An Amazing World in My Eyes: November 2022

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Saint Andrew the Apostle

First Century

November 30—Feast

Liturgical Color: Red

Patron Saint of Scotland, Greece, fishermen, sailors, and spinsters

A big-hearted fisherman becomes a daring Apostle of the Lord

Andrew was a fisherman from Bethsaida in Northern Israel. He lived on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, which is really a lake, where many of Jesus’ miracles took place. Jesus chose mostly fishermen and small farmers to be His disciples, perhaps because in these professions a man can plan, sweat, and calculate, and still, in the end, fail. Success is not appreciated unless failure is an option. Farmers and fishermen must depend on God’s providence for success. No amount of preparation can make the clouds open and the rains pour down, and no amount of careful planning will make the nets burst with fish. Farmers and fishermen are hard-working, careful, thoughtful, and yet entirely dependent on the weather and other factors outside of their control. They must work, pray and trust in God in equal measure. They must have the discipline of faith. These are the qualities that made Andrew and others such great disciples.

Andrew was first a disciple of John the Baptist. Andrew was at John’s side when a man whom John had recently baptized walked by. “Look, here is the Lamb of God,” John exclaimed (Jn 1:36). Andrew was curious and, along with a few of John’s other disciples, followed the mysterious man. The next day Andrew breathlessly told his brother Simon “We have found the Messiah” (Jn 1:41) and brought him to Jesus, who renamed Simon as Peter. From that point forward, Andrew became one of Jesus’ most reliable Apostles, a leader among the Twelve whose name recurs time and again in the Gospels. There are various traditions about where Andrew evangelized after the Ascension of the Lord, with most focusing on Greece, Turkey, and north of the Black Sea. There are no certain facts about his manner of death, although various apocrypha state that he was tied to an x-shaped cross and then preached from that high pulpit for days until he died.

Saint Andrew sat at the table of the Last Supper, felt the hot breath of the Holy Spirit on his cheeks at Pentecost, saw the radiant body of the risen Lord with his own eyes, and endured physical hardships as he carried a new religion into old lands. We can suppose that he, like many of the Apostles, was content with his way of life before he met the Lord. Fishing on the tranquil waters of a lake, sharing daily meals with his extended family, chatting in the evenings with old friends before a fire. The Apostles did not abandon their lives to follow Jesus because their lives were miserable. It was a question of more. More meaning. More truth. More fulfillment. More challenge. More daring. There is nothing wrong with a good life, but there is something better about a great life.

The Apostles were mostly simple, intelligent, hardworking men whose outstanding characteristics were courage and daring. Many people who could have followed the Lord did not. The rich young man went away sad for he had many possessions. Perhaps the greatest thing that young man had was his youth. Andrew and Peter and John and Simon and all the others were young too. Yet they did not go away sad. They stayed, they followed, they were challenged, and they were contented. Andrew renounced his father, his boat, his nets, and all that was known and comfortable. He traded what was good for what was better. And for that generosity and daring we remember him today, so many centuries later. He was of that generation of pathbreakers who sowed the seeds whose harvests the Christians of today have reaped and enjoyed.

Monday, November 28, 2022

Saorge, France

A Frozen Geyser.

Magic skies

Your whole self

Saint Catherine Labouré

Catherine Labouré (May 2, 1806 – December 31, 1876) was a French member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and a Marian visionary. She is believed to have relayed the request from the Blessed Virgin Mary to create the famous Miraculous Medal of Our Lady of Graces worn by millions of people around the world. Labouré spent forty years caring for the aged and infirm. For this, she is called the patroness of seniors.

Ninth of eleven children born to a farm family, and from an early age Catherine felt a call to the religious life. Never learned to read or write. Forced to take over running the house at age eight after her mother died and her older sister joined the Sisters of Charity. Worked as a waitress in her uncle’s cafe in Paris, France. Upon entering a hospital run by the Sisters of Charity she received a vision in which Saint Vincent de Paul told her that God wanted her to work with the sick, and she later joined the Order, taking the name Catherine.

On 18 July 1830 she had a vision of Our Lady who described to her a medal which she wished struck. On one side it has the image of Our Lady, and the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”; on the other are the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Our Lady told Catherine that wearers of the medal would receive great graces, it has become known as the Miraculous Medal, and its wearing and devotion has spread worldwide. Miracles reported at her tomb.

Red panda

The red panda, also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail.

The night sky petunia

Garden Visit

Basic

Blue Dressing Room

Amalienborg Palace

Amalienborg is the home of the Danish royal family, and is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It consists of four identical classical palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard; in the centre of the square is a monumental equestrian statue of Amalienborg's founder, King Frederick V.

Amalienborg was originally built for four noble families; however, when Christiansborg Palace burned on 26 February 1794, the royal family bought the palaces and moved in. Over the years various monarchs and their families have resided in the four different palaces.

Rolls Royce

Louis Vuitton

Society isnt what it used to be.

Friday, November 25, 2022

Apples subjected to early frost

The Veiled Virgin

The Veiled Virgin. Carrara marble statue by Italian sculptor Giovanni Strazza (1818–1875). The veil gives the appearance of being translucent, but in fact is carved of marble.

Those you Love

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr

c. Late third–early fourth centuries

November 25—Optional Memorial

Liturgical Color: Red

Patron Saint of philosophers, apologists, and all who work with wheels

An obscure Egyptian wins the double crown of virgin-martyr

The armies of Alexander the Great swept south and east from Greece three hundred and thirty years before the infant Jesus ever gently swayed in His Mother’s arms. After Alexander conquered Egypt, he founded a new coastal city and crowned it after himself. Alexandria, Constantinople, Caesarea, Antioch, and numerous other foundations gratified the colossal egos of the mighty men who laid deep foundations and raised high walls to commemorate themselves and their patrons. How different from the Christian era and its venerable custom of naming places in honor of the Lord, Mary, and the Saints—San Francisco, Christchurch, El Salvador, Sao Paolo, Asunción, and on and on. Today’s saint—Catherine of Alexandria—appropriates Alexander’s name for Christianity, something beyond the imagining of that Greek pagan of old.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria was a virgin-martyr from the waning years of the persecuted Church in the early fourth century. Reliable documentation about her life may still lie undiscovered in a dusty codex whose heft is sagging a shelf in a neglected monastic library. Until such authentic corroboration of her life is brought to light, however, the total absence of verifiable facts make Catherine an enigmatic figure. Precisely due to this dearth of biographical information, Catherine’s feast day was removed from the Church’s universal calendar by Pope Saint Paul VI in 1969.

In 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land to properly commence the third millennium. Among the holy sites he visited was Mount Sinai, Egypt, on whose summit Moses received the tablets of the Ten Commandments. The Orthodox Monastery on Mount Sinai is named in honor of Saint Catherine, after a legend which holds that her relics were borne there by angels upon her martyrdom. The Orthodox Abbot of the monastery refused to pray with the Pope during his visit to Saint Catherine’s, regrettably. Among the unstated reasons for this rebuff may have been Catholicism’s suppression of Saint Catherine’s feast in 1969. So in 2002, Pope Saint John Paul II restored Catherine’s feast day, perhaps as an ecumenical gesture to the Orthodox.

Devotion to Saint Catherine began in the late first millennium among the Orthodox. Her cult migrated to the West with the crusading knights when they returned from the Holy Land in the twelfth century. Devotion to Saint Catherine exploded in popularity throughout the High Middle Ages until she was one of the most commonly invoked saints in all of Europe. Even a college at England’s Cambridge University was established in Catherine’s honor in 1473. It is said that Catherine was a beautiful young woman from a noble Alexandrian family who had a miraculous conversion to Christianity, compelling her to make a vow of virginity. Her erudition and persuasive gifts convinced fifty of the Emperor’s most able philosophers of the truth of Christianity. Catherine then had further successful forays in converting the Emperor’s own household and soldiers. When she rejected the Emperor’s romantic entreaties, he sentenced her to be shred to pieces on a spiked wheel. But Catherine’s bindings were miraculously loosened and she survived the ordeal, only to then suffer beheading, thus earning the double crown of both virgin and martyr.

In the summer of 1425, a young French girl named Joan, standing in her parent’s garden, gazed into the mist closely enveloping her and saw something. It was Saint Michael the Archangel and two women wearing rich crowns. One of these women was Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Catherine spoke sweetly and softly to young Joan, saying that she would be Joan’s counsel, guide, and protector. She even promised to one day lead Joan to paradise. Years later, when Joan acquitted herself well under questioning by theologians, just as Catherine had done when questioned by philosophers, the townspeople said that Joan of Arc was none other than Saint Catherine of Alexandria come down to earth again.

Rudbeckia Speedy Smiley

Fountain

Blue and White accessories.

Monday, November 21, 2022

Vogue Cover

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Life in your Man

Dover Castle

Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some sources say it is the largest castle in England, a title also claimed by Windsor Castle.

Waves of Clouds

2000-year-old Roman mosaic washed by the waters of the mighty river Euphrates in the ancient city of Zeugma in Turkey.

Fight for the good days!

Saint Margaret of Scotland

Saint Margaret of Scotland
c. 1045-1093

November 16 – Optional Memorial
Liturgical Color: White
Patron Saint of Scotland, large families, and parents who have lost children

A foreign-born royal becomes queen and inspires by her refinement and devotion

In the early eleventh century, a Danish Viking named Canute reigned as King of England. Canute exiled his potential rivals from an Anglo-Saxon royal family. One of these exiles, Edward, made his way to Hungary, married, and had a daughter named Margaret who grew up in a well-educated, royal, Catholic home. Margaret’s father eventually returned to England at the request of the king, his uncle Saint Edward the Confessor, and he brought his family with him, including Margaret. But Edward died shortly after coming home, leaving Margaret fatherless, and then Edward the Confessor died without an heir. War broke out. In 1066 at the Battle of Hastings, the Anglo-Saxon English lost to the Norman French. Margaret and her siblings were displaced to Scotland, far away from French efforts to eradicate Anglo-Saxon royals who had claims to the English throne. Thus was the circuitous route by which a woman of English blood who grew up in Hungary is commemorated today as Saint Margaret of Scotland.

Saint Margaret was known to her contemporaries as an educated, refined, and pious woman. She married a Scottish King named Malcolm who was far more rustic than herself. He could not even read. The earliest Life of Margaret, written by a monk who personally knew her, states that Malcolm depended on his wife’s sage advice and admired her prayerfulness. According to Margaret’s biographer, Malcolm saw “that Christ truly dwelt in her heart…What she rejected, he rejected…what she loved, he, for love of her, loved too.” Malcolm embellished Margaret’s devotional books with gold and silver. One of these books, a selection of Gospel passages with illuminated miniatures of the four Evangelists, still exists and is preserved in an English museum. King Malcolm and Queen Margaret, along with their six sons and two daughters, truly created a domestic church centered on Christ. One son, David, became a national hero as King of Scotland and is popularly referred to as a saint.

Margaret’s presence infused the unsophisticated, rural, Scottish court with culture. She brought her more Roman experiences of Church life with her to Scotland, and so pulled the Scottish Church into conformity with Roman and continental practice regarding the dating and observance of Lent and Easter. She encouraged the faithful to more fully observe Sunday by not working and, like so many medieval royals, she was also a prolific foundress of monasteries, including one she intended to be the burial place for Scottish kings and queens. Margaret was known for her concern for the poor, for dedicating hours a day to prayer and spiritual reading, and for her skill in embroidering vestments and church linens.

Saint Margaret died, not yet fifty years old, just a few days after she was informed that her husband and son were killed in battle. Margaret and Malcolm were buried together under the high altar of a monastery. Devotion to the holy queen began soon after her death, and she was canonized in 1250.

Saint Margaret of Scotland, you were the model of a virtuous queen who cared for both the spiritual and material welfare of your people. Inspire all leaders to give personal witness to holiness so that, through their leadership role, they inspire their people to be more virtuous.

Mister Prickles in the garden

Lotus

Lotus Garden

Ocean front outdoor living

A large porcelain bowl

A large porcelain bowl with a gilt rim, a blue and gilt guilloche border inside and out with gilt foliate swags beneath; painted on the inside with an inscribed Garter surmounted by a Coronet, enclosing the Royal Crest; surrounded by a gilt foliate wreath.

Provenance

Possibly part of a service of Caughley porcelain decorated in Worcester at the Chamberlain's factory for Prince Frederick Augustus, Duke of York c. 1790-93. Acquired by Queen Mary from the collection of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, 1904.

State Dining Room in Buckingham Palace set for a Christmas Party

Opulent

77 Bridge St, Newport, RI

Iconic Pitts Head Tavern, circa 1659 , is located on an incredibly spacious 10, 000 sq ft site at the southern end of the historic Point neighborhood. Beautifully intact, historic details include six fireplaces with interesting antique tile surrounds, wooden interior shutters, wide-plank pine floorboards, and unique balustrade design. Bridge Street, considered by many to be the most beautiful street on The Point, is also the closest to downtown Newport and the Newport Shipyard and a half a block to Newport Harbor. Rare opportunity to restore a true historic treasure.

The Current Floor Plan

How I would change the layout

The Entrance Hall

The Living Room

This room would basically remained unchanged

The Study

The Study would stay unchanged

The Study would just need to have the exposed furnaces covered, and new paint

The Current Kitchen. This would be turned into a Butler's Pantry

This room would become the new kitchen with a open concept

The bathroom and closet straight ahead would be removed to make way for a breakfast nook. The stairs on the right would be removed and a ceiling added.

The Dining Room

The Dining Room would remain unchanged

The door on the left would be sealed and the closet on the right would become the entrance from the Butler's Pantry into the dining room

The second floor landing

The Master Bedroom would remain the same for the most part

The current master bath would be gutted. The closet on the right would remain and have shelfs installed to become a linen closet. The closet on the right would be turned into a vanity sink area.

The current vanity would be removed and a jacuzzi/shower installed in its place. The shower would be removed and a door going into the new dressing room would be put in its place.

This back room would be gutted, and a dressing/ Master Retreat area would take its place.

This room would be gutted, The stairs in the middle going up to the third floor would stay but have a door added. The closet on the right of the stairs would be removed to turn it into access from the bathroom into the dressing area. two closets would be installed about where that chair is. The built-ins around the windows would be removed. The Stairs on the right going to the ground floor would be enclosed, and either a storage closet or a computer work station would be built in its place.

The area in front of this fire place would act as a sitting area as part of the Master Retreat.

The 2nd. Floor Guest Room

This bedroom would remain largely unchanged.

Looking through that door one would see another door going into the Master Retreat

This bathroom behind the second floor bedroom would be updated

The third floor landing

This landing would remain largely the same. The door to the right at the top of the stairs would become a hall.

This area would be turned into a hall for access The shelfs on the right would be enclosed and a new door to a new back bedroom installed straight ahead.

This would be where a new closet and main door would be installed. The door to the right would be sealed and wall replace it (Most likely sheet rock)

A very ruff idea of the change to new 3rd. floor bedroom.

Changes to the rest of new back bedroom on the 3rd. floor

3rd. Floor Hall between bedrooms. This closet would be opened up to extend the hall access to the main stairs. The door on the right to the front bedroom would remain the same allowing access to the bathroom from that bedroom.

Current set up in 3rd. Floor hall the door to the back room on the right will be sealed and a new door on the left allowing access to the stairs coming from the second floor added.