It Started on Friday the 13th...

Greetings,Effurryone!

This is going to be a long-ish post, and We aren't sure We'll be able to come and visit as many of you as We would like today, because things are all at Sixes and Sevens around here.

It all started in the early hours of the meowning of Furriday the Furteenth of June - just a little over 2 days ago. We were rudely awakened by the wailing of air raid sirens. Mummy jumped out of bed, grabbed her phone and ran to her (sort-of) Safe Space in the corridor where She sat on the floor (she always forgets to grab a cushion) and waited for the requisite 10 minutes - assuming that this was yet another pathetic attempt by the Houthis in Yemen to scare Us. Then She ventured into the living-room and turned on the TV. All this while, She was WhatsApping her siblings, especially Uncle D. in London, who has the Israeli Civil Defence app on his phone and so got the alert at the same time as We did.

Turns out We weren't actually under attack at the time, but were ourselves attacking nuclear and military installations in Iran, in a pre-emptive strike, before the Iranians can build a nuclear bomb. Our Defence Minister had just proclaimed an emergency situation and the sirens were a precaution against the expected immediate Iranian response. Mummy went back to bed but not too long after, there was another alert. Mummy is a bit confused about the order of things after that, but, in short, Civil Defence instructions have been changed, it's no longer safe to find a relatively purrtected space inside the apartment, if you don't have a standard Safe Room, you need to go down to the shelter. If you don't have a Safe Room or a proper shelter in the building (fortunately, We do have a communal shelter - 3 floors down in the basement), you need to go to the nearest public shelter. To give people time to do so, additional early warnings have been put in place. As soon as the IDF identifies signs of an impending missile launch (Mummy doesn't know how, exactly, but She says their technological capabilities are AMAZING), they send out an early warning to every citizen with a phone (ANY phone, doesn't have to be a smartphone) to remain in close proximity to a shelter. That's about 15 - 20 minutes before the expected strike. Once they identify an actual launch, they send out a second warning that we will shortly be hearing sirens in our area. Then, about 5 minutes later, when they have a clearer idea of where the missiles (or drones) are likely to fall, the sirens go off in those areas with a (usually) simultaneous alert to our phones. Then you have (in Our area, at least) 90 seconds before the missile hits. Once that happens, you are supposed to stay in the shelter till you get another message from Civil Defence that it's safe to leave - and that could take a lot longer than 10 minutes.

Mummy has packed a "go-bag" with emergency supplies such as a flashlight, a battery-operated radio, her medications, a power bank for topping up her phone (there's electricity in the shelter, but a missile strike could knock out power lines), a packet of savoury crackers in case She's stuck in the shelter for hours, a bottle of drinking water (in fact, some of the neighbours already made sure there are bottles of mineral water down there), toilet paper (though the toilets down there don't work, She says) and a book to read.

A bit later in the morning, they announced on TV that 100 Iranian drones were headed our way, and that it would be several hours before they arrived. But apparently, they were all shot down as they never did arrive. Then, on Furriday evening the expected Iranian response arrived in full force and Mummy had to run down to the shelter, where She discovered to her annoyance that reception, both for internet and the radio, was very dodgy. She could send text messages, but that was about it. Other neighbours had varied results. 

After Civil Defence authorised leaving the shelter, She came back upstairs but didn't get much more than an hour's sleep before having to run down to the shelter again. This time, she was back after only half an hour or so. 

It seems three people (all civilians) were killed in one of those two attacks.

Last night it was much the same story. Twice Mummy ran down to the shelter. 10 people were killed in those attacks, all civilians, including 2 children aged 8 and 10, and an old lady of 80.

4 more are still missing, believed dead, buried under the rubble.

We know many of you will be wondering why Mummy didn't take Us down to the shelter. Well, as soon as We sensed her anxiety, We scattered and hid, each one of Us in a different place. She would neffur have managed it. We aren't like the neighbours' little woofie who comes meekly to heel when called. 

Tonight, We  are expecting more of the same, so We are going to wrap up now with Our Entry 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

I, Caspurr the Snuggle Bug, have chosen 3 selfies, all of which have been artified with beautiful LunaPic filters - and here they are:

This furrst picture, where I am clearly demanding tummy rubs, was artified using the Leather effect at 56%:

In this next one, you can see that I was already a little concerned about the events of the past couple of days. You can read it in my eyes, can't you?

Here is the artsy-fartsy version, using the relatively new Skeletor filter at 37%:

And last, but not least, here I am, overcome with exhaustion at last night's events, trying to sleep a bit:

And here is the artification, which used Ceremony at 42%:

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

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We thought We'd be able to visit some of you before Mummy takes a nap. There's no Caterwauling Purractice this evening because of the Situation, but Mummy thought She'd try and get some sleep before this evening's barrages begin.

Unfortunately, She was caught napping by a Missile attack. They've started early today. Mummy missed the Furrst Alert, and there were only about 4 minutes between the 2nd alert, which She did catch, and the sirens. She only just made it down to the shelter in time. However, nothing seems to have fallen in Jerusalem and there are no reports (so far) of anyone being injured anywhere else. 

Mummy is sure this is only an opening salvo for the day, there are bound to be more attacks this evening and during the night so She is sure you will understand if We don't visit anyone today but let Mummy try to have a nap before the Real "Fun" starts later in the evening.

COD willing, We will see you again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.