Shimshi's Winter Tail - and Another Sad Goodbye: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

In case you haven't guessed, it's ME, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) aka The Little Purrince, aka The Baby Mancat, Furrst of My Name, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard, and it's 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Before We go off blog hopping, however, We have to share with you some more furry sad news. You remember how, the week before last, We had to report that Mummy's friend Carolyn (Caro) had been called to her Rainbow Bridge on Chrissymouse Day, leaving behind her beloved kitty, Austin? Well, only a fortnight later, Austin himself crossed over the Bridge, to join his Mum. He was 17 years old, and We think, from something Caro's brother wrote on Fursbook, that he had been sick and in pain for quite a while. Austin himself hadn't blogged for several years already, but We know there must be many of you out there who remember him - and Caro.

Fly free, dearest Austin, safe in the Loving Paw of the Great Cat in the Sky. We take comfort in knowing you and your Mum are together again - as you were always meant to be.

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And now, here is My Selfie. I thought I, too, would get in on this mirror-image trend that seems to be working so well for Caspurr.  The thing is, I don't seem to have quite got the hang of it. My beautiful and cunningly curved tail (My Winter's Tail, as I like to call it) doesn't seem to appear in the mirror image, which is a great pity! Ah, well! Next time, maybe. Purractice makes Purrfect - or so they say.

As usual, We artified this pawtrait in three different ways - after making a fancy custom frame, courtesy of LunaPic. 
Furrst of all, We used the Flowers effect, at 60%:

We like this one, because the idea of flowers, and all the bright colours, remind Us that even though We had a furry wet weekend, which caused a bit of a flood in the utility room, Tu b'Shvat, the harbinger of Spring, is less than 2 weeks away.
We are so ready to say goodbye to Winter - even though it took its time in coming!

Our next artification was created using the Grey filter at 75% - just to remind Us that, although Spring may be just around the corner, it is by no means here yet. And also because the War, now into its 100th day, casts a shadow over everything.
And there is a third reason too. It shows me as a tabby - as I was, sort of, when I was a kitten, before my coat grew so thick and beautiful and hid the stripes, so that now, I look more like a grey tuxie (mol).

Finally, mindful of all the skywater We have been seeing over the last few days, We chose the Waves filter, at 85%:

Please do let Us know, in the Comments Section, which is your favourite - and why?


Now, here are the blog hop badges:

        

All that is left to do now, then, is to say "See you next week".

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