'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.

 

Mad on Madagascar

The very first person to contact me through my Stamp Paradise ad was Linda Salzman from South Africa (actually she lives in Mozambique in a remote area, but her mail reaches her from S.A., taking up to two or three months!).

Linda and I became friends through a long exchange of emails. It took us an enjoyable age, deciding what to send one another. Linda sent me scans of her duplicates, and also of the varieties of earlier South African stamps, which was very educational, but after discovering that I actually had several envelopes full of stamps from that part of the world I chose mainly German stamps plus Mozambique and Madagascar.

Both of us prefer older stamps. Linda sent me her list of pre-1980 New Zealand stamps, and I was able to work through it and add 100 to that total. I look forward to further exchanges between the two of us.