Sunday Stamps from the Eastern Hemisphere - Bulgaria, Ethiopia

 With so many countries to choose from in the Eastern Hemisphere I finally settled on two - Bulgaria and Ethiopia.

I'm not a cat lover but Bulgaria issued a series of cat stamps in 1967 - here's just one of them.

Bulgaria - 19 June 1967

Does anyone one know what breed this is?

The first World Championship in Rhythmic Gymnastics was held in Budapest in 1963. At Varna in 1969, Bulgaria topped the medal table and issued a series of stamps 61 years ago today commemorating the event.

Bulgaria - 27 September 1969

I first heard of Haile Selassie as the Lion of Judah. He was the Emperor of Ethiopia and resisted the Italian invasion during WWII. I only have one Ethiopian stamp and he is depicted on that.

Ethiopia - 22 July 1968

He was Emperor from 1930 - 1974.

For more stamps from the Eastern Hemisphere visibly the links on Sunday Stamps

Pets - Sunday Stamps II

I just knew I should not have used that 'Pet' series from the USA a few weeks ago Pets (USA)

That has left me struggling for something to show this week, until I remembered lots of cats.

Bulgaria - 19 June 1967

And from slightly earlier from the same part of the world.

Romania - 20 March 1965

I've used up all my stamps of dogs before and I'm not really a cat person but now I'm surprised at how many cats appeared.

To see more pet just follow the links at Sunday-Stamps-II-128.

Northern hemisphere - Sunday Stamps II

Around 90% of the earth's population lives in the northern hemisphere which also contains most of the world's land.

A bird we see in our garden regularly is the  

Wren

This is one of three birds on my stamps this week.

Bulgaria - 12 Oct 1987

Another bird, on the endangered list, also on a Bulgarian stamp issued at the same time is one I have not seen for years.

Yellow Hammer

Issued slightly later, also by Bulgaria is one I rarely see.

Hooded crow - 6 June 1988

The hooded crow is sometimes known as the Scotch or the Danish crow. I have a photo of one of these taken, appropriately, in Denmark some years ago.

For other northern hemisphere stamps check out the links at Sunday-Stamps-II.

Foods of the World - Sunday Stamps II

Perhaps this post should be 'Fruits of the World.' My visit to our local flea market recently found this album 

from the 1950s; it contained a lot of interesting stamps - a bargain for a 'fiver'.

Two stamps from Bulgaria issued 3 July 1959 were easy to recognise.

Pears

Plums

And it definitely wasn't a case of sour grapes when it came to Cyprus.

Grapes - 17 Sept 1962

To sample other foods just follow the links at Sunday-Stamps-II-96.

Folk/National Costumes - Sunday Stamps II

I need some help this week as I have some Bulgarian stamps that I have been unable to find any information about other than that they were issued in 1961

Bulgaria - 1961

I've searched for the names of the costumes show on the LHS of each stamp but haven't succeeded in finding out what they represent.

Bulgaria - 1961

I had more success with provincial costumes from Spain.

Spain 1968 - Huelva Provincial Costume

The city of Huelva, in the province of the same name in South-West Spain, has been inhabited since 3000BC.

Spain 1967

Burgos a city in Northern Spain is the historic capital of the province of Castille.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps II - 41 which you will find at See it on a postcard.

I am away from home this week so may not be able to comment on stamps posted by the other participants or submit the link to this post there. I'll get round to them as soon as I can.

Say it with flowers - Sunday Stamps II

The envelope containing my Fathers' Day card from the USA this year arrived late (12 days in the post). However the stamps more than made up for that.

USA - 2015

I recently discovered that Bulgaria is one of the most important rose breeding countries in Europe. Roses appear on many of their stamps. A set of eight stamps shows four types of rose.

Bulgarian Roses

What better way to say it with flowers than with roses like these.

To see what other flowers have bloomed this week just follow the links at Sunday-stamps-ii-32.

Float like a butterfly - Sunday Stamps II

Why did I suggest butterflies as a theme when I had shown several butterfly stamps before?

In the April A-Z Challenge earlier this year I took butterflies as my subject and discovered then that many countries had them on their stamps.

Back in 2012 I cheated when I showed a set of stamps scanned from a catalogue. Now I can show them on an FDC acquired since then.

Great Britain - 1981

• Chequered Skipper
• Peacock
• Large Blue
• Small Tortoiseshell

By coincidence the Big Butterfly Count 2015, run by the Butterfly Conservation, has started this week in the UK. I know that we shall see the Peacock and the Tortoiseshell in our garden but not the other two.

Ones that will not appear are:

Bulgaria - Mountain Apollo

Canada - Monarch Butterfly - 31 March 2014

Rwanda - Broad Green-banded Swallowtail

USA - Great Spangled Fritillary - 2014

Now you need to float like a butterfly over to the links at Violet's Sunday-stamps-ii-31.

I'm off to watch The Open at St Andrews on the TV where I can be sure I won't get stung by a bee.

Bumble Bee and Small Tortoiseshell - 2009