I know why you mentioned stamp collecting in
a recent message Taylor, my wife said.
And I admitted it was 'the little old lady from
Sidmouth'.
Five years ago we drove along the coast for a week's
holiday in Sidmouth a small seaside resort town
in the county of Devon.
So there we were one afternoon enjoying an
ice cream on a bench on the boardwalk overlooking
the sea.
Also on the bench was a little old lady. She
commented on the warm sunny day and asked if
we were on holiday. She obviously wanted to
have a chat and I asked her where she was from.
Well I've been living here in Sidmouth for
twenty years. My husband was a banker in London
and we came here to retire but sadly he died
after ten years when I was eighty-three.
She went on say that after a year on her own she became
quite dejected and consulted her doctor in an effort get over
this malaise.
And the doctor made a strange suggestion.
What you need is an absorbing hobby and the
thing that would fit the bill is stamp collecting.
The doctor, it seemed, was an avid stamp
enthusiast himself and extolled the therapeutic
value of the hobby.
The old lady went on to tell how successful
her delve into the realm of stamps had been.
She had specialised in only Australian stamps
and soon had her own web site established.
She is now ninety three and has become a
world expert in this particular genre and
trades for quite high sums of money.
She estimates she's made a million over this
nine year period.
And that's 'the little old lady from Sidmouth'
and the joy of stamp collecting.

Bob Taylor