Lag B'Omer: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Queen Trixie

Greetings, Effurryone!

We are all exhausticated from last night's activities (mol). As you know, because We told you about it last week and many of you were there, last night We had a bonfire and barbecue, in honour of Lag b'Omer. Well, the thing is, Mummy also went to a Lag b'Omer celebration at the home of one of her caterwauling friends, in Nes Harim, which is a moshav in the Judaean foothills west of Jerusalem.  It seems they had lots and lots of good things to eat - though not really the sort of things we kitties care for. Mummy's friend, who runs a vegetarian catering service from her home, has a huge patio and an even bigger garden, and they built a bonfire and roasted potatoes and marshmallows and Mummy and her caterwauling friends brought homemade salads and vegetable pies and cakes and that sort of thing, and there was plenty to drink (Mummy especially liked the sangria, so it's a good thing She Herself wasn't driving). And when everybody had eaten and drunk their fill, they sat around the campfire singing, to the accompaniment of guitar and piano accordion, played by a couple of Mummy's other caterwauling friends. Anyway, She got home at what She describes as "an ungodly hour" - although We didn't really notice because We were busy with Our Own Festivities. And although She didn't get up till nearly 10 am, and had a couple of cups of coffee, She is still half asleep - which is why She is finding it so hard to take dictation now for Our Blog, and keeps making typos, which She then has to go back and correct (mol).

But it is Sunday, and there are blog hops to take part in - 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. 

So, without further ado, here are three beautiful selfies Mummy and I picked out and artified for your delectation.

Furrst of all, here I am, enjoying a lovely sunpuddle that landed on My Royal Bed - at least, I was, until Mummy drew down the blind halfway so the sun wouldn't spoil the pictures hanging on the walls:

Ah, well - three of my pawsselain Dolly Sisters still got to sunbathe for a bit longer.
Anyway, We artified this with a combination of two art effects from LunaPic - Watercolour at 55% and Daisies at 30%:

I think this looks furry artsy-fartsy indeed, purrhaps the most artsy-fartsy of the three.

Next, I found quite a nice sunpuddle in front of the panoramic window in the living room, as I settled myself down on the coffee table:

But would you believe it?! Mummy found the sun too hot, so She lowered the blinds there too!!!

At all events, We still managed to make quite a nice artification of this one also, using a mix of Renoir at 58%, overlaid with Beauty at 35%:

Finally, when I was starting to get a little annoyed by having My Sunpuddles constantly diminished, I showed Mummy My Displeasure - See Me Roar!

So Mummy cut things short and used only one filter on this final artification - Ceremony at 45% - which, in My Humble Expurrt Opinion, is, in fact, the best of the three:

Which do you like best? Let Us know in the Comments section below.

Now, it is time to put up the blog hop badges:

        

And having done that - let's start hopping!

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

The Flower In My Garden: Caturday Art and Sunday Guest Selfie With Uncle Messi

Greetings, Effurryone!

It is time for the J-Cats to join 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMum, Janet.

This week, We have something Special for you. Since Friday was Step-Grandma's Birthday (she is also Shimshi's Godmother), Mummy and the rest of the family went round there for supper. Our woofie Uncle Messi was also there, of course - but he was a bit alarmed by all the people who were there and he sort of disappeared. Effurryone was searching for him all over the place, but there was no sign of him and Step-Grandma began to worry maybe he had slipped out of the house when the door was open so Auntie Y. could bring in all the food from the car. 

They looked on the patio, but still couldn't see Messi anywhere - until somebody caught a glimpse of him hiding amongst the plants in Step-Grandma's herbaceous border!

It took a lot of coaxing - plus a few Treats - but eventually, Messi was purr-suaded to come inside.  He looks a little bit sad, doesn't he - but don't be fooled. Step-Grandma said this is his usual "I see all the food you've got on the table there. I am a poor, starving doggie. Please feed Me" expression!  He's no fool, is Messi (mol). 

Mummy realised immediately that Messi had been chosen by Fate to star as a Guest  in the weekend blog hops. So, furrst of all, She prepurred  beautiful pawtriotic frames for the pictures. And then, She artified them, with the help of LunaPic.

This furrst one used the Dark artsy effect, at 45%:

                                                                                                                                   

For the second, She chose the Scribble effect, at 40%:

And in case you were wondering, the big, sad eyes worked like a charm and Messi got plenty of tidbits (unlike Us. Mummy brought home lots of food, but We haven't received ANY. Maybe She is saving it for Lag b'Omer).

Now for the blog hop badges:

 

Speaking of Lag b'Omer - of course We will be celebrating, as usual, with a bonfire and barbecue up in the Enchanted Forest, on Saturday night, from 8.30 pm - and We hope to see you all there. Pawty Season is well and truly underway!

And now, it's time to start hopping. We hope We manage to visit you all before Mummy turns off the computer and goes to lie down and rest. She has a FURRY, FURRY, busy week ahead. This evening, it is the General Rehearsal for her Caterwauling Club's Gala Concert, which takes place on Tuesday. It's a longer-than-usual rehearsal, and when She gets home from that, She has to prepurr effurrything She needs for her archaeology field trip tomorrow. And then, of course, on Tuesday is The Concert.  Mummy is going to be Totally Exhausticated!

Still, We will do the best We can to visit as many of you as pawssible.

Till next week then.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

 

                                

 

Two Celebrations Coming Up: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Shimshi

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Guess whose turn it is to lead the 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 the Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet! 

That's right! It is I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short), Furrst of My Name, aka The Little Purrince, aka The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard!

Coincidentally, that turns out to be furry appawsite, because this coming Wednesday, May 15th, is My 10th Gotchaversary. In honor of that Meowmentous Occasion, PhotoFunia has issued a Special Commemorative Stamp:

The day before that, Tuesday May 14th, is Israel's Independence Day. Of course, the celebrations this year are likely to be somewhat toned down, because of the War, but Mummy says it's impawtant to show all those who want to destroy Us that We are here and will remain so, in spite of Anything and Effurrything they try to do to Us.
So, We are going to have a Joint Celebration for Independence Day and My Gotchaversary, starting with a Barbecue on Tuesday afternoon at 4pm Israel time, to which all Our Anipals are invited. It will go on all night long, and well into Wednesday, and there will be Mewsic and Dancing and, of course, lots and lots of Food and Drink.

Where? 

Do you even need to ask? 

Where else but up in the Enchanted Forest (mol)!

Now, getting back to the blog hops - We have two more selfies for you and you can choose which you like best. Furrst, here is Me trying to avoid the Flashy Box and not succeeding:

 

We went back to LunaPic to artify this one, and made it furry colourful, with a combination  of Quirky at 52%, and Dawn, at 29%:

Our third and final selfie today shows Me stretched across two chairs in the living room, keeping Mummy company while She watched some silly old film from 60 years ago that She found on MewTube:

Judging by the look on My Face, it seems I was quite enthralled by the film too (mol). At any rate, We thought this picture was worthy of being hung in a gallery, once it was turned into an oil painting, with the help of PhotoFunia:

And now, We shall put up the Blog Hop badges:

        

We are posting a bit late today, because Mummy is furry tired, having stayed up till the wee hours of the meowning watching the Eurovision Song Contest and then commenting about it on Fursbook and WhatsApp. But She doesn't have Caterwauling Purractice this evening, because it is the start of Remembrance Day, which is always marked the Day before Independence Day, so She doesn't need to sleep during the afternoon (though She purrobably will, as She can hardly keep her Eyes open).

So We will do Our Best to visit as many of you as We can before Mummy falls asleep at the keyboard (mol) and if We don't manage today, there's always tomorrow.

Don't forget - the Pawty starts on Tuesday afternoon. We look forward to welcoming you to the Barbecue.

Till then - Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Caspurr's Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies - and Yet Another Sad Farewell

Greetings, Effurryone! 

Today, I, Caspurr, will be leading 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 Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

But before We do any of that, We wish to bow Our heads in honour of another Dear Furriend, who received his angel wings the day before yesterday - dearest, handsome Ernie of the Island Cats blog, He of the Golden Eyes. He was 18 years old, but however many years We are granted, it is never enough, certainly not for Our Humans, who are left bereft and alone. Yet although Ernie has left this world, when he received his wings, he crossed over the Rainbow Bridge into the world of Eternal Sunshine, where he will live forever, restored to youth and health. Fly free, dearest Ernie, safe in the Loving Paw of the Great Cat in the Sky.

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In our own little corner of the World, We have to report that Uncle D. has gone to spend the next couple of weeks with Auntie N. (who also lives in Jerusalem), so We now have Free Access to the Guest-Room Our Room once more. We are glad about that, but will miss Uncle D. We think an extra week or so of Reinforcement Training would have helped him remain a Committed Cat Purrson after he returns to England!

Another impawtant news item is that Mummy FINALLY finished writing on her own bloggie about her field trip to the Galilee and Golan Heights last month. You are cordially invited to take a look - and also to say hallo to a couple of kitties She met there.

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And now, to Blog Hop business.

Here are not one, but THREE selfies, each one artified with different LunaPic filters!

In this furrst, the background is slightly blurred but you can clearly see My Tummy and, most impawtant of all, My Murder Mitts:

We artified this with the Fairy effect at 80%, and then added an overlay of Tattoo at 20%.

The second selfie shows me sprawled reclining on the living room sofa, displaying my Tongue and My Smoochable Tummy (smoochable by those Select Few to whom I have deigned to purr-mit Tummy Access, that is):

We made a lovely, artsy-fartsy version of this one - including the frame - with the Sketch2 effect at 48% and the Beauty effect at 46%.

Finally, here is a close-up of Me, with My Raspy, Little Pink Tongue sticking out:

The artification for this last one used Crayon at 42%, followed by Pen at 27%.

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

Before We go, We would like to remind you that next Caturday night is the Meowrovision Song Contest Final - preceded on Tuesday night and Thursday night by the two semifinals. Israel's song is in the second semifinal, on Thursday night. Please, please, please, make sure your Humans support Us, by voting for Our Song.  We understand that viewers all over the world will be able to vote, not just in competing countries. Israel needs YOUR vote, to get through to the Final and to win. The broadcasts are at 10 pm Israel time, so if you are in North America, that's 3 pm on the east coast, 12 noon on the west coast - and somewhere in the middle for all points between. If you are in Europe - you will know when to tune in.

That's all for now. See you next week. Till then - Be well. Be safe. We love you all.