To receive News updates by RSS to your newsreader, click the RSS logo below and drag it into your newsreader category of choice. This will auto-deliver all update notices for Talbert Briar, Talbert Morta, and Ligne Bretagne. To find out more about RSS, and why we're using it, click HERE November 5th, 2006 - It's been quite a while since I updated anything in the 'Life in France' area!  The Brittany blog has pretty much relegated that section to archival status, but I did just post two new pages to the Adventures area - one is my much-delayed "Four Years On" retrospective on our fourth year of life in France, and the other is the story (and photos) of our trip to Utopiales, a big French science-fiction convention. November 1st, 2006 - Happy birthday to me!  And a very good one it was.  I've just made a change to the site with the replacement of the old guestbook.  I set up that guestbook some years ago, before guestbook-spam was so prevalent, and unfortunately that account didn't allow for any sort of anti-spam authentication mesaures...and worse, it was getting spammed daily.  So, I hate to lose all the old entries, but that's progress, I guess.  Please, go to our new guestbook and leave us some new entries!  Also, anyone who hasn't seen the pipe blog lately should have a look - the sandblasted LB pictured sold in about five minutes, but there are nice photos anyway. October 19th, 2006 - I've just posted the first small catalog update in quite a while - two new Morta Classics are available, one sandblasted and the other smooth.  It seems strange to be posting pipes to the catalog after such a long period of catalog inactivity, but I didn't want to bother Larry with these.  He's had a death in the family that has pretty much derailed the progress on the Pipe & Pint website, and I didn't want to bother him with more pipes at the moment.  But, that bit of news takes a definite backseat to the more unusual addition to the site - I've posted this year's ONE Halloween pipe in the form of the very first Pfeifenigma.  To read more on this wacko idea, check out the Pfeifenigma area. September 19th, 2006 - One small new item - after some thought and much discussion, I am officially adding pipes in "unfinished" state to the production. To reiterate, the pipes are fully completed, and the reference "unfinished" simply means that the wood is left totally bare, with stain, wax or any kind of finish. To differentiate these from regular production, each will be stamped UF in addition to regular stampings. The first one bearing this stamp can be seen in today's blog posting, and will soon be on its way to Pipe & Pint unless someone on this side of the ocean grabs it before it goes into the box. August 17th, 2006, addendum - After spending two months shipping virtually everything we made to Pipe & Pint, I have now started on making the 2006 Pipes of the Year for the French group FumeursdePipe. So, it will probably still be some time before there are any serious updates of new pipes to this site, though I do plan to spend a solid month sometime this fall making pipes exclusively for direct sale. More and more, though, I expect this website to become more archival in nature, with the pipe blog taking center stage for regular updates. To reflect this, I have just added a new Search feature to the site. It is now possible to run searchs of the entire website, including the blogs, which I hope will save people lots of frustrating clicking when they're trying to find the article on "Pornichet" that they remember reading but now can't find. July 21st, 2006, addendum - I should have waited to post the previous announcement until I heard back on this pipe, but I'd assumed it was sold. Alas, another special request fell through and there's a new morta on the site, to serve as our "morta inventory" for our shop here! I decided to post it here for the time being, and send it over to Pipe & Pint if it doesn't sell here within the next few days. See it HERE July 21st, 2006 - After letting the blog poll run for a couple of weeks, the overwhelming majority of European buyers voted that they'd prefer I keep this site catalog running for direct sales, rather than having to buy everything from the US and face potential customs charges, so I've taken a small break from making pipes for P&P to post two new Talbert sandblasts to the catalog. Both of these are nice pieces, and they are the first products of my rebuilt sandblasting cabinet and new media. I must say, they were certainly a greater joy to blast than anything I've done in a long while, and I think it shows. Bulldog #4 in particular is just a really outstanding bit of ring-grain patterning. Lest anyone be confused, these pipes ARE for sale to anyone in the US or elsewhere also, they're just for sale direct from me rather than via P&P. July 15th, 2006 - Hey everyone! I am not dead. The site has been quiet for quite a long time while I've been working on pipes for P&P's shop, but I finally have something new to post here, and what a pipe it is! A full description of the story of this pipe will be going up in the pipe blog as soon as I can write it all down - it had quite a journey from its original intention of being an extra-large long-shanked high-HIGH grade Talbert Briar sandblast, to eventually ending up available at a considerable friendlier price as a Ligne Bretagne Collector. It will be one of the most expensive LBs ever, but it's a heck of a bargain at the price. See it HERE. June 5th, 2006 - Hello! Yes, we are still in business. I realize all has been very, very quiet lately, but I have been involved in some complex behind-the-scenes work which should soon see huge benefits for US buyers interested in being able to purchase my pipes more easily and get them a LOT faster. It is likely that the site will continue to be quiet for the next month, excepting the occasional posting of extra pipes from special requests, though I will continue to try and keep the pipe blog updated and interesting. And, speaking of which, there is a preview of two new pipes posted there today. These pipes are destined to ship to Pipe & Pint in the US, but if anyone wants to snag one before it goes, please get in touch in the next day or two, as they will likely be going into the post on Tomorrow or Wednesday. The giant Morta Bettafish seems to be already sold. Thanks for your time, and I hope everyone is having a great Spring and summer! May 7th, 2006 - Good heavens, it's been a month since the last mortas! I've just posted four new ones, including one Signature grade. See them HERE and HERE. April 20th, 2006, pt 2 -I've just finished the other two examples of my Moebius Bolus shape, and was able to finish a sidelined smooth freehand in the bargain. Also, after some years of struggle, I am pleased to announce the reinstatement of our old multiple pipe purchase discount. Anyone buying two Talbert Briars at one time gets an automatic 10% off! It was like this for years in the US, but after we moved things were so tight for so long that we had to scramble for every penny we could get. Note that this also applies to Talbert Mortas and Ligne Bretagnes, but only for purchases within the same line. No buying a 1500 € Talbert and a 77 € LB to get the Talbert cheaper than it would be to buy it alone, for example ;) April 20th, 2006 - In the midst of a flurry of pretty unusual Talbert Briars, we did finish one very straightforward, very classical Large Billiard in the LB Collector grade. It should make an excellent pipe for anyone wanting a handmade sandblast at a more friendly price. See it HERE April 8th, 2006 -Two new Talberts are posted. One is a fat poker sandblast, the other is a Signature grade freehand of a new shape I've dubbed "Moebius Bolus", and it should be interesting to anyone who's a fan of my Halloween pipes. Also, the sale of the sandblasted pipe Bulldog #1 fell through, so it is re-listed for sale. See them HERE April 2nd, 2006 -Three more new Talbert sandblasts are posted. If it seems like we are really hammering on production, we are. We're in the middle of "Chicago Show Season", a time of year when sales are typically slow to nil as collectors all around the world are saving their pennies for the trip to the show. This makes it an EXCELLENT opportunity to build up some inventory. I hate having empty shelves - While it might be taken as a sign of being "hot", the reality is that if people come to the site and don't see anything available to buy, they often don't come back to look again, assuming there's never any stock. So, with luck, we can use this little open window to really work hard and produce a few more pipes than the immediate demand, so we can have some actually available in inventory, for once! We'll see how it goes. The three new Talberts are a nice set, with two bent Snooker shapes and a pleasantly sinister straight black billiard. See them HERE March 26th, 2006 - I've just posted three more LBs, all sandblasted churchwardens in our larger Shape 19 bowl design. These will be the last LBs for a little while, as I return to finishing more Talbert Briars. March 25th, 2006, pt 2 - Today's earlier Canadians have been joined by no less than four new examples of our unusual (and not often made - see shape description) Shape 32. Otherwise known as the tadpole. Two are sandblasts, and two are smooths. March 25th, 2006 - I've just posted two new examples of our Shape 71 - a very-slightly-bent long-shanked Canadian. One is sandblasted, while the other (to my happy surprise) is a virgin-finish smooth. This is the first of what will be multiple LB additions over the course of today. March 21st, 2006 - I've just finished up work on some Talbert Briar bulldogs for an order. The fellow who placed the order has snagged the one he wanted, and the others are now available. One is very English, the other rather Italian in style. Also, there's a new Ligne Bretagne handmade Collector posted, in a Zulu shape and sporting an exceptionally nice sandblast for the price! In other news, our shipping service has completely revamped itself - all the prices have been changed (mostly increased, unfortunately), and the weight categories have been changed. The good news is that they have finally drug themselves into the twentieth (sic) century and now have package tracking by website, and should (I hope) offer faster shipping times. For a full breakdown of the various costs, speeds, and methods of shipping available, please visit our new Shipping page. March 3rd, 2006 - After the shower of Bettafish, morta production turns back to the classical shapes with two new Princes and a bent pot. See them HERE. Also, it's been a while since the last LB update! This is a special occasion, though, because we wave our last farewells to our popular Shape #72, the Fat Dwarf. I have exhausted all of our stummel stock in this particular shape, unless I find some hidden cache of them buried somewhere over in our briar cave (Always possible, as those who have visited it will understand!) See the last two pipes of the series HERE February 26th, 2006 - I've just posted two more Talbert Briars, one smooth and one sandblasted. A more wildly contrasted pair of pipes is hard to imagine. The smooth, I predict already, will never, ever sell. See the blast HERE and the smooth HERE. It is worth mentioning that these two are the last pipes that will be posted under the 2005 prices. I'll be raising prices slightly on all lines to account for standard inflation. February 23rd, 2006 - Four new pipes are posted - Three new Morta Bettafish (and the last of this series for the moment) and one exceptionally nice ring grain Talbert Briar sandblast. February 16th, 2006 - I am working on a handful of new Talbert Briars, but have just had the first drop-out in the form of a really nice ring grain that didn't quite make the Talbert grade, and instead became a Ligne Bretagne Collector. See it HERE. February 9th, 2006 - I've just posted the first Bettafish shapes in a very long time (I think the last one was in 2003). I'm not even sure that there have ever been any of these available in the site catalog, as the last one was done for a special order, if I recall correctly. The pipe on the Morta opening page is the first Bettafish shape I created, immediately after we moved to France. I still have my original, but I thought it might be a good idea to make some new versions for the site, to see if there was any interest. See the new Bettas HERE. January 31st, 2006 - The first two Talbert Briars of 2006 have landed! More importantly, one of them is even green. I hope you will enjoy the mean green Pitcher Plant and its rather angry-looking companion, the sandblasted Griffe. January 30th, 2006 - Our first morta update of the new year brings three new bamboo-shanked mortas, one smooth and two sandblasts. I had hoped to have some Talbert Briar Rameses shapes to go with these, but unfortunately (well, fortunately for me) they all sold to the fellow who ordered one. However, I do hope to post a couple of other Talbert Briars shortly. January 5th, 2006 - We're kicking off the New Year with four new Ligne Bretagne "A" series pipes, three blasts and one smooth. For those who've already forgotten last year due to excess egg nog, these are the new custom-shapes that we're making here in our workshop for the Ligne Bretagne line. Folks at Pipe & Pint in the US have already gotten a look at them, since the first ones shipped over there for December, and now we finally have some on our website too!     Old News from 2005 Old News from 2004 Old News from 2003 Old News from 2002