This week’s small pleasures #381

Thistles and Kiwis

It is Easter Monday evening and the end of the long weekend. It has been lovely to have some time off, to do some more unpacking (we are really getting there…looking forward to the delivery of some storage….), to relax, to entertain and think about what is coming up in the next few weeks.

Good Friday sunshine

The weather forecast proved to be wrong on Friday, and we were treated with bright blue skies and sunshine. We went for an afternoon walk up to Karori Park to enjoy the sun and just get a bit of fresh air – also in the featured image at the top of the post (which as Mr Tootlepedal and I have found out has changed in how it is done – why doesn’t WordPress warn us of these things?).

A sandwich…and….

Only one sandwich this week – and an excellent one too from one of my favourite cafes, Squirrel, filled with salami, olive spread, cheese and lots of salad. We treated ourselves to dinner at our local pub on Thursday, and I went for the fish and chips again.

In the basket

There was a leek, a cucumber, sweetcorn, avocados (which have been so good this year). some lovely looking turnips and potatoes, including this cute heartshaped one. There were also bags of Brussels sprouts and spinach. I added some capsicum, lemons and courgettes, and some more blueberries while they are still in season.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was celebrated with a long lunch with friends. As usual, we had a big spread with Janssons Frestelse, devilled eggs topped with ‘caviar’, herring, cold smoked salmon and hot smoked salmon, smoked mussel patè, meatballs, sausages, cold meats, coleslaw, potatoes, a cucumber salad and of course bread from Shelley Bay Baker (they do the best rye bread in the city, and their olive bread is quite special).

Simple things

  • Smiling at this article about ‘bad mugs’. We all have one…
  • Enjoyng the BBC TV drama Traces set in Dundee.
  • Spending a couple of hours reading on Monday. What a treat!
  • Planning the new month ahead.
  • Enjoying spending time in the kitchen.
  • Getting a lovely home made cloth basket filled with goodies – and a crochet chicken – from our friends visiting on Sunday.

What were your small pleasures this week? Here are some other blog posts from a few fellow bloggers looking at the good things in life. Also entered in the weekend coffee share hosted by Natalie.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis. If you want to get in touch, email me on lofgren@thistlesandkiwis.com

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

29 Comments

  1. Such beautiful blue skies. We have had a lot of that here lately too. Some very warm temps as well. Your Easter lunch looked delicious. My husband and I stayed at home and did nothing special for Easter. It was nice being home but I really missed being with family. What a nice gift from your friends. I always love filling baskets with goodies and giving them to people. I especially love receiving them, HA!! The rye bread you have in the picture looks so good. Have a wonderful week. Thank you for sharing my post.

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  3. What a beautiful, sunny day! No wonder you went out and took advantage. It sounds like you had quite the spread on Easter. 

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  6. I enjoyed the mugs article! So true that they accumulate haphazardly, although I do have at least 3 that match and they are kept for “best”*. As for the rest, I always like to make sure that I use two of similar size and shape so that neither of us loses out. Of such small pleasures life is made 😀.

    *Though, thinking about it, I have lots of matching cups and saucers, but I never think of getting them out.

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    1. With this move we had a bit of a mug cull, finally ‘gifting’ my Prince Charles and Lady Diana mug to a young royal fan but I still have a few odd ones that I can’t get rid of (the Edinburgh University one, the 500 year anniversary of my old school etc). We have about 8 Moomin mugs that form a set of sorts., Like you I don’t get out the cups and saucers much these days,.

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  7. Glad the weather forecaster was wrong and you got a lovely Friday. I followed the link for the recipe and got a chuckle as it’s in ? Swedish? I am assuming it’s some sort of potatoe dish? Your spread looks lovely.

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    1. Yes it was a Swedish recipe for the fabulous potato dish served at Christmas, Easter and Midsummer. I put a link to a Swedish recipe as the English translation versions tell you to use anchovies but that is completely not the right fish at all and a mistranslation.

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  12. Some lovely small pleasures Barbara and your weather sounds like what we had over easter, such gorgeous days! I had two grandchildren here for the long weekend and that was a fun and busy time.

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  15. Pingback: What’s on your plate: April – Thistles and Kiwis

  17. I’m glad you had a beautiful Good Friday and lovely Easter Sunday lunch with friends. The cloth basket filled with goodies and a crochet chick are delightful gifts. Thank you for the mention and for your weekend coffee share. Have a great weekend!

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