just saying hello ..

Hello, sorry not been writing but have been away and I have no time for stamps or even writing the blog.

I wrote a piece earlier on my aviation and aerophilately blog so you can find more about my adventures there. This Presentation pack is a prize to the first correct answer to whoever tells me what airline I flew the Embraer E170 on :-) email me at cddstamps@gmail.com


Thanks for your emails and comments. Re the previous piece I wrote: I suspect the person who listed the stamp was not lying but was ignorant of the correct quality description of the stamp. One reason why, in my humble view, when(if)you are buying from auction sites you really should have some understanding of who you are buying from, be it a person that knows stamps, or some individual who thinks it easy to make a few dollars selling off some stamps they found lying around. Too many of the later I think :-) And don't be mislead by the number of positive feedbacks they have.. they may not all be stamp sales !!! And even if they are.. well looking at some sellers I would not go near them, however many positive results they have But hey such is life :-) Enjoy your stamps and have a great weekend. .. Michael

A reminder about quality

Hello, although I may be repetative I think it is worth pointing this out yet again.

This described as "fine used" on a very well known auction site. I think not. This is a space filler. Oh, and FYI, the SG cat 2009 is 85p for a fine used copy.

Enjoy your good stamps as well as your space fillers :-) Michael

Azerbaijan IYA 2009

Here is a lovely MS I received a few days ago. A country I am not familiar with if I am honest. I have said many time that there is so much more to collecting stamp than just collecting stamps. You might enjoy reading this link, as I did. The first paragraph is copied below to get you started :-)

.... "Today, we would like to talk about a miraculous country of Azerbaijan with its unlimited natural resources, centuries-old culture, history and ancient people, whose lifestyle presents a unique and harmonious combination of the traditions and ceremonies of different cultures and civilizations.

Azerbaijan is a geographical name. On the one hand this name is linked with the population, which lived in this region for thousand of years before our era, and who were mostly fire-worshippers. Local population considered that fire was their God and so they worshipped the fire. "Azer" means fire. read this for more .. Azerbaijan
Enjoy your stamps and have a great weekend ... MIchael

flown A380 cover inaugural Sinagpore Paris

3 hours to go before this auction closes on eBAY
lot A380 FFC
signed by some of the crew, 1 of 20 produced so limited number.

Thanks for looking.. Michael

Machin positioning !!!!

Hello, a digression tonight because in my mail today - lots of mail I might add and all philatelic related - I had this envelope. It is really quite surprising to me.

I do a Childrens Corner (free stamps to children) as some of you may know and I get quite a few letters from kids around the world on a regular basis. I send them free stamps. (am running low by the way so any donations gladly accepted).

Anyway, today I got this letter from a very young schoolboy in the UK. Lovely positioning of the Machin don't you think - I have had some very stange positioning of stamps on envelopes I might add - but how good of the Royal Mail person to frank it the way they did. This is a personal franking, not a machine franking. Just thought you would enjoy seeing it.

Best wishes, enjoy your stamps ....Michael

Machins, Train Spotting and the Age of Steam

Trains seems to attract people and I am sure there are so many more collectors out there who collect trains on stamps, yet how do I reach them? :-) How do any of us tell each other about other great blogs and stamp related readings etc? This is one way.

One of my favourite blogs is Machin Mania - I assume you all know this. Apart from the fact that a rather cool guy called Roy hee hee :-) started it and he has a really knowledgable Machin expert (Larry) writing with him, plus a few other very good writers... well it is just such a good blog; and then there is this particular page would you believe Machins, Train Spotting and the Age of Steam


I just spent 30 minutes trying to find some of these GB Booklets..... I must have these somewhere but cannot find them. Am going out of my mind wondering where they are now.
Thanks Roy :-)

Best wishes .. enjoy your stamps.. Michael

Stamps on Trains... Rhodesia

Hello, A friend said to me the other day how small the English engine locomotives were compared to say the US locomotives, well at least talking about the steam locomotives of their day. How true. Here is a classic I think. And how large was this?


Issued 1969 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the opening of the Biera to Salisbury railway. I would like to read more on this engine and the railway but dinner is being served.. oops gotta go.
Enjoy

have a great weekend ... Michael

maybe the first train on a stamp, stamp

Hello again, I saw this.. seems like an early issue. Was it the first stamp to feature a train on a stamp?


I honestly don't know but I am sure someone out there will know. Maybe a prize for best reply.

Other prizes to be announced over coming days.

Best wishes, enjoy your stamps ........... Michael