A little winter sunshine

I finally made it out into the garden. Christmas preparations and vile weather meant that I have not done much in the way of Winter clearing. 
Today it is bright and chilly but not bitter. Yesterday was beautifully frosty which even made all the dead leaves pretty. 
Even though it is the bleakest time of year, well almost, there are always things to find. And not always what you expect in December:

As you can see most of the leaves are still lying around. 

This is my 'woodland area'. One tree and some ferns. It is very shaded in the summer. There is a strawberry flower right at the front.

 
These are from the Magnolia tree and they do rot down very quickly in spite of being so thick and leathery. Even after a few months I found some lovely skeletons:

 

 So I collect all these in bags and leave them to rot down for leaf mould. I leave them for a year and then empty out last year's in the spring. I try and spread it around on bare ground as I weed and tidy early in the year, or later... depending on the weather. They don't add much in the way of nutrition but they do add bulk and humus.
Here are some other things:

A bit early, I think.

Hellebore buds - one of my favourite flowers.

Purple sprouting, it really is very tiny but welcome all the same.

It seems I don't empty my rain gauge very often. Now frozen solid.

I didn't really stay out very long, I'm not a martyr. Just long enough to collect some bags of leaves and for my feet to be frozen solid. Then coffee in the warm is very welcome and feels well deserved after all the lazy days and too much good food.