Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Sweet Shimshi

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

Here I am again, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) aka The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard. 

As you can see:

At last it is My Turn once more, to lead the J-Cats on the weekend blog hops - the Caturday Art Blog Hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by the Delightfully Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Isn't this a nice Box Mummy got for Me Us. And she also gave Us some egg-boxes, which are great for hiding treats in. Being a gazillion years old, and her Memory not being what it once was, She can't remember which of Our Dear Furriends She got the idea from, but whoever it was, We are furry grateful - because as well as being such fun for hiding those treats in, those egg-boxes make great scratchers!

We tried several different artifications of this picture - and you simply must tell us in the comments section which you like best.

All of the filters came from LunaPic.

Furrst of all, Scribble:

This was an unusual choice for Us, because We usually go for colourful filters. However, this effect reminded Us of Kitty pictures in Old Books. Nothing goes so well together as Cats and Books, after all - unless it's Cats and Catnip (mol).

Next up, a somewhat more colourful rendition - Abstract at 80%:

And finally, back to neutrals with Sketch2 - but only at 40%, so as to showcase the colour of My Eyes:

So which did you like best?

Now, here are the bloggie hop badges:

                      

Other news:

As of today, there are no more mask mandates in Israel, except on air flights, in hospitals, clinics and retirement homes. However, the Government "recommends" that people in High Risk categories continue to wear masks at indoor gatherings.

The Transmission Rate for the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus stood at 0.79 this morning - but it was only 0.72 last week and We are afraid that the end of restrictions, coupled with the large numbers of family gatherings over Pessach and the ones expected over Remembrance Day and Independence Day next week (which coincide with the Meowslim festival of Eid el-Fitr) may send it shooting up again. Paws crossed that that doesn't happen.

Till next week then.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Pessach, Birthdays and All Manner of Good Things: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effuryone!

Guess who is staying with Us again! 
Yes, you're right! It's Uncle D. whom We are slowly (furry slowly) but surely (well, purrhaps not quite so surely) turning into a Cat Purrson! He arrived from England late on Furriday afternoon, just in time for the Seder feast which marks the start of the Pessach (Pawssover) festival! And now he is staying with Us, again, which means We are once more banished from the Guest Room - but that doesn't matter, because, in any case, We prefurr the Boudoir, where We can sleep on the Bed (or go UTB) or in the wall-to-wall wardrobe.

As you can see, Trixie still likes to keep a wary distance from Us Mancats - Me, Sir Caspurr the Courageous, Furrst of My Name, The Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces, King of the Tigger Tabbies, and My (Not So Little) Brofur, the Mighty Shimshon (aka Shimshi), whose 8th Birthday We are celebrating today.  Trixie regards the Boudoir as her Purrsonal Domain, so She has Mixed Feelings about this tempurrary change.

In honour of Shimshi's birthday, We shall be holding an impromptu Picnic in Our Favourite Spot up in the Enchanted Forest at 5pm this afternoon, to which you are all invited. Now that the weather is getting warmer (30 degrees Celsius today!) and the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus seems to be on the retreat once more (till the next Mutation, anyway), the Party Season will be getting underway again. 

We artified the picture above with LunaPic's Nouveau Art effect, set at 45%, overlaid with their Harsh Lighting filter at 25%. The resulting meowsterpiece is Our Entry in the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie.

Here it is:

Here is the blog hop badge:

Now, for the Sunday Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Deliciously Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet, We have reverted to Our strict weekly rota.  Last week was Trixie's turn, therefore this week, it is the Turn of Me, Caspurr.  

And when it comes to Snoozies, I challenge ANYONE to take the shine out of ME!

Beat that if you can!

And here is the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop badge:

You know, kitties, Shimshi is not the only one celebrating a birthday today. Mummy, whose Civil Birthday was on April 8th, is today celebrating her Hebrew Birthday, according to the Jewish calendar - the second day of Pessach!  

And if you want still more reasons for Celebration, this meowning was the Brith (Circumcision Ceremony) of Mummy's new Great-Nephew. We have tried to work out how We are related to the new baby. Mummy's sister's son is Our Cousin, so We think his son must be Our Cousin once removed.

Before We take Our Leave (We have a Pawty to prepurr, after all!), We want to wish Happy Easter to all of Our Furriends who are celebrating it, as well as a continuing Chag Sameach to those of you who are celebrating Pessach (which lasts for a whole week in Israel, or 8 days in the Diaspora). And if there are any Meowslim kitties out there, who are celebrating the month of Ramadan, We wish you Ramadan Kareem. You can join Us at the pawty as soon as the daily Fast ends at sunset.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Still More Smiles and Tears: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Trixie

Hallo again, Effurrybody!

With the arrival (at long last) of Spring, We were hoping for smiles all the way, and that We had put the Tears behind Us, but, alas, last Monday We learned of the loss of yet another of Our Dear Furriends, sweet, handsome Sammy of the 15 and Meowing blog. His Mommy, Ellen, is one of Mummy's oldest friends in the blogoverse. Mummy is devastated and so are We all.  

Even without that sad news, this past week hasn't been all that great - certainly not for Me, Queen Trixie. On Monday, as you know, Mummy had made an appointment for Me to go to the Evil V-E-T to have "several" teeth extracted. I heard her make the appointment and I had already made my escape plans. I was intending to put myself Out Of Reach, either on top of the kitchen cabinets, or else UTB, on Sunday night already, thinking She would try to catch me the following meowning. But She outmanoeuvred Me, by trapping Me in the Guest Room on Sunday evening, without food and water because the Evil V-E-T ordered a 12 hour fast prior to The Procedure. I thought I  would be able to hide behind the sofa if She tried to put Me in my Carrier, but when She came in the following meowning, I was so hungry, I came to her, thinking She had brought My Noms - and then She grabbed Me and stuffed Me into the Cage. But I managed to scratch her, at least. That will teach her! 

Well, off We went to the Stabby Place, where they gave me an Evil Drug to make Me sleepy. After I succumbed to it, Mummy deserted Me (I know that, because She wasn't there when I woke up). She went shopping, leaving Me totally at the mercy of not one, but TWO Evil V-E-T-S!!!

While I was zonked out, not only did they steal FOUR of my toofies, they also stole some of My Bloods!!! Only when they had finished having their Evil Way with Me, and I had (more or less) woken up, did they call Mummy to come and collect Me.

I felt really groggy and rather sick for the rest of the day but at least I got fed Fancy Feast for supper and for breakfast the following day.

I feel much better now though, without those toofies hurting Me - and, at least, they didn't touch My Beautiful Fangs! But Mummy is a little worried about My Bloodwork, because the creatinine is slightly elevated - and the glucose, also. The new, younger lady V-E-T recommended that because of My Age (nearly 10), Mummy should start feeding Me special food for kitties with kidney purroblems, even though it is not yet definite that I have anything wrong with My Kidneys. The V-E-T thinks that since such purroblems are furry common in senior kitties, I might as well start now, at the furrst sign. Mummy is also worried about the glucose and that maybe I have diabetes, but they need to do a urine test to be sure. At any rate, Mummy bought Me Royal Canin Renal food - and guess what, kitties - I really like it! Much more than the Happy Cat kibbles She has been feeding Us. And the V-E-T says I can still have Fancy Feast maybe once a week, like for Shabbat.

Anyway, to get back to matters in hand, it is My Turn to lead the J-Cats on this week's blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightfully Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Here I am, reclaiming My Domain, now that I am fully recovered from My Traumatic Ordeal.

Here is the artified version, using LunaPic's beautiful Splash filter, set at 35%:

And here are the blog hop badges:

           

In spite of the Tears, there are still some things to smile about. Tomorrow is Caspurr's Gotcha Day. He came to live with Mummy and Me nine years ago and I taught him effurrything a little kitty needs to know. Since then, he has got rather too Big for His Boots, but I still love him - I suppose (mol).
At any rate, We are going to have a Gotcha Day pawty for him up in the Enchanted Forest at 6 pm. tomorrow evening - and We hope you will all come and join in the celebration. We can also celebrate the arrival of Spring and the lovely, warm weather.

More smiles to come! This morning, Mummy's second great-nephew was born! New baby humans are almost as much fun as new kittens!

Oh - and let's not forget that this coming Friday night is the Seder Night, the start of Pessach (Pawssover), so We will wish you all Chag Sameach.

Before We go, last, but not least, make sure your Humans continue to take all necessary precautions against the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Shimshi in Springtime: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) aka The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain-of-the-Guard, am proud to be leading the J-Cats on this weekend's bloggie hops, namely, the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by those Deliciously Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet!

This is My Selfie. How do you like it?

We artified it in two stages. Furrst, We used one of the templates at PhotoFunia to give it a festive, Spring-like atmosphere, by adding daffodils and placing my pawtrait in a picture frame, thus:

Next, we moved over to LunaPic, and added the Flowers art filter, at 40%. Finally, We framed the whole package and this is the final result:

We are furry pleased with the way it turned out. How about you?

Now, before We join the bloggie hops, here is an impawtant message from my sisfur, Trixie.

You have the floor, Trixie...

Greetings, effurrybody!

I am feeling extremely discombobulated this meowning.  Right after breakfast, most of which I didn't eat because I have a bad toothache, Mummy kit-napped Me and stuffed Me into a Cage and hauled Me off to the Evil V-e-t! We went by taxi. The taxi dropped Us off outside the clinic - but when Mummy got there, it was all locked up and there was a notice on the door saying they had moved further up the street. The taxi had already gone and Mummy wasn't going to take another one for a journey of less than one minute, so We walked (in the heat) a few hundred meters. It took less than 4 minutes but now Mummy was feeling all discombobulated! She said it was lucky it was Me in the Cage and not Caspurr, who weighs at least twice as much! Anyway, it turns out Dr. Einat has a new v-e-t assisting her, although both doctors were there. They took a look at my toothies and said I have several Bad Teeth that need to come out. But I was furry fierce so Dr. Einat said they would do it under General Anaesthetic. However, for that, I have to be in a Complete Fast (no food or water) so Mummy made an appointment for Me at 10 o'clock tomorrow meowning.  
Well, you know what they say, kitties - forewarned is forearmed. Let's see Mummy even try to get Me in a Cage tomorrow. I shall go UTB tonight already - or even to My Lofty Perch top of the kitchen cabinets. She'll never be able to get at Me there!

Good Luck with that, Sisfur Trixie. It will be furry Amusing to see who out-smarts whom. Mummy can be furry crafty sometimes. She has learned a lot over the years....

And, speaking of Mummy - Furriday is Her Birthday. She will be - let's see...
About a bazillion years old by My Reckoning! I must devise some New and Spectacular Mischief in Her Honour (mol).

Now, back to the Blog Hops. Here are the Badges:

                    

Before We start blog hopping, here again is Our Regular Reminder that the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus has yet to be completely vanquished (even though here in Israel, it has taken a downward turn again and the Transmission Rate (R) is once again below 1), so you must remain Vigilant and ensure that your Humans continue to take all necessary Precautions.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.