 © Window Frost ~ Undine DeFilippo "O Most High, Almighty, Good Lord God, to Thee belong praise, glory, honor and all blessing. Praised be our Lord God, with all his creatures, and especially our brother the Sun, who brings us the day and who brings us the light: fair is he, and he shines with a very great splendour. Oh Lord, he signifies us to Thee ! Praised be our Lord for our sister the Moon, and for the Stars, the which He has set clear and lovely in the heaven. Praised be our Lord for our brother the Wind, and for Air and Clouds, calms and all weather, by which Thou upholdest life and all creatures. Praised be our Lord for our sister Water, who is very serviceable to us, and humble and precious and clean. Praised be our Lord for our brother Fire, through whom Thou givest us light in the darkness; and he is bright and pleasant and very mighty and strong. Praised be our Lord for our mother the Earth, the which doth sustain us and keep us, and bringeth forth divers fruits and flowers of many colors, and grass. Praised be our Lord for all those who pardon one another for Love's sake, and who endure weakness and tribulation; blessed are they who peacefully shall endure, for Thou, O Most High, will give them a crown. Praised be our Lord for our Sister, the Death of the Body, from which no man escapeth. Woe to him that dieth in mortal sin. Blessed are those who die in Thy most holy will, for the second death shall have no power to do them harm. Praise ye and bless the Lord and give thanks to Him and serve Him with great humility." Saint Francis of Assisi  © Window Frost ~ Undine DeFilippo FEEL FREE TO LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW
WITHOUT CONCERN THAT YOUR PERSONAL INFO WILL BE SHARED BY ANYONE AT ANYTIME ! YOU NEED NOT SUPPLY YOUR E-MAIL NOR YOUR FULL NAME ! THANK YOU !
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 © Northeastern Pink Hibiscus ~ Undine DeFilippo IF YOU SIT DOWN AT SET OF SUN AND COUNT THE ACTS THAT YOU HAVE DONE AND COUNTING FIND ONE SELF-DENYING DEED ONE WORD THAT EASED THE HEART OF HIM THAT HEARD ONE GLANCE MOST KIND THAT FELL LIKE SUNSHINE WHERE IT WENT THEN YOU MAY COUNT THAT DAY WELL SPENT. BUT IF THROUGH ALL THE LIVELONG DAY YOU'VE CHEERED NO HEART BY YEA OR NAY IF THROUGH IT ALL YOU'VE NOTHING DONE THAT YOU CAN TRACE THAT BROUGHT THE SUNSHINE TO ONE FACE NO ACT MOST SMALL THAT HELPED SOME SOUL AND NOTHING COST THEN COUNT THAT DAY AS WORSE THAN LOST COUNT THAT DAY LOST By George Eliot 1819-1880  © The Organ Mountains, Las Cruces, New Mexico  The Organ Mountains and Fort Filmore circa late 1800's I recently roamed the desert at the base of The Organ Mountains lifting and pocketing the occasional time polished Red Jasper, Obsidian and Petrified Wood, contemplating... making sense of my own recent Rough Ride that safely brought me full circle from events that began in Key West, many ~ many years ago.  Old Mesilla Plaza By Leon Trousset circa late 1800's I certainly wasn't thinking about Teddy Roosevelt carefully handpicking 1,060 Southwestern men as his ROUGH RIDERS. These fearless Cavalry Men were HUNTERS ~ NATIVE AMERICANS ~ COWBOYS ~ RANCHERS GOLD and MINING PROSPECTORS ~ GAMBLERS POLICE OFFICERS ~ MILITARY VETERANS ~ COLLEGE ATHLETES  Town of Mesilla circa late 1800's I wasn't daydreaming about how Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders trained on horseback and lived in the self same area I was strolling through ... UNTIL ...  © Rough Rider Button Back I noticed the shank of a button sitting in the sand a few inches from my boot. Engrossed in my thoughts, I was ALMOST too lazy to bend and pick it up ... but curiosity got the better of me and that simple action twirled me into a time travel ~  © Rough Rider Button Front back to the days when ONE of the ROUGH RIDERS, maybe even Teddy his self, lost a button off his uniform which waited 115 YEARS in the sand for ME to find ! The nickel sized button felt like
recognition from the GREAT BEYOND for recent personal fearlessness in the face of questionable circumstances. After all, it is said that New Mexico is THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT. CLICK HERE TO VIEW RARE FOOTAGE IN A SIX MINUTE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE ROUGH RIDERS ! I'm certain that Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders well understood that "GOD did NOT give us the Spirit of Fear; but of POWER, and of LOVE, and of a SOUND MIND." II Timothy 1:7 FEEL FREE TO LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW WITHOUT CONCERN THAT YOUR PERSONAL INFO WILL BE SHARED BY ANYONE AT ANYTIME ! YOU NEED NOT SUPPLY YOUR E-MAIL NOR YOUR FULL NAME ! THANK YOU !  © Undine DeFilippo 2013 TCM's video entitled REMEMBERING 2013 CLICK ON THE HIGHLIGHTED TITLE TO VIEW THE VIDEO features a most appropriate song By SLEEPING AT LAST. Hope you enjoy the insightful lyrics below: "In The Embers" WE LIVE AND WE DIE LIKE FIREWORKS. OUR LEGACIES HIDE IN THE EMBERS. MAY OUR STORIES CATCH FIRE AND BURN BRIGHT ENOUGH TO CATCH GOD's EYE. WE LIVE AND WE DIE. LIKE FIREWORKS WE PULL APART THE DARK; COMPETE AGAINST THE STARS WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS, TIL OUR TEMPORARY BRILLIANCE TURNS TO ASH. WE PULL APART THE DARKNESS WHILE WE CAN. MAY WE LIVE AND DIE A VALOROUS LIFE. MAY WE WRITE IT ALL DOWN IN CURSIVE LIGHT. SO WE PRAY WE WERE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF A FIGURE EIGHT. MAY WE LIVE AND DIE LIKE FIREWORKS WE PULL APART THE DARK; COMPETE AGAINST THE STARS WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS, TIL OUR TEMPORARY BRILLIANCE TURNS TO ASH. WE PULL APART THE DARKNESS WHILE WE CAN. **** * * * **** WISHING YOU ALL A MOST BRILLIANT 2014  Our family recently gathered
to send my beloved husband's ashen remains into the heavens, as he had requested. DOMINIC J. DeFILIPPO was a multi Award Winning Special Effects Man, Pyrotechnist, Director, Set Designer, Inventor and loving respecter of Our Heavenly Father. It seems Sarah inadvertently captured an image of a SERAPHIM in one of the blasts. !!! YOU CAN VIEW HIS SEND OFF VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE !!! There are TEN ranks of Angels in heaven all singing the praises of GOD. The FIFTH order of these choirs is the SERAPHIM known as THE BURNING ONES . They stand closest to GOD as the caretakers and protectors of GOD's throne. They are harbingers of PENTECOST, bringing a Baptism of FLAME to burn off the chaff within us, to purify us and burn off our shackles, thereby freeing us and endowing us with the seven gifts of The Holy Ghost. Many who have claimed to see SERAPHIM describe them as taking fantastic forms thirty plus feet tall with bright luminous reddish wings and making a wooshing sound. Their name comes from the ancient HEBREW word " SERAPH " meaning FIRE. The name is variously translated as FIRE MAKERS and CARRIERS OF ARDOR. It is said that the love that burns in a SERAPHIM is SO BRIGHT that not even powerful angels like the CHERUBIM can look at it directly. SERAPHIM's flame lights the entire world displaying the divine love GOD has for His creation. Let us enjoy the warmth. I invite and welcome your comments. How to Sheetrock a Ceiling ALL by YOURSELF with NO Help from Anyone !!! { PART THREE - FINITO }7/1/2013  It took a few days to tape and spackle to my standard. I prefer walls as smooth as possible, which meant sanding in between three coats of joint compound. As you can see, everything gets covered with a very fine powdery dust. A mini Shop Vac, Swiffer and bucket of Murphy's Oil Soap in warm water is a God send when getting everything clean. Excited to create a soothing library ambience, I swiftly rolled in a pure white ceiling...  ... then purchased BEHR PREMIUM PLUS ULTRA STAIN BLOCKING PAINT & PRIMER IN ONE which has worked perfectly well on many previous projects. A quart of BRONZE GREEN { 350D-6 } was chosen as the accent color behind the book shelves. It 's the color sample furthest right in this picture. The first streaky shmeer should have been proof enough that it was destined to be HIDEOUS !!! It miserably took THREE coats to cover and ALL my patience with it.  A gallon of BAVARIAN CREAM { 340E-3 } was picked for the main wall color; reminiscent of double cream with a hint of coffee. During all this, I popped yet another hole in my ragged work jeans and went to search for a suitable scrap in my fabric bin... where a long forgotten upholstery fabric proved to be just right and just enough for a new window valance that successfully conceals the pipe near the ceiling ! !!! YAY !!! I thanked God profusely for that perk and sewed it up in no time.  Despite lies to myself that the BRONZE GREEN would dry to the color envisioned, all it ever did was waste my time and twist my guts. YELCH It was like stepping into a dreaded eight day old bowl of pea soup and was immediately changed using VALSPAR ULTRA in PATINA BLUE  The books may not all be put back just yet...
but you might be interested to know that this Barber Chair was used in a Documentary about the assassination of mob boss Albert Anastasia. You can click on his name to read more about him. I don't know who painted this portrait of Harry Blackstone, but I've always loved it. Click on his name to read more about him. "If you believe you can do a thing, you can. If you believe you cannot, you cannot." Your comments are most WELCOME  As you saw in the previous post, { PART ONE / CLICK HERE TO SEE }, 1930's ceiling block came down in the library of an 1865 Amish built house. It also came down in the adjacent hallway. GOOD !!! It was high time for it to be replaced. The room could use a better color anyhow ! After the pity party... after the cussing and cleaning... WHAT's NEXT ??? Get out the graph paper and measuring tape. Figure out just exactly how many 1/2 inch 4 x 8 foot pieces of Sheetrock you need. In this case, I needed FOUR, which the lumberyard promptly delivered ! !!! HOORAH !!!  Stanchions once used at DeFILIPPO STUDIO SOUND STAGE and SPECIAL EFFECTS HOUSE came in super handy ! Using a matte knife, the Sheetrock was cut into manageable pieces for a single woman { me } to lift onto the platform created by the Stanchions. I used a pencil to mark where the wood slats would be, thereby taking the guess work out of knowing WHERE to screw it in once the piece is up and blocking the view of what's underneath.  Then it simply became a matter of lifting one Stanchion a bit at a time, rolling them simultaneously to fit the intended area, until the Sheetrock was exactly, precisely where I wanted and flush to the ceiling. A few Sheetrock screws strategically placed with the hand gun and I was in business ...  WITH NO ONE's HELP ! Yup... it's ALL up ! ...and... if I can do it, YOU can do it too ! { if you have to } Come back in a few days to see the next steps... 'cause I aint done yet !  © Upstate NY Rain Wise King Solomon said " Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof " I must then consider myself lucky to have had so very many things that were terribly difficult to say good bye to. Nevertheless, there remains a hole in the world where my loved ones once were. They had made my life more perfect, but failed to explain how to live without them. I don't know who said: If we are brave enough to say goodbye, life rewards us with a new hello. I only know that Gilda Radner { if you don't know who she was, just click on her name } hit the nail on the head when she said: " LIFE IS ABOUT NOT KNOWING, HAVING TO CHANGE, TAKING THE MOMENT AND MAKING THE BEST OF IT, WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT."  Elberta Peach, Prunus Persica, in bloom with Spirit Orbs, { oooh ! }. Peaches were my husband's favorite fruit. We planted this one in the front yard together a year before he passed. I certainly had my Dominic in mind this morning as I snapped a few shots of the freshly opened blossoms. He would have delighted in seeing the tree so healthy. He would've eaten himself peaceful with peaches last season. It yielded a whopping SIXTY POUNDS of succulent sweet freestones at the age of three. I don't know what the two yellow orbs in this picture are. Someone told me they are a classic example of Spirit Orbs. Hmmm... I do like that idea. It's far more interesting and romantic than simple floating dust balls. While I am joyed by the blooms, and the magical appearance of the orbs, I am also conscious of the very late bloom time. My Gardening Diary has usual bloom time as mid April. In addition, last weeks entry regarding the usual arrival time for Hummingbirds in this area of Upstate New York, has also changed. It is May 6 th. and I have seen NOT ONE HUMMER YET !!! ??? WORRY ??? "Ain't no need to worry about the things to come. Forget about your problems and face them one by one. Ain't no need to worry about what might have been. Just trust the Heavenly Father and let that be the end. Ain't no need to worry about things unknown to you. Have faith in God and rest assured that He will see you through." Poem by Earline Ross Cole  Zig - Zagged n Twirled Barrel Cactus Last week’s unnecessary tragedy will have lifelong effect on countless people all over the world. Sadly, the disgusting event has created even more anger, hatred and resentment among people. We each have a choice. We can decide our anger, hatred and resentment are qualified… after all, just LOOK at the reprehensible damages to life and limb ! There are many problems associated with that mindset. Perhaps we now hit them harder than they hit us. The result ? More anger, hatred and resentment. Where does it end ? How can it end ? Do two evils negate the situation or continue to fester until a massive insane war explodes ? ! ? According to wise King Solomon who lived and reigned about 950 years before Christ, there is a time for hate and a time for war. There also is a time for healing and a time for peace. CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THIS BEAUTIFUL QUOTE IN ITS ENTIRETY. How can we expedite healing and consequent peace ? Surely you'll agree, it's a far better feeling. It’s certain that if we cling to anger, resentment and hate, we lose the battle to those who want individuals to be fearful and intimidated. If we decide to continue to be positively constructive in the face of dangers, then we must first heal ourselves and disallow horrific occurrences from holding us in a negative mindset. How do we go about letting go of our anger, hate and resentment so we can heal ? Perhaps we need to see ourselves clearly to cleanse and release self defensive arguments from around ourselves. A very wise Theologian, E.Stanley Jones, shared several techniques for dealing with resentment and named it CLIMBING THE LADDER OUT OF THE RESENTMENT PIT. Here’s some of it: - A - Remember that the basis of most resentment is a touchy, un-surrendered self. The fact that we have been able to hold onto the resentment shows there is a self that is over sensitive. When surrendered to the will of God, we throw off resentment as a healthy skin throws off germs. Unless there is inner disease or an abrasion of the skin, germs can get no foothold. We should be suspicious of a self that can grow resentment. It is probably diseased with self-centeredness. - B - Raise the question as to whether the resentment isn’t rooted in imaginary slights, insults and wrongs. A self centered person can imagine a group is talking about him when, in fact they are talking about everything else. An overly sensitive person can, by his very mental attitude, throw other people into unnatural, closed-in attitudes, which he interprets as intentional hurts and slights. All the time, he is oblivious to the fact that his own attitudes of self centered sensitivity have created the very things in others against which he reacts. Remember the old saying, “When you go around with a chip on your shoulder, it probably fell from the block above.” - C - Remember that focusing upon other people’s faults is usually a defense mechanism. By doing so, one is probably attempting to lift oneself up by pushing someone else down. It won’t work. By mentally picking flaws in others, one creates a worse flaw within themselves. They become a critical person. - D - Be too glad and too great to be the enemy of anyone. Be so preoccupied with good will that you have no room for ill will. Dr. George Washington Carver, the great scientist, rose to fame through his chemical discoveries and service to Southern farmers. Someone asked him for the name of the University that had accepted him as a student, but then, discovering that he was black, refused him admittance. Dr. Carver refused to say, passing off the incident as nothing. He possessed “the peace that passes all understanding – and all misunderstanding.” Let us leave vengeance to God; use only redemptive good will. In conclusion: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you.” Luke 6:37-38 |
 Undine DeFilippo
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