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! :)

Send a Hello, USA

what a better way to greet you at the start of the new week, if not with these adorable stamps issued by USPS....so, Im sending a hello to all of you around the world and hope you have a fantastic and fruitful week ahead!

I fell for this issue, the moment I received a postcard with the "UP" stamp....I absolutely love that cartoon and i was so excited to have received it on a stamp...when it arrived on a cover, along with the rest of the stamps in the set, i was über-excited!!! And believe it or not, I have this fantastic set on 3 covers, where the one above and the one below, arrived on the very same day :D For the cover above, and the third one (which arrived a bit later), Bryon is to blame! For the cover in the middle, Patrick is to blame

the funny thing is, all covers have the stamps in the same order! I guess thats how they are sold :)

a few words about the stamps included here (how USPS described their issuing)

- Since 1986, the films of Pixar Animation Studios have stretched the boundaries of our imagination with stories about unlikely heroes who explore the bonds of friendship and family. Now some of those heroes are the subjects of colorful new Send a Hello (Forever®) stamps that encourage people to connect with loved ones through the mail. These new stamps capture the delight of finding a letter, greeting card, or package waiting in your mailbox. It puts a shine on the rest of the day-even before you've opened it. Despite all the ways we communicate with friends and family today, there's still nothing as personal as knowing someone took time to choose a card … write a letter … wrap a package … and even choose a special stamp simply to "Send a Hello"

-(dont you just recognize yourself as a postcrosser in the description above? I certainly do, coz one of my favourite moments of the day is when I find something in my mailbox, and see that someone has taken his/her time to choose a nice card for me, to choose the stamps, to write me a a nice message, to find something he/she knows I would like and send it to me to surprise me....the moments of the day when I go around the stores, finding nice cards and then coming home and see what to send to whom...finding a matching stamp or stamp(s) i know the recipient would love....the moments of going to the PO or to the philately and buy bunch of stamps, making sure there something in that pile for everyone's taste and preferences, finding that perfect card for someone and just jump around of excitement, wondering what the expression on their faces would be when they find that card as a total surprise in the mail.....)

Yup, those are definitely some of my favourite times of the day/week/month!

the following characters have been featured on the stamps (from left to right)

* Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars (2006)
* Remy the rat and Linguini from Ratatouille (2007)
* Buzz Lightyear and two of the green, three-eyed aliens from Toy Story (1995)
* Carl Fredricksen and Dug from Up (2009)
* the robot WALL•E from WALL•E (2008)

 technical details:

 Date of issue: 19 August 2011
Denomination: First-Class Forever
Type of Issue: Commemorative Stamp
Format: Pane
Manufacturing Process: Gravure
Paper Type: Nonphosphored, Type III,
Block Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Stamp Size: 31.12 x 31.12 mm


thanks so much to Bryon and Patrick for these!!! I LOVE them!! And thanks to ALL of YOU who had ever sent me a card or a letter or anything and made my day happier and brighter! This post is dedicated to you all!!!

Thomas the Tank Engine, UK

Some days ago my mailbox was again pleasantly treated and surprised by Silvan, who had ordered for me two fantastic items! I honestly didnt even know this issue was released until I opened the envelopes! And what do I see inside?? The lovely Thomas the Tank Engine!
In case you havent watched the cartoons, you should spare some time and do so...and dont worry for looking 'childish'...I personally have been downloading these series too, and try to watch an episode or two every now and then when I manage to grab some free time....Thomas is one very cute engine :)

the Royal Mail had issued several items this year, and what I must point out here (or brag about) is that the two items i had received are considered 'special issues', since they were available only on issue date and cant be purchased anymore...at least not from Royal Mail, but maybe you can find them from someone who has bought them and can give them to you.
The above envelope is an FDC with stamps, while the one below contains the mini sheet of four stamps.

Do you actually know how Thomas was born?
It all started with Wilbert Awdry, whose passion for railways had been instilled in him by his clergyman father, Vere, and when Wilbert himself had a family, he shared his railway enthusiasm with his own son, Christopher. It was while two-year-old Christopher was suffering with measles that Wilbert tried to enliven his son's bed-bound quarantine by telling stories and drawing pictures about a group of little engines. He wrote down the stories, and was encouraged by his wife to get his work into print. Eventually in May 1945, The Three Railway Engines - featuring 'Edward's day out', 'Edward and Gordon', 'The Sad Story of Henry' and 'Edward, Gordon and Henry' - was published, and soon more than 45,000 copies had been sold. Between 1945 and 1972, Reverend Awdry wrote 26 volumes in The Railway Series, and in 1983 Christopher began writing stories for the series. A year later, the engines of Sodor were brought to the small screen courtesy of television producer Britt Allcroft.  Filmed in 'live-action model animation', Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends enjoyed almost instant success. Since September 1984, 348 episodes and 14 series have been broadcast, the last two series produced in full computer-generated imagery. With over 200 million books sold globally, and the programmes viewed by more than a billion households worldwide every week, Thomas & Friends continues to entertain and delight the children throughout the world.

technical specifications:


Date of issue: 14 June 2011
Process of printing: lithography
Format: landscape
Phosphor: all over
Number of stamps: 6
Size: 60mm x 21 mm
Perforations: 14.5 x 14.5


number of stamps in the mini sheet: 4
sheet size: 115mm x 89mm
Size: 41mm x 30mm
Perforations: 14.5 x 14


So if you are having a lazy weekend and the weather outside aint really convinent for outdoor activities, make some popocorn or get some snacks and enjoy some time with Thomas and his friends.

And thank sooo much Silvan for always bringing such pleasure to my mailbox!

Cartoons, The Netherlands

Today I received a bunch of stamps, and they arrived in this fantastic envelope!

We are again at the issue of Comics without Disney, by total coincidence :)
These were issued by the Dutch post office in 2001 in a set of 5 stamps dedicated to some of the Cartoon Network and Turner Entertainment Cartoons. I am missing only one of the stamps, but these 4 look lovely as well.
You can surely recognize Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, Johnny Bravo and Dexter. On the missing stamp are the Powerpuff Girls, so honestly, i dont feel that disappointed for not having it :)