Caspurr's Scorching Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!

What can I say? It's HOT!!! 
It's the kind of weather in which no Cat with a grain of sense would go anywhere near a Tin Roof. The kind of weather in which it would be a CRIME to do anything but SNOOZE! As I, Sir Caspurr the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Guard and King of the Tigger Tabbies, am doing here:

Well, actually, I can't go to sleep just yet, because I have a furry impawtant job to do today.

Can you guess what it is?

You are quite right! It is My Turn to lead my fellow J-Cats on this weekend's blog hops - the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the Eternally Wise and Beautiful Athena and her HuMum, Marie, and the Sunday Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Always Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.


We chose two selfies this week, and made two different artsy-fartsy versions of each. 

For no. 1, We used LunaPic's Shattered Effect at 35% and then added Ceremony at 50%:

The second artification used Escher at 46%, with an overlay of Beauty at 41% (also from LunaPic).

Note that this pawtrait showcases three of My Best Features - Tongue, Toes and Tummy!

Now for Selfie no. 2.  In this one, I had retired to the bedroom, in anticipation of Mummy joining Me there for Her Own Afternoon Nap.

Here, too, We were assisted by the Gremlins at LunaPic (mol). See this beautiful artification, using their Dark filter (71%), with a Monochrome overlay (31%) - furry dramatic, We think!

Finally, We combined the Starry2 effect at 52%, with Smoke at 28%.

Do tell Us, in the Comments section below, which is your Favourite!

Now, as We mentioned last week, Mummy's Caterwauling Club gave a concert on Fursday.  She will most likely write all about it in her Own Bloggie either tomorrow or later on in the week. She did tell Us that it was unbearably hot in the Old City church where the concert was held. They don't seem to have installed Air Conditioning there, and they had to make do with strategically placed electric fans. Mummy thinks it was worse for the audience, because we had commandeered all the available fans for the use of the choir.
Anyway, that concert marked the end of the 2023/24 season, so Mummy doesn't have a rehearsal tonight and can stay home and caterwaul for Us, instead!

Now, it is time to start blog-hopping. Here are the blog hop badges:

        

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

Be well.  Be safe.  We love you all.

A Trio of Trixies: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurrybody!

We are back to Our regular routine of taking turns at leading 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 Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

I, 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, Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, have chosen three of my Most Successful Selfies and, with the help of My Human, have artified each of them with a different and Unique Blend of filters from LunaPic.

As you can tell from all of these pictures, I have had to search for new and cooler places to recline, as it has been much too hot to lie in my usual sun-puddles on the sofa and the bed.

Furrst of all, I tried the old gramophone. It's true that the top is made of purr-spex, which can get furry hot, but since it was in the shade, it was just fine.

We artified this with the Harsh Lighting filter at 72%, overlaid with Nouveau at 41%.

I am not too sure about this filter, to be honest (as I always am), but I found the gramophone top quite comfortable, and was happy to roar out My Pleasure.

I like to let My Subjects Staff know when I am pleased. After all, it costs Me nothing and it makes them feel Good (mol).

We artified this with a combination of Beauty at 40% and Grey, at 35%.

Finally, here is one of Me trying out the old DVD.  It was comfortable enough,  though I don't know why Mummy keeps it there when We have a newer one that actually works (mol).

I think this is My Purrsonal Favourite - both the original and the artification, for which We used Landscape at 70%, followed by Watercolour at 45%.

Furriends, Mummy needs to go and rest now, because this evening, She and her caterwauling friends have their final rehearsal before their concert on Thursday night.

So - here are the blog hop badges:

        

See you all next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel!

Till then - Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

How It All Got Started: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Angel Minxie

Greetings, Effurryone!

Furrst of all, thank you to all those who joined Us up in the Enchanted Forest for Our Shavuot Banquet last week.

And thank you, Mummy, for saving some salmon from your Own Buffet Lunch for Us!

What We did not tell you was that last Wednesday, Shavuot, was also the Bridge Day of Mummy's Furry Furrst Kitty, the legendary Minxie, Queen of Cats.
Minxie was a beautiful little tabby girl, who used to sleep at night curled up in Mummy's armpit, with her chinny-chin-chin resting on Mummy's shoulder. Alas, Minxie left this earth far too soon, when she was called to the Rainbow Bridge on June 12th 1995 - just three days short of what would have been her 15th birthday celebration. An Evil Cancer took her away from Mummy, after she had bravely endured a couple of unsuccessful opurrations to remove all the tumours, leaving Mummy heartbroken.

This is a picture of Minxie, taken on one of those ancient, pre-historic cameras that you had to put film in and then take to a special shop to have it developed. Mummy doesn't remember exactly when it was taken or how old Minxie was in this picture:

We have decided to honour Minxie's memory by making her Our Repurresentative 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 Delectable and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

We have made three different and highly Original Artifications of this picture, all with the help of LunaPic and their lovely filters and artsy-fartsy effects.

Furrst of all, We created this beautiful, colourful pawtrait, with Delaunay at 70%:

Mummy thinks it's no accident this has a strong Blue Vibe to it, albeit sub-conscious. We are all feeling furry Blue after the Bad News this weekend - such a contrast from last weekend - the deaths of 11 more soldiers. Not that the joy of the hostage rescue last week was completely unmingled with heartbreak (see Mummy's own blog). But this time, there was no Good News to mitigate the Bad.

Artification no. #2 used Surreal at 43% and Tuscany at 65% (Surreal with Tuscany is one of Mummy's favourite Combinations):

Finally, Minxie's Bravery and Beauty are purrfectly encapsulated in this final artification, using Brave at 75%, overlaid with Beauty at 40%:

And now, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Mummy is falling asleep at the keyboard because of the heat. It's been in the mid to upper 30s C for days now and although today is a degree or two lower, it's still exhausticatingly hot. WE are lying on the floor tiles, as that's cooler (hot air rises, after all. MOL).


Till next time then. 

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

The Good News Edition: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Shimshi

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Shimshi here - that is, the Mighty Shimshon, (Shimshi for short), a.k.a. The Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, the Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard!

In case you hadn't guessed, it is 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet. 

If you heard the news yesterday, about the heroic rescue of four Israeli hostages by the Israel Defence Forces, you will know why We called today's post "the Good News Edition". Mummy will purrobably blog about that on her own blog. Meanwhile, you might like to take a look at what She wrote last week, about Jerusalem Day, and listen to some of the mewsic.

We are sure it has not escaped your attention that We are in the middle of Pawty Season (mol) - and, sure enough, with Shavuot  (Pentecost) coming up the day after tomorrow (Tuesday evening through Wednesday), it is time for yet another  pawty. Mummy will be hosting her two-legged family at a buffet lunch on Wednesday, while We kitties will be having a Banquet on Tuesday evening, which will carry on all through the night, in the hopes that We will be awake at Midnight to see if The Legend is true. We think We have mentioned this before - the legend that at Midnight on the night of Shavuot, the Sky splits wide open for the infinitesimal fragment of a second, and if you are lucky, and have been a furry good kitty all year, you may catch a meowmentary glimpse of the Great Cat in the Sky, and all the Angel Kitties. If you should happen to be so blessed, you may wish for whateffur your heart desires, and it will be granted. We know what We will all be wishing for this year...

We will be having that banquet up in the Enchanted Forest, where We hold all Our celebrations - and We will be delighted, as always, if you care to join Us. We shall start at 8 pm Israel time.

And now, to the Business at Hand.

Mummy and I chose two selfies of Me, and artified each of them with two different artifications, courtesy of LunaPic.

Furrst of all, here I am at leisure in what used to be the Mewspaper Basket. That object which seems to be a pipe sticking out of My Tummy is, in fact, the remains of a roll of paper kitchen towels which I was playing with. And don't worry. It was not in my tummy. That's just the angle at which I was laying on it (mol). Please note, also, the swish of My Tail which, for the Un-initiated, makes it look as if part of My Tail is missing!

Our furrst artification uses the Edtaonisi effect at 54%:

The second makes use of Illusion, at 62%:

The second selfie shows Me, belly-up, displaying My Magnificent Tummy (which We know you all LOVE).

For this one, We chose the Psychedelic filter, at 60%:

Our final Artification used a mixture of Dark (37%) and Frida (19%):

And now, here are the blog hop badges:

        

That's all for this week then. Looking forward to seeing you at the Banquet.

Till then - Be Well. Be Safe. We love you all.

Lazy Days: Caturday Art And Sunday Selfies With Caspurr

Greetings, Effurryone!

After a few cool days towards the end of last week, the tempurratures are rising again. We are looking at temps in the upper-30s C over the next few days. Mummy has another one of her field trips tomorrow and it's going to be furry, furry hot (39 degrees C)!

We kitties, on the other hand, can allow ourselves the Luxury of staying home and stretching out on the cool floor, or in the shade under the bed. This time, We don't mind if Mummy pulls down the blinds!

Howeffur, We will exert Ourselves sufficiently to hold Our Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Liberation Day) picnic on Wednesday, June 5th. That is the day when We celebrate the Reunification of Jerusalem in the Six Day War, 57 years ago.  As usual, the picnic will take place in the Enchanted Forest, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. We hope you will join Us there - at 5pm in the afternoon, Israel Time. By that time of the day, it will be slightly cooler - but just in case it isn't, there will be plenty of cold drinks, and mice cream. We have just purrfected the recipe for a new flavour - Valerian mice cream!

And now for 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

I, Caspurr, the King of the Tigger Tabbies (to give the shortened form of My Title), will be leading the J-Cats on this week's blog hops. As so often happens, We had quite a job picking out ONLY three selfies - all of which We artified with the help of LunaPic. 

In this furrst one, Mummy had just woken Me up - or maybe I woke up by Myself. I can't remember really, and it doesn't really matter now, does it?

We artified  this with Picasso at 64%, followed by Beauty at 33%.

Next up, here is a snapshot of Me doing what any Feline would do, having been rudely and unexpectedly awakened.

Am I yawning or am I roaring? Can you guess? I had ample justification for either - or both!

Anyway, the artsy-fartsy version of this uses Fairy at 55%.

Finally, a Close-up of Me and My Raspy Little Pink Tongue (that's what Mummy calls it - mol).

And what do you think of the artified version, which uses Vangogh at 80%? It looks a bit as if I am wearing lipstick, doesn't it (mol)?

Next, it is time to put up the blog hop badges:

        

Now, don't forget the Picnic on Wednesday. We are looking forward to seeing you. We absolutely LOVE welcoming Our Furriends to Our Pawties and Picnics!

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

Lag B'Omer: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies With Queen Trixie

Greetings, Effurryone!

We are all exhausticated from last night's activities (mol). As you know, because We told you about it last week and many of you were there, last night We had a bonfire and barbecue, in honour of Lag b'Omer. Well, the thing is, Mummy also went to a Lag b'Omer celebration at the home of one of her caterwauling friends, in Nes Harim, which is a moshav in the Judaean foothills west of Jerusalem.  It seems they had lots and lots of good things to eat - though not really the sort of things we kitties care for. Mummy's friend, who runs a vegetarian catering service from her home, has a huge patio and an even bigger garden, and they built a bonfire and roasted potatoes and marshmallows and Mummy and her caterwauling friends brought homemade salads and vegetable pies and cakes and that sort of thing, and there was plenty to drink (Mummy especially liked the sangria, so it's a good thing She Herself wasn't driving). And when everybody had eaten and drunk their fill, they sat around the campfire singing, to the accompaniment of guitar and piano accordion, played by a couple of Mummy's other caterwauling friends. Anyway, She got home at what She describes as "an ungodly hour" - although We didn't really notice because We were busy with Our Own Festivities. And although She didn't get up till nearly 10 am, and had a couple of cups of coffee, She is still half asleep - which is why She is finding it so hard to take dictation now for Our Blog, and keeps making typos, which She then has to go back and correct (mol).

But it is Sunday, and there are blog hops to take part in - 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. 

So, without further ado, here are three beautiful selfies Mummy and I picked out and artified for your delectation.

Furrst of all, here I am, enjoying a lovely sunpuddle that landed on My Royal Bed - at least, I was, until Mummy drew down the blind halfway so the sun wouldn't spoil the pictures hanging on the walls:

Ah, well - three of my pawsselain Dolly Sisters still got to sunbathe for a bit longer.
Anyway, We artified this with a combination of two art effects from LunaPic - Watercolour at 55% and Daisies at 30%:

I think this looks furry artsy-fartsy indeed, purrhaps the most artsy-fartsy of the three.

Next, I found quite a nice sunpuddle in front of the panoramic window in the living room, as I settled myself down on the coffee table:

But would you believe it?! Mummy found the sun too hot, so She lowered the blinds there too!!!

At all events, We still managed to make quite a nice artification of this one also, using a mix of Renoir at 58%, overlaid with Beauty at 35%:

Finally, when I was starting to get a little annoyed by having My Sunpuddles constantly diminished, I showed Mummy My Displeasure - See Me Roar!

So Mummy cut things short and used only one filter on this final artification - Ceremony at 45% - which, in My Humble Expurrt Opinion, is, in fact, the best of the three:

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

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

        

And having done that - let's start hopping!

Till next time - Be well. Be safe. We love you all.

The Flower In My Garden: Caturday Art and Sunday Guest Selfie With Uncle Messi

Greetings, Effurryone!

It is time for the J-Cats to 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 Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMum, Janet.

This week, We have something Special for you. Since Friday was Step-Grandma's Birthday (she is also Shimshi's Godmother), Mummy and the rest of the family went round there for supper. Our woofie Uncle Messi was also there, of course - but he was a bit alarmed by all the people who were there and he sort of disappeared. Effurryone was searching for him all over the place, but there was no sign of him and Step-Grandma began to worry maybe he had slipped out of the house when the door was open so Auntie Y. could bring in all the food from the car. 

They looked on the patio, but still couldn't see Messi anywhere - until somebody caught a glimpse of him hiding amongst the plants in Step-Grandma's herbaceous border!

It took a lot of coaxing - plus a few Treats - but eventually, Messi was purr-suaded to come inside.  He looks a little bit sad, doesn't he - but don't be fooled. Step-Grandma said this is his usual "I see all the food you've got on the table there. I am a poor, starving doggie. Please feed Me" expression!  He's no fool, is Messi (mol). 

Mummy realised immediately that Messi had been chosen by Fate to star as a Guest  in the weekend blog hops. So, furrst of all, She prepurred  beautiful pawtriotic frames for the pictures. And then, She artified them, with the help of LunaPic.

This furrst one used the Dark artsy effect, at 45%:

                                                                                                                                   

For the second, She chose the Scribble effect, at 40%:

And in case you were wondering, the big, sad eyes worked like a charm and Messi got plenty of tidbits (unlike Us. Mummy brought home lots of food, but We haven't received ANY. Maybe She is saving it for Lag b'Omer).

Now for the blog hop badges:

 

Speaking of Lag b'Omer - of course We will be celebrating, as usual, with a bonfire and barbecue up in the Enchanted Forest, on Saturday night, from 8.30 pm - and We hope to see you all there. Pawty Season is well and truly underway!

And now, it's time to start hopping. We hope We manage to visit you all before Mummy turns off the computer and goes to lie down and rest. She has a FURRY, FURRY, busy week ahead. This evening, it is the General Rehearsal for her Caterwauling Club's Gala Concert, which takes place on Tuesday. It's a longer-than-usual rehearsal, and when She gets home from that, She has to prepurr effurrything She needs for her archaeology field trip tomorrow. And then, of course, on Tuesday is The Concert.  Mummy is going to be Totally Exhausticated!

Still, We will do the best We can to visit as many of you as pawssible.

Till next week then.

Be well. Be safe. We love you all.