Sunday Stamps - A-Z; 'B"

Bahrain is a nation of more than 30 islands in the Arabian Gulf.

Bahrain - 17 June 1961

Isa bin Salman Aj Khalifa, the first Emir of Bahrain from 1961 until his death in 1999.

I had intended to have one stamp from each of two countries in this A-Z. This soon proved to be a problem when it came to the Belgian Congo as I could not decide which one to choose.

I eventually settled for three from 1947 depicting African Masks and Wood Art.

Belgian Congo - 8 December 1947

A former Belgian Colony from 1908 to 1960, after which it became the Republic of the Congo. Its chequered and sometimes bloody history saw its name change again to Zaire and today it has become the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Well known to British TV fans of the 'Pointless' quiz programme.)

For other 'B' related stamps and not just countries please visit the links at Sunday-Stamps-II-139.

Sunday Stamps II begins an A-Z

Each year when the April A-Z Challenge comes along I consider using stamps as a topic.

Now Sunday Stamps embarks on an A-Z with, fortunately, one letter a week. In choosing what to show I am picking countries where I have fewer stamps and hopefully ones I have not shown before.

I'm not a great lover of cats but a Siamese on my only Albanian stamp starts the sequence off.

Albania - 20 September 1996

From Andorra, again a single stamp - 

Andorra - Gothic Cross at Meritxell - 17 June 1961

At the last count I have stamps from 8 'A'countries; it will be interesting to see how other letters fare.

To check other 'As' visit Sunday-stamps-II-138

Stars, Moons or Planets

The most recent stamp I have from France was issued on 4 May 2009 and its a € denomination.

France

Two weeks ago I showed a Polish stamp depicting a statue of Nicolaus Copernicus

The biggest and oldest planetarium was founded in 1955 to commemorate him. It's located in the Silesian Central Park.

Poland - Silesian (Slaskie) Planetarium & Astronomy Observatory - 15 Sept 1966

For other astronomy related themes check out the links at Sunday-stamps-II-137

A place/building to be visited - Sunday Stamps II

Two of my older stamps caught my attention for this theme.

In 1946 the Smithsonian Institution celebrated its centenary,

USA - 10 August 1946

During WWII my elder brother served on the aircraft carriers protecting the convoys of ships delivering goods to what was to become the George Cross island. I have some of his photos including one among some ruins there. Hence my choice of this stamp from - 

Malta - 1970

To see places or buildings that others would like to see please visit Sunday-stamps-II-136.

Knobs and Dials - Thematic Photography

Looking round our home this theme look as if it would be easy - but very mundane.

There was no need for me to get hot under the collar as - 

The temperature is controlled

Some kitchen knobs get regular use.

Guess who gets to clean the wood.

When it comes to food there is a choice between

Cooker

or

Microwave

Then there are controls which I find difficult to select on the

The washing machine

It's simpler if I take the hint to freshen up - 

In the shower

I can take the time to check the score at the Open Golf.

But that was the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in 2004

I can get a reminder each day to make better use of my time by a house in our village.

Sundial cottage

Carmi set the Knobs & Dials theme over at Thematic-photographic-414. Check it out for other contributions and/or have a go yourself.

Statues/Monuments - Sunday Stamps II

Some are world famous like - 

USA - 1 December 2010

I could have shown many others with the Statue of Liberty; above is one side of a block of 10 stamps combined with the Flag.

However the one that stands out for me is the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, equally famous some might say.

USA - 26 January 1974

Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, chosen to represent respectively the nation's founding, philosophy, unity and expansion, I wonder what this quartet would make of Donald Trump.

I had not heard, I thought, of Mikolaj Kopernik who features on a statue in Warsaw.

Poland - 31 March 1955

Perhaps the globe should have given me a clue to the mathematician and astronomer whose model of the universe who placed the Sun rather than the Earth at its centre. It's Nicolaus Copernicus - the name that I would have recognised.

In Denmark in 2006 I took a series of photos that will also be known to many.

Copenhagen's Little Mermaid

 A stamp was issue to commemorate the 100th anniversary in 2013.

Denmark - 27 May 2013

To see other renowned statues check out the links to be found at Sunday-Stamps-II-135. 

Aerial Views - Sunday Stamps II

This is yet another theme that proved harder than I thought. 

So much so, in fact, that initially I could only come up with these - not really true aerial shots at all.

USA - Jet Liner over Capitol - 5 December 1962

And from Poland a stamp commemorating the development of air travel.

Poland - 27 November 1978

I googled aerial views and found that of the many stamp images I had only one in my collection and that from 1969.

Spain - Gibraltar - 16 July 1969

I shall have to study what others have posted this week at Sunday-stamps-II-134. to see whether there are different stamps that I could/should have posted.