully, there was another gate!)

Bactrian camels:





Mara, I think:



Eurasian wolves. I did a quick Google search to find their species and found this. 😢









Crowned sifakas:



Giant anteater - this one is for Roger 😁😁









Emperor tamarins:









Morelet's crocodile:



??? Reptiles aren't my forte...



Pretty sure this is a hognose, though:



Jamaican boa?



Also no idea. A young komodo dragon?...



A beautiful sleeping armadillo.



You can see more photos on my flickr, here. 😊