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 

Tornjak, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Hello Sunday Stampers and all you regular/random followers. Another one of my favourite subjects is on the agenda today and that is canines, i.e dogs. Again pretty much a difficult decision to make on which stamps to show, but well, I decided to introduce you a breed that may not be well-known in other countries.

I wanted to start this post with this story about one of the stray dogs in my neighbourhood, but the whole thing is really saddening me so in the end I decided to go without it and just stick to the stamps.

This set of four stamps was issued by the Croatian Post of Mostar (which is one of the three postal administrations of Bosnia and Herzegovina - if you find that confusing, you are not the only one), featuring the Tornjak dog which is a mountain sheep dog native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

Tornjaks are large and powerful dogs, with well proportioned, almost square-bodied features and agile movements. The dog's bones are not light, but nevertheless not heavy nor coarse. They have a long and thick double coat with a thick undercoat. The bodies of these dogs are strong and well built, with harmonious and dignified movements. The dogs have long and thick hair and this adequately protects them against poor weather conditions. The dogs typically possess shaggy tails, kept high like a flag. Tornjaks have a clear, self-confident, serious and calm disposition.

A typical adult Tornjak is very calm, peaceful, at first sight an indifferent animal, but when the situation demands it, it is a vigilant and very alert watchdog. The character is equal to the temperament; they are not nervous nor aggressive. In general, they are very tough, not too demanding, sturdy dogs. With their human family they are very emotional. When living in a pack they are highly social animals and there isn't any fighting between the pack members. Towards strangers or other animals, as a rule, Tornjak is not overly aggressive. But when the situation calls upon it, Tornjak is quite decisive and it can without any consideration attack even much stronger rivals. Shepherds used to say that a Tornjak who guards the flock is a fair match to two wolves, and a couple will confront and chase away a bear without any undue respect. In these situations Tornjaks are very tenacious.

For me, it is just another perfect dog for cuddling.

They can be either solid colored or parti-colored, usually the color white predominates.
The four stamps here issued in 22 February 2007, show both the brown and the black dog, and also the heads of both of these respectively.

Well Ive said this before but would like to point it out again - I love all dogs no matter their status, build, colour - but I always always prefer the stray, homeless animals that can be adopted than the ones for which one needs to pay money to have it and that are like for show off.
I used to have a rough-collie (better known as Lassie), but it was a gift :)

for more of these most humble and adorable creatures, visit today's edition of Sunday Stamps.