Uploads from mystuart

Wild Pinks

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:36:13 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Catchfly = Silene armeria. At least this is the name I've come up with. . . . they come up, unbidden, every year in my garden and I always enjoy them! They are early imports from Europe.

Lobelia cardinalis = Cardinal Flower

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:03:46 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

How to recognize this plant as it rises in your garden, amidst a variety of weeds. In its native region, like the Appalachians, it will spread favorably in moist areas--one of its happiest features! The gorgeous blossoms are the payoff--I can't wait!
The dark red center at the growing point is the key, in my observation. . . . .

My plant-expert-friend tells that that there is a western/Mexican variety that features these reddish centers. Many plants do not show the color; they are the eastern variety, he says. I seem to have both kinds.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobelia_cardinalis

This link gives a map of its growth region in the US:
plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=loca2

A Day in June

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:08:01 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana). An American native.

My image of this dayflower with calendar (lower left) is the perfect size for a computer desktop, according to bighugelabs.com, the developer of the app. Go to 'view all sizes' in order to download.

This function is found under 'Wallpaper' on bighugelabs.

Sweet William (Dianthus)

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:28:59 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Bighugelabs.com's "Canvas Panels".
Fun for a Monday!
"Sweet William"--a short lived perennial or biennual. As one advisor says,
"Worth their weight in gold at the cottage door!"

News from Wikipedia:
"The exact origin of its English common name is unknown, but first appears in 1596 in botanist John Gerard's garden catalog. The flowers are edible and may have medicinal properties."

Floral historian H. Phillips speculated that the flower was named after Gerard's contemporary, William Shakespeare. It is also said to be named after Saint William of York, or after William the Conqueror. Another etymological derivation is that william is a corruption of the French oillet, meaning "little eye". Sweet william is a favourite name for lovelorn young men in English folkloric ballads, e.g., "Fair Margaret and Sweet William".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianthus_barbatus

Hosta: Apple-Green, Narrow, and Pointed

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 06:06:34 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

One of my several varieties of hosta. If someone out there knows the name of this one, please let me know! Thanks~!

Botanists tell us there may be as many as 45 different species of hosta, and over 3,000 registered and named varieties. Perhaps as many more are not yet registered with the American Hosta Society. The plant is native to China; adopted and much hybridized by the Japanese.

The name Hosta honors the Austrian botanist, Nicholas Thomas Host.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosta

Summer Window

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:04:18 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

One of the pleasures of warmer weather. . . . !

Says Wikipedia:
"Pelargonium /ˌpɛlɑrˈɡoʊniəm/ is a genus of flowering plants which includes about 200 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly known as geraniums (in the United States also storksbills). Confusingly, Geranium is the correct botanical name of a separate genus of related plants often called cranesbills or hardy geraniums. Both genera belong to the family Geraniaceae. Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium, but they were later separated into two genera by Charles L’Héritier in 1789.
Pelargonium species are evergreen perennials indigenous to Southern Africa, and are drought and heat tolerant, but can tolerate only minor frosts."

Frosted Daisies

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 05:07:02 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

. . . or, Marguerites!
Ox-Eye Daisies are an Old World favorite that came to the New World very early on. They've been here so long that many people consider them an "American wildflower"--and they are, today, but it wasn't always so. "Native", they are not, but pretty? YES! They love to pop up all over the garden and it is difficult to call them a "weed". . . !

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucanthemum_vulgare

"Flickr vs ipernity"

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:17:39 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

THIS IS INTERESTING! (the above title is what to search if you wish to find this forum)

I happened to find this forum in a google search for ipernity. . . .
According to the fine print above the discussion,
"This thread has been closed by Flickr staff"!! A little frightened are they?
You can still read what was posted up to this point, however.
Apparently, the upload on the ipernity end takes awhile.

I haven't decided yet, but will probably sign up there and start posting. Whether to leave Flickr? I do not know. I would miss my friends!

North Tower, Smithsonian Institution.

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:44:12 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Washington, DC.

This just in from the curator of the Smithsonian Building, in response to my query:
"The first anemometer or weathervane was mounted to the roof of the tall North Tower in 1858. As part of Secretary Joseph Henry's project of predicting weather changes by collecting meteorological observations, it recorded the direction and time of changes in the wind. It was connected to a recording device in the meteorological office on the tower's second floor where the records were maintained by William Quereau Force (1820–80).

Destroyed in the fire of 1865, the weathervane was not replaced until 1884. It was no longer connected to recording equipment... Its sole function was to point the direction of the wind, and it remains as such today. In 1890, the Weather Bureau improved on the vane, but what changes are unknown. The metal parts of that vane are still part of the roof apparatus today, the wooden parts having rotted and been replaced several times since then."

Thanks to Barbara McBride of the Smithsonian Visitor Services Office for providing this response to my emailed question!
Contact them at: info@si.edu.

See below for a historical reflection from the Smithsonian Archives. (online source =
siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/stories/mary-henry-eye... )

Symphony in Gray: Early Morning, Thames.

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:40:58 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

by James McNeil Whister, 1871.
Collection of the Freer Gallery of Art; currently on exhibit.

Ornamental Maple

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:15:38 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

A Japanese variety, I assume. Seen among the formal gardens at the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

This image makes good 'desktop wallpaper'--I have it covering my laptop screen now.

Breakfast in the Loggia

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:09:59 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

by John Singer Sargent, 1910.
Collection of the Freer Gallery of Art (Smithsonian Institution).
Currently on exhibit.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Singer_Sargent

June with Veronicas

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 06:03:53 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Gadgetry by BigHugeLabs.com, aka FD's Flickrtoys (free).

Spring Garden

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 05:28:46 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Mosaic using fd's flickrtoys. It's not nearly as easy to make these as it used to be!
(Go to bighugelabs.com and select "Mosaic Maker") It's free. Easiest when the image in already on Flickr. I upload for this purpose and then delete each.

Does anyone else notice the annoying "flickers" or "flickering" (sorry, but it's true) when clicking between windows in your photostream, and especially when scrolling through Groups, deciding which to add to?

National Mall at the Smithsonian Institution, 1932.

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 17:17:35 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

See notes for building identifications.

Not my photo. Picture from the Army Air Corps.
Copied from the Smithsonian Institution Archives online collection. Find the original here:
www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2550661153/

My purpose in showing this is to make us aware of how recent is the Mall design of the open, grassy sweep, devoid of trees except at the sides. . . these clusters of trees and the circular paths that accompany them are the remnants of Andrew Jackson Downing's mid-19th century plans for the Mall. It was supposed to be "a rural park".

The Smithsonian describes this 1932 view:
"Aerial view from the south showing the Smithsonian Institution Building with the United States National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History, across the Mall. South of the Smithsonian building are visible the Astrophysical Observatory sheds, the South Shed, and the elongated Quonset hut-like Air Shed. The South Yard is flanked on the left with the Freer Gallery of Art, opened to the public in 1923, and on the right with the Arts and Industries Building. On the right are temporary buildings erected during World War I and behind them is Center Market. The Mall is landscaped with winding footpaths and dense clusters of trees, reminiscent of Andrew Jackson Downing's 1851 plan for the Mall grounds. In the early 1930s the Mall was leveled and the trees cleared as part of the McMillan Commission's efforts to return Washington to the L'Enfant plan."

Youngest First Lady

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 04:45:41 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Frances Folsom was just 21 when she married the 47-year-old bachelor president, Grover Cleveland. Well educated (Wells College, NY), Frances, or "Frank", as she was called by her family, had known him all her life. Together they had 6 children. After Grover Cleveland's death, Frances married again and lived in Princeton, NJ, where she died in 1947 and is buried.

This text appears on exhibit in the First Ladies Hall at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. The museum maintains a number of her garments and personal accessories from the years as First Lady (the dates shown in the heading).

www.whitehouse.gov/about/first-ladies/francescleveland-0

Norway Spruce (the tall one on the right)

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 05:17:52 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Thanks to my friend (and landscape professional), Randy Burroughs, for identifying this distinctive tree. He says they were very popular during Asheville's heyday (1920s), so that one sees a number of old ones in the Asheville landscape.

Seen here at Reed Creek Greenway park, Asheville, NC.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picea_abies

Creek Crossing

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:08:05 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

At Reed Creek, an Asheville, North Carolina, Greenway park.

Latest Loaves

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 05:39:00 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Containing a 5-grain mix of rolled oats, seeds, etc. Sourdough starter, lots of whole wheat, some rye and some cornmeal. A crumbling, tasteful loaf. Baked with a two-in-one pan. 50 minutes in the AGA's hot oven.

Hearing Loop Installed

nobody@flickr.com (mystuart) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:21:20 -0700

mystuart posted a photo:

Not my photo.
The universal symbol for notifying users of a space that the area is fitted with a hidden copper induction loop. The system allows a hearing aid to magnetically pick up sound from a microphone/amplifier without the distortion of room noise. Sound goes directly from source to ear without competition. Fantastic for anyone with hearing loss and hearing aids!!

Loops are already quite common in the UK and other parts of the world, but are still rare in the United States. Advocates are working to get more of them in stalled in public venues.

I'm an advocate !!!
Read more here:
www.hearingloop.org/