Kia ora,
Peter ran a workshop for the bonsai club on carving a large privet the club has been gifted. The workshop was for intermediate level club members who all had an input into the styling of the tree and then got stuck into the carving.
Rain at the start of the month produced heavy flooding similar to that earlier in the year.
We had the last evening of the latest beginners bonsai course. Everyone came along with healthy trees to finish off the fine wiring and branch placement on their trees and take home a new tree to start on courtesy of Graeme from Kaimai Garden Centre, our club patron.
Peter treated himself to a new electric saw.
A sudden cold snap on the 6th / 7th had us scurrying around to get frost tender trees back under cover for a couple of nights. It did drop down to minus 2 degrees and sadly many plants got hit by it, including a number of our larger bonsai as well as many of the garden shrubs and trees including our large Paulownia, the wisterias growing over the arches, some of the fruit trees, even a hardy shrub that was planted by the front door and well protected.
We’re both still enjoying our volunteer shifts at the Hamilton Gardens and have had a busy time with the school holidays.
Ann was showing Marshall one of her toys that giggles and rolls around. Sox was NOT impressed and hid behind Marshall’s legs!
Azaria and Carolien came for coffee and Ann’s home-made brownies.
Peter is concentrating on making the buildings on his railway. He got some personalised signs to convert a shop kit into a pub and a special name-board and detailing kit for the inside of the signal box.
We had planned to go to the WBFF Convention in Perth last year. Due to Covid it was rescheduled for this year and then changed into an online event so we spent a couple of weeks watching all the demos on TV from around the world during our lunchtimes, some of them were much better than others.
We went to a Model Railway Exhibition at Hamilton Gardens. Some very different layouts on O, OO, HO, N and Z gauges (big to very small). Peter had hoped to buy some new items for his railway but only managed a couple of packets of grass and some couplers.
Towards the end of the month members of a local garden club visited to look at our bonsai. The weather was great but we forgot to take any photos – until everyone had left and the girls were relaxing!
