Broken Dreams of Briar

I was able to finish a couple of pipes this past weekend despite a plethora of flawed briar. If you are not aware of the potential for flaws in a block of briar then consider yourself lucky to be free of such heartbreak. It is not uncommon to have a beautiful piece of briar beaming with all the potential of the fine smoking apparatus that it is soon to be. As you poor your time and labor into bringing forth the form of the new pipe greatly, anticipating the glorious creation to be, you heart sinks as a hole the size of a lunar crater emerges in the middle of the bowl or some other location that is sure to render the piece a lost cause. Now suppliers of briar will tell you that this is simply a part of life and that in the end it will work out that more often then not the briar will be usable. Well strike me twice with lightening and consider me shark bait for these odds seem stacked most unevenly against me these days. Despite such comforting assurance from said suppliers, I scrapped three pieces in row in one night this week. I have defiantly seemed to find more flawed pieces of briar then my fair share theses days. On the other hand if I were to air on the side of the half full glass, then I am assured to never see a flaw again, or at least for a long time, if that is truly the statistical stance of the "briar guys". But in reality I now look at each piece with suspicion bordering on contempt, questioning the briar's true motive, will you yield the pipe of my desires or leave me broken once again. With that I am off to the shop, I have a new shipment of briar to get into. Wow I really need a new hobby! Check out this weeks "successful" attempts.

Unspoken For!

While I have been busy trying to complete pipe orders, makes me sound busy when in actuality I'm just a slow worker, I was able to complete a couple of pipes this weekend that are available now! In the future I will list pipes that are "unspoken for" at the following site; http://www.christopherpipes.com Thanks, Chris

Pipes Made This Week

Yes this is a lazy attempt at an update but I have been on the road traveling with the wife for her job and trying to wrangle a two month old along the way. Next week we will be in Houston then hopefully stay home for a while. In the mean time I just wanted to share with all of you wonderful readers of my blog the pipes I finished this week! If you are interested in ordering a pipe from me you can contact me at: cmccartor@yahoo.com or conect with me at: http://www.facebook.com/christophermccartorpipes

Pipes Around the Globe

Its is quite possible that in my wanderings this last weekend, that I may have stumbled upon what is surely the coolest pipe rack ever created. Yes that does sound like an overly bold statement but sometimes a thing is created that surpasses those other vessels of similar purpose. In the end I guess it simply comes down to form and function but with "function" being so elementary in it's en devour we are left with "form" alone to express itself so eloquently. So, can I truly try to "wax poetically" on such a simple vessel as a pipe rack? Why yes I can. In a small antique shop in an even smaller town that lies a short drive from my current abode, I walked into this most marvelous piece from the glorious pipe smoking past. Now if I were to be completely honest then I must say that my dear wife was first to spot it and bring it to my attention, for she too saw it as a thing beauty and that was key in my acquiring it. To the point now, it was a pipe rack in the shape of a globe that made to hold eight pipes. Now to add even more function to the already outstanding form, the globe opens to reveal a humidor within. The only markings on the piece is a small stamp on the bottom that reads "Old world globe, made in Italy". The owner of the shop told me that it was a family piece to her and it came from Germany where it was bought as a wedding gift from the bride to her groom. The two "blue hairs" running the store where quite delighted, though a bit of haggling first ensued, that I would be giving it a new loving home but were then a good deal dismayed to learn that I planned to use it and that I partook in the use of tobacco.

New Pipes

In all of the things going on in life these days I have failed to post any pics of recent pipes that I have completed so here are a few of them.

A New Addition and Much More

Greetings all you disciples of the briar, hope you have all been well this past couple of months and enjoyed many good smokes. After a brief absence for reasons to be explained I am back to this small corner of cyber space to rant, rave and discuss all things pipes in general and pretty much whatever else is on my mind. I have so many things to share. Several new pipes have been made and leaving for their new homes, many great new tobaccos tried and lots reflecting on the everyday, mundane and extrodinary things of life but this must all wait for I have news of much greater relevance. On November the sixth of 2012 my wife gave birth to our first child, our son James Langston McCartor! It was not an easy entrance into the world by any means. Arriving a week early by means of an emergency c-section, we spent a roller coaster week in the hospital dealing with unstable blood sugars, jaundice, a heart murmur and a small whole in his heart known as vsd. We experienced new levels of stress and concern like we had never known. We spent five sleepless nights in the hospital making constant journeys to the special care nursery where he was under close supervision and monitoring. And we once again experienced the miracles of our most gracious God when we went home with a happy and healthy baby a week later. James is doing fantastic today. We still have to follow up this month with a cardiologist to monitor the vsd but the doctors feel confident that it will heal on its own over the next year and have no concerns of any complication from it. He entered the world at a whopping five pounds twelve ounces and just a few weeks later we have already gained three pounds which the doctors said was outstanding, this kid can seriously eat. As told to me by countless friends and family members, life has changed in ways one can not express in mere words alone. At first I was fearful of this "change" but now I have that understanding that only fatherhood can bring. I have joined that fraternity of proud dads world wide whose purpose in life has re-focused to the raising of such a precious gift.

Doing a fathers duty!

Playing with Rustication

Made this little poker the other night and decided to play around with the rustication, so give me you thoughts on it. Tomorrow is the last day, for real this time, of my old job and the end of the nearly four hundred mile a day commute to work. So those of you patiently waiting for pipes shall see them soon. The only thing that could side track me now from filling pipe orders is..... the baby is due in ten days!