Oneg Shabbat: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurrybody!

Trixie here, ready to lead my Fellow 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 the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

But before We do that, I want to explain to you what an Oneg Shabbat is. Literally, it means "the Delight/Joy of the Sabbath". It's a way of extending the joy of the Sabbath evening meal and get-together far into the night, with songs and storytelling (and maybe a few snacks as well - MOL). Like all good Mewish cats, We have a an Oneg Shabbat effurry Furriday evening, after Mummy has gone to bed. I suppose you could see it as a furry special kind of pawty (as you know, We J-Cats LOVE pawties of effurry kind). But it's not just about scoffing loads of noms. We also have an artistic programme, which is both fun and educational. In order to make sure things are done propurrly, We have a committee of five to arrange effurrything. Our Committee consists of three (semi) purr-manent members, elected for a two year period, and two rotating members, who change on a quarterly basis. The current purr-manent members are three of Our Pawselain Dolly sisters, Miss Dorothea, Miss Laura and Ms. Lottie, whom you have met before, many times. The current rotating members are My Brofur, Caspurr and another member of Mummy's Collection - Mr. Twizzle, to whom We shall introduce you later on.

Now, as I said, We like Our Oneg Shabbat pawties to be both fun and educational. Last Furriday, We had a Comic Conjuring routine by Mr. Twizzle.

After that, We heard a furry interesting lecture by Miss Natalia about her native St. Petersburg. She told Us all about the world-famous Hermitage Mewseum and the Cats who live there. 

If you are interested, you can read about Mummy's 2017 visit to St. Petersburg with her Caterwauling Club, on her own blog.

Mummy has been a source of Ins-purration for Us with her Caterwauling - so much so, that several members of her Collection have sought to e-mew-late her by founding their own mewsical ensembles. Thus, the Oneg Shabbat concluded with a delightful purr-formance by the Von Katz Family Singers:

After that, I was totally exhausticated and fell into a deep, sweet slumber:

I slept through most of the following day, in fact and refused to get up even to take a Selfie - which is why you will have to content yourselves with this picture of Me, peacefully snoozing.

Mummy also made two artifications of My Sunday Snoozie Selfie.

The furrst one uses LunaPic's Ceremony filter at 70%, washed over with Floating at 30%:

The second version uses Connections at 40%:

Now it is time to put up the blog hop badges:

     

That's all for this week, dear furriends.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Memories of Minxie: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Today, We are taking a break from Our usual Order of Purrecedence. Strictly speaking, it should be Trixie's turn to repurresent the J-Cats 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

However, tomorrow, June 12th, is the Yahrzeit, or Rainbow Bridge Annifursary, of Mummy's furry furrst kitty, the Legendary Minxie, who, sadly, lost her battle with an Evil Cancer and received her Angel Wings 28 years ago, just three days short of her 15th birthday.

So today, We are honouring her memory and making her Our Repurresentative in the blog hops.

Since Minxie became an Angel long before Mummy had a blog - or even a computer - she neffur had the oppurrtunity to enjoy the Fame she undoubtedly deserved.  So We are going to remedy that in some small measure. 

Here is a picture of Minxie taken, Mummy thinks, sometime in 1993. Mummy thinks that, because it's in the same photo album as the pictures from Mummy's furrst visit to Malta in the summer of that year. It isn't all that good a picture, because it was taken on one of those Prehistoric Cameras, which had film in them and which had to be taken to a Photography Shop to be developed. But it does give you an idea of Minxie's Beauty, doesn't it?  We hope so, because We are using this for Our Sunday Selfie this week.

Mummy and Minxie had absolute, complete and utter trust in one another. Minxie used to lie full length on Mummy's chest and tummy when Mummy lay down on the sofa and watched TV. And when Mummy went to bed, Minxie would snuggle in her armpit and go to sleep with her little chinny-chin-chin resting on Mummy's shoulder.

And one of the most adorable things about her was the way she would sit at the table and have breakfast with Mummy:

We used a pawtion of this second picture as Our Caturday Art. As usual, We made three furry different artifications.

The furrst version uses LunaPic's Surreal Painting effect, overlaid with Fantasy at 50%:

Next, We tried Cartoon at 80% and then played about with the light levels:

Finally, We thought We'd go for something in black and white, so We opted for Escher - also at 80% - but then decided to add a bit of colour with a light brushing of Tiedye at 30%:

So there you have it. Of course, if Mummy had had a fancy digital camera back then, She would have been able to do better justice to Minxie's Beauty and Sweetness, but Mummy's Memory is the best camera of all and in Mummy's Memory, Minxie reigns forever, young and bright and beautiful. We LOVE hearing about her. She is Our Spiritual Ancestress. Single-pawedly, She made Mummy - who had neffur had ANY pet before - into a Cat Purrson.

Now, We shall light a Meowmorial Candle for Minxie, as is the Mewish custom:

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

Now, it is time to go and visit as many of Our Furriends as pawssible!

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

A Sad Sunday: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Shimshi

Hallo, Effurrybuddies.

This is a furry sad weekend for all of Us in the Blogosphere, because We had to say goodbye to sweet Raz, from the Friends Furever blog.  Raz had been sick for a while, although We did not realise just how bad it was, and We were heartbroken to read he was called to the Bridge on Furriday afternoon.
We send Our heartfelt Condolences to his Mom, Miss Sharon, and to his fursibs, Noelle and Reesie.

Effurry time We say Goodbye to one of Our Anipals, We are reminded of the impawtance of keeping in touch with friends - animal and human alike - because nothing lasts for effur, and if you put off telling someone how much they mean to you, you might not get another chance.

You remember how, in the past, We have written about Mummy's friend Ms F. who got stuck in Switzerland three years ago when the Evil Coronavirus Pandemic started, and, for health reasons, was unable to return home again and whose kitties were being taken care of by Ms. I?
Ms. F. was called to her own Bridge last week after fighting an Evil Cancer for several years - and neffur saw her home or her kitties again. Mummy is trying to find out what will happen to the two who were left.

About the casualties of war and terrorism over the last week, Mummy will probably write in her own blog later this week, or maybe next week. For now, We are going to concentrate on happier things - namely, the weekend blog hops. It is My Turn to lead my fellow J-Cats on 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 the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

It was quite difficult to choose just one selfie this week - because there are simply so many to choose from. So We offer up three for your Delectation!  Each one of them has been artified with a different LunaPic filter.

Furrst up, here is a picture of Me purractising Pole Dancing. Mummy says I have put on too much weight and that I need to get in shape for the World Pole Dancing Championships later in the summer.

Do you think I am overweight, kitties?

We artified this with the Delaunay filter, with a Dark overlay at 70%:

Selfie no. #2 shows My Despairing Attempt to evade the Flashy Box. It was a vain attempt - but at least no flash was actually used and there was no need for Me to activate My Deadly Lasers:

We made an artsy-fartsy version of this one with Dreaming (which I was not allowed to do in peace!) at 55%, overlaid with Beauty at 45%:

Finally, here is one where I let it all hang out (mol).  Mummy claims I had difficulty in rolling over again onto My Tummy, because of being overweight! Such impurrtinence! What does She know about it? I was merely allowing her to take multiple shots of My Tummy, because I know so many of you greatly admire it!

The artification for this one used the Surreal Painting effect at 82%, with an overlay of Tuscany at 40%.

Which one do you like best?

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

        

As most of you know by now, Sunday evening is caterwauling practice for Mummy and her Caterwauling Club friends, so We will sign off now and let her have a nice, long siesta. Caterwauling, as We all know, demands a lot of Energy - and Energy requires plenty of Napping.

So that's it for now. Lehitra'ot (Be seeing you).


Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Caspurr's New Book: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurryone!

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Caspurr here - Furrst of My Name etc., etc., etc., here to lead my fellow 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.

What an exhausticating few weeks it has been with all these pawties! Now We get to rest for a couple of months till the next round of festivals. Not that I haven't been busy. Yesterday, Mummy decided it was time to put away the duvet and take down the summer bed-linen, and how could She do that without a good deal of Feline Assistance?

And, of course, We got a great Selfie out of it!
Of course, Mr. Murphy being Mr. Murphy - today it rained. Quite a lot in fact!!!

Speaking of all those festivals, My Publisher wants to issue a new edition of My Bestselling Guide to the Mewish Festivals. Since so many of you have expressed an interest in the subject, naturally I agreed. 

We were thinking of bringing out an illustrated paperback edition. Naturally, We would need to update the dustjacket, with a new pawtrait of Me. Purrhaps an artification of today's Sunday Selfie might be suitable. We offer two versions for your delectation, both made with LunaPic filters. The furrst one uses Leather, with an overlay of Sunshine at 30%:

The second one also uses two filters - Edtaonisi at 40%, overlaid with Homer at 30%:

Now, without further ado, here are the blog hop badges:

        

See you all again at the same time next week.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Trixie's Caturday Art and Sunday Selfie for Shavuot

Greetings, Effurrybody!

What an exhausticating week it has been! So much celebrating! I am absolutely zonked out by all that hard work and partying.

And We are not finished yet! Oh, no, by no means! This Furriday, We have the Mewish festival of Shavuot, which celebrates the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
And if We J-Cats have a festival to celebrate, you know what that means, don't you?
That's right! Another pawty! A luncheon buffet, up in the Enchanted Forest overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem (where else?), to which you are all invited. 1 pm Israel Time, this Furriday. As usual, the coordinates have been sent directly to your teleportation devices. If you are new and have never been to one of Our Pawties before, let Us know so We can explain how to reach the Enchanted Forest.

Mummy has been reminding Us of a tradition regarding Shavuot. As you may (or may not) know, all Mewish holidays begin the evening before because the day, according to the Hebrew calendar, starts at sunset ("and there was evening and there was morning...") but on Shavuot, there is an Extra Special Something between the evening and the morning. According to the Legend, at midnight, the sky splits wide open for an infinitesimal second, and if you are Furry Lucky, and happen to be looking in the right direction, you can see The Great Cat in the Sky and all the Angel Kitties. At that Precious Meowment, you can wish for whatever your heart desires and your wish will be granted.

Mummy has been trying all her Life, but She has neffur been so blessed. Perhaps YOU might.

Now, it is time to join 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, those Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Here are their badges:

                          

We took My Selfie over to LunaPic and created FOUR different artifications. Tell Us in the comments below, which one you like best.

Furrst of all,  Here I am in Landscape mode, at 95%:

Next, We have Mushroom at 60%:

Our third Expurriment used Picasso at 73%:

It might be Our Imagination, but We think this is rather too similar to the furrst artification, with Landscape. What do you think?

Finally, We decided to give full rein to My Wild and Fierce Nature. I am a Panfur, after all (mol). So here I am, in 100% Jungle mode:

Do you have an artsy-fartsy Favourite?

That's all for now. As usual, Mummy has to rest before her Caterwauling Club rehearsal. They have furry long rehearsals - three hours of Caterwauling. Imagine that!  You would think that after all that purractice, they would be Purrfect by now, wouldn't you?

We look forward to seeing you on Furriday. 

Chag Sameach!

And, as always - Be Well. Be safe. We love you all.

Shimshi Has The Power Of A Unicorn: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurrybuddies!

Yes! It is I, 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.

What a lot We have to celebrate this week - despite the bad Humans in Gaza shooting rockets at Us all last week. On Furriday, they even fired a few boomies in the direction of Jerusalem, where We live - which they don't usually do. But don't worry about Us, We are all right. The rockets only reached the outer suburbs of southern Jerusalem. Nobody was hurt - at least, not in Jerusalem, although, sadly, an 80-year-old woman was killed by a rocket that hit her apawtment building in Rehovot.

Now for the Good Things! As We mentioned before, Pawty Season is well and truly underway. Tomorrow is My Gotcha Day Anni-fursary, marking the day nine years ago when Step-Grandma (who is also My Godmother) brought Me, a tiny 1-month-old kitten whose Kitty Mamma had rejected him, to live with My Mummy. That was the Best Day of My Life. Since then, I have lacked for nothing. I have plenty of food (too much, Mummy says, but She hasn't the Willpower to keep Me on a diet - MOL), plenty of warm, cosy places to curl up and nap, a brofur and sisfur to play with, and a Mummy who loves Me unconditionally! I am the luckiest kitty in the world!

Speaking of Step-Grandma, who rescued Me - on Wednesday, it is her 75th birthday. She was born just two days after the State of Israel. Many Happy Returns, Grandma!

Well, those two events are reason enough for celebration, but there's more to come!
On Friday, Yom Yerushalayim marks the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem during the Six Day War in 1967, after it had been illegally occupied by Jordan for 19 years.

So, since none of Us (including Mummy) have the strength to organise three pawties in one week, We are going to celebrate all these Happy Events in one HUGE picnic pawty and barbecue up in the Enchanted Forest this coming Friday at 2 pm Israel Time. There will be loads and loads of all Our/Your Favourite Noms, including (but not limited to) oodles of mice cream, salmon mousse, tuna cake, barbecued trout, chicken pie, caviar - as well as a well-stocked bar (We have laid in extra supplies of catmint juleps, and plenty of the fruit of the silvervine).  All We need now, to make it purrfect, is for as many of you to be there as pawssible.

It is a Happy Coincidence that it also happens to be My Turn to lead My Fellow 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 Our Dear Furriends, the Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

You can see My Selfie at the top of this week's post. For once, I am not snoozing but am wide awake and alert.

The artification is in honour of Israel's Eurovision Song Contest entry which took third place in last night's competition - Unicorn, sung by Noa Kirel. As We so often do, We used LunaPic to add the unicorn horn, and then added the Starry2 art effect at 70%. On top of that, we placed an overlay of Rave at 30% and finished off the whole with a custom frame.

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

Now, it is time for Us to sign off so as to give Mummy time to have a rest before Caterwauling Practice. 
We hope to see you at My Gotcha Day Pawty  (yes, I know it's a Multi-Purrpose Pawty, but obviously My Gotcha Day Anni-fursary is the Most Impawtant component)!!!

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Caspurr's Coronation: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurryone!

It's celebration after celebration lately, isn't it? Hard on the heels of Independence Day the week before last, yesterday, We watched the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the Mewnited Kingdom, where Mummy was born. As a Tigger-Tabby King myself (Furrst of My Name), I greatly enjoyed all the Pomp and Pageantry. That is the way to do things propurrly, I thought to Myself.

Then I remembered that I had neffur had a propurr Coronation Ceremony myself!
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, had neffur been propurrly crowned!
Well, that wouldn't do at all, would it?

So, without further ado, We decided, Mummy and I and My Fursibs, that it was high time We corrected that situation. Since tomorrow evening We shall be celebrating anyway with a Lag Ba'Omer bonfire up in the Enchanted Forest, We shall take the Oppurtunity to have Me crowned King Caspurr I - and you are all invited. 6pm Israel Time. Tiaras optional.

Meanwhile, I have already had My Official Coronation Pawtrait painted - although the top of My Crown seems to be missing. Should I have the artist beheaded as punishment, do you think?

As is usual, new coins have been minted in My Honour:

And two new stamps have been issued - the Threepenny Purple and the Threepenny Blue:

Fortuitously, it is also 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 Our Dear Furriends, the Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

Whew! I am exhausticated after meowdelling for all those pictures and prepurring all the artifications. What's more, the weather has turned a bit chilly for May. Time for a nap in one of My Favourite spots - inside the duvet cover, under the duvet.

This will make for an excellent Sunday Snoozie (mol)!

That's all for now, Dear Furriends. Hoping to see you at My Coronation tomorrow.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.