European Hare

A lovely maxi-card from Heidi showing the European hare, which seems apt be posted while the spring is raging outside (though is it really? Part of spring is rain, and is not in sight for ages).

Generally nocturnal and shy in nature, hares change their behaviour in the spring, when they can be seen in broad daylight chasing one another around in fields. During this spring frenzy, they sometimes strike one another with their paws ("boxing"). This is usually not competition between males, but a female hitting a male, either to show she is not yet ready to mate or as a test of his determination. 

You go girl lol

UNESCO - Korean Dolmen Sites

The proper name of this whs is Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites, alas I am not sure which site this relates to, or if its one or two of the three sites. In any case, great addition to my collection, thank you Sehan :) 

The prehistoric cemeteries at Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa contain many hundreds of examples of dolmens - tombs from the 1st millennium BC constructed of large stone slabs. They form part of the Megalithic culture, found in many parts of the world, but nowhere in such a concentrated form.

Usually consisting of two or more undressed stone slabs supporting a huge capstone, it is generally accepted that they were simply burial chambers, erected over the bodies or bones of deceased worthies. They are usually found in cemeteries on elevated sites and are of great archaeological value for the information that they provide about the prehistoric people who built them and their social and political systems, beliefs and rituals, and arts and ceremonies.

 

Year Of The Monkey

The Monkey (猴) is the ninth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Monkey is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 申.

This will probably be the only YOTM card for me but its a great one isnt it? Complete with a mini-sheet. Thank you Midori Lee :)

 

Neptune

A fantastic maxi-card of my home planet Neptune :) Australia Post issued a whole set 'Our Solar System' in 2015. Why my home planet? Because it is accented in my birth chart, being in conjuction with my Sun it 'alters reality and clouds our perceptions of it', which explains a lot haha :)) Thanks a lot Heather!

UNESCO - Kakadu National Park, Australia

This unique archaeological and ethnological reserve, located in the Northern Territory, has been inhabited continuously for more than 40,000 years. It is a unique example of a complex of ecosystems, including tidal flats, floodplains, lowlands and plateaux, and provides a habitat for a wide range of rare or endemic species of plants and animals.

Got this for cuba swap, love the design of the stamp (and the yoth stamp!) - thank you Irene :)

 

Year Of The Snake Maxi-Cards, Vietnam

We have stepped into the Year Of The Horse a while ago, but still not late to show off these beauties that speak to my inner lover of all things colourful (beside showing snakes!), and the big thanks goes to Jo :))

 

Maxi-Cards - Sumatran Tiger, Australia

This beautie is a Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) from Melbourne Zoo. Its subspecies that inhabits the Indonesian island of Sumatra, classified as critically endangered by IUCN in 2008 as the population is projected to be 441 to 679 individuals.

The other day I watched 'Life Of Pi', ah what a heart-breaking story...Although Richard Parker was a Bengal Tiger I am still posting this remembering him...Such gorgeous creatures. Thanks again Heather! :)

UNESCO - Macquarie Island, Australia

Macquarie Island is an oceanic island in the Southern Ocean, lying 1500 km south-east of Tasmania and approximately halfway between Australia and the Antarctic continent. The island is the exposed crest of the undersea Macquarie Ridge, raised to its present position where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate meets the Pacific plate. It is a site of major geoconservation significance, being the only place on earth where rocks from the earth’s mantle (6 km below the ocean floor) are being actively exposed above sea-level.

The island has its own PO and stamps but this maxi-card was sent from 'mainland' Australia, I gather it still counts for my collection of written & stamped cards from country of origin ;) It actually is a part of Australian Antarctic Territory which is written on the stamp. Thanks again Heather! This one was also hidden in a wrong post... 

                

YOTD - Serbia

The last - but by no means the least! - of the dragon cards+stamps is this gem of a maxi-card from Serbia. Thank you so much Achi! Ana told me she bought only a few of these, and after a few days she went back to get more - and they were all gone! I feel a bit guilty cos she didnt even manage to get the set for herself :/ there are two maxi-cards in the set and the other one is equally gorgeous <3

Još jednom, hvala Anchi!!

YOTD - Indonesia

A fantastic maxi-card from Indonesia comes from dear Shinta, who never fails to impress me :) The images on the stamps are simply GORGEOUS., not to mention the special cancellations. After a brief consultation with google i've also fallen in love with Indonesian YOTD mini-sheet <3

Alas i have no resources to submerge deeper into the world of philately...As postcards are my primary collection there remains little in my pocket to invest in beautiful stamps, mini-sheets & FDCs (though i love them so!). Perhaps one day when all my boxes are absolutely full of postcards i'll slowly switch to this vast area of collecting..!

BUT. I have joined a wonderful RR called Nice Cover Circuit, to get at least an occasional 'shot' lol.

I am even thinking of opening another blog dedicated to covers. We'll see!

Barn Swallow, Hong Kong

This one is a cutie - a barn swallow, with shiny blue feathers :)
I won it in a lottery by Joe Chi - thank you! :D

3 Maxi-Cards, Australia

Australian Post issues some amazing maxi-cards dont you agree?! And a vast choice too! So i was all beside myself with excitement when i was choosing cards for a private swap with Xue/elena_sokolova :D tough task too..! In the end it was:

1. Fijian Crested Iguana - of course i cannot miss a new lizard card for my collection, esp this critically endangered fellow...! It resides in dry forest habitats of only three Fijian island (out of 332)! The main destroyers of its natural habitat seem to be feral goats..? Its green colour is absolutely amazing on some of the photos i've seen!

2. An unidentified object in space heh. The series of maxi-cards with theme Space from the year 2000 seems to comprise of 6 cards showing: launch site, astronaut, flight crew, spacecraft, terrain and robots (?!). Oh well i had to choose one..!

The 3rd card is from the RR, showing the poster image for the Australian movie Jedda, made in 1955.  It is most notable for being the 1st movie starring two Aboriginal actors, Robert Tudawali and Ngarla Kunoth. Judging by the synopsis its quite the sad story...:(

Thank you Xue for these great cards :)

Gelao Ethnic Group, China

I found this card amusing cos these guys seem to be having so much fun drinking this way!

Gelao people are one of the 56 ethnic groups in China, mainly located in the western part of the Guizhou province (south China) and numbering just under half a million. They practice Taoism and to some extent Buddhism.

The tradition is called Za Jiu / Pipe drinking. The pipes can be made of different materials such as bamboo, rattan or reed, and are used for drawing wine from the container. Not easy to find out more, but i am intrigued! Thank you StanleyPao for this interesting card :)

Maxi-Cards - Australian Trains

I had a week off - hence the long wait to post here (not that it can be the sole reason, as witnesses before - but i STILL dont have an internet connection at home...! Something i am tempted to sort out next month). I havent received any mail for two weeks while here, cos i couldnt find a connection :(  Add that to the cards received while I was at home, and you get a number of 91! Very happy occasion - but it also means i have loooads of posting to do!! Not to waste my 1st day back at work, here are some amazing maxi-cards I received in an envelope from zapea, australia  :)))

                                    

 

                           



Maxi-Cards - Giants of Patagonia, Serbia

This weekend i was blown away with this brilliant surprise from dear Ana - my thanks run to the heavens and back! heh :)))

Two years ago there was an exhibition in Beograd's Natural History Museum called 'Dinosaurs of Argentina - Giants of Patagonia',  that presented 40 complete skeletons of 15 different dinosaur species, some eggs, nests with youngs, and footprints. These maxi-cards show Gigantosaurus Carolinii and Herrerasaurus Ischigualastensis.

Gigantosaurus Carolinii lived around 97 million years ago during the early Cenomanian stage of the late Cretaceous Period (i wish i knew more about the earth's history...then this would make more sense :S). It is one of the largest known terrestrial carnivores - even slightly larger than the famous Tyrranosaurus! The first remains were found in 1993 in deposits of Patagonia, in southern Argentina. It could grow up to the length of 13m  and weighed probably between 7-13 tons. massive.

First remains of Herrerasaurus Ischigualastensis were found in NW Argentina in 1959 by an andean goatherd Herrera - hence the name! They belong to the late Ladinian Age/Middle Triassic (some 230 million years ago). This carnivore was smaller (3 to 6 meters) but surely just as scary..!

Well one learns something new every day :-D