StrangeRanger

Violence, Mayhem and Economic Irresponsibility

Pretty much the norm at ChezRanger, ever since we adopted Daisy Destructo and the Gray Tail of Doom.  Seriously, this cat is why we can't have nice things.

But sometimes the Tail of Doom has nothing to do with the violence.  Sometimes it's the teeth and claws, both front and back, that do the damage.  And Daisy is quite opportunistic in her attempts to vent her rage.  Case in point: we accidentally left a new paper towel roll where she could easily get to it (easily, by violating one of the human rules that she knows full well!). Behold the results!

Really, there should have been crime scene tape around the kitchen.  It was brutal.

And, in these times.... A ROLL OF PAPER TOWELS?!? Where are we gonna find one to replace it?  I mean, I know a guy, but he charges big money for these and breaks legs if you don't come thru on the repayment....  LadyRanger and I realized at once that we need to make Daisy aware of the ENORMITY of her crime!  We went to find her and talk to her, heart-to-heart.  What did we find?  The very protrait of a self-satisfied kitten.

It needed killin'

This is why we can't have nice normal, everyday household items....  <sigh>.

We hope your week has seen less destruction.  We hope for you a great week ahead!  Stay Safe!

Tired and Lazy, part the second....

It's been one of those tired and lazy, no-motivation weeks.  Been all I can do to keep with with my professional responsibilities.

Really, I guess the motivation part is what's really lacking.

Today you get a couple of vintage tummy-up pics.

And...

And... (it's not as peaceful as the previous two pictures, but Daisy is an active kitty!)

I'll be more on the peaceful edge of the scale once chores are done!

Have a great week ahead all, and stay safe!

Creative Uses

As I've said many and many a time, the cats have always loved, loved!!, the papa-san chair.  We've even stopped calling it the papa-san and call it the cat-nest.

Ivy loved it. 

I love this papa-san!

Maddie loved it. 

I love this papa-san!

They even had cat-slap-batles over it.  But they loved nestling down in the hollow of the chair, surrounded by comfiness and cradled in pillowy delight. 

Daisy makes use of all the papa-surfaces.

I LOVE THIS PAPA-SAN!!

Daisy maximizes her enjoyment and suits it to all occasions.

But of course!  Isn't that what all discerning cats do, John?

I suppose it is, dear.

We had a rather brief but cool event in our town.  The Air National Guard had a C-17 fly-over to salute the front-line COVID personnel.  I actually got a shot of it as it came by.

Apparently, C-17 is military code for "loud vehicle that is so big folks wonder how it can actually fly".

I hope that the current crisis is treating you all as well as can be expected.  I hope you all have a great week ahead!

Tired and Lazy

I am tired and lazy today.

Have a vintage picture.  It's one of my faves from years past.

Proof positive that Maddie and Ivy could peacefully share a room if one of them was asleep.  And I think Ivy looks adorable in her lion-trim.

 

Another day in stir

Actually, I can't really say that with any justice.  I am doing fine not going out.  I don't really have any great desire to go shopping or see a movie in a theater or anything like that.  I do miss being able to do my job with my kids and my colleagues.  All this elearning that we're planning and preparing is not close to the same.  I think that the vital part of my job comes in the face-to-face interaction with my students.  Even through video-conference, that is lacking.  Teaching at one or two or fifty removes just ain't getting it done.

I also miss seeing my good friends on my guy's night. I don't really have an urge to go out and mingle with the masses, though.

I think that one reason I'm coping so well is that I have a lively home life.  LadyRanger is intelligent, quick-witted and one of the few people on earth who can reliably make me laugh.  So is Daisy.  She is an antic little gray ball of entertainment.  As I've mentioned earlier, she seems to be settling into adult cat habits.  Sometimes she its still for as long as 8 minutes! In A Row!  That's when I bother her with the camera.  She does like looking out her windows.  And the weather's been so nice that we've been able to open them, so she can sniffy the breeze.  That makes her happy.

The delight I feel in home is also supported by the fact that we are lucky enough to have time to indulge in some of our hobbies.  We've done some yard work (poison ivy can die in a fire). We've also been able to do the prep work for some of our more elaborate Saturday dinners.  I put together some creole spices and mad some shrimp stock over the last couple of weeks.  last night we sat down to homemade shrimp etouffe!

Just lovely.

I hope you all find as much happiness during this time as I do.

Have a great week ahead, all, and stay safe!

Growing up

Daisy has always been a very, well, kittenish kitten.  Kind makes sense since she's not 4 years old yet.  She has always had an active disposition and a very playful sense of fun and affection.  Sometimes ehr affection is distinctly sharp and pointy, as when she grabbed my arm the other day and went to town with her back feet, same as she would on a litter-mate.

Daisy has shown some signs of encroaching, calm maturity.  She has recently discovered that the blanket stack, long the cherished abode of the discerning feline, is a lovely place to while away an afternoon.

This'll do.

That blanket stack has been the prime spot for cats over the years.  I'm delighted that Daisy has made it her own, now. 

She's also still quite active.  In no way has she settled into senior cat behavior.  She actively explores and patrols her environment.  She still drags toys onto the bed at 2:00 in the morning for a play.  She is a vibrant, enterprising girl.  She has started showing more stereotypical cat behavior.  She didn't do that a lot at first.  Daisy was a bottle-baby and didn't have a mom to teach her the joys of things like boxes.  As a result, Daisy has been a bit late in learning about those.  She is starting to pick it up, though.

 

What?
 Yes.  I know that the pic is weird... the platform doesn't like rotating my phone pics for some reason.  I'll work on it.  

Anyways, Daisy's encroaching young adulthood has also resulted in a couple of lap sits, too, so it's a win for all of us, I think!

I hope that you are all as well as can be, and that things are going well for you during this whole crisis.

Have a great week ahead, all!

 

No Big News Today

I hope our National Crisis is treating you all as well possible this week.  

This week at ChezRanger has been pretty quiet.  LadyRanger did the grocery run on Monday.  Brought home all we need for two weeks so we're good on that front.  As far as I know, all our friends and family are safe and well.  My brother, whom I've often chafed, has been declared essential in his role as pizza-delivery (not to mention his role as brother!).  LadyRanger whipped up a couple of masks for him.  I hope he actually wears them!

School, such as it is, is now in Easter break.  My kids get a break (theoretically) from having to do on-line assignments.  I know I get a break from having to plan them.  It's been a different sort of difficult, doing that.  I will say that compared to the daily stresses of being a classroom teacher, it is easy enough duty, just kind of frustrating.

One thing that I find interesting is that I think I'm handling this whole social isolation rather well.  I guess it's the result of my daily job being so fullof so many people no further than 4 inches from my face 90% of the day.  This has been a rest for me, instead of a chore.  We'll see how it continues.

ChezRanger has been enjoying spring.  Did some yard work (not on school time, of course!!) and, save for an unfortunate bout with poison ivy (which can all die in a fire) things have been lovely.  We're working on tomatoes from seeds.  Let you know how that works out....

The one major area in which I have fallen down is picture-taking.  No new pics of Daisy.  Sorry!  I'll get on the stick and take some at some point.  Still in adjust to the new reality mode, I guess.  I think you'll enjoy a vintage pic I have, though.  A pic of a cat who really knew how to enjoy a break.  Here's Ivy.

In the spirit of Ivy, I wish you all a peaceful Easter and a lovely week ahead.  Stay safe!

A low, morning sun, a papa-san....

...and a cat.

More specifically, our cat.

Daisy seems to have made peace with the new world of shelter-in-your-papa-san.

And she looks good doing it.

Have a great week ahead, all, and stay safe and well!

Working from Home

Well, starting up week three of working from home.  Another week of planning for my kids, most of whom are doing no work even though I'm poking and prodding them and their parents as best as I can from a distance.  I've got a few, though, that are doing everything they need to do, and that's a good feeling.

I've learned some new technological tools during this adventure in distance teaching.  I've learned how to screencast!  Broke out an old gaming mic a friend had given me and started doing vocab pronunciation guides and a read-aloud!  I read "We Don't Eat Our Classmates" by Ryan Higgins.  It's a great book!

And it guest stars Daisy!  Who, since we're at home all the time is sorta my classmate.  And yes, her trying to eat me does figure into the story.

But it has been nice being at home with LadyRanger and Daisy.  Daisy does make it hard to work, though.  Here she is "helping" me take the photos of the book for my read aloud.

Is this book about me?  You could do a "screenCAT"!  Get it?

Well, yes.....kinda.....

Good!  Everyone wants to know about me!

She finally got bored and moved on to other toys and I got my work done for that hour of the day.  She then proceeded to distract me in another, completely cat-like fashion.

You don't mind if I go absolutely psycho-kitty on my toy right here at your feet while you're trying to do important work for you job that brings in all our kibble.  Do you?

No dear, of course I don't.  Carry on.

Very well then.  I go on!

And, then she did!

As much as I'd rather be in my classroom doing my job with my kids, it is a delight to be home with my family.  Not always easy, but quite rewarding.  

I think Daisy is enjoying it a bit, too.  Though it's probably only the toy.

I love my toys.....

She got pretty twisty down by my feet.  I need to do a bit of make-up work now, but it's worth it to watch her enjoy herself so much.  

Have a great week ahead, all and stay safe and well!

Catblogging during Quarantine

Not gonna get much of today, actually.  It's been a long and wearing week.

First, no one in our home has the bug.  Nor have any of my friends or family gotten it.  

Second, I am in one of the many, many school systems who have been closed down for at least two weeks. Now, this closure was accompanied by a declaration that we would continue to provide some educational activities for our children.  This has meant that school staff, from Central Office on down, has been scrambling to figure out what to do for our kids.  It seems to have mostly fallen on administration to provide the platforms, and on us teachers to provide the meaningful activities, monitoring and assessment.  We've been given precious little guidance as to what we actually need to do (which is sadly normal) or how we need to format activities, assess and grade them, or monitor the number of students who have actually done them.  We're building this airplane as we're flying it.  Really, it seems that we're designing, drafting, cutting, sewing, testing, revising and reconstructing the parachute after we're been tossed out of the plane.  Top it off with the fact that we're working on a poorly designed, poorly coded, blogging system that teachers across the nation have to use, that is being completely overwhelmed by the numbers of people who have to use it daily, and you get a Charlie Foxtrot of epic proportions.  The only good thing about this is that the "oh no!  our system is swamped due to the massive numbers of users" screen in a cute drawing of a kitten tangled in a skein of yarn.  "Kitten Detangling units are being sent out".  Really?  It just makes people hate kittens.

What?!?

Nothing dear, you are always lovable!

Our State Superintendent (of whom I an not a fan) has said that we are not coming back on April first, as previously anticipated.  I have no idea what's going to happen with this school year and I'm really rather apprehensive about it.  

One group of people in the public schools that I do really want to give a shout-out to are our SCHOOL CAFETERIA LADIES!!!!!  WOOHOO!!  They have been on site every day making bags of breakfasts and lunches for anyone 18 years old and younger.  They've been handing them out and loading buses that take the food where it needs to go.  I've always had a profound respect for these unsung heroes of the school day.  That respect is expanding exponentially in this public health crisis.

And note: these ladies ain't gettin' an extra dime outta this work.

Next time you're at your child's school, take the time to say thanks.  These ladies are the absolute best.

The one creature who's had the most trouble adapting to my new work-at-home-mode has been Daisy.  She's more than smart enough to know that something is a bit different.

Wait....you're not sick....it's not the weekend....I don't see any holiday decorations up....it's not summer......WHY ARE YOU HERE?

She'll figure it out at some point.  

Wish me luck all.  I'd really like to get back in my classroom.  I'll wish you all, and everyone else, luck right back.  Stay well!

Have a great week ahead!