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