Ravenna

Hi Cheryl,

nice to hear from you again. I am sorry that you had to give away many of your trees - that must have been tough. I hope that with time you will be able to have a bit more of a bonsai collection again and enjoy the trees you have left.

As regards me turning into a bonsai master - I am not sure where you got that idea from... I fear you will be sorely disappointed if you believe that I am the stuff bonsai masters are made off.

Are you guys ganging up on me??? "an intervention" sounds rather threatening... may be I shouldn't admit to it anymore when I buy trees.

@Mario: I don't know much about kiln building but I believe that it isn't trivial to build a kiln which gets hot enough for you to fire stoneware. The simpler to build kilns don't get hot enough. So unless you only want to grow indoors it is may be for the best that your wife didn't let you build a kiln.

It sounds as if you haven't done any pottery before so I think the best way to get started is to actually take classes. That is what I do. It gives you the opportunity to a ) learn the techniques and b) you have someone who does the firing for you which is a process that requires expertise too and c) you can first see whether you actually enjoy making pottery before you spend a lot of time and money on building or buying a kiln.

I hope you decide to try your hand at pottery. It is a very interesting and relaxing craft. Yesterday I have been preparing things for a new pot where I want to try out some new ideas. I don't know what your job is but I find that these days most jobs aren't particularly creative and pottery is a nice opportunity to use your imagination and end up with something "you have made" and which you can use (unless you make the mistake and send it to some people overseas who then stab you in the back by spreading the rumour that you are addicted to something... )