go hug a cactus

Dont worry I'm not greeting you with any kinda of moustached, ponchoed, sombreroed insult, although, it would make a good one, don't you think? All will become clear.

image [here]

My auntie and uncle have an amazing garden. They live in what sometimes feels to be right next to the middle of nowhere in the flatline horizoned Victoria. 
A region spooked with legends of jungle cats & uninvited reptilian residents, this home, to me, is wrapped in a nice neat bundle of nostalgia. There are cacti all over the garden, and one day, I'm not quite sure how, but it must have involved a sizable dose of blind stupidity, we discovered a new kind of instrument. 'Playing the cactus' involves running your finger tips lightly down the spikes of a tall cactus (the miniature potted ones won't work - I'll save you the trouble). The sound is like running water but a little more musical. Sheer brilliance, eh?

But, in spite the fact that some members of my family were blessed with thumbs of a green genus, I was merely imparted an appreciation of decent flora display and possess no great ability, access or desire to cultivate a ground growing masterpiece (I hold out hope for this to turn around in the future).
Apartment dwelling calls for a certain breed of rugged and resilient plants that are 'me' proof.

white collection from odds & ends

Yup. You guessed it! (Actually, I cant imagine you did.) Knitted cacti!

I came across these delightful creations made by Andrea Daniel of 'Odds & endS' last week at Design Made Trade & fell in love. Handmade using both knitting & crochet, they may not be capable of creating musical watery tunes like the real ones but I bet you've never been able to say you've hugged a cactus before!? I was trying to come up with some kind of witty line about their bark being worse that their bite but I'm so besotted with the idea of a knitted cactus that all wit has escaped me.


This would be a planted spectacle that could indeed turn my thumbs into the garden variety.


e.