Moonlanding, Paraguay

I almost skipped today's Sunday Stamps...but having in mind today's subject, I felt I would regret if I don't post these stamps, so I'll try to squeeze in a short post here :)

these Paraguay stamps were issued in 1970 and come in a set of nine (so as usual, I must miss a stamp or two with such awesome issues!) On one of the stamps Im missing, you can also see President Kennedy, next to Wernher von Braun, who is also featured on the first stamp at the top.
Von Braun was German–American rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and, subsequently, in the United States and they call him the "Father of Rocket Science".
He was the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the superbooster that propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon (which is also portrayed on the first stamp).

The following (second row) stamp shows the first astronauts' landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969 (done by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin). And I think it is worth to mention the name of Michael Collins, who was the command module pilot for Apollo 11 and while Armstrong and Aldrin were having a walk on the Moon, Michael was orbiting the Moon.
The stamp next to it also shows the first men on the Moon, taking soil samples and the Apollo 11, while the third stamp in the second row shows the departure of Apollo 11 from the Moon.
The first stamp from the third row shows the landing of the Module, the one in the middle shows the  Lunar Module extraction, while the last  stamp of the ones I have is called Command/Service Module / Lunar Module.

Well, space has always fascinated me, and I wonder if one day we'd all be able to get on a spaceship and have coffee on some other planet...or whatever their specialty may be :)

For more space travels and natural phenomena, click on the button below...and Ill try later to visit everyone, including the pending ones from last Sunday...sorry, but life sometimes interferes

Year of the Tiger, Serbia

morning/afternoon/evening to all! Here comes another "issue" of the Sunday Stamps post. The theme being Lunar Year and Chinese stamps, I was not quite sure what to post...not that I do not have Chinese stamps...have a lot of those, but was somewhat indecisive...and then I realized I have this lovely FDC my dear Ana sent me some time ago, and it fits perfect into today's subject...I know it is the Year of the Snake now, but I must tell you that Im not really a snake lover...ok, im not at ALL a snake lover, I shudder at the thought of a snake, though the stamps Ive seen issued on the subject are really fascinating :) However, ill still go with the tigers this time :)

I must say that the Serbian postal service is issuing really fantastic stamps, and the Lunar Horoscope ones are not an exception....on the other hand, the Macedonian postal service has not yet issued anything related to this subject, EVER =/ Speaking of that, the philately lady should be back to work the following week, at a different post office though....the one that has undergone the fire is still far from offering normal working conditions...but well, I hope id be able to get some new stamps coz ive been really struggling with it..

bit off-topic..recently I watched "The Life of Pi" - a really nice movie...and if you've seen it, you are familiar with Richard Parker, the tiger appearing in the movie (whether he was a real character or part of Pi's imagination, that is for another discussion). Anyways, Richard Parker in soooooo many ways reminded me of my cat Foxy ...I know it may be crazy, but that look in his eyes, the way he was yawning, or stretching out his paws to fight....as if I have a miniature version of him at home....so since then, Ive started calling my cat Richard Parker too...they are both just adorable :)  Off to give him a pet :)  And you can see what others have picked for today...just click on the button below

Insects, China

I was ready to go with some butterflies for today's theme of insects, but somehow, the idea didnt really fulfill me, if i could express myself like that...despite butterflies being insects as well, I wanted something that gives that general association of insects...and I was almost to give up, when my eyes spotted this beautiful set of Chinese stamps...and voilà! :) So ill reserve my butterfly stamps for some butterfly theme :)

this set was issued June 28, 1992, where on the first one you can see The Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) which looks like a long and slender praying mantis, with different shades of brown, and it is typically larger than most other mantises. This species is often erroneously given the taxonomic name of Tenodera aridifolia sinensis, as it is on the stamp featured here.
The second stamp shows the Seven-dots ladybird (Coccinella Septempunctata)which is famous in China, because it preys on pests. There are about 5000 species in the ladybird family and most of them are beneficial insects. They are the natural enemy of aphids on the wheat, earthnut, and cotton.
The third stamp shows the Sympetrum Croceolum that belongs to the dragonfly family. There are about 4000 species in the world and in China they only can be found in the provinces of Fujian, Guangxi, and Jiangxi.
The last, fourth stamp, shows the lacewing fly (Chrysopa septempunctata), that is considered an important, common predator of several insects in China, Japan, Russia, and many parts of Europe. There are about 5000 species of lacewings in the world.

for more cute or not-so-cute insects, click on the button below