Saturday, July 25, 2026

Red bonnet hydrant

 
hydrant with white body and red parts
White body with red bonnet and outlet caps
  
This smooth-top fire hydrant "catches some rays" while steadfastly awaiting a call to duty.
 

Monday, July 20, 2026

Orange tiger lily

 
cluster of orange day lily

Called the "common tiger lily" or "orange day lily", this cluster of rain-dropped Hemerocallis Fulva is a sight to see.

  

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Firework front and side

The ring type fireworks are best seen when viewed head on.  
 
Sometimes, the shell goes a certain way and the effect is seen from the side . . .  

 
firewrok red ring sdie view
Side view


A more frontal view of a ring type firework lets the effect be seen:
 
firework red ring front view
Head on view

 
They are enjoyable either way!
 
 

 

 

Monday, July 6, 2026

Potato chip real vs. enlarged

 
Texture is enlarged
Enlarged and real

The potato chips on this potato chip bag may look a bit "off".  That is because a real potato chip from inside this bag has been placed on top of the "enlarged to show texture" potato chips.  The real potato chip is close to size to that of the "enlarged" potato chip.  That was not the largest potato chip found inside this bag.  A real potato chip as large as the "enlarged" potato chip had been found; it was consume before its size could be recorded.
 
 

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:

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"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."

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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. 
 
 
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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


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