No More Pipes!

That's right! I will not buy any more pipes this year. These 2 Gamma Princes from David Enrique are the last, I swear....-T

Another Video!

Mark has his 2nd pipe rack to star in a video! Pretty cool ... and good music too. -T

My Claessen Christmas pipe!

I was fortunate to exchange a few emails w/ a prominent european pipe collector a few months ago and one bit of advice he gave me was "to get a Dirk Claessen pipe". It took a while for me to find the pipe that "spoke to me" and at the same time, to have the money to pony up for it. Finally I found it at La Compagnie Des Pipes and I couldn't be happier with the pipe or the service that Guillaume and Gilles @ La Compagnie provided. Great guys to deal with and a nice selection of hand made pipes to choose from... a fine Christmas present for me. -T

Unfinished Business

It's December 27th and time to get back to work and finish some racks and cabinets that didn't get done before Christmas along with some new orders that have come in. It's always fun to get back to it after having a couple of days off. -T

New Vollmer & Nilsson is Here!

The pipe arrived a couple of days ago and I have smoked it several times and of course love it. The one bad thing about V&N pipes is that there is no surprise. You expect their pipes to be great and when you get one ... it is. I guess that's not really bad ... Anyway, Anders and Martin may have their sights set on pipe world domination, but that's ok w/ me. -T

Christmas Orders

We have reached our Christmas cut off. We can't promise any more racks before Christmas. We have a couple that are still available and we will be happy to ship them to you. All new custom orders will have a January ship date -T

Der Krampus

My daughter pointed this guy out to me. I had never heard of him. Apparently he accompanies St. Nick around and gives naughty boys and girls what for. I'm assured he only comes by on St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6th), so we're safe for another year. -T

New Take on the Collectors Cabinet

Mark updated and added to his popular Elliott's Collector Cabinet. It's a great cabinet for showcasing pipes and with this version, there's a lot of storage too. And it just looks cool! -T

Stephen Downie

I've got this really nice Stephen Downie pipe for sale over at Briar Blues. Take a look. -T

Zippo Hand Warmer

My dear cousin Mark gave me a Zippo hand warmer for my birthday. All I can say is, why haven't I had one of these for years?! These things are great. I went for my regular morning walk this morning and when I left the house it was 24⁰F. Normally it's my hands that get the coldest and gloves are always in the way when smoking a pipe. Quite by accident I found that w/ the hand warmer, gloves aren't needed. In fact the hand warmer seems to work better w/o gloves on. Just slip it in your pocket and your hands stay toasty warm.

It does take a bit of a leap of faith to use this gadget. It seems a little fool hardy to fill a metal object w/ lighter fluid, light it, put it in a fabric bag and place it in your pocket. But they must have brain surgeons or rocket scientists working at Zippo, because this thing is imo an engineering marvel.

Thanks Mark and thanks Zippo! -T

For Sale

Here's a 7 pipe closed cabinet I made for a customer, but it wasn't what he had in mind. Mark is making him one that should fit the bill. That leaves this one available if anyone is looking for a Christmas present. -T

7 Pipe Closed Cabinet

12.5"T x 17"W x 8"D

Drawer interior- 2"T x 14.5"W x 5"D

$200 (Available)

Cold Start

Mark texted me before sunrise this morning to take a look at the beautiful crescent moon. It was beautiful and in a crisp clear sky, but it was cold out. I'm not winterized yet. I haven't become accustomed to cold weather. It goes straight to my old bones. I loaded up the pockets of my old leather jacket with pipes and tobacco and headed over to the Wolf river for my morning walk. I wasn't sure it was a good idea, but I did it anyway. It turned out fine. It was a lovely morning and I was ready to ditch the jacket half way through the walk. The couple of pipes I took w/ me helped. -T

Gold of Denmark

MacBaren's Gold of Denmark is a blend that Mark and I both enjoy at this time of year. If you asked either of us if we liked aromatics, we would both give you a resounding "NO". But MacBaren seems to be able to make aromatics that have a great smell, taste like tobacco and don't leave a sticky residue in your pipe. And Gold of Denmark just seems like Christmas to me. For some reason, I have enjoyed it more this year than ever before. It has seemed like the perfect tobacco to smoke all day. This might end up being a 2 tin season. -T