I hate to confess it but for ages I've realised I need to read up which way the earth spins, direction of our orbit around sun, which direction earth is tilted at various points of earth's orbit.
Have rectified that sorry state of affairs today courtesy of a few websites.
This one was particularly helpful.
It's bugged me long enough I can't visualise it all properly when I'm gazing up at night through the ecliptic and out into space. Imagine how hard it was for most of man's existence on Earth.
Anyway, on the 3rd of January we'll be at Perihelion (closest distance to Sun) with the Southern hemisphere baking with the sun high overhead. From "above" the solar system, the earth will be tilting directly away from the sun. Hope link above is of value to someone else too.