FROM MRS Patmore to Lady Sybil, these barking mad illustrations show the WOOF-er side of some of our most loved Downton characters. The art works entitled 'Houndton Tabby', were designed by illustrator and artist Kim Parkhurst, 39, after she combined her love of drawing and Downton Abbey. 'I've been painting portraits of animals in historical costume for some time,” explains New Yorker Kim. “I've taken some familiar and beloved characters whose demeanour, personality, and appearance seemed to translate to certain breeds of dog or cat. 'I got to thinking about Mr Bates' character and storyline, and Brendan Coyle's facial structure, and how he could look hard but also had the warmest, kindest eyes.
Staring death in the face, a little field mouse bravely confronts a hungry cat .
A disabled sheep is enjoying a new fleece of life after receiving a specially-designed wheelchair .
A lazy tree frog, tired of hopping along a branch, chooses the slowest form of transport when it jumps on top of an unsuspecting snail .
A photographer has captured stunning photographs of the Milky Way above picturesque landscapes in the UK and Italy .
A BRITISH couple are the first to tie the knot inside an enormous GLACIER in Iceland .
This starling and prairie dog will not back down an inch as they have a fearsome stand-off over who gets to eat a nut .
AN American accountant has grown the world's biggest MELON and smashed his way into the record books with his mammoth 350 .
SOARING through the air, this is the moment a hungry tawny owl arrives home with dinner .
IN THE not so MISTY MOUNTAINS of Wiltshire, there lies an abandoned hobbit house .
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .
A lively lemon shark grins into the camera and showcases his impressive teeth .
TOMORROW (Saturday) marks the 28th anniversary of the nuclear disaster that left the city of Chernobyl devastated .