Gibraltar FDCs

A friend surprised me last year with two wonderful FDCs from Gibraltar  - one celebrating the 1st ever Gibraltar definitive stamp, the other with the views of the old town. Much appreciated!

Wild Ass FDCs, Sudan

Every now and then I scan ebay for donkey FDCs, and this time I really feel lucky - this set with African Wild Ass was issued in 1994 and so nicely presented here :)

African wild donkeys live in the deserts and other arid areas of the Horn of Africa, in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. It is critically endangered, with about 570 individuals existing in the wild. This species is believed to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey.

World Cup 2014 - India

Great FDC from Sauj, thank you once again :)

Goran Ivanišević, Wimbledon Winner 2001

I wasn't to post but one entry for Sunday Stamps, but then reading Ana's blog reminded me of this FDC which is apt for today as the Wimbledon finals Djokovic vs Federer is being played as we speak.

The whole nation was in front of their TVs in 2001 during Wimbledon finals, holding their breath dozens of times during the tense Ivanisevic vs Rafter match - the win came after five sets and tie-break in the last one, you can imagine the nerves! Esp for Ivanisevic who was known not only for his fast serve but also for swearing a lot and breaking his rackets heh. He was already nearing the end of his professional carreer and entered the tournament unseeded - he became the first wildcard, the first Croatian and the lowest ranked player in history (world No. 125) to claim the Wimbledon title :))

 

EUROPA 2012 - Russia

Wonderfully welcoming Russian FDC, thank you Runa :)
The last of the five 'missing' ones!

EUROPA 2012 - Czech Republic

Highly recognisable dancing house in Prague featured in CZ issue, thank you Radim :)

EUROPA 2012 - Estonia

'Postal Trinity' achieved with great stamps, cancellation and fdc/envelope - as always thank you Heidi :)

The Little Prince

It took me a while to post this because in my research I got immersed in the life story of  a French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, whose death/disappearance haven't been fully explained to this day. This FDC showing his most famous literary hero The Little Prince was issued in 1994 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the tragic event when Saint-Exupéry went on his ninth reconnaissance mission (being a war pilot) only to disappear without a trace. In May 2000 the partial remains of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning were found, spread over thousands of square metres of the seabed off the coast of Marseille, near to where the bracelet with his name was previously found.

“All men have stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems... But all these stars are silent. You-You alone will have stars as no one else has them... In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night..You, only you, will have stars that can laugh! And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me... You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure... It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh”

All of the novella's simple but elegant watercolour illustrations, which were integral to the story, were painted by Saint-Exupéry. What a mind, what a talent...

Discover more historical lessons clicking on this link:

 

Norfolk Island Christmas Stamp

Hello, nice to be back on Sunday Stamps :) I can see that I've missed a few exciting topics, but I am sure there will be other chances to post ships and singers ;) I have come back from a trip and still haven't settled into a routine; I am sure there are plenty of holiday stamps to show, but this is the one that I have scanned some time ago and is ready to be posted...A Norfolk Island Christmas stamp from 1970, commemorating the first Christmas Service in 1788. Merry Xmas time everyone! xD

Visit other participating blogs here:

Australian Antarctic Territory

I was happy to read that the theme for #144 Sunday Stamps is Arctic and Antarctic, as I have for some time had these in my collection, two FDCs from the Arctic Scenes series, from 1985 and 1987. I really love the cancellation on the second one, maybe I should enlarge it ;) And of course give you the link to other entries, which I am positive will be just awesome, its such a great theme! (again posting this early, and it will be my last post for a while...hope to contribute again in december :))

Greenland

An FDC from 1986 issued by Kalaallit Allakkeriviat which is to say Greenland Postal service, which changed its name to POST Greenland in 1997 after merging with TELE Greenland (into TELE-POST). The stamp is dedicated to Independant postal service. Another random find from my travels (no I wasn't in Greenland! I just like browsing thru postal shops :)) I was particularly attracted to the map cancellation :)

Peru Vintage

I have found these by a random street seller in Lima, he had a whole bundle of old postal items so I've chosen two FDCs issued in my birth year 1977 :)

Croatian Wildlife

Croatian wildlife is not very diverse, but still a few interesting species can be found (and seen if you are lucky..!). I am particularly fond of these two FDCs which show deer and white-tailed eagle (issue from 1993) and loggerhead sea turtle and bottlenose dolphin (1995). These stamps, as from the 90´s, are not valid for current use. Grr. xD

Many many great stamps on this topic, check here!

Wild Asses, India

How awesome is this cover??!! I am over the moon :))) This is a recent issue showing Kiang (the largest of the wild asses native to the Tibetan Plateau) and Khur (Indian wild ass, a subspecies of the onager native to Southern Asia). Thank you so SO much Saujanya xD

Macedonian Fauna And Serbian Reptiles

I was left speechless when I found this surprise in my mailbox - Ana sent me a cover full of stamps representing fauna of her home country Macedonia, Ohrid Trout, Balkan Spadefoot Toad, Macedonian Crested Newt and Macedonian Stone Crayfish, a set issued in 2009. Inside a fantastic FDC of Serbia Post issued in 2012, perfect for a reptile lover <3

Još jednom hvalaaaaaa bossita!!

Sunday Stamps #100 - Show Us Something Special!

First of all, congratulations to everyone participating in this great project, i am sure it is only 1st of many 'anniversaries' ! To celebrate, we show something we deem special - though in a way everything we decide to show for Sunday Stamps is special :)) But I immediately thought of these Royal Mail FDCs, because I don't think I would normally show them as they were not addressed to me...sometimes I browse ebay, as I have mentioned, but these (upper two) I have specifically looked for, because they were immediately sold out on the RM web-site! And although I was in the UK at the time of their issue, it was impossible to find them in POs :/ I think Royal Mail issues some of the most interesting and/or stunning sets, and getting them can be something like an ordeal..!

Anyways, here they are :)

*As a huge animal lover, and fauna being the favourite theme on covers, I chose this awesome set celebrating the 50th anniversary of WWF; featuring face-on-camera portraits of ten endangered animal species - the African elephant, mountain gorilla, Siberian tiger, polar bear, Amur leopard, Iberian Lynx, red panda, black rhinoceros, African wild dog and golden lion tamarin. Issued March 2011.

*The six "jigsaw" shape stamps celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species. More specifically, they commemorate Darwin and the areas of study which inspired his ideas of evolution : zoology, botany, geology, ornithology and anthropology. Issued in February 2009.

*So very British - the brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes, again reaching heights of popularity thanks to the recent movies and modernised TV series. The se-tenant strip of 5 stamps shows the scenes from different novels and with different characters. Interesting red cancellation! Issued in 1993.

This is turning into a monstruously (Moriarty-like?) long post, so I better leave you to check other very interesting posts for this sunday ;)