Soil Science: Sunday Stamps

Hello blogosphere!
I am pretty excited to be linking back in with Viridian's Sunday Stamps this week, where the theme is all about geology, rocks and the environment. I am excited because I get to share this very cool first day cover I found at a market the other week, when I took a day trip out of the city with two of my sisters.

We visited the Mill Markets, a massive vintage/retro-goods market in Daylesford, about an hour out of Melbourne. I was pretty wrapped with this First Day Cover,  the 9th International Congress of Soil Science from 1968.

It is not entirely geological - but definitely related, I would say.  I loved the stamp and the cover instantly, because working with archaeologists makes one rather enamoured with soils, strangely enough.

The type on the cover is red foil embossed, so it is all pretty spiffy, what with the nice type and little rural scene. I had not seen the cover before, so I am pretty happy to add it to my collection. However, I already had the stamp in my collection.

 I do like the "science-y" imagery of the stamp. It has a pair, issued for the World Medical Association Assembly. Not as nice as the soil stamp, but still pretty cool, it features Hippocrates floating above a syringe. I am glad the designer chose to also write the name of the greek head somewhat randomly perched on the syringe, because otherwise I would have been a bit puzzled.

Following on from the above, I thought I would include one last stamp today. I think it fits quite nicely, both visually with the hands, and thematically with the science. It was released eight years after the soil stamp, in 1976. It celebrates 50 years of the CSIRO - the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation - which is Australia's national science agency.

I love the CSIRO stamp. I love the CSIRO. I love the stamp for featuring graph paper and a scale bar. Awesome.

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From Kongwak to Vanuatu via Hawaii: Volcanoes and other eruptions

There are things in the universe that are rumbling tonight in 'I heart post' headquarters; ominous 'things' are occurring... the tectonic plates of my little world are creaking just a little. The volcanoes are not exactly erupting, but I think the hot springs are beginning to boil.

The feeling of things being afoot came this afternoon when Ferret (my sister) told me a bushfire was dangerously close to my hometown. Turns out that things on that front should be just fine for my parents (touch wood), but the fire is dancing around other little hamlets in the bush near my parent's place. I hope that everyone is okay.

The other major thing that happened tonight (on a much less dramatic, and more insular Helen-scale) is that it looks like I  need to find a new housemate. My sister Elspeth has gotten an amazing opportunity to work in Vanuatu! Wow! Congratulations Elspeth. But oh no... what am I to do? No sister to go jogging with :( No sister to have coffee with in the morning. This is bad for Helen. Great for Elspeth though, so I will try not to be too selfish about the whole thing. And besides, now I get to plan a holiday to Vanuatu! Hooray! Everyone's a winner!

Now these postcards I am sharing with you are not of Vanuatu. They are from Hawaii... but Vanuatu has volcanoes too - and Elspeth is going to be living right near one. Scary! But exciting. I love climbing volcanoes - I have climbed one in Indonesia (Kawah Ijen, with an amazing sulfur lake in its crater) and one in New Zealand (Mount Tongariro... it erupted last year!). But I am yet to see lava. Although the thought of molten lava makes me a tremble a little - I totally want to see some! (But no bushfires. I definitely do not want to see bushfires).

Anyhow, my volcano postcards come from an album that contains not only postcards from Hawaii, but postcards from Hollywood and Disneyland too. They are a collection of postcards that I bought from the Kongwak market, that are in an old-school photo album collated lovingly by someone after a trip to the US in the 70s. It is possibly my favourite market buy of all time.

I love how 70s the images are, and the colours. I mean - doesn't the picture above look like a villan's lair from a classic Bond film? I love it. I have been meaning to share this wicked collection of postcards ever since I started this blog, so please savour all the retro-goodness:

So as I wind up this post, just before I head off to bed, it seems that a quick check of the Country Fire Authority website indicates that the status of the bushfire warnings have all been downgraded, and things are under control. Now for me to stay under control while I come to grips with the prospect of no Elspie for 12 months. Thoughts of visiting Vanuatuan volcanoes are helping.