Appreciating Black Cats: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody! Isn't this cool? It just happens to be MY Turn 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 - and it falls pat on Black Cat Appreciation Day!

Furrst of all, however, I want to thank effurrybody for their birthday greetings last week. We had a lovely picnic and barbecue up in the Enchanted Forest - and this afternoon, in honour of this Special Day, We shall be having another one, at 6pm, Israel time.

But before We do any of that, We want to take a few minutes to remember a Sweet Ginger Kitty, who, sadly, was called to the Rainbow Bridge on Friday - Opie, from It's A Wonderpurr Life, whom We knew mostly from Fursbook. Many of you will have known him and his fursibs, Dori, Rabbit and the others, as well as  his pawrents, Kimberley and Ray. Opie had what Mummy's Grandma used to call "a Good Innings". He was 18 when he received his Angel Wings, but it is neffur, effur long enough for those of Us who are left grieving on this earth, is it?

We know Opie and his Earthly Family will meet again, some day - just as We will all be re-united, in the fullness of days, with those We have loved and who have loved Us - but that doesn't take away the pain We feel right now. All We can do is hug Our Loved Ones, hold them close and enjoy the Precious Moments that are given to Us, before it is too late.

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And now that Mummy has pulled herself together again and wiped her Leaky Eyes and can see propurrly, We can get on with the blog hops - because that is an impawtant part of enjoying those Precious Moments We spoke about, especially when Oceans lie between Us.

So, as I said, today is Black Cat Appreciation Day - and I, as you know, am a Panfur Princess, as well as being Queen-Empurress of the Entire Middle East and all that. Black kitties are often discriminated against, because of some Silly Superstitions some humans have about Us bringing Bad Luck. That is, of course, Utter Nonsense.  In many Asian countries, such as Japan and China, black cats are considered to bring Good Luck and Prosperity! Besides which - We are BEAUTIFUL!

So, here are three of My Best Selfies from the past week, all of which were framed and artified with LunaPic.

In this furrst one, I was still pretty much zonked-out from the heat. I am happy to say that as of yesterday, tempurratures are more or less back to normal - 30 degrees Celsius, which is about right for August, and a considerable improvement from last week's 41 degrees!

And here is the same picture, artified with the Dark effect, at 73%.

The next selfie shows Me in My Tunnel. This one suffered from all the difficulties inherent in photographing a Black Cat against a dark background, but at least you can see My Eyes clearly. Mummy says they are one of My Most Beautiful Features (of many)!

And here is the artified version, using a combination of Beauty, at 55% and Sketch2 at 17%.

Finally, here I am on the coffee table. In this one, you get to see two of Me, as I am reflected in the glass.

We kept the artification quite simple here, with the Skeletor filter at a mere 21%.

Next, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Before We go, We would just like to note that Mummy posted a new article on her own blog last Thursday, for those who are interested.

Oh - and We just had another Missile Alert!

15 minutes later: All Clear!

Now, it is time to start hopping. We hope to see you all again next week, COD willing - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Too Hot To Be Legal: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Shimshi

Hallo again, Effurrybuddies!

It is Me again, the Mighty Shimshi, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs (and all the other Titles, which I am too tired to repeat). I haven't actually been getting up to many Mischiefs these past few days, because the Extreme Heat is making Us all so furry sleepy, I have no Energy for Mischiefs or anything else!

Yes, We are facing another Extreme Heatwave. At the moment, it's 36 degrees Celsius in Jerusalem, with a Real Feel of 38. And We are only at the beginning of what is going to be a whole week of Extreme Tempurratures, going up to 41 degrees on Wednesday. That's only in Jerusalem. We heard that in Eilat, where one of Mummy's nieces lives, it is currently 44 or 45 degrees and that they are looking at tempurratures approaching 50 degrees Celsius (!!!) later in the week.

Can you believe it? We think there ought to be a Law against that kind of Heat! It should NOT be allowed!
And that's not just here in Israel, by the way. In London, where Uncle D. lives,  they are also expecting a week of really hot weather - well, hot for England, anyway, although the 32 degrees Celsius they are expecting would be a Welcome Relief from what We've got here!

Anyway, the Enervating Heat is the reason that despite her (sort-of) Promise, Mummy just didn't feel up to writing her own bloggie last week. She started - but She just couldn't finish. The Heat made her head all Fuzzy - that is to say, even fuzzier than usual (mol) - and She really couldn't think straight. It's always so much harder to summon up the Energy to write about Horrible Things that make her Angry, than it is to write about Happy Things - such as Trixie's 13th Birthday which falls this coming Tuesday, August 12th. We are going to have a Picnic to celebrate, of course, up in the Enchanted Forest, where the weather conditions are always ideal (that's part of the Enchantment). It will be at 6pm Israel time and, as always, you are all invited. You already have the Coordinates in your Teleporting Devices, don't you? But if you are new here, just let Us know and We will send them directly to the Control Panels of your Tunnels, Flying Carpets, Egg Whisks or Whatever.

Now it's time for Us 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 Deliciously and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

As is Our Time-Honoured Custom, We have chosen three Selfies. All of these were framed and artified with the help of LunaPic.

Furrst of all, here I am in the company of one of My pawsselain dolly sisters, Miss Dorothea:

You can see her in the background, can't you? I had just been telling her some of My Ideas for Trixie's Birthday Pawty when Mummy came and reminded Me it was time to take some Selfies.

We artified this with the Courtisane filter at 67%:

Next up - a picture of Me all relaxed and - dare I say it? - looking quite Princely.

For the artification here, We used Dawn at 85%:

In my third and final picture of the day, you can see the effect the Heat is having. I was completely Zonked Out!

For the artsy-fartsy version, We used the Beauty filter, set to 42%:

Well, what do you think? Which is Your Favourite? Let Us know in the Comments Section below?


Next, We shall put up the blog hop badges:

        

And that's it for now, dear Furriends, but We shall see you again next week, COD  willing - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Roll Out Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Caspurr

Greetings, Effurryone!

Caspurr the Snuggle-Bug here. You all know My Titles by now, so I won't weary you with the whole list of them (mol).

This week, it is My Turn to lead My Fellow J-Cats on the 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 the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

As We so often do, We have picked out three of the best of My Recent Selfies and artified them with frames and filters from LunaPics. Here is the furrst. Don't ask Me if I was roaring or yawning. I can't pawssibly remember!

We created a nice, artsy-fartsy version by combining Edtaonisi at 32% with Tattoo, at 28%:

Coming up next, here I am relaxing on the lovely cool floor. Just see how beautifully My Tail curls in the air!

We artified this one with a single filter - Frida, at 54%.

I like the way it makes Me look as if I am basking in a halo of Light, don't you?

Finally, here I am enjoying a Sunpuddle in the Guest Kitty Room. Mummy and I really like the way the velvet cushions, one silver and one gold, show up not only My Furs, but also, the colours of the sofa.

And here it is after We finished artifying it, with Dawn at 46%, and a light overlay of Pen at 10%.

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

In other news, Mummy is fasting today because it is Tisha b'Av - the 9th of Av, when We commemorate the Destruction of both the Furrst and Second Temples and the start of the long Exile of the Mewish People. She hasn't always fasted on Tisha b'Av, but She is doing so now, especially in light of the knowledge that the Israeli hostages in Gaza are being deliberately starved by the Evil Hamas Terrorists, while at the same time, tons of "humanitarian aid" is being delivered there by Israel and other countries, but is being stolen by the Evil Hamas Terrorists, and everyone is telling lies about Israel and claiming that Israel is starving the people of Gaza. Mummy says that is a Blood Libel. You can see the Gazans aren't starving because in the Fake Pictures of supposedly starving children (who turn out to have genetic muscle-wasting diseases), their parents and siblings seem purr-fectly well-fed. No doubt Mummy will write more about this in her own blog in the coming days, with links to the relevant sources and pictures, so you can judge for yourselves.

In case you were wondering - kitties don't have to fast. In fact, We are just about to remind Mummy that it's time for Our Lunch.

And that, Dear Anipals, means it is time for Us to go. We will see you again, COD willing, next week - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel. Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Tropical Heat With Trixie

Greetings, Effurrybody!

Once again, I, Queen Trixie, Furrst of My Name etc. etc., have the honour to repurresent the J-Cats 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 the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

I chose two selfies this week, which Mummy then helped Me to frame and artify over at LunaPic. Furrst of all, here you can see Me lying under the coffee table next to what used to be (well, actually, it still is) My Favourite Basket, but which Shimshi re-designed with his sharp little teeth when he was still just a Baby Mancat.

We used a couple of filters which We haven't seen before to make this furry colourful and artsy-fartsy adaptation - Vangogh5 at 80%, followed by Gauguin3 at 35%:

In this second selfie, I am poised in a furry dignified, Sphinx-like position, clearly waiting for something - I know not what:

We artified this one with a combination of Leather, at 72%, and one of My favourites, the Dark filter, at 25%:

But that's not all. Mummy took both artifications over to PhotoFunia, and framed them, in heart-shaped frames, symbolic of how much She and I love each other. Isn't this purrty?

Do let Us know what you think of them, in the Comments section below.

Now, in Other News - it is (still) furry, furry hot. I suppose that isn't really News. Many of you, in North America and in Europe, also seem to be expurriencing Extreme Weather Conditions at the moment. Today, tempurratures are set to peak in Jerusalem at 37 degrees Celsius. In Eilat, it will reach 42 C. Tomorrow the tempurratures are expected to drop effur so slightly, but they will still fall into the category of Extreme Weather Conditions. After that, they will continue to drop bit by bit, till next weekend, when they should be round about 30 C, which is more or less normal for this time of the year. No - no chance of rain. The only storms We are likely to see are Sandstorms!

That reminds Us, We expect you'll want to know about the Boomies Situation. Well, the Evil Humans in Yemen are still shooting ballistic missiles at Us effurry now and again. The last one Mummy remembers was on Friday evening, but it was intercepted high up in the atmosphere before it even reached Israeli airspace and in Jerusalem, at least, the sirens weren't activated. That's what usually happens. In fact, sometimes, when this happens during the night, Mummy sleeps right through it and only finds out about it when She checks the app on her phone the following morning. 

Oh, one more thing! We nearly fur-got to mention that Mummy kept her purromise to post about her Caterwauling Club's last concert of the season. You can find it on her own bloggie.

Okay, dear Furriends. It's time to put up the blog hop badges. Here they are:

        

That's all for now. See you again next week, COD willing - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel ;-)

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

Caturday Art and Guest Selfies with Callicallou and Melba

Greetings, Effurrybody!

This week, We J-Cats are taking some time off and instead, We are going to let Our Outside Cousins, Callicallou and Melba, whom We are sure you all remember furry well, star 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 and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

 

They have both made themselves completely at home on Mummy's entrance porch, and have even requisitioned some of the empty flowerpots to use as beds - as you can see from this beautiful selfie of Callicallou:

It came out slightly blurry, but Mummy thought that wouldn't matter so much once She artified it, which She did with BeFunky's Graphic Novel GFX filter:

Then it was Melba's turn:

Melba is little camera-shy, actually. Anyway, this one was artified with another BeFunky filter - Mosaic2:

The frames, as always, were created by Mummy using LunaPic.

And now for a Two-fur! What do you think? Is Callicallou hiding from Melba, or is Melba hiding from Callicallou?

For this, Mummy returned to LunaPic and used their Adventure effect (which She doesn't think She has used before) at 43%:

As for Us, We are looking forward to a lot more snuggle time with Mummy over the next few weeks, as her Caterwauling Club is now in recess till September. Last week, they had a very successful end to the 2024/25 season, with a concert of Meowpolitan Mewsic. Mummy will probably write about that and other Mewsical Matters in her own bloggie later this week, and might even have some short video-clips from the concert to share with you.

Now, here are the blog hop badges:

        

Well, that seems to be it for now. We will be back again next week, COD willing - same Cat Time, same Cat channel.  Till then, be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies with Shimshi

Greetings, Effurrybuddies!

Yes, it's Me again - The Mighty Shimshon (Shimshi for short), Furrst of My Name, The Little Purrince, aka The Baby Mancat, Master of the Queen's Mischiefs and Captain of the Guard.  It is once again My Turn 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 those Delightfully and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

We have chosen no less than THREE pawtraits of Me this week, all of which have been artified using BeFunky, and framed by LunaPic.

Here is the furrst one, where I am draped artistically over two chairs, with a single dangly paw in front, and my Tail just visible behind one of the chairs:

The artification here was created with the Vector Pop GFX filter:

Mummy and I like this one, because it emphasises My Eyes (and Ears too, come to think of it)!

In this next picture, I am awaiting an impawtant telephone call from - ah, well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?  You are welcome to try and guess though!

Mummy and I are furry pleased indeed with the artified version, which uses the Impressionist GFX filter:

Finally, here I am stretched out on the stone floor tiles of the corridor, trying to keep cool, but almost climbing the walls it was so hot!

We made an exquisitely artsy-fartsy version of this, using the Pointillism1 filter, set to about 55%. It kind of reminds Us of LunaPic's Delaunay filter, don't you think?

Next, here are the blog hop badges:

        

We are quite late with Our Post today, because Mummy was out all meowning at the General Rehearsal for her Caterwauling Club's concert tomorrow, with the soloists and orchestra. On the plus side, that means She gets to stay home this evening with Us. Howeffur, She is furry tired, so She still needs to have her Afternoon Nap Siesta. That being the case, We will sign off now but not before reminding you that We will be back next Sunday, COD willing. Till then - be well. Be safe. We love you all.

Curled Up with Caspurr: Caturday Art and Sunday Selfies

Greetings, Effurryone!

Today, I, Sir Caspurr the Courageous, the Caspicatious, Furrst of My Name, the Snuggle-Bug, Commander-in-Chief of the Impurrial Forces, and King of the Tigger-Tabbies, am 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 (who is today celebrating her birthday! Happy Birthday, Marie!) and the Sunday Snoozies Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Delightful and Predictably Unpredictable Kitties Blue and their HuMom, Janet.

So, here is My Selfie:

The heat was making Me furry sleepy, but I consented to open My Eyes long enough to take My Selfie. Noblesse oblige, after all (mol).

We made three furry different artifications of this picture. Furrst of all, We used BeFunky's Vector Painting effect with a frame from LunaPic:

Next, still with LunaPic, We tried the Delaunay filter at 80%:

Finally, We used one of PhotoFunia's Classic Frames and turned the photo into a painting on canvas:

And here are the blog hop badges:

        

We don't, in any case have a great deal to report this week, except to say that SuperPharm did not replace the damaged goods (see last week's post) but merely credited Mummy with their cost and offered her a 25 NIS voucher as "compensation" (assuming Mummy wants to use their stupid website again!) -  but since Mummy has a Caterwauling Purractice this evening and is appearing in a concert tomorrow, We shall cut this short now, so as to have more time for hopping over to visit Our Furriends, before Mummy has to take a Siesta (that's just a fancy word for a Nap - mol).

See you next week, COD willing - same Cat Time, same Cat Channel.

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