Couldn't Pass on Sharing this Pic!

So if you are a reader of this blog, which would probably make you an all around glutton for punishment, then you are familiar with my love of Mark Twain. Often people ask who is your favorite pipe smoker? Well it goes without saying that mine is Twain. Twain embodies so much of my childhood romanticism with classic americana that extrudes coolness with a smattering of eclectic distinguishement (yes I may have just made that last word up, or at least spell check says so). Anyhow to the point now, I came across this picture of the man today that I have never seen and found it way to good not to share. Come on it is Twain in a bath robe with pipe and dog in tow. That's good stuff!

Check out some of my Twain ramblings at: http://thedailybriar.blogspot.com/2011/08/two-fathoms-or-safe-water-or.html

Getting Back to Work

So I received a new shipment of briar about four weeks ago and was anxious to get at it but it was just this week that I found the time. Anyhow enough of my complaining, it's time to get back in the shop and get busy. I am going to try to get several cranked out this week in order to fulfill a couple of commitments to some good people who have patiently waited on me. This is the first pipe from the new briar and I finished it late last night. I already have a few other blocks prepped and drill so hopefully by next week I will have more to show. So check out this sweet little nose warmer poker with its tortoise shell lucite stem and check back later for more to come.

Revisiting a Pipe shop in D' Town

So now that I am trying to tie up the final loose ends at my soon to be "old" job, I am trying my best to use all remaining vacation time. This has been easily accomplished by simply following my wife on all of her "official" business travel for work. So far it has been Houston, Dallas and soon to San Antonio. This has also given me the delightful opportunity to peruse out of town pipe shops. Now all I need is to convince the wife of a "New pipe acquisition allowance". Well I can dream right? Though I should not protest to much due to the fact that I have come home with a new pipe from the first two cities and there is still San Antonio to come! While in Dallas I visited a familiar shop called Up in Smoke. Now it is a shame that such a classy shop first conjures up images of a "head" shop with its unfortunate name. The shop does not quite live up to "Cheech and Chongs" high brow standards but a nice quaint pipe and cigar shop it is. So as I looked over the inventory of briar goodies searching for something new but budget conscience, I spied a delightful little Stanwell. It just so happened that up to that juncture in time, I did not own a Stanwell and the price was choice. So a Stanwell it was to be. The particular model is a Stanwell Statement, it is lightly sandblasted with a short bit and a nice nose-warmer length. All and all a great looking pipe and equally great smoker.

Quick Vid

Just a quick, and mostly pointless, video to show pipe number twelve to my youtube pipe community friends. Smoking my Peterson Aran with a little Blackney's Best Latakia Flake. Cheers!

New Briar!

Just got a shipment of new briar so it's time to make dust again! With a whole twelve, lol, pipes under my belt I am anxious to get back in the shop this week and get some more rolling out the door. It has been hard to find the much pipe making time lately with the slow move and training my replacement at work but alas things are slowly clearing out and I itching to further my endeavors at pipe making. I was was very pleased with the last one but have so much more to learn and hone. But as I said, I have more briar,so off to the shop! Cheers!

Oh, and Brad one of these has your name on it!

Road Noise

Lately I have spent a lot of time on the road traveling back and forth from the old home to the new in preparation of eventually getting moved. There is still a lot of work to be done on our old house but I am getting thing finished up at work and almost ready to make my exit there at least. But in the mean time all the traveling gives me good opportunities to make more pipe videos to keep up with my youtube pipe community friends and then drag over here to share with you wonderful blog readers... or blog viewers as I guess its a video. Anyhow if you find yourself in a aromatic kind of mood let me suggest Cornell & Diehl's Autumn Evening!

Twelve And A Move

So in the mix of all the craziness that life has dealt in the last couple of months I have managed to finish pipe number twelve. To bring you all to date if you have not been following, the last couple of months have brought a new job for my wife which in return brought a move (in the process of) along with us anxiously expecting our first child this fall. Busy to say the least. My lovely wife began her new job almost three months ago and we have been traveling back and forth to spend the weekends together, fortunately it is only a two and a half hour drive. I in the mean time have been trying to tie things up at my job and help find my replacement while at the same time pondering the ever daunting task of getting our house ready to go on the market. Now if a new job, new city and new baby were not enough, lets throw in a new house to the mix! Yes we unsuspectingly stumbled upon a house that we fell in love with, two months later, countless head aches and miraculously coming up with the down payment we own a new house. I while soon give you a virtual blog tour of the new home but in the mean time my short description will have to suffice. It is about one mile out of the city limits of Buffalo Gap Texas sitting on roughly two acres. The location and property is awesome and added bonus of a shop already on site and a cool room above the garage that my wife says can be my indoor smoking lounge! Anyways enough of that, more to come so stay posted. As mentioned earlier I finished my twelfth pipe, a free hand dublin from a plateau with a lucite stem. This one was requested by my wife as a Fathers Day present for her dad. I am pretty happy with the results so check out the pics. And with that I leave you with promises of more pipe and pointless ramblings to come.