There's going to be a raffle!

For the May meeting, there will be a 50g tin of tobacco as a raffle prize.

For a £2 ticket, you are in with a fair chance of winning a tin valued at £10 (approx. depending on which blend is available*)...it's certainly going to be better odds than The Lottery. You will be able to purchase as many tickets as you want, with the winner being drawn on the night. Any excess funds raised will be put into a pot for another raffle at the next (June) meeting. If this proves to be popular, hopefully extra prizes can be sourced for future raffles...either accessories, tobacco or, as numbers grow, a pipe.

* Either from my own "cellar", or as sponsorship from one of our local tobacconists.

April meeting.

Last night's meeting benefited from the evenings staying lighter for longer...additionally it felt almost Tropical after some of the previous sub-zero temperatures we've had for the previous meetings during the Winter months.

Apologies received from Colin...the joys of being in finance at the start of a new tax year!

It was nice to put a face to a name with the arrival of Cameron, Chris and Luke. If this (welcome) upward trend continues we'll have to start rearranging the benches for future meetings!

The combination of insufficient notes and several pints of Guinness is not a recipe for detailed minutes. However, I do remember that there was a wide selection of pipes and tobacco...I started with St Bruno Ready Rubbed in a Tesch Bent Billiard before switching to Best Brown #2 in a Peterson 302 Standard System. Cameron seemed to enjoy sampling some Cornell and Diehl Opening Night.

March meeting (2).

Apologies for the delay in updating...things have been pretty hectic here, but hopefully things have calmed down a bit for now.

The trial run of a weekend meeting (Saturday 26th) was another quiet one...just myself and Colin. We met at the usual venue but I'm still open to suggestions if anyone knows somewhere else (local to them) that we can use.

Sitting in daylight (with even the occasional glimpse of sunshine) does make for a more pleasant smoking experience! As an added bonus we hardly had to use the heaters for once.

Unfortunately, I neglected to take notes so I can't remember what Colin was smoking but I'm pretty sure I enjoyed several bowls of Best Brown #2 in a couple of Peterson's (303 and 307 Standard Systems)!

March meeting (1).

Thanks to John and Colin for braving the cold last night!

Colin found us through the recent article in The Scotsman and despite not being able to stay long, due to prior family commitments (and the weather), enjoyed a bowl of Dunhill's My Mixture 965 in a very nice rusticated Parker...a bit too much Latakia for me personally but a very nice "old school" room note. John and I enjoyed the classic tastes of St Bruno (Ready Rubbed in a Falcon and Flake in a Peterson 314 respectively).

The side door of The Cuddie Brae is still locked (despite having a new "Keep Clear, Fire Exit" sign), so we were again left in peace to enjoy the heaters in the smoking area....the new layout of the benches (thanks to Myles on IPSD) was a definite improvement with all of us getting the benefit of the shelter when it started to sleet. Can't wait for the summer!

Your opinion is appreciated.

You might have noticed the polls that I've just added to the "home" page.

I've limited the weekday options to "evening" as I work full-time. However, if daytimes would be easier, please let me know.

I've also added a location question. I'm in Edinburgh but as I've posted recently, I'm happy to travel. If there's demand, we can easily organise meetings for elsewhere.

My annual act of rebellion!

Today was "National No Smoking Day", so (as usual) I ended up smoking more!

I started the day with some Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Curly Cut, in a Peterson 314 Standard System...a decent amount of nicotine to kick start my system in the morning. Had a couple of bowls of St Bruno Ready Rubbed, in a Falcon during the day...it's a nice low maintenance combination that I find I can put down and come back to later, handy at work. Now, I'm currently enjoying some GH&Co Best Brown #2, in a Peterson 307 Standard System.

As an added advantage, according to ASH "the average smoker spends £2,000 per year on cigarettes"...even with the amount I've spent on pipes (so far) and working on a tin of tobacco a week, I reckon I'm spending about £700/year...saving about £1,300!! Woohoo!

Meetings for March.

For March (and future months if it's successful), I'd like to run two meetings.

The first will be Thursday 10th at 7pm at The Cuddie Brae.

The second will be Saturday 26th from 2.30pm. Does anyone have a potential venue they'd like to suggest?