Dec 16 2011

Alfred Hitchcocks The Birds!!

Driving down a country road this week, I spotted a field full of crows. I don’t think I have ever seen so many in one place. Proper Black Crows in Ireland used to be quite a rare sight. You only ever saw small colonies up until about 15 years ago. Now…

A few trees on the same road.

A typical tree choked in ivy. The extra bulk from the ivy can cause trees like this to blow down in high winds due to the extra surface area. Most farmers will remove it from time to time. Note the sheep sheltering underneath.

Dec 15 2011

Twisted Itoigawa Juniper

I spotted this tree over on the IBC Forum. I’m not normally one for major curves in trees, but this one is very exciting indeed. Just click on the image to view the whole thread on the forum. The sketches showing a projected final image as also very good indeed.

Dec 15 2011

Tim Cahill Hates Bonsai!!

If you’ve seen the new advert on TV for the FIFA 2012 game, you will notice Tim Cahill [Everton] complaining about his unwanted gift of a bonsai! The price is for the game not the tree.

Firstly, Whoever gave him the tree might have weeded it first!

Secondly, He should keep it. It would give him something to do while he’s warming the physio table.:-) Blue nose!!!!

Dec 14 2011

Winter Wonderland

Today was just about as cold I want to experience for a while. The wind filled with wet snow made it doubly nasty! The snow only lay on high ground thank goodness. Here are two photos I took on my travels today.

Knockagh Monument Carrickfergus.

and sun setting behind Cavehill.

It would appear that my request for warmer weather will not be granted. More snow forecast.

Dec 14 2011

Trident Maple Winter Image

I finally managed to grab a few quick photos of my Trident Maple today. As expected it requires some work on the branch structure after a years growth. It was pruned back during the year but you don’t get to see the structure until now. I will do this in the Spring.

Dec 13 2011

Jose Acuna Fast Forward Juniper Video

Jose was kind enough to add me to his blogs list a while back, hence the serious amounts of Spanish views I get here 🙂

I thought I would share this new video he’s created. I just love the fast forward styling of the Juniper. There’s also an interesting pot choice at the end.

Dec 12 2011

Bjorvala Video Number 22

Here’s the latest Bonsai Art of Japan Video showing Taikan-ten Exhibition in Japan. An interesting insight into how they set these things up.

Dec 12 2011

Club AGM

Friday night was the NIBS AGM and I find myself as Chairman for another year. When you work with such a good team, staying as Chair for another year is no big chore. We like to get the business over with ASAP and get stuck into a few trees. My camera was doing the rounds and some smart arse captured me in a few photos. The first one does me no favours, but I think it’s only fair to display it as I’m always ready to snap everyone else in their moment of weakness 🙂

I got a few of the chaps to strip the last few leaves from my Trident. Now I can tuck it away for the rest of the Winter. I’ll post better photos of it later in the week.

Dec 11 2011

Breaking 50,000 Views

Today my blog broke the 50,000 views mark.

To be honest, I’m absolutely flabbergasted by this. I started this 10 months ago as an online diary, I never thought that my ramblings would be of interest.

I thought I would share some of the other stats with you out of interest and it will allow me to mark the moment.

I have had visitors from 92 countries, the latest being Cambodia.

I have made 559 posts averaging 1.7 posts per day.

Nearly 1000 comments have been left.

My busiest day saw 587 visitors.

I have 58 WordPress Followers.

My most popular pages have been:

Bonsai 360

Escallonia Progression

Airlayering a Hawthorn

Chuhin Japanese maple

Bonsai Bloggers

My most popular posts have been:

This is what a £823,000 Bonsai Looks Like

Willowbog Collection

Many thanks to those who have referred others to me.

My Top Referrers have been:

Wee Trees Bonsai Forum

My most clicked Links have been:

Nibonsai.co.uk

Peter Tea Bonsai

Bjorvala Bonsai Studio

Crataegus Bonsai

I don’t share all this out of ego, more out of interest to me and hopefully to you. It may also help other bloggers out there see what people find of interest. I’ll maybe do this again if I ever hit the 100,000 mark. Wonder if that’ll take 10 months.

I’ll probably ease off the posts over Christmas. Not much happening on the bonsai front this time of year. I’ll spend a little time updating the pages and perhaps adding a few Case Studies etc.

Thank you to everyone out there who has been following my posts since February 6th. It’s been a mixed bag of bonsai, both mine and friends. There has been plenty of photos showing my walks. I’m sure some skip this but I know others love a look at Northern Ireland, so I’ll keep them coming.

I’m always trying to think of other things to share. If you have any ideas, please comment and let me know. If anyone out there want a reciprocal link to their bonsai site, just let me know.

Thanks again

Ian [bonsai eejit]

Dec 11 2011

Todays Walk in Pictures

Here is some from my usual Sunday walk. We revisited the Clandeboye Way. We haven’t done it for a while as it can get water logged but today was enjoyable even with the mud.

I didn’t think the sign meant cameras so I snapped away when I could. Nice to see the dog using the pedestrian gate instead of going through the main one 🙂

I spotted these Fungi on an old fallen Birch log. My brother Sam thought they looked like Octopus.

On old rotten stump with beautiful deadwood.

Some of the landscape we crossed. The sheep moved away when they saw the dogs appearing.

Old Gate pillars made from Scrabo Sandstone. No longer used as a gate as the gap isn’t wide enough any more for modern machinery. New gate beside it.

We saw many trees along the walk that had fallen since our last visit. This one blocked the path.

Stephen wondered why I stopped to take a photo of the ground. I found it beautiful in it’s own way. It captures the season well. Can’t wait to see what he snaps with his new camera from Santa 🙂

Loved this old gnarly tree trunk. It tells it’s own story of life in the wood.

A birch full of witches brooms.

Just as we left the wooded area to walk along the coast, this Jay appeared in a tree. I snapped a few quick shots thinking it would only sit a few seconds. It was close by the path and was working hard to get grubs from a rotted branch. I quickly changed the lens to get a closer shot. Just As I was ready, it buggered off! Never get a chance like that again 😦

Birds were the highlight for the rest of the walk. Here are a few we saw.