Christmas Past

Gosh - it's over, and I didn't even wish you all a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, but I do hope they were and are, how ever you are spending them. We've had a lovely mini family gathering, with our daughter/sister home from London for a few days. Sunny days and hot summer nights with the occasional thunderstorm to freshen things up, its been pleasantly relaxed - except for the big cook-up on Christmas Eve (that every fly in the vicinity looks forward to with glee), which brings flushed cheeks and flustered stuffings and stirrings, and too, too much of everything. This is a sketch of Alex (I've made her look grumpy, which she isn't) done with the wonderful Pentel Brush Pen she brought me from London and some watercolour - soaking up some sun after the snow and cold she left behind. In the pool is Rob, our other daughter's boyfriend, floating blissfully after a Boxing Day lunch of - you guessed it, cold turkey and gammon and leftover trifle. And the post-Christmas table with the decorations slightly wilted, the Pimms all gone, and much clearing up to be done A night swim where the water is as warm as the air, one of the great pleasures of Christmas in South Africa - the sea is the best for this, if its safe - but a big old swimming pool comes close.