Everything under the sun

I'm up to the number 31 with my exchanges, but that lags the 49 or so emails I've exchanged with Kalkie, a 12-year old from Ireland. We talk about sports, travel, getting into the newspaper, family etc. Sometimes we even talk about stamps!

For our second trade I experienced a first: being sent a few stamps from my own country. I have since received a few from someone else - I forget who from. In the stamps above there are some from Ireland that feature birds which remind me in stye of the NZ bird stamps of several years back. I wonder, which country was first?

K2: nine-and-a-half out of ten

If Kalkie Kalkeiran's 100 German stamps (from Ireland) had been the 11th bunch to arrive, then I'd have been able to make something of that fact - 'K' is the eleventh letter of the alphabet. But I think its time to give up on that thread . . .

Anyway, it took a little longer for K squared's envelope to arrive than the norm. On its cover was stamped: This item required further processing due to underpayment which consequently caused a delay. I wonder what the nature of that 'processing' was, and whether it was that which caused the rip at the bottom of the envelope.  But it got here in the end, and no stamps fell out. That's all that matters! 

After the wheeling and dealing was over, K2 sent a quick email asking whether I was happy with the trade, and what I would give out of ten. I almost gave full marks. The stamps were nicely postmarked, neat, in partial sets (architecture, lighthouses, animals). That they were on paper was fine by me. But for a couple of doubles - full marks. Recommended.