Every once in a while I see a ship with Gearbulk written accross it as the West Coast Express goes past Burrard Inlet and I can’t help thinking something very profound; that would be a fantastic name for an anime series about giant battle mechs.

My hands ache and it’ll take a month to get the dirt from under my nails, but it feels good to have done some good honest real work again – digging. Got up all twelve trees that were in the growing bed at our old place and eleven managed to fit in the car. Now to watch and wait to see how they recover from their ordeal and nurse them through the summer.

Spring means that my bonsai hobby will demand a greater portion of my attention again. Last year was one of my more rewarding seasons bonsai-wise. our move to Maple Ridge proved not only good for my general constitution but that of my trees as well.

I was pretty preoccupied with the move last summer and wasn’t able to give the trees the amount of attention I usually must but despite this they flourished. This season I want to focus more on wiring and shaping now that many are quite established.

Big job for next weekend is lifting trees that are still in the ground at our old house. I have to find room for 12 more projects and ensure they survive the move and summer. A collected spruce, two collected larch, cryptomeria, couple of small junipers, few small japanese maples, hinoki cypress and a couple more that I can’t remember. Some I got as cheap little trees in the first few years I got interested in bonsai and have been in the ground for 5 or 6 years.