Remembering Angel Pixie

Greetings, Fellow Felines!

That is how Pixie and Possum, who came before Us, used to greet their readers. We are doing it also, because today's post is dedicated to the memory of Pixie, who flew away to The Rainbow Bridge six years ago come Shabbat, on December 23rd, 2011.

As you already know, We neffur had the purr-ivilege of purr-sonally meeting Princess PixieCato, as she was known. She left for The Bridge before any of Us were even born, leaving Mummy, and her brofur Possum, heartbroken. But Pixie wouldn't want Mummy to remember her with sadness. So, as is Our Custom, rather than mourn her passing, We are going to celebrate her Life, as Mummy shows Us pictures of Pixie, and tells Us stories about her. The History of Those Who Went Before is part of the Heritage of effurry Cat.

Many of the best pictures of Pixie were taken before the Digital Age and it is furry interesting to help Mummy go over her old photo albums and pick out pictures purr-inted on glossy paper, taken way back in the day when humans took pictures on film, which then had to be taken to a special shop and "developed"! Imagine that, kitties! Who would have believed humans could have been so purr-imitive (mol)!

But We digress.
Like all of Us, Pixie was furry tiny when she came to live with Mummy. Mummy was looking for a companion for Possum, who had already chosen Mummy, a few weeks earlier.  She was one of four litter-mates, and her foster-Mum called her Elsa. But when Mummy met her, Pixie whispered to her that her real name was Pixie. 

And so it was.

This is a furry early picture of Pixie, wrestling with Possum - who let her beat him (that didn't last furry long).

As you can see, this is one of the early, non-digital photos that Mummy had to scan into her computer.

Here is another:





After they grew up, Possum, who was bigger and stronger, used to win most of the wrestling matches However, Pixie did manage to retain her pawsition as Queen of the Castle:

Mummy's favourite picture is the one of Pixie and Possum that She uses as the banner for Her Own Blog.

Pixie was a great believer in keeping fit and would exercise regularly, in order to preserve her svelte, ladycatlike figure:

On the other hand, she was also a great believer in snoozing (as are WE!):



When she was a young ladycat, like so many teenagers, Pixie used to spend what Mummy thought was rather too much time watching TV:





However, she grew out of that, and developed Other Purr-suits. For example, 
she loved shopping:

When necessary, she could be fierce: 

But mostly, she was Regal:

This is one of the last pictures Mummy has of Pixie, taken three weeks before she left for the Rainbow Bridge. She was already furry sick by then, but it doesn't show so much in this picture. Mummy has later pictures, right up to Pixie's last day with her, but they show how sick Pixie was, and they make Mummy's eyes leak so much that she can't bear to look at them - yet she can't bring herself to destroy them. So We won't post them, and We will leave you with Two Pixies, in a sunpuddle. Pixie adored sunpuddles.

Furgotten!!!

Greetings, Effurrybody!

I have been gravely insulted, kitties! I am wounded to my furry core!

Who would have thought She could have done such a thing?!

How could She furget such a Miaouwmentous Occasion as My Gotcha Day?

How could She have furgotten that just over Five Years Ago, on November 12th, 2012, I, Trixie, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha-Cat Extraordinaire, bestowed upon Her the Inestimable Honour of taking up residence in Her Humble Abode?!

How could She furget such a thing? The Nerve of Her! The - the - the Chutzpah!

Words (almost) Fail Me!

I don't know how to punish Her, but punished She must certainly be!

(What's that you say, Human? You were busy? With feral kitties? Intruders? Purrhaps you would like Me to sing the Song of My People to you all night long? Huh? Huh? Is that what you want?)

Kitties, you see what I have to deal with here? What would you do if your Human grew so neglectful?

(What is it this time, Human? You want to make it up to Me how exactly?) 

She's insulting Me again, Kitties! As if I could be won over by a Miserable Bribe...

(How many extra cans of Fancy Feast, Human? Louder please. Can't hear you!)


To get back to the Question of Her Punishment...

(What is it now, Human? You'll buy me what? An Ess? Hmmm. I've heard that one before.)


Shall I furgive her, kitties? She has been furry busy, although I don't know if looking after Strange Feral Kitties is a Sufficient Excuse for Furgetting Moi. What should I do?

(Don't think I don't know what you're up to, Human! Just because you are now being purrmitted to give Me chin scritches, and snorgle my tummy - mmmm - and scritch my head in the exact place behind My Impurrial Ears where I like best to get head scritches, doesn't mean that - I - furrgive - you - mmmiaow. 

Purr. Purr. Purr.





Purr. Purr. Purr.

Purr.

Purr.

Mummy's Mission of Mercy

Greetings, Effurryone!

It is I, Caspurr, King of the Tigger-Tabbies.

It is MY TURN to write the blog today, so I will start off with a couple of new portraits of Myself - just in case any of you Ladycats out there have furgotten how Handsome I am - as if that were possible (mol).

I know I look rather wistful in these portraits. That's because there is something sad about autumn. Mummy says She also suffers from Seasonal Depurression.

Now, We have some Seriously Impawtant News to impart.

It's like this. The Municipality has been replacing the large green garbage dumpsters known colloquially as "Frogs" (get it?) all over the city, with underground dumpsters. That means, of course, that all over the city, feral kitties have been deprived of a major food source, because they can no longer get into the dumpsters to rummage for discarded food. They have been doing it neighbourhood by neighbourhood and last week, it was the turn of Our Neck of the Woods. So Mummy and some other people who live in the 'hood decided to feed the poor homeless kitties and Mummy has been going out effurry evening with a supply of cat food and distributing it near where the dumpster in Our Street used to be. She has no idea how many kitties used to feed at the old "Frog" dumpster so She has had to rely on guesswork. The first evening, she put out enough for about a dozen kitties and the following day, it was all gone. The same thing happened for several days in a row and in all that time, she didn't see a single kitty.

By Friday evening, there was a kitty waiting for her, although that kitty stayed half-hidden in the shadows till Mummy was about to leave. The following evening, there were already three kitties waiting for her. One of them even started eating while Mummy was still putting down food a couple of metres away. And last night, the three kitties were waiting there again and this time, as soon as Mummy had set down the first pile of food, one kitty came up to her, mewing, and followed her from place to place and even stuck her little nose right into the food as Mummy was putting it down.

In a couple of hours, Mummy will go out again on her Mission of Mercy. We can't wait to hear how many kitties She will meet this evening.

Remembering Angel Possum

Greetings, Effurryone!

Five years ago tomorrow, on October 21st 2012, Possum the MagnifiCat received his Angel Wings. As is Our Custom, We honour his Memory, as We honour all the Kitties who came before Us and who have flown off to the Rainbow Bridge, by posting pictures of him and reminiscing about his Magnificence.

We did not have the purr-ivilege of knowing him purr-sonally, so We love to hear Mummy tell Us stories about him, and about his sisfur, Angel Pixie.

We know that many of you out there remember him, and if you would like to, We would love for you to share your memories with Us.

So for starters, here is a picture of Possum on the furry day he was gotcha-ed. In fact, Mummy will never fur-get that day. She had just arrived home on an overnight flight from Prague, having gone without sleep for over 24 hours, and Grandpa and Step-Grandma phoned, at about half past seven in the morning,  to welcome her home and ask her if she wanted a new kitty. A grey and white kitty girlie, Grandpa told her, whom Step-Grandma had found. Of course, Mummy said yes, because She was furry lonesome after Angel Minxie had flown off to the Bridge a couple of months purr-eviously.

Well, to cut a long story short, they brought Possum round right away. Mummy took one look and saw that he was actually a Baby Mancat - partly white and partly brown tabby and covered with fleas! See how tiny he was!

But Mummy cleaned him up, and fed him and he grew - 

and grew - and grew, into the MagnifiCat who, together with his sisfur Pixie, took the Blogosphere by storm, once Mummy realised the Purr-tential of the Internet (mol).

And Mummy had over 17 wonderful years with him, until the day, five years ago, when the Great Cat in the Sky called him, and he flew away to the Rainbow Bridge leaving Mummy with a Void in her heart. 

We do our furry best, but effurry kitty has their own Special Place in their pawrents' heart, which no other kitty can fill. When Our turn comes to receive Our Angel Wings (which We hope won't be for many, many years to come), there will be more Empty Places in Mummy's heart, but We know there will always be room there for another kitty - just as there was room for Us -  because Mummy has a furry big Heart.

Now Mummy's eyes are starting to leak and it's getting hard for her to type. We didn't mean to make her sad, so We will let her stop now and snuggle up with her furry close.

And to all of you, We will wish Shabbat Shalom.

New Year's Greetings

Hallo there, Effurybuddies!


Mummy just got  back the day before yesterday from England, where she was visiting with Our Uncle (the one who claims he isn't really a Cat Purrson, even though he lives with two Cats). Getting back two days before Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year), she was so busy cleaning up our mess obliterating Our Redecorating Efforts, as well as shopping and cooking for the Holiday, that She had no time even to show Us her pictures from London, let alone lend Us the use of her Opposable Thumbs to write Our Blog. If We had been able to do so, We would have told you how We got along with the Food Lady (Our downstairs neighbour, who is actually afraid of cats, but who came to feed Us effurry day, neffurtheless).



Now that She has got all that out of the way, there is just about time for Us to wish you all Shana Tova (שנה טובה - a Happy New Year).

On Being A Black Cat

A Poem in Honour of Black Cat Appreciation Day  August 17th, 2017


I am a Black Cat.
How great is that!
I sit on the Mat.
That's where I'm at.

I am the Queen
Of the whole scene.
I have ALWAYS been.
Know what I mean?

I have the knack
To lead the pack.
There's NOTHING I lack.
I'm a Cat who's Black.


By Queen Trixie, the Black Panfur, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha-Kitty Extraordinaire

This Is Trixie's Day

Hallo, Effurryone!

I bet you are all thinking that this is Trixie, writing today's blog.

WRONG!
It is I, Caspurr - King of the Tigger-Tabbies.
Shimshi and I want to let you in on a Secret.
Today is Trixie's Birthday! She is Five Years Young Today.

So Shimshi and I have organised a Surprise Pawty for her, at 5 pm Israel Time, in Our Trixie's Favourite Spot, up at the Enchanted Forest overlooking the Old City.

Shhhhh. Not a word. Shimshi has devised a plan to get her there without arousing her suspicion, but We are counting on all of you to be ready and in place when she arrives.

Now remember - this is a Secret. Not a miaow to Trixie until it's time for the Pawty to start.

Did I mention that there would be lots of niptinis, catmint juleps, micecream, tuna mousse, salmon sorbet, effury possible type of Fancy Feasties, et CATera, et CATera, et CATera (mol)?

Oh - and Birthday Cake!

We are sorry about the Last Minute Notification. We only got back home yesterday from the World CAThletics Championships in London - about which We shall tell you in Our Next Post.

Meanwhile, We are looking forward to seeing you this afternoon.
Get ready to pawty - and to make Trixie's Special Day even more special.

Mummy's Inner Cat

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!


It is sooooo hot here, in the mid-30s Celsius, and no respite in sight. Mummy is too tired to play with Us, because of the heat and furr-ankly, We Ourselves are too hot to move about much. The heat is making Us all furry sleepy, including Mummy - and when We do wake up, We are BORED.


Mummy does her best though. She tried to amuse Us with this video She made of herself, purr-tending to be a Kitty. 


It's not too bad - considering She only has two legs, not four, and no fur to speak of, so We give her Full Marks for Effort.  But Oh My! - whoever taught Her to speak Cat??? That accent!!!


How is it possible to mispronounce a simple word like Miaou?!












What do YOU think, anipals? Does Our Human have a future as a Cat Impurrsonator? 

The Gang's All Here

Hallo again, Effurrybody!

We are back!!!

It has been a zillion years since We last posted - and, as usual, it is all Mummy's fault. She was so busy with her Caterwauling Club's activities and planning her Daddy's Birthday Party, that We were Woefully Neglected.

And then, to cap it all, She went swanning off to Russia, of all places, with her Caterwauling Club friends, to take part in some Festival, leaving Us in the care of her Stepsister, Auntie Yuli (Yael). Auntie Yuli came to feed Us effurry day, but We are used to being waited upon attended to Round The Clock! It was furry hard, kitties! She was away for FIVE DAYS!!! That's like - well, FUREVER!

And then, when She came back, She thought writing her Own Bloggie about it had to take purr-ecedence over OURS!!!
I mean to say - it's not as if She actually saw anything REALLY impawtant in St. Petersburg, such as the Hermitage Cats, for example!

As We mentioned earlier, part of the reason for Mummy's Shameful Neglect of Us before her Russian trip, was that She and her Human Sibs and StepGrandma were planning Grandpa's Birthday Party. For that, We can fur-give her. On July 13th, Grandpa was 90 years old! That's like - hundreds and hundreds of Cat Years! That was certainly something well worth celebrating.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

How We Purr-tected Mummy Yet Again

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

The Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) aka The Little Purrince is back again!

Yes, yes, I know! It has been over a Month since Our Furriends heard from Us.
Mummy has been so busy with all sorts of trivia, like her Caterwauling Club and its annual Gala Concert, that the Really Impawtant Things in Life, such as Our Blog, have been shockingly neglected!

For example, you would think She would have pounced on the oppurr-tunity to tell effuryone how I, the Mighty Shimshon We saved her from an Evil, Vicious Cockroach the other day!

It was late evening, and Mummy was just about to go to bed when She saw us playing with something on the stairs. She came closer to see what We were getting up to and when She saw what it was, She gave a gasp and said "Oh, no, no, no, no, no". (That's what She always says when She sees a Creepy Crawly.)

Well, of course We told her not to worry, We would take care of it, but She went and got an old Telephone Directory and came and dropped it right on top of that Creepy Cockroach and then She jumped on the directory and squished it (the roach, not the directory - mol). Then, when She removed the directory and went to get something to clear up the squished corpse, Caspurr slipped in and gobbled it up.
That was so unfair, kitties, as it was Me, the Mighty Shimshi, who spotted it furrst!
(Well, it was Trixie, really, but She is a Girl Kitty and She doesn't like playing with roaches as much as Caspurr and I do.) Fortunately, he left a few scraps for Me. It was nice and crunchy.

I don't know why Mummy couldn't have trusted Us to deal with the roach. We would have dedded it sooner or later. She could have let Us play with it a little longer, don't you think?

Independence Day

Greetings, Anipals!

We apawlogise for the long wait between posts. Our Human gets a bit lazy sometimes (mol) and, as you know, She has all the Passwords to the Computer Machine Thingy - not to mention those Opposable Thumbs...

Anyway, today, We too are having a Lazy Day.

Today is Israel's Independence Day. That means it's Israel's Birthday! Israel is 69 years old!

We don't know how much that is, exactly, in relation to Cat Years but it seems that for a country, that's quite young.  Mummy says Israel was really born 3000 years ago and was Reborn 69 years ago. Anyway, that all seems to be mixed up with something called "Pawlitics", which We don't really concern Ourselves with. Well, not furry much, anyway.

The point is, however, that if Israel has a Birthday, that means there is a Purrfect Reason for a HUGE Birthday Pawty. We sat with Mummy and watched the International Bible Quiz for Jewish Youth on TV, and then We had lunch, and a Nap: 

- and now, We have decided to go and have a Picnic and Barbecue in the Enchanted Wood overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, because the weather is furry pleasant today. After a few days of really hot weather, it is now back to normal weather for this time of year, about 23 or 24 degrees Celsius. Purrfect weather for a picnic.

So, if any of you should feel minded to join Us, We will be happy to see you at the Usual Place in about an hour (5 pm Israel time). Come one, come all, as they say (mol).

And as We say - Lehitra'ot (We'll be seeing you).

More Reasons To Celebrate

Hallo, Effurrybuddies!


It is I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short), aka The Little Purrince, Captain of the Guard and Master of the Queen's Mischiefs.

How are you all? I hope those of you who celebrate Easter, are enjoying your holiday, and that those of you who celebrate Pessach are all ready to celebrate the seventh day of the festival tomorrow and that your Humans brought you amazing and delightful kitty bags from the Seder feast.

And now, for yet ANOTHER reason to celebrate!
Tomorrow, April 17th, is My Birthday!
I, the Mighty Shimshon, will be Three Years Old tomorrow.


Can you believe that just three years ago, I was a tiny little kitten whose kitty mama had rejected him and for whom the future looked furry bleak, until Step-Grandma found Me and rescued Me and brought me to my Human Mummy?
Can you believe this tiny, miserable-looking creature with more than a passing resemblance to a Mousie, was Me?

Well, look at Me now, Anipals!

Anyway, as you all know, We neffur let a Reason for a Pawty slip by unnoticed and tomorrow, We will be having the Most Glorious Celebration - to which, it goes without saying, you are all invited - at 5 pm Israel time, in my beautiful fur-ever home. It also goes without saying that there will be oodles of beteavon-bons (what you call "noms"), plenty of niptinis, micecream, catmint juleps, toys, games - well, you all know how We like to pawty here, don't you?

So We will be expecting to see all Our Furriends tomorrow.

Till then - Chag Sameach!

Reasons to Celebrate

Hallo, Effurryone!

Caspurr here - the King of the Tigger-Tabbies.

I have something furry impawtant to say.

I want to remind you all that tomorrow, April 11th, is my 4th Gotcha Day.

Here is a picture of Me, when I was first gotcha-ed.








Wasn't I adorable? Mummy fell in love with Me at once. And I knew, right from the start, that We were made for each other!

I know my anipals would neffur fur-get, but your Humans might be so busy with pre-purrations for Pesach (which starts tonight), that it may (unlikely as that seems) have slipped their minds. Why, Mummy scarcely remembered her own birthday the day before yesterday! (I can't think why! How can you fur-get something you've been celebrating for about a zillion years?)

To get back to the impawtant subject of My Gotcha Day, We are going to celebrate that tonight, at the Seder feast and of course, you are all invited to celebrate with Us.

Oh, that reminds me! We have had quite an argument on the question of whether it is purr-missible to use catnip for Karpuss!

We have consulted a Kitty Rabbi and it seems there are contradictory opinions on that subject. We are going to be using it, of course, but if you belong to a commewnity which does not allow it, We will quite understand. More for Us (mol). But We will, of course, provide alternatives, such as grass.

Now, We must have a nice long nap before the Seder/Pawty.

Chag Sameach effurryone! See you all tonight!

The Trashcan Saga - Season Finale

Greetings, My Loyal Subjects!

It is I, Queen Trixie, here again.

I know you have all been eagerly awaiting the next episode in the continuing saga of Mummy's hopeless War with Us over the Sanctity of the Trash-can, and I am sorry to say it has not been going well (for Us, that is).
A few days after We posted Our Last Update on this Impawtant Matter, Mummy called in her Jack-of-all-Trades Handyman and they put their heads together to plot Our Undoing!

You would have thought Mummy had quite enough to do, what with her Bible Field Trip, and her concert last Saturday evening with her Caterwauling Club, not to mention her own Mewsical Recital the week before, but no! She still found time to plot against Us and spoil all our Fun.

The Handyman, whose name, by the way, is Arye (meaning "Lion") said We were a Gang of Criminals! Imagine that, kitties! You would expect more Sympathy from someone named after one of the Great Cats, wouldn't you?
Anyway, he was here for a couple of hours and, although We were shut away in the Bedroom, We could hear him hammering away and working on the door to the cupboard under the sink where the Safe Trash-can is kept.
When he had gone, Mummy let Us out and We saw that all the sticky tape and the chairs in front of the kitchen unit had been removed. So We thought to Ourselves: "Aha! Mummy has given up!"

We waited furry patiently for the next time Mummy went out, and We were extra specially good and angelic, so that She wouldn't suspect that We had not given up.

Look! See how good We were! We even snuggled up and snoozed together, knowing how happy that would make her, so that She would be thinking about that all the time She was out, instead of imagining We were up to any Mischief!


Of course, that all ended as soon as She left the house.  Before you could say "Catnip", We were gathered around the door of the cupboard in front of the sink, and Caspurr (being the strongest) went to work. He lay down on his back in front of the cupboard door and tugged and tugged away - to no avail. Shimshi pulled at the bottom drawer but, although he managed to get it open, the cupboard door remained closed.

I was not about to try, and risk breaking one of my beautiful long claws. If Caspurr and Shimshi couldn't get the door open with their combined efforts, I could not possibly be expected to do so. Like Remington Steele, I function best in an advisory capacity (mol).

When Mummy came home, She saw that the cupboard was still shut and She even opened it, to make sure We had not been at the Trash-can and closed the door afterwards, to fool her. And that's when We saw what She had done!

Kitties! Arye had put magnets at the bottom of the door!
Not furry big magnets, it is true, and I think - no, I am pawsitive - that if that had been all, given time, We would have managed to deal with them. But that was not all, kitties!
Arye had also fixed a kind of twisty screw at the top of the door, to hold it shut. It's quite stiff and not so easy to turn, even for Mummy with her Opposable Thumbs. Obviously We haven't a Chance!

So there you have it, Anipals. We are having to admit Defeat - for the time being, at least. We are going to have to find somewhere else to break into, as some of Our Furriends have suggested.

I do seem to remember Mummy bragging to telling Step-Grandma how her furry furrst kitty, Minxie, who now lives at the Bridge, used to open the refrigerator door.

Hmmmm.

I wonder.....

The Evil Demon Kitties Strike Back!

Hallo, Effurrybody!

Queen Trixie here again.

Well, as you all know by now, We have learned that by working as a Team, it is much easier to outwit Mummy than if We each look out only for Ourselves. And so, as We explained in our last post, We managed to circumvent Mummy's anti-kitty lock and get into the trash-can which She keeps in the cupboard under the kitchen sink.

But Mummy, who can be as determined as a Hungry Kitty when She puts Her mind to it, stuck sellotape on the drawers of the kitchen unit and then, when She saw how easily We managed to tear that away, replaced it with electrical insulating tape, to make it harder to open the drawers and, with them, the door of the cupboard.

As you can imagine, We weren't going to let Her get away with that. So, one night last week, Shimshi went to work on the sticky tape with his sharp little claws, and Caspurr, who is furry strong, tugged and tugged at the cupboard door and hey, presto! We were back in business.

But, for some reason, Mummy - who was not supposed to be prowling around like a Cat at 2:30 in the morning - woke up and hearing strange noises in the kitchen, She came to investigate and caught Us in the Act! She took away one chicken bone (which We had licked clean) and threw it in the trash can and shut all the drawers which were open and was just about to go back to bed when She heard pathetic little mewing sounds from the Food Drawer. So She removed all the sticky tape She had put back on the drawer and opened it - and who jumped out?

Shimshi!

Yes! That silly Baby Mancat had got himself shut in!

Mummy screamed at all of Us and said She ought to rename Us. Not the J-Cats, but the Evil Demon Cats! 

Kitties, that was a furry hurtful thing to say, wasn't it? I mean, look at Us! How can anyone think We are Demon Kitties? See how angelic We are!

Anyway, Mummy shut all the drawers and cupboards again and replaced the sticky tape and closed the (useless) lock and even put a row of chairs all along the front of the kitchen unit. Then She went back to bed and found that We had generously left the remains of the SECOND chicken bone as a purr-esent for her, on the bed. So She had to get up again to throw away the bone. This time, She was too tired even to scream at Us - but when She got to the kitchen, She saw that Caspurr was again trying to open the cupboard door. That's when She lost it completely and shut Caspurr up in the guestroom for the remainder of the night. She has never done that before - but this time, remembering Our New, Enhanced Capabilities, She even wedged a chair under the door handle so he couldn't open it! Then She went back to bed and locked the bedroom door, and I heard her crying.

The next morning, She let Caspurr out and fed Us all. Caspurr gobbled all his noms down and then came and fought with Shimshi for what was left of Mine.

And then he was sick all over the kitchen counter.

I guess Mummy was too exhausted to be angry by then, or maybe She was sorry for the hurtful things She had said to Us, because She just cleaned up without a word, except to say to Caspurr that that is what happens when you gobble your food.

And that's the State-of-Affairs for now. Sticky tape and chairs in front of the kitchen unit, which Mummy has to remove effurry time She needs to make so much as a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Obviously, things can't continue this way.

I know Mummy is planning something - some new tactic in this war She cannot possibly win.

But what?

Stay tuned for developments...

Welcome to Caspurr's Birthday Pawty

Greetings, Effurryone!

Sorry we're a bit late. It took longer than expected to put up the marquee, but here We are now, at the Enchanted Forest, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, making the best of the lovely, spring-like weather. 18 degrees Celsius, officially - but it feels warmer.  If it starts to get chilly, after dark, We can all proceed by Transporter Tunnel back to Our Appawtment, from which Mummy has promised to make herself scarce (mol)...But We don't think that will be necessary, because We have a big campfire and We can sit round it, while sipping our niptinis and catmint juleps.

Has effuryone got enough to drink, so We can raise a toast to the Birthday Boy?
If anyone would like to lend a paw at the bar, that would help things along.

Is there enough nip? We can always send out for more, if necessary.
And for those who prefurr, the valerian is over there, to the right of the bar.

Fancy Feasties of all flavours are on the centre table. Fish to the right and meat to the left. And don't worry - in the store room at the back, there's plenty more, if this runs out.

The micecream and other desserts - as well as the Birthday Cake - are right over here, on the table to the left.

Now, if you are all here and ready, it is time to reveal the secret of how We circumvented Mummy's pathetic little anti-child anti-cat lock and got at the trashcan under the sink.

It was Trixie who figured it out. You have to hand paw it to her, that is One Smart Cat!

In order to open the lock, Mummy has to press simultaneously (isn't that a lovely, big word? It means "at the same time") on two buttons, one on top of the right hand lock and one on the bottom of the right hand lock. Of course, for that, you need opposable thumbs.


But look carefully at where Mummy had placed the lock. 

As you can see, one side is on the door of the cupboard, and the other side is on a drawer.
Trixie realised that if We tug at the bottom of the cupboard door hard enough, We can pull open the cupboard door just a fraction - not enough to get inside. But if We all work together, We can pull much harder - enough that the force exerted pulls open the drawer to which the other half of the lock is attached. And when both the cupboard door and the drawer are pulled open, there is enough of a gap for One of Us to get inside, rummage in the trashcan and bring out anything worth eating.
And that's what We did.

And when We had finished, We pushed the cupboard door shut again, and Mummy never suspected that WE had managed to open it! In fact, She didn't know what to think! She was COMPLETELY BAFFLED!

And that's the story of How We Outwitted Mummy (yet again).

So - who needs opposable thumbs?

Birthday Coming Up

Hallo, Effuryone!

It is I, Feline-Marshall Caspurr the Courageous, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Guard, King of the Tigger-Tabbies.

I want to remind you all that the day after tomorrow, Tuesday March 7th, is my birthday. My FOURTH birthday. Naturally, that means a pawty. A big one. A pawty with all my favourite noms. Countless cans of Fancy Feasty in all my favourite flavours - ocean whitefish and tuna, chick-hen, liver, salmon, seafood - you name it, We've got it!
And niptinis. And catmint juleps. And micecream.

And, best of all - YOU are all invited. 5 pm Israel time.
At a secret destination. RSVP - and the co-ordinates will be sent to your transportation devices.

Now, I know you are all waiting to hear how We outwitted Mummy, as we mentioned last week.
Aren't you?

Well, it's like this. Mummy got upset that We were getting into the trashcan under the kitchen sink and rummaging about in it. She claimed We were "making a mess". So She went and bought one of those locks they sell in Mothercare stores and put in on the door of the cupboard under the sink where She keeps the trashcan.




Mummy was sure that by means of this In-furr-nal Device, She had solved the "problem".
And for a while, She had.
Try as We might, We could not open the door.
I tried.
Trixie tried.
And you can bet your Nine Lives Shimshi tried.

No luck.

But We were not discouraged.
We put Our heads together.

And a couple of weeks ago, We came up with the answer.
And the furry next day, Mummy was furr-labbergasted to find that the chicken bones She had put in the trashcan were all over the kitchen floor.
She thought maybe She had fur-gotten to lock the cupboard door, or that maybe She hadn't locked it propurr-ly.
But when She went to check it, She found that the door was still shut and the lock was intact!
Poor Mummy! She was completely baffled (mol).

How did We do it?

For the answer to that, you will have to attend My Birthday Pawty on Tuesday, when all will be revealed...

Just Around the Corner

Greetings, My Loyal Subjects.

Queen Trixie here again, just for a short update.
This week has been mostly bright and sunny, with lots and lots of sun-puddles, sufficient for each of Us to have their Own Spot. Mummy says Spring may be just around the corner. We don't know which corner She means, though. There are lots of corners in Our Home and We have looked around all of them - but We didn't find anything.

Mummy was very happy to see that her Sick Lemons on the front porch are blooming. Mummy loves Sick Lemons. They are purr-actically her favourite flowers.

She certainly saw plenty of them on her field trip the week before last. Speaking of which, She wrote all about that trip on her own bloggie and you can read all about it here.

Kitties, We have been purr-fecting our Methods of Outwitting Mummy, but you will have to wait till after Shabbat before We tell you all about Our Cleverness. You wouldn't believe how ingenious We have been (mol). And Mummy will never guess how we did it.

What is "It", you are asking yourselves.

Aha. 

Wait and see (hehehe).

Shabbat Shalom to you all. Have a lovely weekend.

Escape from Al-CAT-raz

Greetings, Effurryone!

It is I, Caspurr, King of the Tigger Tabbies. I want to tell you how We have managed to Get the Better of Mummy.

As you know, whenever She wants to cook or eat, or when the Cleaning Lady is here, She shuts Us up in the Bedroom.  Most of the time, when that happens, We just Snooze, either in the Wardrobe or in whatever sunpuddles may be available (and they have been pretty scarce lately). In fact, sometimes they are so small, We have actually shared the same sunpuddle, all three of Us, although Trixie usually prefurrs to do without Sunshine, rather than curl up with Us Boys.

On Furr-iday, however, We decided that We were tired of being impurrisoned whenever She wants Us out of the Way, so We put our heads together and came up with a plan to break out. 

We had come to the understanding that the key to opening the Bedroom Door (no pun intended - MOL) was by purr-essing on the door-handle. Being the biggest and the strongest, that task fell to Me (with a little help from Shimshi). So he and I took it in turns to jump up and purr-ess it and when the door finally opened a crack, Trixie made a dash for Freedom, followed by Shimshi and Yours Truly.

Mummy, who was busy pre-purring the Shabbat meal, was so surprised. At furrst, she couldn't understand how We had got out. She thought maybe She hadn't closed the Bedroom Door propurrly. She chased after Us and returned Us, one by one, to the Bedroom. It was only when She had shut Us inside again, and heard Us jumping over and over again at the door, that She realised what had happened.

To Our Delight - and Mummy's Dismay - it appears that the Bedroom Door can only be locked from the Inside.
But We took pity on Mummy and remained inside till She had finished cooking - and, as a reward, She gave Us our Lunch a little earlier than usual.

What do YOU do when your Humans shut you away in one of the rooms?

The Evil Among Us

Kitties! Woofies! Anipals! (and Human Friends too)!

We are so ANGRY!
No! ANGER doesn't begin to describe the RAGE We feel in our hearts. But We are also Heartbroken at what We have just read on Fursbook!
(Warning! This article contains graphic, heartbreaking images!)

A Rottweiler woofie was found in Detroit with his nose and ears cut off and with many other injuries. It is clear that some Human, or Humans, (if they can even be described as such) did this deliberately to the poor woofie. A $35,000 reward has been offered for anyone offering information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Mummy was so angry, She practically had smoke coming out of her ears. She says if She could get her hands on the !@#$%^&*+!@#$ scumbags who did this, She would give them a taste of their Own Medicine. She would cut their +@##$^&* off!!!

How could anyone do such a thing to a defenceless animal? If only We could get our claws into them, We would scratch their eyes out! 
Evil, E-v-i-l-, EVIL devils!!! 

Messi Mischiefs

Hallo, Effurrybuddies!

It's Me here again, the Mighty Shimshon (aka Shimshi), also known as The Little Purrince!

How are you all? Are you having horrid, cold weather with water falling out of the sky, like We are? In fact, earlier this meouwning, there were tiny, hard, cold, icy pellets falling down as well! We don't like that - but at least, We don't have to go out in it. We have plenty of Hard Work to do here indoors, without getting our beautiful furs wet.

And speaking of Hard Work - I want you to know that I have been taking My Duties as Master of the Queen's Mischiefs furry, furry seriously. In fact, I often use the Transporter Tunnel to visit and consult with other Mischief-Makers, for a furr-uitful exchange of ideas.

And I must say,  Uncle Messi the Woofie has some really good ones. I tell you, that Woofie must have Feline Genes in him somewhere (mol)! How else could he have come up with something like This?

Grandpa and Step-Grandma went out to lunch with some friends and Messi got bored, or angry at being left alone at home, so he shredded effurrything that had been left on the coffee table - letters, bills and a parcel of books Grandpa and Step-Grandma's friends had brought them!

I tell you, anipals - that Woofie is an Inspurration (mol).

Now I am must go and snoopervise while Mummy prepurrs Her, Our, The Shabbat Meal. Have a great and Mischief-filled weekend, all of you.

Shabbat Shalom from All of Us.

Poor Mummy

Hallo, Effurrybody!

It is Me again - My Impurrial Meaouwjesty Queen Trixie!

This is going to be furry short because Mummy has an injured eye and so She doesn't want to sit too long typing at the computer machine thingy.

How did Mummy get an injured eye? Well, One of Us (I won't mention any names, but it wasn't Me) carelessly shoved Mummy's Mobile Talking Device right into her eye. Result - bleeding into the retina, which the Eye Doctor says should clear up on its own in ten days or so.
I told those boisterous Mancats not to be so rough in their games and not to go running about right in front of Mummy's face, but do they listen to Me? Their Queen-Empress? Oh, no - of course not!

And Shimshi, who is a furry naughty baby mancat, compounded his Transgression with Mummy's handbag, by chewing holes in the nice blankie that looks like Caspurr's tummy spots. I don't get it. He will chew on just about anything!!!

Since the weather turned really, really cold a couple of weeks ago, We have been doing a lot of Snuggling with Mummy - who even bought a new Snuggle-Blanket for curling up under with Us, while watching TV. However, last week, She deserted Us for a Whole Day to go on one of her Field Trips, which She has once a month or so. We don't like it when She is out all day. It's bad enough when She shuts herself up with the Computer Machine in the Study and doesn't let Us in because of Shimshi chewing anything he can get his teeth into, including electric cables. At least We know She is there and that, if We sing the Song of Our People loudly enough, She will come out and feed Us, or pet Us, or play with Us. But, as I said, once a month or so, She has these study trips when She is out all day. Still, when She gets home, She feeds Us straight away and then She tells Us all about where She has been.

What's that you say? Oh, okay. I'll ask them.

Caspurr and Shimshi wonder if you, too, would like to hear about what Mummy does on her field trips?
You do?

Well, She writes about them on her own blog, so you can read all about it and see the pictures for yourselves.

I have to say, all that touring sounds furry strenuous and energetic to Me. Don't you agree?

Well, that's all for now, Anipals. Time for LUNCH with my fursibs.

A New Year

Greetings,  Loyal Furriends and Subjects!

Well, 2016 is over and done with and here We are, nearly a week into 2017. 

Furrst of all, a quick update on Uncle Messi the Woofie.
Mummy went round to visit him and She reports that he is purr-gressing well, he is gaining confidence daily, and (according to Grandpa), he has also gained weight. Mummy says She can't see it, and that he still looks woefully thin to her, but Step-Grandma reports that he will eat just about anything (mol). He sleeps on his Own Armchair and effurry night, at bedtime, Step-Grandma covers him with a blanket. He would like to sleep on the living-room sofa, but that is not allowed. As you can see, being a Feline has its advantages - one of them being that We sleep wherever We please  and no mere Human is going to tell us otherwise (mol) .

Here is Messi, on his Armchair: 

Naturally, you all want to know about his attitude to Cats. Well, according to Step-Grandma, when he meets them out on his walks, he turns his head aside and pretends not to notice them. But there is a certain kitty who comes regularly to the kitchen window when Step-Grandma is cooking, whom Messi regards as an Intruder (although She was there long before he was) and sometimes (though not always), he barks like crazy when he sees her. Of course, We don't know if that is because She is a kitty, or simply because She is an Intruder. Honesty compels Us to admit that We, too, would not take kindly to a strange kitty Invading Our Space.

Mummy's cleaning-lady brought another prezzie for Shimshi Us - a stuffed white mousie with a big' fluffy tail:

As usual, Shimshi decided it was his own purr-sonal purropurrty. That baby mancat definitely has  - issues - when it comes to sharing!

Caspurr has been furry brave lately, venturing forth even when the Cleaning-Lady comes, and so he has been purr-moted to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard.

And since Shimshi is so furry clever at inventing and devising all kinds of New Mischiefs, a special position has been created for him also - as you will see at the end of this post.

Now all that is left is for all of Us here to wish all of you there (wherever that may be - mol) a furry Happy New Year.

Hugs, pawpats and kitty-kisses from: 

Queen Trixie the Black Panfur, Empress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire;
Feline-Marshal Caspurr the Courageous, King of the Tigger-Tabbies and Commander in Chief of the Imperial Guard;
The Mighty Shimshon (aka Shimshi), the Little Purrince, Captain of the Guard, and Master of the Queen's Mischiefs;
Shimona from the Palace (aka Mummy)