Looking Forward to the Cat-O-Lympics: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Trixie

Greetings, Effurybody!

So - who's looking forward to the Cat-O-Lympics, which will be opening later this week in Purris, Furrance? Which of you Felines will be taking part?

I, Queen Trixie, have been coaching my brofurs, Caspurr and Shimshi, for the Synchronised Snoozing event, which takes place later this month. They are the defending Gold Medallists, as you know. In addition, they will be participating in the Wrassling contest. I myself will be taking part in the Counter-to-Cupboard High Jump, defending My Medal, as well as a new event, the Slinky Glamour Walk. And all three of Us will be competing in the Pole Dancing event!

Another thing We are taking part in, right here and now, is 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.  

We have picked out three pawtraits of Me and Mummy took them over to LunaPic where She gave free reign to her artsy-fartsy side. So here are the results.

Furrst - a picture of Me under the coffee table where, for once, instead of seeking for sunpuddles, I was looking for some blessed shade:

This was artified, using the Fantasy (63%) and Watercolour ( 38%)effects:

I'm not sure, I think this makes My Fur look a tad unkempt, don't you agree? Or purr-haps not. What do you think?

In this next meowsterpiece, I am on the coffee table:

The artification for this one uses the Brave and Tuscany filters, at 33% and 20% respectively:

Our final offering for today shows Me comfortably ensconced next to Mummy on the sofa:

Mummy really let herself go with this one - Daisies at 67%, washed over with Dreaming at 27%. It's a riot of colour!

And now, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Time, now, to start hopping. Despite the dreadful heat, We hope to visit as many of you as pawssible.

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

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Guest Selfies and Caturday Art With CalliCallou

Greetings, One and All!

Today, We have a Special treat for you! The beautiful CalliCallou, one of Mummy's "Outside Cats", has graciously agreed to take part 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.

As you can see, this adorable calico princess feels completely at home on Mummy's front porch. In fact, she has decided that it is Her Territory and will vigorously and vociferously defend it against other cats hopeful of partaking in Mummy's Bounty. The only other cat with whom she will agree to share the Spoils is Melba, who might be either her sister or her daughter (We think the latter). But don't worry, Mummy puts food for other homeless kitties outside the gate. 
Speaking of the other homeless kitties, We are delighted to report that Gibori, who hasn't been around for ages, and whom Mummy feared She would neffur see again, put in an appearance the week before last.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos of CalliCallou. 

In this one, she is resting after a meal, in the shade of the flowerpots:

We made three different artifications of this photo, with the help of LunaPic.

The furrst one uses the Fairy effect, at 37%:

We think CalliCallou looks rather thin and bedraggled in this one. In the next artification, she looks rather more perky. Maybe because it uses Quirky (mol) at 64%:

The third artification uses Psychedelic at 65%:

And now for a picture of CalliCallou all alert and ready to defend "her" Territory against all comers:

We made a furry artsy-fartsy version of this one, using the Flowers effect at 37%:

Next, in a complete change of mood, We tried the Dark filter, at 34%:

And finally, back to being bright and colourful, with Delaunay at 50%:

In Israel, We call calico cats like CalliCallou "Tricolor", which the same as the French "Tricouleur". Coincidentally, that is furry appropriate for today, because the 14th of July is the French National Day - Bastille Day.
It is also the day on which beautiful Princess Pixie, one of the J-Cats who went before, used to celebrate her Birthday. She is no doubt celebrating it now at the Rainbow Bridge - together with Grandpaw, who would have been 97 years old yesterday, July 13th. Remembering them both is making Mummy's eyes leak .....

*****

Here are the blog hop badges:

        

Before We set out on the blog hops, We want to let you know that Mummy finally got round to writing in her own bloggie about her Caterwauling Club's concert at the end of last month. It includes some video-clips of the Concert - so, if you like Mewsic, why not pop over and take a look?

And now, it's time to get on with the blog-hopping. 

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

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

Shimshi's Snoozy Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

Yes, I'm back - the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short), aka The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain-of-the-Guard!

Furrst of all, Mummy wishes to apawlogise for the fact that She hasn't yet written in her own bloggie about her Caterwauling Club's concert the week before last. She was waiting for her sister to send her some video-clips from the concert, to make it more interesting for you. These have now arrived and She hopes to be able to do the write-up later on in the week - maybe even tomorrow.

It's still furry, furry hot! We did have a slightly cooler day yesterday ("only" 30 degrees C!) but now, the tempurratures are creeping up again and it's supposed to reach 36 degrees C towards Furriday!

Anyway, all that can't be helped and We have more impawtant matters to deal with, such as choosing which of the many, many, simply spiffing pawtraits of Me are most worthy of repurresenting the J-Cats in this weekend's blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the always 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!

Once again, We picked out three, which Mummy helped Me to artify, using the huge selection of filters available from LunaPic.

Furrst of all (since We have already mentioned the heat), here is one of Me trying to keep cool by lying on the floor-tiles. They look like stone, don't they - but they are really ceramic tiles! Still, they're much cooler than lying on a carpet would be.

We obtained a furry nice artsy-fartsy effect for this one, using a combination of Daisies (43%) and Dark (16%):

Sometimes, when Mummy is too absorbed in whateffur She is watching on the Big Flat Screen, I have to do something to gain her attention - like sit on her Feet. But this time, Caspurr got there before Me and I had to make do with her Sandals. I looked so cute that She immediately sat up and reached for her Flashy Box phone - and this is the result:

When it came to artifying it, Mummy was just thinking about having a Coffee Break (as She often does) and that's how We came to be using the Coffee filter (no pun intended) at 65%, with a gentle overlay of Floating at 27%.

Finally, here is a close-up of Me:

The artification for this one uses the Fairy effect at 57%, washed over with Ceremony (28%).

I think - in fact, I am almost sure - that this is My Purrsonal Favourite. What do you think?

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

Dear Furriends, I must tell you - I think Mummy has been furry mean to Me this week. Furrst of all, I heard her telling Step-Grandma that I was Fat! That was a furry hurtful thing to say. I am not Fat! At the most, I might be just a tad Portly Rotund. She threatened to put Me on a Diet! She said I don't need more than two meals a day! I begged and pleaded, and My Brofur Caspurr backed Me up (Trixie, as usual, remained aloof). So she gave in and said okay, I can still have three meals a day (plus snacks, of course - or I'll know the reason why!) but that they would be smaller meals. 
I tried to explain to her - really I did - that I only look fat portly rotund because I have such a thick fur coat. So She said, no problem, We can deal with that - and then She tried to Furminate Me!!!
I am at my wits' end, Kitties! What am I to do?


While I await your advice on this Most Purressing Matter, I and My Fellow J-Cats will get started on the Blog Hops.

See you next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.
Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Caspurr's Scorching Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!

What can I say? It's HOT!!! 
It's the kind of weather in which no Cat with a grain of sense would go anywhere near a Tin Roof. The kind of weather in which it would be a CRIME to do anything but SNOOZE! As I, Sir Caspurr the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Guard and King of the Tigger Tabbies, am doing here:

Well, actually, I can't go to sleep just yet, because I have a furry impawtant job to do today.

Can you guess what it is?

You are quite right! It is My Turn to lead my fellow J-Cats on this weekend's blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Eternally Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Always Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.


We chose two selfies this week, and made two different artsy-fartsy versions of each. 

For no. 1, We used LunaPic's Shattered Effect at 35% and then added Ceremony at 50%:

The second artification used Escher at 46%, with an overlay of Beauty at 41% (also from LunaPic).

Note that this pawtrait showcases three of My Best Features - Tongue, Toes and Tummy!

Now for Selfie no. 2.  In this one, I had retired to the bedroom, in anticipation of Mummy joining Me there for Her Own Afternoon Nap.

Here, too, We were assisted by the Gremlins at LunaPic (mol). See this beautiful artification, using their Dark filter (71%), with a Monochrome overlay (31%) - furry dramatic, We think!

Finally, We combined the Starry2 effect at 52%, with Smoke at 28%.

Do tell Us, in the Comments section below, which is your Favourite!

Now, as We mentioned last week, Mummy's Caterwauling Club gave a concert on Fursday.  She will most likely write all about it in her Own Bloggie either tomorrow or later on in the week. She did tell Us that it was unbearably hot in the Old City church where the concert was held. They don't seem to have installed Air Conditioning there, and they had to make do with strategically placed electric fans. Mummy thinks it was worse for the audience, because we had commandeered all the available fans for the use of the choir.
Anyway, that concert marked the end of the 2023/24 season, so Mummy doesn't have a rehearsal tonight and can stay home and caterwaul for Us, instead!

Now, it is time to start blog-hopping. Here are the blog hop badges:

        

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

Be well.  Be safe.  We love you all.

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.

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.

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.