Manul, Tajikistan

Another Sunday is about to come and go, and before it does, it is time for another Sunday Stamps episode - this one right on time :)


It is time for the letter M, and one lovely chubby creature called Manul .featured on this amazing stamp sheet from Tajikistan, issued on 28th June 1996.

The manul, also known as the Pallas's cat, is a small wild cat with a broad but fragmented distribution in the grasslands and montane steppes of Central Asia. It is negatively affected by habitat degradation, prey base decline and hunting, and has therefore been classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2002.

It cat was first described in 1776 by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas, hence the name.

Also the Pallas' glass lizard, Pallas' viper, Pallas's long-tongued bat, Pallas's tube-nosed bat, Pallas's squirrel, Pallas's leaf warbler, Pallas's cormorant, Pallas's fish-eagle, Pallas's gull, Pallas's sandgrouse, Pallas's rosefinch, and Pallas's grasshopper warbler were first described by him, as can be seen in their names.

I don't think the manul is meowing as regular cats. but for another m-related to this, the Macedonian word for a cat is machka (мачка), so there we go :)

Check out the rest of the M's here

Meow!! .

Queen Elizabeth II, Tanzania

One of the letters I had received from my former penpal in Tanzania, Piller...from this point of view, feels really sad to see with how many people I had lost touch actually...

The stamp on the cover was issued in 1996, in a set of 3 stamps in order to commemorate the 70th Birthday of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II . Honestly, i think these Tanzanian stamps are much much much more appealing than those ones that the English post issues on every occasion and which "decorate" every second thing I receive from England. 

Ski Jumping, Austria

While the Winter Olympics are still going on, a nice cover from Austria from one of my former Austrian penpals....

the stamp issued in 1996, represents Ski jumping held at Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf, which back in 1996 was the host of Ski Jumping World Cup, held at the Kulm Ski Flying Hill.

Spa Autoraces, Belgium

Due to the fact i had many Belgian penpals back in time, I also have a lot of lovely Belgian covers....this is one of the many favourites...

In 1996 the Belgian post issued 4 stamps in order to commemorate the 100 years since racing has taken place on the Spa Francorchamps circuit. All stamps have a value of 16 Belgian francs. Here on the cover, my former penpal Lies, used two of those, showing Ferrari 330P from 1967 (the left stamp) and Alfa Romeo P2 from 1925 (the right stamp). Lovely!