Sunday, June 23, 2024

A Trio of Trixies: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!


We are back to Our regular routine of 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

I, Queen Trixie, Furrst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, the Panfur Princess, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, have chosen three of my Most Successful Selfies and, with the help of My Human, have artified each of them with a different and Unique Blend of filters from LunaPic.

As you can tell from all of these pictures, I have had to search for new and cooler places to recline, as it has been much too hot to lie in my usual sun-puddles on the sofa and the bed.

Furrst of all, I tried the old gramophone. It's true that the top is made of purr-spex, which can get furry hot, but since it was in the shade, it was just fine.












We artified this with the Harsh Lighting filter at 72%, overlaid with Nouveau at 41%.












I am not too sure about this filter, to be honest (as I always am), but I found the gramophone top quite comfortable, and was happy to roar out My Pleasure.












I like to let My Subjects Staff know when I am pleased. After all, it costs Me nothing and it makes them feel Good (mol).

We artified this with a combination of Beauty at 40% and Grey, at 35%.













Finally, here is one of Me trying out the old DVD.  It was comfortable enough,  though I don't know why Mummy keeps it there when We have a newer one that actually works (mol).























I think this is My Purrsonal Favourite - both the original and the artification, for which We used Landscape at 70%, followed by Watercolour at 45%.





















Furriends, Mummy needs to go and rest now, because this evening, She and her caterwauling friends have their final rehearsal before their concert on Thursday night.

So - here are the blog hop badges:




        




See you all next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel!

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














Sunday, June 16, 2024

How It All Got Started: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Angel Minxie

Greetings, Effurryone!

Furrst of all, thank you to all those who joined Us up in the Enchanted Forest for Our Shavuot Banquet last week.

And thank you, Mummy, for saving some salmon from your Own Buffet Lunch for Us!

What We did not tell you was that last Wednesday, Shavuot, was also the Bridge Day of Mummy's Furry Furrst Kitty, the legendary Minxie, Queen of Cats.
Minxie was a beautiful little tabby girl, who used to sleep at night curled up in Mummy's armpit, with her chinny-chin-chin resting on Mummy's shoulder. Alas, Minxie left this earth far too soon, when she was called to the Rainbow Bridge on June 12th 1995 - just three days short of what would have been her 15th birthday celebration. An Evil Cancer took her away from Mummy, after she had bravely endured a couple of unsuccessful opurrations to remove all the tumours, leaving Mummy heartbroken.

This is a picture of Minxie, taken on one of those ancient, pre-historic cameras that you had to put film in and then take to a special shop to have it developed. Mummy doesn't remember exactly when it was taken or how old Minxie was in this picture:
















We have decided to honour Minxie's memory by making her Our Repurresentative 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 Delectable and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

We have made three different and highly Original Artifications of this picture, all with the help of LunaPic and their lovely filters and artsy-fartsy effects.

Furrst of all, We created this beautiful, colourful pawtrait, with Delaunay at 70%:






















Mummy thinks it's no accident this has a strong Blue Vibe to it, albeit sub-conscious. We are all feeling furry Blue after the Bad News this weekend - such a contrast from last weekend - the deaths of 11 more soldiers. Not that the joy of the hostage rescue last week was completely unmingled with heartbreak (see Mummy's own blog). But this time, there was no Good News to mitigate the Bad.


Artification no. #2 used Surreal at 43% and Tuscany at 65% (Surreal with Tuscany is one of Mummy's favourite Combinations):
















Finally, Minxie's Bravery and Beauty are purrfectly encapsulated in this final artification, using Brave at 75%, overlaid with Beauty at 40%:















And now, here are the blog hop badges:


        



Mummy is falling asleep at the keyboard because of the heat. It's been in the mid to upper 30s C for days now and although today is a degree or two lower, it's still exhausticatingly hot. WE are lying on the floor tiles, as that's cooler (hot air rises, after all. MOL).


Till next time then. 

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.



Sunday, June 9, 2024

The Good News Edition: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Shimshi

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Shimshi here - that is, the Mighty Shimshon, (Shimshi for short), a.k.a. The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, the Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard!

In case you hadn't guessed, it is MY turn 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 the Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet

If you heard the news yesterday, about the heroic rescue of four Israeli hostages by the Israel Defence Forces, you will know why We called today's post "the Good News Edition". Mummy will purrobably blog about that on her own blog. Meanwhile, you might like to take a look at what She wrote last week, about Jerusalem Day, and listen to some of the mewsic.

We are sure it has not escaped your attention that We are in the middle of Pawty Season (mol) - and, sure enough, with 
Shavuot  (Pentecost) coming up the day after tomorrow (Tuesday evening through Wednesday), it is time for yet another  pawty. Mummy will be hosting her two-legged family at a buffet lunch on Wednesday, while We kitties will be having a Banquet on Tuesday evening, which will carry on all through the night, in the hopes that We will be awake at Midnight to see if The Legend is true. We think We have mentioned this before - the legend that at Midnight on the night of Shavuot, the Sky splits wide open for the infinitesimal fragment of a second, and if you are lucky, and have been a furry good kitty all year, you may catch a meowmentary glimpse of the Great Cat in the Sky, and all the Angel Kitties. If you should happen to be so blessed, you may wish for whateffur your heart desires, and it will be granted. We know what We will all be wishing for this year...

We will be having that banquet up in the Enchanted Forest, where We hold all Our celebrations - and We will be delighted, as always, if you care to join Us. We shall start at 8 pm Israel time.

And now, to the Business at Hand.


Mummy and I chose two selfies of Me, and artified each of them with two different artifications, courtesy of LunaPic.


Furrst of all, here I am at leisure in what used to be the Mewspaper Basket. That object which seems to be a pipe sticking out of My Tummy is, in fact, the remains of a roll of paper kitchen towels which I was playing with. And don't worry. It was not in my tummy. That's just the angle at which I was laying on it (mol). Please note, also, the swish of My Tail which, for the Un-initiated, makes it look as if part of My Tail is missing!












Our furrst artification uses the Edtaonisi effect at 54%:












The second makes use of Illusion, at 62%:












The second selfie shows Me, belly-up, displaying My Magnificent Tummy (which We know you all LOVE).












For this one, We chose the Psychedelic filter, at 60%:












Our final Artification used a mixture of Dark (37%) and Frida (19%):












And now, here are the blog hop badges:


        


That's all for this week then. Looking forward to seeing you at the Banquet.

Till then - Be Well. Be Safe. We love you all.











Sunday, June 2, 2024

Lazy Days: Caturday Art And Sunday Selfies With Caspurr

Greetings, Effurryone!

After a few cool days towards the end of last week, the tempurratures are rising again. We are looking at temps in the upper-30s C over the next few days. Mummy has another one of her field trips tomorrow and it's going to be furry, furry hot (39 degrees C)!

We kitties, on the other hand, can allow ourselves the Luxury of staying home and stretching out on the cool floor, or in the shade under the bed. This time, We don't mind if Mummy pulls down the blinds!

Howeffur, We will exert Ourselves sufficiently to hold Our Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Liberation Day) picnic on Wednesday, June 5th. That is the day when We celebrate the Reunification of Jerusalem in the Six Day War, 57 years ago.  As usual, the picnic will take place in the Enchanted Forest, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. We hope you will join Us there - at 5pm in the afternoon, Israel Time. By that time of the day, it will be slightly cooler - but just in case it isn't, there will be plenty of cold drinks, and mice cream. We have just purrfected the recipe for a new flavour - Valerian mice cream!

And now for the weekend blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

I, Caspurr, the King of the Tigger Tabbies (to give the shortened form of My Title), will be leading the J-Cats on this week's blog hops. As so often happens, We had quite a job picking out ONLY three selfies - all of which We artified with the help of LunaPic. 

In this furrst one, Mummy had just woken Me up - or maybe I woke up by Myself. I can't remember really, and it doesn't really matter now, does it?





We artified  this with Picasso at 64%, followed by Beauty at 33%.







Next up, here is a snapshot of Me doing what any Feline would do, having been rudely and unexpectedly awakened.






Am I yawning or am I roaring? Can you guess? I had ample justification for either - or both!

Anyway, the artsy-fartsy version of this uses Fairy at 55%.








Finally, a Close-up of Me and My Raspy Little Pink Tongue (that's what Mummy calls it - mol).







And what do you think of the artified version, which uses Vangogh at 80%? It looks a bit as if I am wearing lipstick, doesn't it (mol)?






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


        


Now, don't forget the Picnic on Wednesday. We are looking forward to seeing you. We absolutely LOVE welcoming Our Furriends to Our Pawties and Picnics!

Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.