Easter Sunday lunch with the family

A beautiful skyscape to end a peaceful Easter Sunday in the company of immediate family.

We gathered at my sister's house overlooking the Fish Hoek valley and across False Bay to the mountains of the Hottentots Holland and tucked into a traditional Easter lunch of roast lamb and trimmings, followed by her very acceptable version of an Easter egg, a Magnum ice cream on a stick! Entirely suitable for the occasion. After a polite interval, it was time for tea and Mother's scrumptious (the only word to describe them) scones - she is the champion of scone making and could teach all coffee shops a thing or two when it comes to scones - the loaf-sized semi-muffins that are produced are just not scones, I'm afraid.

Huge flocks of cormorants circled high in the sky around False Bay, taking advantage of the brisk and chilly southeaster to give them a lift into the thermals. The choppy sea didn't look at all inviting, but my sister, who is an early morning swimmer, assured us that the water was warmer than the air and that she would most likely be down there early tomorrow again. The sea has been particularly warm this summer and is still 18 degrees late into autumn. However, this will still not entice me to brave the shark-infested waters, even when the shark net is deployed, and I am the first to grab a jersey when there is a chill in the air.

Lively discussion was the order of the day, as is most often the case when the family gathers, and much of it revolved around getting older, the pros and cons of retirement homes and what one might consider a suitable pension. As I am the last one under 60, you can see how the conversation might lean this way! We had a tremendous laugh, though, when Mother revealed her latest misadventure. She needed to take her afternoon pills and reached out for a glass of what she thought was cold rooibos tea. She tossed the pills into her mouth and took a large swig, followed by another, before realising that it was in fact the drained oil from the fish she had fried the night before! By now we were hysterical, as she described how she had rushed to the sink and spat out what she could, rinsing her mouth over and over to get rid of the greasy, fishy film, while retching at the thought of the blob that had reached the point of no return in her stomach! Needless to say, everything worked more than clockwork for the rest of the week and she didn't have to take any oil supplements!

When I got home, the half glass of water I had left next to the kettle was still there and, as usual, I picked it up to drink it, as I find having the glass always on hand helps me drink the quantity I need to get through every day. As I lifted it to my lips and prepared to drink it, the oil scene flashed through my mind and I quickly threw the water down the sink. Just in case.