Curses on the mentality of the folk down here.

Hiya Folks,

I will be 52 in a month or so, and will be slowing down on things Bonsai. By 55 I hope to be taking up a new interest and leaving the world of Bonsai behind.
As Jun [ L.L.B ] had stated a few years ago, I love Fine Art, more than I will ever love Bonsai. So as I approach the magic number of 25 trees that I will be happy with [ and the slow addition of one other say every 5 years ] I prepare mentally to say bye bye to Bonsai.

I no longer have any joy in the finding of stuff in the drains, no longer really go to nurserys or other, and just take joy in what I have.
I will always grow tomatoes and sweet peppers, vegetables, papaya and so on, but the training of new trees is fading away. It has been some 34 or so years, and I am content.

I had thought that others ould have been chugging along behind me on this island, but alas it is not so. Too many wanting to just show off and in doing so wanting to sell.
The make money syndrome.
Always either trying to get back what was spent on tools, pots or etc., or make money selling trees.
Tiresome.

So as I make an effort to find good homes for those plants being sent away, I wonder, when will folk understand just what is a hobby?
Laters
Khaimraj

* I did however hope to spend the last 4 years or so on J.B.Pines, now I wonder where will I send these??????????????

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:
........now I wonder where will I send these??????????????

How about planting everything you don't want back into the ground, you've stressed the poor sticks enough and tortured them in the wee pots, break their chains and Free them I say and give them back to mother earth!!!   Only Kidding Khaimraj.

Cheers,
Adam

Actually Adam,

that is a good idea, just need to find a spot where they won't be disturbed.
Thank you.
Khaimraj   

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:
..........when will folk understand just what is a hobby?

Being a religious guy I believe everything I do is part of the journey to a higher destination. All the hobbies I practiced, and most of them had something to do with plants, as well as my work I do to earn a living(I am a teacher), will be part of the bigger plan.

With all the hobbies I have practiced I have forsaken none of them - but the fever have gone down now and the same will be with bonsai.

As I write this I am actively reducing my trees to 150 - I am almost as old as you! I can not keep up the feverish collection of every tree I see!

As part of the bigger plan I am seriously thinking of collecting and growing mushrooms and other fungi soon.

For retirement, if I am spared, I want to take up writing and painting again.

  

Lennard

Before you quit for good, why don't you do a trial first? Take your trees to a friend's house, just to be watered and kept alive, for a couple of months. If you are happy without them, then you are ready to move on.
If you find yourself missing the interaction with your trees, then apologize to them and take them back.   

34 years is a long time. I have your age, and still enjoy it after doing it for 20 years. It used to take a lot of my time in the early days, but now I do it when I feel like it. It takes no effort anymore, that's the key. It takes no more effort than walking, or putting one foot ahead of the other. In the early days, there was a lot of effort, but it was offset by boundless excitement. Now the excitement stabilized into a quiet bliss, but the effort is all but gone. It's a good arangement, and keeps me grounded in the daily battles of life. Just like fly-fishing, hiking, or reading in the solitude of a coffee-shop. I need it for my sanity.

I turned 50 this year. A couple of years ago I realised that I have spent the last 20 years not doing Bonsai very well at all. I won't live forever but thought I would probably have at least 20 more years to develop what I've already got into something that I can pass on for someone else to look after - either family or other enthusiasts who might want to buy my trees if they were good enough. If I break even then great - if not then I will have enjoyed myself creating something beautiful for relatively low cost. I tell my sons that they will probably need to look after my trees for me and pass them on after I've gone - just like the keepers of the Nagasaki pine that was given to the US National Bonsai Collection did for many generations. I am still trying not to dig up every tree I see so that I can focus on what I've got - and I've also stopped planting seeds this year as I've decided that its time to realise that I've probably sown all the tree seeds I'm ever going to sow. Instead, last year I bought some Black Poplar cuttings that I'm growing on now so I can donate them to the local authorities for them to use in regenerative planting schemes around here - helping the black poplar survive in the UK whilst also paying back the countryside for the trees I've dug up in the past! So my suggestion would be carry on, enjoy what you're doing and, if possible, pass it on - as even if the trees you have aren't masterpieces today - they may be at some point in the future, and you will have been responsible for them.

MKBonsai wrote:I turned 50 this year. A couple of years ago I realised that I have spent the last 20 years not doing Bonsai very well at all. I won't live forever but thought I would probably have at least 20 more years to develop what I've already got into something that I can pass on for someone else to look after - either family or other enthusiasts who might want to buy my trees if they were good enough. If I break even then great - if not then I will have enjoyed myself creating something beautiful for relatively low cost. I tell my sons that they will probably need to look after my trees for me and pass them on after I've gone - just like the keepers of the Nagasaki pine that was given to the US National Bonsai Collection did for many generations. I am still trying not to dig up every tree I see so that I can focus on what I've got - and I've also stopped planting seeds this year as I've decided that its time to realise that I've probably sown all the tree seeds I'm ever going to sow. Instead, last year I bought some Black Poplar cuttings that I'm growing on now so I can donate them to the local authorities for them to use in regenerative planting schemes around here - helping the black poplar survive in the UK whilst also paying back the countryside for the trees I've dug up in the past! So my suggestion would be carry on, enjoy what you're doing and, if possible, pass it on - as even if the trees you have aren't masterpieces today - they may be at some point in the future, and you will have been responsible for them.

I like this^^. I'm turning 57 next month, and I regret the time I have not spent raising trees. I love my work, but if I had to retire from science tomorrow, I would spend what time I have left tending bonsai.

Well, I guess I won't be leaving bonsai for a long long time maybe until death, I started late and actually regret not doing it earlier when I was a kid (and I grew up in a farm, lots of pines and all sorts of trees everywhere). I find a lot of fulfillment just keeping the bonsai trees alive  , so it's more personal than showing to others (my friends know I'm into bonsai and all they can think of is it is troublesome as it means taking time to do watering   )

Well understood though, I did lose interest in my earlier long-time hobbies ... one of my hobbies turned into a business, though, so I understand that part as well.

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:Hiya Folks,

I will be 52 in a month or so, and will be slowing down on things Bonsai. By 55 I hope to be taking up a new interest and leaving the world of Bonsai behind.
As Jun [ L.L.B ] had stated a few years ago, I love Fine Art, more than I will ever love Bonsai. So as I approach the magic number of 25 trees that I will be happy with [ and the slow addition of one other say every 5 years ] I prepare mentally to say bye bye to Bonsai.

I no longer have any joy in the finding of stuff in the drains, no longer really go to nurserys or other, and just take joy in what I have.
I will always grow tomatoes and sweet peppers, vegetables, papaya and so on, but the training of new trees is fading away. It has been some 34 or so years, and I am content.

I had thought that others ould have been chugging along behind me on this island, but alas it is not so. Too many wanting to just show off and in doing so wanting to sell.
The make money syndrome.
Always either trying to get back what was spent on tools, pots or etc., or make money selling trees.
Tiresome.

So as I make an effort to find good homes for those plants being sent away, I wonder, when will folk understand just what is a hobby?
Laters
Khaimraj

* I did however hope to spend the last 4 years or so on J.B.Pines, now I wonder where will I send these??????????????

Guys,

I wanted to say thank you for the thoughts shared. I will still have about 20 to 25 trees, and a few more here and there, but I am happy to move on. It's like pottery, I created a clay body [ fritware ] that I like and it allows me to just make stuff when the mood takes me, or rods of Titanium, that encourage me to pound out a ring when I feel like pounding.
This comes naturally to me, as an image to paint, and I am content.
Laters.
Khaimraj

Just Chill out young Lads! and when you do bonsai do it like a boss.... a boss on a holiday...hehehe.

I see you like my smaller pool L.L.B.

I will be silly just this once, and it's back to being serious and on-topic.

Only for you L.L.B,
Laters
Khaimraj

LLB you are too serious...

Thats why------------



hehehe!