Caspurr's Summer Tummy: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo again, Effurryone!

As you will, no doubt, have guessed, it is I - The Courageous Sir Caspurr the Caspicacious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces, King of the Tigger-Tabbies, repurresenting 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 Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by those Delightful, Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Unlike some kitties, who make a big to-do of it if their humans wake them up to take a selfie, I am always happy to pose for Mummy.

We made some really nice artifications this week, using some of Our favourite LunaPic filters.

We also discovered a new filter - Hunger - and since I was feeling a little peckish at the time, it seemed an ideal choice (mol):

As you know, Mummy loves mixing and matching filters, so she tried adding an overlay of Landscape at 65% to the above:

It makes my eyes look somewhat less pink than they do in the furrst artification attempt, and the whole thing looks more like an oil painting.

Mummy's favourite was actually this last one, using the Dark Art effect at 60%, overlaid with Watercolor2 at 30%.  What do you think of it?

As you may have heard,  My Pawtrait is furry much in demand all over the world and We came to arrangements with not one, but TWO art galleries to display these valuable Works of Art:

So here are the blog hop badges:

          

Now, as to what's happening with the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus - the number of confirmed cases over the past 7 days is 67,361. That's according to the Ministry of Health Dashboard, according to whom, that is 42% higher than in the preceding 7 days. The Dashboard also tells us that 16 people have died of the disease in the past 7 days, which is 11.1% less than in the preceding week. However, according to the dashboard, despite the rapidly rising  numbers of people contracting the disease, the Transmission Rate, which ten days ago stood at 1.37, continues to fall and now stands at 1.22. That means the disease is still spreading, but less and less - and that's without any special restrictive measures.

Mummy does not know what to make of all this, so all She (and We) will say on the matter is, continue to take all necessary precautions.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

On the Cusp of Summer: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Trixie

Hallo again, Effurrybody!

As you can see, it is ME, Queen Trixie the Black Panfur, Furrst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, Guardian of the Boudoir, Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, here 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 those Deliciously Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet (not forgotting their Dad Tom, to whom We wish Happy Father's Day).

I was having a lovely snooze when Mummy thoughtlessly woke Me up to take My Selfie. For some reason, She thinks photos of kitties who have just woken up are purrticularly cute. 

We have all been snoozing quite a lot these days. It's the best thing for a kitty to do when it's hot - and believe you Me, on the cusp of the Summer Solstice, it is hot, and getting hotter! Mummy also finds herself dozing off more than in winter - which means She doesn't always jump to it when We express a wish for food, or to be petted, or played with. She has also been spending more time out than She should, because She was busy with her Caterwauling Club and their extra-long pre-concert rehearsals. Well, at least last week's concert is now out of the way. You can read about it and hear a couple of extracts in Mummy's Own Blog.

Now, as to Our Caturday Art, We combined the effects available on two of Our Favourite websites. Furrst, We artified the pawtrait using LunaPic's Candy filter at 77%. Then, with the help of PhotoFunia, We hung the finished picture in the Melbourne Gallery.

Here is the final result:

Before We set out to visit Our Furriends, We want to correct a Major Mistake We Mummy made last week, in identifying the pawcelain Dollies who photo-bombed Our Ussie, as Arabella and Laura. In fact, the blondie is Dorothea, not Arabella. And the brunette is Laura, named after Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Purry!

Now We shall put up the blog hop badges. Here they are:

                                                

 

Last, but by no means least, since it appears the Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus has not left Us, after all, We think it impawtant to remind you - and your Humans - to continue taking all necessary precautions. 

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

In the Beginning: Remembering Minxie (June 1980 - 12th June 1995)

Greetings once more, Effurrybody!

You are purr-obably wondering why We are posting twice in one week, on consecutive days.

Wonder no more. Today, 14th Sivan, is the day, according to the Hebrew calendar, that Mummy's furry furrst furbaby, beautiful, loving, precious Minxie, flew away to the Rainbow Bridge.

That was on the 12th of June, 1995, according to the Civil Calendar, but being Mewish kitties, naturally We commemorate such events (Yahrzeit) in accordance with the Hebrew calendar.

Mummy wasn't sure of the exact date of Minxie's birthday, but based on her approximate age of about five or six weeks when she and Mummy gotcha'ed each other, it was probably about mid-June 1980, and so she and Mummy used to celebrate her birthday on June 15th.

Minxie was an Only Furbaby when she lived with Mummy. In those days, Mummy was working full-time, long, long days - and when She arrived home in the evening, She would call out to Minxie from the back entrance to the apawtment block, where the car park was, and Minxie would run to the window and meow to her. And then, she would run to the front door and be waiting to frisk around Mummy's ankles when She walked inside.

Minxie had absolute trust in Mummy and they loved each other furry much. Minxie's favourite place for snoozing was lying on Mummy's chest. When they went to sleep at night, Minxie would snuggle up in Mummy's armpit, with her head on Mummy's shoulder.

Of course, all this was in the days before there were blogs, before digital cameras, before Mummy even had a computer.

But She did have a fairly good (non-digital) camera and so here are some pictures of Minxie which She has scanned into the computer, so you can get some idea of how beautiful Minxie was:

As We mentioned earlier, Mummy had neffur had a furbaby before She met Minxie - and She purr-obably made a lot of mistakes with her diet, veterinary care and so on. Still, Minxie had a good and mostly healthy life for almost fifteen years, before Mummy discovered the lump in her tummy that turned out to be an Evil Cancer. Minxie had an opurration to remove the tumour, but it had already spread and the v-e-t could not get all of the cancer out. Minxie was hardly eating and she was fading away before Mummy's eyes. Mummy saw how Minxie was suffering and, although her own heart was breaking into a million pieces, She did the right thing for Minxie and helped her to cross the Rainbow Bridge, just three days before what would have been her 15th Birthday celebration.

Having lived with a kitty for 15 years, Mummy knew She could neffur go back to being without one, and so Angel Minxie sent Possum and Pixie to her. When their turn came to depart for the Rainbow Bridge, they sent Us.

And the rest is history.

That is the True Story of how Mummy became a Crazy Cat Lady!

So you see, Dear Furriends - We owe it all to Angel Minxie. Thanks to her, Mummy, who had neffur even dreamt of having a furbaby, came to realise the Magic of Living with a Kitty, and by the time Angel Minxie had to leave for the Bridge, Mummy understood Her Destiny - to be a Cat Mummy, always and effur.

Thank you, Angel Minxie - for effurrything.

Our Epic Sunday Ussie And Caturday Art

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Can you guess what We have prepurred for you today?
We bet you can't! It's so absolutely PAWSOME, you'll neffur guess!

Will you take a look at this?

Isn't this just the Most Epic Ussie you effur saw?!

All three of Us, zonked out from the heat, on the bed, side by side! And two of Our Pawcelain Dolly Sisters, just for Good Measure. Say hallo to Miss Arabella and Miss Laura.

This is the picture that will be repurresenting Us 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 Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their  HuMom, Janet.

In Our Humble Opinion, the picture is purr-fect just as it is for a Sunday Selfie Ussie. However, We tried two different effects for Our Caturday Art and We are curious (as only cats can be - MOL) to know which you pre-furr.

For this one, We used LunaPic's Dawn effect:

And for this one, We used the Mosaic2 effect at 80%:

We don't have much time today, as Mummy is furry busy, and We want to spend as much of it as pawssible visiting Our Furriends, so instead of writing all about what We've been doing since last week (not much! It's been too hot!), or about the rising Evil Mutant Ninja Coronavirus statistics, We  have, instead, made a couple of jigsaw puzzles for you. Have fun. 

98Ussie Dawn

98UssieMosaic2 at80pc

Here are the blog hop badges.

                            

And now it's time to blog hop, and visit as many of you as We can! If We can't manage today, look for Us later in the week!

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Shimshi's Shavuot Caturday Art and Sunday Selfie

Hallo there, Effurrybuddies!

The Mighty Shimshon here (Shimshi for short), aka The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard.

As my brofur Caspurr told you last week, today is the Mewish festival of Shavuot, and We had to help Mummy prepurr, because She always has her (Human) Family round for a dairy buffet lunch on Shavuot. She made lots and lots of yummy food, including salmon, and cheesecake - but We had Our own Shavuot Picnic up in the Enchanted Forest with Our Own Furriends, so We have been furry busy ALL DAY.

That is why We are posting so late. We usually post in the early afternoon, but We have been so busy, it is only now that We are free to post.

As usual, We are taking part in 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 those delightfully Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

It's already evening, so, without further ado, here is My Selfie:

For Our Caturday Art, We decided to do something a bit different this week, as it is Shavuot. Instead of using one of the LunaPic filters, Mummy decided to see how I look as a Playing Card:

And then - as a Postage Stamp:

And finally, as a Gold Coin:

All of these were created with the help of PhotoFunia. Which do you like best?

Now, it is time to put up the bloggie hop badges:

                

And finally, let's start blog hopping!  We have a lot of time to make up!

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Caspurr's Caturday Art and Sunday Selfie For Jerusalem Day

Hallo there, Effurryone!

Guess who is your host this week, for the J-Cats' Jerusalem Day Special!

That's right! It's Me, Sir Caspurr the Courageous, the Caspicacious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle-Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces, King of the Tigger-Tabbies!  Was it my Sweet Little Pink Tongue that gave Me away?

Jerusalem Day is a furry Special Day for Us J-Cats, being the 55th Annifurrsary of the Liberation and Reunification of Jerusalem in the Six Day War, which took place many, many years ago, before We, or any of the J-Cats who went before, were even born. See Mummy's own blog on the subject. It is impawtant for Us as J-Cats, because Our Furry Name connects Us to this City. J-Cats stands for Jerusalem Cats! You didn't know that, did you?

So, as I said, it is My Turn to repurresent the J-Cats for this weekend's 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 Our Dear Furriends, the Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

You may wonder why I am napping in this selfie, when I should be out celebrating. Wonder no more! It is quite simple. I really, really need to rest and conserve My Energy for this afternoon's Jerusalem Day Picnic and Barbecue, up in the Enchanted Forest, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, which starts at 5:30 pm Israel time today and which will go on late into the night - and to which, of course, you are all invited. The co-ordinates have already been sent to your Transportation Devices, but if anyone needs a lift by Magic Carpet, just say the Word.
Come on - you didn't think We would pass over the oppurrtunity for a pawty, did you???  Seriously? When did We effur?!

For Our Caturday Art, We have two furry similar, but not identical, creations.
The furrst uses LunaPic's Stained Glass filter, with an Israeli flag frame:

The second uses their furry similar Art Nouveau filter, at 85%, but in this case, we extended the filter to the flag frame:

Which do you prefurr?

Now, before I forget, I must add the blog hop badges:

              

For those of you who like Advance Warning - next Sunday is Shavuot (Pentecost) and We may have to help Mummy host a family lunch, so it's pawsible We'll be a day late in posting. However, We will also be having Our Own Picnic later in the day (also up in the Enchanted Forest, of course - and again in the late afternoon), so Save the Date.  This is Pawty Season, and We know you wouldn't like to miss anything (mol).

Okay, dear Furriends. It's time to start blog-hopping!

Be safe. Be well. We love you all.

We Were Abandoned! - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody!

It with the Greatest Indignation that I, Queen Trixie, Furrst of My Name, Empurress of Jerusalem, Israel and the Entire Middle East, Queen of Hearts, Guardian of the Boudoir and Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, have to inform you all that Mummy abandoned Us for an entire Weekend! 

Yes, it's True, Kitties! Incredible as it may seem, she and her brovver went off to the seaside resort of Netanya on Furriday afternoon and didn't come back till Saturday night! She did leave Us plenty of food and water but that's not the point! She deserted Us for a Whole Day and a Half, for no better reason than to celebrate with her newlywed nephew and his bride, their furrst Shabbat as a Married Couple. There was feasting and singing and the reciting of Sheva Brachot (the Seven Wedding Blessings), and Mummy's nephew, as a Bridegroom, was called up to the Reading of the Torah on Shabbat - and We were forgotten. We had to make do with dry kibble, instead of Fancy Feast, while She was stuffing herself with all manner of goodies!

She didn't even bring Us a kitty bag!

It isn't fair!

However, We aren't going to be too hard on her, because She is furry sad today. Her brovver,  Uncle D., who has been staying with Us for the past five weeks, is flying back to England at 5 am tomorrow morning and will purrobably not be back for another visit for at least six months. We think - We hope - that during the time he was with Us, We have almost succeeded in completing his Transformation into a Cat Purrson. We just hope there won't be any Relapse when he returns to England. Otherwise, We shall have to start all over again when he next visits! We hope he can find a kitty to love once he gets back to London. Reinforcement Training is so furry impawtant, as you know.

Now, kitties, it is time for Me to lead my fursibs 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 Deliciously Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Here is My Selfie:

And here are three different artified versions, all  created with LunaPic.

Furrst up, a creation which uses the Frida Art filter at 73%:

Our next attempt was created using the Jungle Effect, at 80%. Being a panfur, the jungle is My Natural Home (mol):

Finally, We tried the Redblush Effect, at 85%:

Ah, decisions, decisions... So hard to choose which is best!

Let Us know in the Comments section below which is Your Favourite.

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

                                

It is time for Us to go now. We have so many furriends to visit.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.