Out little cactus flower

Both Helena and I noticed this poor little succulent plant, which had been relegated to the back window sill for the winter. I've kept it quite under-watered but did remember to give it a sprinkle last week.

It was then that I had a double-take, when I saw this little single flower bud hanging down from the somewhat dehydrated leaves. When Helena mentioned it, I thought I should bring it into my study room for a bit of light and some affection.

Two days later the bud had opened and today I took it into the garden to record it in the daylight, as I fear the flower won't last long. I put the pot on top of a post so that I could get below it and look into the heart of the flower. The light was grey and the wind was gusting, so I was worried about it being a bit blurred. It isn't a great shot, but given the time I had available it I am happy.

I do admire cactus plants, ever since I lived with my Granny's collection in her sunny verandah by the sea, when I was only a few years old. My Mum inherited the few that were left and I used to keep an eye on them over the years, whenever I visited my parents. One cactus suddenly went mad and flowered for the first time in seventeen years and it prompted me to take some snaps of it, probably in the 1980s. Somewhere I may even have a print of it.

I visited Mexico for four magical months in 1973 and it was a cactus lover's fantasy. I even discovered the added benefit from distilling the Agave plant's juices, called Pulque, into the delight of Tequila, let alone Mezcal.

For more info on that, I recommend Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano, his semi-autobiographical novel written in 1947. The novel tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British consul in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac (the Aztec name of Cuernavaca), on the Day of the Dead, November 2, 1938. The book takes its name from Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, the twin volcanos near where Lowry lived.

But that is all a long way from here and now in Stroud, although I did have a sip or two of Tequila last night.