Sunday, July 31, 2022

Trying To Keep Our Cool: Caturday Art And Sunday Selfies With Trixie

Hallo there, Effurrybody!


It's most annoying but Our Air-Conditioner is on the blink. Well, sort of. It works fine insofar as it keeps Us cool, but it is dripping on the downstairs neighbour's laundry. It seems the drainage pipe is torn and needs to be replaced. It is fortunate that Mummy's brother-in-law, Uncle N., is "in the business" as they say, but he can't do it on his own because there is no easy access and he needs to wait until his partner gets back from holiday to help him. Naturally, this would happen in the middle of a dreadful heatwave. 

Since Mummy strives always to be a good neighbour (and the downstairs neighbour is really cute - MOL), She came to an agreement with him that he'll let her know when he's planning to hang laundry and She won't have the A/C on at that time. Hopefully, We won't have to wait for more than a few days.

More serious is the fact that Grandpaw slipped in the bathroom the other day, and narrowly missed hitting his head. He did manage to cut his arm in a couple of places. He is furry weak and Mummy is terribly worried about him. He is 95 after all!

So, that's Our Mews for today - none of it good.

The Bright Spot is that it is time, once more, to join the Weekend Blog Hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie (who, alas,  has some really bad news of her own), and the recently-expanded family of the Kitties Blue, and their HuMom, Janet.

This is My Selfie:














We artified this using LunaPic's beautiful Frida art effect:















It looks all bright and sunny, doesn't it?

But We didn't stop there. We also tried a couple of effects from PhotoFunia.


Furrst, We hung the artified pawtrait in a gallery:















And We also thought We'd see how it looked as graffiti art: 




Which way do you think I will be more famous?


Finally, here are the blog hop badges:


        


We don't know whether We can stop worrying about the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus yet, or whether it is time to start worrying about the Monkeypox instead - or maybe both of them together! Just make sure your Humans continue to take all the necessary Precautions.

Be well. Be safe, We love you all.

Sunday, July 24, 2022

Shimshi the Pole Dancer: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

 Hallo, hallo, Effurrybuddies!


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


It is time, once again, to join 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.


Before We do that, however, We'll just give you all a quick  update on what's happening in Our Neck of the Woods.

Furrst of all, Uncle D. flew back to England last night - well, this morning, technically, as his plane, which had been scheduled to take off at 21:55, was delayed by about two and a half hours and didn't leave till well after midnight. We didn't get to see him even once this time, because he stayed with Mummy's sister Auntie N. - so We don't know whether or not he has remained "converted" to Cat Purrson-hood (in the absence of Reinforcement Training - mol).

Mummy is furry sad he couldn't stay longer - but really, he only came to be here for Grandpaw's 95th birthday last week. Anyway, he has purr-omised to return in the autumn.

MY other piece of news is that since Mummy wants Me to lose weight, and is threatening to put Me on an even stricter diet (as if only three meals a day wasn't bad enough), I have decided to take up sport on a really serious basis. 
My chosen field is - Pole Dancing!

Mummy I took a whole slew of photos of Me purr-actising.

I have chosen the furrst one as My Sunday Selfie for this week.













This next one was artified using LunaPic's Edtaonisi effect at 50% and then framed, most elegantly, in My Not-So Humble Opinion, for use in the Caturday Art blog hop:
























And the last one, which We artified using another one of LunaPic's pawsome effects, Grey at 80%, We decided to turn into a puzzle for you.







preview112pieceShimshiPoleDancer2Grey80pcFramed


Here are the blog hop badges:


        


Before We set off on Our Blog Hop Visits, just a quick Reminder (although We are sure you don't need reminding), to watch out for the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus, which keeps ambushing Our Humans just when We think it has gone for good. Make sure your pawrents continue to exercise Due Caution.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.



Sunday, July 17, 2022

Caspurr's Basket Boat: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurryone!


I, the Courageous Sir Caspurr the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces, King of the Tigger-Tabbies, am back again, to lead my fursibs as We join this weekend's blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop. hosted by the Wise and Divinely Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by those Brilliantly Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.


Mummy would have liked Me to take My Selfie stretched out on the bed or the sofa, displaying My Tummy, as I so often do, but I didn't feel like getting up out of the Mewspaper Basket, because I knew that if I did so, Shimshi wouldn't lose a second in stealing My Place, just as he has already stolen My Favourite After-Breakfast Napping Spot in the laundry basket!














Now, tell Us what you think of the artsy-fartsy version, which We did in several stages. Furrst of all, We used LunaPic's Waves art effect, set at 60%. On top of that, we added an overlay of Clown, at 40%, which gave the picture a nice, blue-washed look, as if My Basket was actually a boat, floating on the waves.






















We were so pleased with the Final Result that it came as no surprise when We were contacted by PhotoFunia, on behalf of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, with a request to hang this masterpiece there for the rest of the summer. Naturally, We graciously consented.


















We also made a puzzle for you. 

preview112pieceCaspurrWaves60pcClown40pc


We haven't had time to try it ourselves yet, as We've had a furry busy week, helping Mummy as She and the rest of the Biped Family (plus Our Woofie Uncle, Messi) celebrated Grandpaw's 95th birthday last Wednesday, and again on Friday, with a Big Family Supper in the Garden.

Imagine that! 95 years old! Why, in Cat years, that's - that's - I can't figure that out! I don't have enough Paws and Claws! I need a PawCat calculator!

Well, I guess it's time to start on the blog hops now. Furrst of all, here are the blog hop badges:



         


We will leave you with a reminder to make sure that your Humans continue to take all Necessary Precautions to avoid the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus. The Transmission Rate here in Israel is now down to 0.89 (although several people from Mummy's Caterwauling Club are sick with it at present. Luckily, the Choir is now on vacation till September) - but We heard that there are other countries where it is still on the Rampage.

Be Well. Be Safe. We love you all.



Sunday, July 10, 2022

Trixie's Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies - and Another Sad Farewell

Hallo again, Effurrybody!


It is, of course, I, Queen Trixie, Furrst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, here to lead My Fellow J-Cats on this weekend'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 our Dear Furriends, the Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.















But before We do any of that, We want to express Our Grief and Sorrow at the loss of yet another dear kitty furriend, who has just crossed over the Rainbow Bridge - sweet, lovely Little Binky. Binky was an inspurration to us all, as She coped with loss of sight and hearing, but neffur lost her optimism. Now she is with the Great Cat in the Sky, in the Beautiful Country Beyond the Bridge, where she is young and healthy again, but her Granny and Grandpaw and Mom are grieving, so if you haven't done so already, go and leave them some words and purrs of consolation.


**********


Back to the blog hops. In my selfie above, I was waiting for an impawtant phone call from My Agent, concerning a new play at My Theatre (the Queen's Theatre in London), in which I am to star.



























It is a mewsical comedy, written by my brofurs Caspurr and Shimshi. If you want to know more about it, you can read the interview which I gave to the Impurrial News.


















Our thanks to PhotoFunia for their assistance in creating the posters :-)


And here are the blog hop badges:


                     



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In other news, Our Uncle D. (whom we think We managed to convert into a Cat Purrson on his previous visit in May) is back in Israel again for two weeks, although this time, he will be staying with Mummy's sister, Auntie N. But We hope he will come round to visit Us, so We can make sure he doesn't have a relapse (mol).

And now, it is time to start blog hopping. We have so many furriends to visit. We want to tell them all how much We love them, because you never know how much time is left.

Now, effurrybody, remember to keep watch over your Humans and make sure they continue to exercise Due Caution and take All Necessary Steps to avoid the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus which seems determined to hang around forever!

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.






Sunday, July 3, 2022

The Furriness of Shimshi: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurrybuddies!


Here We are again, the J-Cats, all ready to pawticipate in 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 those Eternally Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

And repurresenting the J-Cats this weekend is ME - the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) aka The Little Purrince, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard.













As you can see, I was having a Truly Delightful Nap in the Teleportation Tunnel, when Mummy woke Me up to take My Selfie. I think that was furry Inconsiderate of her. I need My Naps, especially now that she is STARVING Me to get my weight down!

Would you believe it, kitties? She has cut My Rations to three meals a day and She feeds each of Us in a different room, so I can't steal finish up Trixie's and Caspurr's noms once I have gobbled consumed My Own!

But although I have been on this Diet for a month already, Mummy says She cannot discern much weight loss and that I am as portly chubby as effur.

I will let you judge for yourselves. Here is Our Caturday Art - two different versions of the same picture, each one using a different LunaPic filter. Furrst of all, Watercolor at 35%:














And here is the same picture, using the Fairy effect, at 30%:














Am I not a furry ball of Handsomeness?


Now, that's enough about Me. Let Us instead remember that this is a furry special weekend for Our Furriends in the North American continent. We hope Our Canadian furriends, biped and quadruped, enjoyed a wonderful Canada Day on Furriday! And We wish an equally meowvellous Independence Day tomorrow to Our furriends in the United States. 

We would like to mention, also, that the 4th of July was the Birthday of Angel Possum, who went before Us. Mummy always remembers him on that day (and effurry day).

What We are NOT going to do today, however, is talk about the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus, which is still lurking around the Corner - except to remind you all to continue to take all the necessary precautions until it is Gone for Good.

Here are the blog hop badges:


                


Be well. Be safe. We love you all.