I'm sure you've all been lying awake at night wondering what has happened with the cactus pimple I posted about over the summer. I apologize for not keeping everyone up-to-date on the gripping saga of my special cactus' pubescent event.

Well, I was right. It does seem to be a new appendage, which is exciting. But, it is growing very very slowly. Here it is as of last month.

As you can see, the bump has grown very slightly, and turned green with hints of purple. But it's far from the little cactus "arm" I expected by now.

I guess I should have known this would be slow-going. In the whole time I've owned it--about 7 years--it has only grown 5 inches. So, I guess I will have to be patient. Hopefully, when the weather warms up, it'll have a little spurt. I'll let you know.

The recent wet weather, particularly the longer damp period in December, seems to have created a perfect growing environment for a variety of mushrooms and fungi in our back yard. The specimens in the garden are both beautiful and diverse. I don't think I've ever seen this variety at our house before.

We've sadly lost a couple of trees to bark beetle in the last couple of years, so there are numerous large stumps and logs that make a perfect fungus habitat.

I myself am no botanist, so I have no idea what any of these are. But, it's fun to wander around the garden and come across little shelves and piles and ripples of fungus.

Anybody know of a good website that identifies common mushrooms and fungi?