Penguins, T.A.A.F

well, here are some adorable little penguins...and Ive been feel like one of them these days...in case you live in Europe, probably you are more or less a witness to the "nice" snow storms and freezing temperatures....maybe not the worst kind of weather I can remember, but it certainly is more than awful, demanding some good physical skills to get from A to B without kissing the ground and breaking a bone or two...looking at it outside the window is really beautiful, but once you are out in the streets, things change...the funniest thing is that the authorities are always caught off guard and don't know how to cope with it, so all the streets are a real mess...I mean...snow in the middle of the winter?! That's is really a surprise, no?

well, at least these cute guys do not have to deal with the urban problems snow brings with itself..they are just used to uncleaned and frozen paths and have no one to complain about it anyways.
These ones here are known as the Emperor penguins, which are the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and are endemic to Antarctica

the ones above live on Terre Adélie, in the Antarctic and is recognized by France as one of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

Among else, penguins remind me of my childhood....I could repeatedly watch the Oxygen 4 video...over and over again....and it also got me interested into Jean-Michelle Jarre's music...arent these penguins just adorable!

and here come some awesome stamps too! the two on the left are from 2009, showing pyrites. The middle one with the flag is from a set of 5 issued in 2008, representing the FSAT flag, just on different backgrounds. While the last two were issued in 2011 as a set of two stamps showing zircons.

well, here is another T.A.A.F penguin card, so it was logical to show it here as well. These guys live on the Kerguelen Islands, also known as the Desolation Islands, and are situated in the Southern Indian Ocean.
These ones are known as King penguins, which are considered as the second largest penguin species.

One funny BBC video about penguins.....can you notice a resemblance to humans?

here ive scanned the entire backside of the card coz it was simply more than worth it with this fantastic cancellation! as for the stamp..it was issued in 2009, commemorating the Centenary of the Stamp "Résidence de France".

btw, have I ever told you that I dream of having a pet-penguin?? I just dont know how would I be able to accommodate it here during summer...and I certainly have no intention of moving to the Antarctic....might go and visit it though...

thanks a million to Jean-Pierre for these amazing cards!!

Îles Éparses, TAAF

Well, I think Im catching the last train to make an update...coz it seems that only weekends have remained as a possible option....I wont bother you now about how my Mon-Fri goes..but well, im still alive :)
And those Mon-Fri days bring me some awesome cards, from fantastic people, and the first one is perfect for bragging :P
I have to admit that I havent had this one on the list of my missing countries....coz it seems that the list of world countries can get a bit confusing, or at least if you refer to those countries as stamp entities....and one such is the TAAF or the Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (in order to avoid confusion, the abbreviation stands for its original name in French "Terres australes et antarctiques françaises".
The TAAF consists of: -a group of volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, southeast of Africa, approximately equidistant between Africa, Antarctica and Australia; - Adélie Land, the French claim on the Antarctica continent; - the Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean.
The territory has no permanent population; the population consists of military personnel, civilian officials, scientific researchers and support staff.

And this card today comes from the Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean...or as its French name is : Îles Éparses

Îles Éparses consist of four small coral islands, an atoll, and a reef in the Indian Ocean. the Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova and Europa — and the Bassas da India atoll lie in the Mozambique Channel west of Madagascar, while the fourth island, Tromelin, lies about 450 kilometres east of Madagascar. All these islands have been classified as natural reserves.
apart from the name sounding so exotic and fascinating...the card is just fantastic too with its crystal blue waters....even the buddy on the card doesnt look so scary :)

well, here is a picture in order to give you an idea about the position of the Scattered Islands

and of course, here come some amazing stamps too!

well, here you actually have the whole back of the card scanned...but I just had to show all the prints and cancellations :)
the stamp on the left is from a set of 5 stamps issued in 2007 presenting the Scattered Islands, with this stamp here showing Île Tromelin, while the other one was issued in 2005, commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the death of Paul-Emile Victor. (a French ethnologist and explorer).

Thanks a million to my fairy called Jean-Pierre for this fantastic surprise!