So this post is all about the light again today. Our garden doesn’t get much sunlight in the winter months so when we have a beautiful blue sky sunny day like today we really have to maximise it. I’ve written before about the importance of light at this time of year and I think this truer with every year i spend here. 

I have been really sick the last couple of weeks with flu, so unfortunately I really didnt feel like enjoying today with some hard work in the garden. My husband however couldn’t wait to get outside so he planted the last few bulbs and replanted some raspberries in a sunnier (in summer!) position. I have however been out for a short while to enjoy a little fresh air and  to really take some time to appreciate the garden.

The very little sun we get at this time of year is in the early morning at the front and at sunset in the back. 

This means that only a very few plants see it. I plan to make a bit more of these places next winter if i can, so these photos are sort of placeholders for my memory. This old bit of wall only has ivy on it, imagine if we had a crimson creeper or something with scarlet berries here (added bonus would be the birds we attract)? As it also gets sun in the early spring, something with spring flowers would also be great here, maybe an early flowering cotoneaster? This will need some thought though, the bare branches in front of the wall are a rather straggly flowering currant.

The acer has had beautiful golden leaves on it this autumn and these have only just fallen, given the low sun on them has been so beautiful i wouldnt change a thing here… 

The azalea in front of it has now also dropped its leaves but these were also beautiful vibrant autumn colours. I took this photo a few weeks ago…

Inside our dining table gets sun in the morning time, this year our November cactus has been gorgeous, it really seems to like this position and is a beautiful accompaniment for my revision for the citizenship test (coming up this week).

The orchids are now starting to produce new stems, we often have a good lot of flowers on them in thewinter, somewhat counterintuitively! We are now preparing for the festive season which starts in our house with Sinterklaas on the 5th December, we are almost ready for this inside and In the garden we have done most of the pruning, and planted our bulbs and winter pots. 

This week we will make our advent ring for the table with clay, holly, ivy and of course, candles…

 Prettige Sinterklaasfeest!