Letter of the Week- from Ian and Donna Barrs

Charlotte,

Many thanks for your guided tour of the park on my recent visit “Keeper for a Day” on 12th June 2014. You made me (and my wife Donna who accompanied me) so welcome. 

It was such a privilege to get close to the animals and to also see the work that goes on behind the scenes. 

You and your colleagues work so incredibly hard and above all care deeply about the animals. 

Please pass on our thanks to all concerned who were involved in making the day so special.

Hopefully we will get down to the island later in the year and will definitely come and visit. 

The photos are fantastic and a great memento of an unforgettable day.

Once again many thanks,

Ian and Donna Barrs

Farewell to Keeper Holly

Staff and animals here at Seaview had to say a sad farewell to happy Holly yesterday as she prepares to pack her binoculars for her once in a lifetime adventure to train as a Field Guide in Africa for a year!

Holly has been a dedicated and very hard working member of the Keeper Team and everyone here at the Park will miss her greatly, especially the Keepers, Jacob and Squeak!

We really do wish Holly all the best of luck in her exciting career and amazing adventure that lies ahead!

We received this lovely letter and photos from Holly yesterday which we thought we would share with you….

Hi everyone!

I have attached a few photos taken yesterday on my last day. Just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone for making my last day really special. I've loved working with you all over the years. Thank you for all your support, I know I am leaving just before the mad rush of the summer holidays, sorry guys!
I am sad to be leaving such an amazing team of people, you have made my time here so memorable and I have made life long friends. It's also been brilliant to work with my wonderful best friend Charlotte. I can't thank you enough for always being there for me, I am really going to miss you!!

Massive love to all the animals especially my little Jacob, my babies the Harvest Mice, Squeak the best Penguin ever and poor Beryl R.I.P :( I will miss you all, I hope you will miss me too!

              I will keep you all updated on my adventure when I can and I will be popping in before I leave for a final farewell.

Love Holly :) xxx

If you would like to know more about what Holly will be up to during her year of training in becoming an African Field Guide check out the following website http://bushwise.co.za/course/fgasa-field-guide-course

Beautiful Scenes in the Tropical House

The Tropical House is looking stunning at the moment as the vibrantly coloured Bougainvillea has come out into full bloom!
Take a look at these photos showing off the beautiful colours:

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In the Tropical House you may also be able to spot our Terrapins enjoying the warm weather in their basking spot:



Also don’t forget to look out for our Greater Necklaced Laughing Thrush named Cheeky Baby, who likes to get the attention of the keepers by nesting in their hair!

HIPPY DIPPY IS OFF TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL

http://www.isleofwightfestival.com/home.aspx

Gorgeous knitted cardigan made from our Alpacas wool

We sell our gorgeous Alpaca wool in our gift shop. One of our visitors Ann bought 8 balls of Alpaca knitting yarn from us last summer. Today she came into the park with a beautiful hand knitted cardigan made from our Alpacas wool. Ann told us that it took her about a month to knit and the pattern used was common in the 1950’s/60’s.

Here is Ann modelling her creation alongside our recently sheared Alpaca boys. The cardigan is unbelievable soft, very warm and very heavy! Thank you Ann for coming in and showing us your masterpiece, it was lovely to meet you, the boys enjoyed it too!

DIPPYS ADVENTURES ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT

Dippy’s overnight stay at America Woods

Last night I camped in America Woods with two of my red squirrel friends, Rodney and Rufus. We put up our tent in the afternoon underneath some huge oak trees and made our beds. We each had a sleeping bag with a fluffy puffed up pillow, I had bought some extra woollen blankets to keep us warm as the weather forecast was predicting a very chilly night.
Rodney and Rufus collected bundles of dry wood from the forest floor, lots of twigs and broken branches which I used to make a campfire. I added a little bit of BBQ charcoal also to ensure the fire would get hot enough and keep burning to give us enough time to cook our dinner on it!
The sun began to set at about half past 8, and the sunny warm day slowly disappeared, Rufus was our chef for the evening and cooked up some super sausages over the roaring camp fire. He served them in long white hot dog buns decorated with a wiggly line of ketchup along the top, they tasted fantastic and we all ate so many I lost count!!
The dessert of the evening was marshmallows on skewers melted slowly over the glowing flames, creating a crisp outside shell and a gooey centre, they were absolutely delicious! After our camping feast we sat around the fire, Rodney played his guitar and sang some tunes. It was a full moon and the sky was full of twinkling stars, as midnight approached we all began to do some very big yawns and decided to get ready for bed. We snuggled up into our little beds, pulled down the tent door zip and then we all fell fast asleep.
I woke very early this morning to the tweeting of birds up above in the trees all around us, it was a magical and truly delightful sound. Rodney and Rufus were still fast asleep so I got up very quietly so as not to wake them and stepped outside the tent. The sunlight shone down, upon the glistening dew covered leaves of the trees. Springtime was here, all the brand new leaves were slowly beginning to open up, the illuminous green colour and the freshness of these trees was amazing.


After breakfast we spent the morning  collecting Bluebells and yellow Primroses which were growing in the wood. These were for the Hawaiian skirts we were going to make for the squirrels, they had been invited to a fancy dress Easter Party. We made an elastic waistband, onto which we attached long pieces of flowing straw. We then very carefully, with a needle and thread sewed on the Bluebells and Primroses and put on occasional bright green leaf in between. Rufus and Rodney were delighted with the finished costumes and were sure they would win the first prize for the best fancy dress!!!


We packed up the tent and said goodbye to one another and then set off in different directions on our way back home. Whilst wandering back through the wood, I picked a small bunch of Primroses for Phessie, the silver pheasant who lives at the Park, because these are her favourite flower and to get these would make her smile!

Shearing shenanigans at Seaview!

 

Now the weather is getting warmer, it’s time for our woolly friends to be sheared before it gets too hot!

 This was the first time that our adorable South Down  Baby Doll Sheep, Daisy and Maisy, have been sheared since arriving at the Park a few months ago and was quite a shock for the Keepers to see them looking so trim!

You can see from looking at the before and after pictures just how much wool they were carrying around with them and why it is so important that they are sheared before the summer begins.

Our other Woolley friends, Garnet and Augustus, however are quite used to the shearing shenanigans although they are yet to make it look  graceful!

You may be asking what happens to all this wonderful wool? Fear not, all the fleeces are collected and sent to The Border Mill, a small scaled fibre processing mill nestled in the beautiful  Scottish borders. Here it will  be transformed and sent back to us as knitting yarn and  sold in our gift shop! This year it will be extra special as the two fleeces will be processed together producing a exceptionally warm, cashmere, soft fibre.