My collection is of USED world stamps, so everyone who has ever sent me a stamp, they go into my collection! I appreciate it so much. I have recieved some neat ones from Malaysia...thanks to Yoon See... (not shown in this post)...I am trying to re-organize my stuff...I have so many that need to be placed in the book (thousands, sadly)...
I did take a few pics of some of my mushroom stamps...they are so neat. Below are from Burkina Faso:
Some from Russia:
And a few from Mongolia:
And of course the one for my state!!!
I do have some dirty little secrets regarding my stamp collecting. One is really aweful, if you talk to anyone in the stamp world. Do I dare tell you? OK, I will because I don't care what anyone says. Well, unless anyone tells me I am going to prison for doing this!!! LOL.
1. I don't use traditional methods for placing the stamps in the stamp book...I glue them in using a glue stick! They can always be steamed off the paper, and I figure this is MY collection anyway...you see, I had a World collection growing up, and I gave it away in my early 20's. I hated those little hanger things to put the stamps in with...they are loose and discolor and just a pain to deal with. Nowadays, they have plastic sheets you can stick the stamps down in...acid free, etc., but the different sizes call for different sheets, and quite frankly, I am wayyyyy to cheap for that!!! So...I love my method, and short of prison, I won't give it up...so hate me if you must!
2. I love it if I find a stamp that matches up to the black and white pre-stamped areas of my book. You find one, and paste it over top to fill in your collection. Well, dirty secret # 2 is that if I have more stamps for that country and NOT the ones in the black and white areas, I cover over them with the ones I have! I figure if I ever get those ones underneath, I can put them on another page...who cares???
3. My last dirty little secret is that if I recieve any stamps on letters or donations from friends or family...that is absolutely WONDERFUL, and I am so grateful...because I do like collecting the older stamps too...they are all unique and amazing to me....but...lately in the past few years or so, I have gone to collecting TOPICAL stamps, which are beautiful stamps depicting animals, plants, people, etc. So, I have collections of dogs, cats, mushrooms, and some flowers, birds, Harry Potter, cloudscapes, artworks, etc. I started to figure out with this collecting business, that I should go ahead and get what I LIKE!!! They are so beautiful to look at...so I am concentrating on these.
So now the world knows my stamp collecting dirty secrets. Try to go easy on me...I'm not ready for prison yet!!! Now on to my new plants...
Mom and I were walking through Walmart and found these little wise-ancient looking tomatos plants...called Bush Tomatoes. They make large fruit on compact plants...perfect for growing on a patio or balcony it says! I did a Google search, and it says they can grow from 2 ft-4 ft, and even though a tomato cage isn't necessary to support the plant, you may need one to support the weight of the fruits! Sounds so impressive!
I brought them home, watered them with Miracle Gro houseplant liquid food, sat the little flat up on two paintbrushes for aereation below, and put them in my kitchen window until I decide what to do with them. My problems are I know they need sun, but probably can't take the full summer sun here (it is too late), and if I put them in my screenroom, I fear I will forget to water them, and my front porch doesn't get sun so much anyway...I wish I could grow them inside in a sunny window, but my grandkids would not allow that. Does anyone have any good ideas? I did think about adding them to my existing garden, and putting up shade cloth to only allow sun for the morning hours only...that is probably the best bet...but I would be interested in any ideas anyone might have. I really want these cuties to make it...I am so curious about the fruit!!!
Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and weekend!!!
xoxo- Julie