Morta!

What, you ask is Morta? Well, until very recently I would not have been able to help you out. But over the last couple of years I have slowly begun to hear about another material for use in pipemaking that was making a reputation for itself suggesting that it was every bit as good as briar for making fine pipes. Turning to Google for a bit of help I not only discovered this article on Morta and making pipes from Morta (for those of you unable to bear the suspense any longer Morta refers to partially fossilized wood (probably oak) found in one particular area in France. It is difficult to find, difficult to mature, difficult to carve, etc etc.) Pipemaker Trevor Talbot (whose blog is listed in my side panel) has done a great deal of work in this area and has written a very informative article on Pipedia For more information check it out.

Meanwhile, this particular search yielded the existence of Pipedia! I had never heard of it before today and I'm thrilled to have it to explore. I will add it to my side panel for you to explore at your leisure, as I will be doing.

Finally, on this subject, what brought it all up, actually, is my decision to acquire a Morta pipe when I came across a nosewarmer made from it on Chris Askwith's website. I haven't received it yet, but it is pictured above and I'm really looking forward to it and will, of course, report.

Finally (again!) but not on this subject, I want to make note of the return of Neil Archer Roan's blog A Passion for Pipes. This is, bar none, the most interesting, erudite and informative pipe blog in existence and is directly responsible for my taking up the "sport." (For which Mr. Roan bears no responsibility nor blame.) After deciding to desist from writing I left his site up on the side bar so that folks could access his archive. But he has recently decided to resume writing and new posts are now listed there. Don't miss them!

Kirstens

I don't believe in apologizing for blogging lacunae, but still, it has been a long time. In part because I haven't had much to say, but more particularly because I've had so little free time to even think about what I might say. That said. Here I am again. Since last we met I have continued on a very steady course of one to two pipefuls a day. As reported in my last entry I cracked open Montgomery by G.L, Pease and enjoyed it well enough. I had also ordered a few cans of exhausted rooster on the assumption that it had proven itself to becoming my regular blend. There was a mix up in my order and while I received 2 ozs of Louisiana Red, as ordered, I received three cans of something other than Exhausted Rooster. A computer glitch? Did I hit the wrong button? Who knows. A phone call later it was all straightened out and I had the Louisiana Red to get started on. I really like this tobacco and lo and behold the other 2 ozs I ordered turned out to be 4 ozs by way of compensation for the mail mix up. Since I really don't trust any system of long-term humidification and haven't found one that works to my satisfaction, combined with the fact that the Louisiana Red comes loose, I really had to keep smoking it before opening the cans of Exhausted Rooster. Not to mention that I still have some tins of tobacco I haven't tried at all yet. Smoking only one or two pipefuls a day makes it a bit difficult to go quickly through tobaccos and not depending on any storage system makes opening more than one or two at a time very difficult. Bottom line: I'm still working my way through the Louisiana Red (now set back slightly more by a week's cold that had me bed-ridden for two days and definitely not up to smoking on the other days - certainly not sitting out in the cold after the biggest December snow storm on record.) But there are worse things than smoking only a great tobacco like Louisiana Red and the others will keep. And spring isn't that far away!

Meanwhile, maintaining this steady smoking pace has pushed my regular rotation of mostly nosewarmers to their max. I have occasionally switched off to a pipe from my regular collection, but only occasionally. Instead, what I have found really helpful is a reliance on my always dependable Kirsten's for an occasional day or two each. I have written about these pipes in the past, but they are truly amazing. They smoke very well, can be smoked two, three or four times in a row without any deterioration, and just make a great back-up on a day when I have the opportunity to smoke an extra time or two in addition to carrying my regular pipe of the day.

take a look.