Frills 'n' Spills

I have never really been a fan of zoos, the animals inevitably live in cramped conditions and look miserable but Durrell Wildlife Conservation Park is another breed entirely. The whole thing is a conservation centre and the animals have so much room to roam around in and they get it as close to their natural habitat as possible. Some of the monkeys didn't even have enclosures, they were just up in a certain patch of trees! I had visited the park before but it was the year the fifth Harry Potter book came out so it had been a while! Mark, my brother and I went and happily spent the morning wandering around and looking at the animals. All of them are endangered species and the Trust are working hard to ensure that they don't become extinct, like the dodo. I loved how you could wander around the park and go from seeing bears one minute, to gorillas (my favourites!) the next.

It was quite difficult to take a picture but apparently this shiny looking bird (imagine a pigeon, but with peacock colours!) is the closest living relative to the dodo which is very cool.

Pythons...

These giant Galapagos tortoises were so funny, they had real personalities and I was absolutely transfixed. They were kept inside their enclosure by these picket fences and the one kept trying to get out as he had spotted a delicious looking snack outside, juuust further than he could reach and he was trying everything to get hold of it, including turning himself on one side to try and get out! 

I really loved the gorillas, they were definitely my favourite things to see, they are just so human. Isn't the little one cute?! We even managed to bring one back with us! ;)

I also like the fact it is long enough in the body to wear with this pleather skirt. Pleather is a bit of a contentious fabric but I think as long as you keep the rest of your outfit simple, then you can't really go wrong... it's definitely a lot more fun than denim!

This outfit is a bit of a departure from the norm for me, I wouldn't usually wear anything this slouchy (or colourless!) but it was fun to break out of my comfort zone... 

An owl in loafers and cat eye glasses is potentially quite creepy but I actually think it is pretty darn cute!

Would you wear (p)leather? What are your basics?

I have spoken about helping out at Brownies before and although I am fairly busy, I will always try and make time for it as I find it really rewarding.I have been helping out since I was 13 and I love being able to do some crafty things and spend some time nurturing these girls [cheesy but true]. This week though, rather than making something or going somewhere, we had a visit from A HEDGEHOG. We recently held a coffee morning to celebrate our 50th anniversary and the money we raised, we donated to Vale Wildlife and to say thank you they came in to tell us a bit more about the work they do. 

Isn't she the cutest?! Kim from the Vale Wildlife centre told us lots about the animals that they care for and brought in a hedgehog for us to see. I nearly died as she was gorgeous! Kim also brought in lots of nests and skins for us to have a look at and it was really amazing to see what the nests looked like...

We laid all of these different bits out on the table and the Brownies were able to go and have a closer look at each one which I thought was nice...

Did you know, hedgedhogs have very strong front legs as they use them for digging which means they are incredibly fast. 

Apologies for the blurry photos, it is difficult to take photos when you have 24 excited girls all craning to see a little hedgehog! Although I am not what you would call interested in nature or the 'great outdoors' [I always joke that I am allergic to fresh air] it was really interesting to find out a bit more about the wild animals we have that are native to this country. Vale Wildlife costs £20,000 A  MONTH to run so every bit that people can do really helps, after all prevention is better than cure!

Do you like hedgehogs? Have you ever volunteered?