Sunday, February 26, 2023

A Couple of Twofurs for Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurrybody!

As you may have noticed, We J-Cats take it strictly in turn to lead Our Furmily on the weekend 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 Our Dear Furriends, the Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. This week, it is MY turn - Queen Trixie, Furrst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire. Since, this time, We are actually posting a couple of Twofurs, I am in both of them - one with each of My Brofurs.


Here is the furrst one - My Impurrial Self with My Brofur, Caspurr the Caspicatious:













And here is the artified version, using LunaPic's Tuscany art effect, with an overlay of the Dark effect at 50%.















I really like this picture, because it makes Me look bigger, while Caspurr looks smaller. In real life, it's completely the other way around - and no wonder, when Caspurr and Shimshi steal My Food whenever they get an Oppurr-tunity!!!


Speaking of Shimshi - here is a Twofur of him and My Royal Self:












If I remember rightly, he had just woken up (as had I, I believe) and Shimshi was telling Me about a New Mischief he had dreamt about (in his capacity as Master of the Queen's Mischiefs), and was requesting My Royal Assent to put it into purractice, which, naturally, I graciously granted.

We made an artsy-fartsy version of this one, using Lunapic's Harsh Lighting filter at 95%, with an overlay of Barcelona (which I don't think we've used before) at 30%.














Spring seems to be right on the thresh-hold here, with lovely, sunny weather and tempurratures expected to rise to the mid-20s Celsius in the next couple of days - which is very good, as Mummy has one of her Biblical archaeology field trips up north later in the week.

Speaking of Mummy, She had one of her opthalmic migraines this morning. It didn't last more than about 15 - 20 minutes, but now, She has developed an ordinary headache, so She needs to lie down and have a good, long nap to make it go away, otherwise, She won't be up to attending Caterwauling Purractice this evening. So without further ado, here are the blog hop badges:


        


That's it for now then, Dear Furriends. See you next week.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.



Sunday, February 19, 2023

I've Been Framed: Guest Selfie and Caturday Art from CalliCallou the Cat Burglar

Hallo there, Effurryone!

We have Something Special for the weekend blog hops today - 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 Sweethearts, the Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

You remember Intruder Kitty CalliCallou, don't you - the kitty Mummy is thinking of adopting (if she can be lured into a PTU and taken to the v-e-t for a check-up before being allowed into the house, so as to minimise any risk of infection to Us)? She hasn't been such a devoted visitor as before, but she still seems to be quite sleek and well-fed and We think she is being taken care of, maybe, by another resident (or residents) of Our Street.
Well, last week, CalliCallou jumped up onto the windowsill of the downstairs loo, where she was snapped by Mummy's Cleaning Lady. We think she looks like a Cat Burglar, trying to break in (mol), don't you?
























Naturally, CalliCallou denies any such ne-furrious intentions. She says she has been framed. Mummy is sure this is yet another sign that CalliCallou really, really wants to join Our Fur-mily, but another problem has presented itself. The thing is, there are a couple more kitties who would really, really like to be J-Cats. Mummy has already mentioned Melba, who goes wherever CalliCallou goes. But now, there is another one, a ginger male, whom Mummy calls Gibori (from the Hebrew "Gibor", meaning a hero). Apparently he has been "TNR'd" as his left ear is tipped, but he also seems to be covered with sores, though they don't seem to bother him - and although he probably needs to be adopted even more than CalliCallou, Mummy is a little reluctant to choose one needy kitty over the others, especially when she feels she kind of promised CalliCallou that She would adopt her. But what is She to do? We can't keep 6 kitties in a small apawtment. 

It is quite a Dilemma.

Be that as it may, We think CalliCallou (who does seem to be beautifully framed - by the window, at least) is the purr-fect candidate for the weekend blog hops.

So, before We go any further, let Us put up the blog hop badges:



        



And now, let Us show you how We artified CalliCallou's pawtrait, with the help of LunaPic, using three different filters.

Furrst of all - Beauty at 75%:





 















Next, Sketch4:





And finally, Flowers - also at 75%:


















Do you have a favourite? WE certainly found it hard to decide. But We think they are all worthy of being displayed in an art gallery, just as OUR pawtraits have been, on more than one occasion.






Do let Us know which picture you like best - and your thoughts on Mummy's Adoption Dilemma too, please.

That's all for now.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Valentine's Day Ussies and Caturday Art

 Hallo again, Effurryone!


Since We all wanted to wish Our Furriends a Happy Valentine's Day, We decided to pose for a furry rare Ussie:













Mummy made this into a Valentine's Day card at PhotoFunia and added text at LunaPic:





She also artified it, using LunaPic's Harsh Lighting filter:













But She wasn't quite satisfied with it, because you can't see Trixie too clearly, especially her beautiful jewel-like eyes, so She searched and found another one, where Trixie's eyes are a bit clearer - only, unfortunately, now Shimshi was turning away from the camera. Ah, well - you can't have effurrything and there is a Limit to the amount of time We are ready to squander spend, posing nicely together!




We artified this second picture too (all filters are from LunaPic). Furrst of all, We tried the Mosaic2 effect:




Then We tried a favourite of Ours, Frida - with an overlay of Seuratpose at 40%:







And finally, Thermal Iridescence:







What do you think of Our Choices? There's certainly plenty to choose from for 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 Our Dear Furriends, the Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.


Before We go any further, here are their badges:


       



Now for the Serious News. It has been a truly terrible week. Furrst of all, there were the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, where the death toll has reached 29,000 and is still rising. The quakes could also be felt here in Israel, although, fortunately, nobody was killed here or even injured, as far as We know. Mummy's sister N said she felt the earth move, but Mummy must have been sleeping because She didn't feel a thing! Not surprising when you remember She has been known to sleep right through a rocket attack!!!
We are happy that Israel has sent rescue teams to Turkey, to help out, even though the relations between Israel and Turkey have been a bit rocky these past few years. We offered to send teams to Syria too, despite being officially enemies, but the Syrians rejected the offer. 

Then, on Friday, there was an Evil Terrorist attack on people waiting at a bus stop here in Jerusalem, leaving 3 dead, including two little boys, brothers aged 6 and 8. Mummy will probably write about it in her own blog this evening, as Caterwauling Practice has been postponed till Wednesday. Or, if not this evening, then tomorrow. She is furry upset at the moment and isn't sure she can calm down enough to write about that now.

We think that just about wraps it up for today. See you next week then.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.














Sunday, February 5, 2023

Shimshi's Sunpuddle: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

 Greetings, Effurrybuddies!


The Mighty Shimshon here (Shimshi for short), aka The Little Purrince, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard, repurresenting 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 Our Wonderful Furriends, the Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

It has been a furry cold, rainy week, culminating in snow at the Mt. Hermon ski site - which effurryone had been eagerly looking forward to - but there have been some sunny spells, during the course of which, I managed to find a sun puddle on the living room sofa (until Mummy pulled down the shutters because the sunlight was falling directly on the television and making it hard to see the screen).




























At all events, it gave Me a purrfect oppurtunity to snap My Sunday Selfie.


For Our Caturday Art, We made three different artifications with the help of LunaPic. That is because Mummy always finds it hard to decide - so We invite YOU, Our Faithful Furriends, to choose your own favourite.

Furrst of all, here is one using the brilliant colours of Stained Glass:

























Next, a filter that Mummy doesn't recall using before - or, at any rate, not for a long time - Connections:





It has a kind of abstract look, doesn't it? Quite unlike the mediaeval cathedral look of the Stained Glass.

And finally, one that Mummy is pretty sure she has neffur used before - Mushrooms. Not that you would effur find Me sitting still for long enough to let mushrooms grow on Me (mol):




And now, it's over to you. Which one do you like best?  

Here are the blog hop badges, before We Mummy forgets:


        



Furriends, We have been hearing a lot of dire news about rising prices - not just here in Israel, but all over the world. We hear that many Humans, especially the elderly, are actually having to choose between buying food and buying necessary medications!!! There are also many elderly people who, despite their difficult financial circumstances, put their pets furrst and buy food for them, before thinking of themselves - but are finding it harder and harder to do so. 

And, of course, this situation has also led to a drop in donations to animal shelters.

Naturally, this has sparked protests. 


So We think We should start a campaign for Free Food for Pets - and I am proud to offur My Own Image as presenter for that campaign:
























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We have saved the Best till last! Basil and the Epically Pawsome B Team have included Us in the BBHQ List of the Best Cat Blogs of 2023!

We are so thrilled and honoured to be able to display this badge on Our Blog:





Thank you so much, guys!



Now, that really is all for this week, Dear Furriends.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.