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The "Grown-Up Baby" was once again as
much use as a chocolate teapot! |
After Shiten’s Summer Sabbatical, the Shiten massive, and no
that’s not a reference to Simon’s belly, was in full effect at the Bonsai World
Show at the K2 Sports Centre in Crawley.
This year marks the 3rd Edition of the Show and the exhibits
seem to get better year on year but, as is the Shiten Way, Les, Simon and Andy were there to show exhibitors
EXACTLY how it’s NOT supposed to be done!
As is quickly becoming customary Sickly Storey once again left all the set-up and “arty-farty stuff”
to the Clay Crusaders and when he did
eventually put in an appearance on the Saturday morning (after all the work was
done of course) he was doing his best Cliff Richard impersonation being all
“wired for sound” – fortunately he forgot his tennis racket! With the trees all in place, superbly
complimented by Andy’s fantastic Gafu-Ten display, it was all hands on deck to
help Sulky Simon set up his stall
with his eagerly awaited, his words not ours, “Black Collection”. When setting up his stall, the norm these
days is for to Frog Boy bounce around like he was on a hot lily pad. With most, if not all, offers of help being
rebuffed it seems that he prefers to play the martyr rather than accepting his
fellow Shite’s offers of help – num-nuts!
With the Show about to open judging was taking place around
the hall and unbeknown to our Little
Shites it was to have a sting in the tail. Behind the back of Lethargic Les, Sméagol Simon had snuck
one of Les’s trees into his Mame display, naughty little Hobbitses, to no doubt
make his display less Shiten – well boy was he in for a surprise! It appears it’s not what you know but who you
know these days and it appears that Simon’s ruse was rumbled by some such
person as Les’s little Hinoki Cypress scooped top Mame Tree in Show and not one
of his own “efforts”. This award
surprised the Sickly Storey no end as
he didn’t even know that the tree was being used on the Shiten display. That’ll learn ya young Frogs Spawn that you
are – quality always shines through!
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| Our "novel" way of displaying our scrolls! |
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| Gafu Class act |
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| A Simon/Storey Shohin Combo |
Sunday dawned hot and sunny once again but unfortunately the
upbeat mood was quickly spoilt by Simon’s Manic
Mame Meltdown, possibly a side effect of the previous days shock Award. By the time he and the understanding Mr
Pearson had arrived at the venue he’d worked himself into such a little tizzy
that common sense went out of the window (along with most of the toys from his
pram!). Many a professional or
experienced artist alike were being accosted, with plenty taking to hiding
under tables or behind curtains, as the Mame
Maniac whizzed around the Traders stalls like the
Tasmanian Devil but much less adorable.
The look on the poor Frogy’s face was a picture of despair and
despondency as the pot quest turned into a comedy version of Goldilocks*, well
funny for the onlookers at least, and no amount of E-numbers or Wine Gums could
cheer our little Shiten-Spawn’s mood.
They say that “every cloud has a silver lining” and many of
us had gone a lot more Silver during the Mame
Mayhem but it would appear that “Sampson
Saves the Day” with a delightful little pot from under the counter – you
know what I mean guv, brown paper bags and the like? Superstar Dave, supplier to the stars and
sometimes Simon, is the purveyor of fantastic stones, stands and Japanese pots
and must be included as an Honorary Shite
as he was the original owner of Les’s fantastic Blackthorn. Again this fine gentleman came up trumps with
what was agreed was a fantastic little pot – or could it be a bit small?
No doubt the saga will continue as it usually does with
Simon, so watch, or don’t watch, this space – the choice is yours!
*too large, too small and nothing quite right!
