Mid-winter pleasures

It’s the winter solstice today here in the South. In theory, it’s the middle of winter. But it’s far from a typical winter day: in this summer-rainfall area, most of the morning has been wet and overcast.

I pull on a jersey and walk through the garden, and even in this relative gloom, I am struck by just how lucky I am to live here. There is so much going on around me, and that’s apart from the birds gathering over the sea.

A kingfisher takes off from the knobwood tree. A pair of sunbirds are dipping into the wild dagga and the strelitzia. The hadedas are patrolling the grass, aerating the soil with their long, long beaks. A flock of guinea fowl are pecking near the aloe garden.

The gloriously scented indigenous jasmine is coming into bloom; so is the iboza. The first clivia minutiae flowers are out. Some of the aloes, including the exciting “hedgehog” hybrid, are starting to flower. The lemon tree is still heavy with fruit. The broccoli are forming good heads, and I think we can eat some this weekend.

I took pics as I strolled, and I’ve experimented with putting some of them into a collage on this page. I hope you enjoy them.