Finally Attended A Club Meeting

I finally had a Wednesday night free and was able to attend the monthly meeting of The Christopher Morley Pipe Club at the newly renovated Pen and Pencil Club. Terrance took some photos which you can check out on our Facebook page. Here's one of Abbey, one of our two women pipe smoker members and me. I'm smoking the nose warmer cob stuffed with Burley Flake #1. Always a pleasure to see all the folks.

Mini-Stems

Time flies! After writing so often this summer, I have really fallen of the wagon for awhile. So it goes in the blogosphere! I have been awaiting the arrival of a pocketful of mini-stems that I ordered custom made from Dave at Walker Briar for a number of my corn cob pipes that do not take the standard replacement stems that Dave makes for run of the mill cobs. In particular the three Morgans that I was able to get from Missouri Meerschaum, as well as two or three other pipes that they outfit with the smaller stems. They arrived today and I am thrilled with them.

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Meanwhile, as the busy time of the year begins for me, my time for leisurely pipefuls has dwindled. So I am carefully avoiding opening up too many tins of tobacco. I am presently working through my present and all time favorite C&D Burley Flake #1. I think I'll open up something new and interesting for a change when I finish this tin. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile some food for thought compliments of Briar Files
Among the sages who Emerson sought out on his visit to Europe was the notoriously reticent and difficult Thomas Carlyle. He called on Carlyle one evening and was given a pipe, while the host took one himself. They sat together smoking in perfect silence until bedtime, and on parting shook hands most cordially, congratulating each other on the fruitful time they had enjoyed together.

Check Out My Cellar

I discovered, by way of A Pipe Smoker's Cognition blog an online site for keeping track of my tobacco cellar, called Tobacco Cellar.com. Don't click the link yet, as I haven't had time to put my stuff in there yet, but I will add the link to my links list and by mid-week it should be filled in.

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That's me again, this time enjoying my latest and best homemade corn cob pipe! This one is definitely a winner!

Add Your Own Caption

This picture appeared on the The Briar Files blog with the admission that the author did not know what it was about and an invitation to caption it. I have done so. Check out the blog and enjoy.


Look what your Latakia did to my mustache!

Pipe Smoking and the Life of the Mind

It has always seemed patently obvious to me that pipe smoking is not only the hobby of intelligent people, but actually contributes to people's intelligence. This interview of Bertrand Russell on Pipesmagazine.com supports that assertion.



PENNSYLVANIA MEERSCHAUM UPDATES:

So pipe number one burned out. Pipe number two looks great but doesn't hold much. Pipe number three burned out. Pipe number four, which I made yesterday, will be the test. First of all, I went to the market and bought a better, wider piece of corn. White corn, in fact, which I've been told is stronger than yellow. I'm much happier with the width of the bowl and made the length larger as well. Everything came out as desired. All that remains is to smoke it...a few times and see how she fares. Either way, I'm out of the business for awhile, but it has been a fun diversion. Meanwhile, I ordered a couple of more Morgans from Missouri Meerschaum, just to be safe.

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Pennsylvania Meerschaum 2

Yes, I have taken another stab at corn cob pipe making. I think you'll agree that this second attempt is better than the first. I worked a little harder at it, used somewhat better tools and a surer hand to shape and finish it. I think it looks right smart. I'll take it on its maiden smoke this afternoon.

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when I will break open a new tin of tobacco, Burley Flake #2. There are now 4 numbers in this series. Burley Flake #4 contains Latakia, which is not a preferred taste of mine so I haven't decided whether or not to try it. But Number 2 is the only one of the other three expressions that I haven't tried and I'm anxious to compare it to its compatriots.

UPDATE

The pipe smokes well. The walls are thicker than the first and I think there is less chance it will burn through, though the chamber is narrow and the pipe holds less tobacco. But I'm getting there.Considering I didn't give a lot of thought to purchasing the corn in the first place, the next step is to look for corn with a wider pit in order to carve a larger bowl.

The tobacco is pleasant. A good straight burley with a nice touch of the Red Virginia to make it interesting, but not as interesting as the perique makes Burley Flake #1 and #3. All told I think #1 goes on my favorites list while the others go on the occasional list.

Nautilus Pipe

I hope this is not a violation of blogging ethics, but I couldn't resist. I came across a new blog called Tobacco Days and I couldn't resist not only mentioning it , but reproducing these incredible photos. They are of a pipe called the Nautilis by Michail Revyagin and really speaks for itself.





Check out the whole story at Tobacco Days!