Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Shimshi (Plus a Special Surprise...)

Hallo, Effurrybuddies!

Here I am Again, the Mighty Shimshon (aka Shimshi aka The Little Purrince), Furrst of My Name, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard, wishing you all Shavua Tov (a Good Week) - and let's hope this time, it really will be a Good Week.

It is My Turn this week to repurresent the J-Cats in the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, as well as the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by the magnificent Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

So, without further ado, here is My Selfie:

Mummy always has a bit of a giggle when I sit like this, with my Paws tucked under, but by my sides. She says She has neffur seen any other kitty sit like this.

Have you?

She loves that pose so much that, for Our Caturday Art, She decided to purrpetuate it, with some help from PhotoFunia:

And now for the Surprise!  We aren't all that good at jigsaw puzzles, but We see that a lot of you like them, so, this week, for the furry furrst time effur, We decided to add a puzzle for you. It's only 60 pieces, so We are sure many of you will easily be able to beat Mummy's 12 minutes and 31 seconds!!!
(She really needs to purractice more...)

60Shimshi Framed in November




 

Now, before We set out on the Blog Hops, We want to remind you that the Evil Chinese Coronavirus is still lurking out there, so you and your Humans should remember to Socially Distance, wear your face-masks and Most Impawtant of all - Keep Washing Your paws!

Here are the blog hop badges:

                    

And off We go!

Caspurr's Colourful Caturday Art and Sleepy Sunday Selfie

Hallo again, Effurryone and Shavua Tov (a Good Week) to you all.

Except that it isn't!  We have just learned that yet another of our cyber anipals, Smores (the brofur of recently departed Furrsbook furriend, JulioDeCat) has gone to join his brofur at the Rainbow Bridge. 

Please visit his Mommy, Ilana, and leave her some words of comfort.

This year seems to get worse and worse, with effurry day that goes by! We just want it to be over!

We don't feel much like blogging when effurrything is so sad and dreary - but then We remember that the Social Distancing rules are keeping Us all apart physically so it's all the more impawtant to keep in touch by Cyber. Nobody - Feline or Canine or Avian (or, indeed, any other species of Living Creature) should have to feel Alone and Friendless. So, although We often feel We just want to curl up in a ball and be left alone to cry, We are going to join the Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies blog hops, hosted respectively by the wise and beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and by the magnificent Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet, and visit as many of Our Furriends as We pawsibly can. And We most earnestly urge you to do likewise.

So here is Our Caturday Art, featuring a collage from LunaPic of pictures of Me, Caspurr the Courageous. 

The art effects used are (clockwise from top left):
Sketch2, Beauty (which I purrsonify, Mummy says), Dreaming (which I no doubt was) and Monster (which I am not! Although sometimes, Trixie - and even Mummy - call Me one...).

It proved such an attraction that We were contacted by the management of the Burlington Arcade off Piccadilly in London (that's a swanky shopping mall, where Mummy likes to go window-shopping whenever she's in England - but could neffur afford to buy anything there, it's So Expensive!). They wanted to display the collage there.  Of course, We agreed.

This is the original picture, and it will serve as my Sunday Selfie this week. I was having a little snuggle in Mummy's lap (you see, She doesn't really think I'm a monster!), enjoying head and chin scritches and - if I remember rightly - Tummy Rubs too.

Here are the blog hop badges:

        

There is one more thing We want to mention before We go. A furry wise Human named Albert Schweitzer once said that there are two means of refuge from the sorrows of this world - Mewsic and Cats. Of cats, We have spoken at length. As for Mewsic - you remember that last week We mentioned that Mummy and her Caterwauling Club would be pawticipating in a concert at the weekend? Well, for those of you who weren't able to watch the concert over the live link on MewTube, here is a link to a recording of the concert.  (Mummy will probably write about it herself on her own bloggie later this week.) The broadcast starts at 3:09, there are a couple of interviews (in Hebrew) with the people responsible for producing the concert and the concert itself starts at 18:08.
Enjoy!

See you all again next week - and remember: observe all the Social Distancing rules in place for your purrtection and the purrtection of your Humans, make sure they wear their facemasks when they go out, and most impawtant of all - keep washing your Paws!


PS. We have tried to link to both blog hop hosts and failed - whether because of a glitch at Our End, or at theirs. We will try again later, or tomorrow.

Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Queen Trixie

 Hallo again, Effurrybody!

Shavua tov ( a Good Week) to you all.

It is I, Queen Trixie, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha-Kitty Extraordinaire, here again to welcome you to Our Bloggie and to update you on what's happening in Our Corner of the World.







As you may remember, last week, We were telling you about the pleasant weather and the lack of any water from the sky. Well, would you know it, within a few hours, the heavens clouded over and We were treated to a son-et-lumière display of magnificent dimensions! Lightning lit up the sky. Thunder-rolls from afar followed. Only one thing was missing - Skywater! That didn't make its appearance until later in the evening and when it did - boy, oh boy! 
It came down in BUCKETS. No. In BARRELS.  Mummy waited till it was quite late and She thought it had tempurrarily stopped, before going out to feed the Homeless Kitties - but She soon discovered her mistake. It had NOT stopped. It had merely changed to a fine drizzle. 

Anyway, it went on for several days, almost without paws, although it wasn't cold at all. Then it stopped and We have had several days of sunshine - only it's colder than it was when the skywater was falling, so yesterday, Mummy decided it was time to take down the eiderdown quilt from the top cupboard. It isn't a genuine eiderdown, because Mummy is allergic to the feathers, so the Evil Birdies are quite safe - from Mummy, at least (mol).

We hear that a lot of you are going back into Lockdown, just as here in Israel, We are starting to come out of it (but Mummy is sure we'll have another one in December, because they aren't waiting enough time between stages and the downward trend in new infections seems to have halted). At least it gives one plenty of time for reading - and if anyone wants some suggestions for what to read, Mummy made a few in Her Own Bloggie.

They are still not allowing public concerts here, because of the Evil Chinese Coronavirus, so this coming Saturday evening, Mummy's Caterwauling Club will be purr-ticipating in a Virtual Concert with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, of works by Mr. L. Van Beethoven: the Egmont Overture, the Fifth Piano Concerto and the Fantasia for Piano, Choir and Orchestra. If you would like to see the concert, it will be streamed live on the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra's Mewtube channel and their Furrsbook page. It is free, but you have to register in advance here.

Despite the Good News above, these past few days have been furry sad, kitties, with the departure of two more of Our Furriends for the Rainbow Bridge - sweet, beautiful Raven of the Indulged Furries blog and sweet, handsome Pipo of the Meezer's Mews and Terrieristical Woofs blog.  In fact, 2020  has been a purrfectly HORRIBLE year - what with the Evil Coronavirus, and so many anipals flying away to the Rainbow Bridge. We are hardly in the mood for blog hopping - but, on the other hand, the loss of so many of Our Furriends has taught Us how impawtant it is to stay in touch with those who are left, and not tell Ourselves that We can visit them another day. Because, all too often, that Other Day never comes.

So, as We do effurry week, We are joining the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie. Here is their badge:

And We are also pawticipating in the Sunday Selfies blog hop hosted by the sweet and indefatigable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.  Here is their badge:

You can see my Sunday Selfie at the top of this post. I was enjoying a beautiful sun-puddle there when Mummy came and disturbed Me, insisting I cooperate and star in this week's blog hops.

And here is the artified version - for which We used the Watercolour effect from LunaPic at 45%. With the help of PhotoFunia, We then placed it in a gallery where it can be admired by Humans of Good Taste.

Now, before We go, We would remind you once more to stick to all the Social Distancing rules designed to purr-tect you and your Humans, wear your facemasks and remember to keep washing your Paws. That way, you will be safe from the Evil Coronavirus.

See you next week.

Shimshi's Autumnal Caturday Art and Sunday Selfie

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

Shimshi here, wishing you Shavua Tov (a Good Week).

Well, Halloween has been and gone - not that it's celebrated here in Israel, except for sometimes showing some scary, Halloween-themed films on the TeeVee. Come to think of it, even that seemed to be missing this year. Oh! Wait! Maybe that's why they screened the opera "Macbeth" by Signor Giuseppe Verdi, based on the play by Mr. William Shakespurr. It's got the Three Witches in it, hasn't it? BUT - all those humans caterwauling away? Now THAT'S what We call scary (mol).

The weather is still not what you would call autumnal. The tempurratures are in the lower twenties Celsius and there is, as yet, no sign of skywater - but they say We might see some later in the week. Not that it really affects Us. It might affect Mummy, though, as the Second Lockdown is now starting to open up. And, of course, they are making the same mistakes as last time. The Humans are incapable of sticking to a Plan. There is always some special interest group putting on pressure to make them an exception to the rules and if they also have Pawlitical Clout - they get their way!

There is some Good News, though. This meowning, at two hospitals in Israel, they are starting clinical trials of a vaccine that has been developed against the Evil Coronavirus.

As usual, We are purr-ticipating in the Caturday Art blog hop hosted by the Beautiful and Wise Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and in the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the sweet Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

You can see my Sunday Selfie above. Mummy gave it a seasonal touch with the Autumn art effect from LunaPic, and then added the final polish by using the Autumn Frame effect from PhotoFunia.

Now, here are the blog hop badges:

              

Finally, We want to remind you (not that you need reminders, but maybe your Humans do, Humans being notoriously furgetful) that the Evil Coronavirus is still with Us, so it is impawtant to observe all the Rules put in place for your purr-tection, keep Social Distancing, and most impawtant of all - Wash Your Paws furrequently.

And now, it's time to start hopping between those bloggies!
Off we go!!!

                                     

Back To Business: Caspurr's Caturday Art And Sleepy Sunday Selfie

Hallo, Effurryone!

Shavua tov (a Good Week) to you all.

Sir Caspurr the Courageous here, Furrst of My Name, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces and King of the Tigger-Tabbies!

Well, last night We got back the Hour that was stolen from Us earlier this year, when the clocks were put back one hour and Summertime officially ended. I got to sleep an extra hour, as you can see, but I have to say, it's furry depressing when it gets dark so early. However, the weather is still summery - it's expected to remain in the upper 20s Celsius all week.  We did have one day last week when it rained heavily and there was thunder and lightning for a couple of hours - it was beautiful and the smell of the rain was sweeter than any purr-fume, Mummy says - but it was still warm. However, instead of the endless blue skies of summer, there are now little clouds in the early morning and towards evening, which make for beautiful sunsets, like this one:

Please note the birdie up at the top in the centre - a lucky shot of Mummy's.  It's a pity the birdie didn't come a bit closer, however. We would have liked to be able to "play" with it (mol)!

Now that We have Our internet connection back again, We are taking part, as usual, in both the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by our dear  Furriends the Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Here are the blog hop badges:

    

        

You can see my Sleepy Sunday Selfie above. Mummy was thinking about how lovely it will be when the museums and art galleries finally open up again and that must have influenced her sub-conscious when she created this week's Caturday Art (with a little help from PhotoFunia):

Now, as usual, before We go blog-hopping, We want to remind you all that the Evil Chinese Coronavirus is still with Us, and so it is furry impawtant for your Humans to keep Social Distancing and wear their facemasks (prefurrably with kitty faces on them).
And Most Impawtant of All - Wash Your Paws furrequently!

See you next week.

Angel Possum's Meowmorial Selfie

Greetings, Anipals!

We're a bit late posting this week, due to being without internet for a couple of days,  and We have missed the deadline for the Caturday Art blog hop, but We still have one more day to take part in the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

As today is the eighth anniversary of the day Possum the MagnifiCat received his Angel Wings, instead of posting a selfie of one of Us, We are going to post some pictures of Possum. This isn't by any means a Guest Selfie, because Possum and his sisfur, Angel Pixie, were the Founders of this Bloggie and this will always be his Home.

Possum sent Us a message from the Rainbow Bridge, telling Us which were his favourite pictures out of the many We had to choose from. Each of them tells a story, of course - so let's start.

Furrst of all, here is a picture of Possum when he was quite a young kitten (Mummy doesn't remember exactly how old he was when this was taken) - he had already made it quite clear that, young as he was, he was the boss and the bed belonged to him.

After all, a kitty spends much of his or her time napping and the existence - or lack - of a cosy, comfortable spot for that all-impawtant activity is a pawsible Dealbreaker when it comes to choosing one's Residence, is it not?

At all events, Possum seems to have been furry satisfied with his choice:

One of Possum's idiosyncrasies (Goodness! What a BIG word - mol) was the way he used to sit on the the armchair, with all four paws dangling down on each side of the armrest:

You can only see one leg here - but you get the general idea, don't you?

Like Caspurr, Possum absolutely loved having his tummy rubbed. Many a time, he would jump on the sofa next to Mummy, roll over on his back with his legs in the air, and demand his due. And Mummy could neffur resist:

Finally, here is a picture of Angel Possum displaying the extraordinary floofiness of the tail for which he was justly famous, and which earned him the name "The MagnifiCat". A more magnificent tail it would be hard to imagine!

This latter is the picture which will repurresent the J-Cats in the aforementioned Sunday Selfies blog hop, whose badge is herein displayed:  

We love it when Mummy tells Us about Possum and Pixie and Minxie, the kitties who came before and We are proud to be the Guardians of their Legacy. We hope that this post will bring fond meowmories to those of you who knew Angel Possum - and will be of interest also to those of you who did not have that purrivilege.

Now, before We go, We want to remind you once again to make sure your Humans continue to stay safe, wear their masks, keep socially distancing and above all (this is to you too, kitties!) - WASH YOUR PAWS FURREQUENTLY.

Okay - it's time to blog hop!

Trixie on the Telephone: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurrybody!

Have you noticed how Humans seem to have no sense of Timing and are always calling Us to come and take Selfies at the most inconvenient meowments?

For example, I was awaiting a furry impawtant telephone call when Mummy burst onto the scene and demanded begged that I repurresent the J-Cats in this week's Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena  and her HuMum, Marie, and in the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by the lovely Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

No, I was NOT anxiously awaiting a call from a Mancat!  As if!!!  I, Trixie, Queen of Hearts, am at no Mancat's beck and call!

If you must know, I was waiting for the pet supply shop to call back with news if they had what I wanted Mummy to buy.

This picture is Our Entry in this week's Sunday Selfies Blog Hop - and here is their badge:





We artified it with a Halloween theme from PhotoFunia, for the Caturday Art Blog Hop, whose badge we present below:

Halloween is not celebrated here in Israel, but since Our own High Holy Days and festivals are now over, and We have nothing until Hanukkah, in two months time, We'll take what We can get (mol).

So, what do you think? Spooky Black Cat surrounded by Pumpkins. Not bad, huh?

We are still in almost full lockdown here, but there are hopes for a partial easing of restrictions next Sunday. In any case, many Humans are openly defying the regulations - which We think is furry foolish of them. Not Mummy, though. As usual, She is being a Goody Two-Shoes Law-Abiding Citizen and sticking to the Letter of the Law. 

We need you all to understand that the regulations are for Your Own Good. We don't want you getting sick and unable to care for Us. Besides which, We sort of love you. I know, We don't always say it,  but if this Pandemic has taught Us one thing, it is that you can neffur be sure your Loved Ones will be here tomorrow and if you wait to tell them you care - it may be Too Late.

So remember, Effurryone - remember to stick to the rules and regulations. They are there to keep you safe from the Evil Chinese Coronavirus. Make sure your Humans do so too. Remind them, if they must go out, to wear their facemasks, keep to Social Distancing guidelines, and always - but always - wash their paws.

And now, Shavua Tov - have a Good Week. And let's BLOG HOP.