Brexin

 

In the world of stamps, you sometimes see overprinted stamps. This is where the country has taken a previously issued stamp and altered it to celebrate an event. This stamp shows the Coralita, or coral vine, a colourful flower from Mexico that is common in the Caribbean and Bermuda. The stamp has been overprinted with 'HEATH-NIXON DECEMBER 1972'. This refers to a summit between the two leaders where the US President voiced concerns about trade after Britain joins the European Union. If only they knew what 2020 would have in store!

Japan, land of contrasts

 

Japan. I wouldn't ordinarily have a page of stamps from Japan, but then again I have been there. Three times. Always to the same place. A night stop in the town of Narita. A fascinating one street town with a gorgeous temple and gardens at the far end. It is an airport town and has a transitory feel to it. But I hated seeing, in one of the shop windows, the grotesque sight of an old man skinning eels alive. Done almost like a tourist attraction. There is so much that is good and interesting about Japan, but there is so much horror too. These stamps were given to me by my colleague Michael Oakes, a kind and gentle man who worked with me for a short, much too short, period time. Thanks Mike! 

I don't have many photos from my three trips to Japan (although oddly I do have a video of the eel killing man). This is a snap of one of the market stalls in Narita high street. 

Beautiful Flatts Village

This stamp is special because the postmark is from Flatts Village. My favourite place on the island. We stayed here every time we visited Bermuda. I have so many happy memories. Not least of which is sitting on the dock at Flatts feeding the fish. Seen here sporting my new and trendy (or so I thought) LA Gear trainers.

 

 

80s aircraft

 

Now, this was my era at Gatwick. The late 80s. Here we have a BAC 1-11 and a Handley Page Herald. I definitely worked on the Herald. The BAC 1-11 was the first aircraft I ever flew on (Laker Airways) pictured below, getting off after landing home from Majorca. Wearing a very 70s blue velvet jacket. With my mum and a souvenir sombrero hat.

The stamp is from Jersey. We only went there once, on Dan Air standby, to visit the Gerald Durrell zoo. For Sue, the main attraction was to see the critically endangered St Lucia Parrot (bottom photo)

Libster, lobster, labster, Lee

 

1987 and our first holiday in Bermuda. We stayed at a hotel in Flatts and regularly went snorkelling at Shelley Bay. On the right side of the bay was a rock formation, the home to Lobster Lee. We visited him nearly every day. Named after the Spike Milligan poem which goes:

Libster, lobster, labster, Lee
Living in the deep blue sea
Libster Lobster where are you?
Gone to lunch, back at two.

Lobster Lee's home is represented in the red dot here:

Moonmen

 

This was a phase I went through! One day, while searching for an American flag to use in a PowerPoint deck, I stumbled across a website that described, in great detail, the process of putting the stars and stripes on the moon. I decided there and then, as I do, that I wanted to meet someone who had walked on the moon. The next few years were spent tracking down the Apollo astronauts. These old men had the most incredible story to tell of their part in mans greatest ever adventure. These are the guys I got to see talk:

Apollo 8 - Frank Borman, William A. Anders, James A. Lovell Jr

Apollo 11 - Neil Armstrong*, Buzz Aldrin*

Apollo 12 - Alan L. Bean*, Richard F. Gordon Jr

Apollo 13 - James A. Lovell Jr., Fred W. Haise Jr

Apollo 15 - Alfred Worden

Apollo 16 - Charlie Duke*

*walked on moon

 A photo I took of Neil Armstrong in 2006

The Hibiscus

 

One of the (many) things I loved about Bermuda was the narrow lanes lined with hibiscus plants. So much so that I described it to my friend Athalie who I worked with. A few days later, she'd gone down the garden centre during her lunch break and come back with a hibiscus for my garden. I loved that plant. It has lived in a pot on my patio for at least 25 years but sadly came to the end of its days last year.

Freaks and errors

 

Just watched, and hugely enjoyed, the movie about stamp collecting. It's called 'Freaks and Errors: A Rare Collection. They talked about the quality of the engraving and printing of old stamps and showed a lot of close up images. Thought I'd have a go at a close up photo of this beautiful stamp from Barbados. 

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

 

Malaysian crustaceans. How I love a Malaysian crustacean. It's always a joy to reacquaint myself with the ghost crabs on the beach at siburesort.com