No snowdrops yet, it’s been too cold, but on the bare twigs of the chimonanthus praecox hangs a promise of Spring. Wintersweet I adore you!
And here is the new garlic, undeterred by last night’s frost
and here will be daffodils
In the meantime the kitchen is swamped with the smell of bitter Seville Oranges – the aroma of January in England
First batch being inspected. More to come.
Zeb Bakes 
Looks wonderful…so clear…makes me want a bit of toast…I made some lemon and lime and some grapefruit and ginger and the latter looks much better…not as clear as this one of yours, but getting there…
Forgot to say that a jar of Frank Coopers marmalade over here is about STG 5 a pot so I am thinking there is money in this marmalade making…..
What a bizarre and lovely plant Wintersweet is. I have never seen it. I can’t wait to be in Bagni di Lucca for the snowdrops, bluebells and daffodils – not long now.
Joanna I’ve got 3 different types of bread and a batch of scones sitting on my counter, and they all seem to be screaming Seville Marmalade! Yum, and so thinly sliced too…
I love seeing the opposite seasonal changes.
Wintersweet!
lovely.
Marmalade!
Looks like a marvelous sunset in a jar.
Daffodils!
a quiet promise-
And the garlic?
deep and dark and safe in the soil-
developing flavor-defying the cold!
wow, that marmalade looks delicious….I love orange marmalade…and yes, I agree there is money in the marmalade and jam scam!! Fabulous yum
Fantastic images Zeb.
I’m trying to improve my basic knowledge as my images aren’t good enough for the Printman although they look OK on the computer,
Yumm-o to the marmalade. I’ll just get my toast on
Hi Debra, wintersweet is a scraggy bush the rest of the year, this is its moment of glory! It smells something like hyacinths and flowering witchhazel (I have a red one in the front garden which is just flowering today, again on bare twigs) and all those intense scents. I wonder who finds it when it is so cold – there are no bees around right now.
@ Lynne and Viviane – I don’t think there is money in marmalade making unless you automate the shredding process somehow. To handcut all the shreds takes hours of comtemplative concentration. We eat a little and give the rest as gifts!
Spook Brydie! I’m having a big bread day, three lots of dough in the kitchen right now!
Heidi, thank you! I love the Spring bulbs, I walk around looking for them every day as I can never quite remember where they are.
Gill, I don’t use the close up setting on the camera, but get very close to the subject instead, seems to work better than the close up button. Maybe a marmalade swap is forthcoming?
Maybe a marmalade swap is forthcoming?
You’re on.
Beautiful pics, Jo! Love the new garlic, poking it’s way through…and what a glowing jar of marmalade! May I admire your meticulous slicing and the absence of pith? :)
My thithta and I have been having a long conversation about pith on Facebook ;) The slicing of the peel took hours – I am not sure if I could ever do it quite like that again. But on a far more important note, our local cafe turned into a brasserie http://kondibrasserie.co.uk/ and we just walked round and had a lovely bistro meal and…. they had home made marshmallow!!!!! with the single estate coffee…. and it was really good…. and I know that on your blog is the recipe, so I am going to make it now, as it was a complete revelation of loveliness! Oh YES.
Your post was so intriguing that I went off to research Wintersweet, and then I forgot to come back and comment – That’s a new one for me. But I shall now search a few out at our meager plant nurseries and add them to my ‘winter bloomers’ – Absolutely!
Thanks for the nudge.