Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Memories of Minxie

Hallo again, Effurrybody!

We don't think We have effur told you about Mummy's furrst kitty, have We?
The Most Beauteous and neffur-to-be-furgotten Minxie, Queen of Cats.

Well, We think it's high time We did so, and there is no day better for doing so than today, because today is Minxie's yardzeit, the anniversary of the day she flew away to the Bridge.


Mummy gotcha-ed Minxie some time in the summer of 1980, when she was a tiny little kitten, just a couple of months old. Mummy found her down in the garden shared by the residents of the apartment block where She was then living and to save her from being "adopted" by the neighbour's children, who had absolutely no idea how to look after animals, Mummy took her in herself. Those children had previously "adopted" all kinds of other animals, including pigeons (who didn't last long) and even a donkey, which they kept in their living room!!!
Even though those children meant well, and even though Mummy had neffur had a pet anipal before, She thought that sweet little kitty had a better chance of survival with Her than with them.

So it was that Minxie came to live with Mummy, and because she was such a little minx (says Mummy), that's how she got her name (mol).

All this, of course, was in Olden Times, before the Digital Age and so all the pictures of Minxie were taken with an old-fashioned camera, in which, so We have heard, one had to put in a film on a spool or cassette and then take a picture, and once the picture was taken, it couldn't be erased. And then, Mummy would take the film to a photographic shop and they would develop the pictures and after a few days, Mummy would get them back. And in those Olden Days, Mummy couldn't know how the picture would turn out until she got the developed pictures back!

Yes, Life must have been really hard back in the Old Days.

Anyway, Mummy scanned some of the old pictures of Minxie and uploaded them to her New Computer (which is driving her crazy, but more about that some other time) - and now We can show them to you all.

Minxie loved to sit in the bath tub. If there was a towel draped over the side, she would pull it into the bath tub and sit on it, like this:



    




And another thing Minxie liked to do was to curl up on the sofa next to one of Mummy's dollies (Mummy has a beautiful collection of pawcelain dollies, from all over the World, most of which, She keeps well out of Our reach - We have no idea why!). Here she is with Arabella, who was the furrst dolly in Mummy's collection - and with Felix, who We also like to play with:







But the thing Minxie loved most of all, was either to lie on Mummy's chest, with her head on Mummy's shoulder, or (when Mummy went to bed), to curl up in Mummy's armpit - once again, with her head on Mummy's shoulder. Naturally, Mummy has no pictures of this, to her Great Regret.

When Mummy would come home from work, She would call to Minxie from down below, in the parking lot, "Minxie! Minxie!" - and Minxie would run to the open window and answer her and then run to the front door to greet her.

Yes, Minxie and Mummy loved each other furry much.

Anyway, in 1995, Mummy found a furry large lump in Minxie's tummy, where no lump should be and when She took Minxie to the v-e-t, he said that it was in all probability cancer. He operated on Minxie and removed the lump but Minxie grew weaker and weaker and then Mummy discovered another lump. Minxie stopped eating and hid herself away in the wardrobe and Mummy knew it was time for the   v-e-t to help Minxie to the Rainbow Bridge.  Mummy stayed with Minxie and held her paw till she was Free - and that was the hardest thing Mummy had effur had to do. Mummy had neffur had to help an anipal to the Bridge before - She felt her heart was broken. That was on June 12th 1995 - just three days before what would have been Minxie's 15th birthday.

Mummy's heart was broken - but Minxie was watching over her from the Rainbow Bridge, and a couple of months later, she sent Possum to her. And a few weeks after that, Minxie sent Pixie to Mummy as well, for Good Measure.
Now Possum and Pixie are at the Bridge too, together with Minxie and they are all three of them watching over Mummy. And to make sure Mummy wouldn't be too lonely, they sent Us to her.

Now, they watch over Mummy from the Bridge, and We watch over Mummy down here on Earth.

And the Great Cat in the Sky watches over all of Us. 

Monday, May 28, 2018

Mummy's New Toy

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

It has been about a zillion years since We last posted! That's because Mummy's old computer was making so many purr-oblems, it would take almost the whole day to write a short post and try to add some pictures. But now, Mummy has bought herself Us a beautiful, brand new computer, with a super fast Purr-ocessor and a Solid State Drive (whatever that may be) and a   w i d e   screen, which will make looking at pictures of Us even more enjoyable than it already is (mol). And to make matters even better, Mummy is now allowing Us into the Study/Library/Computer Room - albeit under strict snoopervision and as long as We "behave ourselves", as She rather insultingly puts it.

There is no point now in writing about Caspurr's and Shimshi's Gotcha Days (April 11th and May 15th, respectively) - especially since Mummy more or less forgot about them till they were long past (Silly Mummy! Old Age is catching up with Her!).

What We are looking forward to now, with great excitement, is a visit from Joanie's Travelling Cow, from Our friends at 15 and Meowing. We have all sorts of fun planned for her, but We are keeping that a secret for the time being, so We can surprise her!

It took Mummy a while to figure out how to work with the New Computer. Well, not so much the computer as Windows 10 (because when she bought the New Toy, it came with Windows 10 and till now, She has been working with Windows XP), but with a lot little bit of help from Us, She finally understood (more or less) what She was doing, so now, without further ado, here are the latest pictures of Us, doing what We like doing best (mol)...





Oops! Missed! You can't catch Me that easily (mol)!

Try again!




















Till next time, Kitties!

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Impawtant Dates to Remember

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!


Yes, it's Me again - the Mighty Shimshon (aka Shimshi).
You all remember, don't you, that today is My Birthday. I am FOUR years old today!


But We aren't going to have the Celebration today, because, you see, tomorrow is Remembrance Day for Israel's Fallen Soldiers and the Offishul Ceremonies actually start at 4 pm today, so it would not be appurropriate to have a celebration today.
Instead, We will postpone the Pawty to Thursday, which is Israel's Independence Day and have a really HUGE celebration. After all, We will be celebrating Israel's 70th Birthday as well!



One of the most popular ways Independence Day is celebrated in Israel is with outdoor Barbecues, so that's what We are going to do - up in our favourite picnic spot, the Enchanted Forest, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem (where else?), at 3pm. Anyone who feels like arriving half an hour or so early, so as to help Us set things up, is welcome (and will be rewarded with Extra Catnip - mol).

We are also belatedly celebrating Caspurr's Gotcha Day, which was last Wednesday (April 11th), so you can see, this pawty is going to be truly pawsome.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Biggest, Bestest Pawty of the Year!




Thursday, March 29, 2018

Spring Has Arrived, Pessach is Here!

Hallo, Effurrybuddies!

My sisfur, Trixie, and my brofur, Caspurr, have been snoopervising Mummy as she finished the Pessach (Passover) cleaning and they are so exhausticated by all that hard work that they have gone to take a well-deserved nap, 










leaving Me, Shimshi, to write our Pessach blog.

Pessach is a furry impawtant holiday for Us - especially for Me, because I was born during Chol Hamoed Pessach, four years ago. We shall, of course, be celebrating that miaouwmentous event on the civil date (April 17th) as well, but We furmly believe that one should neffur pass over (get it? - MOL) an excuse for a pawty. We are therefore going to celebrate on both dates and so you are all invited to share our Seder tomorrow night. As the weather, which has been lovely and sunny for the past couple of weeks, has turned all dodgy and rain is expected tomorrow, We shall be holding the Seder, not in the Enchanted Forest (although We hope to have My Birthday Pawty on April 17th up there), but in Our Own Home, where We won't feel the chilliness of the Jerusalem night. Those of you who celebrate Easter, instead, are also welcome!

We have laid in extra supplies of catnip, as the Chief Kitty Rabbi has now unequivocally endorsed its use as karpuss, and look forward to seeing all Our Furriends at our Seder Table.





Now I, too, shall have a nap.


Chag Sameach - and Happy Easter too!


Pawpats and noserubs to you all,

from Me, 

The Mighty Shimshon (aka Shimshi, the Little Purrince), Captain of the Guard, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs.















Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Five Years Old Already!



Why are you disturbing Me at such an hour? Can't a chap get a little shut-eye in the middle of the day?

Oh! What's that? 
My Birthday?

Well, in that case, I shall get up and greet My Wellwishers.

Happy Birthday to ME!
Happy Birthday to ME!
Happy Birthday, Dear  King Caspurr!
Happy Birthday to ME!   (mol)


As usual, when Birthdays fall in the middle of the week, We shall postpone the Celebration till Shabbat afternoon - 4 pm, in the Enchanted Forest, where (so I have been told), the wild catnip has purr-duced an exceptionally high yield this year (Mol. Mol. Mol).

So come One, come All and celebrate with Me. We are expecting beautiful, sunny weather and mild temperatures. It will be Great - no, Purrfect!

See you then.


Purrs and pawpats,

Sir Caspurr the Courageous, King of the Tigger-Tabbies, Lord Commander of the Impurrial Guard - and Impurrial Poet Laureate.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Happy Pawrim

Hallo, Effurryone!

It's Me - Caspurr!

Guess what - it's Pawrim! When the Humans like to dress up in Fancy Dress. And some of them think that's a good enough reason for putting silly clothes on Innocent, Unsuspecting Kitties!


In the past, Mummy has actually managed to get us to pose in ridiculous hats, but this year, We were having none of it. So She had to find a photo editing programme that would enable her to display Us to the world in Fancy Dress. She tried using something called Photo Impression, which She has on her computer, but couldn't make it work. (Breathing a sigh of relief.) That's how I, Caspurr, King of the Tigger-Tabbies was saved from the Awful Fate of having to appear as a Mediaeval Knight. Instead, she used her WhatsApp Camera, which allows her to stick Accessories on her Victim. I think I got off quite lightly. All She did was stick a bow tie on Me:










Trixie, naturally, wanted to be Queen Esther, the heroine of the Pawrim story. She got her way, of course. She has no idea how narrowly she avoided being made into a Dutch flower girl (mol).


                 




And last, but definitely not least, Shimshi, who actually would have liked to be a matador, had to content himself with purr-traying the Cat in the Hat:




How did you celebrate Pawrim?


Did your Humans make you wear Clothes?

Did you know it's a mitzvah, or religious duty, to get drunk on Pawrim?
So, if you'll excuse Us, the Catnip Punch is calling out to Us (mol).


Happy Pawrim (Purim Sameach - פורים שמח)

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

No More Nameless Babies

Hallo, Effurrybody!

Mummy did a lot of thinking after her last bloggie post, about the poor kitty that flew away to the Bridge without even having a name, and She felt so bad about the whole thing that She has decided that from now on, none of "her" kitties will be nameless. So now, She has given all of her "regulars" names. She even has a name, in her own mind, for the poor dead kitty. He or she reminded Mummy of Angel Possum, (although Possum's fur was much thicker and his tail much floofier) so She thinks of him/her as Possytwo.


The other kitty with Possum's colouring looked so much like the poor Angel Kitty, that Mummy calls him (or her) Doppelganger.
Here is a picture of her (or him):






There are two more kitties who look so furry much alike that Mummy can only tell them apart when they are both there in front of her. Both of them have thick, thick fur and floofy tails. Mummy calls one of them Fluffy and the other, (who is slightly smaller, but you can only see that when they are together) Floofy.


Here is a picture of Fluffy:








And here (Mummy thinks) is a picture of Floofy:






Mummy calls this next kitty, who is one of the really shy ones, Brindle:








And this one - also one of the shyer kitties - is Ginger. We wonder why (mol).





Now, here is a kitty that has turned up recently and Mummy isn't sure what name to give him or her. She is considering Rainbow, because of the many colours, but somehow, that doesn't sound like a furry kitty-like name. What do you think? Has anyone got any suggestions?




Mummy has promised to try to take more pictures in future, so We can introduce the other Homeless Kitties to you.
In the meantime, pawpats and kitty kissies to you all.


Trixie, Caspurr and Shimshi