Me and My Medal: Shimshi's Caturday Art and Sunday Selfie

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Well, the Cat-O-Lympics ended in a Blaze of Glory for Me and My Fursibs! Trixie brought home the Gold in the Counter to Cupboard high jump, and set a new World Record in the process. And Caspurr and I took  the Gold in the Synchronised Sleeping Technique event - a furry demanding competition, requiring Creativity as well as Stamina.

After the award ceremony, each of the Gold Medalists had their official pawtrait painted and the paintings will hang in the Cat-O-Lympic Hall of Fame for effur more.

Here is mine - and it has a beautiful gold frame, to match My Medal!



                                                                                                                                  

Since it is My Turn, this week, to represent the J-Cats in the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, We thought there could be no more appropriate choice than this.

Athena has not been feeling at all well this past week, as you can see from her bloggie, so please join us all in purraying for her and for her HuMum, Marie and in sending them healing vibes and POTP.

Next up is the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by the Charming and Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. Once again, they do not appear to have posted this week, but We shall go back later and see if that has changed, and if it has, We shall link up to them.

Here is My Selfie then, as I take my morning Pole Chair Dancing exercise. I am thinking of taking up this new sport on a regular basis, especially if it is adopted by the International Cat-O-Lympic Committee and becomes an official event in the next Cat-O-Lympics, which, let Me remind you, are only THREE years away.

And here are the Blog Hop badges:

                         

Before I go, I will take this oppurrtunity to remind you all, once more, that until this horrid, Evil Coronavirus is banished from the World, We must all continue to take propurr precautions - and make sure our Humans do likewise.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

It's Too Darn Hot: Caspurr's Caturday Art and Sunday Selfie

Hallo again, Effurryone!

It is time to pawticipate in the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by the lovely Athena and her HuMum, Marie,  and the Sunday Snoozies Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by the darling Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

And repurresenting the J-Cats this week is ME - The Caspicacious Sir Caspurr the Courageous, Furrst of My Name, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces, King of the Tigger Tabbies.

To tell the Truth, Dear Furriends (and one should always tell the Truth, I suppose - shouldn't one?) - I feel too sleepy to write a long blog this week. It's so hot, I really don't have the energy to move (although I was tearing around the house like a Madcat last night, chasing my fursibs). I need to conserve My Energy for later in the Week. Well, We all do, actually. It's the last few days of the Cat-O-Lympics, which end on Furriday - and We are all three of Us through to the finals in Our Respective Events. So, if you want to know the rest of the News about what's going on in Our Neck of the Woods, you should read Mummy's own, purrsonal blog.

I myself will get straight to the point i.e. the Blog Hops.

The picture above is My Sunday Selfie (Leave My Tummy Alone! Only Mummy can smooch me!)

And here is the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop Badge: 

  

We artified it using the Van Gogh filter, from LunaPic, set at 75%:

That is probably why one of my ears appears to be missing. But don't worry. I didn't cut it off. It's still there - hiding (mol).

Here is the Caturday Art Blog Hop badge:

And here is a Jigsaw Puzzle We made of Our Artsy Fartsy self:

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Before We go, We would remind you that all around the World, the Evil Coronavirus is still raging. In some places, your Humans are starting to emerge from Lockdown, in others, they are scurrying back into Lockdown. It's all furry confusing. They will need your Help and Guidance. So make sure you are all furry careful and don't take any Unnecessary Risks. 

Caution is Our Watchword.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Appreciating Trixie - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies in Honour of the Birthday Girl

Hallo again, Effurrybody!


Queen Trixie here, with a Double Celebration!

Furrst of all, last Fursday, August the 12th, We celebrated My 9th Birthday.
That is why August the 12th is known as "the Glorious 12th", of course!

And just see what Mummy got Me for My Prezzie! A lovely new Scratcher! 
It's round and made of corrugated cardboard, and inside, there are two little white balls, with a silver bell in each one!  You can't see them in  this picture, but I promise you, they are there.

Since the Scratcher is suffused with catnip, I had to fight off My Brofurs, as they would have stolen it from Me!

The photo above was a little bit blurred, so Mummy decided to artify it, using LunaPic's Yarn effect.

This is Our Entry in this week's Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie.  Here is their Badge:

You remember I said this is a Double Celebration? Well, that's because the day after tomorrow, Tuesday August the 17th, is Black Cat Appreciation Day!

You know, for some reason Nobody in their Right Mind can fathom, Black Kitties have suffered a Bad Press. Some People (especially in the USA, where We have Many, Many Furriends) think Black Cats bring Bad Luck!?

What absolute Poppycock!  In other countries, there are different traditions.  In some countries, We are considered omens of GOOD Luck. In other countries, like Britain, where Mummy was born, there are mixed traditions. In certain  circumstances, We are thought to be harbingers of Misfortune, while in others, the opposite is true. 
YOU all know the Truth, don't you?
BLACK CATS MATTER.

Mummy found this lovely, little Welsh rhyme about black cats, on Wikipurrdia:

Cath ddu, mi glywais dd’wedyd, A fedr swyno hefyd, A chadw’r teulu lle mae’n byw O afael pob rhyw glefyd.

A black cat, I’ve heard it said, Can charm all ill away, And keep the house wherein she dwells From fever’s deadly sway.

Whatever the case, here is a picture of Me, in all my Glorious Black Beauty, guarding the entrance to the Audience Chamber (aka the Living Room or Salon) of My Home.

This picture, featuring not only My Beautiful, Glossy Black Furs and Jewel-like Eyes, gives due prominence also to my Raspy, Little Pink Tongue.  I was sticking it out at Mummy because I didn't really feel like having My Selfie taken at the time.  But Mummy, who is a Champion of Self-Delusion, doesn't get that. She thinks it's Cute! Well, of course it's Cute. It's My Tongue, after all. But that's hardly the point!

Be that as it may, this picture is Our Entry into the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by Our Dear Furriends, the Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet - and here is their Badge:

They are celebrating the 7th Anniversary of the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop - so I guess that's a THIRD cause for celebration this week!

Before We go, We want to remind you all that the Evil Coronavirus is still on the rampage, so you must be extra careful, and take Good Care of Yourselves and of Your Humans.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Cat Out Of Hell: Shimshi's Scary Caturday Art and Sunday Selfie

Hallo there, Effurrybuddies!

Shimshi here - The Little Purrince, Captain of the Guard and, more impawtantly, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs.

What do you think of My Sunday Selfie? Is it mesmerising? Is it scary?  Does it make you feel as if My Eyes are following you, wherever you go?

It is supposed to be Our Entry for the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, which is hosted by the Wonderful Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet - only they don't seem to have posted this Sunday. We hope nothing is wrong!
We will post their badge, anyway, and link up later if they do post after all.

We were actually finding it hard to decide whether to use this pawtrait, or another, even SCARIER one Mummy took of Me the other day:

Mummy says this one makes me look like a real Cat out of Hell (mol). I do look furry scary, don't I?

So We artified  it on LunaPic, using the Flames effect, which We overlaid with the Gauguin effect at 50%, to make it look even scarier. This is the result:

This will be Our Entry in the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie.

And here is their badge:

Now for Our Other News. The numbers of COVID-infected are skyrocketing once more, and the numbers of seriously ill are also climbing - although not at the same rate. Israel is back in full Green Pass mode, which means the Humans can't really go anywhere (like shopping malls, or concerts or Mewseums etc.) or do anything without a Certificate of Vaccination or a Certificate of Recovery (from the Evil Coronavirus) or proof of having taken a COVID test within the past 72 hours and had a negative result. And workplaces have been ordered to have no more than 50% of their staff in at any one time. And they are saying there will probably be a lockdown over the High Holy Days (just like last year). In other words, We seem to be back to Square 1.   The government is trying to put the blame on the million or so Israelis who could have got vaccinated but didn't do so. But the statistics show that most of the new cases are people who have been vaccinated.  

And now for the GOOD news! Mummy is in transports over Israeli rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram's Gold Medal win in the Individual All-Round contest, and  the Gold Medal win by Artistic Gymnast Artem Dolgopyat in the Floor Exercise, as well as our two Bronze Medals in Judo.

Next week sees the start of the Cat-O-Lympics. My brofur Caspurr and I are hoping to take home Gold Medals in the Synchronised Sleep Technique competition, while Trixie, who coached Us, will be competing in the Counter-to-Cupboard High Jump event, in which she is a favourite to be on the winner's podium.

We will leave you now and expect to see you next week at the Cat-O-Lympics, either as fellow Competitors, or as Spectators. Till then,  you and your Humans should continue to observe any regulations which might still be in place in Your Neck of the Woods - Social Distancing, Face Masks, and most impawtant of all, frequent Paw Washing!

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Caspurr the Caspicatious

Greetings, Effurryone!

Caspurr the Caspicatious here, to update you on all the News (such as it is) and to lead the J-Cats on this week's blog hops - the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by the Wise and Lovely Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by the predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

  

I had just awoken from my post-breakfast pre-lunch nap and was having a lovely stre-e-e-e-e-etch, when I was tricked into becoming the Star of this week's photo-shoot.

Not that I am not fully conscious of my Star Quality, but I am far too Modest to volunteer for the job (mol).

For Our Caturday Art, We tried a couple of different styles.

Furrst up, We let PhotoFunia turn me into a black and white street mural:

And for something a wee bit more colourful, here I am using LunaPic's Escher Art effect at 60% and using one of their nice, clean-cut frames:

Let Us know in the comments section, which you prefurr.

Now, for the rest of Our News.

Here in Israel, they have decided to go ahead with giving a third COVID jab to the over-60s (a booster shot) starting from today. That is despite the fact that neither the FDA, nor the WHO have yet authorised such shots.

Mummy is in no hurry to receive a third jab. Only 2 months ago they were telling us that the double shot vaccination was apparently good for a whole year. Now, basically,  they are telling us it isn't even all that effective for the 6 months for which they claimed it was effective when they started the vaccination campaign. What next? Will they tell us three months from now that we need to have a FOURTH dose? Will we be expected to have boosters every three months? Every two? Every month?

So, kudos to President Herzog and his wife for their purr-sonal example in getting the booster shot - and on live TV, for which they halted the regular scheduled broadcast.  But Mummy is tired of being a guinea-pig and intends to sit out this round and await developments.  That does NOT mean She has entirely ruled out getting another shot. BUT, She wants to wait and see...

It goes without saying, of course, that She will continue to observe all the Social Distancing and Hygiene rules and recommends that you do too. That means Face-Masks, and, of course, remembering to keep washing those Paws!

And now it's time to start blog-hopping. Furrst of all, here are the Blog Hop Badges:

                    

And off We go. Till next week then - and meanwhile, Be Well. Be Safe. We love you all!