My adenium seedlings are almost a month old now. They're getting nice and fat. I've noticed a few are getting yellow and are dampening off. My research says nothing regarding treatment. Seems that adding fungicide could do just as much harm as good, so the best treatment is to provide a free-draining soil mix. I still have another 70 or so seedlings that need to be potted up. I've ordered some 3.5 pots, which should be here 'sometime'.

I did some pruning of the bougainvilleas I recently purchased. I placed the cuttings in water while pruning. I prepared a GP nursery tray with a good, free draining soil mix and planted about 70 cuttings. The cuttings were prepared by removing the very top of the growth, and removing any flowers. The lower leaves of each cutting were then removed, leaving a few leaves at the top. No rooting hormones were used. The cuttings were placed in my garden where they will receive daily watering/misting of about 15-30 minutes, more during hot, dry days.

Looking around some of my links, I found a very good pictorial for starting a mame bonsai from a cutting. I couldn't find the instructions, as the site was Japanese, but the pictures are fairly self-explanatory:

1. Start with a small cutting that is well established.

2. reduce the root mass

3. Assess flexibility and possible new shape of tree

4. Apply wire to cutting

5. Bend to new shape

6. Re-assess new shape of tree, make adjustments as needed

7. Apply wire to bonsai pot

8. Wire tree to bonsai pot

9. Apply final dressing to bonsai, enjoy your new mame bonsai

I don't know if I fully agree to this 'shotgun' approach to creating a mame bonsai. Seems to me that it's very nice for demonstration purposes, but it might stress the cutting too much to perform so much work on it at once. I usually wire my trees at a different date than I repot, but at any rate it's a great little pictorial for the steps involved in creating a mame bonsai from a new cutting.

Here's a bit of 'do as I say, not as I do': NEVER EVER EVER re-use bonsai wire! When the time comes to remove wire from your bonsai, wire cutters should be utilized. NEVER attempt to unwind the bonsai wire, as you can easily cause damage to your bonsai. The little bit of money you might save by re-using wire is outweighed by the potential damage you might cause to your favorite bonsai. Understood? NEVER DO IT! Anyone who re-uses bonsai wire has a screw loose!

So I was going through my pile of dead pine seedlings that I had ordered earlier in the year. Yep, all died. I applied wired to most of them, but that's not what killed them. The asshole that sent them to me didn't do a very good job packing, so they all dried up and died en route. I never toss anything until it's not only merely dead, but undeniably, certifiable fully dead. These were just that. I tossed them to a corner, wire intact. What I've been doing with my ficus cuttings is I've been visiting that corner and I've been collecting the bits of wire to re-use on my ficus cuttings.

Understand that my ficus cuttings are cannon fodder. I have plenty of them, and lots more where they came from. They are my chalkboard on which I draw my thoughts and ideas. They are my test tubes, my bunsen burners. I'm not pulling any punches with my ficus cuttings and I'm taking LOTS of risks, which includes re-using bonsai wire on them. The wire is too thick for them, so I usually pre-bend the wire into spirals, I then work the ficus around and into the wire before bending to shape.

This is a very liberating attitude. If I break my little cutting, I simply bandage it if possible. If it's too far gone, I cut it off at the break, then hope to get two new cuttings (top and bottom). If it becomes hopelessly damaged, then I'm out a cutting, which is no big deal. I bend branches and I see small fractures. These fractures mend and the tree twists and turns. I remember how liberating it was when I created my first bonsai, but this is different. With larger bonsai, there is an investment of the starter stock that I need to be aware of. If I break a bigger tree, I'm out that cost, and I'm out of the potential profit of selling that bigger tree. The costs of failure are therefore much higher. The cuttings on the other hand, cost nothing to create and I'm not selling at the moment, so I'm not out anything if I fail.

So I continue to plant cuttings. It's supposed to be about 109 today, but I don't mind the heat really. Well okay, the heat is horrid, but it's fantastic for my trees. The trees that can stand the heat, that is. I just work on my trees inside, where the AC keeps me nice and cool.

More pots have been added to my Etsy shop!
Check it out:
http://gomezvi.etsy.com
I decided to include a small wired cutting with the mame and bonsai pot pictures. I figured it might help people visualize the size. In case I didn't mention it before, I'm really happy with how this batch came out.
I'm now waiting for stuff to come out of the kiln. We'll see how that batch turns out.
I wish I could add more, but I'm thoroughly beat, but in a good way. I had a full day at work, Bernie took me out for dinner (just the two of us!), and I added a bunch of pots to my etsy shop. By now measure am I complaining, oh no! Honestly, I'm loving all the activity- especially now that my girls are back home and my house is once again at a full tilt boogie. I'm just tired.

Some new pots were added to my Etsy account you should check it out: http://gomezvi.etsy.com

Tuesday was Allyson's Birthday. I came home to find an aquarium full of angelfish eggs on both sides of the aquarium. The angelfish had formed two seperate breeding pairs. I bagged each pair separately, and made plans with George to drop them off. Unfortunately, Bernie made plans to go to Bookman's on the way to George's house. I insisted that the fish really really needed to get to George's house ASAP. Bernie insisted that we really really REALLY needed to get to Bookman's ASAP, as it was Allyson's Birthday, Bookman's was closing in 30 minutes, and that the fish would be okay. We went to Bookman's, and despite my constant prodding, we were in Bookman's for over 30 minutes. By the time we got to George's, one of the males was on the floor, very stressed. I thought we were gonna lose him. Fortunately George was able to revive him fully later on.

After going over to George's, I went over to Mishy's and picked up a bunch of finished pieces. We were in the neighborhood and we just sort of popped in. I was totally unprepared. I didn't drop off anything and I didn't have my lined box with me.

When we got home, we brought out the birthday cake and celebrated Ally's birthday. We got her a bunch of small items at Bookman's: some stamps, a sand castle making thingy, some other stuff that I don't remember. For those that don't know, Bookman's is a used book store. They also carry music, videos, video games, board games, comics, and small collectibles.

In case I forgot to mention, the Adenium obesum seeds I ordered last week came in the day before I left for San Diego . I hastily soaked the seeds for a few hours, then planted them in moist perlite in a covered Jiffy seed starter. I came home from San Diego to find about 40 had started to sprout, so I started to pot up the seedlings. Turns out there was close to 80 that had already sprouted. I was able to pot up about 66. I'll probably pot up the rest this weekend. Compared to my first batch of 100 seeds from the other source, I had a very miserable sprouting of about 25 in the first week. I looked at these first adenium seedlings while I was out there. On average, they only have about four leaves per seedling, but the stems are getting fat for their size.

The really nice thing about having two separate batch of seeds is I'm able to see the difference that a few weeks make. I really should take some pictures; the Adenium seedling start life with these chunky little trunks, definitely sturdy looking, yet they quickly grow into these even fatter trunks, ready for whatever harshness the desert environment might throw at them. The one thing that I have to watch out for is winter's frost.

LOL! Here I am, mid JULY. It's 110 today. On my mind is fall/winter. I start to think about what I want to do this for fall/winter. Phoenix bonsai club starts meeting again in mid Sept. There are seedlings that I want to order for next year. Seeds need to be ordered early enough so that I can plant them indoors by mid-winter and get a head start on next spring's growth. Pomegranates come into season in the fall and there will be fruits to purchase and more seeds to sow. My adeniums should be nice and fat by then; they'll require winter protection.

Of course I have lots to think about in the here and now. Some of the pieces that I picked up from Mishy were study pieces. The shells look mostly brownish, but you can sometimes make out a little yellow in some places. The technique I used of wiping off most of the brown that was applied gave the results I was looking for: the nooks and crannies in the shells were dark, but the raised portions remained light, thus bringing out the texture in the shells. I'm not seeing a lot of red, though. Perhaps it was overpowered by the brown, perhaps it melded with it and formed a darker, richer brown.

That's it for now

Wow what a weekend!

My sole remaining molly had a bunch of babies. The male died last week, so I suppose he did his life work before finally expiring. Looks like the angelfish have reconsidered their pairing; the breeding trio is no longer a trio. And it looks like one of the smaller angelfish who was previously left out of the spawning dance is now paired up with the large female. I have to watch them, but that's a bit difficult with my schedule. Too many projects going on for me to just sit in front of a fish tank.

Pfft. Anyone buying this line of bullshit- that I'm just *so* busy? HA!

Life is going at a full-tilt boogie, and I'm revelling in it. This is my house! I'm in my natural environment. Fishies are breeding cause they're just being natural. And I'm stopping right there before I go off on a tangent. Too early in the morning to dive into six inches of water, aka the deep end.

I didn't get a chance to do much with my clay over the long weekend. Let's be frank here; I did what I could with the glazes I have, but I'm running low on some glazes, ran out of a couple. I'm just waiting on my paycheck so I can buy more glazes. I did some study work on some bisque seashell impressions and my 'primitive' rolled impression. I used semi-transparent cocoa bean as a first layer. I then took a semi-moist sponge and removed most of the glaze, leaving the brown glaze in the nooks and crannies. I then used the semi-moist sponge to apply semi-transparent dragon red. Mostly on the raised portions. Finally, I highlighted with Sassy Yellow. Okay, maybe I did more than just highlight. I might have gotten a bit heavy handed with the yellow, but hey, this is why I'm calling it 'study work'. I can't wait to get this fired. I want to see how they turn out and if I can use this technique on other pieces. I did get a chance to glaze a few pots. Not many, but better than nothing.

Speaking of nothing, there was nothing holding me back from doing bisque work. I just didn't have it in me to do any clay work. Maybe I was a little down because I didn't have glazes. Perhaps I really was busy with other projects. Or perhaps I didn't have the energy. I have been really tired these last few days. My back is really hurting and I'm stiff everywhere. Yep, I haven't been working out. Need to get back into my workouts.

I did some work on my seedlings and cuttings. There were a few more Adeniums that sprouted so I potted them up. Also did some work on my pomegranate seedlings. Did I already mention that my ficus microcarpa have been doing very well? While doing some work on the pomegranates I had the water going. I noticed the Adenium seedlings are getting flooded. I also noticed that they don't seem to mind the flooding! Perhaps this is why they're getting so fat. Perhaps they're getting fat despite my overwatering. Perhaps they really shouldn't be watered so much, but the fact that they're thriving is testimony to their tenacity.

Bernie is never long on the compliments. If she likes something, she'll tell you it was 'okay', and then only if you prod her. If she really likes something, she'll suggest it as in 'maybe you could make that dinner tonight' or 'if you want, we could go there...'. I've never heard her say 'Victor, that dinner was fantastic' or 'I really enjoyed that show'. That's just her way. She considers it unnecessary to voice a compliment. Rather, if she likes something, she will show it through her actions. At least, that's how she explains it to me. Me, I can live for a week on a single compliment. I'm a sucker for flattery, and I live to serve. So when my pal, Lisa, invited us over for dinner on Sunday, I decided to bring her a bonsai. I grabbed one of my Fukien tea trees out of my garden and repotted it in my largest handmade pot. It was an egg shaped pot with bubble feet. The body was Blue Caprice crystal glaze and the feet were mosaic blue and dragon red, semi-transparent. I finished repotting, soaked it in, then showed my finished bonsai to Bernie. Her reaction: OH WOW!

Bernie's reaction took me by surprise. She wanted to keep it! I suppose she hadn't visualized my quirky little pots with bonsais. She thought they were a bit small, too lumpy and not very 'professional looking'. When she finally saw that brightly colored, quirky pot with the bonsai potted in it, she saw it. The lumps were personality, the quirkyness was expressiveness. The diminuative size of the pots exagerated the size of the bonsai itself. The funky, brightly colored bubble feet complimented the bright green colors of the tree. This was not a 'professionally' made pot, created in some factory. This was a single, expressive pot, created by an individual to be an individual. I took some pictures of the finished bonsai. I might post them later.

Fourth of July! We went to Glendale Community College to watch the fireworks display. It was over 110+, even after 8pm, and my back was hurting, so I was grumpy as all hell. There was a storm to the north and high winds, so there was talk about cancelling the fireworks display. Bernie finally had enough of my crap and told me she was just going home. I don't like seeing Bernie upset like that, so I had to talk her down. Hunter was getting hungry, so I suggested she park the car and feed Hunter. Then we could go home. She parked it and started feeding him. Me and the boys got out of the car and sat on the pavement. It was just too hot in the car, I explained. I got out the cooler, sat on the cooler, and drank some water that Bernie had packed for us. The wind blew hard enough to cool it down to about 90. 'At least it's cooling down a bit', I explained to Bernie. I sat there, watching the light show that nature was putting on. The storm to the north was producing some spectacular thunderheads with lots of lightning. I could see that it was raining about 12 miles away. I could faintly smell the rain, but I could also sense that rain was not heading our way. The sound of the outdoor concert being put on by GCC could be heard from our position in the parking lot. There was a grassy area to the north of us where TONS of people had assembled to watch the fireworks and enjoy this summer night. The smell of grilled meats mixed with the distant smell of rain. The parking lot was not crowded, but there was a number of people tailgating and hanging out as well. It was a hot, sultry, Arizona night. 'This beats sitting at home, doing nothing', Bernie called out from inside the car. She had finished feeding Hunter, and was bouncing him, trying to burp him. Suddenly, the lights in the grassy area went out. A cheer erupted from the gathered crowd. Our collective patience was about to be rewarded. I called out to Bernie, to come out and join us. I had not realized it, but the fireworks were going off in the field adjacent to the parking lot we were in. We were really really close to the fireworks, so they were bigger than life when they went off. The very first firework of the night was a great big one. We could feel the concussion of the explosives as each one went off. The display seemed to go on and on... and on. Bernie complained that her neck was hurting from looking up, so I got up and propped myself up behind her, cradling her neck in my arm so she could look up. It was definitely one of the better fireworks displays I have witnessed. Granted, it was nowhere near what I imagine goes on in New York , or the east coast, but I'll bet they don't have the lightning in the background that we had. And I'm positive that NOBODY in the USA has to brave such hostile heat as what you find in Arizona for the 4th of July.

Honestly, I would have preferred to be at home, doing nothing. My kids get older with each passing day, week, month, year. Sooner than I would prefer, they'll be done growing and they'll be leaving my house. I'll have lots of fourth of July's, where I'll be sitting at home, doing nothing. No, I'm not being melodramatic, nor is this thought necessarily depressing. Simply, I'm just stating the obvious: things are dynamic. Everything changes. What I'm trying to say is that you should enjoy the moment.

Mame pots are now ready

The first batch of completed Mame pots are now out of the kiln.

There are a few Mame styles that are emerging: 'Mog', 'Turk', 'Crab', and 'Rocket'. For the bodies, I have been using 'Agate' and a blue glaze with darker blue . I'm not sure of the name of this blue glaze, I think it's blueberry something. The agate is a matte olive green finish, with glossy chocolate brown spots. There appears to be a style that is emerging in my work. The bodies are usually a glaze with chunks that melt during the firing process, giving the finished work a richer finish. Sometimes the feet are a different, solid glossy color. For my feet I am using 'cocoa', I think, 'sassy yellow', and 'dragon red'. I thought the red was 'dragon blood'. It might have been renamed, but it is a very rich, blood red.

Mog- I'm calling the small, egg shaped pots 'Mogs'. I was going to call them Mogwai, after the cute, fuzzy critters from the movie 'Gremlins', but this means evil spirit or demon in Chinese. Anyways, for the mogs I used an 'agate' glaze. I used the cocoa glossy glaze for the feet. The combination resulting in a very complimentary color combination.

Turk- when I brought the first one in, Mishy commented that it reminded her of a Turkish toilet. This one is based on a crescent shaped bonsai pot, with a high back. The combination of the high back and hole in the bottom reminded her of a toilet shape. I'm not offended by this descpription, as that is exactly what they look like! I've painted the turks in all blueberry.

Crab- I'm using a basic shallow saucer shape for the body with flat,thin feet. My dog, Daven, was my inspiration, but they look sorta crabby to me. Blueberry body with 'sassy yellow' feet

Rocket- Bowl or egg shaped body with what was supposed to be bubble feet. I found that two stacked bubbles work better than three. I also found that this design works better with shorter feet. I painted the bubble feet 'sassy yellow' and 'dragon red'. For the body I used the blueberry. Mishy really liked this style. I think it's the dragon red feet. Really makes a bold statement.

I have a Mog with a broken leg that I'm trying to fix. It's been bisque fired already. The foot simply came off while I was working it, probably an issue with the way the feet were joined to the body. I've painted this Mog's body with a black glaze. I'm not sure the name, but it's black with red crystals within. For the feet I used dragon red. I really like the dragon red, so I used this same combination of black/red crystals for body and dragon red feet on a smaller Mame pot that I had.

When I picked up my glazes at Marjon Ceramics, there was a pot full of 'business cards' for a local potter. He used clay 'tokens' for his business cards, stamped with a raised scorpion or butterfly relief and glazed with a semi translucent glaze on one side, and the name of his website on the other. On his website, he demonstrated a technique where he would wind rope around a cylinder, then use the wheel to impress the rope design on the cylinder. I took a queue from this guy and used my kids' Mardi Gras beads to make impressions on an egg shaped Mame pot. I made a couple of pots like this, including a couple of bowls for my reptiles. They're all currently in the kiln, or waiting to be fired.

I also switched to a low fire clay. This clay is much more plastic and fires to a white bisque. It's also not as sandy as the stoneware clay I was using. I don't know if I necessarily like this clay better, as it's drier. Cracks tend to show more when working this clay. This clay is less sticky, meaning it takes an impression better than the stoneware clay. Plus, it doesn't stick so much to my hands when working it. I bought fifty pounds of this clay, so I have lots of time to get used to it!