Orchids of Cyprus

I have not long returned from a mid-March holiday in Cyprus and can recommend the same for anyone interested in seeing wild orchids. Loads for species to see, and loads of sites to visit. So I have updated my orchid blog - Steve's Orchids.

More Site Updates

Sometimes you have a bit of time available and you can tackle several website updates. October provided that opportunity.

First of all I got around to writing an article on the Stamps and Postal History of Zlobenia and Borogravia, inspired by Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Monstous Regiment. These two states are constantly squabbling about their boundaries and have provided much of the military items in the Discworld Stamps catalogue. Zlobenia on The Discworld Stamp Collector

2016 has seen continued issuing of new Discworld Stamps and many of these could be added to my Discworld Books & Stamps website. There I have a synopsis of each Discworld novel ilustrated by the appropriate Discworld Stamps. Discworld Stamps and Books

Then there was news of that enigmatic Welsh author Huw Puw Caru from the Caru Foundation. The Foundation has been advised to take a rest from decoding the author's works for the sake of ther sanity. But an event near Swansea raises the possibility that Caru may still be alive - resurrected even. He hasn't been seen since 1967 yet no body has been found. Howver one of his stories echoes events that happened 7 years later. But for him to appear in 2016 would make him 143 years old. Perhaps his Tibetan monk friend taught him skills we can only guess at. Read all about Huw Puw Caru

Is this Caru on CCTV?

Finally, the Land of Mμ, a stress free zone has its own website. Famed for its Hμpμs and Hγppos the Land of Mμ has been posting on Facebook for quite a while on all the happening and events that may amuse the outside world. Facebook is rubbish as an archive - great at 'now' articles though - so the posts there are extended and archived on the Land of Mu website

Discworld Stamps - Koom Valley

A little while ago I posted up an article about the Discworld Stamps and other philatelic items associated with Koom Valley, the venue for the ancient battle between Dwarfs and Trolls which provided the background to the novel Thud!

Read about the Koom Valley stamps here

 

British Wild Orchids

I have been busy all Summer chasing around looking for wild orchids that I have never seen before, 2016 saw only three new species, but that's to be expected when I have only a handful British orchid species left to see. I shall have to concentrate on sub-species, varieties and hybrids from now on, but there's plenty of these to track down. With the orchid season no over the records of my visits has therefore now been completed and is available now.

Click here for Orchid Records

More Updates

I've been kept busy recently.
Firstly I have updated the Discworld Books and Stamps pages to include the new stamps issued in the first half of the Year of the Sneezing Panda. There have been the Cruel and Unusual Geography set which filled a few spaces.
And in the last month I have been out and about photographing more British orchids, and finally managed to tick off the elusive Small White Orchid from my list of must-see. To be honest thats a mundane name for a mundane orchis, but at least I have seen it

 

More Orchids

As well as a few North Wales orchid sites, I have recently returned from a week in the South East of England on the hunt for orchids rare or absent north of the River Thames. All those on the 'hit list' were seen and photographed, and you can read it all here

Majorcan Orchids

My wild orchid pages have just been updated with the first records of 2016. An April holiday in Majorca is the ideal time to see orchids in flower there. Some species were new to me, some were old favourites that grow across the Mediterranean region, and only one grows in Britain too. You can read all about them by clicking here

A Couple of Updates

February always sees the release of new Valentine's Day stamps from the Isle of Vue, courtesy of Colin Edwards and Alan Batley, This year is no exception and the stamp features the Coco D'Amour - a twist on those suggestively shaped vegetables that give people amusement.
As usual there are plenty of extras to collect, including full sheets, mini-sheets of unusual pairings, covers, an artwork proof sheet, and much more. There were also 5 photocopies of the reference work Colin used for the stamp design

To find out more on this and other Isle of Vue stamps (and a lot lot more) visit the Cinderella Stamps Forum


A couple of weeks ago I added a new in-depth look into one aspect of Discworld Stamps. This one looks at the stamps of Sto Helit, as it has been recently revealed that the 4p Green issue showing Susan Sto Helit held a number of undiscovered sports or variations of the stamp design. These number perhaps just 12 of each which makes them rare and quite valuable stamps! But I know of at least 2 collectors who since have found one in their collections. Which obviously made them very happy.

Discworld Stamps and Books

The Discworld Stamps all have their roots in the 41 Discworld novels written by the late Sir Terry Pratchett. The humour of the series spills over into the books and I thought it may be a good idea to link as many stamps as possible to phrases, incidents and chapters in the books.  The result is Discworld Stamps and Books

Each book has a short resumé of the story illustrated by images of the stamps that can be linked to the text. 

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

Sunday School Stamp Albums

You know how it is when you put off a job, and when you finally get round to it it has grown a bit more, so you put it off again ... and again and again.
Well, When the pile of unsorted albums were no longer able support themselves and kept falling over I decided I really had to update these webpages, and spent a few evening scannng in all and writing up all the new acquisitions. Took a few evenings, but they are in all sorted now. Tere are now in excess of 160 of these albums in my collection. Still some work to go, but at least I am just treadingwater now, not drowning.

Click HERE to view

Laernu and More

Another month and another update.

Now that Colin Edwards has issued not just one, not just two, but three different postal labels in the last few weeks, it is time the Laernu and More site was updated. Okay, they are not full blown stamp releases, but they are avidly collected by a small band of obsessives ;)
Apart from some totally-too-soon Xmas labels, there are Black Cats and Zeppelin Race poster stamps, worthy of inclusion in any Cinderella stamp collection.

Welsh Postal oddities

I have also updated the Welsh Postal Oddities web pages with the latest three issues of the most exclusive Welsh Cinderella Stamps that exist. These issues can be seen HERE

Wild Orchids 2014

The summer is over and there are no more trips out to find orchids growing in the wild, so uts a final update to Steve's Orchids for 2014. It was a busy year with over 40 site visits and 13 new species and varieties ticked off my sightings list. But that still leaves some for the future.
The hardest to find was the minute Bog Orchid. 80 miles each way, and we managed to find 2 specimens in a rather damp bit of wilderness.

The Discworld Stamp Collector

I have just added a couple of new topics to The Discworld Stamp Collector including an indepth look at the most Must Have stamp in the series; the $5 Brass Bridge Blue Triangle.

The Discworld Stamp Collector

I have started a new website that provides an in-depth look at a few of the Discworld stamp issues over the years. Called The Discworld Stamp Collector it is acompanion to the Facebook page of the same name. The first two articles look at the oginal Tower of Art stamp issued in 2004, and the Penny Patrician of three years later.