Short Days and Violets

It's just a few days away from winter solstice and the return of the sun. Today it is slightly warmer, and there is scattered sunshine between the showers.

The bees grasp the opportunity to be out and about - no lingering inside with a morning cup of tea for them.

There are still a couple of last nashi leaves hanging on determinedly.

My beloved wild carrots are still found here and there.

The first bulbs are flowering, where the advantage of the protection offered by long grass down the bank outweighs the disadvantage of competition.

I haven't looked after the garden, so don't have much in the way of winter vegetables, but there's still some fresh edibles around. Silver beet which just keeps popping up around the place - I haven't planted any for years.

 Lemons - way too many - and limes.

 New Zealand cranberry, known in Australia as Tazzieberry, and in the rest of the world, and more accurately, Chilean guava (myrtus ugni). I cooked some up with the juice and zest of a lime and it made a delicious sauce on pancakes.

 And the first violets, growing wild around the base of the old water tank. They don't fill the empty space left behind by Violet Wild when she moved to America, but they are one of my favourites.