Steve's Orchids now updated for 2015

A busy summer for me with 75 orchid site visits, 24 of which were new for me. I only added 5 new species to my viewed list, but it was always going to get harder once the commoner species had been ticked off. However, for me, the highlight was the discovery of perhaps a novel and unique plant; a Broad-leaved Helleborine not only devoid of the pink and purple pigments which give the flowers their colours, but also deficient in chlorophyll. The result is a totally straw coloured plant that must be parasitic on the root fungi that it normally associates with

A couple of website updates

Having been to Corfu on holiday during late April I have come home with piles of wild orchid photos.The grow almost anywhere, from countryside, on the mountain and even in roadside verges. Some 30 species recoded, 18 of which I have seen before.

  Click here to view

And for the Discworld Stamp Collector I have added a section on the stamps issued by the Guild of Merchants. See some alternative and early designs, errors and varieties, and collectable items to look out for.

Click here to view

Isle of Vue stamps 2015

The Laernu and More website now has the 2015 Valentine's Day stamps from the Isle of Vue featuring, this year, Jacques Neuehaus the wellknown Laernuean lothario and the special Queen of Hearts stamps.
This year they were complemented by some collectors cards featuring Neuehaus and issued by Harborne's Waxen Chooen!

Welsh Postal Oddities

I have just updated this web site with all the 2014 releases of these most quirky Cinderella stamps. There are some truly 3D stamps, an issue saluting the Working Zebras of Wales, and even stamps for mail to the spirit world.  Click here to view.

The Discworld Stamp Collector

I found some time to put together all I knew and could find about the original 10 pence Discworld stamp from 2004. What seems to be an ordinary stamp, is actually available to collectors (well, the most avid collectors) in 13 different versions. Included is some background to the development of the stamps design. Read about it