Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Security envelope plaid


plaid pattern security envelope
10 by 10 minus 1 and 10

To make this plaid pattern, start with a grid pattern rotated by 45 degrees.  Set up a 10 line by 10 line grid and on each side of that grid, remove one line.

Note that the blank areas in the pattern were caused by printer problems.


Monday, June 29, 2026

Ox eye spiral

 
flower close up Leucanthemum vulgare
Don't get dizzy

The Leucanthemum vulgare is considered in some places to be an invasive species.  That does not prevent one from taking a closer look at the spiraling floret of the ox eye daisy.
 

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Close up buttercup


butter cup flower glistening
That is yellow!

Commonly known as St. Anthony's turnip, the butter cup (Ranunculus bulbosus) has bright yellow flowers.  The flower petals are glossy and curved; they reflect light towards the center of the flower.  The "turnip" name comes from the bulbous root of this flower.

Children use the flower in a game to determine if someone likes butter.  One child picks the yellow flower and asks another "Do you like butter?". They then hold the yellow flower up close under the others chin, see the yellow reflection from the yellow flower on the skin, and exclaim that "Yes, you like butter.".


Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Stereoscopy Day 2026

 
Stereoscopy Day V2 logo
Now, even more stereo!
 
June 21st is "Stereoscopy Day".  On that day in 1838, Sir Charles Wheatstone presented his reflecting stereoscope to the Royal Society of London and demonstrated his theory of binocular vision.  More info about this event, the fifth, is at the Stereoscopy Day site https://stereoscopyday.wordpress.com/ or #StereoscopyDay 
 

Let's start the celebration right now!   Presented is a relaxed view 3d stereogram of clouds at different levels:
 
several levels of clouds
Fast moving...
 
You can view my 3d / stereogram / stereograph / stereoscopic images by selecting one of these labels.  These links each should produce the same image results, as I have been pretty good about labeling:

https://skeetmotis.blogspot.com/search/label/3d

https://skeetmotis.blogspot.com/search/label/stereogram

https://skeetmotis.blogspot.com/search/label/stereograph  
 
Enjoy the views!
 

 

Monday, June 15, 2026

Security envelope basket woven

 
basket weave security envelope
Five bars per band

 
The basket weave pattern used for this security envelope is very rustic.  The pattern does take a break at the fold line.
 
 

Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Spathe and spadix

 
close-up od jack-in-the-pulpit
Pulpit and Jack
 
A close-up view of a Jack in the Pulpit.  From its colors and striping, this may be the Arisaema triphyllum.  The spathe (the "pulpit") surrounds the spadix (the "Jack"). As the fruit ripens, the red berries appear.
 

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Get a grip

  
front of gripper a
front of Gripper (a)
 
 
back of gripper a
back of Gripper (a)

 
front of gripper b
front of Gripper (b)

 
back of gripper b
back of Gripper (b)

The Scovill Brass Company started in 1802 in Watertown, Connecticut.  It acquired the Oakville Manufacturing Company of Oakville, Connecticut in December, 1923, making it a division of Scovill.  That division was closed in 1973.  The Scovill Company went through some business tribulations; in 2014 it became Morito Scovill Americas.
 
The chronological order of the packets is not certain; they are shown in the order they were found.

 

Friday, May 29, 2026

Some good advice

Some good advice here!
 
 
flyer with advice
black border from scanning; original is 8 1/2 x 11 inches

 
This flyer offers some helpful advice:
 
DO NOT DUMP
INTO TOWER
 FLOOR STACK.
 
PUT IN-LINE
  WITH OFFICE. 
 
That sounds like good advice - for someone.  But who? And about what?
 
The numbers in the lower right corner ( 34-2002-9438-6  0264914.1 ) do not provide relief.
 
 

Saturday, May 23, 2026

Security envelope polygons 2

 
polygon security envelope
Blue polygons

 
this polygon pattern does not seem to want to be mirrored and matched to create a bigger pattern.  Despite that hinderance, it is an interesting pattern.  
 
N.B. this pattern came from an envelope used by the same business that used the previously posted polygon pattern.
 
Addendum:  by doing a V flip and an overlay, it is possible to extend the pattern slightly in the vertical; nothing seems to inspire a further extension in the horizontal or vertical.
 
 
flip and overlay security envelope polygons
Just a flip and overlay

 
Maybe one of the readers can provide a way to extend this pattern?



Sunday, May 17, 2026

Somebody else's sunset

 
sun setting over the sea
Golden glow in the west

 
Somebody else's photo, of some place else's sunset, is their idea of a sunset.  It seems to be, but need not be, a vision from the past.
 
 

Thursday, May 7, 2026

Molly Stark bed

The legendary Molly Stark was married to a Revolutionary War general whose truncated quote gave rise to a  state motto.

Cushman Colonial Creations Bed Molly Stark tag front
tag front


Her furniture inspired a whole collection; this tag for the inspired No. 2050D bed tells more.


Cushman Colonial Creations Bed Molly Stark tag back
tag back

The H.T. Cushman Manufacturing Company started in 1886 on Prospect Street in Bennington, Vermont.  They relocated to Water Street in 1892.  In 1933, they introduced the Cushman Colonial Creations line of furniture.  

From the tag, we read:

----------

"No. 2050D  -  Molly Stark Bed  -  The basic motif for the entire group is the decorative block front design on the drawer fronts.  The historical background for this design centers around several old pieces of furniture once said to be owned by the attractive wife of General John Stark of Revolutionary fame."

----------

The Cushman family sold the business to General Interiors Corporation in 1964.  In 1971, the  plant was sold to Green Mountain Furniture Company, who ceased operation in 1980.  General Interiors - who remained owner of the Cushman name - was sold to General Mills, Inc. and later to Maytag.


Friday, May 1, 2026

Security envelope blue diamonds

This envelope security pattern features diamonds on blue paper.

diamond pattern on blue paper
Those are tilted squares

The registration markers can be seen in the upper corners of the wings.


Thursday, April 30, 2026

Security envelope stars

It was a pleasant surprise to find this envelope security pattern of four-pointed diamond-shaped polygons.   
 
four point security envelope star
Are 4 points a star?

 
The repeating pattern itself is very small; repeated it grows massively.
 
Security envelope patterns come in different patterns that .  Usually, they are small and tightly packed, covering the whole interior of the envelope to obfuscate the contents.   
 
 
 

Monday, April 20, 2026

Diamionds and squares

 
brick and manhole cover
Cracked but in use

This cracked manhole cover is seen in the street beneath our feet.  The cover features a 47 x 47 pointy diamonds pattern.  It is surrounded by a 3 x 142 squares encirclement which itself is encircled by 28 bricks.  An altogether lovely layout.
 
 

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Mirror mirror on the floor

 
dance room purple
<--  those are student names

 
The dance studio closed.  Left behind was an empty room with five mirrors on a wall.  Now four; the middle mirror has detached itself from the plum painted wall and crashed to the wooden floor, leaving a shattered view of its former self.
 

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Electric gansett

 
electric company name on manhole cover
Now called by another name

This cross hatched manhole cover is seen in the street beneath our feet.  The company identity oval interrupts the orderly layout of the "=", "-", and "|" elements that are used in the design of this utility cover.  
 
Originally called the United Electric Power Company, the name was changed to that seen on the manhole cover on November 30, 1927.  This cover would have been produced some time after that. 
 
 
-----------------------

The comment by anon at 12:37:00 intrigued me to look up that reference.  Hi Nabor is "your Home Grown Supermarket - since 1963" in Baton Rouge.  It has three locations.  In Google Street View, each store has a white vehicle standing in front of the store on the left side:


Hi Nabor  store 1
pickup truck


Hi Nabor store 2
BRPD cruiser


Hi Nabor store 3
sedan


-----------------------






Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Marlbleous too

 
stairs as seen from 4th floor
Was Escher the architect?

A fifth floor view of the stairs previously seen from the second floor.  This stairy scene is presented as a relaxed view 3d stereograph. 

 

 

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Solid center


cover of manhole
12x12x6x6 with solid center

This emergence of this variant of the 12 x 12 x 6 x 6 segments per ring manhole cover has caused circular crackling in the street asphalt.  This was seen in the street beneath our feet.


Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Electric red


manhole cover with electric service
highlighted functionality

This double ring "ELECTRIC SERVICE" manhole cover features a 15 x 15 cross hatched rectangular diamonds central panel.  The outer ring consists of an alternating pattern of 30 "=" and 30 "|".  Red paint is used to highlight the function of this manhole cover.

The circular crackles around the cover enhance this scene in the street beneath our feet.

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Contrails in the cloud


clouds with contrails
Four flew by

Jet airplanes on their way to somewhere flew through these cirrocumulus stratiformis clouds.  The airplanes are long gone; their contrails remain in the clouds as visible reminders of their passage.



Sunday, March 15, 2026

Starry starry pumpkin

A fourth grade arts class interprets a pumpkin patch on a starry night with a crescent moon overhead:  


starry pumpkin 3
Pumpkin 3

 
starry pumpkin 5
Pumpkin 5


starry pumpkin 6
Pumpkin 6


starry pumpkin 7
Pumpkin 7


starry pumpkin 8
Pumpkin 8
 
 
starry pumpkin 9
Pumpkin 9

 They are all so good!

-----------------------

To dispel any notion that those pumpkins are distorted dimensionally:

various forms of pumpkins on one sheet
A sheet load of pumpkins


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Saturday, March 7, 2026

Leaky rainbow

 
oil slick oil
It is colorful, but it is not a rainbow

Passers-by were taken by surprise by the petroleum product drip "rainbow" that appeared in the parking lot beneath their feet.
 

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Colorful cobbles

 
cobbled street with manhole cover and drain grate
Rain drain

This scene in the street beneath our feet has an 8 x 3 rectangular opening storm drain grate and a 9 by 9 square diamond manhole cover with 23 "teeth".  The somewhat symmetric cracks and colorful cobbles add to the scene.
 
Other examples of that style of manhole cover can be seen here and here.   
 
 

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Turn three

 
racing lawn tractors
Roaring by

Close together and in a bunch, this pack of lawn tractors rounding turn three makes for an exciting afternoon of racing.
 

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Marlbleous


second floor set of stairs
pillars and balustrades

This set of stairs on the second floor is in the Second Empire style.  The scene is presented as a relaxed view 3d stereograph.
 
A stereogram scene from the fifth floor may be seen here.


Wednesday, February 18, 2026

At a siding

 
siding with budd car
Durable and yellow

This Budd car (BC-30) is parked at a siding.  In front of it, a long lasting yellow-painted Durable Bumping Post marks the end of the track.
 
This siding scene is presented as a relaxed view 3d stereograph.
 
n.b. the pre-bumper stop Budd car can be scened here
 
 
 
 

Sunday, February 8, 2026

Security envelope polygons

Security envelope patterns come in different patterns.  Usually, they are small and tightly packed, covering the whole interior of the envelope to obfuscate the contents.  It was a pleasant surprise to receive this envelope security pattern of widely spaced polygons.
 
polygon pattern security envelope
It's a tee shirt!

This blue polygon pattern has been mirrored left-right and  up-down.  The tiny diamond in the center is the lower-right, lower-left, upper-right, and upper-left corner, respectively, of the pattern after the horizontal and vertical flipping and tiling.

Some sketchy V and H flips and overlays give a rough draft view of a more complete polygon security pattern.
 
more complete pattern rough draft
. . . flipped and overlaid . . .

 
This rough sketch demonstrates the result of enthusiastic polygon pattern and line matching.
 
aligned and flipped roughly
adjusting lines to meet
 
It is possible to continue the process and create even denser patterns.
 

Monday, February 2, 2026

Budd and buddy

 
Budd and red commuter car
"Stripey" and "Red"

The Budd car (BC-15) has a friend - a red (number 120) interurban car.
 
The red (No. 120) car is a Model 55 gasoline car that was built by the J. G. Brill Company of Philadelphia.  It went in to service in 1929 as a track inspection (Sperry Rail Service No. 105).  During WWII, it served as munitions car for Remington Arms.  Later, it was painted bright yellow and was at the Branford Electric Railway Association before ending up at a trolley museum.  At present, it is here.
 
This rail yard scene is presented as a relaxed view 3d stereograph. 
 


Sunday, February 1, 2026

Blue engine

 
red caboose with blue engine
Blue engine and red caboose

 
The rolling stock in the yard awaits for passers-by to admire them.  This scene is presented as a relaxed view 3d stereograph.
 
 
 

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Seldom scene

 
sun lit red door
Red door (sunlit)

 
This red door at the back of the building is seldom seen.  This scene is of more interest than what is seen at the front of the building.
 
 
 

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Frozen fog

 
branches covered with snow
one hundred millimeters high

A snow fall of frozen fog in still air left four inch "sugar piles" sticking to the tree branches.
 

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Bare to the walls

 
bare wals in empty store front
Nothing left behind

With the closure of a store, the interior was gutted to the bare walls, leaving behind an empty storefront. 
 
Most of the items on the outside back wall were also removed. 
 
empty store front back outside
Red sign left behind

The red "Video Recording In Progress" sign was left behind, reminding the casual passerby that video recordings are in progress.
 
 
stereogram 3d relaxed view
Empty 3d interior

relaxed view 3d stereograph of the interior is provided for the stereogrammers.