StrangeRanger

Hard and Fast Rules...

...are not something Daisy usually goes for.  "No Cats on the Dining Table" usually means "I shouldn't get caught sitting on the dining table like this, but it's comfy so I think I 'll stretch out.." She at least knows that there are somethings she should not do (often) while we are right there.  She doesn't (often) jump on the table while we are having dinner.  There are some items, though, that intrigue her so much that the temptation is almost too strong to resist!

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Is it the yummy tomato salad, the divine spanakopita, the summery Allegrante wine that attracts her attention?  Nope.  It's the rose, cut fresh from LadyRanger's climbing rose bush. 

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She spared a passing sniff for the human's dinner, but she was really interested in chomping and stomping that rose.  Daisy gave it up as too risky once we sat down.  She went off and chilled in her basement fastness, dreaming of the day the humans would leave the rose on the table while they went out.  Oh, the revenge that would be....

Have a great week ahead, all!

May 15, 2022 in The Cats | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's been a minute...

We've had a few busy weeks here at ChezRanger.  Well, a couple were busy and one, at least, was kinda bleh.  We hope we're over the bleh, but busy should be the watchword here during the spring planting season.  We've gotten a large portion of the gardens in but still have a ways to go.  

Our back woodland shade garden has popped up.

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The woodland phlox and solomon's seal have put on their usual show, with a special guest appearance by our assortment of violets.

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We had an unusual visitor to the yard the other week. (trigger warning to da tabbies:  BIRD)

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This guy is a Northern Flicker.  He's a woodpecker!  I've know we have them in the neighborhood.  I've heard them time and again, but I almost never see them.  And here this guy is in my yard!

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He's got that bright red patch on the back of his head.  Most striking!  It seems that Flickers are comfortable feeding on the ground as well as headbanging on the trees.

I'm just thrilled that I actually saw a woodpecker.  It was a neat experience.

Daisy was less than impressed.

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I. Am. Ignoring. The. Bird.

She may be ignoring the bird, but she is beautiful doing it.

Have a great week ahead, all!

May 08, 2022 in The Cats, the garden | Permalink | Comments (1)

Happy Easter to All!

It's funny, I have Christmas pics and Thanksgiving pics, summer pics and winter pics, trip pics and home pics, but I have very few, if any, Easter pics.  Currently, daisy is enjoying her basement crawl-space so I'm not likely to be able to add an Easter pic today... I do have an Easter flower pic, taken back in 2012.

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The yellow flowers in the foreground are Wood Poppies. The heavenly smelling periwinkle cloud in the the background is Woodland Phlox.  We've still got them, too.  They seem happy with our little urban woodland, and we're very happy with them!

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It can be a lovely little garden.

Here's a pic from the time around Daisy's first Easter with us.

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Okay, I'ma hide under here tonight, and when da bunny comes to drop off the eggs, I'ma leap out and grab him and swat him nom him! hard!!  A lot!!!

Daisy, for all of her dainty good looks, is really just a classic ambush predator.  I wouldn't have her any other way.

We wish you all a very Happy Easter and a great week ahead!

April 17, 2022 in The Cats, the garden | Permalink | Comments (2)

Placeholder Post

Just a wee placeholder post today.

Have a pic of Maddie napping.

Maddie napping

I'ma try to be like Maddie today....

Have a great week ahead, all!

April 10, 2022 in The Cats | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just a quick vintage pic...

...from 4 years ago...

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Daisy loved to play then and loves to play now!

Have a great week ahead, all!

April 03, 2022 in The Cats | Permalink | Comments (1)

Different uses of the couch

Daisy loves the couch by our front windows.  It's always been a favorite lounging spot for our cats.  Daisy usually lounges *along the couch, all stretched out, paws crossed daintily in front of her.

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This morning, she sat at a right angle to the usual flow!

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Whatever for?  Was she bathing in the beauty of her reflection?

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If I were as beautiful as Daisy, I know that's what I'd be doing.  But, no... there was a different target for Daisy's attention.

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There were crows down on the street.  Crows. Walking. On. Daisy's. Street.  What was going through Daisy's mind?  Probably murder (of crows).

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Dude. Don't even turn around.....

Her mission was successful.  No crows currently on our street.  Further bulletins as events warrant.....

Have a great, crow-free, week ahead, all!

March 27, 2022 in The Cats | Permalink | Comments (1)

Saint Catty's Day!

Yes, I know that today is the day during which we are all a wee bit Irish.  I am grateful to the Emerald Isle for being willing to count me among it's honorary number.

But you should also know that today is the Feast Day of St. Gertrude of Nivelles, the Patron Saint of Cats!  It seems that the connection between Gertrude and Cats dates back to the dark ages of the 1980s, but it appears to be at least semi-officially sanctioned.  And now you know.

Here are three of St Gertrude's absolute faves!

Maddie:

Lazy3

Ivy,

Afterscare2

and Daisy.

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A Happy Saint Gertrude's Day to each of us!

March 17, 2022 in The Cats | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Vacation

A couple of weeks ago, LadyRanger and I celebrated our 30th anniversary!  We did something that we had never done before.  We went on a vacation!  We'd had stay-cations aplenty over the past 30 years, but we'd never gone anywhere with the express purpose of having fun and enjoying ourselves.  Well, we did that this time.  In spades!

We spent a few days at Barboursville Vineyards near Charlottesville. VA. 

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They have an inn and a few cottages.  We stayed in a cottage. Really lovely spot.

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At night, it was dark enough to see a vast amount of stars.  Very different from our little urban home on the highway.

There are historic ruins!

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This is the home of James Barbour, Governor of VA and Jefferson's Secretary of War.  Jefferson actually designed this house.  Very stately and impressive.

The Barboursville wines are a pretty scrumptious lot of wine, too!

We went to tour Monticello.  We have very mixed feelings about Thomas Jefferson.  He was obviously fine with enslaving a race of people so that he could live the life he wanted and that is despicable.  He did design an amazing house though.

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There were artefacts from the Corp of Discovery. These antlers were actually given by Lewis and Clarke to Jefferson.

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I'm a wee bit of a history geek and seeing these gave me a bit of a thrill.... For the history geek there are many cool moments in this house.

The famous polygraph:

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The famous, or infamous, alcove bed:

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Though, I never really pegged TJ as the 'vermillion curtains and coverlet' type of guy.  Interestingly, the door at the right is not a closet, but opens to a ladder the leads to a closet above the bed.  Apparently, TJ didn't like wasted space.

We saw TJ's own chess set:

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We saw the yellowest dining room in the world:

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I mean....wow.... Speaking of hating wasted space, there are mini-dumb-waiters on either side of the fireplace used to move wine bottles from the cellar below to the dining room.  Very James Bond, I think.

There's the tea room, separated from the dining room by double pocket doors!  Very elegant.

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Then there was the Dome Room:

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Given adequate airflow and modern climate control, I'd probably spend an inordinate amount of time in here....

We saw the kitchen, which, for some reason, was on the opposite side of the house from the dining room.

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Then there's the tunnel which runs under the length of the house, connecting the kitchen, the cellars and the wine cellar to the dumb-waiters under the dining room.

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The tour we were on did not stint on the below-stairs aspects of the house, nor on the less than admirable side of TJ's character and enterprise.  They have reconstructed many of the slave-cottages and manufactories.

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Sadly, the gardens were not in bloom.  Still, I have garden-plot envy.

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After Monticello, there were 2 more days of celebration.  These included wines at Horton Vineyards, which included wines I'd never even heard of, and a really, really, wonderful anniversary dinner at The Ivy Inn, in Charlottesville.  It is a wonderful place for a special meal.

Overall, this was a vacation that was well worth saving up for.  

The only flaw in the trip was that we had to leave Daisy behind!  She was well looked after, though.  And upon our return?

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You didn't even bring me a t-shirt, did you?

Alas, no... but fear not, Daisy was smothered in smooches upon our return.  She seems to have forgiven us.  That is, after a liberal application of deli-chicken.

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CHICKEN!?!?!

Have a great week ahead, all!

 

March 13, 2022 in Travel | Permalink | Comments (1)

Quick note...

Last Sunday, LadyRanger and I were off on a multiday trip and thus were unable to post.  We're still in recovery mode this week. I'll post some about our very enjoyable trip next week.  For now, rest assured that Daisy weathered our absence quite well, visited and fed by a good friend of ours.

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wait....they were....gone?  that was a different person?  I'm confused.

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yyyeeeaaahhhh.....I ...guess you look different...... um....welcome home?

Really, we think Daisy was glad to see us and we were surely glad to see Daisy!

Adventure pics next week.

Have a great week ahead, all!

March 06, 2022 in The Cats | Permalink | Comments (1)

A Cat in a Box.....

...that is all.

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And I have no idea why she looks so guilty!  Perfectly acceptable behavior around these parts....

Have a great week ahead, all!

February 20, 2022 in The Cats | Permalink | Comments (1)

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Recent Posts

  • Hard and Fast Rules...
  • It's been a minute...
  • Happy Easter to All!
  • Placeholder Post
  • Just a quick vintage pic...
  • Different uses of the couch
  • Saint Catty's Day!
  • The Vacation
  • Quick note...
  • A Cat in a Box.....
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