Vintage Toy

When I was a kid, we would play with all kinds of things. Sometimes the simplest toys were the best. I grew up in an era where battery powered toys were starting to take hold in my childhood. My dad would always comment on how cool our toys were, but they left little to the imagination.

Getting the Mrs. Hooked?

My wonderful wife has been in the mood for some good tobacco. Cigars aren’t something she’d try, but she’s enjoyed some finer cigarettes over the years. Camel used to make these cigarettes that were flavored, kinda like pipe tobacco, but we haven’t been able to find them and we doubt that Camel still makes them.

Well, last night she comes in with a pack of cigarettes that we bought, but decides instead to ask me if there’s some pipe tobacco I have that she might enjoy in a small pipe. Most of my pipes are rather large, but I have a few smaller, more pocket type of pipes. She chose the Bent Bob’s pipe, my first pipe which was given to me for Christmas one year and then we explored my different tobacco blends. Again, most of my tobacco these days are latakia based, so a little too woodsy for her taste, but then I remembered some sample pouches of tobacco I acquired from Altadis and she decided on their Blue Note. Burly and Virginia. Smells wonderful and a little more aromatic.

Cyndi really enjoyed that pipe. She’s not a big smoker, so I ended up finishing the pipe when she was done. With good experiences like that, think I could get her hooked into smoking a pipe with me? Anything’s possible. It was a delightful tobacco and I completely forgot how well that little pipe smoked. It’s a cheap pipe, but not bad at all for a starter pipe.

Here’s Cyndi posing for her pipe smoking debut.

Page Update – My Pipes

Something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time is to snap pictures of all of the pipes in my collection. I do have more than this, however, many pipes are in various stages of refurbishing. These are the pipes that are housed in my display case. Enjoy!
Link to My Pipes, or click My Pipes at the top of this page.

Exploring some different tobacco

A while back I posted some future topics and I haven’t forgotten them.  Since posting the thought of exploring different tobacco, I have, in fact, explored a bit myself. I have several blends to sample and explore, but currently my favorite blend is MacBaren’s HH Vintage Syrian, with a close second MacBaren’s HH Mature Virginia.

New Pipe! Stanwell Colonial 186

Smoked once and what a wonderful smoke it was. This is a very smooth pipe to smoke. Easy to light and easy to keep lit.

Sobriety Malfunction

I came up with this title awhile back, yet haven’t figured out just what to write about to justify such an awesomeness.

Tonight, I have just the topic. Yesterday, June 10th, we finalized the adoption on our three kids. Tonight, we’ve celebrated some.  But more importantly, I’m bathing in the drunkedness of all the things this adoption means for myself and my family.

No more caseworker visits from DHR, or the adoption agency. No more monthly reports, or incident reports every time one of the kids gets hurt. No more safety plans dictated upon us, or having to play by someone else’s rules. We no longer have to put up with someone else telling us how to raise our kids, how to be a parent. We no longer have to go through several training hours, or foster care meetings. No more court hearings. No more sending in countless documentation just to keep in compliance with government agencies to be a foster parent. No more restrictions on where we can go and when. No more, no more, no more.

Being a foster parent can be many things. But it’s definitely not easy.

Our stress levels are already plummeting and now we can truly relax and enjoy our kids. Now, we can be more of a family than we were able to be. I know it won’t be easy being a parent, but I now have the chance to really do something.  So, I’m sitting here in a level of sobriety malfunction as I anticipate what will now come.

When Everything Else Takes Precedence

Sunday night was bliss. I finally took the time to smoke a pipe, read some of my novel, and drink a beer. I haven’t done this in quite some time. What’s even worse, is that I haven’t smoked, touched, or even cleaned any of my pipes since before Christmas. I haven’t looked on-line at any of the pipe forums I used to frequent, nor do any of the research on pipes and the pipe smoking hobby. I haven’t even looked at Ebay. *shock*