#011 India...Thanks Boben!

This FDC was issued on Oct.2nd,2009,commemmerating 140th birth anniv. of Mahatma Gandhi,the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement.

#010 Australia...Thanks Secret Santa!

Merry Christmas :0)

#009 Poland...Thanks Kazimierz!

Merry Christmas :0)

#008 Malaysia...Thanks Ronny!

These 5 fauna & flora stamps shows:
1.Fighting Spider: It is so called because two males will readily fight each other, either in a natural setting, or if put together, These spiders are commonly kept in matchboxes with a piece of green leaf and a spat of saliva for moisture. A spider that wins fight after fight gets the status of "first king". A common belief is that the darkest males are most aggressive.

2.Ochraceous Bulbul: a Southeast Asian songbird belonging to Pycnonotidae.

3.Water-Hyacinth(Monochoria hastata): a free-floating aquatic plant.

4.Croaking gourami(Trichopsis vittata)

5.Malay Peacock-pheasant(Polyplectron malacense):one of the shortest-tailed peacock-pheasants. You can view the video here

#007 Austria...Thanks Stefan!

The stamp on the right of the cover was issued this year to commemorate 200 anniversay of the death of Joseph Haydn,one of the greatest musician ever in the history. The other two are Austrian definitive stamps: One is a White-breasted Hedgehog and the other is a Hare.

#006 Slovakia...Thanks Milos

This cover features a souvenir sheet jointly-issued by Austria and Slovakia on Sept.11,2009.The title is:Limes romanus & Gerulata

During the Roman period, the Limes romanus was a system of military strongholds along the Danube which protected Roman provinces against attacks of German tribes.

The left stamp "Carnuntum" shows the most significant Roman stronghold in the Pannonia province,situated next to the present-day village of Petronell in Austria.The best known Roman monument in Carnuntum is the “Heidentor” – the “Heathen Gate” built outside the town in 4 A.D. by Roman emperor Constantinus II. (337–361). Originally this gate consisted of four cross-vaulted pillars (tetrapylons), with huge columns overshadowing the emperor’s statue beneath the vault.

The right stamp "Gerulata" is the nearest Roman camp to the east from Carnuntum,in Rusovce, a part of Bratislava.This castel was built in the second half of 1 A.D. under the Flavians.The name of the stronghold Gerulata is known from a medieval copy of a Roman map of 4 A.D. – the Tabula Peutingeriana. The map shows roads in the territory of the Roman Empire from Spain to India. In the 18th century, it was bought by the Austrian prince, Eugene of Savoy, who gifted it to the imperial court library in Vienna (now the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek). The map is included in the UNESCO List of World Heritage.

#005 Finland...Thanks Keijo!

This mini-sheet from Finland was issued in 1989 to commemorate centenary of Finnish Kennel Club. It shows 4 Finnish dogs: Lapponian Herder;Finnish Spitz;Karelian Bear Dog and Finnish Hound.

#004 Sri Lanka...Thanks Ravindra!

The 6 stamps on the top of the cover,issued in 2008,shows a World Heritage Site in Sri Lanka:Sacred City of Anuradhapura.This sacred city was established around a cutting from the 'tree of enlightenment', the Buddha's fig tree, brought there in the 3rd century B.C. by Sanghamitta, the founder of an order of Buddhist nuns. Anuradhapura, a Ceylonese political and religious capital that flourished for 1,300 years, was abandoned after an invasion in 993. Hidden away in dense jungle for many years, the splendid site, with its palaces, monasteries and monuments, is now accessible once again.

#003 Italy...Thanks Salvado!

A funny cover. All the three stamps escaped from the cancellation.

The stamp in the middle is from Italian 1976 tourism series,showing the view of Forio,Ischia Island.

The busiest resort town on Ischia, Forio is located on the western shore of the island, under the slopes of Monte Epomeo. Forio has been a popular destination since the 1950s and nowadays it attracts a wide range of visitors who appreciate the atmosphere, the beaches and the spas.

One of Forio's prime attractions is the beautiful beach of Citara, alongside one of the island's largest spa complexes,the Giardini di Poseidon.

Forio's historical centre is better-preserved than other Ischian towns, and there are pleasant streets for wandering where you can see traces of the medieval and Baroque eras. Interesting buildings include the Torrione, a fifteenth century tower with panoramic views, and the little white church of Santuario della Madonna del Sorccorso, which is perched above the sea.

The stamp on the right was issued in 1997,commemorating the 60th birthday of Queen Paola of Belgium. She is of Italian and Belgian ancestry and was hailed as one of the leading beauties of Europe in her youth.

Thank you! Salvadore

#002 Poland...Thanks Andrej!

These three superb FDCs was sent to me by Andrej, Thank you very much.

The stamps were issued on 11/20/2009,showing reproductions of famous paintings stolen from Poland during WW II.The move is part of a campaign to recover some of Poland’s art treasurers. The series, “Lost Masterpieces” includes reproductions of Jesus Collapses Under the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens and Joseph Telling his Dreams by Rembrandt. The stamps were designed by Kazimierz Bulik. “The collection shows that Polish museums are still searching for stolen art pieces,” says Bulik, adding that Poczta Polska hopes to reach people who might know something about the lost paintings.

The other stamp is a definitive of City Landmark series issued in 2002, showing St.Adalbert's Coffin in Gniezno.

#001 Spain...Thanks David!

This is the first cover I received for this blog.

The first stamp depicts "Great Tit", a very common songbird in Euroasia; The second is "Euroasia Capercaillie",the largest member of the grouse family.

The last stamp is the Spanish 2009 Upaep issue of Tradition Game: La Baraja Espanola

The Baraja española is made up of 48 cards divided into four suits: bastos (clubs), oros (golds, that is, golden coins), copas (cups) and espadas (swords). All suits are numbered from 1 to 12, corresponding to the pictures of the sota, (page or prince), the caballo (knight, literally “horse”), and the rey (king) and the numbers 10, 11 and 12 respectively. Usually only 40 cards are used since the eights and the nines are discarded. In the Spanish deck, the drawings are depicted in full body and they are framed by a pattern to distinguish the different suits without having to display the cards. The cup’s pattern is a line with one interruption, swords have two, clubs have three and the golds have a continuous pattern with no interruption.

Cards are thought to have their origin in a numeric pastime and so are depicted in different European tapestries of the XIV and XV centuries. There are many designs depending on the different countries and periods in time, the oldest ones made in rich handicraft for the lords. The themes depicted are also varied and most of them related to art, heraldry, mythology, politics and music. They are usually rectangular shaped although they have also been made squared and rounded.

Europa FDCs from Holland and UK

1 cover was issued in 1983 and 2 covers in 1984:

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Basketball Festival Riga '94 FDC

This cover is also from my old collection. Basketball has been my favorite sport since I was in school. :0)

Classic Books cover from United States

Here is a nice cover from United States posted in 1996. On the right upper corner is "Classic Books" issued in 1993, which are "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" by Kate Douglas Wiggin; "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder; "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain and "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott.

The stamp in the middle is "Mary Chesnut" from "Civil War" issued in 1995 and the left one is "AIDS awareness" issued in 1993.

2 FDC Covers from Macau....in 1998

I'm sorting up my old cover collection and found these 2 nice covers.

Street Vendors:

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FIFA World Cup 1998:

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Frankly speaking, I always like stamps from Macau,Hong Kong and Taiwan more than many stamps issued by P.R.China. Their stamps are designed with a deeper touch on depicting Chinese cultures.

My brand new stock albums

I've lost my passion on stamp collecting for the past decade. You guess why? Because I couldn't find any decent albums to organize my growing collection then! What a pity. Until recently I found these perfect albums, I decided to restart collecting stamps from the scratch. These standardly-designed albums have a lot of choices of pages that I could organize my stamps easily and flexibly. They have a quality that could rival with Lighthouse but with a very friendly pricetag.

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Of course they are made in China.:0)

The Beautiful Corners in Europe I & II

I bought these 2 nice folders a couple of weeks ago. These are from a series of 3 folders which focus on the beautiful scenery of the member countries. The last one will be issued in 2011. Circulation for these two is 15000 and 9000. For those who are not familiar with sepac stamps, please visit Sepac.

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