This week’s small pleasures #447

Thistles and Kiwis

Well….where to start? The positives: I only had to work two days, I had my birthday, read 2 books on my days off, did a good clean of all corners in the downstairs room and spent a bit of time in the kitchen cooking as well as enjoying having pizza delivered. The negatives: had some bad news about the health of one of my oldest and dearest friend’s, am still concerned about a cousin in Poland who is about to undergo a major operation and…the weather. Below is the view from the bedroom window on Friday at 10am. It rained and rained Thursday and Friday, bringing floods and slips to some areas, though we were luckily fine where we are.

Staying in

With the weather being so awful, there was a lot of time spent indoors. It gave me a chance to sort of catch up on myself, which was much needed and appreciated. I made soup, watched far too many cooking videos on YouTube, and we continued to watch the original three series of Borgen from the beginning.

I ordered bread and bagels from Arobake, as well as one of their sticky pear and ginger cakes as a sort of belated birthday cake. We enjoyed the cake with tea and a dollop of Greek yoghurt on Saturday afternoon, with coffee after dinner on Saturday, and no doubt for the rest of the week.

I was also inspired by Terry’s quick and easy mayonnaise method over at The Travelsketcher so made a batch on Thursday. It was so simple, so effective, and so tasty. I forgot to take a picture of the lunch using it, but highly recommend his recipe which you can find here.

In the basket

The Wonky Box delivered another butternut squash (I now have three in the fridge….and yes there will be soup this week), a piece of pumpkin, potatoes, a leek, carrots, broccoli, a bag of miniature silver beet and….avocados!

I topped it up with a bunch of kale, lemons, passion fruit, a bottle of passata, some tuna, polenta and turkey mince, plus beef mince and chicken from the butcher.

Simple things

  • Feeling the strength returning at Pilates.
  • Enjoying a fantastic dinner on my birthday – see post here.
  • Spotting a copy of Peter Gordon’s The Sugar Club cook book from 1997 in a charity shop (which includes the beef and pesto dish we had back in May).
  • Having wee afternoon naps on my days off.
  • Lighting candles, getting out the throws and keeping cosy.
  • Spotting signs of spring on a sunny Sunday walk (yes the rain did stop).

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.

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

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

42 Comments

  5. So sorry about the bad news. Sigh. And very glad there were no floods in your area.

    Your simple pleasures sound lovely, especially the naps. For me, a ten or fifteen minute cat nap is nearly as refreshing as a full night’s sleep.

    Will be checking out Borgen. Did you watch it on Netflix?

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  6. I’m sorry to hear about your friends; it so difficult to see a loved one suffer. We have a dear friend who just finished cancer treatment. It’s hard to know sometimes how to help.

    Like you, I’m so glad Terry makes our mayonnaise, it’s delicious! Thanks as always for the shoutout!

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  7. It sounds like a lovely time, except for the sad news. I don’t know if our situation has reached the antipodes, but the area I live has had catastrophic flooding. It was the big July 4 U.S. Independence Day holiday, lots of people camping and outdoors, and rain just deluged the area for hours in the middle of the night, sending our beautiful Guadalupe River over its banks and taking people, trees, houses, animals… etc. downstream. The death toll so far is 78, but there are still many people missing. If you google or go to any US news source, just look for “Kerrville, Texas floods,” or “Texas Hill Country Floods.” My daughter lives two hours away, and she came down to try to do pet rescue, but mostly encountered many dead animals. We are ok; we live uphill from the river, but heartbroken over the loss and devastation.

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  11. The daffodils must be a cheerful sight on these rainy days. For one reason or another, the year is slipping by so fast that it doesn’t seem too long before we will start seeing them again!

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  12. It seems there’s always good news with the bad news Barbara, I’m sorry to hear of your friend’s ill health. The daffodils are beautiful and add a lovely brightness to dull days. Thanks for including my post!

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    1. Yes – the bad and good always coming together. The news about my friend’s health has made me pay more attention to getting tests etc. Daffodils are cheerful and always a pleasure to read your posts Debbie.

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  13. The mayonnaise method looks great – must try it. Happy birthday for last week. It’s always hard to hear news of a friend’s illness. All the best. Stay warm – weather here is foggy and rainy as well. 🌧️

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  14. I had to laugh at the thought of your butternut squashes. I just used my last one from my CSA this weekend with a vegetable curry. It was definitely a little past its prime, but still useable since I had tucked it in the refrigerator at one point when I didn’t think I wanted any more squash for a while!

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  15. Thank you so much for the kind mention, Barbara — it means a lot! 💚 I loved reading about your week — simple pleasures, honest reflections, and that sticky pear and ginger cake (which sounds absolutely divine with tea!). I’m so sorry to hear about your dear friend and cousin… And yes, rainy days definitely call for soup, naps, and slow time indoors. Wishing you sunnier skies ahead and more of those small, comforting moments that carry us through. 🌿✨

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  18. I believe I already wished you a Happy Birthday on Facebook, but I do hope it was a very good day for you. I am very sad to hear about your friends health issues, one feel so helpless when our loved ones are in pain.
    I missed you during my blogging break and look forward to get updates form you once again 🙂

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