Welcome 2024: Caturday Art, a Sunday Selfie/Ussie for the Mew Year - and a Sad Goodbye

Greetings, Effurryone!

As today is actually Mew Year's Eve, Caspurr has graciously agreed to postpone till next week his turn 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 those Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. Instead, all three of Us are here to say goodbye to 2023, which has been a purrfectly horrible year and to greet 2024, which We HOPE and PURRAY will be furry much better:

Before We show you the mewtiful artification We made of this Ussie, We have, sadly, to bid farewell to one of Mummy's oldest blogging friends - Carolyn (Caro) Retallick, who, together with her kitty, Austin, used to write the CATachresis blog. Carolyn suffered from serious health problems, and hadn't blogged for several years now, but she and Mummy were still in touch on Fursbook. Still, Mummy had no inkling as to just how badly Caro's health had declined and it was a terrible shock to her to learn that Her Friend had been summoned to her own Rainbow Bridge on Chrissymouse Day of all days. Our sincere and deepest condolences to her brother, Simon, her niece Hannah and to all the rest of her family, including Austin.

As We said - 2023 has been a horrible year all round.

In the earnest hope that 2024 will bring a change for the better, We have artified Our Ussie with the help of LunaPic. We used the Smoke effect at 50%, wishing 2023 may dissipate in Smoke - with an overlay of Nouveau (for the New Year, get it?) at 40%.

And here are the blog hop badges:

       

Last - but by no means least - Mew Year's Eve wouldn't be complete without one of Our Pawties, would it? So, at 11pm tonight Israel time, We will all meet in the Pavilion up in the Enchanted Forest. Just before midnight, We will start the Countdown to 2024 and then We will pawty the night away to the mewsic of the Coat-hanger Quartet, the Von Katz Furrmily Singers and many other talents from Our Extended Family, Furry and Non-Furry. You are all welcome. The co-ordinates have already been sent to your Transportation Devices.


See you all later then - and remember. Be well. Be safe. We love you all.


HAPPY MEW YEAR

We Wish You a Meowy Chrissymouse - Queen Trixie's Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurrybody!

We are back to taking turns at leading 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

This week, as you can see, it is MY Turn. I have chosen two selfies for you. Furrst, here I am in front of the TV, trying to stop Mummy from spending too much time watching news and commentary about The War, as it makes her furry depressed. In fact, sometimes, She just starts crying, out of the blue, listening to the stories of the Fallen, or, sometimes, of the Survivors. So I try to make sure she takes a break now and then, to think of something Pawsitive. Sometimes, I even make the screen go blank by dislodging the connection to the digital converter. That makes her mad, so She forgets about being sad.

We artified this with LunaPic's Woodsey filter, which We don't think We have used before (though We may be wrong), at 47%.

The other picture was taken after We received a delivery from Animal Shop last week. There was a New Box, to which I immediately laid claim.  I am the Queen, after all!

LunaPic helped Us make an artsy-fartsy version of this one, too - using the Dark filter at 43%, overlaid with the Surreal effect at 30%.

It does look truly weird and surreal, doesn't it? I think Mummy was still under the influence of a lecture on Mr. Salvador Dali, which She heard in her Art Course a few days ago (mol)!

Now, before We go any further, here are the blog hop badges:

        

It has been pouring with skywater for the past two days. We hope it clears up before Mummy goes to Caterwauling Practice this evening - otherwise, it will make it furry hard to get a taxi. We wish We could purr-suade her to stay home, where it's nice and warm, and snuggle with Us, but She missed last week's rehearsal because She didn't feel well, and She hates to miss two in a row.

Now, before We go, We want to wish those of you who are celebrating it this evening, a Furry Meowy Chrissymouse. We hope Santa Claws brings you all many, many presents. We are pawsitive you must all be on his Nice List.

Most of all, We wish for all the Homeless Kitties to find a Fur-ever Home and a Fur-Ever Family, as You and We have.

That's all for now. Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

All Together for Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Hanukkah is over - We lit the 8th and final candle last Fursday evening. The day before, Mummy travelled down with her Caterwauling Club friends - in the pouring rain - to Sde Boker in the Negev (where it doesn't rain much, usually) to appear in a concert. It was furry successful.

On the war front, last week was marked by bad news all round, with many casualties. And late Friday afternoon, Mummy had lit the Shabbat candles and was prepurring to lie down for a short nap before supper (as, indeed, We all were), when the peace and quiet were shattered by a Code Red alert. We hadn't had any rocket alerts in Jerusalem for several weeks, although missiles continued to fall all over the rest of the country. We thought the Evil Humans in Gaza were maybe afraid of hitting their famous Al-Aqsa mosque, but it seems it's more impawtant to them to try to kill Mewish people. Anyway, Mummy dived for cover in her "safe space" and We heard several loud boomies almost overhead. Mummy was purrticularly alarmed by the fact that the Code Red app in her phone didn't go off! It's pawsible that We were hearing the sirens from a neighbouring zone, as We are quite close to the boundary with two other zones and She has set her app to go off loudly only when there is a Code Red in the zone where She actually is. Anyway, She decided to play safe and take cover, as We said.

It is Sunday today, when it is Our Custom 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 Our Dear Furriends, the Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet (who seem to be having some purroblems at purresent with their LinkyLink).

This Sunday, We are offering an Ussie - all three of Us together!

As We said, Hanukkah is over - but Chrissymouse will soon be here - next Monday, in fact. We thought of waiting with Our Chrissymouse Card till next Sunday, which is Chrissymouse Eve, but it occurred to Us that many of you might be so busy with last-minute Chrissymouse prepurrations, you wouldn't have time for blog-hopping. 

So We have decided to post Our Chrissymouse Card right here and now. We aren't sending individual cards, so please feel free to see this as a Purr-sonal Greeting and download a copy.

We made a couple of artsy-fartsy versions of this card (minus the text), with the help of LunaPic. Furrst of all, here is a furry colourful artification, using the Psychedelic filter, at 50%:

And this one uses the Nouveau filter (one of Our Absolute Favourites and also furry colourful) at 40%:

Let Us know in the comments if you have a favourite.

Now, here are the blog hop badges:

     

We will sign off now, wishing those of you who celebrate it a Furry Meowy Chrissymouse - just in case, as We said, you don't have time for blog-hopping next week.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Remembering Pixie and A Guest Selfie: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!

Yesterday evening, We lit the Third Hanukkah Candle - with the help of Dona Gracia and Don Isaac, and with the mewsical accompaniment of the Coat-hanger Quartet:

Tonight, We shall light the Fourth Candle, which will bring with it poignant memories for Mummy, as it was a bare hour before the lighting of the Fourth Candle twelve years ago that her beloved Pixie received her Angel Wings.

We are going to honour Pixie's memory in 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 the Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

So here is a picture of Pixie, taken on her 14th birthday, nearly two and a half years before she was called to The Bridge:

You can't see it all that clearly in this picture, but she has a sort of half-smile, which is much clearer in the artifications We made, with the help of LunaPic. 

This furrst one uses the Beauty art effect, at 44% only. Pixie was so beautiful that there was no need to add much more.

And this next one was artified with the Floating effect, at 66%.

The artifications are similar in that they both have quite a lot of pink in them - but can you also see the half-smile, reminiscent of the Meowna Lisa?

We lit the Second Candle on Friday evening. Since it was also the Eve of Shabbat, Mummy had supper with her sister Y. Step-Grandma was also there, with Our Woofie Uncle, Messi, whom We are featuring this week in a Guest Selfie:

We purrticularly like this pawtrait of Uncle Messi, because of the Dangly Paws. We just LOVE dangly paws, don't you?

Now, for the furrst artsy-fartsy version of this, We used LunaPic's Adventure effect, at 38%:

We don't think We have used this filter before - and We are quite pleased with the result.

For Our second artification of Uncle Messi, We used a filter We have used often and really love - Nouveau, at 95%:

Tell Us in the comments which is your favourite for each of them.

It is now time to put up the blog hop badges. Here they are:

        

Before We go, just a quick reminder to visit Mummy's own, purrsonal bloggie.

That's all for now, dear furriends - except to wish those of you who celebrate it a Happy Hanukkah.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

No Peace for the Wicked: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Shimshi

Hallo there, Effurrybuddies!

The Mighty Shimshon here (Shimshi for Short) aka The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischief's and Captain of the Guard - and it's My Turn to lead the J-Cats on the weekend blog hops. That is to say - 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

So, here, without Further Ado is My Selfie:

We are furry pleased with this Selfie, because of the multiple shadow effect of My Silhouette on the wall. We think this, alone, makes a wonderful Artsy-Fartsy effect, but We also made a couple of "official" artifications.

Here is the furrst, using LunaPic's Tattoo effect at 70%:

We stayed with LunaPic for the second artification as well. This time, We used Sunshine at 75%:

It may be just Our Imaginations, but We think the shadows are more pronounced in the second artification. What do you think?

Now, continuing the Tradition of the last two weeks, I am also sharing this week's post with My Fursibs, in what is (for them) a furry rare Two-fur.  Trixie and Caspurr don't often pose together, but for once, here they are:

And here is the Artified Version, using LunaPic's Hard Light Filter at 90% strength, followed by a light overlay of their Paisley Art Effect at 22%:

And here are the blog hop badges, before We Mummy forgets:

        

Now, as you purr-obably heard, the Wicked Humans in Gaza broke the ceasefire, so the War is on again. Since Furr-iday, well before the 7am deadline, they started firing rockets at Israel again (not at Jerusalem, where We live - but they did fire at Bethlehem which is only about 11 km south of here. We heard the boom! We don't know if that was intentional or whether they had been aiming at the Gilo neighbourhood at the southern tip of Jerusalem and the rockets had fallen short, as has happened before.)
They hadn't been sticking fully to the terms of the ceasefire anyway, as Mummy wrote in her own blog last week 

We apawlogise for not having yet written about the fate of the animals caught up in the War, both in Israel and in Gaza. We truly intended to, but Mummy found some photos and videos of those poor creatures, which was so furry upsetting, She could not bring herself to write. But We will - We promise - because their stories deserve to be told and who will tell them, if not Us?

On a happier note, this coming Fursday evening, We will be lighting the furrst Hanukkah candle. Hanukkah! That means potato latkes! And donuts! We bet Mummy will be stuffing herself - and not sharing with Us, on the flimsy excuse that they are not good for kitties (as if they were any less unhealthy for humans - or less fattening)!!!

Time to go now, to give Mummy time to look over some new Mewsic She has received and to rest before Caterwauling Purractice this evening. 

Till next time then. Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Ups and Downs: Caspurr's Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effuryone!

Here I am again, Sir Caspurr the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Guard, King of the Tigger-Tabbies, ready to lead my fellow 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

I thought this was a purrfectly good selfie, but Mummy made Me wake up and do another one, with My Eyes open, so as a bonus, you also get to see My Terrific Tummy.
You can't resist it, can you? 

Neither can Mummy (mol).

Now, dear Anipals, We have a furry Embarrassing Confession to make. There has been so much happening here (the War and effurrything), that We completely forgot Queen Trixie's Gotcha Day on November 12th. We are so, so sorry - and to make it up to her, We are including a Most Adorable Twofur of her with Shimshi, seated under the dining room table, looking furry queenly indeed, We think.

Shimshi is at Trixie's right paw, because he is Captain of the Guard and his sworn duty is to protect his Queen-Empurress.

We have made some beautiful artifications of all three pictures. 

Furrst of all, the artsy-fartsy version of My Sunday Snoozie uses LunaPic's Dreaming filter at 45%, overlaid with Quirky at 55%:

The next picture, where you can gaze in awe and admiration at My Tantalising  Tummy, was artified using LunaPic's Fairy filter at 80%, topped with Beauty at 40%:

And finally, the twofur of Queen Trixie and the Mighty Shimshi uses a single filter - Dark, at 50%.

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

As far as news of the War goes, you or your Humans have no doubt heard of the Truce, during which a few of the Israeli hostages who were kidnapped on October 7th, are to be returned home (some already have been). This is, of course, a mere Drop in the Ocean. Tomorrow, or later this week, Mummy will write more updates on this subject on her own bloggie. We, ourselves, however, even though We usually post on Sundays only, may pawsibly write an extra post later in the week on the fate of the pets and livestock in the kibbutzim and other Israeli towns and villages that were attacked by the Evil Humans from Gaza, so watch this space.

Till next time.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

It's Looking a Lot Like Autumn: Two Selfies and a Twofur

Hallo again, Effurrybody!

It's Me here, Queen Trixie, Fursst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire!

This week, it is MY Turn 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Here are the blog hop badges, before We forget:

        

We found it hard to choose this time, so you are getting TWO of Me for the Price of One (mol)! 

Here is the second pawtrait:

In fact, since Shimshi felt rather short-changed last week, because instead of artifying his selfie, We posted artifications of Grandpaw, and since We don't want Caspurr to feel left out either, We are giving you an Extra Special Bonus this weekend  - a Twofur of My Pesky Brofurs!

My furrst pawtrait has been artified using LunaPic's Dark filter, at 77%:

We like this because it has kind of a chiaroscuro effect (Mummy likes to use big words like that, because She is taking an Open University online lecture series on Art). 

For the second picture, We used Smoke at 62%, with an overlay of Our Favourite Art Nouveau effect at 38%.

We didn't think about it at the time, but together, that adds up to 100%! Pretty cool, right?

Finally, for Shimshi and Caspurr's Twofur, We chose Fairy at 50%, topped (once again) with Nouveau at 38%:

Now, just to keep you updated - Autumn seems to have decided to make its belated appearance. Last Tuesday, when Mummy was at the Burial Grounds with the rest of the Family, marking Grandpaw's Furrst Rainbow Bridge Anniversary, the Windows of Heaven opened, skywater poured down in rivers, there were flashes of lightning and thunder boomies that made Mummy jump from shock, they were so loud. It felt like the storm was right overhead. It's lucky Grandpaw is buried in the new part of the cemetery, which is under cover.
Anyway, after that, We had a few sunny days, and today, it looks like it's going to be another stormy one! The sky is all grey and overcast, and the weather app on Mummy's phone says We can expect it to be windy and wet all through the afternoon and evening and all through the night, as well as all day tomorrow.
We really wouldn't care, except that Mummy has to go out this evening to Caterwauling Practice, and if the weather is going to be as bad as they say, it will make it furry hard for her to get a taxi.

For those of you who are interested in the Wider Picture of what is going on in Our Neck of the Woods, you can take a look at Mummy's own bloggie.

Now it's time for Us to sign off and start blog hopping.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Shimshi Remembers Grandpaw: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies.

How have you all been keeping? We are all as well as can be expected, considering We have been at war now for five weeks. We try to keep Our Spirits up, each in Our Own Way - Mummy, with her Mewsic and Us, by taking part 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

This week, it is the turn of ME, 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,  to lead the J-Cats on the bloggie hops.

I proudly present to you My Selfie:

We all have an additional reason for feeling furry sad this week. On Tuesday, it will be exactly one year (according to the Mewish Calendar) since Grandpaw was called away to his Rainbow Bridge. We have been thinking about him a lot. Mummy wonders aloud all the time, what he would have made of the situation here now. As a Holocaust survivor, he was always so grateful for the existence of the State of Israel, where all Jews could find a Safe Refuge - and now, it looks like even that is not to be lightly taken for granted and that some Humans (quite a lot, in fact) think that Israel has no right to exist!

In honour of Grandpaw, Our Caturday Art this week will be dedicated to him. Mummy used LunaPic to make three different artifications of him.

Here is one, using the Psychedelic filter at 55%:

There are two more, one using Sketch4 at 50% with an overlay of Beauty at 25% (right) and another using Monet at 70% (centre). Mummy decided they should all hang in PhotoFunia's National Gallery of Art:

That's all for now, Dear Anipals. We will try to visit as many of you as We can before Mummy goes to lie down and rest, ahead of Caterwauling Practice.

So before We go, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.