StrangeRanger

Windows

Daisy loves her windows.  She watches the human traffic go by.  She plots to do violence upon rodents large and small (we have a groundhog/woodchuck thingie around here!) and any bird she might see.  She sends the foxes and stray dogs on their way.  She defends her turf from passing cats.  Especially Puddin' Cat and Crybaby.

But most of the time she just enjoys having a safe vantage point where she can watch the world revolve about her.  

It matters not if it's the back window...

You guys are gonna need to rake soon....

or the front windows.

ssshhhhhhh.......I'm spying on the enemy.....

Daisy was watching several robins hopping around the now-bare tomato garden.  Daisy didn't move anything but her eyes for about half an hour watching these feathery trespassers.

Daisy enjoys the dining room windows.  She keeps a good eye on the neighbor cats from her post on the ironing board.

They'd better NOT step over the property li...OH!!  THEY DID NOT JUST.... OOOOHH!!

But mostly, Daisy likes windows for another reason.  They're great places for her to look at....the insides of her eyelids.

Oh, go hang.  I'm still plenty alert.

I'd bet she is.

By the way, this is my first experiment using pics off my new (obsolete, cheap) phone.  I hope they are acceptable.

Have a good week ahead, all!

 

Gray Cat, Gray Day

On a cool gray day, sometimes Daisy just likes to relax on the couch and look out the window.

Here's to a great week ahead for all of us!

Get a long little kitty...

Daisy is not a big cat.  She's around 11 pounds, plus or minus.  When she's walking about she doesn't appear to be an absolute beast like Maddie was.  Daisy lacks the powerful Maine Coon barrel-chest.  Daisy doesn't display the Siamese long-leggedness either.  My visual impression of her is usually that of a lovely, somewhat cobby type of cat.  Then I turn around and Daisy gets long.  Really long.

I suppose that, as with all cats, she can alter her body's reality at will.  Will being cobby help you get under the dresser?  <poof!> Cobby.  Feel like having a nice stretched out relax on the couch? <poof!> Length galore!

You're just jealous!

Indeed I am, you wonderful, long beastie.

I'mo take my cobby self off to enjoy the Sunday.

Have a great week ahead!

We seem to be at a Crossroads....

I mean a literal crossroads for cats.  We've shown you all sorts of visitors in the past.  Here's the latest.

She's ( we think it's a she) been coming around for a while now.  She is extremely skittish and feral.  I stepped out the door once with some good, stinky food in hand.  Once she knew I'd spotted her, she was out.  

She's a pretty little thing (or handsome boy).  We call her Cleo (or call him, I dunno...Clovis? Cleon?)  She may be related to the black and white fellow we posted a few months ago.  They were nose to nose just a few moments before I took this photo.  Got a bad pic on my phone which I'll try to load, but it's a phone so you never know....  Cleo seemed a bit hissy about it but there was no violence.  

I do wish she was less skittish.  We could help feed her up....

She slinks well....

Hey!  I slink too, y'know!!  And I'm good at it!

How does Daisy feel about the wanderers?  She keeps a weather eye out for them and follows any and all feline interlopers around the house, staring them down through the windows.

At least the INSIDE is all mine.  My cat hair all over it means it's mine.

Yes, dear, it is.  Truer words were never spoken.

Hop you all have a lovely week ahead!

Gotchaversary Number 3

Monday will mark Daisy's third Gotchaversary!  The earth has traveled approximately 1,752,000,000 miles.  We've lived 1095.75 days.  We've logged countless treats consumed, Many hundreds of cans of cat food nommed, multiple thousands of calories burned in vigorous play and a non-trivial amount of my blood shed inthe role of favorite target dummy.  In the process, Daisy has grown from a lovely wee gray kitten...

...to a lovely grown cat!

She is a beautiful cat!

Daisy is a bright, lively, interested, caring but occasionally disruptive presence in our lives.  Daisy often rubs against our ankles as she walks by, wrapping her tail around a calf.  We call that a  "tail hug".  She likes ice cream and crumbs from sugar cookies.  Head pats and chin skritches are her favorite.  She likes to flop on my legs as we watch TV.  Sometimes she'll spend the night sleeping on my legs in bed but sometimes not.  Rarely, she'll crawl up on my chest around 7:00 a.m., lie down and purr.

It's awfully nice having her around.

This does not suck......

Have a wonderful week ahead, all!

Stubborn

Daisy is a smart cat.  Sometimes we think she's VERY smart.  Some other times?  Not so much.  One of our <ahem> issues is that Daisy has been very slow about getting the idea that cats are not allowed on the dining table.  She hops up while we're eating, while we're sitting and talking, while we're doing business or just hanging out.  She KNOWS the spray bottle, that enforcer of all unfair rules, sits, waiting for any infringement, but she still jumps up.  Is she that stubborn?  Does she simply lack impulse control? Does the tabletop have that alluring a siren song??

LadyRanger sits at the dining table with her laptop every Sunday morning and does her thing whilst I use the desktop in the sitting room to blog about Daisy.  Daisy starts the day by hoping on the table and then hoping off again after a spraying.  She then hops back up.  It takes several repetitions, but usually, after 10 minutes or so, LadyRanger brings me a damp gray kitty and shuts the two of us in the sitting room.

What is a damp cat to do??  I usually open the porch window for her.  Sometimes she has a nice relax.  Most often she plots her revenge and tries to knock stuff off LadyRanger's sewing desk.

I'm just gonna get up there again while you're asleep, y'know....

Besides, I can probably jimmy this screen, get on the roof, pop the chimney cap, rappel down the chimney (a-la Tom Cruise in Mission Improbable) leap the spark screen and hop right back up on the table!  You're wasting my time with this penny-ante confinement stuff, bucko.....

She probably will be up on the table again a couple more times today before we hit the bed.

She may be a stubborn gray noodleloaf, but she's our stubborn gray noodleloaf and we love her.

Resting from our labors. Again.

We wish you all a happy Labor Day!  We hope you all manage to enjoy a brief rest from the labors that sustain you.  You should follow the example of our lovely gray cat and spend some time enjoying the scenery.  Daisy, in those moments that she is not moving, enjoys a good relax on the ironing board.  

Never fear, the iron is off.

Daisy likes that spot 'cause she can keep a watchful eye out for Puddin' or little CB. Daisy does a great job alerting us to NOT GO OUT if those two intruders are there.

So, is it resting if she's really keeping watch?  I suppose so. Cats are talented multi-taskers!

Have a great week ahead, all!

Kletterer

Yeah, I went with one of the German words for climber.  I did that because Daisy looks a lot like a Nebelung and Nebelung is a faux-German word.  Tenuous, I know, but I've typed things far less apropos.

Anyways, I've often remarked that Daisy is a climber.  She is a very good jumper-up. Not so much a jumper-across, but up is her specialty.  She likes heights.  I suppose I could have called this post Stoner 'cause she likes getting high, but that wouldn't have really done Daisy much justice, on top of being a bad bad pun.

Daisy reached a new height yesterday.

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!!

You can see the stool she launched herself from.  I saw her setting up for the leap and was quite impressed when she stuck the landing.

What?  Jealous?

I surely am.  I did some climbing in my youth (at this place!) (actually climbed this route!).  But those days are past me, now.  Don't think I could make it to the top of the door without injury.  Daisy sure can, though.

Wait!  I can go EVEN HIGHER!!  Onward to the summit!!

She pressed on, but then realized two things that every seasoned climber knows....

Whoa, I'm high up!  And gosh, downclimbing sucks!

She made it back to the ground in once piece.  Might have had a little help, but the achievement is all hers.

Time for a Powerbar!

We have to get her a cat tree.  We've just got to make room for it.  Our bad.....

Have a good week ahead, all!

A small post

Well, I am officially back at it.  School, that is.  Last week I started classroom preparations for my 30th year of teaching.  If you take my entire life, from the day of my birth through right now, I've been a teacher longer than I haven't.  

Anyways, we're gonna have shorter posts for a while.  The first month to 6 weeks of school really takes it out of me.  I'm afraid your Daisy fix will have to be of a quicker nature than any of us would prefer.

Daisy looks a bit apprehensive in this photo...

What in this loving house could she possibly feel apprehensive about?

HER FAVORITE TOY!!

Don't worry.  She successfully gave it what-for.

This was shot a couple of weeks ago.  That toy is now bald and the stick is broken.  Daisy loves her toys to death.  Literally.

There's no other way to love a toy, is there?

No dear, there's not.

Have a great week ahead, all!

An Utterly New Experience

Summer means a lot of things here at ChezRanger.  It's always meant I have a time to recharge my batteries, getting ready to teach for another year.  Every once in a while it's meant a small trip.  It has often meant that I've been able to indulge myself in one of life's little pleasures:  a trip to the Zoo!  I've always loved going.  I get to see creatures that I'd never ever see in the wild.  Had a couple of firsts on this trip.  The Red Wolves were out, fairly active and near the front of the enclosure:

Both the Black Bears...

...and the Grizzly Bears were flirting with the camera.

The elk were so close that you could hear them as they ripped the grass from the ground.  

I don't know why, but I was entranced by that sound....

The otter was being playful right up front where folks could see him.

He did this over and over.  In truth, we were a bit worried about him.  Afraid that he's gone all Steve McQueen in the cooler....

We even saw an alligator.

Of course, the main point of any trip to the zoo is to see the cats.  We saw the pumas,

we saw the bobcat having a bath,

What?!

We saw the lions chillin'.  I swear I have never seen that male lion move a damn inch. You can see him in the back of this picture doing his best impersonation of a rug....

I think I figured out why they seemed so listless that morning (and it wasn't the 85 degree heat and 85% humidity, either!)

Apparently, they'd had quite the kegger the night before!  Even the Missus Lion was feeling the wear and tear...

Would you shut up?  I promise, when the savannah stops spinning I am going to eat you....

One of the biggest joys of our annual trip is seeing the Sand Cats!  Our zoo now has two of them.  I beg forgiveness in advance.  My pics are blurry and below even my usual standard.  I trust the grace and beauty and unalloyed cuteness shines through.

This is Cosmos, the zoo's original Sand Cat.

Here's the newest Sand Cat:

Regal, isn't she?

I didn't learn the name of the latest addition, but I believe she is Cosmos's intended mate.  Once they've gotten to know each other, filled out the eHarmony forms and all that.

Now we get to the utterly new experience for which I titled this post.  We happened to be waling by the giraffe enclosure...

hello......

...around lunch time.  It so happens that, for a mere $3 you can get on a deck and feed the giraffes!!!  Best $3 I ever spent!!!!!!!!!

This is Turbo...

...and this is Jack.

You rip romaine leaves into quarters and then let the giraffes stick out the longest tongues in the world, roll 'em around the leaf, and let'em go.  Giraffes really like romaine.  We weren't allowed to pet either of these boys, but there was some incidental contact.  Turbo even drooled on me!

Jack didn't seem to like me, or my camera.  He kept giving me serious side-eye.

I was sure to move slowly and keep quiet.  I think we parted as friends.

pppbbbbbttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or maybe not...  Anyways, I have been drooled on by a giraffe.  Another experience I never thought to have.  How very cool!

And at the end of this very long post you might be asking me, "And how did your very own wild creature put up with your trip?"  A fair question.  I'll let Daisy answer for herself.

Just pack me up and ship me to the zoo!  Maybe then they'll pay some attention to me!  Giraffe drool, for the love of Mike..... REALLY?!!?

Don't worry, snuggles and treats are on their way!

have a good week ahead!