Worth waiting for!

Hello everybody,  may I introduce you to my favourite bonsai. (see above, as promised)
You could say that it is just an ordinary red Acer, but not to me. He is 45 years old and stands about 50cm in his pot. I have owned him for about ten years and we have moved house several times, but as you can see, it hasn't bothered him in the slightest.

I wait patiently every Spring for the tiny buds to open, and the first growth is always this striking scarlet, followed later in the summer by a greener hue. I take great care of him and all my bonsai, (much to my family's amusement) but even they are impressed by this amazing performance!
When you consider that his counterparts in Nature are huge by comparison, you can understand the care needed to keep him healthy, but I am happy and proud to do it.

Some people think that keeping bonsai is cruel, that I am depriving a living thing of its natural heritage and maybe I am in a way. But this much I know, if my trees were not happy they would die or look sickly, and none of them do, because they all get so much more love and care than trees in the countryside.

One fact you cannot get away from is that you are responsible for them, no matter what. It is like having pets or children, you don't get to have a day off. I am a gardener too, and with careful planning you can leave most gardens for a time if you go on holiday. But not bonsai. In the summer months they need you every day, sometimes more than once if it is very hot, but I don't consider that to be a downside. They give me so much more in return and I love them all for it.

All of this post spells out 'dedication' and in fact that is exactly how I am beginning to feel about this blog. Writing is a serious business and I am approaching it with all the love and care I can muster.

Will what we write be around in 45 years time?