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]

Nov 27 2011

Ed Bonsai Blog

I’m always looking for another decent bonsai blog to follow and I thought I would share this one with you. Click on the image below to visit the blog of Ed van der Reek. I have also added this to my favourite blogs list in my sidebar.

You can also visit Ed’s Website HERE

Nov 9 2011

Yenling Bonsai Blog

I’m all for sharing the love 🙂

Therefore, I thought I would share a link to Yenlings new blog. I found a link for it today and was impressed with the standard of yamadori he’s collected and his attitude towards bonsai. The quality of the photos on the site is superb.

The tree photos are inspirational. I dream of visiting the West Coast of the United States and getting to see some of this for myself.

I wish you all the best with your blog Yenling.

To visit, click the image below or find it in my Favourites on the sidebar.

Nov 7 2011

Shohin- Europe Bonsai

Morten Albek has revamped his website and it’s well worth a look if you are into Shohin Bonsai. After recently joining the BSA I am trying to bring myself up to speed with the differences between shohin and other sized bonsai. It’s a deep and boundless topic!! Morten’s site has many great articles and I have spotted a few things that are new to me. To visit the site just click below. Morten’s blog has been added to my favourites on the sidebar.

Nov 2 2011

El Tim Blog speaking out

I thought I would mention this Spanish Bonsai Blog that I’ve been following for a while. I’ve just added it to My Favourite Blogs sidebar.

I understand that reading translated Spanish can be a bit of a chore, Google Translate is far from perfect! But sometimes its worth the effort.

If you click on the image link below you will be taken to a recent post about the collection of yamadori in Spain. It is an honest look at the devastation, dare I say rape, of collecting sites in Spain. I have collected yamadori myself, always in manageable numbers with permission. I understand the temptations to go mad and take risks with trees, I’m not blameless in this either. However, the wanton destruction of top quality yamadori as described here is totally unacceptable! Non-collectable trees should be left for everyone to enjoy in-situ.

This isn’t just a Spanish thing either, it’s happens everywhere when there’s money to be made. In my view, it’s bonsai’s dirty little secret. I have no doubt that some day, some news reporter on a slow news day will twig on to this and it will make National News. ‘Bonsai Butchers ruining the environment’, or words to that effect. What a sad day for bonsai that will be! 😦

Oct 28 2011

Futter with Trees

A few months back at the start of the Summer we got a new club member. Michael came to us after having gone through a few wilderness years with his trees. I had a few years like that myself and was keen to get him up and running again. I’m delighted to say that not only has he jumped back in with both feet, he’s even started his own blog! He’ll probably hate me for posting this link to it but, if he even gets a fraction of the enjoyment from it that I have gotten from mine, he’ll forgive me 😀

By way of explanation, ‘futter’ in Northern Ireland, roughly translated means, ‘to play around with’, not to be confused with some of the other global meanings out there! I googled it and was rather surprised!! As I call myself an eejit, I can connect with his regional blog name 😀

Anyway, here’s a link to his blog, give him some encouragement and lets hope he’s still talking to me after this 😀

Oct 5 2011

Nichigo Bonsai Blog

Just added another blog to my favourites list.

Nichigo Bonsai is Joe’s Australian Bonsai Blog and has some great posts about Japanese Black Pine. Also nice to see recent photographs of Spring! Gives me something to look forward to as we plunge into this Winter.

As usual, click on the image below to pay Joe a visit.

Oct 3 2011

Willowbog Chat Blog

Last weekend Peter Snart of Willowbog Bonsai and I had a chat about bonsai and blogging. I think my enthusiasm for the subject took over and I agreed to help Peter set up a new blog covering all aspects of life at Willowbog Farm. Peter had previously blogged about wildlife in his local area. The new blog will cover Bonsai, Wildlife and all aspects of life at Willowbog.

I have enjoyed helping set up the blog and adding some of the photos. Today Peter decided to go public and I will now follow with interest life at Willowbog. Having spend last weekend there, I now truly appreciate the beauty of the place.

Click on the image below to visit the blog and please assist by spreading the word, tweeting or whatever else you do 🙂 Make sure you say Hi in the Guestbook too 🙂

Sep 29 2011

Over 30,000 Views

I’ve just noticed that my blog has now past the 30,000 views in the last 7 months. Thanks go to all of you who actually find this interesting 🙂

Sep 21 2011

Beginners Blog

I always like to plug other peoples blogs and I thought I would share this one with you.

Dean, also known as Halo on Wee Trees, has recently started this blog to track his bonsai exploits. His first few articles have been excellent. Keep them coming Dean. Pop over to his blog for a look by clicking the image below. I’ve also added him to my bonsai friends list on the right.

Oh, Just ignore him posing with his top off. (That should get a few ladies checking 🙂 )