Sunday stamps: 'B' is for 'brief', 'bellen' and 'blindengeleidehond'

I love 'false friends': words which in one language have a certain meaning, and which have in an other language a totally different meaning.

That is the case with the word 'brief'. In English 'brief' means 'short'. But the Dutch word 'brief' has a meaning which I guess you all might like: 'epistle', 'letter'!



On the first stamp Nijntje (Miffy) is writing a brief (letter).
And on the second stamp you see the happy receiver of this brief (letter).



An other funny false friend is the verb (not noun) 'bellen', a false friend between German and Dutch.

In Dutch, the verb 'bellen' means 'to make a phone call'. In German, 'bellen' means... 'to bark' (in Dutch: blaffen).

Here you see some people 'aan het bellen' (calling),



And talking about barking (blaffen), the type of dog on the next stamps doesn't bark a lot, but works hard instead, to help to guide blind people.
In Dutch he/she is named 'blindengeleidehond' (blinden = blind people (plural), geleiden = to guide, hond = dog).
Sunny was the first guide dog in the Netherlands and started to work in 1935, the founding year of the KNGF (Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation).



The characters on top are from the Braille alphabet, named after Louis Braille and thus has the same name in Dutch, English and German.


See more stamps concerning the 'B' at and via today's Sunday Stamps.

Sunday Stamps: Flags

This Sunday Stamps' theme is 'Maps or Flags'.

Although I have some nice map stamps, today I chose for the flags. Because, how coincidental, I happened to have joined a 'flag stamp' chain-something recently, and a week ago my own card returned, provided with three more flag stamps!

This was the front side of my card:



No flag to be seen! But on the back I've put one, so the card was ready to send:


* before it's long journey *

After 6 or 7 weeks of traveling, the card returned home this way:


* after traveling via Estonia, Finland and Malaysia back to the Netherlands *

So, flags from four countries, united in one postcard!

Meanwhile two of the three other cards (from the other participants) arrived at my place. Which I passed on to the next receiver. Before sending out I scanned the back sides so you can enjoy them, too!

This was the first card I received:



The card arrived from Malaysia. Besides the flag image, there is an other interesting thing on this stamp: the postage rate (#60 Sen) has been printed in Braille!



The second card is from Estonia:



With the complete Estonian flag on the front side:



See more stamps on the 'flags and maps' theme at today's blog post, and via the links mentioned, at Sunday Stamps!

In: from Sri Lanka

Ontvangen van Ravindra uit Sri Lanka, deze 'Tempel van de Tand', Kandy, en prachtige postzegels.

Received from Ravindra from Sri Lanka, this 'Temple of the Tooth Relic', Kandy, and these wonderful stamps.

Thank you very much, Ravindra!