Sunday Funnies

This weeks theme on Sunday Stamps is 'faces' and I found the perfect stamp to illustrate this theme: Lo and behold ... the great Calvin and Hobbes in their most famous pose.

This postage stamp is from a 2010 USPS series called Sunday Funnies and also features Garfield, Archie, Dennis the Menace and Beetle Bailey. Read more about the series on the USPS Stamps website.

I received the stamp on a postcard from the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden showing Manatees. They also have very expressive if somewhat mournful faces. Awww so cute!

Check out Sunday Stamps to see more.

Year of the Domestic Ruminant

February 19th was the Chinese or Lunar New year and the start of the year 4713. The Chinese also have 12 astrological or zodiac symbols, one for each year in the cycle but they are all animals and if you are born in that year it is believed that you will have the characteristics of that animal. I was born in the year of the Ox and therefore should be calm, patient and dependable. If only ^_~ The animals are:

Rat

Ox

Tiger

Rabbit

Dragon

Snake

Horse

Sheep

Monkey

Rooster

Dog

Pig

This is the year of the sheep. But also the goat. Basically the year of the domestic even toed ungulate. Sheep and goats are nothing alike as far as I can tell. However sheep are not as nice as they look and goats are obviously not evil. So perhaps being born in the year of the sheep/goat means you will be a perfectly pleasant person. Or you will have a split personality!

This is the only stamp I could find showing any kind of domestic ungulate. Obviously since I live in South Africa I have plenty showing wild antelopes.

This stamp came in a packet marked Pan Africa but most of the stamps were from Malta, which is in Europe. There were also a few stamps from the Maldives and Macau (both in Asia) as well as Mexico, Martinique and Montserrat (all in the Americas). In the whole packet there were 5 stamps from Africa! It was one of those very delightfully quirky things that happen occasionally.

It is very common here in South Africa to have a young boy looking after goats and cattle. Or rather you see the goats and cattle wandering all over the road (even in busy urbanised areas) and no boy at all.

Check out Sunday Stamps to see more.

send a Hello

The theme this week for Sunday Stamps is anything you like and Viridian has featured 2 stamps she received on a postcard from the UK.

I received these stamps on a postcard from the USA in 2012 and they feature the Liberty Bell and 2 stamps from a set of 5 called 'send a .... HELLO' issued by the USPS on August 19, 2011.

The set features characters from Pixar movies not just Remy the rat and Linguini from Ratatouille (2007) and Buzz Lightyear and a few aliens from Toy Story (1995) who you see above but also Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars (2006), Carl and Dug from Up (2009); and the eponymous WALL*E (2008)

Check out Sunday Stamps to see more.

Gulo gulo

The theme this week for Sunday Stamps is mammals and Viridian has used a lovely stamp from China of elephants. I have seen lots of elephants - not Asian ones of course but African ones, because I live in Africa. But the stamps I have chosen are of an animal I will probably never see in real life because it is so rare and found only in the far North, the mysterious cold North. This animal is the Wolverine. It's Latin binomial is Gulo gulo which translates to glutton. The wolverine is a fierce killer, a poacher of the prey of others and a scavenger of carrion who likes to cache it's food under the snow and return later - hence it's reputation as a big eater. Anna wrote on her postcard that they are called the 'demon of the taiga'.

These two stamps come from a set of 4 released by Russia in 2004. This is what the whole set looks like:

Check out Sunday Stamps to see more. Joy has a fabulous selection of South African stamps, Danut has bears from Vietnam and there is a lot more.

Natures Poem

This weeks theme for Sunday Stamps is 'flowers, or Spring'.

Actually it is the end of summer here in South Africa. Where I live we will soon experience a short autumn period but it is hardly noticeable as most trees and shrubs are evergreen. Down the road in the park there are some plane trees which turn golden and look very pretty until the colder weather arrives. They are native to North America and I think they might be called Sycamores there.

Then there will be two or three months of cool, crisp days and chilly nights (by our standard, for example I hardly think a Canadian will be bothered to even think of putting on a long sleeved shirt). During this time is is usually very dry and then in August the rains come and summer is not far away.

When I lived in England, for the first time ever I experienced all the seasons. In London spring lasts a very short time, characterised by the wonderful flowering blossoms in many front gardens. I saw cherry blossoms for the first time and fell in love with them. Or perhaps I had seen them before in South Africa but taken them for granted in a country which is so full of wonderful plant life you can hardly look anywhere without your senses being overwhelmed. After the bleak miserable winter in London I saw cherry blossoms and I felt like Cinderella when her fairy Godmother turns up!

But before the blossoms, the first flower that I saw in early spring was the delicate daffodil. How astonished I was one day, trudging to Sainsbury's across a public field used by kids to play football, miserably hunched over by the cold to see three golden delights in the mud under a tree. I stopped and stared, just astonished that something so wonderful could grow in such a grey and sodden world. Suddenly there was hope!

Anyway this lovely daffodil stamp was part of a set of 4 released by USPS on March 15, 2005. The other flowers are a hyacinth, an iris and a tulip. The artist was Christopher Pullman.

I leave you now with a poem by William Wordsworth.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Snow Soft

I received this postcard from Kate in Russia for the February 50 Round Robin. It was in my favourites so I am very happy to have received it. Naturally I picked it because of the adorable sleeping cats ^_^

The artist is Anna Petrova and she appears to have quite a few postcards, all in this charming and whimsical style.

On the back of the card it says 'снежные-нежные' which according to Google translates as 'Snow-Soft'.

I Saw a Ship a-sailing

After seeing Fabienne's post showing traditional boats in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam I decided to post this lovely junk I received only yesterday.

Junks were first in use about 2000 years ago during the Han Dynasty and evolved over time to be used in long sea voyages. They are still in use today in their modern form.

The English word 'junk' comes originally from the Chinese word 'chuán' which means a boat or ship.

Old Tom Gin

This is an advertisement poster circa 1880 for Cordial Old Tom Gin distilled by Boord & Son of London and apparently distributed in the USA by Du Vivier & Co of New York.

Gin is an alcoholic beverage whose flavour comes primarily from Juniper berries. The name 'Gin' comes from either the French 'genièvre' or the Dutch 'jenever' both of which mean Juniper. There have apparently been various forms of gin over the years and Old Tom Gin was a slightly sweetened version that was popular in the 1700's in England (so long before this advert). It was a cloudy drink back then and only became the clear liquid known today when distillation methods improved.

I love this postcard but remember dogs and cats should never drink alcohol! (And nor should humans in my opinion.)

Splendeurs de Bretagne

Splendors of Brittany
Back in Brittany again and I do not have much time except to say that this adorable bird is a Puffin. There are only 3 species of Puffin in the world whereas there are 17 species of Penguins! This is an Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), the other two species live in the Pacific Ocean.

In spring orange plates grow over the bill which are then shed later, after the breeding season. Puffins are monogamous and both incubate the one egg and care for the chick that they hatch out.

Admirable Women

March is Women's History month in the USA so this week the theme at Sunday Stamps is 'famous women, women's rights, International Women's Day, etc.'

I searched through my postcards and letters and found the following stamps featuring famous women.

Maria Goeppert Mayer
A set of 4 stamps (the third to be released) honouring scientists in a variety of fields was issued on 16 June 2011.

Maria Goeppert Mayer was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who worked at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in the 1940's and '50s. She is one of only two women to have won the Nobel Prize for Physics - the other was Marie Curie in 1903.

Mary Lasker
From 2000 to 2008 the USPS released 12 stamps in the Distinguished Americans series, 6 of which were women. I have only two of these, Mary Lasker and Edna Ferber.

Lasker was an activist and philanthropist who raised funds for medical research and founded the Lasker Foundation which according to it's website is "dedicated to the support of biomedical research toward conquering disease, improving human health and extending life."

Edna Ferber
This definitive stamp is fourth in the Distinguished American series and honors Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber.

Ferber was a novelist, short story writer and playwright whose works included the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel 'So Big' (1924), 'Show Boat' (which was made into the celebrated 1927 musical), and 'Giant' (made into the 1956 Hollywood movie starring James Dean).

Carmen Miranda
This stamp is from a set of 5 titled Latin Music Legends that was released by USPS on the 16th of March 2011.

Carmen Miranda was a samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star who recorded her first album in Brazil before the age of 21. In 1939 she went to Hollywood and by 1946 she was Hollywood's highest-paid entertainer. She died of a heart attack in 1955, only 46 years of age. Her body was flown back to Rio where 60,000 people attended her mourning ceremony and the government declared a period of national mourning. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Alice Hamilton
Between 1980 and 1999 the USPS released 63 stamps in The Great Americans definitive series which includes writers, politicians, composers, physicians, educators etc.

Alice Hamilton was a medical doctor who earned her degree from the University of Michigan in 1893. Her work lead to improvements in factories and better lives and health for industrial workers. In 1919 she became the first woman appointed to the Harvard faculty.

Barbara Jordan
This is the 34th stamp in the Black Heritage series which started in 1978 with the release on 1st February of a stamp commemorating the amazing Harriet Tubman. Harriet was an abolitionist, humanitarian, suffragist, nurse, escaped slave, spy and the rescuer of more than 70 slaves along the Underground Railroad. Barbara Jordan was a lawyer and a politician which is not nearly so exciting but she did achieve a lot in her 60 years.

And that is the end of my collection of famous ladies on stamps. Check out Sunday Stamps to see more.

A Chamber Opera

I received this beautiful postcard from Russia when I took part in the Alphabetical tag on the Postcrossing Forum. Have you ever taken part in a tag? It can be lots of fun! The lovely person who tagged me checked my favourites ^_^

This is actually a poster, circa 1885 for a chamber opera. What is a chamber opera? I had no idea myself so I asked wikipedia who tells me:

Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.

The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small performance spaces.

So now I know! However I cannot imagine the story of Puss in Boots performed as an opera, even a small one.

Oddly enough I was just reading about Benjamin Britten the other day because he and WH Auden collaborated on an opera using the words of Auden's poem 'Stop all the clocks'. I happened to be looking it up because I took part in Emilie's 'Adopt Penguin Books Postcards' project. It will be interesting to see how long the cards take to travel back to the USA.

This was a post for Postcard Friendship Friday at "The Best Hearts are Crunchy". Check out the other participants to see more lovely postcards!

The Sound that Isn't

I had never heard of Milford Sound until I received this postcard from New Zealand. I actually though the word 'Sound' was only used for bays in North America but it turns out there are 'Sounds' on every continent except Africa.

According to wikipedia:

In geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land (see also strait).

This definition seems both pedantic and contradictory at the same time. You would have to measure the length, width, depth of the bay in order to determine if it was larger, deeper or wider than other bodies of water only to discover that it is allowed to be narrow as long as land is on either side.

Anyway it turns out that the usage of the word is inconsistent and although Milford is called a Sound it is too narrow and is actually a Fjord.

Milford Sound was a finalist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature contest

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To the End of the Line

The theme for this weeks Sunday Stamps is 'Streetcars or any kind of public transportation'.

I spent an enjoyable hour last night sitting in bed listening to the very welcome rain and looking at all the stamps on my postcard collection. I have received some amazing stamps! People are so considerate and usually send me animals (my favourite theme) which is wonderful but means there are very few trains, planes or automobiles.


Geležinkeliui Lietuvoje

However I finally found two. The one above is from Lithuania and was issued on 8th August 2009 to celebrate 150 years of Railways in the country.

From the Lithuania Postal site (translated by Google):

In February 1851 the czarist Russian government took the decision to build a railway line in St Petersburg-Warsaw, the Lithuanian territory which had spread through the towns as Ignalina, Vilnius, Lentvaris and Varena with a branch through Kaunas to Kybartai (Virbalis), and then reached the Prussian frontier.

According to Google maps if I were to drive from St Petersburg to Warsaw today (on existing roads) it would be a journey of 1,205 km and take approximately 16 hours and 55 mins. I would drive past Kaunas which is where the postcard came from. Marvelous!


Patrimonio de la Humanidad

This second stamp is from Chile and was issued on the 12th of July 2010. It quite clearly says 'Trolebús' on it which means 'Trolley' in English however I had no idea what 'Patrimonio de la Humanidad' meant. According to Google this Spanish term translates to 'Heritage'. In fact this stamp is part of a set of 4 that commemorates the heritage and culture of the city of Valparaíso in Chile, nicknamed 'The Jewel of the Pacific'.

This is the end of my post for Sunday Stamps #60 but before I go here is Judy Garland and the chorus of 'Meet me in St Louis' singing the Trolley Song.

New Friends

I received this lovely postcard today from Annett in Munich who found my address on lettermo.com.

Annett writes that the main photo for this card is of the Christmas market taking place in Marienplatz, which is right in the city centre. Doesn't it look wonderful with all the lights and the gorgeous Christmas tree? That magnificent building is the New Town Hall which was built between 1867 and 1908 and contains 400 rooms! They really do things big!

The other three smaller pictures were also taken in winter and show the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower in English) which is actually a famous beer garden; the Friedensengel (Angel of Peace in English) located in Maximilian Park and the Theatinerkirche (Theatine Church of St. Cajetan in English) built between 1663 and 1690.

I have received two other pieces of mail through lettermo - one from Tish in the USA and one from Linzé who lives in Pretoria! I haven't received any mail from another South African for ages, even my own family! My attempts to convince them to send me postcards fail because they tell me they will be back from their holiday before the postcard arrives!

So A Month of Letters is over. I did not post any letters because I had enough postcards to write and I managed to post 101 of them! I am pretty pleased with myself ^_~

Mysterious Places

I am late today and after seeing Sheila's blog I decided to also feature an ancient site - however a lot more is known about the ancient civilizations of South America than will probably ever be known about those of Africa.

Chichen Itza is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World although it is in fact really old - having been built around 600 CE (Common Era).

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A Rebirth

More than 2000 km south east of Moscow, where the Irtysh and Om rivers meet, is the amazing and beautiful city of Omsk. When Tanya contacted me about a trade I was astonished at the number of beautiful postcards she had and it was difficult to choose only three. However this postcard was definitely my first choice.

This is the info on the back of the card:

Omsk. The rebirth of the Uspensky Cathedral. 2007. It was built in 1891-1898. The Cathedral was demolished in 1935. Is in 2007 recovered.

I wondered why such a beautiful building was destroyed. Wikipedia added the info that it was 'blown up' but not why. In an article at the OmskTime website I found this (it is tranlated from Russian so please excuse Google ^_~):

The Cathedral is a unique historical monument, as during the Civil War, he was the main cathedral of White Russia, the Bolsheviks were therefore considered it their duty to destroy this holy Orthodox Russian people, as happened in 1935. Now the restoration of the cathedral was an act of repentance.

So only 37 years after completion the Cathedral was destroyed and then 72 years later it is rebuilt to the original design. Amazing! Despite everything that humans do to each other, we resiliently wait until we can rebuild.

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A Dog's Life

This is from the same set of stamps that Viridian showcased on her blog. The set, entitled 'Ukrainian Homestead' or 'Ukrainian Farmstead' (depending on the source of the info) is super cute!

So the theme this week at Sunday Stamps is 'cats and dogs, and other pets on stamps'. I am a cat lover for sure - I think every single cat is beautiful and I love them all. But my life has been taken over by dogs. I own two; a Pekingese named Tasha and an Australian Cattle Dog named Dexy and I love them both very much.

Many stamps have been issued (some from very unlikely countries) featuring the Pekingese. I own the following three stamps and they have pride of place in my dog album.

This stamp was issued by the Bantustan of Transkei in 1993 in a set of four that also included the Chihuahua, the Papillon and the Dachshund. The following year the Transkei was incorporated back into South Africa. I particularly like this stamp because of the cheeky expression on the dogs face.

This stamp was issued by Panama, in central America in 1967. The set is lovely and includes a cat, two roosters, two breeds of cattle, a pig and a horse so perhaps the theme was domestic animals of Panama. This is my favourite stamp because it looks most like my own dog.

This stamp was issued by the southeast Asian country of Cambodia in 1997. It is in a set with many other breeds of dog, all of them Asian in origin. This stamp shows off the mane that makes Pekes the true 'Lion Dog'.

Sadly I do not have any stamps of Australian Cattle Dogs. The breed is relatively new but already there have been a number of issues featuring them including this set released by Australia in 1980.

Here is the Maxicard for the ACD stamp.

I do believe that ACD puppies must be the cutest of all the dog breeds ^_~

This is the stamp from the 2008 issue entitled 'Working Dogs' and featuring other breeds of dogs that work in Australia including the Border Collie and German Shepherd.

I absolutely love this stamp. It also has a Maxicard but I haven't managed to get one yet. :(

Here are some Zazzle stamps I made with photos of my ACD Dexy.

Are you a dog or a cat person?
	Definitely a dog person
	Certainly a cat person
	Neither
	I love them both
	I dislike them both
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Well that's all for dogs today. Next weeks theme is 'anything you wish'.