How to remove unsoakable, self-adhesive stamps from paper? Try Pure Citrus air-freshener!

I have spotted this from Don Schilling at http://stampcollectingroundup.blogspot.com/:

"Air-Freshener Removes Unsoak[a]ble Stamps

Guest Columnist Peter Butler writes in It’s Like Magic: Removing Self-Adhesive Stamps from Paper, an article that appeared in the October issue of American Philatelist, that one of the products that seem to work well removing those pesky, unsoakable, self -adhesive stamps is an air-freshener called Pure Citrus."

The original article is here:

http://www.stamps.org/ap/Guest1010.pdf

===============

An example of self-adhesive stamps (I show you also the back of this beautiful, luxuriant pane of stamps): Hawaiian Rain Forest.

Now, in hi-res (high-resolution) for you to properly appreciate the exquisite artwork:

Click on it, then click again, to zoom in.

:)

Let's go into Virgin Territory: The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) - WWF maximum cards about British Virgin Islands

"The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Pelican

"The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands (BVI), is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S. Virgin Islands. British Virgin Islands government publications had traditionally continued to commence with "The Territory of the Virgin Islands", but recently, more legislation now simply refers to the Territory as the "British Virgin Islands". [note 1][citation needed]

The British Virgin Islands consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with over fifty other smaller islands and cays. Approximately fifteen of the islands are inhabited. The capital, Road Town, is situated on Tortola, the largest island which is approximately 20 km (12 mi) long and 5 km (3 mi) wide. The islands have a total population of about 22,000, of whom approximately 18,000 live on Tortola."

"The first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas. Columbus gave them the fanciful name Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes.. (Saint Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins), shortened to Las Vírgenes (The Virgins), after the legend of Saint Ursula."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Virgin_Islands

"Saint Ursula ("little female bear" in Latin) is a British Christian saint."

She wanted CONAN as her HON[EY]. Instead, she got a HUN [executioner].

"Her legend, probably unhistorical,[2][3] is that she was a Romano-British princess who, at the request of her father King Donaut of Dumnonia in south-west England, set sail to join her future husband, the pagan Governor Conan Meriadoc of Armorica (Brittany), along with 11,000 virginal handmaidens. However, a miraculous storm brought them over the sea in a single day to a Gaulish port, where Ursula declared that before her marriage she would undertake a pan-European pilgrimage. She headed for Rome, with her followers, and persuaded the Pope, Cyriacus (unknown in the pontifical records), and Sulpicius, Bishop of Ravenna, to join them. After setting out for Cologne, which was being besieged by Huns, all the virgins were beheaded in a dreadful massacre. The Huns' leader shot Ursula dead, supposedly in 383 (the date varies)."


UNDECIMILLA
"While there was a tradition of virgin martyrs in Cologne by the 5th century, this was limited to a small number between two and eleven according to different sources. The 11,000 were first mentioned in the 9th century; suggestions as to where this came from have included reading the name "Undecimillia" or "Ximillia" as a number, or reading the abbreviation "XI. M. V." as eleven thousand (in Roman numerals) virgins rather than eleven martyred virgins. One scholar has written that in the eighth century, the relics of virgin martyrs were found, among which were included those of a girl named Ursula, who was eleven years old-–in Latin, undecimilia. Undecimilia was subsequently misread or misinterpreted as undicimila (11,000), thus producing the legend of the 11,000 virgins.[8] Another theory is that there was only one virgin martyr, named Undecimilla, “which by some blundering monk was changed into eleven thousand.”[9]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Ursula

"Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes in 1521 named 'Eleven Thousand Virgins' what is now known as Saint-Pierre and Miquelon."




""72 Virgins"


The concept of 72 virgins in Islam refers to an aspect of paradise. In a collection by Imam at-Tirmidhi in his "Sunan" (Volume IV, Chapters on "The Features of Heaven as described by the Messenger of Allah", chapter 21: "About the Smallest Reward for the People of Heaven", hadith 2687) and also quoted by Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir (Qur'anic Commentary) of Surah Qur'an 55:72, it is stated that:

"It was mentioned by Daraj Ibn Abi Hatim, that Abu al-Haytham 'Adullah Ibn Wahb narrated from Abu Sa'id al-Khudhri, who heard Muhammad saying, 'The smallest reward for the people of Heaven is an abode where there are eighty thousand servants and seventy-two houri, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine and ruby, as wide as the distance from al-Jabiyyah to San'a.[63]

[edit] Views

Margaret Nydell states that mainstream Muslims regard this belief about 72 virgins in the same way that mainstream Christians regard the belief that after death they will be issued with wings and a harp, and walk on clouds.[64]"

Another interpretation of the relevant passages of the Qur'an is The Syro-Aramaic Reading Of The Qur'an written by Christoph Luxenberg. In respect of this particular point, Luxenberg argues that the relevant passage actually translates to a portrayal of paradise as a lush garden with pooling water and trees with rare fruit, including white raisins (considered to be delicacies at the time that the Qur'an was written), not virgin maidens.[65][66]

Regarding the above statement, Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf has said: "The narration, which claims that everyone would have seventy-two wives has a weak chain of narrators." [47]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/72_virgins

Some would say to Hafiz: YOU ARE the weakest link!

=======

Her name is Andress, not...Undress:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_Andress

Happy Thanksgiving! The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) - a dorincard/maximum card/maxicard/MC that I created using an Avery label to absorb the postmark ink. The postcard is very glossy - the postmark might have been ruined by that glossiness.

The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) species from USA is NOT the ancestor of the domestic turkeys that we butcher and devour every Thanksgiving Day.

"The domestic turkey [...] was domesticated from the South Mexican subspecies of the Wild Turkey."

So we have our domestic turkey from the other United States: The United Mexican States - Spanish:  Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)).

"Turkeys are popularly believed to be unintelligent, with claims made that during a rain storm turkeys will look up until they drown. Despite this image, the turkey is no more or less intelligent than a comparable animal,^[6] and while the birds will look at the sky for up to a minute during a rain storm, this is due to a genetic nervous disorder known as tetanic torticollar spasms.^[6] Other jests include that it is clumsy and too stupid to realize it can't fly, but both traits are due to modern breeding that makes turkeys much heavier than their wild relatives.^[6]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_turkey}

Example 3 - How I created a dorincard (= freestyle maximum card) from a FOLDED POSTCARD ("Greeting Card")? In my definition, a dorincard can be either a traditional (FIP CfM-compliant) maximum card, or a non-traditional maximum card. This one here is non-traditional. :)

See the two previous posts.

"The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America. It belongs to the "blue", Canadian or American jays, which are, among the Corvidae, not closely related to other jays. It is adaptable, aggressive and omnivorous, and has been colonizing new habitats for many decades."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_jay

Example 2 - How I created a dorincard (= freestyle maximum card) from a calendar page? In my definition, a dorincard can be either a traditional (FIP CfM-compliant) maximum card, or a non-traditional maximum card. This one here is non-traditional. :)

See Example 1 (the previous post), for more details - not to repeat everything here.

"The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America. It belongs to the "blue", Canadian or American jays, which are, among the Corvidae, not closely related to other jays. It is adaptable, aggressive and omnivorous, and has been colonizing new habitats for many decades."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_jay

How I created a dorincard (= freestyle maximum card) from a calendar page? In my definition, a dorincard can be either a traditional (FIP CfM-compliant) maximum card, or a non-traditional maximum card. This one here is non-traditional. :)

Please visit:  http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/

I have sent this calendar page, and a few more items, to get an advertised pictorial postmark from Jayton, Texas. Because I was worried that their ink is low-quality (not easily absorbed; too aqueous), as usual, for the glossy postcards, I have used an Avery transparent label.

The paper of the cover is OK, but many times the glossy postcards would not be! : (

I asked them to postmark INSIDE the label, to protect the postmark visibility. The postmarking person did not listen to me, but fortunately the calendar page was NOT TOO GLOSSY.

Also, they did not postmark ALL the stamps that I provided just in case for first-class rate in postage.

I actually like that, because this kind of pictorial postmarking is FOR PHILATELIC PURPOSES ONLY! 

I do not actually mail it by itself!!! So why should we lose 44c or so for every philatelic postmarking?

Then again, if I wanted to actually mail it, I would put the proper postage and I'd want ALL stamps postmarked, and the item sent thru the mail, at all risks.

Now, if I want, or a seller or swapper wants, the final image could be reduced to this, after cutting or folding the extra parts, including the stamps left not postmarked. This way, it looks more like a maxicard/dorincard.

Since the size still is much bigger than a postcard 10x15cm / 4x6 inches, the image still is very detailed, and I like it! I will also show postcard-size MCs with this subject, later.

"The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America. It belongs to the "blue", Canadian or American jays, which are, among the Corvidae, not closely related to other jays. It is adaptable, aggressive and omnivorous, and has been colonizing new habitats for many decades."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_jay

This is NOT a postcard, but I could postcardize it anytime.
It's a calendar page, and I like it! :)
Do I intend to exhibit it offline? No. But I have just exhibited it online - you're looking at it right now. :)
Do I intend to sell it? Not necessarily, although I have sold similar items, with various subjects.
Do I agree to exchange it? Not necessarily, although an irresistible offer can appear at any time, from anywhere in the world, especially from determined collectors of popular or specialty topics.

The Wattled Crane (Bugeranus carunculatus) - WWF maxicards about Malawi (Republic of Malaŵi/ Chalo cha Malawi/ Dziko la Malaŵi)

"The Wattled Crane, Bugeranus carunculatus is a large bird found in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. It is monotypical for its genus.
At a height of up to 175 cm (nearly 6 feet), it is the largest crane in Africa and is the second tallest species of crane, after the Sarus Crane."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wattled_Crane

Interesting bird, eh?
Don't ask me about any similarity, with anything.

Saunder's Gull (Larus saundersi) - maximum card from Vietnam, mailed later as a naked postcard (no envelope) to me by my friend Nguyen

I like very much this MC, my first from Vietnam. It was sent later, not on the date of the creation of the MC, but that's no problem.

It is really circulated thru the mail, from my friend Nguyen in Vietnam to me in USA - that's a rare thing for a maximum card.

Usually, maximum cards are not circulated as postcards, to avoid postal damage, theft, etc.

They are pure (maybe too pure), only for philatelic purposes, away from the harsh reality of the postal system.

There can be thousands of identical, Postal Administration-issued official maximum cards with a certain design.

But when you receive one as a traveled postcard, with "postal battle scars" maybe, then that is personalized to YOU, as a gesture of friendship between philatelists/stamp collectors. And the favor is returned, of course.

Even better is when you receive or send a UNICATE/UNIKAT/UNICAT maximum card, of which there is only 1 in the world, created by a collector/maximaphilist.

I like to send out nice items, too. Even very nice...

In fact, I should create a blog: "My REVERSE COLLECTION - stamps, postcards, postmarks and maximum cards that I HAVE SENT (not those that I received) to partners/friends from around the world".

In that blog, I will upload images from their online collections , and from my records of what I have sent them.

===============

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larus_saundersi

1) The Gough Bunting, or Gough Finch (Rowettia goughensis); 2) Gough Moorhen (Gallinula comeri) - WWF maximum cards from Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited location on Earth.

"The Gough Bunting or Gough Finch (Rowettia goughensis) is a songbird species."
This bird species is endemic [lives only here] to the remote South Atlantic Gough Island .

Its "population has collapsed and it is on the verge of extinction due to the introduced population of house mice (Mus musculus), noted for its unusual aggressiveness^[4], competing with the birds for food and eating their eggs and nestlings. Consequently, it was uplisted to Critically Endangered in 2008^[5]."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Bunting

==============================

This bird is protected on its native Gough Island, but not on the Tristan da Cunha Island (where it was introduced in 1956). Same archipelago, different attitudes.

"The Gough Moorhen, Gallinula comeri, is a medium-sized, almost flightless bird that is similar to the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), but is smaller, stockier, and has shorter wings."

"On Gough Island, it appears that the bird's future is secure with the island being a nature reserve and a World Heritage Site. In the mid 1990s, it was estimated that 2500 breeding pairs existed on Gough Island. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_moorhen

=============================

How is it correct to say: remotest, or the most remote? I've seen both forms used.

Now, let's analyze the distinction between island, archipelago, inhabited, uninhabited, land and "continental land".

Semantics does matter, except where it doesn't. :)

For the following discussion, it does.

"Tristan da Cunha (pronounced /ˈtrɪstən də ˈkuːnə/) is a remote volcanic group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean, and also the name of the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world,^[1] lying 2,816 kilometres (1,750 mi) from the nearest [MY NOTE: continental] land,South Africa, and 3,360 kilometres (2,090 mi) from South America. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ^[2] which also includesSaint Helena 2,430 kilometres (1,510 mi) to its north, and equatorial Ascension Island even farther removed, grouping the British South Atlantic islands into one far-flung centrally administered aggregate. Tristan da Cunha is said to be the "most remote inhabited location on Earth."^[3] It has a population of 275 (2009 figures).^[4]

The territory consists of the main island of Tristan da Cunha itself, which measures about 11.27 kilometres (7.00 mi) across and has an area of 98 square kilometres (38 sq mi), along with the uninhabited Nightingale Islands and the wildlife reserves of Inaccessible Island and Gough Island."

Being an archipelago, none of its islands is the most remote uninhabited island in the world.

They have each other, so to speak.

"The most remote island is Bouvet Island, an uninhabited and small Norwegian island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It lies at coordinates 54°26′S 3°24′E. The nearest land is the uninhabited Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, over 1,600 km (994 mi) away to the south. The nearest inhabited land is Tristan da Cunha, 2,260 km (1,404 mi) away and South Africa, 2,580 km (1,603 mi) away."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_Earth

Please read the fascinating facts about the Tristan da Cunha archipelago:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_da_cunha

Future maximum card from a Finnish birch wooden (but flexible) postcard: Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus)

Thank you again, Maffe from Suomi/Finland :) !

Someday, I'll send an Avery 8665 transparent label to a partner/friend from Finland, who will affix a matching Finnish stamp with the Boreal Owl.

http://www.birdtheme.org/species/imagespage.php?spec=798&fl=A

Then that stamp, on the label, will get a handcancel/postmark from a cooperating/open-minded postal associate (postal clerk) from Finland.

Once I receive the stamped and postmarked label back, I could carefully affix that onto my cool wooden postcard, which postcard I don't want to risk to lose it, if I were to mail it back to Finland.

Some might say that "an owl is an owl" - who cares about the different species of owls? :)
Well, the Boreal Owl is not...Karen Blixen's [pet] owl.
The Boreal Owl is actually..Tengmalm's Owl.
"This type of owl was featured in Out of Africa (film) as Karen Blixen's pet, although it is not native to Africa and was not the species of owl the real Karen Blixen kept".


"Tengmalm's Owl, Aegolius funereus, is a small owl. It is known as the Boreal Owl in North America. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae. This bird is named after the Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boreal_owl

===============
Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!
Please visit and join us:
http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

Now THAT'S the largest owl species in the world: Blakiston's Fish Owl (Bubo blakistoni)

This is only a simple postcard, but I'd like to create a maximum card, with a Japanese stamp and the help of a Japanese philatelic partner/friend to get a postmark :)

http://www.birdtheme.org/species/imagespage.php?spec=776&fl=B

Appearances are deceiving - that's their purpose.

Do you think the above owl is a fatso?

You think so?

http://www.zazzle.com/i_dont_think_so_postage-172747464236221795?rf=238693463283865848

Just like a sumo wrestler only appears to be a fatso, when in fact he is a strong athlete who overeats on purpose, due to the sumo tradition. So he gets a layer of fat over his well-trained muscles.

Well, our owl in the postcard above only shakes its feathers, I guess.

Or, maybe it has just swallowed...a whole hedgehog (you think I'm kidding? Read more about owls...:)...)

Or, maybe it has just swallowed a long-spine porcupinefish, also known as the spiny balloonfish.

http://biomechanics.bio.uci.edu/_html/nh_biomech/pufferfish/puffer.htm

Just kidding. :)

"Blakiston's Fish Owl is possibly the largest species of owl at 60-75cm (24-30 in). A recent field study of the species showed males weighing from 3 to 3.75 kg (6.6-8.3 lbs), with the female, at up to 4.5 kg (10 lbs), about 25% larger.^[1] Superficially, this owl looks like the Eurasian eagle owl, but is paler, and has broad, ragged ear tufts. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blakiston's_Fish-owl

Read this, and see some great images, too:

http://www.fishowls.com/

"Cartes maximum" from USA: The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pandion_haliaetus_-fish_-Texas-8-4c.jpg

Very skillful fish-catcher.

"The Osprey differs in several respects from other diurnal birds of prey. Its toes are of equal length, its tarsi are reticulate, and its talons are rounded, rather than grooved. The Osprey and Owls are the only raptors whose outer toe is reversible, allowing them to grasp their prey with two toes in front and two behind. This is particularly helpful when they grab slippery fish."

"The Osprey is unusual in that it is a single species that occurs nearly worldwide. Even the few subspecies are not unequivocally separable. There are four generally recognised subspecies, although differences are small, and ITIS only lists the first two.^[3]

• P. h. haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758), Eurasia.^[6]
• P. h. carolinensis (Gmelin, 1788), North America. This form is larger, darker bodied and has a paler breast than nominate haliaetus.^[6]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osprey

Maxicard from Bulgaria: The second-biggest owl in the world: The Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo)

I would have placed the stamp and the postmark on the upper right corner, for better visibility.

Yes, it's the same species from a previous post, where I showed a maxicard from Romania.
So I suppose that these Bulgarian owls can swallow a whole hedgehog, as well. Sheesh! :)

Great websites for owls on stamps, etc.:
http://www.birdtheme.org/scripts/family.php?famnum=78
http://www.owlsandbooks.co.uk/index.htm
http://www.owlsandbooks.co.uk/links.htm

Cape Eagle-Owl (Bubo capensis) - "UNICATE" maximum card created for me by my friend F., from South Africa

My friend F. went personally to a post office in Krugersdorp, South Africa, and obtained the postmark for this, and for other UNIKAT maximum cards (without duplicates) that she created at my request, for me.

 Thank you, again! :)

===========================

By the way, what do you understand if I say "This maximum card is UNIQUE?"

Well, it may mean different things, to different people.

It may mean that it has an unusual, original design - but how many copies have been manufactured from this design? Several?

It may mean that this specific configuration stamp+postmark+postcard was created by only one collector, but  she may have obtained 100 "duplicates", "copies", all identical.

What I wanted to say is that THERE IS NO COPY of it - only one specimen of this maximum card.

So, why don't I invent a word in the English language, that is a noun (not an adjective): UNICATE.

It means that there's only 1 (one) in the whole world.

No DUPLICATE, no TRIPLICATE, etc.

This maximum card is a UNICATE.

There is already such a noun in German: UNIKAT.

From there, it was adopted in Romanian: UNICAT.

So, why not in English, too: UNICATE, to rhyme with DUPLICATE and TRIPLICATE.

:)