Sunday, February 2, 2025

Caspurr's Teething Troubles: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!


My goodness, it's well past lunchtime and We are only now about to post this week's blog! That is because I, Sir Caspurr the (VERY) Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces and King of the Tigger-Tabbies, was tricked into visiting the V-E-T this meowning and only got back an hour ago! My teefs had been hurting and one of them - my lower right fang - was wobbly. So Mummy said We would go to see the v-e-t- and get something for the pain. But once We got there, they decided to drug Me and remove the toofie! While I was "under the Influence", they found another wobbly toofie and stole that one as well! 
Well, they didn't exactly steal it, because they wrapped them both up and gave them to Mummy, so She could give them to the Tooth Furry and get Me a Present in return. And they shaved my neck furs and stole some of My Bloods too! So it all took longer than Mummy had planned, leaving hardly any time to blog today, let alone visit our Furriends, as Mummy and her Caterwauling Friends have a Concert this evening, in which Mummy has a So-Low - which means She really needs a Good Long Nap beforehand!

So, We will post today and try to visit you all tomorrow.

Today, it is My Turn to repurresent 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 Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Here is this week's Snoozie Selfie:














We made three different versions of this picture, using the artsy-fartsy filters from LunaPic.


Furrst of all, since I was so Brave today, Mummy chose the Brave Effect at 63%, followed by Sketch2 at 28%:














Next up, We went for a combination of Dreaming at 35% and Landscape at 43%:














 For our final Artification of the Day, We returned to one of Our Favourites, Frida at 73%, overlaid with Pen at either 20% or 28% (Mummy didn't write it down immediately, and She's not sure).














Here are the blog hop badges:


        


That's all for now then. Till next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.
And, as always - be well. Be safe. We love you all.






Sunday, January 26, 2025

In Search of the Purrfect Pawtrait: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Queen 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, the Panfur Princess, Guardian of the Boudoir and  Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, to lead my fellow J-Cats as We join 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 Ever-Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

As usual, We have selected three different selfies of My Impurrial Meowjesty, and artified each of them with a different LunaPic filter.

Furrst of all, here I am guarding My Our MY Tunnel. Shimshi keeps trying to steal it from Me, but it is Mine, all Mine, I tell you!

Who says so? 

I do - and I am the Queen-Empurress. What I say goes. So there!



 















The artsy-fartsy effects were achieved using the Dark filter, one of My Favourites, at just 24%.


















Mummy and I absolutely loved this next one, as the light of the sun-puddle falls gently on my furs, making the most magical shadow-play.











Really, it hardly needs any artification at all, does it? Still, for the sake of creating Caturday Art, We dolled it up with Homer, at a whopping great 64%:












In the last selfie, I am reclining on the stool in front of the dressing-table in My Boudoir. Nobody - I repeat - nobody (that includes Mummy) is allowed to disturb me there.





















And here is the artified version, which uses another one of Our Favourite filters - Frida at 52%:














All three artifications will be on display from later this evening at the Pawtraits of Trixie exhibition in the PhotoFunia Pawtrait Gallery.
























And, before either Mummy or I fur-get, here are the blog hop badges:


        


********

Mummy apawlogises for not having written her own bloggie yet. She has had a busy week. On Monday, She had one of her field-trips. She came home with a hurty knee - which wasn't helped by all the standing She had to do at her Caterwauling Club's concert the next day, in which She did, indeed, have a So-Low. She did get to rest a bit on Wednesday - only She didn't really (mol). And on Fursday, She went to a family celebration - her Uncle's hundredth birthday!  (Great) Uncle M. has 3 children, 11 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren - and a great-great-grandchild on the way. That's not just a family - that's a Tribe! And although some of them were out of the country, most of them were there. I expect Mummy will write about it in her own blog (some time). The trouble is, She is so busy with all her Activities and gallivanting about - and when She isn't busy, She's too exhausticated to write her blog!!!  By My Reckoning, She has 3 field-trips, an opurra and two concerts to write about - and if She doesn't hurry up, it will be THREE concerts, as she and her Caterwauling Club have another concert next Sunday. Not to mention the pawlitical events taking place at a dizzying rate in Our Neck of the Woods, some Happy, some decidedly not...


So - you get the drill. As I said, Mummy has another concert next week, so of course, there's a rehearsal this evening. Mummy will try to visit as many of you as pawssible before She goes to rest beforehand.

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

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.







Sunday, January 19, 2025

Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With The Little Purrince

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!


Today, it is I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short) aka The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, aka The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain-of-the-Guard, who will be leading the 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 I post My Selfies and Art, I have to tell you We are expecting a Week of Ups and Downs.  You purrobably heard that three of the women kidnapped by the Evil Sub-Humans from Gaza are to be released today, in the furrst stage of the Satanic Deal forced upon Israel, which will see the release of hundreds of convicted murderers in exchange for just 33 of the 97 hostages still in the hands of the Hamas terrorist organisation. Mummy won't write any more about that at present, at least, not here, as her Blood Pressure is already shooting up. She will almost certainly refer to it in depth in her own blog - although She has much more pleasant things to write about this week, such as another archaeological field trip, and a concert with her Caterwauling Club in which she hopes to have a So-Low.

********


Here, then, are My Selfies, all of which were artified with filters from LunaPic.


Furrst of all, I posed in front of the Wardrobe Mirror:













Then, Mummy helped Me to artify this with the Fantasy effect at 87%, to which We added Scribble at 30%.















Next, here I am on the living-room Couch (affectionately known as Couchie), attempting to look furry dignified. Do you think I succeeded?














The artsy-fartsy effect here was achieved with the Storytime filter at 64%, overlaid with Dreaming, at 24%:













Finally, here I am Up Close and Purrsonal:



























The artification here was achieved using the Psychedelic effect at 64%, with an overlay of Ceremony at 26%:



























Which do you like best? Let Us know in the Comments Section, below.


Now, here are the blog hop badges:


        



Till next week then, dear Furriends. 

Meanwhile, be well.  Be safe. We love you all.










Sunday, January 12, 2025

Caturday Art and Sunday Snoozies with Caspurr

 Greetings, Effurryone!


This week, I,  Sir Caspurr, the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces, King of the Tigger-Tabbies, will be repurresenting 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 Snoozies  Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMum, Janet.

To this end, I have chosen 3 pawtaits of Myself, in all of which I am snoozing - or at least, trying to snooze, despite the bothersome intrusions of the Pawpawrazzi! I had to try out several napping spots before I found the best one. Furrst of all, I tried the Obvious Place - the bed:














But I couldn't get any peace and quiet there, so, after artifying the photo with two LunaPic filters (Landscape at 83% and Scribble at 22%) - 














I moved on to the big couch in the living-room:













But there, too, I was not allowed to snooze uninterrupted. Mummy kept badgering Me to help choose some appropriate filters to artify the photo. As you can see, I chose Shattered at 62% (which fairly described the way I was feeling at being continually disturbed), with an overlay of Sunshine at 25%:













I then moved on to the Guest Kitty room and settled myself on the sofa:











Thankfully, I was allowed to remain here unmolested (mol) and Mummy went away to choose the artsy-fartsy effects herself. She used Watercolour at 45%, washed over with Sketch4 at 25%:












All in all, I don't think She did too badly, do you?


And, before I, She, We fur-get, here are the blog hop badges:


        


********

Several of you have asked about Mummy's Caterwauling Club and the kind of mew-sic they sing. So We thought We'd give a brief description of Mummy's Mew-sical Activities.
Mummy belongs to the Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir, which, together with three other small choirs, together form the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir. Each of the small choirs purr-forms its own repurr-toire and each year, the big choir works on a larger-scale piece which they all purr-form together, usually with an orchestra.
Sometimes, the smaller choirs take part in special projects with other choirs. For example, a few weeks ago, the JOCC sang Poulenc's Gloria, as well as a specially commissioned setting of Psalm 33 (in Hebrew, of course) by the composer Irena Svetova. And the year before last, they sang Orff's Carmina Burana with four other choirs plus the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, Mummy and her Caterwauling Club have purr-formed such major classical works as Handel's Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus, Haydn's Creation and Nelson Mass, Mozart's Requiem and C-Minor Mass, Purr-golesi's Stabat Mater, Bach's Magnifi-Cat, Vivaldi's Gloria, the  Fauré Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elias, as well as modern works for choir such as Noam Sheriff's Spanish Passion, John Rutter's Magnifi-Cat and Requiem, Bloch's Avodat Hakodesh, Missa Criolla by Ramirez, Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man and many, many others.
In addition, the smaller choirs each have their own repertoire, consisting of many different kinds of music, classical and modern, arrangements of popular Israeli and foreign music, African-American spirituals, folksongs etc. etc. If you visit Mummy's blog, she has written many times about their concerts. Just type Jerusalem Oratorio Choir or Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir in the Search Box.



Before We sign off, We would like to say We are purring with all Our Might for all those affected by the terrible fires in California. If only it would snow and rain there, to help put the fires out! 

See you next week then. Till then - be well. Be safe. We LOVE you all!



Sunday, January 5, 2025

A New Year - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody!


This is Our Furrst Post of 2025 and, as is fitting, it is up to Me, 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 and Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, to lead the 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.


We had a couple of beastly cold, rainy days last week, including the evening  Mummy's Caterwauling Club had their Fundraising Concert (about which She may - if She is not too lazy busy - write about in her own bloggie later in the week). But right after that, Mr. Sunshine decided to return, and since then, We have enjoyed blue skies with only a little cloud. It's still quite cold, howeffur, so We nap most of the time, either by the newly-fixed radiators, or under the duvet.


For this week's blog hops, Mummy and I have chosen three pictures of Me. Furrst of all, here I am by the heater, just checking in the mirror to make sure my whiskers are in order and my fur smooth and silky, as it should be.













We artified this with LunaPic's Brave filter at 43% and then added Dark at 35%.












Next, still by the mirror, I am having to contend with being photobombed by my Pesky Brofur, Shimshi!





















And how dare he turn his back on Me?!


This time, We started with the Dark filter at 48% and added Storytime at 24%.



 

















My last pawtrait needs no explanation...












The artsy-fartsy version again uses LunaPic filters - Daisies at 50%, followed by Scribble at 22%.












To be quite honest, I am not completely satisfied with any of the artifications this time, but Mummy has such a lot to do before caterwauling purractice this evening that they will just have to do.

Now for the blog hop badges:


        


That's all for now then. See you again next week. Till then - be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Good News, Bad News, Somewhere-in-the-Middle News

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!


Let's start with the Bad News and get it out of the way, shall We?


Over the weekend, there were not one, but TWO rocket attacks on the Jerusalem area, from the Bad Humans who are trying to kill Us! On the night between Friday and Caturday, Mummy was rudely awakened at 2:11 am, by the sound of sirens warning of an imminent rocket attack. So She jumped out of her Our nice warm bed (disturbing Us in the process) to take shelter in the inner corridor of Our Apawtment and had to sit on the Hard, Cold Floor for ten minutes till it was Officially Safe to return to bed. That rocket, which was fired by Wicked People in Yemen, which is about 2000 kilometres away, was intercepted by Our Airforce before it even reached Israel. Mummy would have done well to stay in bed (as We did - MOL)! In fact, Mummy later heard from her sister, Auntie N., that she slept right through it - as Mummy has been known to do in the past.

Then, on Caturday afternoon, just as Mummy was lying down for her Shabbat afternoon nap, there was another rocket attack, this time from the Evil Humans in Gaza. Mummy didn't hear any sirens at all, and only found out about it afterwards, when She checked her phone app to see if and where there had been any more rocket attacks during the day. 

It was all rather surprising, because they usually don't fire on Jerusalem.
Mummy was furry annoyed and said it's a pity We can't just nuke 'em and be done with it!

At any rate, these rockets were also intercepted and nobody seems to have been hurt in either attack.


So much for the Bad News. Now for the Good News. Mummy finally got the gas-fired central heating fixed. Well, not exactly fixed. She replaced the gas boiler - which cost Her a Pretty Penny (that's the "Somewhere-in-the-middle News") - and now the house is lovely and warm and We are enjoying all kinds of new places to curl up, such as right in front of the radiators. Mummy says it was worth effurry shekel. We agree!

Actually, Mummy got this done just in the nick of time. The weather has turned furry cold, especially at night, and We are expecting two or three days of continuous rain in Jerusalem. In the North, they have already had snow. We think snow is purrty to look at, especially now that the heating has been fixed and We can watch the snowflakes fall from the sky while We are safely ensconced behind a double-glazed window, but We are furry sorry for anyone who has to be out in that cold, wet stuff!


Now, it is time for Us to join 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.  Since this will be the last Sunday Selfies post of 2024, We thought it would be a Good Idea to make it an Ussie this time. In fact, you can even see a couple of Us twice, as We are reflected in the Mirror. And the sharp-eyed amongst you may even catch a glimpse of Mummy's arm, also reflected in the mirror, as She snapped this photo.


















Since it will be 2025 the next time We post, We decided to take this Oppurrtunity to wish you all a Happy Mew Year. And, just as We did with Our Chrissymouse/Hanukkah card last week, We used LunaPic's amazing filters to prepurr three artifications of this picture.


In the furrst one, We used a combination of Watercolour2 at 58% and Landscape at 73%:




























Next, We tried two of Our favourites - Dark at 73%, overlaid with Nouveau at 41%:

















Last, but not least - Candy at 45% with an overlay of Frida at 38%:






 












And here are the blog hop badges:


     


Till next time then. Meanwhile - be well. Be safe. We LOVE you all.

And have a Happy MEW Year!




Sunday, December 22, 2024

Looking Back and Looking Forward: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!


December 23rd marks the Bridge Day of precious Princess Pixie PixieCato, one of the co-founders of this blog, who received her Angel Wings thirteen years ago tomorrow, on what was a Friday afternoon, shortly before the lighting of the fourth Hanukkah candle.

Hanukkah is later this year and doesn't start till the evening of December 25th, just as Chrissymouse ends -  but We are going to commemorate Pixie today with the help of PhotoFunia and LunaPic. She was such a beautiful, gentle little kitty girl and she grew into a lovely Ladycat, as you can see in this picture from June 10th, 2010, when she was almost fifteen years old.























Mummy used this picture in a previous commemoration of Pixie some time ago - artifying it with LunaPic's Dreaming effect at 60%. Now, since We are in the depths of winter, She framed that picture with some of PhotoFunia's images of December, the month in which Pixie left this earth.















Pixie loved Hanukkah - as do Trixie, Caspurr and Shimshi, the present generation of J-Cats. And they also enjoy seeing how kitties from all over the world celebrate their own festivals. So, in honour of Hanukkah and Chrissymouse, We are bringing you a combined Hanukkah and Chrissymouse card, in which all three of the current J-Cats are sharing their Selfies and enjoying a snowy Seasonal landscape (it isn't snowing here in Jerusalem, in case you were wondering - but it might, who knows?).
















And as if that wasn't arty enough, Mummy went back to LunaPic and prepared three more versions of the card! 


This furrst one uses the Quirky filter, at 63%:

















Next, We tried Storytime, at 82%:
















And finally, We used the bright and cheerful colours of Candy at 40%:















This last one is closest to the Original, don't you agree?

Which one do you like best?

At all events, since We aren't sending out individual cards, please see this as a purrsonal greeting and feel free to download whichever one you prefurr - or all of them!

Now, it is time to join 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 are the blog hop badges:


        



We will leave you now with Best Wishes for whichever Holiday you celebrate (some of you celebrate both Hanukkah and Chrissymouse, We know). We will, of course, visit as many of Our Furriends as pawssible over this Joyous Season - and We will be back again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.

Till then - Meowy Chrissymouse and Happy Hanukkah.

Be well. Be safe. We LOVE you all!