almost midwinter...

Not many days left now until the solstice. Here today the sky is blue, the sun is shining and it is freezing. The last sunny day was quite some time ago, and now that we do have sunshine again the angle of the light seems really low. (Honestly, we moved 2 degrees further north and I make such a big deal about it!) The chooks have just found their way into the back garden today. This part of the garden has a 6foot high fence around it and I suppose was once ornamental, but since Harvey was new to us and wandered when we first came here, we designated it our 'dog garden'...and as I was gazing through the window admiring the hens this afternoon and wondering when we will get our first eggs, and whether it might be worth putting a light in the henhouse in order to get some sooner, I noticed some of these:

We didn't live here last winter and I don't know what they are. They're too big for snowdrops, but it seems early for daffodils. I'm going to have to keep an eye on them.

And I had a bit of a scout around and found these. They're a different kind.

It's reassuring to know the garden is preparing for spring!

Meanwhile, in the house, there are some preparations for Christmas Feasting. Chiefly in the form of my special 'laughing' mince pies.
These are usually a big hit and - look, one had disappeared while I searched for the camera (wasn't me, honest!). I use my own recipe for mincemeat which includes loads of cherries and pineapple and papaya and coconut (well basically anything remotely suitable that I can find in the baking cupboard) and with spices they taste really christmassy.

Not much sewing going on. I had just about decided on the pattern for the brown quilt, and then Little Sis announced she is coming up early this week, so I will see what she thinks about the options. And I'm hoping to persuade her to sit infront of the sewing machine.