Butterflies, Nicaragua

We seem to be having a little snow this morning, but the kind that just fools you and never really stays so you just cant be joyful about it. Speaking of which, we haven't had any real snow this winter, unlike the previous one, when there had been snow in abundance, but of course, I wasn't here to see it.

Anyway, today's post has nothing to do with no, and is nowhere close to letter S, but being at letter B, here we have two Butterflies' sheets, that I actually totally overlooked when the theme of the week was butterflies, and it has been haunting me ever since, so no wonder it is the first thing that crossed my mind for the day :D

Plus I realized that this makes it my first post with Nicaraguan stamps, so I'll drink to that too :)

These were issued in the year 2000, showing different types of butterflies in Nicaragua. It is actually astonishing how many different types are out there, to me they are all just fragile and beautiful, but I could never really make any differentiation.

The first sheet above shows butterflies that can be found in The Mombacho Nature Reserve, and features the following beauties:

- Catonephele numilia also known as the blue-frosted banner, or Grecian shoemaker
- Marpesia marcella or pansy daggerwing
- Heliconius hecalesia, or the five-spotted longwing
- Actinote thalia
- Doxocopa laurentia or the turquoise emperor
- Napeogenes tolosa mombachoensis or the Tolosa tigerwing

In general, I would choose as a favourite something where the blue colour is dominant, but in this case, my absolute favourite is the first stamp - it is just full of splendour!

And down to the other sheet now, which features butterflies that can be seen in the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve.

- Heliconius cydno or the cydno longwing
- Nessaea aglaura or the common olivewing
- Godyris zavaleta or the Zavaleta glasswing,
- Caligo atreus or the yellow-edged giant owl
- Morpho amathonte  - and without a doubt this one is my absolute favourite here. I mean I just couldn't ask for more blue on a single butterfly ❤❤❤
- Eryphanis polyxena lycomedon

So that would be my B-contribution for today (could also use it under 'feeling Blah' but so far I haven't seen such stamps).

For more interesting stamps for today, head over to today's edition of Sunday Stamps!

PS. I have to thank Sissel for sending me these back from her trip in Nicaragua, cos she thought I may like them - I mean, of course I do :)))

Angry Birds, Finland

So a new round of the A-Z game starts today, and let's see how well I do this time. I just have this feeling that this second round is gonna bring more creative and out of the ordinary posts that won't just stick to country names, but would go way beyond that. At least I thought I'd try that way and see what I can come up with.

And I will officially open this second round with the super duper cool Angry Birds!

Don't know about you, but I LOVE video games, though nowadays I play way less than I used to some years ago, which may be a bit ironic cos now video games are literally available on all of your devices and you can play them on the go unlike before. I grew up with Super Mario and Adventure Island and Prince of Persia and JetPac and Colin McRae and a plethora of other stuff. Nowadays you can mainly see me playing Candy Crush. I actually was really against all those FB games until a few years ago when during this really tough part of my life I kinda gave in and used it in order to keep my mind off things. And somehow it grew on me cos of all those bright colours and the overall cheerful tone it has. It is one of my guilty pleasures, ha ha.
And back to the Angry Birds, I used to play this one a lot on my phone, but nowadays due to the never-ending issue of memory and storage, I have decided to not install any games on my phone, plus it will give me less or no chances of totally wasting my time on it. But I love Angry Birds! They are just so cute, and the fact that they are angry makes them even more adorable and gives this comical touch to it all :D
And being that this entire concept originated in Finland, no wonder that the Finnish post decided to commemorate them on stamps too (Finland does in general have interesting ideas on what to put on stamps). The video game was created by the Rovio Entertainment company, in 2009 and featured into a movie (that I still havent watched because I am kinda sparing myself some potential disappointment - like it happened with Secret Life of Pets for example.
Also, along with the stamps, cute priority stickers were issued, that I had received on some of my postcards, but which unfortunately, are not shown on this FDC.
Anyways, here on the stamps you can meet, from left to right, top row of stamps: Red (the angriest bird), Stella (the feisty optimist), Bomb (the chill guy).
Bottom row of stamps feature: Chuck, The Blues (the three of a kind, aka Jim, Jake. and Jay) and Leonard (or the bad pig).

How about you? Have you ever been into video games? Are you still into them? Any favourites and guilty pleasures?

And before you leave, don't forget to check more of the A-related stamps for today! 

The 75th Anniversary of Belgrade Zoo, Serbia

Good Day Sunday Stampers and anyone else who might have just stumbled upon today's post. Today we are about to close the circle of the first A-Z edition, with a letter not so popular among word games, but one that would actually bring you a huuuge amount of points if you play 'scrabble' or 'words with friends' etc. Reminds me I should get back to some of those words' games and give my brain cells some additional exercise...

Anyways, I had a few ideas in mind for today's Z, and none of them actually related to Zimbabwe, or Zambia, or Zanzibar (isn't it strange though how all these Z places are situated in Africa?)

So instead of countries, here I have a post with two FDCs issued on 12 July 2011, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Belgrade Zoo.

The Belgrade Zoo originated in 1936 and was founded by Mr. Vlada Ilić, industrialist and mayor of that time. The plans for the zoological garden were drawn up by the engineer Aleksandar Krstić, creator of many buildings and parks in Belgrade those days, who was also the first acting director of the Belgrade Zoo.
At the beginning, the Garden occupied a surface of a little bit more than three and a half hectares while today, after several transformations, it lies on the surface of seven hectares which are located on one part of the Belgrade Fortress, on Kalemegdan, the biggest and most beautiful park in Belgrade (Havent seen all the parks in Belgrade but I do agree this one is beautiful). All the facilities dedicated to the animals are newly built or fully renovated. The garden owns numerous animal species, of more than 2000 animals from 270 different animal species. In addition to many exotic flowers and other vegetation, the Garden also consists of some rare tree species like the Empress tree, Gingko biloba, Picea omorika, Sequoia, etc.
Along with a large number of institutions worldwide, the Belgrade Zoo Garden participates in the programmes for protection and reproduction of endangered animal species. Among many others, some really rare animals are being born and cared for in the Zoo. Some of them are represented on the stamps of this issue, like the Bengal Tiger, the Egyptian Vulture, the Bennett's wallaby, and the White Lion). Here should also be mentioned the Palm Cockatoo, the Griffon Vulture, the Goffin's Cockatoo, the Black Leopard etc.
Nowadays, the Belgrade Zoo represents a real oasis of beauty in the middle of the capital, a respected and modern institution of which this country can be proud and which worthily represents the city and the country across the world. Therefore you should listen to their slogan: "Escape from the city to the centre of the city. Escape for at least a while, from the everyday worries and problems, and spend with us an unforgettable day"  

I have had the chance to visit this place, and I know that many people would say, a Zoo is a Zoo, what can be so different about this one, but I do believe it is worth it to pay a visit. And the ticket price for such a place fairly cheap, around 4 euros. It is funny when I hear some people complaining it is expensive....

That would be all for today. For more Zzzzzzz stuff, visit today's edition of Sunday Stamps.

Golden Age of Sailing Ships, Yugoslavia

Stamps-wise, being a Yugoslav-kid, letter Y is always like an easy solution for me. The difficult part is what in particular to choose from the wide range of Yugoslavian stamps I have :)) (these could also fit in well with the letter J edition though...)

Sailing ships as the means of navigation on the seas were very important in olden times when only the power of winds could be used as a propulsion. Various types of sailing shipsfor commercial and war purposes navigated on the Adriatic Sea. In the old historiography, the Phoenicians were considered as the first seamen. However, later it was proved that the Egyptians had built their ships before them. The Greeks with their ships conquered the isles on the Adriatic coast and founded their colonies. The notion of a war ship at that time was the famous Greek trireme. The Illyrians, especially the Liburnians, who were good ship builders, took part in the maritime commerce on the Adriatic Sea. Their "Liburna is well known in the maritime history. Later the Romans took over the shipbuilding and navigation skills from the Greeks and the Illyrians and then the Roman galley appeared. In the 7th century, the Slavs gradually took possession of the Adriatic coast. The Croatian ships were the only ones which could resist to the Venetian and the Byzantine naval force. In the naval history, Dubrovnik appears in the 8th century and becomes an important military martime and commercial centre with a navy and mercantile shipping, while the shipbuilding also develops at Boka Kotorska where the famous navy of Boka had originated. In the 15th century, Dubrovnik reaches the climax of its naval power. The navas of Dubrovnik - merchant ships on long lines are well known. At the Mediterranean Sea, the French, English, and Dutch ships appear more and more frequently, and they "expel" the ships of Dubrovnik back to the Adriatic Sea. The era of the sailing ships ends with the 19th century, when the steam-ships, modern and more economical, take over the reign of the seas.

This set of six stamps and one souvenir sheet was issued on 10 June 1989.
1. A classic Greek Sailing Ship
2. A Roman Sailing Ship
3. A Crusade Sailing Ship, 13th century
4. Nava of Dubrovnik, 16th century
5. French Sailing Ship, 17th century
6. Sailing Ship, 18th century

s/s - an engraving of Dubrovnik - various sailing ships in the harbour of Dubrovnik and various symbols of Dubrovnik and its surroundings

so that would be the short story of the Yugoslavian sailing ships.

For more stamps related to letter Y, head over to Sunday Stamps.

Xilinguole Grasslands, Inner Mongolia, China

At first, the thought of finding a suitable match of a stamp and the letter X may seem a bit intimidating and discouraging and you think to yourself, "I will probably opt out of this week's edition".
And then the small electric bulb hits your head and the word "China" crosses your mind! Bingo! It reminds you that there are all these Chinese places and names that when transcribed into English, the magical letter X is right there at the beginning!
So first thing solved, now the question is, do I actually have such a stamp? After a short while, the answer appears on this envelope below, so yes I do! And seems I will be taking part in this Sunday Stamps edition after all! Truth to be told, the rule is that letter X could appear anywhere in the name, but you know, the perfectionist in me just wasn't content with posting something Mexican or related to boxing or so...

So anyways, the important stamp to look at here is the green one in the middle.

It was issued on 24th July, 1998 as a souvenir sheet and portrays the Xilinguole Grassland, one of the world's largest grasslands, located in the central area of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Covering a total area of 10,786 square kilometers, the Xilinguole National Nature Reserve was established in 1985 and is the first grassland nature reserve in China. UNESCO placed it on its list of International Biosphere Reserves in 1987.

Its name means "river on hilly lands" in Mongolian.

For more entries on the intriguing letter X, visit today's Sunday Stamps edition!

World Weightlifting Championship - Paris, France

So I wonder, why in the English language, almost everything related to 'wine' starts with the letter 'v' actually and not 'w' - so why it is not a wineyard but a vineyard (ok, this is more of a rhetorical question, because you grow vines there, not wines, but WHY? Cos you know, I had this cool cover regarding vineyards, so that's where my 'bother' stipulates from, realizing I actually cannot use it :D )

But then this cover from France comes to a rescue, a pretty good rescue actually.

From 5 - 13 November, the Disneyland Paris resort hosted the 79th edition of the World Weightlifting Championships and for the occasion, on 7 October 2011, the French Post issued a souvenir sheet consisting of two round stamps evoking the two weights of a weightlifting bar.

The € 0.89 stamp portrays a weightlifter's profile in the movement of the clean and jerk(it is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the clean, the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without resting fully on the clavicles. During the jerk the lifter raises the barbell to a stationary position above the head, finishing with straight arms and legs, and the feet in the same plane as the torso and barbell). The other stamp (€ 0.60) features the snatch movement where the man bears the colors of the French team. The 22nd edition of Women's World Championships also took place in Paris at the same time. (In order to respect the perspective, these stamps have two different diameters (43 and 49 mm)).


For more W-inspired words, you know where to go to - Sunday Stamps

Christmas, Serbia

Merry Christmas to you all celebrating it today, me included!

And isn't there a better way (read excuse) to start the posts in 2018 than with something Christmassy related :)

Issued a bit way too early in the year (seriously, who issues Christmas stamps at the beginning of October?!)... but then again when I went to Belgrade last October, they were already putting up Christmas decorations, so this should come as no surprise I guess... Anyways, it definitely is a lovely issue, and that is coming from someone who is really not fond of Christmas and stuff - but this issue rocks, esp. that gingerbread-house stamp... love it! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Serbia definitely has one of the best stamp issues, not just at a European level, but in general (unlike Macedonian post on the other hand, but let's not get into it now).

Anyways, Happy holidays to you all, and hopefully see you more often around here.
May this year bring gems and delights in your mailbox!

Hugs to all!