I had the great pleasure to be invited to talk at the Ayr Bonsai Group last weekend.
Popping over on the boat from Belfast on Saturday morning, Jeff Banning, club convener and SBA President, collected me and we spent the day looking at trees in gardens.
A great Scottie in a poor pic on a dull day.
English Elm with great character.
A Blue Cedar, one of my favourite trees from the visit.
Jeff and Ian chewing the fat.
A Scottish National Collection tree brought back into great health by Ian’s hard work and care.
Another Scottish National Collection tree above. Not a great photo in the rain, but a stunning tree.
One of my favourite trees of the visit above. A stunning wee Scottie in an Ian Baillie pot.
A little wet but this didn’t spoil my fun looking at some really nice bonsai. A great meal out with some of the members on the Saturday night at Ayr India Restaurant.
Sunday was the meeting day and Jeff and I undertook the long arduous walk to the hall, must have been at least 200 metres. On the way we past the birth place of Robert Burns some real wabi sabi going on there with the moss on the thatched roof.
The meeting hall hall was also a stunning location to give a talk. This is it before the members arrived.
I was kept busy with my talk on Bonsai design in the morning moving onto a tree critique in the afternoon. I failed to photograph some of the beautiful bonsai brought along for the sesssion. Some trees more than 30 years in the making and showing great age. I did manage to snap a quick selfie as we were packing up sorry to all those I missed in the pic.
A busy day and feedback was great. Hard task to deliver a talk to a group with such a wide range of ability and keep everyone entertained.
A few notes of personal thanks…
Thanks to all those members who attended and brought so many trees for me to see.
A big thank you to Peter and Ian for letting me visit your homes and view your collections. Trees to be proud of.
and best for last, to Jeff and Helen for putting me up for the night and making me feel so welcome.
Bonsai Eejit 
Hi Ian, I have just received you’re.mail and the photographs look great. I must take more photos myself you get a different perspective when you have a closer look at the trees . I enjoyed the weekend and our bonsai blether, it was nice to hear positive comments from yourself, it sort of reinforces our feeling that we must be getting it right. I hope we can meet up again soon. I might come over to one of your club nights some time and see how it’s done in Belfast ( from what I have seen on your site very well I expect) I am sure everyone I spoke to enjoyed your company last Sun and I’m sure you will be asked back. Once again thanks for good weekend All the best Ian
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Hi Ian, Thanks for your kind words, nice to know I hit the right points with you guys. I’d be delighted to come back sometime in the future.
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Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.
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