Santa Shimshi's Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurrybuddies!

Once again it is My Turn (ME being The Mighty Shimshon, aka Shimshi, Furrst of My Name, the Little Purrince, the Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs, and Captain of the Guard) to lead 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.


Here is My Selfie. Mummy and I are both furry pleased with this shot:

We are sure many, possibly most of you, are busy today, pawsibly prepurring your Chrissymouse dinner, or even sitting down to it already, and won't have much time for blogging or for visiting today, so We shall keep this short.

Here are a couple of artifications We made of my Selfie. The furrst used LunaPic's Surreal Painting effect:

This next one also used a LunaPic filter - Stained Glass, at 75%:

However, for Our Official Caturday Art entry this week, in defurrence to the fact that today is Chrissymouse Day and also to the fact that tonight, We light the eighth and last Hanukkah candle, We have chosen to give due recognition to BOTH holidays, so I have donned a Santa Claws hat, and am guarding a Menorah. In addition, mindful of the fact that so many of you are enduring really freaky weather conditions, including mountains of snow, gale force winds and Uber Cold, Mummy helped Me to add a snowy border and snowflakes to the picture, which will serve as Our Chrissymouse and Hanukkah card as well:

Now, before We forget, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Take good care of yourselves now - and of your Humans too!
And if you feel like escaping from the cold and the snow and the wind for a couple of hours, do teleport over here (it has been raining but at least the temperature is well above zero) and join Us for tuna latkes, catnip punch and other goodies!

Meowy Chrissymouse! Happy Hanukkah!  Warmest Season's Greetings to all Our Anipals, Quadruped and Biped, Furry, Feathered and Scaly too (not sure if We know any Fishies, but anyway...) and to their pawrents.

Be Well. Be safe. We love you all.

Hanukkah Is Here: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

 Hallo there, Effurryone!

Caspurr the Snuggle Bug is here again, 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 sweet, Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. Poor Ms. Janet has caught the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus, so don't forget to send her Get Well Purrs, effurryone!

Here is My Selfie:

And here is the artified version, which We created using Lunapic's Dreaming filter, at 45%:

As you can see, I was enjoying one of my Favourite Snuggle Spots, under the duvet. 

This evening, Mewish cats and their Humans will be lighting the furrst Hanukkah candle on the Menorah. Hanukkah is one of Our Favourite festivals, because We can look forward to treats EFFURRY DAY, for EIGHT WHOLE DAYS!

But Hanukkah does have some sad meowmories for Mummy also, because it was eleven years ago at Hanukkah that Angel Pixie flew away to the Rainbow Bridge. That was on December 23rd - and it was a Friday, just as it is this year too.

To honour Precious Pixie, here is a picture of her, taken on April 3rd 2011 - before she got so sick with kidney disease. 

Like Me, she was a beautiful Tigger-Tabby (although, in character, she was more like Trixie):

In her honour, We have created a lovely, artified pawtrait of her, using LunaPic's Beauty filter, which so becomes that sweet face, at 70%:

We wanted to include a picture of Our Woofie Uncle Messi, too - but he has no time for selfies this evening. He is glued to the TeeVee screen watching the World Cup Final between Argentina and France. No prizes for guessing which side he is supporting (mol)!

Mummy also wants to watch the rest of the match, so We shall cut this short now.  

Here are the blog hop badges:

         

In addition, We want to mention that We are also joining this year's Blessing Train, hosted by Our Good Furriends RaenaBelle, Zebby and their Mommy Audra:

Happy Hanukkah to Effurryone. And, in case some of you are too busy to post next Sunday, which happens to be Chrissymouse, We wish you all a Meowy Chrissymouse too!

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Still On The Subject Of Messi: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurrybody!

Queen Trixie here, Furrst of My Name, etc. etc. etc.

We are (sort of) back to taking it in turn to lead 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 Adorable, Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

So, without further ado, here is My Selfie:

However, Mummy could not resist sharing with you this twofur of my Pesky Brofurs as well (they are okay when they are sleeping):

But let there be no Misunderstanding here. It is I, the Queen-Empurress Trixie, who is Blog Hop Leader this week. And to emphasise that Fact, here is My Artified Pawtrait, using no less than THREE LunaPic filters: Splash at 40%, overlaid with Surreal Painting at 80% and finally, a dash of Tuscany at 20%:

However, (and although Mummy forgot My Gotcha Day on November 12th) We are, once again, including Uncle Messi, because yesterday, December 10th, was  his 6th Gotcha Day and he doesn't have a blog of his own and he is feeling so furry sad and lonely since Grandpaw was called to the Rainbow Bridge. So We have taken the picture of him We posted last week, and artified it with LunaPic's Beauty filter at 70% - to match the picture of him and Grandpaw that We shared the week before last:

Mummy also wants to say She is sorry She still hasn't written about Grandpaw in her own bloggie. Effurry time She tries, her eyes start to leak again and her vision gets so blurry, She can't see the keyboard. She thinks She might have to take a couple more weeks, till the pain is not so raw. In the meanwhile, She will post about another study trip she went on last month. So keep your eyes peeled.

Now, here are the blog hop badges:

     

That's all for now.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Mournful Messi

Hallo again, Effurrybody!

Furrst of all, We want to thank all those who visited Us during this past week, and left kind words of comfort about Grandpaw, after he crossed his Rainbow Bridge.

The week of the shiva, immediately following the funeral, was especially hard for Our Woofie Uncle, Messi. Not only was the house full of strangers, people who, in his eyes, were not supposed to be there, but his Daddy, who was always there, was no longer there - and nobody could explain to him WHY. Mummy said you could see, by his drooping tail, that he was both unhappy and scared.

Messi loved Grandpaw furry much, and Grandpaw loved Messi. Mummy says that Grandpaw - her own beloved Daddy - always used to make up funny songs, in which he replaced the words of existing songs with new lyrics. She remembers him doing this since She was a little girl - and Grandpaw carried on doing it right up till the End.

One song, which he used to sing to the tune of the Paul Robeson favourite, Trees, started off with the line: "I think that I shall never see, A canine lovely as Messi".

This week, too, We are going to let Uncle Messi repurresent Our Extended Family in 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 Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. He has no blog of his own, and although We all have the Sads, it is harder still for Messi, because he was Grandpaw's constant companion.

See those sad eyes:

The picture above, and the one following, were taken at the shiva. Mummy artified the second one with the help of LunaPic, using a mixture of filters and art effects, including Surreal Painting and Sadness and a few others, but She can't remember in which order - and, in any case, her own eyes were leaking so much that her vision was all blurry.

As you know, Mummy has her own blog (details in the sidebar), and She intends to write about Grandpaw later this week. In the meantime, if any of you or your Humans are interested, you can read Grandpaw's autobiography, which we mentioned last week. He had a furry long and eventful life.

Next week, We hope to return to regular posting, where We take turns in repurresenting the J-Cats in the blog hops. Meanwhile, here are the blog hop badges:

     

Till next time, then.

Be Well. Be safe. We love you all.

Goodbye, Grandpaw

Greetings, Effurryone.

We are heartbroken to announce that Grandpaw, Mummy's Daddy, crossed his Rainbow Bridge on Thursday evening. He was 95 human years old, and had been in failing health for the past year and a half, so it was not unexpected. But, as Mummy says, one always thinks that somehow, there will be a bit more time and when time runs out, it's still a shock.

Mummy was actually speaking to him on the phone a mere quarter of an hour before it happened, when he was  getting ready for bed, and she wished him a good night's sleep and pleasant dreams. Step-Grandma and Mummy's sister, Auntie N. were with him when God called him to the Rainbow Bridge, so he wasn't alone at the end, which is a comfort to Us.

Mummy last visited with him the day before, on Wednesday evening, and She took this picture of him with Our Woofie Uncle, Messi. 

Now that Grandpaw has crossed his Rainbow Bridge, he is young and healthy again, and reunited with so many Loved Ones who went before, including Mummy's own Mummy, and Grandpaw's own parents, and his brother and sisters. But We who are left behind cannot help grieving. Indeed, Step-Grandma says Messi has refused to leave his place beside Grandpaw's armchair, even though he usually used to sleep on the carpet next to her side of the bed.

So, although Mummy doesn't really feel up to blog hopping this weekend, We are going to let Uncle Messi and Grandpaw repurresent Us in the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the wonderful Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. We also made several artifications of the picture for the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie. We used Art Effects from LunaPic, as we usually do - avoiding the Sadness filter because We thought the picture was quite sad enough without that. Instead, out of half a dozen different art effects, We chose these three:

That was the Scribble art effect.  

The next one is the somewhat similar Sketch2 effect at 85%:

And finally, the rather more colourful Beauty effect - because Grandpaw was a Beautiful Purrson, with a huge and loving heart - about whom Mummy has written in her own blog in the past, and about whom she will most likely be writing again in the coming days.

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

        

We know you will understand if We don't manage to visit much during this coming week, but be sure that We love you all.

Shimshi Captures The Castle: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

It is Me again, The Mighty Shimshon (aka Shimshi), The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard. Today, I am also King of the Laundry Basket Castle, as I got there furrst, pipping to the Post all of my fursibs. I like to sit there after breakfast, because the Utility Room, where the washing machine and the laundry basket are kept, is the best place for catching the early morning sunshine.

Here I am:

Of course, the laundry basket is a furry sought-after spot, so one has to be pretty nifty to get there furrst!

Anyway, seeing as it's My Turn to repurresent the J-Cats in the weekend blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, which is hosted by the Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Sweet and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet - I decided that a Selfie of Me in My Castle would be just the thing!

Mummy helped Me to artify it, with the help of some of LunaPic's beautiful filters and other artsy-fartsy effects.

Furrst of all, here I am, with the Surreal Painting effect:

The next special effect We tried was Cartoon, at 60%:

And finally, Seurat at 85% with an overlay of Grey, set to 55%:

So tell Us, which did you like best?

As soon as the selfie was done, Mummy made Me get down from my Comfy Castle, so She could put on the Laundry. But I got My Own Back, kitties (and woofies) - don't think I didn't! Mummy accidentally left the bathroom door open and I jumped up on top of the bathroom cabinet. Mummy got such a fright (because I am not supposed to get up there) that She completely forgot to take a picture of The Incident. And She had to climb up on a chair to get Me down. (I actually needed help, because finding a landing point for getting down was not as easy as finding a launchpad for jumping up. But of course, I wasn't going to tell Her that.)

Okay, Now it is time to put up the blog hop badges. Here they are:

        

In other news, We just want to tell you to look out for Mummy's blog sometime later this week, as She went on an "urban tour" last Thursday afternoon in the village of Ein Karem and She thinks She will write about it - as well as about the furry weird, modern piece of mew-sic She is working on with her Caterwauling Club pals.

And just before We set out on today's blog hop visits, We want to wish you a Good Week (שבוע טוב - Shavua Tov).

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Somewhat Sad Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Caspurr

Greetings, Effurryone!

We are all kind of sad this weekend, because Uncle D. has gone back to England after his three-month-long visit  :-(  

It's true We are glad to have Our Private Room back, but We do miss Uncle D. and We greatly look forward to his next visit, when We hope to complete his Conversion to a Crazy Cat Daddy (mol).

However, Life goes on and here I am, ready to lead My Fursibs 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 wonderful and eternally Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Out of the many selfies available from this past week, Mummy and I have chosen this one (I am sure you can guess why):

That's right! 
Mummy just couldn't resist that tiny glimpse of my raspy, little pink tongue - and She was sure none of your Humans will be able to either (mol)!

For the artification, We furrst tried something a little bit different - simply turning my selfie into a black and white photo:

We think it gives a slightly different, and rather special, take on the play of light and shadow, which is quite interesting.

Next, We went back to the coloured photo, but added LunaPic's Harsh Lighting filter:

Finally, returning to the original photo, We used two of LunaPic's Art Effects - Daisies at 75%, with an overlay of Sadness at 25%, to express Our Feelings at Uncle D.'s departure.

Oh, in case you are wondering who My Companions are, from left to right meet Snowy the Seal, Edward the Bear and Felix the Cat.

Oh, Mummy wants to apawlogise for not having posted on her Own Bloggie yet about her day trip to the Jordan Valley, which She promised to do last week. We have been having Internet Problems, you see, and blogging on her smartphone would have been a bit much! But the Internet seems to have sorted itself out now, so look for her blog later this week.

There was something else We wanted to mention. Some of you asked for Our eMail address. If you go to Our Full Profile, and click on Contact Me Email, it should appear.

Now it is time to put up the blog hop badges and start visiting Our Furriends:

     

That's all for now. See you next week.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With the Empurress 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, 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 Divinely Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by those Adorable and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

There was no shortage of pawssible selfies this weekend, so without further ado, here is the one I have chosen:

With the assistance of LunaPic, Mummy and I chose no fewer than FIVE different artifications of my pawtrait.

Here they are, in no pawticular order.

The furrst one uses the Emboss filter:

Next, We tried the Fantasy art effect, at 50%.

Our third version uses one of Mummy's favourites, the Frida art effect:

This next variation uses another one of Mummy's favourites, the Surreal Painting:

And finally, a furry dramatic version, using the Smoke art effect, at 65%:

We aren't going to tell you which is Our Favourite, but you are welcome to try and guess (mol)! And tell Us which one YOU like best, too. But if you find it too difficult to choose, don't worry. The curators at the PhotoFunia art gallery were also unable to make up their minds, so they decided to exhibit all five artifications simultaneously:

And you might even prefurr the Original!

Now here are the blog hop badges:

     

Next, We have an update on the Outside Kitties.

On Furriday, Mummy went down to take out the trash and on the way back, can you guess what - or rather, who - She saw?

Yes, you're right! She saw three little kittens frolicking in the shrubbery two doors along. Two of them were peach and white and one was sort of ginger. Of course, Mummy knew right away these must be Melba's kittens, exactly where the neighbour had told Mummy they were. Since She had only gone down to take out the trash, Mummy didn't have her smartphone with her (not so smart of you, Mummy!) so she hurried back home to fetch it. But by the time She got back, of course, the little kittens were gone, so there are no photos of them. Still, at least now We know that there are kittens - and We are relieved that Melba is doing her best to keep them out of sight, because that shrubbery is far too near the road for comfort.

One last piece of News for now. Mummy went on a day trip on Wednesday, to the Jordan Valley, leaving Us in the care of Uncle D. and We are pleased to say that We have got him sufficiently well-trained that he remembered to feed Us at lunchtime without any prompting at all from Mummy (mol). Mummy will no doubt be writing about her outing in Her Own Blog, later this week - so keep your eyes peeled.

And now, all that is left is for Us to wish you all a furry enjoyable week.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.