Missed first bloom on M. boolii

I have been so busy in the last few weeks that I have only found time to keep the baby babies watered. I hardly have been looking at the others except for a cursory peek. So imagine my disappointment when I realised that two of my Mammillaria boolii plants had bloomed without me even noticing!

I think these are beautiful flowers (based on the photos I have seen) but so far there was no sign of any action, although these are said to bloom at a very young age - I think mine are now about 4 years or older now... so I had resigned myself to the belief that it was a fault of the climate - too warm for too long with no winter to allow buds to form.

WRONG!!! Although I missed them, I'm happy that I will have more to look forward to, as there are more buds... and now I'm keeping close watch to see the progress and I hope to see one of the blooms this weekend.

So far the gymnos have been constantly blooming - so much so that I hardly notice them anymore (and I should learn my lesson to always be observant else I will miss something important). I'm feeling good about my progress and just want to keep on growing!