Elephants

Hello World! Or at least that teeny tiny part of it that cares about reading this.

It is a vowel letter day, which I decided to dedicated to Elephants as Endangered species portrayed on these two FDC's.

The first one comes from Gabon, where in 1988 a set of 4 stamps was issued, featuring the African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) which is the smallest of the three extant species of elephant, but still one of the largest living terrestrial animals. From an estimated population size of over 2 million prior to the colonization of Africa, the population in 2015 is estimated to be about 100,000 forest elephants, mostly living in the forests of Gabon. Due to a slower birth rate, the forest elephant takes longer to recover from poaching, which caused its population to fall by 65% from 2002 to 2014. It is estimated that the forest elephant could become extinct within ten years.

So even though back then in 1988 this animal was considered an endangered species, seems that 40 years later, nothing has been done about it.

The second FDC comes from Uganda, where in 1983 a set of 4 stamps was issued, this time representing the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) which is much larger in height and weight than the forest elephant, while the forest elephant has rounder ears and a trunk that tends to be more hairy. The bush elephant has few predators besides humans and while considered to be the most numerous of the three extant elephant species, its population continues to decline due to poaching for ivory and destruction of habitat.

It is said that ivory-seeking poachers have killed 100,000 African elephants in just three years, according to a new study that provides the first reliable continent-wide estimates of illegal kills. During 2011 alone, roughly one of every twelve African elephants was killed by a poacher.

Seriously, nothing can be more evil than a human being. Idiots!

Well I hope others have some more positive stories for today. So go ahead and check out today's Sunday Stamps issue.... and enjoy your Sunday or what is left of it :)

Dickens' Christmas Stories, Anguilla

Hello all from Skopje at 0 degrees Celsius...which I must say is much better compared to the previous days of -10 till -15...we had our first snow too, a LOT of snow, which on the first day was just fantastic despite all the chaos it caused....but now, everything is just grey and icy...
It is also a reminder that winter is coming (officially) and along with that, all the holidays too (which im NOT fond of - yeah, im one of those who shudder at the thought of the New Year euphoria). I don't know if you know, but here we celebrate the Orthodox Christmas which is on January 7, so the euphoria here revolves around New Year's Eve, while Christmas is more of a calm day and we dont really have the Christmas kind of spirit and atmosphere that we see the western world has....just saying :)

Anyways, it is also time for some Christmas stamps, and today I picked these coming from Anguilla which I  have these from since I was a child...my mum used to buy these for me when she'd be getting stamps for her at the philately, and Im glad she did, coz these are just gorgeous...so lovely and colourful and plus, coming from some rare countries from where I hardly doubt id get any other stamps!
(unfortunately, with all these sets im missing a stamp or two in each of them, and I really dont know how to find just the ones im missing, coz the dealers seem to be selling whole sets only...so if anyone could help, please, let me know :) From this one in particular im missing two and this set was issued in 1983 and on the stamps you have Christmas stories represented by Charles Dickens.

The first three stamps show the "Cricket on the Hearth", which was released 20 December 1845 and it talks about a cricket that constantly chirps on the hearth and acts as a guardian angel to the Peerybingle family.
If you want, you can watch the animated version on YouTube...seems perfect for the Christmas morning :)

these two stamps refer to Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"

It was first published on 19 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation resulting from supernatural visits from Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The book has never been out of print, and has been adapted to film, stage, opera, and other media multiple times.
For those who want to take a look at an animated version, you can check this one on YouTube

And the last two stamps I have from the set, refer to Dickens' story "The Chimes - A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In". It is a short novel, written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol and one year before The Cricket on the Hearth.

Unfortunately, there is no animated version of it on YouTube, but if anyone is interested in the Audio book, you can listen to it while doing the chores and errands in the house...it consists of 4 parts (or quarters), so it is rather lengthy, over 4 hours in total, but it may be convenient for the cold dark winter days when you just dont feel like moving out of the house :)



lets see how the pre-Christmas spirit has inspired the others...click on the button below...and have a great  Sunday! :)

Canada

Here is one fantastic cover i received from Canada, sent by Laura. The stamps she had chosen are just more than precious!

I will start with the 3 cents one, with the redish colour, which was issued in the distant 1937....it portrays the coronation of H.M. George VI and H.M Queen Elizabeth. George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions from 11 December 1936 until his death (6 February 1952). He was the last Emperor of India (until 1947), the last King of Ireland (until 1949), and the first Head of the Commonwealth. Elizabeth was the Queen consort of King George VI and the British Dominions from 1936 until his death in 1952. After her husband's death, she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. She was the last Queen consort of Ireland and Empress consort of India.
The coronation took place on 12 May 1937.
And this stamp IS somehow related to trains since King George and Queen Elizabeth were present at the
New Zealand government offices in  London, 19th October, 1939, when a model of  “J” Class locomotive  was presented to the  New Zealand government railways by the manufacturers, the North British Engineering CO. LTD., Glasgow.

The small grey  6c stamp is a definitive from 1970.

The stamp in the top right corner is from a set of 3 Christmas stamps issued in 1979.

The 64c stamp was issued in a set of 4 stamps in 1983, and it shows the Adam Brown locomotive, type 4-4-0, while the other two 32c stamps were issued the following 1984, also in a set of four. The one on the left shows the Countess of Dufferin type 4-4-0 locomotive, which was the first steam locomotive to operate in the Canadian prairie provinces.The stamp next to it shows the Scotia 0-6-0 type locomotive.

Sorry if you are getting an overdoes of trains here..but you know i simply LOVE them!

And thank you sooooooo much Laura for such a precious cover!