Shimshi the Boxer - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) am your Host today - the Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, aka The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard.

Last week, We posted rather late in the day and this week, We are prepurring this post on Saturday evening, to be uploaded some time on Sunday, because Mummy has another busy day, with a doctor's appointment in the late meowning and her Caterwauling Club's end-of-season pawty in the evening and She doesn't know if or when She will have time to do any blogging tomorrow.

All in all, it's going to be a busy week ahead - not least because Wednesday (August 12th) is My Sisfur Trixie's 14th Birthday and We are going to have a big pawty for her  up in the Enchanted Forest, at 6pm Israel time, to which you are all invited. As usual, the coordinates will be sent directly to your Transportation Devices. 

It's going to be a Picnic and BBQ kind of pawty, but there will also be an air-conditioned marquee, for those of you not used to hot weather. The weather prophets say it will reach 34 degrees Celsius in Jerusalem on Wednesday, although by 6pm, it should have cooled down a bit.

Now, despite that, it is MY Turn to repurresent 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 Delightfully and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. Trixie will have her turn next week, when she might show some birthday pictures.

So, this weekend, I have been having a lot of fun with some of the Boxes which Mummy's Cleaning Lady, Ms. M., regularly provides for Us. That is why Mummy named me "the Boxer" (mol)!

Mummy and I made some lovely artifications, with the help of BeFunky, and framed them with LunaPic. Here, for starters, is one using the Modern Comic GFX+ filter at 75%:

We like this a lot - although it is quite dark, so our next version, with Mosaic Fresco GFX+, is in complete contrast:

Our third artification, created with Crayon GFX, is probably the most colourful of the three:

Do you have a favourite? Let Us know in the Comments section below.

Now, We mustn't forget to add the blog hop badges. Here they are:

        

And that's it for now. We are looking forward to seeing you at Trixie's Pawty on Wednesday - and, COD-willing, We'll be back here again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then - be safe. Be well. We love you all.

A Double Pawtion of Caspurr - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!

We're posting this rather late today, as Mummy was out all morning, furrst of all, meeting with the oncologist to discuss follow-up treatment after her opurration. Thankfully, it seems She won't need chemotherapy, just a few radiation treatments and then some kind of hormone therapy to prevent the recurrence of Bad Lumps like the one they took out of Mummy. After that, instead of coming straight home to Us, She and Auntie N. decided to go for coffee and a bite to eat.

Now that She is back home, She is helping Us 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 the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

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 blog hops.

Since I posed on the dressing-table, right in front of the Mirror, you are getting a Double Dose of Me this week.

Mummy made three lovely BeFunky artifications with the new GFX+ filters - and framed them all with LunaPic's elegant frames.

Furrst of all - Modern Gouache:

Next, Impressionist Soft:

And finally, after all this Colour, something completely different - Ink Brush:

We must confess, We are finding it furry difficult to choose a favourite! Are YOU having any better luck? Let Us know, in the Comments section below.

Next, before We fur-get, are the blog hop badges:

        

Mummy is feeling furry sleepy now (as are We) - no doubt due to the Supurr Hot Weather (We understand many of you, in Europe and North America, are also enjoying enduring above-average tempurratures even for Summer), so We will purrobably not get round to visiting many of you today, although We'll do Our Best. Mummy doesn't have Caterwauling Purractice this evening, but She does have the Annual General Meeting of the Caterwaulers, so She still needs to rest, because discussing Financial Reports is likely to have her yawning. Fortunately, the AGM is on Zoom, so She won't need to go out and leave Us this evening.

COD-willing, We'll be back here again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then - be safe, Be well. We love you all.

Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with the Queen-Empurress

Greetings, Effurrybody!

After the beautiful guest selfies last week, I, Queen Trixie, Furrst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, the Panfur Princess, Purrtector of the Library, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha-Kitty Extraordinaire, am here once more 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

But before We do that, We will just relay the Good News. Mummy met last week with the Surgeon who purrformed her Lumpectomy. The histopathology report came back and the results are good. The margins are clear and it seems they managed to get all the Bad Cells out. Just to be on the safe side, next week Mummy will meet with the oncologist to decide what follow-up treatment, if any, is necessary to minimise any chance of a recurrence. So paws together that Mummy can now put that behind her and fully devote her time to Us and to her Mewsic. She and her Caterwauling Friends have a big concert this Furrsday, with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra - and yes! Of course She will write about that when She gets round to posting her Own Blog, next week or whenever...

And now to the blog hops. Let's start with My Selfie, framed (like the artifications which follow) with the help of LunaPic:

Can you just see My Raspy, Little Pink Tongue? And of course, you can't miss My Gorgeous, Floofy Tail, can you?


This week, We decided to use all of Our Favourite photo editing apps, so here, furrst of all, is an artification created with BeFunky, using the Orton Painting effect:

For artification no.#2, We used Frida, an old favourite from LunaPic:

And finally, with the help of PhotoFunia, We hung the Original in the National Gallery in London:

Now to add the blog hop badges:

        

And now, it is time to start blog-hopping. We know We have been a bit "out of the loop" these past few weeks, but now that Mummy can think beyond her surgery, We hope to get back into the swing of things.

So We will wrap up this post now and try to visit as many of you as pawssible, before Mummy has her Siesta. We'll be back again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be safe. Be well. We love you all.

And Now For Something Completely Different - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With A Couple of Guests

Greetings once again, Effurrybuddies!

Today, We invite you to join Us for something new - a chance to meet some of the beautiful Street Cats of Jerusalem. How did this come about, you ask? Well, it's like this. 

Last week, Uncle D. flew back to London. The day before he left, he and Mummy and Auntie N. met up for a late lunch (or early supper, depending on how you look at it) at a restaurant in the centre of town, called The Sea Dolphin - a favourite with Mummy and her biped family. It's situated near one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Jerusalem outside the Old City Walls, Nachalat Shiva, and right next to a piazza known to generations of Jerusalemites as Kikar Hachatulot (Cats' Square). That isn't its real name - probably only a handful of people know that, without googling it - and there are contradicting stories about how it acquired its nickname. Some people say it's because it used to be a popular spot for ladies of - um, a certain profession - to ply their trade. Others assume it's because of the large numbers of kitties who congregate there, possible due to the easy accessibility of good food from the many restaurants in the area.

At any rate, Mummy and her biped siblings met up there for a meal. It's a fish restaurant, and Mummy had the most delicious grilled rainbow trout (of which She did not bring Us back a Single Bite, shame on her!). Auntie N. had salmon - and Uncle D.? Well, although it's offishally a fish restaurant (get it? get it?), there are a few meat dishes available, and Uncle D. let the side down by ordering steak!!!

After the meal, Mummy and Uncle D. decided to walk Auntie N. back home as she is still having to use a walking stick, not having fully recovered from her broken ankle. They decided to go via the park, and on the way, Mummy took several pictures of the pretty felines She met along the road. We thought you might like to see some of them, so We chose a couple, which Mummy then artified and framed, and they will now be purrticipating 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.
Each kitty was artified twice, once with BeFunky and once with LunaPic (which also supplied the frames).

The furrst feline they spotted after leaving the restaurant, was this little Beauty, obviously the Guardian of the Boutique you can see in the background. Besides restaurants, the Nachalat Shiva neighbourhood is famous for its upmarket boutiques and art-and-craft shops.

Mummy helped Us artify Boutique Kitty, furrst with Expressive Sketch GFX+ by BeFunky and then with Nouveau, by LunaPic at 84%:

As they walked through the park, Mummy snapped several other felines - although not all were as cooperative as Boutique Kitty. 

The last kitty was hiding in the dried grass outside one of the old apartment blocks near to Auntie N's house and the reason We have chosen to share this purrticular photo with you is, because We are still not certain if there is one kitty here or two:

If you biggify the photo, you might just see why We aren't sure. The truth is, Mummy herself didn't even start to wonder until She looked at the artifications - furrst of all, with BeFunky's Watercolour Splash GFX+ filter and then with LunaPic's Tuscany filter at 74%:

Do you see what We mean? It looks as if there is a black kitty behind the mostly white kitty! Either that, or the white kitty has an extra eye!!! And in fact, in the second artification of this kitty, whom We have named Incognita, it even seems as if there might be the shadow of a THIRD kitty, all in red!

All furry mysterious indeed, isn't it? Although for the sake of Fair Disclosure, We must admit that Mummy is pawsitive that when She took the photo, there was only One Kitty.

What do you think? One kitty or two? 
And which is your favourite artification? Let Us know in the Comments section below.

Here, now, are the blog hop badges:

        

And that's just about it for now. We look forward to seeing you all again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.

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

Shimshi's Zonked Out Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

We are posting a little late today, because Mummy was out the whole morning at a lecture - a virtual tour of some of the lesser-known museums and art galleries of Paris. Purrsonally, We think that the only art galleries worth visiting are the ones with lots and lots of pictures of Cats! 

With that proviso, I believe all of Us would agree that Art broadens the mind and is a furry desirable subject of study. So, without further ado, I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short), am honoured to be repurresenting My Fellow J-Cats 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.

Furrst of all, here is My Selfie.

Mummy says I look as if I have been out all night on the tiles (mol)!

I say I merely look pensive. Though I must admit it makes me look a little - shall we say portly? Mummy pointed out that I can't quite get my grey waistcoat to close.

We used BeFunky to make three different artsy-fartsy versions of this using the new GFX+ series (all the frames are by LunaPic).

Furrst of all,  Rotoscope:

Next up, NeoComic at 80%:

And finally, SynthWave at 75%:

Now, I must admit, in this last one, I do look completely zonked out (mol)!

Do you have a favourite? Let Us know, in the Comments section below.

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

That's it for now. We look forward to seeing you again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.

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

Caspurr's Snoozy Weekend: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurryone!

Furrst of all, I, Caspurr, the King of the Tigger-Tabbies, would like to say (on behalf of My Fursibs and Our Human) that We hope Our Furriends in the United States of America had an Absolutely Spiffing Independence Day yesterday and that all of Our Furriends around the World are having a wonderful weekend!

Weekends are, of course, time for 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, Caspurr, the Snuggle-Bug, will be repurresenting My Fellow J-Cats on these two blog hops, with this beautiful snoozy picture which was taken using the zoom-out lens on Mummy's phone. That is why My Hind-Paws look so huge while the rest of Me does not (mol).

 

We created three pawsome artifications of this picture, with the help of BeFunky's new GFX filters. All the frames came from LunaPic.

Furrst of all, see the mewtiful effect of the Impressionist Soft filter:

Mummy says this one enhances My Tummy in the sweetest way and makes it look eminently smoochable (which it is - but you had better ask My Purrmission before you touch me or there will be Consequences!!!)

This next one uses the Action Ink effect, very clean-cut:

The final one is an artsy-fartsy explosion of Wild Wackiness, using Pixel Art GFX:

Needless to say, each one of Us, including Mummy, has a different favourite.  Do you? Have a Favourite, that is? Let Us know in the Comments section below.

********

Uncle D. has been with Us for two and a half weeks now and effurry weekend, he has cooked the Shabbat meal for Mummy. He is an absolute Master-Chef! This last Friday, Auntie N and Uncle B. came over and dined with Us, and Uncle D. cooked a delicious Chinese-style meal. But Mummy wouldn't share any of it with Us, because She said it contained things like onion and garlic, which are furry bad for kitties. Well, in that case, why didn't She tell Uncle D. to leave out those things???

We will sign off now, to give Mummy time for a nice long Nap Snooze Siesta before going out to her Caterwauling Club. This will be the furrst time She has gone out since her Opurration. But furrst of all, We will post the blog hop badges:

        

That's it for now. We look forward to seeing you again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.

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

Trixie and the Joys of Summer: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurrybody!

We are so happy to be back once more, now that Mummy's surgery is safely behind her and She is home again. The Opurration went well, with no Complications and now, We are waiting for the pathology report to be certain that they managed to get all of the Bad Cells out of Mummy. Then She will be called back to discuss any further treatment that may be necessary.

In the meantime, We will be getting on as best We can with our normal lives - although Mummy won't be going caterwauling this evening. She'll wait a few more days for that, because She is supposed to be resting at home for a week and taking things easy.

Howeffur, She was determined to help Us with Our Blog today, so that We can 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 the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

As you have undoubtedly surmised, I, Queen Trixie, will be repurresenting the J-Cats this week.  So without further ado, here is My Selfie. I was chillaxing on one of the chairs under the dining-room table:

Mummy made a purrty frame, combining Our Flag with elements hinting at summer, because We are now fully into that season. She did this with the help of the cyber-gremlins at LunaPic, who also helped with the artifications (mol).

The furrst of those artifications uses the Candy effect, at 58%:

Next, in complete contrast, was another version, this time using the Dark effect, at 42%:

Last, but by no means least, an artsy-fartsy combination of Beauty (55%) and Heatmap (42%):

Do you have a favourite? Let Us know in the Comments section below.

Next, here are the blog hop badges:

        

We are not sure how many of you We will manage to visit today, as Mummy is feeling furry, furry tired, but We will do Our best to get round to all Our Furriends - if not today, then later in the Week. And, of course, We look forward to seeing you again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then - be safe. Be well. We love you all!