Coffee

This warm day of March may fool you that spring has arrived, being it is 22 C right now, but the following days shall prove me wrong cos it's gonna be all cold and rain again... meh. I don't mind the rain as long as I don't have to go outside and do stuff....but since that's not the case, I can just say I'm really not looking forward to next week :P

Anyways, we are already in the third episode of the new A-Z Sunday Stamps season, and I almost went with cats, again, but then I told myself, Ana, just get out of that comfort zone and post something else... so I decided to go into another comfort zone of mine, and that is Coffee :D


I was actually surprised to see that there aren't that many coffee related stamps out there, and out of those not-that-many, seems like I only have these...didn't do a thorough check though..

First is an FDC issued by HP Mostar, one of the three postal entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

International Coffee Day was celebrated on October 1st 2015 in Milan  for the first time, and it was organized by the International Coffee Organization – ICO through emphasizing coffee's journey from the manufacturer to coffee lovers. Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is a tropical plant whose colour and scent partially depend on the time used for baking its beans, and the quality of this drink depends on the manner of grinding the beans.
The two most popular sorts are: Coffea arabica (typica and bourbon) and Coffeacanephora (robusta). It comes from Ethiopia, from the Kaffa region by which it got its name. The legend says that the drink was discovered by a shepherd named Kaldi that noticed that his goats were more energetic after having nibbled on the red berries. After tasting the coffee berries for himself he concluded that they gave him additional energy, so he shared his discovery with the Coptic priests in a nearby monastery. Through them, coffee expanded to the Arabic peninsula where the process of preparation, serving and drinking coffee was developed. In Europe coffee appeared in 1570 when the Venetian traders transported it to Venice along with tobacco.

There were two stamps issued on this occasion on October 1st 2018, i.e last year.

The other set comes from Sweden, showcasing 4 different stamps of hot coffee, where, my guess is, the preparation of coffee in a coffee shop is presented, starting from the washing of cups, choosing your coffee and finally preparing it. Very cute.
These were issued on 29th March 2006.

Are you a coffee lover or do you prefer tea? I'm a coffee person myself, but not that I cannot live without it, just that I kinda don't want to - having a cup of coffee in the morning has more of a psychological effect on me than that it actually helps me wake up or whatever.

Btw, if you are ever (like me) not so sure what you are about to order, here are some simple guidelines :D

cheers to this magic liquid!

For the rest of the C-entires, take a look at here 

Soda Fountain Favorites, USA

wasn't really planning on posting something here today...but then the postman came this morning (took me by surprise I must say since I really dont take part in any exchanges or so..even my official account has been set to inactive..). Anyways, as I said, the postman came, dropped a few things, and sabotaged my plan of being lazy :D

Few weeks ago the USPS issued this set of stamps that got me drooling all over at the very first glance! These could be like one of the most mouth-watering and most scrumptious stamps I've ever seen, like ever!! (might be cos I also have a soft spot for everything coffee/ice-cream related).

I tried to refrain from putting these as a cover photo on the blog so that I don't give myself out, but seems that I am too transparent sometimes, so some people are like mind-readers and know what I have laid my eyes on :))))

The stamps were issued on 30 June and this is what the USPS have to say about the set:

- The U.S. Postal Service celebrates soda fountain favorites the cold, sweet treats beloved by people of all ages. The act of savoring cool, fizzy confections is a national pastime that dates back generations. (not the healthiest one, I must add....)

 Each of the 20 self-adhesive Soda Fountain Favorites stamps showcases one of these five illustrations: a doublescoop ice cream cone, an egg cream, a banana split, a root beer float, and a hot fudge sundae.

By the late 1800s, Americans had long since begun drinking carbonated beverages for their pleasant taste, rather than their supposed health benefits. Soda jerks, the skilled operators of the nation's bustling soda fountains, offered a wide variety of syrups to flavor their product. The ice cream soda's precise origin is not clear, but by the turn of the 20th century it had become a fountain staple. The rise of refrigeration helped establishments produce, serve, and store frozen confections, whose popularity surged. By the 1960s, the number of soda fountains had dramatically decreased, but today soda fountain culture lives on in homes, restaurants, and ice cream parlors across America.


Soda fountains are not really popular here in Macedonia, but the carbonated unhealthy beverages certainly are. I used to drink a lot of these back in high-school for example (and for some reason I always prefer Sprite to Coke...). I stopped drinking them long time ago after I realized that they don't really quench my thirst, but on the whole contrary make me actually both thirsty and hungry and mess up with my digestion. I occasionally may take a sip of Coke or Bitter Lemon (like twice a year), and that's it...however, I cannot say I am that disciplined when it comes to the ice-cream and other sweet stuff :)

Thanks a lot to Bryon for this delicious surprise (feels like a payback for all the chocolate-smudged cards...:P)

Have a sweet weekend ahead everyone!

World Food Conference, Ghana

I used to have a penpal in Ghana too....yeah....another *used to* here....well, its not as if the postal service with Africa was the most reliable one, but im still not sure what happened with this one

In 1993 Ghana issued a nice set of 5 stamps regarding the World Food Conference, where the first one was held back in 1974 in Rome and is famous for one of the statements how within 10 years, no child would go to bed hungry.
Well, we are all pretty much aware where that statement stands today, no?

On the stamp you can see fish, peanuts, runner beans, meat....or all together, as the stamp says *Body building foods*