Ho! Bloody Ho! It’s Christmas!
So, here we are at the end of another year pretty much, just the excesses of Ho! Bloody Ho! It’s Christmas! and new years to endure before we launch into 2024 filled with hopes and dreams. I have never been one for ‘marking‘ days. These so called high days come and go and I genuinely could not care less, i don’t even celebrate my own birthday. However I know normal folk like to mark such occasions which is fine by me, knock yourselves out, quite literally if you want too. Ho! Bloody Ho! etc’.
I guess there’s merit in taking a look back over the last year even if it’s only to take stock of how many of those hopes and dreams I was holding just 365 days ago lie dashed to pieces on the pavement of life. 2023 has sucked ass in so many respects I just don’t have the energy to go over it all again.
We do have a great deal to be thankful for in this country of ours. Whilst the reasons seem to have become vanishingly small lately at least we don’t have bombs falling on us and the likelihood of being gunned down in the street is vanishingly small, but, for how long. It’s hard to imagine how peace can be sustained much longer based on our current trajectory.
By and large this year has been shit for many folk. Interest rates, social unrest, inflation, green fascism, Immigration, employment (or lack thereof) or any one of a million other ailments and annoyances prevalent in our country have all taken their toll on our souls. Us bonsai folk have had the added bonus of dealing with some of the crappest weather I have experienced on over thirty five years of cultivating wee trees in pots.
Still, next year we can look forward to the spectacle of a general election. An unfettered clown show performed by some of the crassest dullards and wind assisted f**kwits it’s possible to imagine. Like it’ll make ANY difference at all. Same bullshit different colour tie. If one thinks it’ll make an iota of a difference then ya’ll as daft as they are.
Most days I like to sit down early in the morning with a thick slice of toast and a strong cup o’ joe and catch the news (or should that be views?). Hard to do these days. Coverage is typically about 2 minutes of news, half hour of ad’s and half hour of opinion. I guess you all know what they say about opinions….. If not search “opinions are like buttholes”
I’m no great fan of Ricky Gervais but credit where it’s due! “The right to an opinion does not include the right to be agreed with, taken seriously or even listened to.”
Suffice to say my early morning interactions with the ‘box of lies‘ normally ends in me watching an episode of the Simpsons. Whilst this was once considered by some to be the most corrupting and controversial thing on the box, today it’s a bastion of common sense and family values. It’s about the only thing I can watch these days without steam issuing from ever orifice.
As I sit here with a new cold just in time for Christmas outside my window it’s barely light at mid-day, rain is streaming off the thatch and my garage door has a pile of wet soggy leaves piled up against it. Testament to the fact that I have not opened it in weeks. Dear God I need to get out and ride a bike before I go totally insane.
On a brighter note? Here at KB we seem to have clung on for another year despite the best efforts of our esteemed leaders that are doing everything they possibly can to choke the life out of us. I even managed to whip up some videos and with all our stock piled high in the warehouse ready for next season I guess I should be able to rest easy but that’s just not me now is it.
All I really wanted to say was this last year has been rough on many of us for different reasons but one thing that has remained a great thrill to all of us here at KB is the continued support of so many lovely customers and friends. Despite everything I love how bonsai folk just persevere and keep going and growing. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, your support means the world both to me and all the family here!
It’s our prayer that you all have a great and memorable Christmas surrounded by those you love most. Have a drink, a smoke or whatever you do and make the most of a few days peace and quiet before we start again. And let’s all hope the new growing season arrives in a timely fashion with kind weather.
God bless you all.
From Graham, Catherine, Richard and Sarah (not forgetting Harley and Diesel).
Ho! Bloody Ho! Walking the dog on the beach early it’s quiet and this happens a lot. Stay grounded folks!
Thanks Graham, I enjoy reading your posts, good to see straight talking and common sense is still applied. Not so Great Britain any more but certainly better than a lot of alternatives round this little planet. Would be good to have a decent bit of weather next year, the trees barely grow much at all in this climate. Thanks to all at Kaizen, us bonsai folk would all be lost without you. Hope you manage to put your feet up, have a drink or two and maybe get out on that bike.
Thank you Daniel!
Very well said. Best wishes for the New Year.
I certainly look forward to receiving and reading your posts Graham – brightens my day when I see your emails in my folder… you’ll probably say something like ‘sad b%st’d’ but so be it.. heading towards 73 I’ve seen many of the changes you mention over and over again and many’s the time I’ve wanted to express myself as you so eloquently do – I just don’t have the same following as you do. Re government… my father gave me good advice when I came of voting age: “they all piss in the same pot”.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours. Thanks for the prompt attention with the (small) orders I’ve placed with you. Here’s to better weather in 24… and less hazzles for all (as if)
Thanks Graham , i couldn’t agree more . The older i get (70 ) the more cynical i get when it comes to life on this planet . I really do despair at times. But one of the best things, is reading your rants, i love em . Honest , down to earth truth . Filled with frustration , and peed orf to the hilt . I look forward to more in 2024 . I hope you and the family have a wonderful christmas, and yep , get out on that bike , sounds like you need to feel the wind through your hair ( singular ) ha ha ha Have a good one . xx
I’m brand new to Bonsai and brand new to yourselves, and this seems as good an opportunity as any to say thank you for your amazing generosity.
Having wanted to get into growing trees in pots for far too many years and not knowing where to start, I can say that it was the wealth of freely offered information and encouragement on your site that’s given me the inspiration to take my first tiny steps into a world that I’m really far too old at this stage to sensibly consider. I was really pleased to be able to spend my first few pounds on my new interest in your fantastically-stocked shop.
Season’s greetings to you all, and I hope that next year may be better for than this. At least we can still hope, despite the evidence!
Lovely to hear your greetings, thank you so much for all your thoughts and insights over the past year.
Best wishes to you and all the family.
Keep your feet on the ground and your missives coming.
Here’s to 2024
Gary
Best wishes to you and your family, I can’t wait to see the back of 2023 also. You say you’re not a fan of Ricky Gervais but I urge you to try watching Afterlife, it’s a roller-coaster of emotions and probably the best bit of TV I’ve seen in years.
Best wishes to you and yours for the Christmas and New Year you all deserve.
I’ll echo all the views expressed in the comments and thank you just for being there,
Now – go and brush your tooth.
Dear Graham,
May I wish you and yours the best for the season and a prosperous New Year.
I got my first – so called – bonsai trees at the Stoke Garden Festival. Three little twigs in pots. I still have one, the others having expired, from ignorance and neglect. As a beginner I bought books and scoured the internet but I have learned more in the last few years from your good self and your rantings than all the stuff I read before. Trouble is, at my age (80 in March) I am getting a bit short of time to put your wisdom into practice …
Re your Ricky Gervaise quote – my favourite comes from Dilbert: “Ignorance is not an opinion!!!”
Thanks for everything,
Andrew.
Thank you Graham for brightening up this really shitty day. As always your words of ‘wisdom’ area pleasure to read.
Thanks also to everyone a KB for all their help and continued great service during 2023.
Hi Graham, thanks for another great blog! I always look forward to your views on life , the universe and everything thing. Thanks for your commitment to our bonsai interest (obsession?) I’m currently trying to convince my Mrs that I really really need the niwaki that’s up for sale. It’s not going great.. All the best for Christmas and 2024.