What a great way to start my blog!

Well September has got off to great start. And what better way to start my blog than with a new Dougie Mudd table, and a new Japanese suiseki from the USA.

I was kindly invited to judge the Wirral Bonsai Society annual show up at Gordale Garden Centre in the Wirral on September 1st. and my friend Doug Mudd was there. I asked Dougie if he still had a table for sale that I had seen at another show where he had had a sales table, and I was pleased as punch when he said he still had the table available.
He was good enough to pop home and get the table for me to look at again, and of course I had to have it.

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Well here it is, absolutely superb.
Dougie is without doubt one of the best stand makers around and a great guy as well. It is great when you can support home grown talent, and Dougie has been making beautiful bonsai stands for some time now. It still amazes me that there are still people who have not heard of him.
So guys, remember the name, DOUG MUDD.

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Here is a close up showing the detail Dougie has put into the legs. I am very pleased with my purchase.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it. Dougie brought another stand along for me to see which he still had to make a carrying box for. He said he would be interested to hear my opinion of the table. But I think he knew I would want it. Did I say he was a good businessman!
Anyway it was amazing! I had to have it, and reserved it there and then. It was proving to be an expensive day out. But Heh, your only here once!
This new table is quite different to the stand I had already bought that day. But what was amazing, was the patina Dougie had achieved. The table looked antique, and I said to Dougie this is the way forward. It is similar to how Gordon Duffet can make pots look antique. When you have a quality tree, it should be in a quality pot and displayed on a quality stand and not on some laquered orange box.
What swayed it for me is that I am developing a tree I hope to show in a few years and this table is perfect for it.
I am really excited about this stand and I really hope Dougie can replicate this patina on other stands.
So watch this space and I will post pictures when I get the new stand.

I must say a big thank you to all the Wirral boys for making me welcome and for all their banter and p..s taking.