NaPoWriMo Poem #26: A Panda And Me

 A very cute little panda,
High up a bamboo tree,
Eating soft bamboo shoots,
While looking down at me.

Soon it was too full,
It could not come down,
I climbed up to help,
But I tumbled upside down.

Oh, my dear what should I do?
Little panda, how can I help you?
I took a ladder, and up I go,
I save the panda and it says thank you.

A panda stuck on a bamboo tree. Drawing by Ahmad Ali Karim.

Royal Mail’s Buckingham Palace Stamps 2014

Buckingham House in 1700 looks almost unrecognisable to today’s Palace. (PA)
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The Royal Mail has released a 10-stamp collection celebrating Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of British sovereigns since 1837.
The set includes six stamps featuring the changing exterior of the building through the ages, commissioned by Royal Mail from artist Chris Draper.
There is also a miniature sheet of four stamps with photographs of four opulent locations inside the 775-room palace – the Throne Room, the Blue Drawing Room, the Grand Staircase and the Green Drawing Room.
Please click the photos for larger images:

This new stamp shows Buckingham House in 1714. The building, which is the core of the Palace today, was built in 1703. (PA) 2 / 11Photo by PA / PA Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Pinterest ClosePrevious imageNext image

The face of the Palace has been changed and modified many times in history. This stamp shows the Palace in 1846, shortly before a new wing was added the following year (PA) 4 / 11Photo by PA / PA Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Pinterest ClosePrevious imageNext image

Men respond to a call by the War Office for married men aged between 36 and 40 to become munition workers.

Buckingham House, 1819. Royal mail spokesman Andrew Hammond said: ‘This stamp issue illustrates the development of Buckingham Palace from the private house built by the Duke of Buckingham 300 years ago to one of the most iconic buildings in the world.’

This stamp shows the Palace in 1862, at a time where the residence was seldom used. (PA) 5 / 11Photo by PA / PA Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Pinterest ClosePrevious imageNext image

Four iconic rooms, from the 775-room property, were chosen to be reworked in stamp format, including the Blue Drawing Room, which was decorated by Queen Mary (PA) 9 / 11Photo by PA / PA Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Pinterest ClosePrevious imageNext image

Unlike previous stamps, which only show the Queen’s face, the newly issued set will illustrate her residence, as well as many rooms insde the Palace. This particular stamp shows the opulant Green Drawing Room. (PA)

Lavish: The Grand Staircase inside the Palace also features on one of the stamps. (PA) 11 / 11Photo by PA / PA Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Pinterest ClosePrevious imageNext image

The lavish Throne Room is used mostly for court gatherings, as well as formal wedding portraits and photographs. (PA) 10 / 11Photo by PA / PA Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Pinterest ClosePrevious imageNext image