Re-Visiting the Cobblestones While Dancing Between Raindrops

With it staying light later, I should be updating more during the week again.  I was going to head to the airport again tonight but I didn't see anything flying around.  Then I was going to head to downtown Ann Arbor again but it looked like it might start raining.  So I decided ot head back to the Cobblestone Park again.  While I liked the pictures I got last time, I thought I could do a little better.

 I stopped by the barnyard first.  Even thought I'm taking pictures of the same animals, there are always some variotions.  This time the horse was in a better spot for photographs and I'll have to say he is a pretty neat looking animal.

 This goat was pretty shy compared to the other goats.

 I love this look.

 The chickens were a little closer tonight.

 This guy was crowing for a while.

 I loved the patterns on this chicken.

 Same with this goat.  He was vying for attention.

 And I love this picture.

 Just a shot of the barn itself.

 This was one of the angles that I was not happy with last time.  I kind of like the way this is framed, I just wish the roof weren't beeing worked on.

 A shot of the front of the house.  I really love the cobblestone pattern.

 A closeup of the windows and you can see how intricate this pattern is.  I can now imagine why a house like this would take a while.  But I can also imagine this is a pretty solid house.

 I got a little closer yet.  I love the way these stones are angled.  Makes it look even more impressive.  When it is brighter out, I may have to try the looking down the stones shot.

 I may have to work on this shot a bit.  I didn't realize how crooked it looked.

 A shot from the back of the house.  I like how there is basically a second house attached to it.

 There are some old pieces of farm equipment laying around the area.  I kind of like the textures on this one.

 I may have to try this shot again as well.

 Same with this one.

 I'm not sure what kind of bird this is but I liked the look of his feathers.  His head was bobbing too much though and he didn't stick around long.

 The horse and goat.

 Three chickens.

 The horse's head.

 Not sure what kind of goose this is, but I like his looks.  He almost looks fake in this picture.

 Another piece of farm equipment.

 This is probably my favorite angle of the barn because it's the only angle where the barn actually looks old.  They modernized the rest of it.

And I'll end with a shot of the log cabin.

I kind of wish I had discovered this park sooner than I did.  Oh well....

Some Wildlife Around (and on) the Dam

I will admit that one of the reasons why I picked the Barton Dam was that I was hoping that I would get some pictures of some wildlife. Unfortunately, the river has been flowing too much for that and I haven't really ventured too far into the park itself. So I was happy to get some animal pictures.A painted turtle climbing the dam. In 1995, the painted turtle was designated as the state's reptile as it is the only turtle still common in the state. There are other turtles native to Michigan but they are rare. These turtles are snapping turtles, Blanding's turtle, musk turtle, spotted turtle, wood turtle and the eastern box turtle. When I was a kid, I would catch painted turtles and keep them as pets for the summer and let them go before the winter. I also had a couple baby snapping turtles.

A pair of ducks.

A Squirrel

Nothing special. Just a squirrel wandering around campus.



"Hey Buddy, can you spare some nuts"

Country Cat Clinic

When I got home from California, my cat wasn't his usual self. As I was talking to my mom, I noticed why...he had an ear hemotoma. So I took him to the emergency clinic to get his ear fixed. They got it fixed but I had to take him to another vet for a followup. A friend of my works for the Country Cat Clinic, so she took my cat there and they did a fantastic job. Today I had to take him to get his ear splinted and drained out again.

This is one of the cats they have there, he was a pretty friendly cat as he came right up to me and was very friendly. Not sure what his name is though.

This is another one of the cats they have there. He looked very cool and was laying in a basket decorated with holiday lights.

Anyways, Zappa is home now and he has a bandage around his ear. I'm pretty sure he will get better as the clinic seemed to take good care of him. I'd take a picture of him but he looks kind of silly with the radar dish around his neck.

Some Horses...

So I was going to pick up my cat from the clinic and right next to the clinic is a horse farm. Since I had my camera with me, I had to take pictures.

I really like the colors on this horse.

This horse was pretty cool too.

A closeup of the first horse.

Another shot of the orangish horse.

This was another horse they had on the farm.

Squirrels in the Diag

As I was wandering through the Diag, I saw these squirrels. Animal pictures are always fun even if they aren't very cooperative.

A squirrel hording his nuts.





I kind of like this shot. He has a look like, "You looking at me?"

The squirrel climbing the tree.

Rocky Raccoon....

So it seems that we have a family of raccoons that occasionally live in our dumpster. Tonight as I headed back from the botanical gardens, I saw a couple people looking down into the dumpster. Curious, I walked over there and saw what they were looking at. Conveniently I had my camera with me.

There were three of them in the dumpster. This is one of them and I really like this shot.

This one decided to stick around a little longer.