Busy with Bonsai

This year has been a big step forward for me and my bonsai.  With classes, workshops, and my trees coming of age I've been gaining new skill sets.  So I've had quite a bit going on this summer.

In July we had our annual show.  I still don't have any trees ready to show... but I hope to have one or two ready for next year for the novice class.

These are the winning trees from this year.  Amazing, aren't they?

"Best Display"

"Best Evergreen"

"Best Deciduous"

"Best Shohin"

(Little bonsai)

"Best in Show"

(This juniper is about 450 yrs old.)

"Viewers Choice Award"

However, I did have my accent plants (kusamono) ready for display!

Five here are mine.

I found this limestone slab with a perfect square hole.  The viewers really liked it.

A miniture hosta.

Traditional kusamono is to envoke the feeling of walking in the forest.  This arrangement captures that perfectly.

This mushroom display was not easy to put together.  They come and go so fast.

We also had a display of 'viewing stones' (suiseki).

About 7 or 8 of these stones are mine.

These four are mine.  

At one of the meetings John W gave a class on how to defoliate a bald cypress.  This causes them to come back even stronger and more lush.

(John is the one whose bald cypress workshop I took in February.)

You literally strip of every single leaf!

This tree is so large it took two people to work on it while the 'business' part of the meeting happened.

All the little pulled off leaves...

At the end she looked like this!

The club had a special workshop last month.  They brought in Andy Smith of Golden Arrow Bonsai in Deadwood, SD.  Andy one of the top collectors of trees from the wild (yamadori).  It was an exciting chance to get a tree that you are not going to find around here!

Meet 'Sturgis', my Ponderosa Pine.  This little scrub is about 30 years old!  Seriously.

My tools for working on him... wire, branch cutter, and a scraper to develop 'jin'.

Andy and I talking about the direction to bend the branches I've just wired.

There was a lot of wiring to be done.

Finished... for now...

Throughout the summer on the first Saturday, there are "bring a tree" days where mentors will help you work on whatever you need help with.

For the August session I brought THREE trees!  However, I was so busy I didn't remember to ask Himself to take photos until I was working on #3.

This is "Willow", my very root bound willow ficus.  

I did a lot of cutting back to get this mess under control.

My sensei (teacher) Eileen helping me get Willow into her new pot.

Love this photo Himself took of me working!

For the September 'bring a tree' day I brought 4 trees, but really just one to work on.  The other three were seeking advice on 'what next'.

My tree to work on was "Goldie" ... and 'Old Gold Juniper'.  What a shrubby mess!

A bit later in the thinning and cleaning up.

Eileen advising me on branch selection.

Here she is doing some fine tuning for me.

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

Wire wrapping.  The is called a 'ram's horn' wrap.

Goldie

A Summer of Fresh Produce

It has been a great summer for shopping at the Amish produce auction.

I've done well with my bidding strategy.  As the song goes... 

"You've got to know when to hold 'em, Know when to fold 'em, 

Know when to walk away And know when to run."

All the choices!

These peaches smelled SO good!

Are these not the tiniest tomatoes you've ever seen?

Heirloom tomatoes.

Dill

They call these 'heritage beans'.

Little green apples.

And little red potatoes.

As I win bids, Himself brings back boxes to our chairs.  He sits there most of the time visiting with new-found friends.  I'm up and down depending on where the bidding is happening.

What would YOU buy if you could come with me?

Memory Lane ~ School Days

Well, it is mid September and every kid I know is back in school.  The earliest start was 7 August and the last one I know of trudged in on 3 September.

Back in 'my day' school started after Labor Day.  It was proceeded with major shopping trips... clothes and shoes to replace what didn't fit any more... 

(and if the shoe still fit... a little shoe polish would make it look new)

new school supplies... 

definitely a new lunch box...

  

First day teacher would check off our names and hand out the books.

Then a trip to the bathroom to wash up for the day.

(Yes, my elementary school really did have one of those hand wash stations).

Remember papers printed on the mimeograph machine?  You either loved or hated that smell.

I hated it!

When this rolled out, you knew there's be a lot of notes to take.

Paper cutters scared me to death!  There was always some story about a teacher who had cut a finger off using one.  Funny tho... I never saw a teacher missing a finger.

But you never know...

Uh-huh...

Then when you found the book, you had to fill out the card to check it out.

If your info was in this... you had a lot of hand copying to do.  No photo copiers back then!

Now armed with books of information it was time to sharpen your pencils...

... and get to your desk to work.

These where the desks we had in elementary school.  And yes, that lid dropped down on my fingers more than once!

The big kid desks we had in the high school.

Remember walking into class and see this?  Odds were for a good morning then!

And if you saw THIS... it was a great morning!

Golden Summer Squash Bake (Recipe)

On one of our trips out to the produce auction I got a half bushel of yellow squash at an unbelievable price.  Some I gave away, but I still had a bunch to use.  I was not interested in that oh-so-common yellow squash casserole everyone knows.  An internet search discovered one that sounded interesting... and I changed it up a bit to make it even more interesting!

Southern Squash Casserole

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 pounds yellow summer squash, about 6 medium squash, washed & sliced evenly

Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg, beaten

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, DIVIDED

about a 1/2 cup Panko

2 tablespoons butter, melted

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add olive oil and butter and swirl to melt and coat. Add the sliced squash, season generously with salt and pepper, and sautée for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot with a lid and continue cooking for 15 minutes longer, stirring every few minutes, or until the squash is very tender.

Stir in the minced garlic during the last 5 minutes of the cooking time.

Add more salt and pepper until the squash is well-seasoned.

Adjust oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 350°F.

 Grease an 8-inch square casserole dish with softened butter. Transfer the cooked squash to a large bowl and mash it with a potato masher to desired consistency. Mix in the sour cream to cool down the mixture (so that the egg doesn't scramble)(OR let the stuff cool while you do something else), then stir in the egg, cheddar, and 1/4 cup of the grated Parmesan until well-blended. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish and smooth the top.

Sprinkle the top of the squash mixture with the Panko and the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan, then drizzle with the melted butter (personally I melt the butter and mix the Panko & Parm in). Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve warm.