HAPPY CHRISTMAS - STILL FLOWERING AFTER ALL THIS TIME

Have a good Christmas/midwinter festival etc and a better New Year.

One thing I have always liked to do is to put a small vase of flowers from the garden on the Christmas table every year and this year we have the usual roses and so on but a lot of calendulas.

And we have the yellow rose Golden Showers plus the red rose we call the AndrewandPutzi Rose as they gave it to us.

To move on to gardening matters - by where the stream tumbles out of the wood and sometimes breaks its banks watercress has responded by carpeting the banking. I am not sure what to do about it if anything.

And we have two fatsias in the garden. The one by the oil tank looks healthy enough but the huge one by The Wendy House, though flowering well, left, is also not looking so good at the top, right. I think a little judicious pruning is in order.

The darkness is getting to us - light going low at 2pm and out by 4. I said to R it is time I won the lottery and we could have a place in New Zealand for the winter. She replied - that is all well and good but as I would not go what's the point. 
Perhaps we could fill the house with daylight bulbs instead?
So here is Christmas, trains and post on strike, war everywhere, goodwill to all men (and women of course)(in fact more to women)(just saved my bacon.)

The stream comes in from the bottom right, the arrow points to the new spring sending water both sides of the tree. This runs down to near the pond, here in winter. You would think that it would be pretty lifeless by now but there is life like this toad disappearing into the undergrowth. I was too slow to get a good shot.

 There is red as well as yellow in the garden and from the garden. The quince is starting to flower - the whole thing is crazy - who knows what season brings what, is this global warming, just a slight variation on normal or what?

And then I get up and blood is leaking into the sky over the bay, shepherds have their warning. 

Then move on a day or two and thick cold fog comes top from the bay which never really clears. Time seems to stand still - the garden waiting for me - to do something!
 

I have just been out top get logs and sticks for the fire and was greeted by a high pitched din. I am glad I do not live next door - their trees were crowned by over a thousand starlings in full chatter. For many years starlings have been scarce but this year they seem to have made a resurgence, at least here.