Sunday, March 2, 2025

Was There Snow? Where Did It Go? Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Caspurr

Hallo again, Effurryone!

Here I am once more, 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. It falls to Me, today, 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 Delightfully and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

We picked out two selfies, and each one has been given a couple of artified versions, courtesy of LunaPic.

Furrst of all, Mummy could not resist sharing my raspy little pink tongue with you all:


















We artified this with a filter We haven't used much before - Woodsey, set to 63%:












We liked it so much, We decided to leave it at that and not add an overlay in another filter.  

Then, We did another version, again using a single filter - Courtisane, at 67%:












There was another picture which, although it might technically count as a Photo Fail, because the camera was facing the sunlight and that caused distortions, We liked because of the way those very distortions threw what looks like a halo of light around My Face:











That made the photo seem like a Prime Candidate for Artification, of which We made two. The furrst one used (appropriately enough) Sunshine at 63%, lightly washed with Delaunay, set to 25%:












The second one used Escher at 53%, overlaid with Nouveau at 30%:












Another reason We liked this second pawtrait is that, because of the camera angle, it makes Me look slimmer and my legs, longer.


Which is your favourite? Let Us know in the Comments section below.


And now to the Question you must all be dying to ask - what about the Snow we were purromised last week?

.

.

.

Didn't happen.


At least, Mummy met a couple of people who claimed to have seen some snowflakes, mingled with Sky-water.  And Mummy's sister sent her a Whatsapp message early last Monday morning, saying (and We quote):

"I took out my super-powerful magnifying glass and managed to see a snow-flake just before it hit the ground and melted."


But Mummy herself didn't see a single snowflake. Nothing. Rien. Nada. Nichts.

It was very cold, though, with the tempurratures dropping below zero at night, so that the water froze in the pipes and some of the solar boilers on the roof burst. That didn't happen to Us, however, because Mummy heeded the water company's advice and left a warm-water tap dripping all night long. If you do that, the water can't freeze because it's moving. Of course the water bill is a little higher, but by not nearly as much as it would cost to have to replace the pipes or the boiler.

And today is bright and sunny and considerably warmer than last week, which is Good News, because Mummy has another one of her field-trips tomorrow, up in the Golan Heights in the North.

Before signing off, We would like to wish effurrybody A Happy Dr. Seuss Day. 
This isn't really a thing here, although, growing up in an English-speaking country, off course Mummy read the Cat in the Hat books when She was a child. But if You, Our Furriends, celebrate it, then We hope you have a Great Time. Mummy did actually look for some Dr. Seuss clipart for the Caturday Art, but, to her utter Surprise and Consternation, couldn't find any - which She (and We) found rather odd.

Now, here are the blog hop badges:


        



We will try to visit as many of you as We can today (before Mummy lies down for her Sunday afternoon pre-Caterwauling Club nap) and those We don't get to today, look for Us later in the Week.


At all events, We will see you all (Great-Cat-in-the-Sky willing) next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Meanwhile, be well. Be safe. We love you all.




Sunday, February 23, 2025

Where Is The Snow? - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Hallo there, Effurryone!

This week, We were furry Co-operative and posed nicely in front of the radiator together, so 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 Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet - We are bringing you an Ussie!













You are purrobably asking yourselves what is that object on the floor in front of Us. Well, it's Mummy's Old Mattress. She bought a new one, out of Meowmory Foam. But She needs help getting the old spring mattress down the stairs and outside for the garbage collectors, so She is waiting for our Cleaning Lady, Ms. M., to come and help her. Meanwhile, as She is not so inclined to go out for her Daily Walk because of the weather, She has been using it as an exercise mat. And, of course, We kitties also like having another soft, bouncy surface to play on.

(The Truth is, it's also hard for her to say goodbye to an Object which has served her faithfully for over 35 years. Uncle D. says She has a Tendency to anthropomorphise Inanimate Objects -whateffur that may mean.)

We made three different artifications of this picture, all using the amazing filters and effects available from LunaPic. This furrst one uses Grey at 59% with just a hint of colour from Nouveau at 22%:












Next, We have this colourful piece, using one filter only - Candy at 43%:












And finally, in tribute to the predicted weather conditions, this one, in which We combined Sketch4 at 62% with Frost at 35% - and then added a Snowfall animation, for good measure:












To be quite honest, howeffur, We suspect that this animation is all the snow We are going to see. The weather forecast keeps changing and the likelihood of there actually being any snow in Jerusalem seems to be be receding with effurry hour. Having said that, Mummy just checked the weather forecast and now (contrary to what they said two hours ago), We are being told to expect snow showers around 7 to 8 am tomorrow (Monday) morning. Well - We'll believe it when We see it. What We can say with certainty is that it's furry, furry Cold - 5 degrees Celsius, with a Real Feel of just 1 degree, thanks to the Wind Chill Effect.

What it must be like for the remaining Israeli hostages still being held in the Hamas Terror Tunnels below ground in Gaza - the ones who are still alive - We dare not even try to imagine.


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Before We go, here are the blog hop badges:


        




We will see you all again next week, same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Meanwhile - be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Sunday, February 16, 2025

Wondering When It Will Be Spring: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody!

As you can see, this week, it is 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 and Alpha Kitty Extraordinaire, 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, hosted by the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

Before We get on to the art, We would like to say We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. We also hope that those of you who celebrated Tu b'Shvat, the New Year for Trees according to the Hebrew calendar (which fell the day before Valentine's Day), had a lovely day, ate lots of fruits and planted many trees. Tu b'Shvat falls when it is still quite cold and often rainy, but the almond trees which have come to symbolise the festival are already in blossom and you can feel that Spring is just around the corner.


********

We have chosen three selfies this week, and each one has been artified with one of the mewtiful effects from LunaPic.

In this furrst selfie, I am in my favourite half upside-down position, looking up at Mummy adoringly. (I was actually wondering if She was going to bring Me a treat, but We won't tell her that - MOL.)












The artsy-fartsy effect here was achieved with LunaPic's Dark filter, which is, as you already know, one of Our Favourites - set to 57%.












I like the way it emphasises My Eyes, don't you?


Next, here is a picture of Me in close-up.












I was enjoying a sun-puddle here. I often have to fight for sun-puddles because My Pesky Brofurs gang up and steal them from Me when I am enjoying them on the Bed. This time, however, I had the Last Laugh because I found a Bigger and Better Sun-puddle on the Living Room Sofa which I shared with Mummy.
Anyway, this picture was artified with the Flash Gordon filter at 67%.













This last selfie was taken just a few minutes later. Mummy and I think it's just purrfect because of the play of sun and shadow on My Furs. The panoramic window behind me faces south and the sun was shining quite strongly so Mummy let down the shutter about two-thirds of the way. See what a beautiful effect it has!












Mummy and I feared that any artification here might spoil the effect, but since We are supposed to produce something artistic for the Caturday Art blog hop, We decided on a minimal (24%) use of the K3 filter.

I quite like the result. How about you?












And now for the blog hop badges:


        


That's all for now. See you again next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel!

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



Sunday, February 9, 2025

Tongue, Tummy and Tail - Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Shimshi

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Today, I, the Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short), a.k.a. the Little Purrince, Furrst of My Name, a.k.a. the Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs, and Captain of the Guard, am honoured 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

All three selfies have been framed with the Israel flag and with a yellow inner frame - in Solidarity with the three Israeli hostages who were freed yesterday, in a dreadful, emaciated condition, having been tortured, deliberately starved and kept in tiny cages by the Evil Hamas Monsters (unlike the convicted terrorist Murderers whom Israel released in exchange, who were well-fed and slept in beds, in cells which conformed to the standards accepted in civilised western countries and who were regularly visited by their families and by the Red Cross). And in solidarity with the hostages still in captivity...

In this furrst picture, I am admiring myself in the mirror of Mummy's wall-to-wall closet - and I think We can all agree that there is a great deal to admire (although Mummy says I have lost some weight and can now be described as rotund rather than fat).














All the pictures were artified with Filters from LunaPic. For this one, We used Storytime at 68%, with a light overlay of Scribble at 28%:













For this next pawtrait, I actually posed for the camera:













The artsy-fartsy effect here was achieved using Daisies at 91%, followed by a considerable dose of Sadness at 45% (completely justified in view of what was done to the Israeli hostages and their families - some of whom were murdered, and the returning hostages are only now learning of their fate).














In this final shot, Mummy caught Me while I was making my Meowning Toilette. It came out a bit blurred but since you can see my raspy little Pink Tongue, as well as My Tummy and Tail, She decided to keep it and share it with you.













In the artified version, which uses the Dark effect at 58% with a Surreal overlay at 38%, the blurring is less obvious:













And here are the blog hop badges:


        


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In other news, Mummy finally got round to updating her own blog, so if you want to read about and see videoclips from her Caterwauling Club's last two concerts, as well as pictures from her last field-trip, that is the place to go. The field-trip which She was to take part in tomorrow, to which She alludes in that post, has been postponed till next week, because of the rainy, stormy weather expected this week. 

Well, that just about rounds things up for today. Mummy has to eat and shower and rest before this evening's Caterwauling Rehearsal, in which She and her fellow Caterwaulers will be receiving new material for their next concert, so We shall probably do most of our blog-hopping tomorrow (since Mummy won't, after all, be going out for the Day).

We'll be back next week then - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. 
Till then - be well. Be safe. We love you all.




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:


        


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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.

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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.