Spring has come to the Retreat, with all of it’s glorious wind and night/day temperature changes. Fortunately, none of this stops the caretakers from trimming trees, placing plants back outside and cleaning the outside like busy bees. The spider plants gathered a season or more ago from turmoil are on the edge of dry but this is occasionally good for them. The “rainy season” has started with heavy watering. Overall, I think that the retreat is going to go for quality and not quantity as far as the bonsai goes, or at least until I have someone else to help with the daily tasks of taking care of the retreat. Because of the economy the House Mother has had to take a an outside job. This was probably inevitable and we held it off for more than 3 years.
All of the Retreats large trees have been trimmed at the beginning of Spring and are looking good. Now all we have to do is get rid of the various branches and such. Some of it is usable for various art projects and some for heating and cooking. The next week will be a matter of separating them and giving what is not used to the neighbors for mulch filler.
One of our regular residents will be visiting Kyoto this fall. She is looking forward to it and everyone at the Retreat is excited about it. There will hopefully be pictures to come as well as some interesting findings from Nippon. She will be missed but prayers and energy go with her in her Buddhist studies.
Overall, the Spring and Summer looks promising if somewhat windy and dusty (ever the case in the Southwest)
Xiong Nai Xin Retreat 
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