Author: fionnghal

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Tempus fugiting all over the place

Well it seems I’ve done it again: nearly 6 weeks and not a single post. There is, of course, the possibility that I’ve not actually done anything worth talking about in that time, but I’d prefer to think it was just that I’ve been doing so much I haven’t had time. The end of another academic year draws near and I am gradually getting to the bottom of the mountain of marking that characterises this season. Now that would be fine but a significant part of it is that I have been inundated with students who have so far been invisible but who have obviously poured a large bucket of lemon juice over themselves or stood close enough to a direct heat source to render themselves visible again. Or at tlesat visible long enough to realise and deal with the minor issue that failure to hand in submissions will result in their bursaries being whacked off. And oh how I wish that were a euphemism!

Anyway, I have not been bereft of activities bicycling and/or bonsai: I have undertaken my first sportive of the year – a 43-mile jaunt round the scenery of Perth and Kinross. In the rain of course. An encounter with the surgeon precluded me from the Etape Caledonia. That’s the second year in a row a medical issue has caused this – here’s hoping it’s third time lucky next year.

Right, that’s us up to date. With any luck I’ll remember to keep it so.

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Pottering with Pitt: Hawthorn Raft/Cascade

In late 2008 I acquired a nice Hawthorn from Len Gilbert which I had admired for a while. In design terms the tree was stuck somewhere between a raft and a semi-cascade which was all very nice and pretty in itself. But being of the opinion that it had a fair bit of potential, I took it to the legend that is the Burrs Weekend in November 2009. It had always been in the game plan that the tree would go into something a bit special pot-wise, and after much discussion with that lovely man John Pitt, a progression plan was hatched.

Tree when I bought it from Len via Willowbog

I had been convinced that the tree had to lose at least a bit of its semi-cascade tendencies, and we tinkered with changing the planting angle. Several Burrs participants had suggested trying to make this into two trees, but I had always liked the tree as one entity. My idea for a pot was something that gave the impression of a tree with a stray branch that had clambered its way over rocks or a wall.

Enter John Pitt.

A sojurn with John in the less frozen wilderness of the Midlands in early spring 2010 resulted in a new planting angle:

Not as severe an angle change as originally thought, but still enough to give it more of a tumbling look rather than a cascade. And now, a full year later, the tree has been back to Pitt the Potter from the Potteries to get its new home.

Shortly after repotting

As always, John put a lot of thought and artistry into this “pot”, which is exactly what I wanted from the outset. I bought the tree originally when I was going through my schmaltzy period simply because it was a “nice tree” which had been created by a good friend. It also had, in my eyes, the potential to be that bit more than just a nice tree, but it was also my belief that by giving it more than just a traditional pot (however lovely that pot might have been) I could achieve a tree with a fair degree of uniqueness. This was necessary if I ever have leanings towards showing it since, as most readers will know, we are blessed over here in the British Isles with stunning Hawthorns.

I firmly believe that John’s pot has given the tree that very uniqueness, and I just hope that I can be as successful in my part of the exercise which is to help it develop the branch structure, ramification etc. that lifts the tree above the average, therein justifying its splendid palace of a pot.

On the day I picked it up from John - April 11th 2011

As it is of today 29th April 2011

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Shaking sticks

Following on from the success of the recent practical workshop based “Shohin Off” event we are excited to announce plans for a new and improved show format for next year. We therefore extend a warm invitation to all bonsai enthusiasts to take part in our popular and enjoyable show in 2012. This event will be held at WIllowbog Bonsai on the weekend of 10th and 11th March 2012 and will be open to members and non-members alike.

For the exhibition section, as in previous years we invite individual exhibitors to display single trees or compositions of Shohin, Mame and Chuhin trees.

As we recognise it is sometimes difficult to put together a full 3,5 or 7 tree composition on an individual basis, we would more than welcome group entries. So we invite Bonsai clubs the length and breadth of the British Isles to put together a club composition featuring the best trees the members possess to form a collaborative effort.

But it doesn’t stop there. As a new, more inclusive feature to our show aimed at those of you who are beginning to reach the level where you would like to display your trees but are not sure of the final steps, we enthusiastically invite you to bring them along your small trees that you think are not quite show-worthy . As part of our continuing efforts to help improve the level of British Shohin Bonsai we will be offering the services of three leading names in the Bonsai world free of charge. Marco Invernizzi, Peter Warren and John Armitage will all be on hand to help you clean, moss and titivate your tree ready for it to be proudly displayed as part of a larger composition or as an individual tree in a special display area. This is an all inclusive event and we are aiming to show you the fun of participating in the BSA show and also help you to improve your trees and displays.

So do not worry if you:
• think your tree is not ready
• do not have the time to prepare your trees
• do not have stands, scrolls, accents
• are not a member of the BSA (only £20)
we are here to help with advice, moss and more stands than you can shake a stick at!

There will be the usual suspects of side-events, traders and of course the legendary Saturday Night meal and entertainment.

Please do put the date in your diary now. Further details will of course follow between now and the event. Looking forward to seeing everyone in 2012. Let’s get those sticks a-shaking.

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Where’d it go?

Well lookie here! It’s March 6th and I haven’t posted a single thing since the end of January. Where’n hell did February go then? Surely can’t have been doing absolutely nothing. Time to remedy this omission methinks. A time-out to fix myself a cup of tea then I’ll go back and post some stuff as if it had been done at the time.

No-one will ever know.

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Boncycling at its best

And so to some of yer actual boncycling; a 40 mile cycle up to the Swindon & District Bonsai association’s winter image show. Now, I’ve never been to this particular event before but the legends were growing and I felt it was time I did hie me to it.

So off we toddled for a weekend at me sister’s just down the road from the event (40 miles down the road) and on the Sunday I was duly deposited at the start of the road to Swindon. Now in a gas guzzler it takes a mere half hour as you can belt it up the M4 in no time. I had selected the back roads as, quite apart from the legal issues, the traffic around that part of the world is significantly heavier than we get here. When I set out it was overcast but dry and that was about the best I encountered throughout the ride.

The early stage was reasonably fast espite a bit of a headwind at times, and I made it to the outskirts of Swindon – some 35 miles – in about 2 and a quarter hours. Then, the fickle finger of fate intervened, in the shape of roundabouts. Lots of roundabouts. Roundabouts with roundabouts going off them. Roundabouts which had, seemingly, nothing coming off them except the road you just came up on. Despite several phone calls to Steve harleyrider Jackson who was already at base camp, it took me the best part of another two hours to reach the venue.

But when I got there I was treated to a very very special show indeed. Sadly I have no photograohic record of it but there are a number on the IBC forum (see links). The overall impression was of a well-organised show that had set its sights well above the usual quality associated with such an event. Well done to the Swindon folk for maintaining (and indeed enhancing) the quality of this show year on show. This is precisely the sort of event that pushes the bar of UK bonsai right up.

Next year I shall cycle there all the way from Elderslie.

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Part and parcel

I have been a fan of the modern classical composer Arvo Part since 1993 when he was my companion for a long overnight car journey back from my sister’s in Bristol. Or to be more specific, his music was my companion in the days when t’radio worked in the car. I can’t remember exactly what pieces were played but the Berlin Mass was among them and I remember being blown away by its beauty. Since then I have amassed a decen enough wee collection of works, mostly on CD but some also on iTunes.

But the major omission was that I had never heard his works performed live. Until this evening when I spet a very pleasant hour at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery listening to the Kanon Pokajanen performed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. If I thought that listening to the CDs was enchanting then this was positively mind-blowing. Although not, I am told, technically difficult, for a choir to hold the tune for an hour solidly with no instrumental accompaniment was astounding (to be able tos tand still that long amazes me!) and the sheer tonality of it was breathtaking. An absolutely gorgeous setting too, for an evening’s music that had me entranced from start to finish.

Why do I not do this more often?

The venue

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

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Wee trees

Made it down to Wilowbog for a bonsai chat and a committee meeting. First time I’ve been there in several months and apart from being inspiring, it also made me wonder why I hadn’t been down for so long. made up for it all by buying a couple of new shohin. I got a Cuphea which is an unusual species for bonsai and one which I have absolutely no experience of. The other is a Pinus mugo – easy to bonsai and I had one some time ago which I sold and then regretted. I will post a picture of the Cuphea once it comes into leaf and then again when (hopefully) in flower, but I have done very little with it other than a quick trim and a bit of a wire down. I did an extensive needle pluck and trim of the Mugo. Here they are:

Mugo pine

Cuphea

The mugo after some work

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The lady goes to Ladymuir

Now while I have owned a mountain bike for some twenty years, I most certainly don’t consider myself to be a mountain biker. I do enjoy going out on the MTB but in my lengthy career as an MTB phony, the extent of my adventurousness has been tootling around some forest tracks on the flat.  I did have one moment of excitement once when a corner inexpertly turned led to a downhill descent of a lengthy grassy knoll.  And while the bunny hop across the muddy ditch at the bottom was perfectly executed and really fairly spectacular even if I say so myself, I would have to admit that this was more a case of luck over any sort of skill or technique.  Add to that the fact that I don’t really think triple salchows (with pike) are meant to be a feature of MTBing – real or phony.

It was quite ironic then that so much of my 5000 mile tally of 2010 was achieved on an MTB, and I would have to say that a quantity of that was doing actual MTB rides – even if these were fairly untechnical and, I suspect,  of a level of tameness that real MTBers would kick sand in the face of.  Or maybe it would be mud as that seems to be a recurring theme in my MTB experience.

Even more ironic, then, that this MTB feartie was asked to go and recce a possible MTB route on behalf of Field Marshall Montwoodison.  The route in question was round Ladymuir Plantation, just off the back road from Lochwinnoch to Kilmacolm.  The key questions were, (a) was there actually a bike route in the first place as it is better known as a walking route?  and (b) does it link up with the Muirshiel trail?   So off I set astride the Cape Wrath, complete with my new disc brakes and therefore confident in the knowledge that I would at least be able to stop properly before I fell off when faced with the inevitable mortal danger such as those presented by loose bits of tiny pebble, an errant piece of grass, or a basking field mouse that was stupid enough to stop to admire the scenery.

The early section of the route was promising – dirt track followed by a decent enough grass track. Then the grass track suddenly came to a halt and was replaced by a precipice. Well okay – a slightly rocky gentle slope criss-crossed with tree roots leading down to a stream with an idyllic stone slab for a bridge across it.  Hurdle 1 duly coped with, the paths then reverted to grass with the odd bridge to cope with.  The path into the forest was less well-defined and considerably narrower. Though seldom actually wet, it was also fairly spongy underwheel as in essence I was on peat moorland.  Going through the  forest itself was a mixture of stony path and grass on peat.  With lots of tree roots protruding, the narrow paths and loose stones this was verging on being a technical ride. Well at least it was for me – no doubt the MTB black belts would have flown along like things possessed, but it was just on the outer edge of my comfort zone.  Nevertheless, the sun was shining and the quietness of the forest was rather wonderful. 

The forest section eventually came out into a large clearing before heading off up to the main forest access road.  Had I gone straight ahead here I would have linked into the Muirshiel trail (and thereby have I answered the second of my key questions).  Instead I opted to turn left on to the forest road.  The relative ease of the broad, metalled section was short-lived as it reverted after half a mile or so to grass path again, this time along some of the old forest rides.  This was about the only mucky section of the route as felling work had left the ground somewhat churned up. But it was passable and eventually the path brought me back to the same point as I had entered the forest section. A quick huckle back up the hill and on to the main path soon brought me back to the car park.

All in all, this was a nice MTB route.  Easy-ish I should think  for those who know what they’re doing, but still achievable for big Jessie Sunday MTBers like me.  As long as you’re prepared to go at Big Jessie speed.  Or as we know it more technically – ruddy slowly.

The precipice

The stone slab bridge. Cycle across this and I'd give you my last Tunnock's Teacake

the broader path up to the forest

peaty paths

Rocky roads

the way through the woods

Ladymuir map

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That’s half an hour now…

One of the benefits of your cycling buddy being a shit hot newspaper editor is that you can get to be a media celebrity.  That was an ironic comment by the way, but I must admit I have had not just one but two warholian 15 minutes of fame in the Paisley Daily Express.   Not to mention the other stuff in that lion of the British press, the Kilmarnock Standard.  Need to do something spectacular this year so I can start commanding a decent fee for my press utterings.  Very appropriate as I consider myself to be a decent Fi.

11_01_2011 PAIS – PDE Tuesday 11th Main 11 Paisley Daily Express