Netherlands Antilles

Well, due to Christmas holidays, im having two day off...plus the weekend...so i can take some time to post some cards.....I still have plenty of work to finish by Monday, but due to technical issues that *I* have to deal with, even though it is not really fair, I got fed up with it, so i decided to take a break

And im starting with a great card sent by dear Sainara...and a very special one too...no not, coz it is a fantastic map in question only...but coz it is a card from Netherlands Antilles, which I dont know if you were aware of, but stopped existing as such some months ago...so now if you want to send something to the Netherlands Antilles, you will have to write Dutch Caribbean instead.
I know that Curaçao and Sint Maarten became independent and they've issued their own stamp(s) in the meantime too...while Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatiues fall under the name BES Islands (also known as the Caribbean Netherlands/Dutch Caribbean)
Erm....does sound confusing a bit, esp if you already used to something, so I hope i didnt mix up anything above :)

Anyways, it feels great to know that I have cards from a country which doesnt exist anymore and from which i cant get cards anymore...at least not in its former constitution and not with the NA stamps. So im really happy and proud and I owe it all to kind Sainara for having sent me cards from the Netherlands Antilles!! Thank you so much dear!!!

and here is the NA stamp....I think these still could be used, until there are enough stamps issued from both sides
this stamp was issued in 2005 in a set of 10 flowers stamps.

Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

Pheww....finally, here i am...and i better scribble down something before i fall again into one of those emotional turmoils...ive been in such a state for like two weeks...and its been getting worse and worse each day...I thank God to the bits and pieces of sunshine he brought me today...i know they wont last for long...the upcoming periods wont allow it...but at least, for the time being, i need to enjoy it as much as possible...right?

and ill start today with one lovely and cheerful card from dear Sainara....well, its always indeed a pleasure to receive a card from the Netherlands Antilles...but its a double pleasure to receive it from dear people..

the card shows the Feeding time at the Donkey's Sanctuary...Sainara says how she remembers donkeys walking around freely while growing up. But then, with the growing population and increasing car accidents involving donkeys, a sanctuary was made and the majority of the donkeys reside there now.

Thats really cool actually...to have donkeys roaming around freely...or horses...or elephants...or some other animals...as long as they wont be able to do you harm. Its nice for them to have all that freedom in the world.
Here, in our ZOO, not only the animals cant walk around freely, they are even in danger from all those people with lack of consciousness, who feed them inappropriately, even though there are huge signs which say that its strictly forbidden to feed the animals...just recently one of the camels had died suffocating from a bag of crisps...totally miserable...and i dont get it how people can be so reckless...but they just dont seem to care...at all.

 

I suppose this stamp is issued regarding Christmas holidays...its from December 2006, but i dont have any further information about it unfortunately!

Sainara, thanks a lot again, not just for this, but for all the great cards you had sent me!

Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

Well, as i had already announced, my schedule got a bit tight and all...but im glad it did so...even though i complain when i got too much work to do, it does make me feel good and fulfilled....well, ok, i admit, i wasnt really in the mood during the weekend to put two sentences together, but i feel ok now *knock on wood* and i think i can squeeze in a few cards before i rush to work again....if this weather wasnt so cold and rainy only...the other day i was sitting in my garden, having coffee, writing letters, and it felt really nice...the other day i wanted to do the same....but there was a cold wind which just kicked me back inside....otherwise there would have been colourful papers flying all over the neighbourhood....

here is my second and last card from the Netherlands Antilles (*hint hint* :))
This one is showing a Flamingo in Pekelmeer....Pekelmeer...Pekelmeer....I had no idea what Pekelmeer represented but i thought it would be good to goodle for it...they call it the Flamingo Sanctuary! :)

The salt flats of Pekelmeer spread out in front of a visitor in great squares of brilliant color, ranging from the turquoise of newly-flooded areas and the livid pink of pools filled with brine shrimp to the blinding white of dried salt. Off to the side lie enormous mounds of dried and drying salt, and in the distance stand great flocks of flamingoes, happily supping on the shrimp. Pekelmeer's deserted vistas are frequently more populated by birds -- including osprey, heron, frigate birds, cormorants, and other marine birds -- than by humans, making it an excellent spot for birdwatching.

I think Flamingos are really nice birds...though i think i havent actually seen one for real so far...at work, in one of the books, there is a lesson which has a Flamingo included, and the main point of the lesson is for children to use words like: pink, feathers, wings, bird....i think that the Flamingo is one of the animals they mostly prefered to describe....

Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

Who would have thought!! My first card from the Netherlands Antilles!!!!! Wow!!! I feel sooo special :))))
Plus, i must say, the name Netherlands Antilles itself sounds soooo, mmmm....appealing...dont ask me why coz i cant explain it, it just does :)
And to make things even better, i dont have one but two cards from there! The second one was a total surprise and something i hadnt expected at all...but for which im just so thankful :)

both of the cards show Scenes from Bonaire, which is one of the Netherlands Antilles islands.
On this card in particular you can see an Iguana, which according to the sender is a delicacy on the islands... soup or stew or even as a pet, it is liked by many!
Ouch....I dont think i could handle an iguana in any of those ways....i have some kind of repugnance towards anything which is of the lizard kind...or which crawls...so  i would never feel comfortable in the vicinity of this buddy....but eating an iguana???!!! This definitely makes my stomach work in a different way :) Yay....i could never ever ever consider that....I know its all probably something that you just get used to and maybe if i was born at a place where this is a natural thing to eat, i would have had it on my meal list every now and then...but like this, i just cant grasp the idea of it :) I mean the only kind of meat i eat is chicken and fish...oh and turkey....now that i mentioned it, i had a long discussion once whether the fish is fish or the fish is meat...if you wanna contribute with your opinion, feel free to do so :)  Anyway as i was saying, im not a meat lover and pork or lamb are also on my out list...so if i cant eat that, i surely have trouble to digest the thought of eating an iguana....
I just wonder....if i had to choose between eating an iguana or eating those Chinese/Japansese delicacies..like cockroaches and worms and all sorts of bugs...its gonna be a tough choice...its gonna be a really tough choice : ))

Thank you S. for the cards...thank you sooo  much!!!