Early March, a dramatic time not just for Julius Caesar who should have watched out for that Brutus but also for my cactus plant. My life is not quite counted it out in coffee spoons as the great T.S.Eliot wrote but I do have my obsessively habitual routines and I make no apologies for that. Every year on the first Thursday in March, I begin the weekly watering regime for the cactus that has been left dry, as is my habit, since the last Thursday in October. This works for me and for the cactus – and heralds a new season of growth.
Last year there was a veritable eruption of growth between March and October as you can see in the bottom two photographs so I am hoping for another growth spurt this year. I can’t help noticing though, to my shame, that behind it, on the book shelves, that piece of folded paper hasn’t been moved, neither has the old roll of Christmas wrapping paper or the little box that contains my sword polishing kit. Now there’s an achievable ambition for the next seven months – tidy up the book shelf.
