What's the difference between The Netherlands, Holland and The Åland Islands? Also, DID YOU KNOW that Australia was New Holland, and "New York City, as New Amsterdam" was the capital of the New Netherland (a Dutch colony)? Maximum cards from Åland Islands, showing The Eurasian Elk (Europe) (Alces alces), called The Moose in North America

In Romanian, Holland is Olanda. 

In Swedish, Åland is pronounced correctly as Oland.

But there are big differences...

"The moose (North America) or Eurasian elk (Europe) (Alces alces) is the largest extant species in the deer family. 

Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic ("twig-like") configuration. 

Moose typically inhabit boreal and mixed deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates."

"Moose are not usually aggressive towards humans, but can be provoked or frightened to behave with aggression. In terms of raw numbers, they attack more people than bears and wolves combined, but usually with only minor consequences. 

When harassed or startled by people or in the presence of a dog, moose may charge. 

Also, as with bears or any wild animal, moose that have become habituated to being fed by people may act aggressively when denied food. 

During the fall mating season, bull moose may be aggressive toward humans due to the high hormone levels they experience. 

Cows with young calves are very protective and will attack humans who come too close, especially if they come between mother and calf. 

Unlike other dangerous animals, moose are not territorial, and do not view humans as food, and will therefore usually not pursue humans if they simply run away.^[43] 

Like any wild animal, moose are unpredictable and should be given a respectful amount of space."

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

http://www.zazzle.com/now_where_was_i_before_i_got_interrupted_postage-172442505130559121?rf=238693463283865848

[How many stamps have you ever seen, that can be part of a written conversation?]

Holland is the Central-Western part of The Netherlands.

"In many languages including English, 'Holland' (Hollande, Holanda etc.) is a common name for the Netherlands as a whole. Even the Dutch use this sometimes. Strictly speaking, Holland is only the central-western region of the country comprising two of the twelve provinces, North Holland and South Holland (see figure) and thus linguistically a pars pro toto related to use of Russia for the (former) Soviet Union, and England for the United Kingdom. The use is sometimes discouraged. "

"Abel Tasman gave the name New Holland to the continent now known as Australia, a name it retained for 150 years until the United Kingdom renamed it in 1824. 

[MY NOTE: in Romanian or Spanish transliteration, Aussies seem to pronounce the name of the country like this: Astrailia :) ]

There was also a colony called New Holland in South America. 

Part of Lincolnshire is also known as Holland.

The Dutch colony centred on New Amsterdam (the modern New York City) was called New Netherland."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands_(terminology)

The Åland Islands, "where the Finnish are Swedish"

"The Åland Islands (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈoːland], Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland. 

The islands collectively constitute the smallest region of Finland, with only 0.49% of its land area, and 0.50% of its population."

"Most inhabitants have Swedish (the sole official language) as their first language: 90.2% in 2009, and 5.0% speak Finnish."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Location%C3%85land.svg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85land_Islands

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You saw the top image here, with the elk swimming in the blue waters of The Åland Islands, right?

Happy Blue Monday! (meme)

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

Best transportation for a polar bear small cub: Mom! Maximum card and future maximum cards

Happy Mother's Day!

Now, another "Transportation" maxicard, with a train:

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Happy Sunday Stamps meme!

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

Vladimir Heavy Draft (no, that's not a nickname given to Vladimir by his draft beer buddies; in fact, he probably prefers vodka, like Boris did). Of Horse, my dear readers, it's a cool maximum card with a horse, that I received from Russia (for sure) with love (for swapping maxicards with friends from around the world)

Do you see pink in this image? 

My maxicard is no.14 out of 72! :)

Beautiful cover! Thank you again, Iulia!

"The Vladimir Heavy Draft is a breed of draft horse which comes from Vladimir, in the former USSR, in Russia. It is a strong horse that is an all-around draft horse of medium size."

"This horse was developed in the province after which it is named at the turn of the 20th century. 

Today, its breeding is widerspread. [MY NOTE: maybe "widespread"]. 

The imported foundation stock was mainly British, consisting of the Suffolk Punch, Clydesdale (horse) and Shire horse. 

Some Ardennes (horse) and Percheron were also used. 

In 1946, the Vladimir Heavy Draft was found to be breeding sufficiently true to type to consider it a true breed. 

This quick-maturing, strong, heavy horse is popular for draft work. 

It is also used for pulling Vladimir trokia sleighs."

Wikipedia contributor, what TROKIA are you misinforming us about?

It's TROIKA, dude!

:)

Here are two stamps from Cambodia / Kampuchea, both inscribed as depicting Vladimir Heavy Draught.

But I have a Heavy Doubt that the leftie is really it.

What do YOU think?

 No blacks allowed? Why?

"The Ardennes or Ardennais is one of the oldest breeds of draft horse, and originates from the Ardennes area in Belgium, Luxembourg and France. They are heavy-boned with thick legs and are used for draft work. The Ardennes is found in many colors, although black horses are very rare and are not allowed to be registered with the breed registry."

Function creates form.

Heavy duty creates super-strong work horses - no steroids for this ancient breed.

Don't be offended or grossed-out by the muscular massivity and sheer virility of it.

Naturalia non sunt turpia.

Photographic evidence suggests that this is no GEERLING (castrated horse).

This an etalon stallion of the large size (Vladimir Heavy Draft is mid-size, remember?) breed of Ardennes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Etalon_race_ardennaise_1.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardennes_(horse)

Happy Mother's Day! Woman's Day...and what have you.

"Nine years after the first official United States Mother's Day, commercialization of the holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become and spent all her inheritance and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as an abuse of the celebration.^[4]

Later commercial and other exploitations of the use of Mother's Day infuriated Jarvis and she made her criticisms explicitly known the rest of her life.^[4][60] She criticized the practice of purchasing greeting cards, which she saw as a sign of being too lazy to write a personal letter. She was arrested in 1948 for disturbing the peace while protesting against the commercialization of Mother's Day, and she finally said that she "wished she would have never started the day because it became so out of control ...".^[60]

Mother's Day continues to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.^[62]

For example, according to IBISWorld, a publisher of business research, Americans will spend approximately $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on pampering gifts—like spa treatments—and another $68 million on greeting cards.^[63]

Mother's Day will generate about 7.8% of the U.S. jewelry industry's annual revenue in 2008, with custom gifts like mother's rings.^[64]

It's possible that the holiday would have withered over time without the support and continuous promotion of the florist industries and other commercial industries. Other Protestant holidays from the same time, like Children's Day and Temperance Sunday, do not have the same level of popularity.^[65] Mother's Day is also prominent in the Sunday Funnies of the United States, ranging from sentimental to wry to caustic."

[edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day

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Pink harness in the first image above.

Happy Pink Saturday! (still open on Sunday!)

^{Please visit "Pretty in pink"/ "Show us your pink" [objects, that is :)] meme here:}

^{http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/}