StrangeRanger

A sorry excuse for a post

Chez-Ranger has seen a few busy weeks in a row.  As a result I've no new pics of the girls to share, and not enough wit to extemporize.  I hope you will forgive me if I recycle a couple of old pics today.  I promise new and exciting feline goodness in weeks to come.

LadyRanger says I need more action shots.  Here's one of my favorites of Maddie, going to town on her catnip-laden squirrel:

Next up we have Ivy.  As she's an old girl, this is about as much action as we expect to see from her in a day.  Do note the extended legs.  As I've said before, this is not a stretch.  She can sleep like this for and hour at a time:

I understand that such lovely cats make up considerably for the sorry-ness of the human poster, but really, I'll try to give you all something new next time. 

The Sequel!

And here's episode #3!  Yay!

Three Cheers for Simon Tofield!  Here's the official Youtube Location. 

Garden Blogging

It's been a long time since I've garden-blogged, but since things are looking so good now, I figured I'd rectify the situation.  The lilly patch has been a colorful spot of joy in the summers.  Here are some of the reasons:

The large flowers are stargazer lillies, and the small yellow ones are a candy lilly/blackberry lilly hybrid (we think).

These are more hybrids of the same flowers.

And more of the same.  The neat thing is that these hybrids seem to all have sprung from the same plants without any interventions on our part.  The variation in color is fascinating, and each year we have something new come up along with the old favorites.

Apparently these hybrids are pretty tasty, too!  I got a few shots of a lovely visitor to the patch:

I think this is a female Spicebush Swallowtail.  About 5 inches from one wing-tip to the other.  From what I've read, the males have green hind-wings while the females have the irridescent blue.

 You can tell she's a survivor.  Her hind wings are ragged and damaged in a few spots.  LadyRanger and I were happy to have provided a spot for her to relax and refuel.  We were also grateful to her for adding a bit more beauty and grace to our home.

 

Catnaps

It's been a sleepy week for the cats, as the humans have been a bit busy.  Fortunately for Maddie, there's been plenty of sunlight shining in on the couch, one of her favorite napping spots. 

<sigh>...No one enjoys the simple pleasures as well as a cat!

As the weather has gotten warmer, Ivy has returned to her habit of napping, tummy-up, with her legs stretched up the back of the couch.  I tried to snap a pic of the latest cute-ness, but the camera's start-up chime woke her up and she twisted.  This resulted in one of those eerie cat-postures with the front half and the back half of the cat exactly 180 degrees opposed.  No harm seems to have been done.

Don't worry, I'm not broke!

Wish I could nap as well as the cats!

If you'd like to see a few shots of the cats' queendom (though no actual shots of the cats *in* the queendom) feel free to check out Garden Blogging.