The meditation of the week at interluderetreat.com has some nice things to say about gardens and working outdoors these nice spring days - and a link to BonsaiSite.com where they talk about Bonsai as an art and horticultural practice.
I had a bonsai tree for awhile until our old basset hound Louie knocked it out of the pot and mangled it to the point of no return. Louie was the dumbest animal I've ever known - not that we didn't like him, but he was completely untrainable. He took the turkey off the table one memorable Thanksgiving. He'd follow family members downtown in our little town, and duck into the grocery store when the door was opened - and then refuse to leave, until lured out with a hot dog or some other treat. He tolerated the cats. They would stand on chairs waiting for him to come by, looking like vultures, ready to pounce on him. He'd get back at them by picking up their cans of cat food and running outside to snarf them down. I don't think he liked cat food - he just didn't have much use for cats. He'd sleep in our beds when we were gone, and hop out when he heard the car coming up the drive, knowing that was against the rules.
He was a good dog.
