Fun in the Sun, The Bonsai Zone
Hi everyone nigel saunders here it has been a busy day today it started early in the morning when i got a phone call that said my bicycle wheel has been trued i haven’t used my bateki a lot in the last 30 years when i stopped racing bicycles so the rear wheel some of the spokes were a little loose i could hear them clicking when i was going up the hill something wasn’t right it was nice and true and it worked fine but it was just making some noises so i took the wheel off i checked the spoke tension and there’s about i don’t know about three sets that were felt loose so i took it into the bike shop and got it re-tensioned and it’s really good now because the bike had sat so long i had to get new tires they were not holding air very well so i got pirellis and they’re p0s velo tires so they’re really good i really like them they’re a really nice tire so today it is 16 degrees celsius or about 60 degrees fahrenheit out the next step for today was to get the insurance back on the car the matrix and i took it to the car wash and then i’ve been hand washing it in the driveway it was it was really dirty and had like mildew all over it and leaves and stuff and so now it’s pretty clean now it’s looking good i’ve also put the truck insurance back on so it’s back on the road so now i can pick up the cement blocks for underneath the new water tanks so that’ll be good yesterday i began the big cleanup in the bonsai area here raking organizing cleaning throwing out garbage and i got the pear tree pruned up here so last year i’d lob the top off i took about a third of the height off it and then it’s got all kinds of new branching so i’ve you know picked the branches that are arranged in a nice radial pattern and have you know a spot of sunlight kept those so yeah i think it looks pretty good it’s coming along this tree had never been pruned before that so one of the first tasks i’ll be doing out here is replacing the wood on top of this bench it’s pretty rotten you can see the ends here so i’ve got a bunch of used wood that i can use yeah this is really getting not very strong yeah so i’ve got a bunch of used lumber from skids and that that i’ll use to replant the table top here and that should hold a lot of weight so that’s one of the first things i have to do out here once that is done i’ll have to bring all the trees out of the greenhouse here and put them out on the bench and it may get cold again we’re having a warm week now but if it gets cold again i can always bring them back in here the tropicals won’t be coming out till april so i’ve got a bit of time let’s head into my wife’s greenhouse here and see what she’s up to on this fine day today just open the door here oh there’s giselle hi gisele how are you a little bit of trouble why what’s wrong with her well she ate um you know a few of those lettuce seedlings i just put in oh did she you were getting in trouble so what are you doing today laura i have green peppers and peppers uh green peppers san marzano i think the tomatoes yeah and then i’m going to do aroma roll my tomatoes oh that’s awesome and you’ve planted lettuce already have you yes yeah and um you enjoyed it didn’t you i have i have lots more though okay but you had a bit of salad today gisele that’s cool yeah well it’s pretty hot in here yeah there’s not much going on in here yet nope i planted but nothing’s come up yet all right she’s walking over yeah you shouldn’t be in here i don’t think i don’t think you should be in here isn’t that stuff coming up there i’m not sure what that is um i’m thinking um what was growing there before probably a weed probably a weed well she’s doing pest control on here right gizelle hi gizelle hello dwanei giselle hey one eye giselle all right well let’s continue the day we are going to switch from the matrix to the truck and i’m going to go get the cement blocks now so i need eight cement blocks for my one that’ll be in the corner there i’m not going to get cement blocks for my second one because that’ll be in the greenhouse and i may have it partially underground or maybe even fully underground i’m not sure just to keep it warm and so it doesn’t freeze so let’s head in the truck and head off to the hardware store all right i guess i need a key i have it the first drive of the truck this year other than taking it out of the out of the driveway onto the street so here we go i think one pump yeah i’d already started it today so now how’s the fuel fuel’s okay i’ve got to get that new tank in so then i can actually fill the truck up instead of just putting a little bit in the bottom of the tank every time reverse out of here all right here we go i haven’t even tried the brakes in the truck yet but they should be okay i’m gonna put the window down it’s kind of hot today let the truck warm up a bit over the tracks i’ve got to get new shocks for it this year too um the shocks on it or the dampers they are the dampers are i got new ones when i got the truck so that was is that 23 years ago or something like that i think it was 23 years or 24 years ago so i uh i don’t know what condition they’re in but i’m going to get new ones i just i don’t know they seem to be okay like the truck’s not bouncing around or anything but i just i don’t know how good they can be i don’t know if they last 23 years or 24 years i’m not sure so might be something to invest into so ah feels like summer it’s great to be back in the truck hauling things [Music] all right engine off here we are at the hardware store waiting for the blocks i got 10 inch blocks they’re wider than the regular ones and uh i just thought it would support the weight of the water tank better yeah so got the back all ready here i think the plywood in the back here i put linseed oil on it last year and i think i’m going to put that black that thin black tar on it it worked really good in the floor of my plant room and i think it would look good in here just to get that black coating on it help protect it keep it waterproof and yeah so i’ll do that i don’t know if i’ll get time today but hoping to get out for a bike ride today do all kinds of things today when the weather is good i gotta wash the truck too it’s got all kinds of crap all over it yeah well i have all eight blocks in the truck there and now it’s time to head out all right let’s get her started it’s running good it’s running well and here we go out the gates load it up with our blocks idle out of here i adjust my seat belt here i think i gotta twist it around i did there we go okay let’s exit so the kw bonsai society is we’re having a meet in the parking lot we’re not allowed to meet indoors or anything yet so we’re going to meet in the parking lot and we’re going to get jade cuttings connor bought a really large jade and he uh he pruned it back to make it a bullseye so there’s all these gripping limbs left over so he’s been letting them dry out and they’re ready for planting so he’s going to be giving them away away to club members with a donation to the club so i don’t know what it’ll cost but they’re pretty big cuttings i think like really big so that’ll be really nice to have try and get that rooted and growing and what else are we doing we’re uh chris henry the bonsai guy or the bonsai guru he is coming with his van and he’s going to be selling soil and wire and tools and maybe pots so if you need something special you can place an order through the glove and chris will bring it down with them yeah so we have to observe social distancing and we have to keep our masks on and you know all the rules but at least we’re kind of getting together as a club which is really nice it’s nice to see everyone in face to face once again it’s it’s all right you know zoom and micros uh google meat and that but it’s not the same as seeing someone in real life i still haven’t oiled that clutch yet have i you’re supposed to remind me put some oil on that clutch pedal [Music] [Music] i like the sound of this truck and it burgles when you back off the throttle what else have i got to do with the truck i got those door seals i got to put in i got to finish painting some of the rust blisters on it you know just general fixing up um a bit of work underneath painting and stuff has lots of work to do on it it’ll be fun i uh kind of like puttering around on the truck [Music] so i’m glad this truck is power steering it makes it a lot easier to maneuver around those ones without power steering they’re a beast i’ve driven one and oh my god they’re like it’s hard to park them all right we’re home [Music] quick all right yeah so i think i’ve got to unload these blocks i’ll have to move the matrix i’ll move the micra in kind of get the cars in order because the micro is going to go off the road this summer we’re going to give it a rest um it’ll be the backup vehicle in case the matrix isn’t running very well but i think it’ll do all right the matrix so all right well let’s start working once again the matrix is looking pretty shiny i will have to polish it up the back bumpers i don’t think they’re clear coated and i i don’t know why the front and back bumper you can see how they’re kind of matte and they polish up nice but they dull quickly some of the clear coating this is kind of the first signs of weathering on it is the clear coating came off of this piece a bit you can see a few of the stripes on it but other than that you know considering how old it is it’s a 2004 it’s in pretty good shape i’ve never winter driven it so it’s uh never seen the salty roads or anything i’ll show you the blocks i got i was gonna get the 10 inch but they didn’t have them in stock so i got eight inch blocks which will do fine so there they are not exactly a whole truckload but yeah so that’s what my uh rainwater tank will sit on top of that should be plenty strong enough the cement blocks are delivered i’ve unloaded them and then i thought i’d better while it’s nice and sunny and warm i’d better tar up the plywood for the back of the truck there so i’ve got my main piece drying in the sun here and i got the two little side pieces sitting here tired up so that should be a really good coating i’m gonna leave it wood on the bottom because i don’t want any moisture between the uh the plywood and the bed so the wood kind of wicks it up yeah so that’s done i’ve uh watered all my trees in the back and i’ll show you the blocks over here here’s the blocks so i’m going to set this up tomorrow i’m getting my blocks underneath leveling it all and i think i’ll put a piece of plywood or something between the blocks and the the tank here just so it doesn’t uh i don’t know so some metal on concrete i don’t like that you can see how this bench that used to be in the shade has uh got sun on it now i also yesterday i pruned my hedge here i topped the top of the cedars here i don’t want them growing any higher than the fence and i had to flatten them out for the aisle way here so i took some off the front face of them here and i also took some off the back just to keep it away from the fence so it’ll be more of like a hedge when it’s all done so then yeah i did that yesterday so i’m going to bring the trees out of the greenhouse now and put them on the bench here i can clear this one off and get a lot of them out here and then tomorrow i’m going to do the wood for this bench so yeah lots to do the next tree i’ll be working on is my clump style cedar here this one right here i’m going to repot it and prune it this year it needs both it’s getting quite wide and spreading out so it needs to be made more compact and it’s starting to get so many roots in the pot it’s starting to raise itself out of the pot so yeah that’ll be my next project is to get that forest in good shape babies drinking from the pond there hi baby is that good water yeah what do you see hey what do you see yes seedlings the i think i’ve got all my trees out i’ve got the ginkgo outside it looks like it’s doing well the buds look like they’re swelling i gave it good protection over the winter so it should be okay yeah it’s going to be a good tree someday i hope the little pine seedlings made it through the winter fine they’re ready to grow again that’s exciting so the greenhouse is empty now yeah i still have a few little accent plants here i’m going to keep those inside the greenhouse for now so tomorrow another thing to do tomorrow i’m going to clean the greenhouse out i’m going to take i’ll leave the tarp on for now it may get colder again so i might need it but eventually starting in april i’ll take the insulated tarp off and yeah put the tropicals out here maybe put the tarp on at night and get the heater out here and yeah get the tropicals used to the natural daylight cycle that’ll be exciting so the benches are looking quite full and green now it’s kind of exciting having all the trees out i i love when all the tropicals come out too then i have all my trees in one place so for tomorrow i’ve got my bench to do cut the wood for that clean out the greenhouse uh set up the water tank and i got to get eve’s trough on that uh roof i forgot to do that today so yeah i’ll do that tomorrow so much to do well i did manage to get a ride in today i rode 35 kilometers there’s a tough headwind coming back so that’ll be it for today i’m gonna have supper and relax tonight maybe watch some bonsai videos in the next video i’ll be working on my cedar clump style i’ll be pruning it up and repotting it but that’s all for today i’m nigel saunders thanks for joining me in the bonsai zone [Music]
