Romijn pipe ashtray

Hello and good day to you! Today's post is about a very cool and new addition to my pipe collection:

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Poul Stanwell Collection 925 - 15

A Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray!

I'm already a proud owner of a stone Romijn pipe tamper for about six years. It's a greenish tamper made out of Onyx that I've bought from my friend Martin Romijn on the first big(compared to today's meetings it wasn't that big!) pipe smokers meeting of the Duch/Flemish Pipe Smokers Forum in Leerdam.

PRF pipe smokers meeting 2010, Leerdam, The Netherlands

Our meetings are huge nowadays and on the last one I went to were about 50 pipe smokers! Lots of new faces, but also a lot of old friends. I'm always looking forward to these days...

About the Onyx tamper. I was sold immediately when I saw it! Because of its green color and darker, vertical stripes it gives a sort of cactus-like impression. I can't explain it well with words, so I'll convince you later with some photos!

Half a year ago I was using my Onyx tamper again and came up with the idea that it would be awesome to have a stone ashtray with a desert-like appearance and some space in it to hold my stone tamper! I had already seen a lot of Romijn ashtrays on his website and in real-life, so I knew it would be possible. I've contacted Martin and asked him about the possibilities and if there was a type of stone that could fulfill my plan. He came up with the idea to use a sort of marble/limestone with the name 'Bianco del Mare' and sent me a photo of it. It was exactly what I was looking for, so: yes!

Making tampers, pipe stands and ashtrays out of stone isn't an easy job and acquires a lot of talent, creativity and craftsmanship. I've said it before: photography simply can't show the real beauty of this art and what I'm about to show you is ten times prettier in real-life than it is on a screen. It's almost impossible to make a photo that shows the true, natural and clear pureness of this ashtray and tamper, but here they are:

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Poul Stanwell Collection 925 - 15

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Poul Stanwell Collection 925 - 15

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Poul Stanwell Collection 925 - 15

I've also made some other photos to show you how handy this ashtray is and that almost any pipe fits!

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & PRF - Missouri Meerschaum - Patriot

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & PRF - Missouri Meerschaum - Patriot

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & PRF - Missouri Meerschaum - Patriot

Do you guys see what I mean with the cactus like tamper and desert like ashtray or is it just me?! It's exactly what I wanted and I'm very satisfied with it!

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Peterson - System 303, my favorite Latakia pipe!

And if you're worried about if that huge pipe you have with that life threatening size bowl will fit, check out this Missouri Meerschaum - MacArthur Emperor pipe (with the name and date of birth of my son Arthur written on it: check out one of my older posts HERE):

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Missouri Meerschaum - MacArthur Emperor

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Missouri Meerschaum - MacArthur Emperor

I really recommend Romijn's stone products to everyone. If my blog post hasn't convinced you and you're afraid to take the "risk" buying an ashtray, just buy yourself a tamper first and you'll see all the beautiful details of it and realize that it's worth much more than the decent price you've paid for it.

Nowadays almost everything is produced in fabrics. It's all mass production and the reason for that is to make as much money as possible in a very short time and because of this, everything looks alike.

Right now I'm almost at the end of my pipe... I'm smoking Germains Mixture No 7 out of a pouch that I've bought in Germany earlier this year in my Poul Stanwell - Collection. I've read some positive, but also a lot of negative reviews online and although it's not a heavy and complicated blend, I do enjoy it. It's neutral and easy to smoke. It's tobacco that tastes like tobacco and has a little flavor that I can't describe very well. An easy-go smoke for when you're doing something else next to it, like writing a blog post!

The End

Now let me see... Ah! Here's a link to Martin Romijn's website:

• Romijn Stone Tampers

Just check it out and don't hesitate to contact him and tell him about your wishes. He might have something for you!

Next blog post will probably be about cacti again. I'm already changing my plans about what I'm going to sow and I'm adding more and more species to my list... It's terrible! I just can't help it! =P

Till next post!

Peyote News, January 2015

An article on my Lophophora williamsii collection! It ain't huge yet and I don't possess any plants that are mature enough to flower (this year just might prove me wrong!), but because of the fact that this is one of my favorite species, I feel like sharing them all at once!

Lophophora williamsii var. caespitosa

Let's kick-off with this new plant that I've bought in the end of last year. I haven't introduced it online till now, so: here it is! Another Lophophora williamsii! Caespitosa is a variety and not a different species. This variety is often a hybrid, but they can also pop up in a normal seed-tray and aren't even that rare in their natural habitat.

My Balcony-Greenhouse

Balcony-Greenhouse

It's cold outside and today and I'll have to turn on the heater a little bit today. Don't mind the mess! I'll clean it up in spring. ;-)

Lophophora williamsii collection

Where it all began...

Lophophora williamsii - Peyote

My first Peyote! I've bought this one in Amsterdam together with my wife. I was showing the city to her and of course also the famous Flower Market and there were a lot of cacti there! I have to be honest, because I normally complain about nursery-plants, there are some pretty plants around!

We've bought this plant because of its different appearance and squeezability. We didn't even know about the "magical" history and were quite amused after we've found out! Not that I've ever tried one, but this species is a curiosity for sure.

A couple of weeks later I've ordered a Peyote grow-kit @ Azarius.nl (I've also bought my San Pedro cutting there). The lack of knowledge in combination with a vacuum cleaner have made an end to this experiment (check out my older articles to see how that went!).

Sown in 2011

Lophophora williamsii

Lophophora williamsii - Peyote

No variety, just a "normal" Peyote! This means that the seeds were from cultivated plants without any trace of habitat.

Lophophora williamsii var. Nuevo Yucatan

Lophophora williamsii var. Nuevo Yucatan

The name of this variety comes from its origin. The seeds I've bought are probably from cultivated plants, but when you go a couple of generations back, you'll end up in the natural habitat of this species:

Nuevo Yucatan

Lophophora williamsii var. La Popa, Nuevo Leon

Lophophora williamsii var. La Popa, Nuevo Leon.

Same story, but there's something different about this variety. I don't know why, but I've had many survivors from this seed-badge. I've bought them at the same place as the ones mentioned above, but almost all of them have germinated and they just seem a little bit bigger and stronger than the others. I don't have an explanation for this...

Sown in 2012

Lophophora williamsii var. caespitosa

Lophophora williamsii var. caespitosa

Let's see if they'll have many heads within a couple of years. I've read that they'll start to sprout very young!

Now let me just show you a photo of these seedlings when they were only 2,5 months old:

Lophophora williamsii var. caespitosa, 2,5 months old

I'm showing this photo to you, because I would like to make some comparison to the ones I've sown last year.

Sown in 2013

Lophophora williamsii var. Cedral, SLP

Lophophora williamsii var. Cedral, SLP

2013, the year of DEATH! A huge tragedy has come over all the plants sown that year... As some of you remember, I've had some problems with the thermostat of my heater and simply fried everything I've sown!

BUT there are two survivors. Let's see if they still have it in them to become proud and mature Peyotes!

Sown in 2014

Lophophora williamsii var. Entronque, El Huizache

Lophophora williamsii var. Entronque, El Huizache

Something went wrong again! As you can see, they're all elongated. This normally means a lack of sunlight, but strangely all the other seedlings are looking normal! I've added a little fertilizer to the sowing-soil and I think that this was a huge mistake, because there was already some fertilizer in the potting-soil that I've used for my mixture. A good lesson for this year! I still hope that they'll get their natural look back and grow up pretty and all. We'll just have to be patient...

Above I've shown you a photo of some 2,5 months old L. williamsii var. caespitosa, which were also quite elongated and just check out how pretty they look in the first pic!

A special note on this badge is that I've sown them on the same day my son was born. Another reason why we all should hope for the return of a pretty and natural appearance!

The Great Poll

"The Great Poll" has ended this week! We have a winner!

The Great Poll

And the winner is.... 1. Astrophytum caput-medusae. Thank you, that's the most expensive one you could choose! That's no problem at all, because it's an awesome looking plant too and fits will very well in my collection. Remind me to give you one when they're older...

The End

All I can add is that I have good hope for a flower on one of the two older plants this year and that I might buy some older an ready-to-flower plants the next time I'm going to visit a cactus show.

Take care and till next article (which will be about pipes and something that I've added to my collection!)!

What I'm planning to sow in 2015...

Welcome (back?) on my Blog! Sit back, grab a beer (or whisky), lit your pipe (or not) and get even more bored than you already were.

Every year around December and January I ask myself the same question: 'What will I sow this time?!'. Since 2010 I'm sowing each year on April the 1st and that day is coming closer and closer! If you're not an "Amateur-Cacti-Breeder" and/or collector yourself, you're probably wondering what the hell I'm talking about, but for me it has become a sort of addiction. Addicted to sowing cacti and other succulents! It sounds a little bit silly, but see it in a different way: I don't do heroin and I don't feel the urge to put things on fire. Accept for my tobacco and merchandise of The Doors, of course...

I'll keep it short! This is what I'm planning to sow:

Trichocereus pachanoi, the San Pedro cactus

I don't have any adult plants of this species yet, but here is the largest one I've got:

Trichocereus pachanoi

I've bought this plant in 2010 as a cutting and right now this San Pedro is the tallest one of my collection. It's a nice and easy plant to grow and I would like to have a couple of more. A little Google-research will teach you all about its "magical" abilities and there are a lot of cuttings and grow-kits on the market, but keep in mind that, although this plant isn't illegal, extracting mescaline from it and the possession of this drug is.

Growing cacti from the seed is fun in my opinion, but it takes more than just a few years till you have a decent size plant. Patience! That's the trick...

Sulcorebutia arenacea

This is a Globose-Flattened cactus from Bolivia that produces yellow flowers. I won't snatch any image, so here's a link to our great friend Google: Sulcorebutia arenacea

What can I say... I've tried to grow this plant before, but accidentally boiled the seedlings with a heater. It was a disaster that I'd prefer to forget...

Euphorbia obesa

A cool succulent from South Africa that I'm already wanting for a long time! I'll post some pics of my seedlings in the future, but feel free to Google.

Agave parryi

A winter-hardy Agave that should be able to grow outside here in The Netherlands! Let's see what the future will bring us. Of course I'll keep you informed.

Poll

And then there's the Poll! It seems that we have a winner, but it's still open till next week. What's it gonna be?! Scroll down and vote!

The End

This is it for today! I do have some news for you guys: 'Peyote News' is coming back! Next post will contain at least one part about our green/blue, friendly and spineless little friends!

Spoiler alert: a new member has joined the family!

Don't forget to vote! (and I'm not talking about politics)