Some of you have been pestering me about putting up another post on the blog…truth is, I’ve been crazy busy this summer and have some awesome news…I’m finally getting some help around here! His name is Andres Perez and he’s from Medellin, Colombia…that’s in South America 😉 I flew to meet him in Bogota in July to be with him during his interview with the Consul at the US Embassy there…it was not what I had in mind for an embassy. Your interview is conducted via telephone (like they do in prisons) the Consul is behind 2″ of bulletproof glass and you are outside! Yes! Colombia is near the equator and the weather is pretty much the same all the time…Bogota sits at 8,000′ elevation, so it is a bit cool and it rains a lot. So, there is an awning to stand under, at least, to keep Colombian citizens from getting wet during their interview. I also noticed the the US flag that hung over the Embassy was very dirty…what does that say about our pride to the Colombian people, I wonder?

But, I digress…after nearly a year of waiting and hiring an immigration attorney, they granted Andres his Visa to come to the US on July 21. He will be making the 17 hour flight to Portland September 5, and arriving the following day, on the 6th. Just in time for the Artisans Cup! Hooray! And speaking of which, I have a dog in the fight! My Southwestern pine was accepted into the show among the 70 other trees. Quite an honor and another reason I’ve been off the radar, preparing the tree for the show and sprucing up the garden for visitors from around the world…yes, if you come here for the Artisans Cup, track me down and we’ll see what we can do to get you over to see some really oddball bonsai 😉 And if that news wasn’t enough…I will be conducting tours for Michael Hagedorn’s Portland Bonsai Village throughout the duration of the show…here’s the link to the Village website: http://www.portlandbonsaivillage.com/#welcome-1

Michael has put a lot of effort into the new website and I think it is outstanding!

And how about some photos?

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Southwestern white pine

The rest of the photos are going up without text as my internet connection is bad because of the high winds today…enjoy!

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I hope you enjoyed the show…and I hope you are able to travel to our Bonsai Village and tour the gardens (mine included) and meet my new apprentice Andres…Ciao!