Consultations: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

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 and Alpha-Kitty Extraordinaire, am delighted to be repurresenting the J-Cats in this weekend's blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted, as always, by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Indefatigable and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Before We get down to brass tacks, here is a Brief Update of Our Week.  

Nothing much has changed. The Evil Ayatollahs and their Servants, in Iran and Lebanon, continue shooting rockets and missiles at Us. We had a few days that were relatively quiet here in Jerusalem, although it wasn't nearly as quiet in the north and along the coast. Then, on  Friday night, just as Mummy was about to go to bed, the sirens started blaring - without the preliminary alert We have grown accustomed to - sending her racing off down to the shelter. The following day, Shabbat, it was furry, furry windy! The Weather Prophets said there would be thunderstorms later in the day. Mummy says it can be furry dangerous trying to run down the open stairwell in the rain, because the stairs are slippery. So she goes down as soon as she hears the preliminary alert (which is not always followed by sirens), so as to be able to walk at a normal rate. More people have been hurt falling in the dash to take shelter, than have by actual missile strikes. Anyways, down in the shelter, she heard a Huge Boom, but wasn't sure if it was a missile being taken out by an interceptor outside the atmosphere, an exploding warhead, or maybe just thunder right overhead.  Later in the day, there was another attack and then things were quiet in Jerusalem till just before dawn this morning. Not elsewhere in the country though. The Evil Ones have a new tactic. Instead of firing huge barrages once or twice a day, they fire two or three missiles every hour or so, in an attempt to wear us out and completely disrupt the Economy. We heard on the News that in the North, there were combined Iranian and Hezbollah attacks all night long and even now, every hour or so, or at even more frequent intervals. In addition, the Evil Ones are using cluster bombs, which means a single missile can cause destruction over a furry wide area indeed. We live in Jerusalem, but Mummy has family all over the country about whom She worries no end! 
And to crown matters - Mummy discovered yesterday evening that the Big Boom they heard in the shelter earlier in the afternoon was, in fact, "interception debris" that had landed only a five-minute-drive from here. It had gone right through the pavement between two apartment blocks and into the underground parking lot!
When you hear the word "debris", most people think of shrapnel or small shards, but rocket debris consists of pieces about the size of a bus or even bigger - and in this purrticular case, the part that fell was actually the warhead, which, by some miracle, didn't detonate. Several buildings had to be evacuated until it was dealt with.

Mummy is not sure if She will go to Caterwauling Purractice this evening. Last week, she had Good Intentions, but She chickened out thought better of the idea.
Today - She still has Good Intentions, but, as President Trump is so fond of saying, "We're gonna have to wait and see what happens" (MOL).

And now to the Business in Hand, namely, the blog hops.

Here is My Selfie. I had been deep in consultation with My Pawsselain Dolly Sister, Miss Dorothea, about plans for this year's Seder Night when Mummy called Me to take this selfie.

We artified this three diffurrent ways with the help of LunaPic. Furrst, We used the Storytime filter at 86%, followed by Daisies at 24%:

Furry artsy-fartsy, isn't it?

Or maybe you prefurr this next one, created with Frida at 53%:

And how about this last one, using Smoke at 66%?

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

That's it for now. We will try to visit as many of you as We can - hoping not to be interrupted by more missiles - and those We miss, We will try to reach tomorrow. And if, for some reason, We don't get round to you at all this week, please fur-give Us. We have rather a lot on Our Plate minds at present.

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

A Trio of Two-furs: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings to all Our Furriends!

We have had quite a week! The Wicked Ayatollahs in Iran and their Evil Minions in Lebanon have been shooting rockets at Us all week. Usually, We get an Early Warning from Home Front Command a few minutes before the sirens start wailing, which gives Mummy an extra 2-4 minutes to get down to the Bomb Shelter. But yesterday morning, Shabbat, after a whole day Friday with no missiles (in Jerusalem, at least) the sirens went off at about 5:30 a.m. with no warning at all, and woke Mummy. We have neffur seen anyone who is not a Cat move so fast. She threw off the blankets, grabbed her Go Bag and hightailed it for the Shelter. On her way down, She heard boomies (She thinks it must have been the Iron Dome interceptors) and saw the sky lit up as if by lightning. We, meanwhile, scattered in three different directions. Each of Us has Our Prefurred Safe Place to hide in such eventualities. 

That was definitely a scary start to Caspurr's 13th (Bar Mitzvah) Purrthday!!! Neffurtheless, there has been some easing of restrictions by Home Front Command as of last Thursday, and it is now purrmitted to hold gatherings of up to 50 people, as long as they are held in a venue where there is a propurr Bomb Shelter. So Mummy thinks She will go to her Caterwauling Club this evening, if only to raise Her Spirits.

And now, to Business! It's time for 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. 

This time, all three of Us will be appearing in the blog hops, in a series of two-furs.  All the art is from BeFunky this week, and the frames were created with the help of LunaPic.

Furrst of all, here is a Rare Sight - Trixie and Caspurr sharing a sunpuddle:

This was artified, using the Realist 1 filter:

Next, Caspurr and Shimshi, practising Synchronised Snoozing Techniques:

Note how the cushions complement their colouring.

Mummy artified this with the Watercolour 1 filter at 55%:

Finally, here are Trixie and Shimshi:

What could they have been asking Mummy for? Can you guess?

Mummy used Polyart GFX to create a furry artsy-fartsy effect here:

And here are the blog hop badges:

        


Now, We will see how many of you We can visit before Mummy takes a Furry Necessary Siesta. As We explained last week, She has to snatch a couple of hours snooze wheneffur She can, as there's no knowing if any of Us will get an unbroken night's sleep. We kitties are expurrts at sleeping under practically any conditions, but poor Mummy is only Human...

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

March Came in Like a Lion

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

The Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) speaking - The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, aka The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs, and Captain of the Guard. I am here 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 Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Here is My Selfie:

The Original Plan was to have an Ussie, in which all three of Us would be showing off Our Purr-im costumes, as that festival falls the day after tomorrow - Tuesday - or, for those living in Jerusalem, on Wednesday. But Mummy didn't have time to pre-purr anything, as She spent most of yesterday, as well as today, running downstairs to the Bomb Shelter and back, to avoid the rockets being shot at Us by the Evil Ayatollahs in Iran (which used to be known as Purrsia). She tries to play it cool, so as not to alarm Us, but We know that's just an act. She's terribly worried that even the Bomb Shelter mightn't be safe enough. She's just heard that earlier today, an apartment building in Beit Shemesh took a direct hit to the shelter - 9 people were killed and 33 more injured, including children. 

If there are any Purrsian kitties reading this, We want you to know that We love you dearly, and if there is anything you can do to purr-suade your pawrents to take to the streets and protest against their Evil Government (which We know they want to do, but might be afraid to do, because the Wicked Ayatollahs and their servants murdered thousands of protesters less than two months ago), then try to do so - because that is the Best Way to end this war. And then, the Iranian/Purrsian people will be free at last. And so will their kitties.

Under normal circumstances, We would be inviting you all to a huge Purr-im Pawty up in the Enchanted Forest. Because of the War, however (which has been officially named here "The Lion's Roar Campaign"), We have decided to transfer the festivities to Our Secret Underground Bunker, deep in the depths of the earth. The encoded co-ordinates will be sent directly to your teleportation devices immediately prior to take-off, and automatically wiped upon arrival at the Pawty. This will actually be a double celebration, honouring both Purr-im and My Big  Brofur Caspurr, whose 13th purr-thday falls on Shabbat, March 7th. It is his Bar-Mitzvah! So, save the date - Tuesday, March 3rd at 17:30 (5:30 pm), Israel time! And don't fur-get - it's a Fancy Dress Pawty, so remember to come in costume!

Now, here are three artifications of My Selfie, with effects by BeFunky. The frames, as usual, are from LunaPic.

Furrst of all, a mewtiful effect using Graphic Novel (which has become one of Our new favourites), set at 50%:

   

Next, an artsy-fartsy version using the Impressionist 2 effect, at 65%:

And finally, Vector Painting GFX:

In the background, you can see one of My Pawsselain Dolly Sisters, Miss Laura. I was purrtecting her from the boomies.

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

Before We Mummy furgets, here are the blog hop badges:

        

We are not sure how many of you We will manage to visit today. Mummy wants to turn off the computer and try to get a couple of hours sleep, as We expect more rocket barrages later on, especially in the middle of the night. At all events, We hope to see you at the Pawty on Tuesday. 

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

Caspurr Has a Sun-puddle of His Own: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!

After seeing how Shimshi's Purrfect Sun-puddle was so admired the Week before last, I decided that I, Sir Caspurr, the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle-Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces and King of the Tigger-Tabbies, must have one of My Furry Own, for 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 (for the 600th time!!!) by the Delightfully and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

So I enlisted Mummy's help and together, We came up with this:

I love the way the sunshine seems to be shining through the delicate membranes of My Ear!

Next, We made three mewtiful artifications with BeFunky, and framed all four pictures with the help of LunaPic.

Here is the furrst artification which is the closest to the Original, and which uses the Underpainting1 filter. It emphasis my sunny ears even more, I think!

Artification no. #2 uses the Pastel GFX filter at approximately 55%:

Last, but by no means least, a wild and wacky version using the Graphic Novel filter:

This last one really makes My Eyes stand out, doesn't it?

Which one do you like best? Let Us know in the comments section below!

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

We're not sure how many of you We'll have time to visit today. We started late because Mummy had to go out in the morning furrst thing, for her annual Meowmeogram. She got the results on the spot and effurrything is okay. Howeffur, it meant We couldn't start blogging till lunchtime! But neffur fear - if We don't get to you today, We'll carry on tomorrow.

NEXT week, howeffur, it is pawssible that We won't have time to blog at all. Mummy has a furry, furry busy week ahead, what with appearing with her Caterwauling Club in a concert on Sunday, followed by a week full of engagements - a wedding, an opurra and two lecture-concerts. Most of these are out-of-town.

Quite a social whirl, wouldn't you agree?

At all events, till whenever it is that We can next post, be safe. Be well. We love you all.

Maybe Spring Is On The Way - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Queen Trixie here - Furrst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, the Panfurr Princess, Purrtector of the Library, Guardian of the Boudoir and Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire!

It's a lovely, sunny day here in Jerusalem, with tempurratures expected to reach 23 degrees C. In fact, We are looking forward to warm, sunny days all week - which will make Mummy happy because She has one of her nature hikes tomorrow. We don't like being left on Our Own all day, because that means We won't get any lunch (and no, a bigger breakfast and supper is not the same), but We intend to sleep most of the day anyway, so if she really must go traipsing over hills and through  valleys, We prefurr that She not risk life and limb scrambling along muddy banks alongside overflowing streams!!!

As you will no doubt have surmised, 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

So, let Us waste no more time. Here is My Selfie:

As We usually do, We made three different artifications of this - all of them with the help of LunaPic, where We also got the frames.

Furrst up, we used a filter which We have neffur tried before, Monochrome at 34%, with a light overlay of Scribble at 16%:

Next, an artsy-fartsy combination of K2 at 64% and Surreal at 33%:

Our third and final artification this week used a furry daring blend of complete opposites - Dark and Gauguin at 75% and 74% respectively:

 

Which is your favourite? Let Us know in the comment section below.

Next, here are the blog hop badges.

        

We will try to visit as many of you as pawssible now, before Mummy turns off the computer and goes to have a Siesta (that's a fancy word for a Nap, MOL) before Caterwauling Purractice (they have a concert the week after next). COD-willing, We will be back here next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be safe. Be well. We love you all.

Shimshi's Purrfect Sunpuddle - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Guess whose turn it is this week, to lead the J-Cats on 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's ME - the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short), the Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, aka The Baby Mancat, Master-of-the-Queen's-Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard!

This week, We are sharing just one, purrfect picture of My Meowjestic Self in the middle of a Simply Glorious Sunpuddle. Neither Mummy nor I can get over how absolutely purrfectly it came out. Mummy says it was almost a shame to start messing around with it for artification purr-poses and I tend to agree, except for the fact that I would neffur fur-give myself for using anything less than the best for Our Caturday Art this week.

So for starters, here is the Glorious Original, in a frame created by LunaPic:

It wasn't until after We went over to BeFunky and started artifying it that Mummy noticed my reflection in the floorboards!

Artification no.1 uses the BeFunky AI Enhancer and the Underpainting effect, with one of LunaPic's simple, elegant frames:

Next, We achieved a completely different effect with Pen Art 1 at about 85%:

And finally, We allowed Ourselves to be a bit more artsy-fartsy with Crayon GFX.

All the frames are from LunaPic.

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

Next, here are the blog hop badges:

        

In other news, Mummy wants you to know that earlier today, She posted her own bloggie which, apart from some video clips of recent concerts by her Caterwauling Club and lots of pictures of the nature hike She went on the week before last, contains some useful information of a techie nature, about a new app created by Our Clever Uncle D.

And now, it is time for Us to start hopping. We will be back again next week, COD-willing - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Meanwhile, be safe. Be well. We love you all.

Visions of Caspurr: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!

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, am proud 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. 

We have three different pawtraits of Me this week, all of them artified and framed  with the help of LunaPic.

Furrst up, Mummy insisted on this one, because you can just about see the tiniest hint of a blep - but only in the Original. 

In the artification, which uses the Landscape effect at 86%, with the merest hint of a Graffiti overlay at 17%, it all but disappears.

In this next one, Mummy was focussed on My outstretched Paw, but I myself was concentrating on My Tail, which, at times, seems to have a mind of its own:

We made an artsy-fartsy version of this one, using Pen at 79% and Floating, at 41%:

Finally - and still on the subject of Tails - there was this one:

We artified it with Escher, also at 79% and Watercolour at 67%:

Now We are trying to decide which one We like best. Can you help Us?

Meanwhile, We will add the blog hop badges:

        

Later this week, Mummy hopes to post something on her Own Bloggie about the concerts She has been in/to this past month, her nature hike last week and Various Other Stuff. No promises as to when it will go live, but hopefully, some time this week, so keep an Eye open.

We, ourselves, will - COD-willing - be back here next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, take good care of yourselves and your Humans. We have heard that in the United States and Canada, where so many of you live, there is a HUGE storm and Cold Front about to hit. So it is with special meaning that We say - be safe. Be well. We love you all.