Wondering When It Will Be Spring: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody!

As you can see, this week, it is 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 and Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, who will be leading 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, hosted by the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Before We get on to the art, We would like to say We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. We also hope that those of you who celebrated Tu b'Shvat, the New Year for Trees according to the Hebrew calendar (which fell the day before Valentine's Day), had a lovely day, ate lots of fruits and planted many trees. Tu b'Shvat falls when it is still quite cold and often rainy, but the almond trees which have come to symbolise the festival are already in blossom and you can feel that Spring is just around the corner.

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We have chosen three selfies this week, and each one has been artified with one of the mewtiful effects from LunaPic.

In this furrst selfie, I am in my favourite half upside-down position, looking up at Mummy adoringly. (I was actually wondering if She was going to bring Me a treat, but We won't tell her that - MOL.)

The artsy-fartsy effect here was achieved with LunaPic's Dark filter, which is, as you already know, one of Our Favourites - set to 57%.

I like the way it emphasises My Eyes, don't you?

Next, here is a picture of Me in close-up.

I was enjoying a sun-puddle here. I often have to fight for sun-puddles because My Pesky Brofurs gang up and steal them from Me when I am enjoying them on the Bed. This time, however, I had the Last Laugh because I found a Bigger and Better Sun-puddle on the Living Room Sofa which I shared with Mummy.
Anyway, this picture was artified with the Flash Gordon filter at 67%.

This last selfie was taken just a few minutes later. Mummy and I think it's just purrfect because of the play of sun and shadow on My Furs. The panoramic window behind me faces south and the sun was shining quite strongly so Mummy let down the shutter about two-thirds of the way. See what a beautiful effect it has!

Mummy and I feared that any artification here might spoil the effect, but since We are supposed to produce something artistic for the Caturday Art blog hop, We decided on a minimal (24%) use of the K3 filter.

I quite like the result. How about you?

And now for the blog hop badges:

        

That's all for now. See you again next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel!

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

Tongue, Tummy and Tail - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Shimshi

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Today, I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short), a.k.a. the Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, a.k.a. the Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs, and Captain of the Guard, am honoured 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.

All three selfies have been framed with the Israel flag and with a yellow inner frame - in Solidarity with the three Israeli hostages who were freed yesterday, in a dreadful, emaciated condition, having been tortured, deliberately starved and kept in tiny cages by the Evil Hamas Monsters (unlike the convicted terrorist Murderers whom Israel released in exchange, who were well-fed and slept in beds, in cells which conformed to the standards accepted in civilised western countries and who were regularly visited by their families and by the Red Cross). And in solidarity with the hostages still in captivity...

In this furrst picture, I am admiring myself in the mirror of Mummy's wall-to-wall closet - and I think We can all agree that there is a great deal to admire (although Mummy says I have lost some weight and can now be described as rotund rather than fat).

All the pictures were artified with Filters from LunaPic. For this one, We used Storytime at 68%, with a light overlay of Scribble at 28%:

For this next pawtrait, I actually posed for the camera:

The artsy-fartsy effect here was achieved using Daisies at 91%, followed by a considerable dose of Sadness at 45% (completely justified in view of what was done to the Israeli hostages and their families - some of whom were murdered, and the returning hostages are only now learning of their fate).

In this final shot, Mummy caught Me while I was making my Meowning Toilette. It came out a bit blurred but since you can see my raspy little Pink Tongue, as well as My Tummy and Tail, She decided to keep it and share it with you.

In the artified version, which uses the Dark effect at 58% with a Surreal overlay at 38%, the blurring is less obvious:

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

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In other news, Mummy finally got round to updating her own blog, so if you want to read about and see videoclips from her Caterwauling Club's last two concerts, as well as pictures from her last field-trip, that is the place to go. The field-trip which She was to take part in tomorrow, to which She alludes in that post, has been postponed till next week, because of the rainy, stormy weather expected this week. 

Well, that just about rounds things up for today. Mummy has to eat and shower and rest before this evening's Caterwauling Rehearsal, in which She and her fellow Caterwaulers will be receiving new material for their next concert, so We shall probably do most of our blog-hopping tomorrow (since Mummy won't, after all, be going out for the Day).

We'll be back next week then - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. 

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

Caspurr's Teething Troubles: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!


My goodness, it's well past lunchtime and We are only now about to post this week's blog! That is because I, Sir Caspurr the (VERY) Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces and King of the Tigger-Tabbies, was tricked into visiting the V-E-T this meowning and only got back an hour ago! My teefs had been hurting and one of them - my lower right fang - was wobbly. So Mummy said We would go to see the v-e-t- and get something for the pain. But once We got there, they decided to drug Me and remove the toofie! While I was "under the Influence", they found another wobbly toofie and stole that one as well! 
Well, they didn't exactly steal it, because they wrapped them both up and gave them to Mummy, so She could give them to the Tooth Furry and get Me a Present in return. And they shaved my neck furs and stole some of My Bloods too! So it all took longer than Mummy had planned, leaving hardly any time to blog today, let alone visit our Furriends, as Mummy and her Caterwauling Friends have a Concert this evening, in which Mummy has a So-Low - which means She really needs a Good Long Nap beforehand!

So, We will post today and try to visit you all tomorrow.

Today, it is My Turn to repurresent 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 Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Here is this week's Snoozie Selfie:

We made three different versions of this picture, using the artsy-fartsy filters from LunaPic.

Furrst of all, since I was so Brave today, Mummy chose the Brave Effect at 63%, followed by Sketch2 at 28%:

Next up, We went for a combination of Dreaming at 35% and Landscape at 43%:

 For our final Artification of the Day, We returned to one of Our Favourites, Frida at 73%, overlaid with Pen at either 20% or 28% (Mummy didn't write it down immediately, and She's not sure).

Here are the blog hop badges:

        

That's all for now then. Till next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.
And, as always - be well. Be safe. We love you all.

In Search of the Purrfect Pawtrait: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Queen Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Once again, it falls to Me, 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 and  Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, to lead my fellow J-Cats as We 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 Ever-Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

As usual, We have selected three different selfies of My Impurrial Meowjesty, and artified each of them with a different LunaPic filter.

Furrst of all, here I am guarding My Our MY Tunnel. Shimshi keeps trying to steal it from Me, but it is Mine, all Mine, I tell you!

Who says so? 

I do - and I am the Queen-Empurress. What I say goes. So there!

 

The artsy-fartsy effects were achieved using the Dark filter, one of My Favourites, at just 24%.

Mummy and I absolutely loved this next one, as the light of the sun-puddle falls gently on my furs, making the most magical shadow-play.

Really, it hardly needs any artification at all, does it? Still, for the sake of creating Caturday Art, We dolled it up with Homer, at a whopping great 64%:

In the last selfie, I am reclining on the stool in front of the dressing-table in My Boudoir. Nobody - I repeat - nobody (that includes Mummy) is allowed to disturb me there.

And here is the artified version, which uses another one of Our Favourite filters - Frida at 52%:

All three artifications will be on display from later this evening at the Pawtraits of Trixie exhibition in the PhotoFunia Pawtrait Gallery.

And, before either Mummy or I fur-get, here are the blog hop badges:

        

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Mummy apawlogises for not having written her own bloggie yet. She has had a busy week. On Monday, She had one of her field-trips. She came home with a hurty knee - which wasn't helped by all the standing She had to do at her Caterwauling Club's concert the next day, in which She did, indeed, have a So-Low. She did get to rest a bit on Wednesday - only She didn't really (mol). And on Fursday, She went to a family celebration - her Uncle's hundredth birthday!  (Great) Uncle M. has 3 children, 11 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren - and a great-great-grandchild on the way. That's not just a family - that's a Tribe! And although some of them were out of the country, most of them were there. I expect Mummy will write about it in her own blog (some time). The trouble is, She is so busy with all her Activities and gallivanting about - and when She isn't busy, She's too exhausticated to write her blog!!!  By My Reckoning, She has 3 field-trips, an opurra and two concerts to write about - and if She doesn't hurry up, it will be THREE concerts, as she and her Caterwauling Club have another concert next Sunday. Not to mention the pawlitical events taking place at a dizzying rate in Our Neck of the Woods, some Happy, some decidedly not...

So - you get the drill. As I said, Mummy has another concert next week, so of course, there's a rehearsal this evening. Mummy will try to visit as many of you as pawssible before She goes to rest beforehand.

Till next week then - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With The Little Purrince

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Today, it is I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) aka The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, aka The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain-of-the-Guard, who will be leading 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Before I post My Selfies and Art, I have to tell you We are expecting a Week of Ups and Downs.  You purrobably heard that three of the women kidnapped by the Evil Sub-Humans from Gaza are to be released today, in the furrst stage of the Satanic Deal forced upon Israel, which will see the release of hundreds of convicted murderers in exchange for just 33 of the 97 hostages still in the hands of the Hamas terrorist organisation. Mummy won't write any more about that at present, at least, not here, as her Blood Pressure is already shooting up. She will almost certainly refer to it in depth in her own blog - although She has much more pleasant things to write about this week, such as another archaeological field trip, and a concert with her Caterwauling Club in which she hopes to have a So-Low.

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Here, then, are My Selfies, all of which were artified with filters from LunaPic.

Furrst of all, I posed in front of the Wardrobe Mirror:

Then, Mummy helped Me to artify this with the Fantasy effect at 87%, to which We added Scribble at 30%.

Next, here I am on the living-room Couch (affectionately known as Couchie), attempting to look furry dignified. Do you think I succeeded?

The artsy-fartsy effect here was achieved with the Storytime filter at 64%, overlaid with Dreaming, at 24%:

Finally, here I am Up Close and Purrsonal:

The artification here was achieved using the Psychedelic effect at 64%, with an overlay of Ceremony at 26%:

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

Now, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Till next week then, dear Furriends. 

Meanwhile, be well.  Be safe. We love you all.

Caturday Art and Sunday Snoozies with Caspurr

 Greetings, Effurryone!

This week, I,  Sir Caspurr, the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces, King of the Tigger-Tabbies, will be repurresenting 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 Snoozies  Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMum, Janet.

To this end, I have chosen 3 pawtaits of Myself, in all of which I am snoozing - or at least, trying to snooze, despite the bothersome intrusions of the Pawpawrazzi! I had to try out several napping spots before I found the best one. Furrst of all, I tried the Obvious Place - the bed:

But I couldn't get any peace and quiet there, so, after artifying the photo with two LunaPic filters (Landscape at 83% and Scribble at 22%) - 

I moved on to the big couch in the living-room:

But there, too, I was not allowed to snooze uninterrupted. Mummy kept badgering Me to help choose some appropriate filters to artify the photo. As you can see, I chose Shattered at 62% (which fairly described the way I was feeling at being continually disturbed), with an overlay of Sunshine at 25%:

I then moved on to the Guest Kitty room and settled myself on the sofa:

Thankfully, I was allowed to remain here unmolested (mol) and Mummy went away to choose the artsy-fartsy effects herself. She used Watercolour at 45%, washed over with Sketch4 at 25%:

All in all, I don't think She did too badly, do you?

And, before I, She, We fur-get, here are the blog hop badges:

        

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Several of you have asked about Mummy's Caterwauling Club and the kind of mew-sic they sing. So We thought We'd give a brief description of Mummy's Mew-sical Activities.

Mummy belongs to the Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir, which, together with three other small choirs, together form the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir. Each of the small choirs purr-forms its own repurr-toire and each year, the big choir works on a larger-scale piece which they all purr-form together, usually with an orchestra.
Sometimes, the smaller choirs take part in special projects with other choirs. For example, a few weeks ago, the JOCC sang Poulenc's Gloria, as well as a specially commissioned setting of Psalm 33 (in Hebrew, of course) by the composer Irena Svetova. And the year before last, they sang Orff's Carmina Burana with four other choirs plus the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, Mummy and her Caterwauling Club have purr-formed such major classical works as Handel's Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus, Haydn's Creation and Nelson Mass, Mozart's Requiem and C-Minor Mass, Purr-golesi's Stabat Mater, Bach's Magnifi-Cat, Vivaldi's Gloria, the  Fauré Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elias, as well as modern works for choir such as Noam Sheriff's Spanish Passion, John Rutter's Magnifi-Cat and Requiem, Bloch's Avodat Hakodesh, Missa Criolla by Ramirez, Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man and many, many others.
In addition, the smaller choirs each have their own repertoire, consisting of many different kinds of music, classical and modern, arrangements of popular Israeli and foreign music, African-American spirituals, folksongs etc. etc. If you visit Mummy's blog, she has written many times about their concerts. Just type Jerusalem Oratorio Choir or Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir in the Search Box.

Before We sign off, We would like to say We are purring with all Our Might for all those affected by the terrible fires in California. If only it would snow and rain there, to help put the fires out! 

See you next week then. Till then - be well. Be safe. We LOVE you all!

A New Year - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody!

This is Our Furrst Post of 2025 and, as is fitting, it is up to Me, 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 and Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

We had a couple of beastly cold, rainy days last week, including the evening  Mummy's Caterwauling Club had their Fundraising Concert (about which She may - if She is not too lazy busy - write about in her own bloggie later in the week). But right after that, Mr. Sunshine decided to return, and since then, We have enjoyed blue skies with only a little cloud. It's still quite cold, howeffur, so We nap most of the time, either by the newly-fixed radiators, or under the duvet.

For this week's blog hops, Mummy and I have chosen three pictures of Me. Furrst of all, here I am by the heater, just checking in the mirror to make sure my whiskers are in order and my fur smooth and silky, as it should be.

We artified this with LunaPic's Brave filter at 43% and then added Dark at 35%.

Next, still by the mirror, I am having to contend with being photobombed by my Pesky Brofur, Shimshi!

And how dare he turn his back on Me?!

This time, We started with the Dark filter at 48% and added Storytime at 24%.

 

My last pawtrait needs no explanation...

The artsy-fartsy version again uses LunaPic filters - Daisies at 50%, followed by Scribble at 22%.

To be quite honest, I am not completely satisfied with any of the artifications this time, but Mummy has such a lot to do before caterwauling purractice this evening that they will just have to do.

Now for the blog hop badges:

        


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