Impressed so I am

J was asking about cacti last autumn so I wrote that down in my secret list that I start making in the months before Christmas, then I went to IKEA a few days before the 25th and bought two packs of three for him.

A couple of years ago a friend told me that most teenage boy's bedrooms smell of goat. I laughed back then but now realise that it is true. J's room does indeed smell like a goat lives in it. I didn't hold out much hope for the poor cacti that were now going to have to live in it too. However, J came down yesterday and said "One of my cacti has little pink things starting to grow out of it. What's that?". Sounded like flowers to me. Could it be though? Are some cacti stimulated by the musky scent of goat? Also, I had tried to keep cacti many, many years ago and failed miserably. How come goat boy was managing to keep them so healthy that they were actually going into bloom?

He took the cactus down today and as suspected it was definitely flowers that were growing. They were lovely - all coming out in a ring around it just like it were a prickly green Saturn (so not really like Saturn at all I suppose - apart from having a ring!).

I took some photos from above and from the sides - heck I even went so far as to get some white card to set it off better. I let J choose which photo he wanted on and this is the one he picked. Well done J - you may live in a goat shed but at least you have green fingers rather than hooves.