Devlin visits The Donkey Sanctuary...

My husbands daughter and grandson have been visiting from the UK for a couple of days and yesterday we decided to visit the local donkey sanctuary, which is located in the town of Fuente de Piedra in Malaga Province. 

http://www.elrefugiodelburrito.com/en

The sanctuary is such a lovely place, set in the middle of the countryside, it is incredibly peaceful and it's always nice to just wander around watching the donkeys going about their business. 

 
When we arrived it was feeding time so most of the donkeys were busy eating their feed, but several of them still took the time to come over to the fence of their paddocks to greet us!

As it happened, Jake, my husbands grandson, wasn't particularly interested in the donkeys, preferring to play on the childrens slide instead, but luckily Devlin was delighted to see them and really wanted to get 'up close and personal' with them.  However, we had to be quite careful as the donkeys liked him a little bit too much and thought he'd make a tasty dessert after they'd finished their lunch!!

Devlin wanted to ride one of the donkeys but had to be content with pretending to ride, by sitting astride the fence!

Pausing at the Pozo de los Deseos, or Wishing Well.....I wonder what Devlin wished for?

These donkeys are part of the sanctuary's 'adoption' scheme.  For a minimum donation of €15 you can 'adopt' one of the donkeys and you receive newsletters and a certificate.  For several years we've adopted Leon who was rescued from Naples Zoo in Italy!  Most of the donkeys are rescued from all over Spain and the rest of Europe.  Sadly, most have been abused or neglected, but some are brought there by their former owners, who can no longer afford to keep them once the donkey is too old to work anymore.

Taking a respite from the heat!  Devlin was glad of his cap but really should have worn a tee shirt rather than his hoodie!

A close up of my handsome blond boy from 1969!

After a stroll around the paddocks in the heat, we took a look in the Sanctury's shop, where they sell a selection of items to help raise funds for donkeys keep.  Devlin finally got a ride on a donkey....although this one was made of woven straw!!!

Bailey....

As most of my Sasha friends will know, I've been struggling with Bailey, my former brunette with the wider face.  I really love her little face but I'm still not happy with her hair.  So today I finally decided that I'm going to remove the hair that I recently rerooted her with and I'm going to either wig her again, or I'm going to reroot her once more.  I've already half made the decision because I've bought some more hair but this time it is closer in colour to her original hair, I've chosen Chocolate Brown, I just hope it's dark enough because this little girls hair was pretty dark before it all fell out.

This is the sweet little girlie that I want back!!!

Devlin helps with the catch.....

My son Brendan caught 5 fish this morning and brought them back from the beach to gut them on my patio table.....yuck!  Devlin, seeing what was going on, was really keen to help out with the slimy, smelly job and so Brendan showed him how to do it.

Devlin seemed to really enjoy himself although he was a bit peeved when Brendan wouldn't let him use the gutting knife, but the blade is very sharp and we didn't want any accidents!!

So now we have 10 fishes in the freezer! 

 

 

Sandals and wigs.....

Yesterday I thought I'd try making some sandals for Devlin, my blond Gregor, as his feet were very hot in his sneakers.  I have bought some leather on Ebay but it's not arrived yet so in the meantime I thought I'd practice by making a pair with some fake leather that I had here already.  I'd hate to just cut into the proper leather with practice!!!!  Anyway, I made this brown pair by hand, only using my sewing machine for the row of topstitching along the upper edge of the sandals.  I used some thick real leather for the soles and the buckles were from a pair of my own sandals!!  Oh well, they weren't all that comfy anyway!

I'm quite pleased with how they've come out although they're far from perfect.  But they have given me an idea of where the pattern needs adjusting and where I can do better.  I can see that they gape a bit at the sides particularly on the inside, so I'll sort that out next time I make a pair.  I think I'll also use a piece of sandpaper to scuff the toes a bit, as boys often have scuffed toes, don't they!!  All in all I think they will do him a 'turn' for the summer months until he gets his lovely boots from Ruthsdolls!!!! 

Apologies for the flash photos, they're taken inside my workroom!

After the shoes, I was just wondering about wigs and if the wigs I have here for my BJDs would fit Sasha dolls.  Of course I currently don't have anyone who needs a wig but as my brunette girl is losing her hair at a rate of knots, I thought I'd try a wig on Devlin, just to see the fit.  This is a very blond Monique Gold Roxie in size 8/9 which I've had a while and is currently being worn by my Volks SD10 Nana.  She has a big head so the wig has been stretched a bit and it fit quite well over Devlin's own lovely blond locks.

I think you'll agree that he looks very cute with this style, the wispiness really suits his little face!  But makes him look like a completely different boy!!

This is who the wig is normally worn by......I think she and Devlin both wear it well but in such different ways!!