We welcome spring with an afternoon of braai'ing, books and basking in the sun

On Sunday last week we, Capetonians experienced a welcome and long-overdue reprieve from a seemingly never-ending winter. And like so many other Capetonians, I'm sure, we chose to hail in the eagerly-awaited change of seasons with a braai (barbeque) in our little garden.

My mum (who spent most of the one-week long school holiday with us), Koleka (our domestic helper), the girls and I lazed on the grass, reading, while Mo and Shakeel (14) did the braaing. 

Purely by coincidence, my mum and I were both reading novels by one of my favourite authors, Afghan-born American novelist and physicist, Khaled Hosseini. While I was completely gripped by The Kite Runner (which my mum had been insisting I should read for such a long time) she was engrossed in A Thousand Splendid Suns - despite the fact that this was the second time that she was reading this book. 

Later, when Shakeel joined us, I read to the kids from A Long Walk to Lavender Street: A Story from South Africa (Survivors) by Belinder Hollyer, since they were reluctant to read it by themselves, insisting that it was "not our kind of book". As I'd expected, Tharaa (11) was gripped by the story and the sadness surrounding that part of our dark past - and chose to finish the book by herself. Shakeel however, chose to settle down with Bruce Lee's Fighting Method - Skill in Techniques by Bruce Lee and M. Uyehara. 

Nuha (8) spent the afternoon stretched out on the picnic blanket soaking up the sun's rays while Aisha (3) tottered about the garden, enjoying playing outside after such a long and dreary winter - the evidence of which was still visible from our house in the form of snow-capped mountain-peaks (which thankfully did not affect the pleasant temperatures we were enjoying).

My mum (reluctantly taking a break from her book to have lunch) with Tharaa and Nuha

Snow-capped mountain-tops were still visible from our house on this beautiful sunny day

What an enjoyable way to (finally) welcome spring. Let's hope that the warmer weather is here to stay and that this delightful afternoon may be the first of many.