January 7th Waiting, Waiting and Waiting.......

Well today was a day of great excitement. A new baby in the family? No!  A major lottery win? - No! Well not that I am aware of as I have unchecked tickets and may well be the winner of the big draw last night (Apologies. I just had to stop typing there for a minute as I saw, out the window, a pink pig flying daintily by).

The cause of our excitement is a Cactus. This cactus to be exact

The Cactus I am referring to is the tall long skinny one in the centre of the photo. There is a story to this cactus. We planted this cutting when it was about 3 foot high (approx 90cm). The cutting came from the mother plant, which when originally purchased and planted in my previous home's garden, was only 6 inches high. That 6 inch cactus is now taller then the roof of the house and has so many offshoots. The trunk is huge.  A limb was taken off and had been lying on the ground for a long time, and we took it - our 3 foot one - and brought it home and planted it. This would have been maybe 5 years ago?

I have seen flowers on the mother plant at its original home, but ours has always stood upright and never, ever shown any hint of flowering. Until now that is

These flowers will be the size of a dinner plate. And we are eagerly anticipating their opening. I am not going anywhere because they only last around 24 hours and then drop off.  Watch this space people for more photos when the deed happens!!