North-hemisphere champion

Announcing the arrival of the No. 1 Baby trolley driver in the Northern hemisphere(I, of course, and the Suthern hemisphere champion!). Chris from Poland has sent me another envelope from his half of the world .

As usual, the envelope is impeccably packet with a return address label, protective postcards, a chatty letter, and a selection of stamps from small countries. Chris, tell me what you like in return this time.

'Forever stamp exchanger'

I did not photograph the stamps that Linda sent me from South Africa, only the envelope. My excuse is that I must have been too excited. On the day that I received her Polish, German and Japanese stamps (and one from Dominica) - a grand total of 174 - three or four other items arrived in the mail.

Included in the second envelope that Linda sent me (see also 'Mad on Madagascar') was a sheet of paper titled: Forever Stamp Exchanger. It consists of a list of addresses and comprises a type of Ponzi scheme, I guess. 

If you decide to take part, you send 50 stamps to the first uncrossed person on the list, then you cross that name out and add your own to the bottom. Following that, you send it to up to five other people that you know. 

It's potentially a good way to make new friends, it seems to me. I've sent 50 NZ stamps to Jan Erik Nybo from Norway. Let's see what happens. And if you are interested in taking part, let me know.

 

Surrealistic political sauce

No, I do not have this mini-sheet that features the late Frank Zappa. But I wouldn't be surprised if Krzysztof (Chris) Marciniak does. He is a fan of rock music in general and Zappa in particular. He recommends the albums: Bongo Fury, One Size Fits All, Zoot Allures, Joe's Garage and Sheikh Yerbouti. Chris shares "fathernity" with me. Our baby daughters do not cry, and leave us with plenty of opportunity to listen to music and collect stamps!

My second letter from Mr Prioytet Prioritaire in Poland. Note the cat stamp on the top right of the envelope. Now, I like cats too, but for the life of me I can't understand that so many countries put them on their stamps (and that includes NZ). Is it just me?

Chris's letters are always interesting to read. He includes a name/address sticker to place on the return envelope. That is a good idea for people like me who are concurrently exchanging many letters world-wide. It lets me know that I have yet to reply. I've asked Chris please to be patient (he has no choice).

As before, enclosed was a selection of stamps from small countries such San Marino, Latvia, Ireland, Israel (surprisingly attractive), Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Kuwait and the Dominican Republic, a recent favorite. Chris has been there on holiday and says that it has a "surrealistic political sauce". 

Sounds yummy!

Keeping track

I need to use a system for keeping track of my exchanges. Suddenly, while writing this post, I wonder if I've responded to Rafak Dobrowolski's letter of a couple of weeks back. I was to send him 150 New Zealand stamps in exchange for the same number that he sent me from Poland. Rafak is also interested in stamps from Brunei, Timor, Myanmar, Taiwan and the Pacific Islands, so next time I'll see if I have duplicates from those places.

I've since learned that Rafak received the stamps I sent him, and that he likes them. There were floods in his part of the world which prevented him from replying earlier.

WOL to WOL carpet of Polish stamps

This is/has been the 19th exchange of stamps for me online. It was with another woman, Marian Dabrowski from Poland. I see that she comes from a place called WOLOMIN, whose first three letters are the same as those of my name: William Otte Lucas.

At first when Marian contacted me I said that I could not, as I had agreed to exchange with too many other people. But then she wrote back, "too bad, because I am looking for stamps from the region". That made me feel bad, so I changed my mind. I guess the lesson is not to give up immediately, and that continued communication pays off.

 
In the envelope I discovered a postcard that seems to commemorate a military event from WWI. There was also a mini-sheet/block of a single stamp. Also included was a very neatly written letter. I wish that I could write so well.

I'm surprised how many collectors are women. I'd always thought that philately was something that mainly men were attracted to. Anyway, Marian sent me some very attractive stamps from Poland. Almost too attractive, actually. I believe that they are cancelled to order, because they still have the adhesive gum on the back. 

Many things in common (maybe 12?)

Chris (Krzysztof Marciniak from Poland) and I have much in common. We exchanged several emails exploring our many commonalities long before we spoke of commemoratives or exchanged residential addresses. 

Though we both have children in their twenties, we've each recently been blessed with a baby daughter (with a second wife). Concerning his latest addition - lately philately? - Chris wrote: "She's very wise and allows me to cope with philately". I'm not sure what he means by that, but it sounds good.

discovered that, as well as being doting dads, we both share a love for rock music - "Doors, Hendrix, U2 OK, but Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and Frank Zappa . . . Himalayas of music!". We both gave up chess decades ago, but I'm trying to talk my new friend into the online version. He tried to sell me on the idea of skiing and fishing, but they are not really my thing.

But enough of gossip. Let's go onto what we're here for - stamps. These are the ones that Chris sent me:

Our exchange, after we finally swapped addresses, was of stamps from smaller countries.  I returned some from Fiji, Kiribati, the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea and a few others.